New Source-Book News, Several Reviews, and a Heart-Felt Rant

I’ve got some interesting news this week. My editor Greg has been hard at work on getting my harvesting issues ready for publication under the new format we have for Wisdom from the Wastelands.

It had come up over the past few weeks that I had been hoping to possibly have this published as a single book, instead of having to deal with it being cut up into two or three issues.

After finally hearing back from Michael Varhola, we’re going to publish it as a stand-alone book! The great news is the editing for the book is all but complete, unless I get the go-ahead from Michael to write up harvestable material from my Creatures of the Tropical Wastes.

If that happens, then I will have a lot of work to do over the next few weeks. After all, there are fifty monsters in that book!

Buck Who? Chapter 10 went up on Friday as usual. Earlier last week I mentioned on my author page I was seriously considering keeping this going for a full year. That would be 52 chapters for sure.

Am I going to do this? I don’t know. I would like to say yes, I will in fact do this, but knowing how fickle I can be, it might not happen. Doing a very rough calculation, if I go this route, the novel will end up hitting between 360,000 and 400,000 words.

We shall see. I have a powerful enough imagination to be able to write that much. Hey, look at it this way – if I was writing for a company like Gold Eagle, it would be four full length books!

I can really flesh out the world I have created.

Oh, and as of Chapter 11, which will go up next Friday? Buck Who? Has reached full length novel status. It is just over 80,000 words in length now.

I don’t know what happened, but I know I broke that barrier, the one which kept me from writing more than a few hundred words a day. It happened almost two years ago and I’m writing so much now I am putting some professional authors to shame!

Word count only, I still have lots of learn. Take a look at the material I wrote many years ago. Hell, look at the material I wrote even three years ago and compare it to what I am writing now. The difference is clear. Yes I have talent, and it’s still rough, but even now it amazes me how much my skill has improved.

Then again, it’s like anything, including Kung Fu. The only way to master the art is to practice, practice, practice!

Speaking of creating, here is the mutant I wrote up and posted last week. The Living Ghoul. I will also keep this new topic going as well. A lot of the creatures I will be writing up will appear in my novel Buck Who?  Chapter 11 has two new nasty little monsters so they will be statted up and posted over the next few weeks.

Since I brought up Creatures of the Tropical Wastes, here is an excellent review of my book. And what makes me even happier is the book finally became a copper best seller on Drivethrurpg. Thanks Eric Fabiaschi!

On top of reviewing this book, he also gave me a Five Star review for Wisdom from the Wastelands issue 21: High Tech Melee weapons, and Issue 22: Personal Shields.  Again, I am very pleased!

No new releases from Skirmisher this week, so nothing to talk about in that.

I did manage to write up another top five list though! Unlike the past four weeks, I finally steered away from writing about Post-Apocalyptic themes. This week I wrote the list in regards to my Top Five Favorite Non-RPG games. A list of my favorite board games from over the years. Any guesses to my absolute favorite?  This week I do believe I will write up a list that is near and dear to my heart.

You’ll have to wait until next Wednesday to read it though, no hints for you!

However, I did purchase the latest Pathfinder Player Companion: Melee Tactics Toolbox. This book was a little lacking in my view. I was looking for more than just new feats, ways to play various combat-oriented classes and equipment. I had been hoping for new rules to cover different situations which may occur in melee combat. Still, don’t get me wrong, it is a good little book! New melee weapons and all the material I mentioned. Does it really bring anything new to the table? Yes, and there certainly are some neat feats to play with. I wouldn’t give the book a five star review, but I do believe it deserves a four star.

This week I did manage to finish a couple of novels. I finished Worlds of Honor 2, and Forever Odd. I really enjoyed both offerings, especially Worlds of Honor, as a couple of the stories dealt with the Tree Cats. Five different stories, two from David Weber himself, all fit quite nicely into the incredibly massive and complex universe he created.

Forever Odd picked up about six months after the events in which Odd Thomas lost his one true love Stormy. His friend’s father is murdered and the young man is kidnapped by a complete nutball.

I have not been a Dean Koontz fan for very long, but the more I read of his work, the more I enjoy it! Both books are worth your time to pick up and read.

And now for my rant.

Wow.... IQ's really did drop while I was away.

Seems that in the past three years since my last trip down to the states, the place has gone absolutely bat-shit crazy.

Really? In Indiana there is this whole bullshit about allowing store owners discriminate just because someone might be gay? And now the Governor is surprised at the backlash?

Now Arizona wants to bring in mandatory church attendance?

GOP and Tea Party (or are they the same thing?) are filled with two types of people, which are the worst you can ever have in the same group...

Idiots, and I do mean actual card carrying morons who are clearly too stupid to be able to walk and breath at the same time, and religious fanatics.

If I was living in the states, I would be making plans to move out in the very near future.

It's turning into a theocracy. When Obama leaves next year, it'll be run by morons. Same sort of people who hide their heads in the sand and hope a problem will disappear.

The same people who are running a campaign to put religion above science and state smugly - If'n God dinno says it, then its gotta be wrong!

Over the decades, since I had my eyes opened and realized it was perfectly fine, in fact - needed, to question something that did not feel right, I have come to the very simple conclusion.

Religion, most religions at any rate, are simply a control mechanism. The more extremist religions are terrified of people who have free will and are free thinkers. They are dangerous because these types of people do not blindly follow, instead they question and make choices based upon what they deem as the right thing to do.

Most religions and governments want sheep.

As I have stated so many times in the past - I'm not one of the sheeple. Yes, I believe in law and order, but despite this I will not follow laws or orders that are just plain stupid or involve me giving up my right as a man.

And that pretty much covers it for this week. I’m getting quite excited, only 3 more weeks until the expo! I just hope that it is really great, like last years, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up. After all, how can one top having nearly the entire cast of Aliens show up? For me, you really can’t!

As always, please like my personal author Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

Until next week, Peace!