Category Archives: Monthly Update

Monthly Update

May Update

May was an exciting month. I spent a weekend at Minicon, selling books and participating in my first official panel as an author. I sold another Fiverr gig, helping an author flesh out the campaigns of his story. And I worked out a number of problem in various stories that had been bugging me. All in all, a good month.

Writing

Book 3 is proceeding nicely. A lot of work this month has been factoring travel times and keeping track of the calendar, which has helped spread out the events of the book over a much more realistic and manageable timeframe. The book will cover about two months of time. I’m aiming for 150,000 words, but we’ll see how that goes.

I didn’t do too much with the SciFi novel in April, which is disappointing because it’s the project closest to being done. But I have some goals for May, including a list of the math and science I’ll have to work out or at least start to answer to get this ready for publishing. Also, maybe, work out the title?

Picked a bit at the fantasy novel. Did not add a lot of words, but I did work out some of the issues I was stuck on. Have some May goals for this project as well.

I do have other projects I’m working on; Tales of the Templars, for example. One thing I want to do this month is sit down and work out where these projects are at and how feasible they are. Not that I plan to give them up, but more that I want to have a realistic understanding of what I’d need to put into them to get them done.

Movies/Tv

Watched through the Mandalorian Season 3, the latest Star Wars show. It was not as amazing as the previous seasons, but it had its high points and I liked it. I felt like the show was more about developing the overall story of this combined saga that the Star Wars shows are trying to tell, something that they will continue with Ahsoka when that comes out later this year.

I spent the time to finished off Star Trek Picard Seasons 2 and 3. I’d heard a lot of bad things about Season 2, but I did not think it was that bad. I do think the ending to the season was a bit of a head scratcher, which is a common complaint I have about this new era of Star Trek series. Season 3, however, I really liked. Not perfect, because I can nitpick Star Trek with the best of them. But it was a lot of fun to watch.

For a friend’s birthday, we went to see Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Now, I was worried about this movie. The first D&D movie, released back in 2000, was so bad I wondered if it was even possible to make a good D&D movie. This was proved that yes, it is possible. It’s funny, it’s exciting, and it feels like a D&D movie. What else could I ask for.

Books

The only book I finished this month was Titandeath, book 53 of the Horus Heresy series. This was one of the better ones, involving mostly characters of the Titan Legions and their massive warmachines. Of particular note, there are several scenes of the machines fighting on the surface of massive space installations. I would come back to read this one. Only one more book and I’ve finished this series and can move on to the Siege of Terra series.

I’m close to finishing The De Facto Duchess and moving on to Book 2 of that series. I’m really enjoying the first book. The characters are fun, their interactions and enjoyable, and while I know enough of the time period to know something of what is coming their way, I’m still learning a lot about how the end of the Napoleonic wars and the war of 1812 influenced each other. I’m eager to see how it ends.

Games

I admit, I had to take a break from The Last of Us 2. Not because it got to be too intense, but because it got a bit too repetitive. I got back into it towards the end of the month and advanced the story, which is still enjoyable. We’ll see how it ends, and then I can look into the show.

I picked up Gears of War Tactics off Steam this month. A tactical squad game set in the Gears universe, I’ve only gotten a few missions into it. So far, I have enjoyed it. It is just as chaotic and grimy as the original games but includes a tactical and RPG element that I enjoy. We’ll see how the story plays out.

One of my gaming groups is gearing up for Quest for the Frozen Flame, a Pathfinder adventure path that the GM is very excited to play. Set in a arctic tribe of stone-age hunters, it will be a very different experience from the normal sword and sorcery RPG’s we play. I’ll keep you informed.

Hot Springs island is going well. I sat down with some friends to work out how to play my gunslinger better and after a few sessions of being more aggressive it’s working better than I’d hoped. He’s doing more than just standing and shooting. My Known World Book X campaign is at an interesting point where we need to develop a plan to overcome our current predicament, but damned if I know what we’ll come up with.

I’ve done a lot of work on my next GM campaign, though I don’t have a name for it yet. I did work out most of the details this month on how to structure it. I may have to rework it if the game doesn’t start before the Pathfinder ORC update rolls out.

What’s Next

Right now I’m focusing on getting my books projects advanced towards publication. I want to get another Books and Beer event running, and maybe find some more conventions in the cities that I can get into. But nothing is scheduled. So, I write.

Cheers!

Monthly Update

April Update

March was a busy and productive month. I got a lot done and knocked a lot of things off my lists.

Writing

I’m closing in on a good draft of The Colonel Lieutenant. I finished wargaming and writing the big campaign, and re-worked most of the subsequent scenes. Right now, I’m working through the first scenes, one by one, focusing on the timeline, specifically how fast people and news moves across the land. What was originally two days worth of events is now spread out across a week, now that people aren’t teleporting.

I’ve been focused on Book 3, so Orcfyre (the fantasy novel) and my untitled Science Fiction novel are on the backburner. I also haven’t done much with the Tales of the Templar short story collection. Sometime this month I’m going to sit down and work out what I have to do for all my projects and set a schedule for the year.

On a slight aside, I’ve had some work come in through Fiverr, so I spent some time building another person’s military background, in this case plotting out a campaign for their story. It was a lot of fun, and I’m writing out a blog post on it for April.

Movies and TV

After a couple of weekends of false starts, I finally got down to watch All Quiet on the Western Front. It was certainly a brutal war movie that captured the psychological terror of combat. And I did like it. But, I felt that it fell short of the impact of the 1930’s adaptation. There’s never any scenes of the characters returning home and failing to connect with civilians. And the sub-plot of the end of the war (between General Foch and the German leadership) seems to be written to make the French seem as if they were intransigent villains, without explaining why they might feel justified being so firm in their position.

I finished Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in March. The new, episodic series really took me back to the TOS and TNG days of Star Trek, before multi-episode and season-long story arcs became the norm. And it really worked for me. The stories were fun to watch. The characters were enjoyable (both legacy and new). And the ship beautiful. I felt the crew of the show understood Star Trek and made an effort to honor its legacy.

And in the same field, I finished Star Trek: Lower Decks, the animated humorous show. I was worried about this one, because I found the first season to be very hard to get through. I have a hard time with characters who always have to be right or always have to be wrong, and Season 1 had both (Mariner and Boimler), specially because the always right character was always provign the other character wrong. But that didn’t continue into Season 2 and 3, and I found those to be much, much more enjoyable.

Books

I finally finished Education in Violence: The Life of George H Thomas by Francis F. McKinney. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a history book of that type. Most of it was fun, but it did drag towards the end when it got away from Thomas and followed the Army of the Cumberland. Still, I’m glad I read it. I don’t read a lot of biographies.

I started and almost finished The Boleyn Inheritance, the next book in the Philippa Gregory series. This book follows several of the later wives of Henry VIII, jumping between several characters chapter after chapter. I look forward to having the book report up soon.

Also started The De Facto Duchess, Book One of the Burton House Saga, by Ashley Katharine Houghton. It’s a historical fiction novel set in the Georgian era of Britain. I’ve found it to be a comedic drama, in that the story is overall serious (as far as I’ve read), but a lot of the scenes have humorous elements. I’ll have to see where it ends up.

Games

I continue to play through Last of Us 2 and pick at Napolean: Total War. I added a new game, one I kickstarted many years ago that finally release: Ancient Cities, a stone-age city builder. I’ve enjoyed what I tried so far, but the game doesn’t have much of a manual or guide. I have so many questions I can’t answer and it bugs me. I’ll still play at it a bit, but unless I can find some answers I’m not sure how much time I’ll invest in it.

I’m happy to report I’m still playing the same RPG characters. I’ve also gotten to try a new system called Blades in the Dark, a story telling RPG set in a dark, steampunk fantasy world. If you want to try a new story-telling game, this is one to take a look.

What’s Next

This upcoming weekend I’ll have a table at Minicon 56, my first full convention since before Covid. That will be fun, though of course I’m worried about my table set up. By the end of the month I’m aiming to have at least one more event lined up. Fingers crossed.

Until next time, keep writing!

-Michael

Monthly Update

March Update

February was a busy month. Not only did I spend time concentrating on getting over some of the issues with various writing projects, but I knocked several movies off my list. I also got into podcasts at work, listening to them while I process some of the more mundane responsibilities.

Writing

My main focus was Book 3, wargaming out the end campaign to better understand how fast the units would be moving and reacting to events. I wrote through about 30,000 words, replacing previous scenes and building a much stronger campaign than the first run through. This leads me into the last acts of the book and gets me closer to a draft.

When I haven’t been working on Book 3, I’ve been spending some time on the sci-fi novel. I had to correct a few errors, re-writing scenes to account for mistakes I had made. I’ve also had to face the fact that the rough-draft’s final acts were not very exciting, so I’ve been planning out a new sequence of events. I’m working through those scene and closing in on a rough draft of that book as well.

Movies and TV

Knocked many things off my watch list last month.

I finished Star Trek: Discovery Season 4. I thought it was fantastic. A lot of people find problems with Discovery, and I understand why, but I really like their stories and their story-telling. Season 4 was the first season that I thought did not fall apart in the last two episodes.

Then I watched The Other Boleyn Girl, a film version of one of the books I’ve read. I was not too impressed. I know everything that got cut out, so the movie just feels like a rushed collection of events. I’m writing a more detailed blog post which should be up soon.

I also knocked out Top Gun: Maverick. It was an exciting movie, which I expected. What I did not expect was how strong the story was. I don’t know that I would say it is Best Picture material, but it was really good.

Books

Slowly making my way through the Education in Violence: The Life of George H Thomas by Francis F. McKinney. It’s a long, involved history book, with a lot of details about the general’s life and command during the civil war. It’s good, but it is involved. Takes a long time to get through one page.

Games

I finished both Last of Us and Fort Triumph. Fort Triumph was a fun game, with a decent and fun story. Last of Us though, holy crap was that an intense game. I had to give myself a few days between sessions. Still, I think it was one of the best games I’ve ever played. Up there with Horizon Zero Dawn. I started Last of Us Part II, which continues to be just as intense as the first game.

For my next computer game, I was going to start Mechanicus, a Warhamemr 40K game I’ve heard good things about, but it turns out there’s a problem with the game: the text is so small I can’t read it and I have no idea what’s going on. So instead I’m working through Napolean: Total War, to satiate my need for a strategic game of conquest.

Not much new to report in terms of RPG’s. My characters are all still alive and continuing with their stories. I’m doing a bit of work on some campaign ideas, but just broad strokes. I don’t think I’ll be running anything for a while.

What’s Next

I’ve got Minicon coming up Easter Weekend. By the end of the month I’m hoping to have another convention and a Books and Beer even lined up for summer. But those are yet to come.

Monthly Update

February Update

Here is my update for February, covering December of ’22 and January of ’23.

Writing

January was a bit of a slow writing month, after the high temp of the end of 2022. I’ve been tweaking the sci-fi story and correcting some errors, and gaming out the end battle of Book 3. I probably added about 20,000 words all month. Not bad, but not great. I’m readying myself for February to be a big month.

Movies and TV

Not a lot new in terms of TV shows or movies recently. I did snag a year of Paramount+ for cheap during a holiday sale, so I’m getting into the fourth season of Star Trek Discovery, with several other Star Trek shows to follow. Plus I’m aiming to knock a few movies off my to-watch list in February. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Books

Between December and January I read a lot of fun books.

A Hundred Years from Launch (by Kayli Schaaf): I picked this book up from Kayli and a Books and Beer event I ran back in September, and I freaking loved it. It’s set in a small terraforming colony, trying to prepare for a population fleeing a dying earth. The main character is dealing with deep secrets that she cannot reveal, and trying to build some sense of happiness. The story covers a series of crisis that force the character and the colony to adapt, painfully but for the better. I enjoyed the story so much that one aspect of the story that took me out and had me saying ‘WTF?’ wasn’t enough for me to give it 4 stars. I absolutely recommend this book.

Little Paris Bookshop (by Nina George): Not my usual genre but I thought I’d give it a shot. Originally written in German as the ‘Lavender Room’ and translated to English. This book is about a Parisian bookseller whose book shop is a riverboat. He discovers a letter from his deceased lover that makes him re-evaluate his life and their parting. He takes his river boat to the waterways of France, adventuring to soothe his soul until he can learn to love himself and face life again. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, given how far it is from my usual reads.

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (by Mark Haddon): Another oddity, one I got from my mother for Christmas. What made this book fascinating is that it is written from the view point of an autistic teenager who’s writing the story afterwards. The writer explains the rules of his autism and how he interacts with the world. For example, he describes that the reason he can’t lie is that when he tries to, he doesn’t just think of one thing that didn’t happen, he thinks of everything that didn’t happen, and can’t decide what to say. Another fascinating book.

Education in Violence: The Life of George H Thomas (by Francis F. McKinney): A biography of one of my favorite and least known American Civil War generals, I chose this from several lists of biographies. I only just started it, so I’ve gone through his early life, the Mexican American War and into the start of the Civil War. I hope to finish it well before the end of the month and move into the next Philippa Gregory and 30K book.

Games

Jedi Fallen Order: I completed this game in January. Set in the years after the prequal movies, the game follows a young Jedi survivor. He becomes embroiled in a quest for an artifact. It was a fun game to play through, one that continued to expand the Star Wars universe.

Last of Us: I have only just started to play this one, recommended to me by my sister. The opening sequence was intense and brutal, but holy crap did it get me into the game. I thoroughly enjoy the story and the characters, but I find the gameplay a bit frustrating. I keep trying to stealth by areas, and the game keeps forcing me into combat. We’ll see if the story continues to make up for the gameplay problems.

Fort Triumph: A PC game in the same vein as Heroes of Might and Magic. However, instead of armies of troops, you command squads of hereos. It has a strong RPG element, with a fun tongue-and-cheek campaign that had me laughing several times. I’m hoping to finish this game this month and move on to something else.

In terms of Roleplaying Games, I finished my Homecoming game just before New Years, so I’m no longer running one. I’m still playing in several games, one as a blunderbuss-toting tengu pirate, another as Sir Montague the gambler. With the new year comes new campaigns. Some new characters might be coming out soon.

What’s Next

I’m signed up to have a table at Minicon, Easter weekend in April.

Monthly Update

2022 in review + 2023 goals

I started 2022 expecting to get a book out (or two), attend conventions, get Books and Beer up and running again, and generally make writing a more important part of my life. I was going to read through dozens of books and blog about them, and blog more in general. There were lists of games and movies and shows to run through. I had a lot of goals.

Largely, I did not make them. But I don’t consider 2022 a failure.

I have written almost 200,000 words between all my writing projects, and there’s a good chance I will published two or three books next year.

My short story exchange group has given me confidence in writing smaller stories, so I’m eager to start exploring new story-telling options for ideas I have waiting in the wings.

I got Books and Beer up and running again, with two events in 2022.

I’m feeling a little more comfortable with my blogging voice.

My goal for 2023 is to keep the momentum going. Keep writing. Keep pushing. Don’t worry over every little misstep. I’ve already started signing up for events in 2023, and I’ll be looking into Books and Beer locations soon.

As for 2022, I’ve learned a lot about how I missed my goals and why. My apartment is full of distractions, so libraries and coffee shops are good ideas if I want to make progress. I invested in a small laptop with the writing software I need, and a secondary monitor to help with research and referencing. And sometimes, I just need to kick my own ass off the couch and get stuff done.

So, 2022. Thanks for the chance to grow.

2023? Let’s see what we can do together.

Monthly Update

December 2022 Update

Well, November was a month dominated by NANOWRIMO and Thanksgiving.

Writing

I missed the goal of 50,000 words by about 8K between all three projects. Th main reasons I missed out had to do with slowing down on weekend and spending more time over Thanksgiving with family than writing, which is a good trade off. Still, I’m good with 42,000 words for the month. That’s a good amount of writing.

Movies and TV

Finished off Andor in November. That was a fun show, getting into the dark background of Star Wars without adding Jedi and Darth anything. It was a slow start, sure, but I enjoyed it, especially Mon Mothma’s storyline, and Stellan Skarsgard’s character of Luthen. I look forward to the next season.

Over the holiday I went to see Devotion, about the the first African American Naval Aviator and the Korean War. I liked the movie, and had a fun experience where my knowledge of World War 2 aircraft led me to anticipating some plot points. There was one minor plot that I felt was forced, but overall, I liked it.

Books

I read the next Gregory book, The Other Boleyn Girl, and I’m working on the blog post for that. The book is from the POV of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn, and is the first time we get to see the events of Henry VIII’s life from the Boleyn faction. I’ll leave more for the blog post.

I also read another 30K book, Heralds of the Siege, book 52 of the Horus Heresy series. Like all the other anthologies in the series, some of the short stories were very good, and others were forgettable. And most involved characters we haven’t seen in ten books or so, so I had no idea who they were. But, one more down, twenty to go?

Games

I’m continuing to wrap down the Sunday night game. I’ve only got a few more sessions before it finished up, and I’m hoping I’ve got a good idea how to get a final battle that will be challenging and enjoyable.

The other two games I’m playing in ar moving along. We have an almost TPG (Total Party Kill) on Monday night, so a bunch of us had to replace our characters. It’s a chance to try something new.

What’s Next

On December 10th I’ve got the next Books and Beer Pop-Up Bookstore at the AZ Gallery in St Paul. Other than that I’m working on three book projects and a number of short stories. I want to published at least one book in 2023 if I can get it to work out.

Keep on writing!

Michael

Monthly Update

November Update

Man, the monthly change really sneaks up on you. No sooner am I planning the update, then BAM, we’re past the first. Well, I’m only a day late to cover what I managed in both September and October.

Writing

I have been making a lot of good writing milestones the last few weeks. I got past the last big issue with Book 3 and I’m writing through that act. Then I’ll have to keep writing into the next act and start ironing out what doesn’t make sense, and iron it into the act before. I’ll have to take a few passes to make it work, but then I’ll finally have my rough draft. The downside is that even though I’m finally over 100,000 words (yay!), a lot of the work ahead is re-writing, so the word count won’t increase as much.

The SciFi and Fantasy novel re-writes are going well. Each is over 20K and progressing daily. Both are a lot stronger than the rough drafts were. It’s nice to be able to jump between them as I need to.

NANOWRIMO Note: My goal for NANOWRIMO is to add 50K words between the three projects. The Book 3 Re-writing will be a bit odd to count, but I’ll make it work.

Movies and TV

I cannot say I watched a lot of new Movies or TV the last two months, in part because I tried not to turn my TV on a lot over October.

I watched through She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the MCU show on Disney +. I liked the show, especially how the main character kept breaking the fourth wall to share joked with the audience. The misogyny the character experienced was hard to watch, but I don’t think you could tell her story without it. At least the character had a fulfilling arc. I hope to see her in future shows.

Started the Andor show. I’m enjoying it so far, though I’m watching it more for what they’re doing with Mon Motha, the political character, than I am for what they’re doing with Andor. I mean, I like Andor, but I find her arc much more interesting. We’ll see how it turned out.

Books

Read through a five-book young adult series called the Phantasmagoria series, written by a Minnesota author named El Holly. The five books follow five middle schoolers who have to travel to a world of imagination called Phantasmagoria. They go to find balance between the worlds and save both from destruction. They’re books written for a younger audience, so there’s some wackiness in the story and some odd decisions, but it was still a fun series to read through.

I also read through a 40K book called ‘Battle of the Fang’, about the Thousand Sons attack on the Space Wolf homeworld of Fenris. A pretty decent book, as 40K books can go. A lot of cool combat sequences, some fantastic sci-fi, and a bunch of ‘seriously?’ moments. About what I’d expect.

Games

Finished Terran Command and Farcry: Primal. I may go back and finish some of the extras in both, but I don’t have to. I’ve got the stories done and that’s pretty decent. Playing through Epic 40K: Final Liberation, which is a game I played through way back in the 90’s when it first came out. I’m having another experience (like I did with C&C) where I’m playing much more competently now than I did as a child. Very much enjoying the playthrough.

Not much changing on the Role-Playing Game front. My Sunday night ‘Homecoming’ game should be wrapping up soon, so we’ll see if that ends on a high note. Hot Springs Island and Known World are still running great.

What’s Next

Focusing on NANOWRIMO (at least how I’m doing it this year). Got my eye on some conventions and events come the new year, hit 2023 swinging and selling. Keep selling on Fiverr if and when I can. And of course trying to blog more often.

Cheers!

Michael

Monthly Update

September 1st Update

August becomes September, and summer becomes spring, and authors look at their coffee shop boards and see pumpkin spice. Such is the nature of things.

Writing

Book 3 is just shy of 90,000 words. I am currently working on the middle section, that connects the beginning and end. I am plotting out what needs to happen and working on a map of the area. Once I have it written then I can shift to ironing the story together and getting the rough draft done.

I am working on the Tales of the Templar short story book. I am just finishing up the second story and I’m well into the third. The goal is four to six.

I’m still picking on the Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels when I feel the need to write instead of plot. I worked out the mythology of the fantasy novel and the science of the sci-fi, so now I can get to the writing.

Movies and TV

In August I watched a number of new shows and films. I finally finished off Sherlock, the BBC show with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. I saw the first episode back when it came out and it so upset me I did not finish the season until now. The last two episodes were not as bad as I’d feared; I might even go as far as to say they revived my interest in the show.

In terms of movies I watched Bullet Train, the Brad Pitt action/comedy film in the theater. I like it and thought it was a fun film. Worth going to the local cinema to see.

At home I streamed The Batman, the latest Batman film with Robert Patterson. As odd as Patterson is when he’s playing Bruce Wayne, I liked how this entry was a proper detective story. I even like how Batman and Gordon make mistakes in their investigation. Their fallibility added to the story.

Finally, I saw Prey, the latest Predator movie set in the early 18th century and featuring American Indian tribes fighting the sci-fi hunter. Holy crap did that movie rock. I was thrilled the whole time. I’d like to see them do more Predator through the ages movies.

Books

Only got through two books this month, which is kind of disappointing, but they were both longer books.

Three Sisters, Three Queens is the next Philippa Gregory book, following Margaret Tudor, older sister of King Henry VIII and Queen of Scotland. I really liked this book, and I’m working on the book report right now.

The other book I read is Ways and Means, a look at the economics of the American Civil War. Mostly the book followed Salmon Chase as he built up the Federal government’s finances to pay for the ever more expensive civil war. The author also spent time talking about the Confederate banking system and the European responses. These are all things I knew little about, for all my education on the war, and for all the importance economics and finance has on a government’s ability to persecute a war.

Games

Stalled out on Starship Troopers: Terran Command. I hit a mission I haven’t been able to get past yet, but I’m still working on it.

Almost done with a console game, Farcry: Primal, set in Germany in about 5,000 BC. I found this game an interesting take on the normal Farcry build. The gameplay was about the same, but without the array of guns to collect and customize, you were much more reliant on melee weapons and special grenades. Pretty cool., though I’m looking forward to getting back to normal.

My Homecoming game continues into the final chapter. Monday night works into Hot Springs Island. And my charisma character is still doing a good job in the Thursday Night Known World Campaign. So, RPG wise, I’m doing really well.

What’s Next

I’ve got a Books and Beer Event on September 18th at Inbound BrewCo; I will be hosting, but I’ll still have a table and everything. Looking to get some tables going for events the rest of this year and into next, but don’t have anything signed up yet.

Have a seller’s profile on Fiverr. Now I’m building some gigs (services people can purchase from me). Working on graphics and will have those up shortly.

Still writing, still revising, still working.

Cheers!

Michael

Monthly Update

August 1st Update

July was a very busy month in some ways, and not so busy in others.

Writing

Book 3 is now over 80,000 words, which is only 5,000 more than a month ago, but is includes a 10,000 word re-write of the first two acts to account for a correction of geography. I’ve got the first and last acts written. Now I need to connect them with the middle acts and complete the rough draft.

I’m working on my fantasy novel again, having worked out the bulk of the problems with the mythology and pantheons. I’m in a similar position with the science fiction novel of having the background worked out. But since most of my writing time is dedicated to Book 3, I’m just picking at them when I have some extra time.

Movies / TV

I finished off Ms Marvel. I enjoyed it. Not only the story of the character, but the new background and culture of Kamila Kahn. I’m excited to see where she goes in the future.

I also got to see the Thor: Love and Thunder movie, which was great. Not as fun as Ragnarok, but it was a good movie. I still don’t see where Phase IV is going. Maybe it’s more of a palette cleanser between sagas? I think I heard something to that effect, but I haven’t read into it yet.

I watched through the fourth season of Stranger Things. Holy crap did that crank up the tension. I’m glad I started watching it on a Sunday morning and not at night. As it was, I was nervous the entire season. I will say this: that show does a good job of bringing different storylines together at the end.

Books

Guess I didn’t read a whole lot this month. Other than finishing Red Storm Rising, I read a book called Justice in an Age of Metal and Men, a cyberpunk western story. It was a fascinating world, though I had a hard time getting into the story.

Games

Been playing through Matrix Game’s Starship Troopers Terran Command. It’s a Real-Time Tactical game, commanding squads of troopers across battlefields while fighting the arachnids, complete with the generic cliches of the movie series. It’s pretty fun, and I’m almost done with it.

In RPGs, my Homecoming game is continuing into the last chapter. My Monday Night Game continues into Hot Springs Island (my character is still alive!) and my Thursday game is entering the next phase, a chapter of urban politics where my character plays a role of a foreign investor. Not my usual role.

What’s next

I’m running a Books and Beer Pop-Up Bookstore in September that I’ll be prepping for. I’m close to posting some job stuff on Fiverr. Other than that, it’s writing and revising and working being mor author-like.

Until next time!

Michael

Monthly Update

July 1st Update

Wow. Don’t know how I missed the June update, but here we are. Guess I was just too carried away writing and revising one project or another.

Writing

Book Three is at 75,000 words, and about halfway done if not more. There’s a lot of work ahead, of course; at least two aspects of what I’ve written don’t work and will have to be redone. I’m close to having a second Tales of the Templars story completed also.

My fantasy novel is on hold while I revisit the mythology of the world. It was not holding up to what I needed, so I’ve been revising it. The good news is I’ve worked out a new system that works. Next, I’m ironing out some names and histories to give me the background I need.

My science fiction novel is ready for heavy revisions. But before I do that, I’m taking a moment to answer some important questions that I need to have answers to. I need to shore up some points, ensure some characters remain consistent, and one or two don’t disappear suddenly and without explanation. You know, the little things.

Movies and TV

Saw the new Dr Strange movie. I thought it was pretty good though not quite what I was expecting given what the trailers had be believing. Still not sure what the MCU Phase 4 is leading to. I’ve heard some theories, but without a unifying factor like Thanos and the Infinity Stones it just seems like a lot of threads in the wind.

Watched through Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+. Overall, I liked it. It skirted the issue of telling a story without conflicting A New Hope too much (though this appears open to debate). It answered a few questions that lingered, Mostly, I was glad they didn’t botch it.

I saw the first few episodes of Strange New Worlds (the Star Trek show) and am incredibly impressed with what I saw. I’m excited for episodic-based trek. Caught the first episode of Ms Marvel, but haven’t seen anything since. Looking to catch back into that starting this weekend.

Books

Since I last updated, I’ve read a lot, though most of it was re-reading. I re-read Book 2 of the Honor Harrington prequel series, A Call to Arms. The main character is an officer now and continues his adventures in space.

I followed this up by re-reading the entirety of the Harry Potter series., all seven books.

Read the next Philippa Gregory book, The King’s Curse, about Margaret Pole. Pole lives through Henry VIII and the English Reformation. Book report due soon. Stay tuned.

Quick aside for a book on job interview techniques a friend of mine from college wrote. Now I’m re-reading and almost done with Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising. This was the first Clancy book and first Techno-Thriller book I read back in middle-school.

Games

I got stuck on a mission of Warmachine: Tactics that’s frustrated me. Try as I might, I cannot get into that game. I suppose I should just accept that there are games I will not be able to get into easily. They won’t hold my attention, or I won’t find them interesting. You pay your money, and you take your chances.

I had a coupon and picked up a copy of the new Starship Troopers came from Slytherine/Matrix games. It’s pretty fun for a Realtime Tactical game. Simple, captured the feel of the movies (though obviously not the books). Maybe I’ll focus on that one for a bit.

RPG-wise, my gaming groups have finished two Delta Green one-shots, neither of which were creature features. That was a nice change of pace, getting away from ‘what sort of monster is it this week!?’. Got involved, and we lost some characters in some interesting ways.

My Homecoming campaign is entering the final chapter. I’ve got a lot of ideas, but I am nervous. Can I pull off a final boss battle? Will the story hold? I’m going to keep taking it one session at a time. It’s worked so far.

Another group is revisiting Hot Springs Island, a published book I’ve visited before. The island is designed to be replayed so it won’t be the same island I’ve visited before. It is a brutal and lethal island. Should be fun.

What’s Next

I’ve got a Books and Beer Pop-Up Bookstore set up for September, so expect more on that coming up soon. I’m aiming to add another convention before the end of the year. And I’m hoping to have a profile up on Fiverr for some writing and editing support. Other than that, it’s just writing, writing, and revising.

Until next time,

Michael