Like Boards in a Picket Fence

Somehow, I've survived another breakneck lap around the Sun.  If these laps get any faster, I'm going to get dizzy.

The second (third? second-and-a-bit?) draft of the next 'What Was Lost' book is still in an early form, but I've got some great feedback so far and I think it's going to be in good shape.  There are a thousand and one little corrections to make, as usual:  wrong words, or wrong paragraphs, or places where I edited a sentence and then somehow left both versions in the text, or places where a left out a detail and as a result a bit of dialogue made no sense.  It's all obvious, once someone takes the time to patiently point it out to me.  And then it's easily fixed.

While the super-early version of that book is being looked at, I'm already thinking ahead to the next one.  I've got two outlines I'm working on, apparently because I like to torment myself:  one is the next book in this series, and the other is a jump over to my lone fantasy book Summoned, which feels like it's crying out for a sequel.  I might do both at the same time, because there's no way that would be confusing at all.

In other news, I've gone from very little D&D to a whole lot.  As mentioned before, a friend of mine is getting set up on startplaying.games as a DM for hire, which is a new thing I've learned about.  I think it's a great idea.  He's got a couple games ready to go, I think, and there may be more in the works.  If a little D&D with a lunatic fun guy sounds like it's in your wheelhouse, check him out here:  clicky.

While poking around on that same site, I found a game to play as well, and we're now two sessions into a D&D 5th Edition adventure with us playing pirates morally-problematic seafarers.  In our first adventure, we were tasked to go sneak up on a rival ship full of pirates legitimate maritime capitalists and learn what they were up to.  That may have ended with us stealing their ship; I'm sure nothing bad will come of that.

This fun, in turn, led to me poking around with D&D Beyond, the browser-based virtual tabletop and game management system that is super neato.  And of course one thing leads to another and I'm going to run an adventure for some friends I've known for many many many years.  More on that later.

Also also, I think I'm getting involved in one or more actual-play podcasts, which should be fun.  More on that later, too.

But my first objective is to keep putting more words on paper.  Always more words!

 

 

So Much Red Ink

So I've given the first book of the new series its first editing pass.  Apparently, when I called it a 'rough draft', I was serious about the 'rough' part.

Blurred a bit because spoilers

But that's good!  I'm happy with the current shape of it.  I do my editing on paper, so that means all my edits have to be manually done in the Word version, which will take a while, but things are absolutely going in the right direction.  I've spotted some good stuff for every character, and a few things I can really, as they say, 'lean into'.  

Regrettably, my D&D group hasn't met in ages, because the universe is conspiring against us.  And in a curious development, a friend of mine is looking at getting into DMing D&D games on a paid basis, which is apparently a thing.  I had no idea this was a real thing.  But it makes perfect sense for people who want to play but don't have enough/any people in their area to sit down with.  Another friend and I have spent a few hours doing a test run with him, and there has been a lot of hilarity while we fumble with the online systems and occasionally beat up a monster or two.  More on this later, I think.

The weather here in the compound is decidedly un-July, which makes sense considering that every month this year has not been following its normal trend.  I'm sure if we do nothing it'll all be right as rain in no time.

Six-Bits (working title): First draft

There's a new trilogy in the works, and the first book is done.  That is to say, the first draft of the first book is done.  It took about 7 months, which is slower than I'd like, but work and life and adulting are taking up a lot of time.  What can you do?

The working title is "Six-Bits", but I might change that to something like "Shipwright & Six-Bits" because a lot of the story is told from the point of view of Mell, the shipwright from the previous trilogy.

I'm going to let it sit for a week or two, then start with a first round of edits.  When I'm more or less satisfied, it'll be time to start the second book in the trilogy.  

I wrote the previous trilogy all in one go (not publishing anything until it was all done) and that really made things easier.  So I think I'm going to do that again.  It means a lot longer (another year? two?) before the whole trilogy is ready to go, but I think it's worth it.

I'll keep you posted on what happens next!

Three-hole-punch printer paper is a godsend.

Denouthingy

I'm happy to report that, after a busy weekend of scribbling (and rather a lot of energy drinks), the first draft of the next book stands at 90000 words.  The big crazy climactic scene is done, and I'm happy with the first version of it.

All that's left now is the aftermath/cleanup/denouement, where I clean up the mess I made, tie up the loose ends, complete the story for this book, and get things ready for the next book.  I'm hoping to get it done this coming weekend, but we'll see.

In other news, our happy D&D group continues to find new ways to be silly and/or incompetent.  I'm doing my very best to lead the charge, setting an example of poor decision making for others to not follow.

Our group of lunatics was going cross-country, still trying to get away from the Big Baddie.  During the night, someone got into our camp and robbed us, stealing something valuable from each character.  The next day, a Mysteriously Convenient Visitor showed up to make us a deal:  if we help them, they'll get our stuff back.  I'm still about 99% sure that MCV is the one who took our stuff in the first place, but what can you do?  

We agreed (see 'poor decision making', above) to go break into a home of a local Bad Person and break some magical seals that were preventing the local Good People from apprehending them.  Again, I'm fairly certain that we've got it all wrong, and the Good People are actually the Bad People, and so on.

Arriving at the home of the alleged Bad Person, we had a committee meeting about what to do.  We agreed, first and foremost, to not split the party.

So, of course, we split the party.  Team 'Sneak In Through The Basement' went to sneak in through the basement, while Team 'Try The Front Door', of which I was a part, went to try the front door.  Which had traps.  Traps that shot at party members.  So now the party warlock is on the ground.  And, I think, on fire.  That counts as a result, right?  Can't wait to get back together for more hilariously poor decision making.

 

Happy Incompetence

I've always got a kick out of playing D&D, and especially the co-operative storytelling aspect of it.  Specifically, it's co-operative storytelling about a bunch of characters who are insane and/or bad at what they do.  It's weaponised incompetence, and so much fun.

Case in point:  in a recent session, the party was in town and found out that a Big Bad was coming to get them.  They needed to leave town immediately.

The initial plan was as follows:

1. Walk out of town, past the guards and through the gate, like normal people.

Now, being D&D, that wasn't going to happen.  The players immediately launched into a spirited, if futile, discussion of how we were going to do this.  Everyone whose character had a special ability wanted to find a way to use that special ability in the course of the plan.  

So, after lord knows how long, the final plan went something like this:

1. Break into three groups.
• Group A:
1. one character walked out through the main gate like a normal person
2. one character struck up a conversation with the guards, oversharing to the point of making the guards suspicious
3. one character tried to pickpocket the guards
4. one character turned into a highly-conspicuous magical horse, then convinced another character to ride them out through the gate, making the guards suspicious
• Group B:
1. two characters went to the dock to smuggle themselves out on a ship; one somehow drowned
• Group C:
1. one character used their contacts with the thieves guild to get themselves smuggled out of the city through the sewers or something
   

I'm not 100% sure about the details, because no one was.  But, while incurring only 1 in 8 fatalities, we made it out of the city.  At this point, we we realised that no one had thought of how we should all meet up again.  A bunch of stuff had to be retconned so the adventure could continue.  

And that's the fun of adventures and storytelling: whatever you think is going to happen, won't happen, and everything is going to go to hell.  But if you're all sitting around the table laughing like idiots and having a great time, who cares?

Also, I should introduce my own character, Father Hiram the halfling cleric.  I used HeroForge to create his character in 3D, then bought a full-colour 3D-printed miniature of the little twerp.  I was amazed at the quality of the end result.  Awesome stuff.

Father Hiram, the cleric who thinks the gods are a bunch of jerks.

 

In other news, the first draft of the new book is going great!  I'm at 75000 words and counting, and just starting the buildup to what will be a wonderfully chaotic climax.  The characters are really starting to shine, and I'm looking forward to introducing them to everyone.

 

 

 

Winter, Part Deux

Our winter turned into something quite atypical as the weeks went by.  Very little snow, and very high average temperatures (as things go).  Right now it's early March, about 8C and raining, so that's unusual.  Or maybe it's the new 'usual'.  In any event, we're not frozen solid and there's nothing to shovel and/or scrape, so that's nice.

Writing is moving along very well.  The first book of the new trilogy is at 55000 words and counting.  I'm thinking the final count will come in somewhere around 90000, but from book to book I've been pretty consistently wrong on estimating that sort of thing.

In other news, I've recently joined (rejoined?) a local dungeons & dragons club for adults, and I'm looking forward to it more than I expected.  Last month was my first time attending, and I had a blast introducing the team to their new friend: Hiram Redleaf, the cleric who has had it up to here with his deity.  He's not even a religious person, as halflings go.  He thinks the gods are a bunch of thugs and bullies.  But at the same time, he's not an idiot: when a god tells you to do something, well, religious person or not, you do it.  I'm looking forward to providing updates on his adventures, assuming he doesn't get smited (smitten?) or otherwise falls victim to misadventure.  Three cheers for bad choices!

Yay, winter.

I'm not really the sort that loves winter sports.  Unless you count 'shovelling snow' or 'scraping the ice off the windshield', in which case... no, wait, I don't really love that either.  I suppose the right person could convince me to try tubing or snowshoeing or skiing, as long as when I'm done I have ready access to (a) drinks, (b) a fireplace, and (c) an ambulance.

Instead, I've been spending the winter so far surrounded by books.  I work part-time at the local libary, which has been great.  The patrons (and the staff, for that matter) are the most delightful collection of smart, friendly, and eccentric people.  

When I'm not there (and not shovelling/scraping/etc.) I'm locked away in my hovel, scribbling furiously away at the new series.  I'm 35000 words into the first book (so maybe halfway?) and it's going great.  It's the first draft, so naturally it's still quite rough and/or incoherent, but pages are filling up at comfortable pace.  Some new (and old) characters are starting to shine, and I'm having fun getting to know them.

For those of you who love winter, boy, are you in luck around here.  Go out and enjoy yourself.  When you get back, the drinks will be cold, the fire will have gone out, and the ambulance won't start.  But that's the magic of winter.  Isn't it?