Category Archives: Monthly Update

Monthly Update

March 2026 Update

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I revised my Suggestion Schedule to account for some problems my initial iteration had. Throughout February I got so much more done, wrote many more scenes, worked out a greater number of world building articles. It wasn’t perfect, and it did suffer from a few days of ‘I just need a break’ where I did almost nothing off my list, but it was one of my most productive months in a long time.

It’s not perfect. I didn’t publish any blog posts or watch any movies. So I’m still tweaking and revising the process as I’m continuing.

Projects

My focus on The Colonel Lieutenant paid off, as I’ve worked out a lot of the issues and sequence of events that have been plaguing me and added a few key scenes. Now I’m at the point where I’m sitting down to write out the rest of the scenes and see if they work. The same with Orcfyre.

I’ve been writing scenes for the 1st Minnesota book, and it’s fun to finally get this one to the page. It’s also a bit nerve racking. I’ve had this project on my mind for over a decade, and I’ve researched it and investigated, yet I also know how much more I could research. To finally get words down and start seeing things take shape is to challenge the perfect story I’ve had in my head.

Other projects are coming along. With the suggestion schedule, I’ve advanced everything, and figured out a number of stories that I’d been stuck on or indecisive about.

March Goals

  • The Colonel Lieutenant: Write Ten Scenes
  • Orcfyre: Finish One Act
  • 1st Minnesota: Finish One Act
  • Other Projects: Finish One World Building / One Scene Each
  • Publish One Blog Post

Books

  • The Bearer of the Black Staff (Fiction)
  • The Great ‘What Ifs’ of the American Civil War’ (Non-Fiction)
  • War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
  • Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • Mr. Lincoln’s Army (Non-Fiction)
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

I finished two books in February.

The Bearer of the Black Staff was okay. It was several centuries after the last section of books in this series, and it’s more of a fantasy novel than post-Apocalyptic. But it just wasn’t very exciting. I’m really hoping when I get back into the Shannara books that I read back in Middle School that they’re better than I remember.

The other, The Great ‘What If’s’ of the American Civil War, I found really disappointing. It brought up a lot of interesting questions and possibilities, but the discussion about what could have happened fell really flat. There were only a handful of bits of information I thought were interesting enough to remember; the rest wasn’t enough to record. Oh well, I can’t love every book I read.

Still plugging away at War and Peace and Seven Basic Plots, which are both large books (and remember, I’m taking notes on Research books like Seven Basic Plots, so it’s slow going). On the plus side, I’m over halfway done with both, so downward slope.

March Goals

  • Finish one fiction book
  • Finish one non-fiction book
  • Ten chapters of Seven Basic Plots

Movies/Shows

Image courtesy of HBO
  • A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
  • Starfleet Academy
  • Stargate SG1
  • Foundation Season 1
  • Star Trek Discovery (Rewatch)

To start with, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is fantastic. I loved it. A short-scope story of a knight making a name for himself at a tournament, with great supporting characters and amazing drama. The first GOT show I really got into and look forward to rewatching. I recommend this show to everyone.

I continued through several episodes of Starfleet Academy, which I continue to enjoy. It’s not the greatest Star Trek show, but it could be a lot worse. I also re-watched the first four-seasons of Discovery so I can knock Season 5 out and finish that show off.

To my surprise, I didn’t watch any movies this month. I thought I would get down for one or two, but time and other projects got away from me. Oh, well.

March Goals

  • Watch Three Movies
    • – One Missing Best Picture Winner
    • – One ‘Background’ Movie
  • Finish Three Seasons of TV Shows
  • – One Season I’ve started and Haven’t Finished
  • – One of a Series I want to Finish

Games

  • Surviving Mars: Relaunched
  • Star Trek Voyager – Across the Unknown
  • Horizon: Forbidden West
  • Hogwarts: Legacy
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Star Trek Voyager – Across the Unknown is inspired by the 90’s television show of the same name. It is a procedural game where you command the starship USS Voyager as it travels thousands of light years across the galaxy to return home. I really like this game. Not only does it take from various storylines of the show, but it gives you ways to experience the storylines differently, to see different outcomes and different endings. And since the game generates different maps and sequences, you’re never going to play the same game twice.

RPG-wise, I recently ran a playtest of Delta Green as a World War 2 Commando game, with heavy combat. It went really well. The players all had fun, and though there were casualties, it felt like a World War 2 battle. Well, at least like a movie of a WW2 battle. Maybe I’ll revisit the system in the future.

March Goals

  • Don’t worry about playing more or less. Just enjoy the games you play.

What’s Next

I’ve got two events coming up in the next few months. I have a table at Minicon 59, and I should have a table at Quantum-Con 4, I’m just waiting for confirmation. Even if I don’t have a table at Quantum-Con, I’ll be heading there for at least some of the convention as an attendee.

Minicon 59 – April 2 to 5, 2026

Doubletree Bloomington.

https://mnstf.org/minicon59

Minicon 59 logo
Image courtesy of mnstf.org

Quantum-Con 4 – May 15 to 17, 2026

Crowne Plaza Minneapolis, Plymouth

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Monthly Update

February 26 Update

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Hi, friends and readers. January was exhausting, between work, writing, winter and ICE. But we made it through to the shortest month of the year. Yay us.

Overall, January was still pretty good. My suggestion schedule continues to be a valuable tool in keeping myself going. That being said, I want to be doing more with it. Not just scratching at a project to mark it off for the day, but getting real work done.

Hopefully, come March 1st, I can have some real advances to announce.

Projects

I advanced in every project this month, adding scenes to the text or entries to the world building. I gave myself permission to jump around the projects, not just writing from the front but hitting the end and middles as I wanted to. Anything to make sure that I was adding to the project.

And I did, just not to any great extent. As much as I got done, a lot of it felt like picking at the edges. I need, NEED, to get major work done.

February Goals

  • The Colonel Lieutenant: Finish One Major Section: Before the Campaign, The Campaign, or After the Campaign
  • Orcyfre: Finish Two Acts
  • 1st Minnesota: Finish Three Chapters
  • Minor Projects: Finish 20 Things

Books

  • The Great What-If’s the American Civil War (Non-Fiction)
  • Bearers of the Black Staff (Fiction)
  • Seven Plots (Research)
  • War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)

I read a lot more this month than I did in December; still didn’t manage to finish any titles. I was tempted to start some new ones just to add to the list, but that felt like it’d just overload the list.

February Goals

  • Finish Great What-If’s
  • Finish Bearers of the Black Staff
  • Get Past Chapter 25 on Seven Plots

Movies and Shows

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Final Countdown
  • Troy (Director’s Cut)
  • Stargate SG1
  • Foundation
  • A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
  • Starfleet: Academy
  • Wonder Man

I watched a movie that several people were surprised I hadn’t seen before: The Final Countdown, a film about the US aircraft carrier Nimitz time traveling from 1980 to the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a fun movie, that had some intriguing debates about responsible actions for time travelers. But by the end of it, I was surprised how little actually happened. Still, fun.

I also watched the Director’s Cut of Troy (2004). Now, Troy has always been a movie I’ve really enjoyed. Not top-ten, but close. This edition added a lot of background, nudity and violence, particularly during the sack of Troy itself. While some of the scenes added to the story (especially the discussions amongst the leadership of Troy), most of it I understand why it was cut.

Started a few new shows this month. Wonder Man, an MCU show I know nothing about, but it has Ben Kinglsey so it’ll probably be good. There’s a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a Game of Thrones show of limited scope that I’m enjoying immensely.

And finally, Starfleet Academy. My first reaction to the first fifteen minutes was very negative: I was very upset at the main character. ‘A guy who doesn’t want to be here, who can overpower a shuttle of guards without too much effort, oh come on.’ But by the end of episode two, he’s eased up on whatever bugged me about him. And the fact that episodes three and four followed different students really endeared me to the show. Lets see how it ends.

February Goals

  • Two Movies
  • Finish Three Seasons

Games

  • Horizon: Forbidden West
  • Hogwarts: Legacy
  • Surviving Mars: Relaunched

I continued to play through all three games. Slowly, though, as quite frankly, as much as I enjoy video games, binging them for more than a few hours just makes me feel like crap. So, I have to be careful, because if I don’t pay attention, I can inadvertently spend an entire day doing just that.

February Goals

  • Finish ONE GAME

What’s Next

I’ll have a table at Minicon 59 on Easter Weekend; I’ve got feelers out for other events, but it might be another few months before I can add more to this list.

Monthly Update

January 2026

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I’m hitting 2026 running. Thanks to my suggestion schedule, I’ve been progressing on all projects. I’m reading and watching and gaming more, and I’ve got events lined up (or at least potentially lined up). I’m feeling optimistic.

Projects

I’m closing in on a new draft of The Colonel Lieutenant. It’s been a process of writing from both ends and cross-checking my information. I’m going to start tackling the big campaign in the story soon, which means maps and gaming out movement and action.

I’m also progressing with Orcfyre. This one I’m also tackling from both sides, because I know how I need it to end, but I’m not sold on the start. So, we’ll see how that goes. As much as I want this one done, I want it to be done right.

In addition, I started writing the first scene of my 1st Minnesota book. This is a real interesting challenge from a writing perspective, because this is a historical fiction series. I don’t need to do so much world building as I do need to check several historical records.

And, finally, I’m getting work done on all my other projects. The suggestion schedule has been really nice to keep things moving each day. Even if all I do is write a few paragraphs or work out some aspect of the world, it’s still progress.

January Goals

  • The Colonel Lieutenant: Finish two acts in progress
  • Orcyfre: Finish two acts in progress
  • 1st Minnesota: Finish two scenes and check with books
  • Minor Projects: Write 12 scenes
  • Minor Projects: Finish 12 world building goals

Books

  • Seven Plots (Research)
  • Bearer of the Black Staff (Fiction)
  • Cardinal of the Kremlin (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
  • The Great “What Ifs” of the American Civil War (Non-Fiction)

I did not finish any books in December. Reading is one thing where I want to work on doing more of while I wait for summer to bring back my reading porch. I have a reading chair downstairs, and several ebooks so I can read from my phone if I don’t have access to the physical book.

January Goals

  • Finish one fiction book
  • Finish one non-fiction book
  • Finish one research book

Movies / Shows

  • Superman
  • Sisu
  • Stargate SG-1
  • Foundation
  • Stranger Things (Season 5)
Image from Wikipedia

I saw two movies last month. Both of them I liked.

First was the 2025 Superman film. I appreciate that this film avoids spending time telling us Superman’s origins or having him play secret identity with other characters. Having other superheroes in the film helped. And I think Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor is my favorite rendition of the character so far. He wasn’t as comical or over the top as previous iterations.

Second was Sisu, a Finnish action thriller set in World War 2, about a Finnish prospector fighting Nazis. This film was over-the-top, with little or no character development. Just action and ‘that wouldn’t work’ thrills. It was fun. And at one point I cheered. Good times.

And as for TV shows, I did make time to watch and finish Stranger Things, Season 5. I was curious to see how it ended, and I thought they did a great job. Things ended about as well as they could for most of the characters without breaking the story. There were a couple of instances in the finale where I started to wonder if they were warming up for this curveball or that one, which I appreciate because that means the story was robust enough for it to be a possibility. And maybe I had one or two questions about how things wrapped up that weren’t addressed. But, overall, I really liked it. And I’m sure there will be dozens of posts across social media about how I’m wrong, but so what. I liked it, and I’m okay liking it.

January Goals

  • Watch two movies
  • Finish two seasons of TV Shows

Games

  • Last of Us 2 (Re-play)
  • Hogwart’s Legacy
  • Battlestar Galactica Deadlock

I managed to finish my Last of US 2 replay in time for the New Year. That’s a relief. at some point I can go back and replay to get achievements and pull easter eggs, but for now I can focus on other story games.

While I get back into Horizon Forbidden West and Red Dead Redemption 2 on the consol, my next PC story game is Hogwarts Legacy. Taking place a century before the main books and movie, the story follows a Fifth-Year student involved in some mystery. So far, I’m enjoying the game and the world, and the combat system is fairly dynamic. My only complaint is the sorting hat simply asks you what house you want to be in. I was hoping that it would be a series of questions to determine what playstyle you want, so you can replay the game several times as different types of characters. But apparently, house choice doesn’t impact the game all that much. Too bad. Feels like a lost opportunity.

January is going to be my first month of ‘Open Game Goals.’ When I play an open game (one that doesn’t have a story) I will play with a set objective in mind, such as get an achievement or win as a specific faction. That way, I don’t start without any end point in mind, which can be annoying depending on the game.

What’s Next?

I’m the waitlist for several events in 2026. I believe I have a table for Minicon this year (I’m just waiting for confirmation), and there are a few conventions I’m keeping my eye on for the applications to go in. When I start having things scheduled, I’ll add them to this entry.

Until next post, I’ll just keep writing.

Cheers!

Monthly Update

December 25 Update

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November went well. I continue to benefit from the use of the daily recommendation schedule. It’s nice to know that if I have time to work and I’m not inspired by any particular project, I can look at this schedule and work on what it suggests. And if I am inspired to focus on one thing or the other, I will do so.

Projects

I got at least something done for each of my projects. Either I completed one of the world building tasks, or I write a scene to start fleshing out the story. Very nice to start knocking those goals off.

With the Colonel Lieutenant I got at least rough drafts up to Chapter 20. Every time it’s on my list I’m picking at it, getting it closer to being done. I am a little worried it might get too big; maybe I need to cut it into two? I hope not, but we’ll see.

Most of my Orcfyre work was world building. In particular, I focused on fleshing out the pantheon of deities, especially as the main characters would know and interact with them. I started the first scene and I’ve outlined much of the rest.

As for the 1st Minnesota project, I did come to a decision to write this story in the First Person. I think, ultimately, this is the better way to get the experience of the soldier across to the reader. And there are mechanisms I could use for a third person perspective if I needed. But, we’ll see.

December Goals

  • The Colonel Lieutenant: Finish 5 Acts
  • Orcfyre: Finish First Act
  • 1st Minnesota: Finish First Act
  • Other projects: Write at Least One Scene Each
  • Other projects: Cross off at least one World Building goal Each
  • Blog Post: Still a Pantser
  • Blog Post: Writing Process – Research

Books

  • Seven Plots (Research)
  • Bearer of the Black Staff (Fiction)
  • Cardinal of the Kremlin (Fiction; Re-Read)

Didn’t get too much reading done last month. It’s something I want to change in December. Dedicated reading time every day.

December Goals

  • Finish one of the Fiction Novels
  • Finish Seven Plots
  • Start New Research Book
  • Start New Non-Fiction Book

Movies / Shows

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • John Wick
  • John Wick, Chapter 2
  • John Wick 3 – Parabellum
  • John Wick, Chapter 4
  • Ballerina
  • Foundation
  • Stranger Things Season 5

I watched through the John Wick movies last month. I thoroughly enjoyed them. The entire series was a master class in world building. We learn so much about the world by watching the story play out. When they can’t show us, they only tell us enough to keep the story going, without revealing more information than they needed to. The fight
scenes were fantastic and well choreographed (though I think they started to draw a little long by the fourth movie).

I then watched the spinoff Ballerina, which is set between Wick 3 and 4. This movie was just as exciting and fun as the original series of movies. And I appreciate that the main character (Ana de armas) fights differently than John Wick (Keanu Reeves), as she’s a small woman and not a moderately sized man. I can see why everyone likes this series.

I also got too start the fifth season of Stranger Things. This show has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and the first four episodes have shown the magic continues to grow. I’m excited to see what they have in store for the last episodes.

December Goals

  • Finish Foundation Season 2
  • Finish Bad Batch Season 2
  • Finish Stranger Things Season 5
  • Watch two new movies

Games

  • Madden 2026
  • Last of Us 2 Replay
  • Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts
  • Surviving Mars Relaunch

I didn’t spend much time on the couch in November, so my console games remain unfinished. Nothing wrong with that, except for the normal crossing things off my list part.

I did start a PC game called Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, which is a sniper first person shooter set in Siberia. It was okay, but it didn’t really draw me in. I kind of stopped playing it. I may come back in the future and finish it off, but if I don’t, I’m okay with it.

Then I started to play the Surviving Mars Relaunch. It’s a remaster of the game Surviving Mars, which I spent a lot of time playing. I haven’t noticed too many differences yet, but I just got into it Thanksgiving weekend. I’m eager to start playing the new stuff soon.

December Goals

  • Finish Last of Us 2 Replay
  • Start new PC Story Game
  • Get back into Horizon: Forbidden West
  • Get back into Red Dead Redemption 2

What’s Next

I’ve got a event lined up for December 20th, 2 to 5 PM, at Utepil’s Brewery. Only a few hours to sell some books, but it’s something.

Still on some waiting lists for other events. We’ll see what come sup.

Monthly Update

November 25 Update

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I said in the October update that I laid out a schedule for the month. And until I got distracted by a Fiverr project, it went really well. I watched shows, knocked chapters and world building goals off my list, and drew. Then someone bought a Fiverr goal and that took up a lot of my time; I only really kept at the Inktober drawing schedule. But it was useful enough that I’ve decided to make one for November as well. This is not a draconic ‘you must do everything every day’, but more of a ‘if you have time to wonder what to do, here is what you’re going to do.’

Project Work

I added another chapter to the Colonel Lieutenant, but more importantly, I planned out several important plotlines for the middle section of the book. This is good because while I know the broad strokes of the ending, the details have alwyas been mush because I haven’t had them set up in the middle. Hopefully in November I can knock some chapters out and get it closer to publishing.

After a log of plotting and planning, I started the next and hopefully last re-write of Orcfyre. This outline addresses my issues with the last one, and has extensive world building thanks to the PBRG system to support the story. Now it’s just knocking out word.

I’ve added support documents to other projects, from geography work to pantheons. In November, I want to add at least one chapter for each project, so I can get a sense of the characters on the page.

November Goals

  • Get The Colonel Lieutenant to 20 Chapters
  • Get Orcfyre to 10 Chapters
  • Get one chapter for each other project
  • Publish two blog posts

Books

  • Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • Bearers of the Black Staff (Fiction)
  • The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Fiction; Re-read)
  • War and Peace (Audiobook)

I didn’t reach much this month. I meant to, but it didn’t work out that way. Instead, I only managed to knock out a few chapters of each book without finishing any of them. No excuses not to do better in November.

November Goals

  • Finish One Fiction
  • Finish One Non-Fiction
  • Finish One Research

Movies / Shows

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Foundation Season 1
  • Star Wars Bad Batch Season 1
  • The Thing from Another World
  • The Thing

I finished the first season of the Bad Batch, the Star Wars animated show. This is doing a good job of showing the transition from Clone War to Imperial Army, There’s enough of a mystery to keep me interested, enough action to keep it exciting, and enough world building to keep me attached.

This Halloween I ended up doing a horror movie double feature. I’m not much of a horror movie guy, but enough of my friends love the 1982 The Thing movie that I said I would watch it this month. And my dad, being a movie connoisseur, said I should watch the 1951 The Thing from Another World, so I made a movie night of it.

The Thing from Another World is a fun movie. It’s about a US science expedition to the north pole that finds an alien life form in the ice that comes alive and tries to kill them. The movie is more than 70 years old, so there are several dated aspects, but they in no way detracted from the movie. The dialogue was fun to listen to (very fast paced and overlapping). And most of the characters were less stereotypical than I expected. I was a good movie to start the double feature.

The Thing is a different movie. The expedition (to Antarctica this time) doesn’t find the creature but encounters it. The creature is a chameleon instead of a straight up monster, and the tension of the movie is less about beating the creature than it is about the trust or mistrust of the characters amongst themselves. The effects are great. It was a fun watch, and I see why people like it so much. The only distraction was trying to figure out where I’d see so many of the actors before.

November Goals

  • Watch three movies
  • Finish Foundation Season 1
  • Finish Two other Season of TV

Games

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Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Dune: Spice Wars
  • World of Warships
  • Last of Us 2 (Replay)
  • Madden 26

I started a new game; Dune: Spice Wars, which is a RTS game set on Arrakis in the Dune universe. It’s a good mix of resource management, strategy, politics and covert actions. It’s scratching that strategy itch of mine, but it doesn’t have much of a storyline.

Other than that, I played through more of the other ones. Not much to add, really.

November Goals

  • Start a PC Storyline Time
  • Finish Last of Us 2 Replay
  • Get back into Horizon Forbidden West

What’s Next

I’m on the wait list for several events coming up or in 2026. As things become official I will have them posted.

Monthly Update

October 2025 Update

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September was weird. I did a lot of work, but didn’t get a lot done. I’m not sure how that happened, but after several months of not getting a lot done, I’m pretty frustrated with myself.

So, I’m trying something new for October: I’ve made a schedule. Every day, I’ve laid out five goals: one for my Inktober challenge, one writing goal, one world building goal, one video goal, and one book/blog goal. Maybe I won’t hit every day, but at least I won’t sit down and think ‘what should I work on’. I’ve already done that.

Projects

My work on the Colonel Lieutenant in September was not for nothing. I’ve worked out some spots that were a mess, and I’m developing my plan for the middle and later sections of the book. I’ve got some thoughts about maps and cover art I need to start considering. But I do need to focus more on writing chapters. Even if they’re not perfect, I need to write.

Same with other projects. I did some good world building for several projects, but there’s something about getting words down that I do miss. If I manage to keep to my schedule for October and get two blog posts, the second one will be about the importance of writing while building the story.

October Goals

  • Complete Inktober Challenge
  • Advance the Colonel Lieutenant to Chapter 20
  • Write one Chapter in Each Project
  • Outline for Each Project
  • One World Building Item Complete for Each Project
  • Two Blog Posts

Books

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • The Gypsy Morph (Fiction)
  • Bearers of the Black Staff (Fiction)
  • The Hunt for Red October (Fiction; Re-read)
  • The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Fiction; Re-read)
  • War and Peace (Audiobook)

I focused on finishing two books and moving onto the next ones in their series. Red October finished about as I remembered. The Gypsy Morph was an odd book. It went through periods of being really exciting and then periods of being really dull. I mean, real highs and real lows. But I’m done, and onto book 7 of the Shanarra series. I think there are three more until I get to one I’ve read before.

October Goals

  • Finish One Fiction Book
  • Finish One Non-Fiction Book
  • Finish On Research Book

Movies / Shows

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Alien Earth (Season 1)
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 3)
  • Alien: Romulus

Alien: Earth was a fun show, one that added greatly to the universe of the Alien franchise without changing the xenomorph (which is nigh-on perfect). Overall I liked it, and it surprised me with where it went on a number of levels. There were a few things I’m a bit undecided on, but I’d recommend the show.

I’d rate it a few steps higher than Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3. Now, I didn’t hate SNW; the lowest I’d rate any episode is a mid to low C. But so many episodes could have been better, except they were hampered by some stupid story-telling decision. And they were all so stupid I just couldn’t understand how it made it past editing. So frustrating. I liked the season, but it seemed like it chose not to be great.

And in the theme of Alien, I watched Alien: Romulus, which I had heard not great things about. I would say: it’s a movie. I didn’t think it was as bad as I’d heard, but it wasn’t great. I’d watch it again, but I’m not in a hurry to.

October Goals

  • Finish ‘The Bad Batch’ Season 1
  • Finish ‘Foundation’ Season 1
  • Watch Two Movies

Games

  • Anno 1800
  • World of Warships
  • This War of Mine
  • Last of Us 2 (Replay)
  • Madden 26

I continued to play through Last of Us 2 and Madden 26. Didn’t spend too much time playing either, but Madden’s superstar mode allows me to play quickly. And I’m still having fun with both. I didn’t add anything to Forbidden West this month, but that happens.

I decided to step back from Anno 1800; I was getting too focused, and it was not so much about having fun anymore. I’ll come back to it sometime, maybe after my new computer comes in and I can play at a higher capacity. In the meantime, I’ll figure out what I’m doing wrong.

I did start a new PC story game: This War of Mine, which is a simple game with several campaigns I could play through. It’s an intense game about surviving in a war-torn city, and if I only play it for a little bit, it’s because the setting and story might get too much.

What’s Next

I’m on the waitlist for several events this year, and I’m signing up for events next year. When I get confirmations and dates, I’ll start posting them.

Monthly Update

September 2025 Update

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Work took up a huge chunk of my energy in August; my company changed ownership, and that required me to spend a lot of extra time each week getting caught up and processing my switch from one company to another. I was, simply put, exhausted for much of the month, without the energy to work on projects. I spent most of my time recovering or relaxing.

Projects

When I got to work on my projects, I got stuff done. I worked out some stellar cartography for one project, and continued to refine the outlines for several others. I processed some chapters for The Colonel Lieutenant, wrote out character backgrounds, and organized a number of institutions. It wasn’t the list I hoped to get done, but it was work.

I’m hoping, now that the sale is done and my job has returned to a normal routine, that I can refocus my creative efforts. I still have almost a hundred ISBNs, which means I can publish dozens of more titles. But I cannot keep allowing myself to have lulls like I’ve suffered twice this summer. If I want to publish more, I need to write more consistently.

September Goals

  • Get The Colonel Lieutenant completed up to the big campaign
  • Finish Re-Writing Orcfyre Act 1
  • Publish two blog posts
  • Complete 10 other Project Items

Books

Image Courtesy of Goodreads
  • Red Rabbit (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • Hunt for Red October (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • The Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • The Gypsy Morph (Fiction)
  • War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)

I finished Red Rabbit and moved into Hunt for Red October. I’m making good progress through it, and I’m having the same, improved enjoyment of the story that I had with the previous novels. But what I hadn’t realized from my previous readings was how little of the middle book takes place on the submarine or with Jack Ryan. Probably influenced by my memories of the movie, I had forgotten how many scenes revolve around naval, aviation or political action in support of the story.

I’ve continued through the other books, slowly chipping away at them chapter by chapter. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a good reading chair in my basement; I think I want to do something about that.

September Goals

  • Finish Red October
  • Get past Chapter 20 in Seven Basic Plots
  • Finish Gypsy Morph
  • Finish One other Book

Movies and Shows

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  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 3)
  • Foundation (Season 1)
  • Alien: Earth (Season 1)

My roommate and I started watching Alien: Earth this month. This show is fantastic. The characters are enjoyable (even the ones I don’t like). The action is limited, but when it happens it matters. The world we see makes sense and has rules it follows. We’re four episodes in, and I’m very excited to see what else we’ve got coming before the end of the series.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3 is a mixed bag. On the one hand, I haven’t hated any of the episodes, and they’ve all had at least a basic story that I could get behind. But most of them don’t reach the A-level I’ve been hoping for. There’s either some misstep in the pacing, or some payoff that wasn’t built up properly, or just something that made the whole story stall out. I still have a few episodes to watch before I can give a rating to the whole season.

September Goals

  • Finish Three Seasons of TV (Any Kind)
  • Watch Three Movies (Any Kind)

Games

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  • Madden 26
  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Anno 1800
  • World of Warships
  • Last of Us (Replay)
  • Last of Us Part 2 (Replay)

Since August was a big stress month, I found myself destressing with a lot of video games.

I finished my replay of Last of Us at a higher difficulty, only to discover there wasn’t any achievement for doing so. Alas. At least now I can go back and play pick up what I missed in easier modes, and play around with some of the options the game offers.

With that, I moved on to Last of Us Part 2. This replay is different because I’m playing in an entirely different structure. If you weren’t aware, Last of Us Part 2 is a non-linear story. You play as one character for three days, then another for three days, and each experiences flashbacks going back years. This game has the option to play in chronological mode, where you play all those events in sequence. It’s a lot of fun. I’m experiencing the game in a new way. It’s the same story, but much more direct.

I’ve been playing a lot of World of Warships, an online game where you play early 20th century warships against each other. I’ve been having fun, trying to play daily and monthly challenges within the game to advance for certain rewards. It’s a nice way to burn off some steam and let my inner historian out.

I’m still playing through the sandbox of Anno 1800, the city-building and resource management game. I’m enjoying the challenges, but this game does strain my computer’s system. It takes almost fifteen minutes to load, and it slows down sometimes as it tries to process. I’m not sure my computer can handle it; I’m looking into building/buying a new computer, and this is one of the games I want to experience on the newer machine.

And finally, Madden 26. My roommate and I are playing each other, which is fun, but I’m also playing the Superstar mode. In this mode, I play a single player, and I play only when that player is on the field. It’s a good way to play a story game within Madden without needing a ridiculous amount of time and effort.

September Goals

  • Finish Anno game
  • Finish Last of Us Part 2
  • Advance Horizon Forbidden West Storyline
  • Start PC Storyline Game

What’s Next

I don’t have anything planned at the moment, but I have my eyes on a few things. I very much want to get another event on the books for the autumn or winter. If and when that happens, I will post about it.

Monthly Update

August 2025 Update

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July was very productive…but unfocused. Most of what I accomplished was on my tertiary and quaternary projects: world building or writing test scenes. It felt good to stretch my mind and get words on the page, but I didn’t get a lot of things off my primary or secondary projects done, or my blog posts. So overall, I’m kind of disappointed with myself.  Not in a ‘beat myself up’ about it way, more of a ‘if you want to be serious about this, do better’ sort of way.

Projects

The good news about Book 3 is that the printed copy works wonders for revising and development. It’s great to have that copy available, and to have the space to spread out pages of tracking notes, character bios, and whatnot. The first half-dozen chapters are well streamlined, and I’ve got a good view on several fixes for future errors and plot points. Now to sit down an do it.

As for all those other projects, I’m not kidding when I said I got a lot of work done. I puzzled out the pantheon for the human cultures of Orcfyre and the geography and politics of Genevieve’s spin-off from Champion Bold. I started structuring another Light Star novel and I’m ready to start putting words on the page for a historical fiction story. All good work. Just…not my primary goals.

August Goals

  • Advance The Colonel Lieutenant
  • Figure out The Colonel Lieutenant maps
  • Complete Orcfyre Act 1
  • Finish ten items off to-do list
  • Finish Last of Us Pt2 and Writing Process 8 Blog Posts
  • Come up with a better ‘Weekly Work’ process

Books

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia
  • War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
  • Patriot Games (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • Red Rabbit (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • The Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • The Elves of Cintra (Fiction)
  • The Gypsy Morph (Fiction)
  • Ashen Light (Fiction)

Continuing through the books. War and Peace is a glorious monstrosity of a piece. The audio book file is a public domain free project which clocks in at 365 files; I expect it’ll take well into 2026 before I’m done with it, but who knows. Maybe I’ll make finishing it by new year’s a goal.

In my Tom Clancy re-read, I finished Patriot Games and moved onto Red Rabbit. If you don’t know, Red Rabbit is a book Tom Clancy wrote well into his series, but set back earlier in the narrative. I read it once in college, and I remember not being too impressed. This time around, though, I’m enjoying it a lot more. Not sure why yet; I’ll have to reflect.

I also moved from Elves of Cintra onto Gypsy Morph, and I’m not really enjoying the story. I’m hoping it picks up soon. Once I’m done, I’ve got two more books before I hit the series I first read in Middle School. So…slog on. Not what you necessarily want to hear from a book series, but here we are.

August Goals

  • Finish Gypsy Morph
  • Finish One Research Book
  • Finish One Other Fiction Book

Movies and Shows

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  • Bad Batch
  • Foundation
  • Thunderbolts
  • Fantastic Four
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3

Got to see two moves last month, including my first movie theater outing in a good amount of time.

First, Thunderbolts*. This is an ensemble MCU movie that I wasn’t too excited for, as it’s cast is a bunch of secondary characters from other movies that are assembled for whatever reason (probably covert or illicit). Which was right. But the movie turned out to be a lot more exciting and enjoyable than I expected. I really liked it.

Then, Fantastic Four. I made a point to go see this in the theater, and man it was worth it. It avoided the problems of the other two Fantastic Four attempts. And it told a great story. I’m excited to see where these characters go, and after two successful MCU movies in a row, I’m kind of excited for the MCU again.

And finally I started Foundation, a TV series based off the Isaac Asimov book series. Now this isn’t a direct translation from page to screen; it’s adding a lot of characters and storylines that don’t exist in the book. I’m not far enough along to know if its better or worse, yet. It is a beautiful series, though.

August Goals

  • Finish One TV Show
  • Finish One Started TV Show
  • Watch One Best Picture Winner
  • Watch One Other Movie
  • Start One Longer TV Show

Games

  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Last of Us (Replay)
  • Anno 1800

Continuing through Forbidden West and Last of Us Replay. I don’t really sit down to just play for hours on end. With Forbidden West I try to finish one or two quests; with Last of Us I set myself a narrative point and play until I get there. It keeps me from spending too much time as a couch potato.

Anno 1800 has made a reappearance; a RTS resource game. I beat the campaign some time ago, but now I want to try to build to the end of the tech tree and see if I can really get the city going.

On a similar note, a friend and I wrapped up a game of War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition that we started in 2019. This iteration of the Pacific War of World War 2 ended in May of 1946 with a draw. Alas, what a fun game. We’re already looking for our next one.

August Goals

  • Finish Anno 1800
  • Start new narrative PC Game

What’s Next

Nothing right now. I’m looking for some fall and winter events to partake in. Some things on my radar, but nothing on the books.

Monthly Update

July 2025 Update

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June of this year included my launch party, but it was dominated by my 9 to 5. My office job took up a significant amount of my energy this month, enough that I fell behind on most of my goals. It happens. We adjust and we move on.

Projects

There are still a number of minor bits for Champion Impact I need to finish, such as getting the PDFs up for sale on my website and finishing the ebooks for the supplements. Things that I should be done with but I keep getting distracted from.

I’m making good progress on The Colonel Lieutenant. Over the last month I started a printed copy of the project so I can re-read what I’ve got and see it from a reader’s perspective. I’ve also worked through several of the plot points. Which is good, though it will require some revisions and re-writes (but what doesn’t?). I also took a stab at some of the maps for the book, though this is a very initial stab. It’ll take several iterations to come up with something I like.

I nipped at a few other projects. There was a pass at Orcfyre, my ever-illusive fantasy novel, which wasn’t ‘this is it!’ but was informative. I want to get some scenes from other projects written soon, if only to get a feel for the story and their characters: and to stretch my creative legs a bit.

July Goals

  • Finish at least a good scene guide to The Colonel Lieutenant, if not have a rough draft ready to go.
  • Finish a scene guide to Orcfyre
  • Knock half of the bullet points of my Champion Bold Remember to finish this list!
  • Complete one to-do item for each other project

Books

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia
  • War and Peace (, Fiction, Audiobook)
  • Without Remorse (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • Patriot Games (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • Hell to Pay (Non-Fiction)
  • The Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • Idiot’s Guide to Game Theory (Research)
  • The Elves of Cintra (Fiction)
  • Ashen Light (Fiction)

Man, I got into or worked through a lot of books last month.

Re-reading the Ryan-verse (Tom Clancy’s series, Without Remorse and Patriot Games) is fun. It’s the first adult series I read growing up, and I used to read through the books every year. I haven’t touched them in a decade. That means that in this re-read, I’m picking up on things I hadn’t noticed before, because my mind is no longer used to the books. Plus, I’m older and mature enough to notice new things. It’s fantastic.

The Elves of Cintra is okay, but not particularly exciting. I don’t know why, it seems to have all the elements but they’re just not synching as much as I’d like. I’m worried that when I get back to the Shanarra books of my childhood I’ll find them just as out of synch as these books.

I’m enjoying reading through The Seven Basic Plots, one of my research books. It’s a large book I picked up a long time ago and never got around to reading, but it’s helping me think about my stories and how they could be better, or at least more unique. I’m hoping they’ll help me get some of my stalled projects up and running.

Movies and Shows

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Last Kingdom
  • Bad Batch

Clearly, I did not make as much of an effort at watching shows as I did at reading. Which is fine.

I’m continuing to re-watch The Last Kingdom in preparation of watching the final movie. I’m still surprised how much of this show I don’t remember. I know I watched through it multiple times years ago, but I guess it just didn’t stick. I’m guessing because the books are still better.

I did start a new show last month: Bad Batch, a Star Wars animated show. I’m only a few episodes in, but I like it. It’s got some interesting characters, and it’s a different sort of Star Wars story than I’ve experienced before. I’m eager to see how it goes.

July Goals

  • Finish One Show
  • Watch One Best Picture Winner
  • Watch One Fix-It Title
  • Start New Show

Games

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  • Space Marine 2
  • Horizon Forbidden West
  • Last of Us (Replay)
  • Stellaris

I got to finish a video game and start a new one last month! Huzzah!

I finished Space Marine 2, a 40K first person shooter. This game was fun, and it really immersed you in the universe. I particularly enjoyed how the between mission sections allowed you to walk around and listen to side conversations and hear about other events. But it wasn’t a great game, on the level of Gears of War or Halo. I haven’t quite put my finger on why; the closest I can say is that it comes off as far too cartoony, and not quite as serious, as the other titles I mentioned.

With a game done, I could start a new one: Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, which is generally on my list of favorite games of all time. I’m excited to get into the game; the first bit is already just as amazing as I’d expected.

I want to get a PC story game going; I’ll have to consider some options. Probably something strategic or national.

On the RPG front, one of my games is starting to wrap up, which means we’re building characters for the next chapter. That’s always fun. The game I’m running is going well, with the characters getting into the spirit of troll fighting. As I expected, this chapter is a lot easier to plan and execute than the last one.

July Goals

  • Advance Horizon Forbidden West
  • Start PC Game
  • Continue enjoying Stellaris

Coming Up

I don’t have anything planned for now; no conventions or appearanced.

July Goals

  • Get a convention or appearance planned.

That’s all for this month. I’ll see you all soon for more blog updates and — hopefully — news of new appearances.

Monthly Update

June 2025 Update

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May was a busy month. I finished sending out Champion Bold physical packages. I had a convention, QuantumCon, which was a bit of a last minute addition but worth attending. There were good books and good shows. And as always, writing, world building, and procrastination. the good news is, I head into June with more books published, a short story accepted into an anthology, and a launch party on the way.

Projects

Champion Bold is mostly done. The physical copies of the novel and the supplements are available. The ebook of the novel is up. I still need to finish the supplement ebooks and PDFs and get those up. I should have had them done by now, but once the book is up I find myself looking towards the next project. Lesson learned: get the minor stuff done before the big finale, otherwise you lose focus.

I got a good amount of work done on the Colonel Lieutenant, though not as much as I’d hoped. I’m running into some issues of ‘is this working right’ or ‘did I set this up enough.’ There’s no real way to get around it, so I’m putting my head down and running right into the issues. No way to finish it except by doing it.

And, happily enough, I managed to get a large number of items done off my other project lists. Either small world-building things, or a few scenes I banged out. And some brainstorming that got me past a couple of project blocks, allowing me to figure out major plot points for some very low-level projects. Very excited for how those will workout.

June Goals

  • Finish Champion Bold ends
  • Finish the Colonel Lieutenant
  • Process Champion Impact Responses
  • Complete revised synopsis of Orcfyre
  • Knock 10 things of other to-do lists

Books

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
  • Armageddon’s Children (Fiction)
  • The Elves of Cintra (Fiction)
  • War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
  • The Seven Basic Plots (Research)
  • Complete Idiot’s Guide to Game Theory (Research)
  • Without Remorse (Fiction, Re-Read)
  • Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan (Non-Fiction)

I’m into the second trilogy of the Shannara series, which has gone from modern fantasy to post-apocalyptic fantasy. The world has gotten a lot bleaker, and there are factions of demons and paladins warring for control of the future. I’m kind of enjoying the series, but it’s not really grabbing my attention. I’m hoping this book picks up the pace a bit, so I don’t feel like I have to force myself to read. And I’m still five books away from the ones I read as a kid.

My re-read of Tom Clancy’s Ryan-verse is going okay. It’s been a long time since I’ve read these books, and it’s gone much as I’d hoped. I’m remember why I liked it, but after so long away, not only do I still enjoy it, but I’m picking up things I’d never noticed before, or didn’t understand. It’s a much different read now. And I’ve still got 10 more books before I hit the end of the main series and the books that Clancy himself wrote.

Hell to Pay is a fascinating history book. It’s covering the planned Allied Invasion of Japan, and it’s doing it pretty well. Each chapter covers one aspect of the plan, without worrying about chronology. So when we discuss Allied recruitment efforts or Japanese defense planning, we get to read everything important in one chapter, without jumping topics. I’m looking forward to finishing it.

June Goals

  • Finish one fiction title
  • Finish one non-fiction title
  • Finish two research titles

Movies and Shows

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  • Last of Us (Season 2)
  • Marco Polo
  • Last Kingdom (Re-Watch)
  • Andor (Season 2)
  • Captain America: Brave New World

In May I finished two great second seasons.

In Last of Us Part 2, we see the story of Joel and Ellie continue, much as it does in the second game. This season follows roughly the first half of that game, and it does it pretty well. It hits the emotional high points, but does so in its own way. I think the pacing was a bit off (another episode or two would have helped), but i don’t hate it. Expect a better blog post shortly.

And then there’s Andor Season 2, the last season of this show. Holy crap, talk about an amazing show. The show covers roughly four years of time, leading up to Rogue One and the original Star Wars movie. Great characters, amazing sets and costumes, and a story that just kept me wanting more. Even the last scenes gave us a good wrap up for the characters we wanted to know about. No complaints.

Finally, I saw the new marvel film, Captain America Brave New World. It was good, but not great. This movie had some high points, and some interesting connections to other films in the series. It didn’t quite feel as firm as other Captain America movies, but that’s a fairly minor complaint overall. I would definitely watch it again, but I wouldn’t start someone into the MCU with this one.

June Goals

  • Watch one Best Picture Winner (three left)
  • Watch one Fix-It Title (four left)
  • Finish one in progress show
  • Start one new show

Games

  • Stellaris
  • Space Marine 2
  • Last of Us Part 1 (Re-Play)

Nothing much in gaming this month. I advanced Space Marine 2 but haven’t beaten it yet. I’ve been playing some more Stellaris with new DLCs, which is fun. And I started replaying the Last of Us Part 1, for fun.

RPG wise, all the campaigns are going well. My characters (French gambler, half-orc noble, half-elf oddity and otter water mage) are all still alive. The game I run is still fun and people are engaging with the story.

So, not much to tell, but it’s still fun.

June Goals

  • Finish Space Marine 2
  • Start new PC game

What’s Next?

Launch Party

I’ve got a launch party Sunday, June 8th, at Inbound BrewCo in Minneapolis. 1 to 5 PM. Hope to see you there.