Lesson Learned

Everything has been going pretty good for me the past few weeks. I’ve managed to accomplish a lot of goals and have kept my weekly word production well above the 10K mark, which is exactly what I want to do.

I’ll just jump straight into my usual announcements and links.

Monday saw another two free mutants posted for my New Mutant Monday. This week I posted Spear Grass and Barsoon’s. Yes, the name is incorrectly spelled but there is an actual reason behind that.

One is a nasty little mutant plant, based upon a plant I ran into quite often as a child on the prairies, while the other was of course inspired by John Carter of Mars.

Tomorrow I will be posting a pair of aquatic humanoids, which just so happen to hate each other.

And as I stated with last week’s blog, I am once again posting a weekly top five list. This time I covered my top five canceled television shows. Some will argue that several were not actually canceled, but ended upon their own terms. Maybe I should have called it my top five ended television shows?

People have added their own favorites both on the blog and also on Facebook.

And with Friday having come and gone, I posted Chapter 20 of Buck Who?  With this chapter my serialized novel has broken the 160,000 word mark. Two full books have been written and posted for free, folks!

Now I tend to get a lot of inspiration from many sources. Even just driving I can be inspired by what I see as I travel the streets of the city. As it turns out, my best friend inspired me to write a very funny (and so far well received) short story I called ‘The Argument’.

I am not sure when I’m going to post it on the D-Infinity site, but it probably won’t be all that long.

A couple of things about this story. First, it’s a cross-over. I HATE crossovers. On the very rare occasion, they work, but for the most part, they suck! Secondly, I try to write some humor into my work, but I’m not as good as say Jonathan Maberry, Kevin Hearne or Jim Butcher. I succeeded far better than I had hoped I would with this story. And finally, I don’t like dream sequences. Yes, that’s a spoiler, but it is the only way I could think of to write this particular little tale.

It’s a standalone story and there will not be any sequels in the future. It was a bit of a challenge but I completed the tale and I am very pleased with the end results. And it’s the shortest story I have ever concocted! Only 5100 words long!

Two more tidbits, both LONG overdue. I wrote up a series of encounter charts to be used with my book ‘Creatures of the Tropical Wastes’ and posted them for free on D-Infinity.  I should have done this back in 2011 when the book was first published!

Secondly, I started to catalog all the creatures I created for the Entertainment conversions. As with the encounter charts, this is something I should have done a very long time ago. It makes finding the monsters I created all that easier. Currently the Entertainment Mutant Index only covers up to and including the letter F, but it will grow almost daily until I’m finished.

Onto other news. I know I have stated this before, but I just can’t seem to find the time to work on the projects I need to complete. It is imperative I finish all seven of these source books and get them to Michael Varhola for editing and formatting. I’m getting left in the dust as other books are published and mine are still in various stages of completion. I want to be able to push and sell at least a few source books at Comicpalooza next year.

So I need to find the time to finish Harvesting, and then work on the three companion books – Powered Armor, Robots and Vehicles.

But I also have made a couple of commitments. First I said I was going to write my first fan fiction in nearly 15 years for the Joe Ledger series. Secondly, due to how well received my short story was, I am going to write a piece of fiction for Oliver Cass’s space marines. It won’t be long, well, at least by my typical standards.

Then I need to do a complete revision of my novel ‘The Escape’. I’ve grown so much since I finished this book back in 2011 it will need a re-write before I go and find an agent and look for a publisher.

It’s gotten to the point I have to quit my day job in order to be able to accomplish all the tasks I have outlined!

In some ways I am glad I did not get the mutation books published. I have added a great deal of additional notes to the books and in the end the product will only benefit from the delays.

Due to many factors I have been remiss in writing up brief reviews of various books and shows I’ve had a chance to watch. I intend to remedy this shortfall today.

I’ve read quite a few books over the past few weeks and I will bring them up now, starting from the most recent to the oldest.

Friday I finished Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson. This is the second book dealing with humanities fight for survival against AI’s that have gone rogue. It was hinted at in this novel the original antagonist from Robopocalypse was not out to destroy humanity, but started the war to strengthen the human race against a deadlier threat.

It was a very well written novel and left me looking forward to a third book, and hopefully more in the series.

I also read Seal Team 666: Age of Blood by Weston Ochse.  It is the second in a military series dealing with the Supernatural. I have really started to enjoy his work, and I am looking forward to seeing the third book produced in audio format. This novel deals with the team sent to Mexico to located and recover the daughter of a high-ranking senator. Ancient secret societies are vying for power and wish to use her and the senator as leverage.

You can’t go wrong with this series.

Third, I finished book 9: Deadly Shores in the Destroyermen series. The battle against the Grik is drawing to a closure as the allied forces attack the capital city of the ancient and hated enemy. New potential allies are revealed, and the war against the Dominion heats up. I have book ten and I can hardly wait to get into it. This series really has captured by imagination and the world Mr. Anderson has created is vibrant, richly detailed and so very much alive.

Oh, and since the Post Apocalyptic genre is one of my favorites, I cannot recommend any more strongly to go see ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. It really shows the world and how much it has changed over the decades since the end of the war. Mutants – not the type you would see in Gamma World or X-men, are becoming more and more common and life is cheap. The movie, without giving away any spoilers, is essentially a two hour long chase scene with plenty of adrenaline pumping action to keep even the most jaded watcher happy.

Now, some of my readers might be wondering why I chose to use the title ‘Lessons Learned’. It is simple. My long time readers will recall how I mentioned I was really upset and disappointed by the treatment I received at the Calgary expo in April.

After sending several emails, the vice president of the organization replied to me. He stated very bluntly their views on my concerns and complaints. It was essentially a politely worded ‘fuck you’.

Sadly, this is exactly what I had expected to receive. Were some of my requests AKA demands unreasonable? To me, no. To them, yes. And I was also threatened with banning if I did not follow their rules to the letter.

What bothered me the most however, was the blatant lies the volunteers stated about me when I had my initial encounter with them at the props check. They stated that I ‘ran away’ and that I refused to remove the peace bond from my pulse rifle.

Pardon me ‘bullshit and fuck you!’ The simple fact that I went out of my way to make my views and displeasure known proves that I would not ‘run away’ the way they stated. Funny how walking away, while reading the signs they have posted about ‘abuse towards volunteers will not be tolerated’ can be construed as running away. Also, it’s really strange how the statement ‘well, your people allowed it in Edmonton’ can be translated into refusal to remove a peace bond. They never even asked. In fact, their statement was ‘well, someone made a mistake in Edmonton.’

So a couple of volunteers decided to blatantly lie about the whole situation and as a result, made me look like a coward.

The whole situation has left a very bad taste in my mouth and as I had expected, they don’t give a fuck. The expo has become a massive money-making machine for them and loyalty is not rewarded or acknowledged. They don’t care that one person, who has spent in excess of $8,000 over the past decade, feels cheated and ignored. There are dozens who are more than happy to take my place.

It’s just a fact of life.

Do they care I probably won’t bother going to Edmonton or attending any of the future expos? Of course not.

Are they even remotely willing to take suggestions or look at possible alternate views in regards to handling props and what they will and will not allow? Not a chance. I was told they would be ignored and not even considered.

My reply to that was they are making a big mistake. You need to have some flexibility when it comes to this sort of thing, and they are steadfast in their refusal to consider it.

So be it. Lesson learned.

Despite this, depending on who is announced, I may or may not attend in the future. 2014 was the pinnacle for me, having had the chance to meet so many of the folks from ‘Aliens’. I cannot honestly think of how they will be able to top that for me in the future.

Bottom line is this. Would I recommend the expo to strangers? Oh for sure! No hesitation, but I would warn them not to use any costumes which require weapons as a prop. Other than that, it is a great time. For me, no longer. For others, most assuredly.

And on that note, I’m finished with this week’s blog. Please feel free to like my author Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

Until next Sunday, Peace!