Dungeons and Dragons is a far out Game

I'm mid-way through editing my manuscript for yet another day and realized that I had forgotten to journal in.  That's what I call it anyway, probably not the right term, but whatever.  The D&D game seemed like a big hit last night, most of my players are taking the game more seriously now.  I do have one player who is getting on my nerves--on his dumb ass phone the whole night.  I'd considered having something bad happen to his character to teach him a lesson but I knew I couldn't break neutrality.  I firmly believe that the mark of an excellent storyteller is one that maintains that neutral position at all costs.  I think Abed says it best in the Dungeons and Dragons episode of community.

Couldn't find the exact clip, you're just going to have to watch it.  Anyway, I feel like I'm stalling on these rewrites--they should be done by now.  I think I do have a plot nugget for a second story with Adrien Shetler the cyberpunk detective--I'd really like to take him to a Mars colony.  I won't give any spoilers but I think it'll be fun to write.

It's Sunday AKA Game Day

Today is the day that I'm going to run AD&D, I always feel a little nervous before running the game.  I'm never quite sure what my players will think of what I've made for them--and more importantly I don't know if they're going to want to do what I have prepared and I don't want to force them.  It's a trade-off I suppose.

I've been watching True Detective lately, kind of surprised at how much I like it.  I figure the premise of the show is a more realistic look at law enforcement and investigation in general.  It's not all chasing bad guys and thwarting evil plots--most of it is talking to people and running down leads.  I think it's giving me a good perspective for my work.

Yesterday I added some editing to my story, it has a working title now--I'm calling it "Bad for Business".  Not sure if I'm going to stick with it but it's better than nothing I guess.  I'm adding a robo savvy plucky female sidekick to the mix and I'm feeling some inner resistance.  I guess I've always thought of the detective as a solitary hero--Batman before Robin showed up.  But he seems too dark, depressing, hopeless.  Not many people want to read that I guess.  I think the addition of this character will ultimately be good for the series, nice to see it all from a new perspective.  I'm still having trouble with a name--thinking something Japanese would be cool for the setting.

Eggs, Bacon, Toast--Coffee!

Just got done with breakfast, not sure how calorie counting is supposed to help me lose weight but it's actually working.  I've lost almost 20 pounds so far.  Don't worry, I'm not going to try to sell you a diet or anything--though we have been talking about putting together a cookbook.  I haven't started writing yet today, I've got a bit of work ahead of me on this 2nd Edition D&D game I'm running tomorrow.  It's been an ongoing campaign--I think everyone is just about level six.  It's tricky finding a good challenge for everyone that isn't going to destroy them and isn't padded with tons of HP.

I've been thinking lately about whether or not I'll add ads to this blog--I'm thinking no though.  Something about it seems artificial, like it isn't a legitimate journal if I'm getting paid for people to read it--what kind of shit is that?  Also there's the angle that it's like, a fraction of a cent or something--bullshit.  Doesn't work for me.

I started some revision to my cyberpunk story the other day, adding a character and making somethings a bit more explanatory.  I guess I hate in fiction when the author has to spell stuff out to you like you're in third grade.  "That's when I realized the killer had been Ms. Merryweather all along." No shit Columbo, I figured that out in chapter 2.  I guess you don't really know what people think of it all until they see it.

Anyway, I'm going to go downstairs and write out this next D&D adventure--that game is a ton of work.  All my players do is sit around and make dick and fart jokes anyway.  That's fine, let me just spend a few hours of my life making an elaborate and detailed world where you can make dick and fart jokes.  That works for you?  Okay, good.

Writer's Group Finally Happening!

Last night our Writer's Critique group met and things went pretty well I thought.  We elected to drink beer instead of tea, which was fine, but it was still the same operation.  Hold up your manuscript in shaking hands, read it out loud to a group of strangers, hope they won't throw squishy tomatoes and bad cabbage at your face.

I put the group together so I figured I would go first--it was terrifying.  I didn't realize how much I lacked in confidence about the whole thing, even though I got pretty good reactions from the whole gang.  I had finished my short story about the cyberpunk detective a few days before, of course I couldn't read the whole thing at once as my girlfriend pointed out, it's forty-five pages long.  So, I broke it up into four part installments, that seemed to go over pretty well.

My friend Loki (not sure if he wants his real name on the internet just yet) agreed to present some fiction for next week, I'm very excited and I can't wait to revise my story a bit more.  I'm wondering if it will get longer and become a novella, that would be cool.

When it's finally done and copy edited my plan is to distribute it as an ebook.  I'm thinking Smashwords is probably the best website for me--there seems to be a lot of good talent there.  I keep thinking about Amazon though, Kindle Direct Publishing is pretty cool and anyone with a Kindle device or app can buy my book--that is cool!  I'm really excited about selling my work and finally letting it see the light of day.