Find time for our creative pursuits...

So anyone associated with Green Gates Entertainment also has a full time job that does not involve dragons, spaceships, superheros or vampires (unfortunately).
So we, like most others of a creative bent, struggle with finding time for our pursuits - except perhaps for Green himself who seems to have unlimited energy to make his worlds a reality...just check out Dread Hollow in Chattanooga, TN. A complete small town built to deliver chilling and haunting experience throughout the whole year. Think of it as a horror movie you can visit where the characters stay the same but the story around them continues to evolve. How cool is that?

For me (Gates), I constantly struggle with balancing my time. Between work, family, writing and trying to stay in a modicum of  good health, I find my time diminishes quickly (I also like to play music, brew beer and still make time for some epic Pathfinder!).

So here is my current plan - lately I have been balancing work, family, and exercise well. So my new plan is to set aside one hour, early in the day when I walk into my home office, and write, blog, promote, submit, etc. I have been going well for this first hour of today. Let's see how I do at keeping that going!

What tips, tricks or techniques might you have for ensuring you  keep the creativity flowing while balancing your time in the "real world"?

“Blue Spirit” By E. Chris Garrison

This is a book that grabs the reader right off the bat and doesn’t let go. From the very start, when the world of fantasy bleeds into our own world, the book is suffused with a sense of wonder and a lingering malevolence as it seems our heroine is constantly just a bit over her head. However, with her own sense of ingenuity and the powerful sense of camaraderie between her and her close friends, somehow, she manages to persevere.

The most compelling thing about the book, in my opinion, is just how real the characters feel. We see the world from the point of view of the main character who has the same problems as many of use as she balances her extraordinary gift with the travails of real life such as finding the right relationship, paying her rent and holding down a job while engaging in adventures across worlds.

It puts one in the mind of “Lost Girl” in that the characters are real people with real problems who also have to deal with extraordinary circumstances at every turn. The main character, Skye,  is insightful, funny, a gamer, a cosplayer and she likes to drink. She sounds like any one of my close circle of friends!

I had no idea what to expect I opened the book, but once I started reading, I could not put it down. I wanted to know what was going on, what would happen next, and above all, I wanted these characters, who felt like people I knew and cared for, to be ok.

So this book is a quick read, a great ride and if there is any weakness, it is in the brevity of the work..fortunately, there is a another book to read!

Look for my review of “Sinking Down” coming soon!

Pick up "Blue Spirit" here!

Here's the synopsis of the book

Book Synopsis for Blue Spirit:   Gamer girl Skye MacLeod can see fairies, but only when she’s tipsy. More Grimm than enchanting, some of these fairies are out to ruin her life, wreaking havoc with her job, her home, and her relationships.

With the help of her tiny fairy friend Minnie, Skye has to protect her vampire wannabe gamer friends from all-too-real supernatural threats only she can see. Can she keep it together and hold fast against a wicked fairy Queen’s plot?

Blue Spirit is the first book of A Tipsy Fairy Tale series!

Stranger Things, I'm sorry, I judged you too early and I was wrong.

(Cue Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You" as accompaniment for this apology)

Okay, I owe a big apology to "Stranger Things". I said some not-so-positive things about it the other day, and I kinda wish I had not. I didn't really say anything negative, because I rarely go negative, but I wasn't exactly positive either. I'm not giving myself an excuse here, and that's what I want to talk about today.
So, I will say what I do like about the show. It's a fabulous homage to the 80's, Steven Spielberg, a little John Carpenter and Wes Craven and even some John Hughes (as pointed out by my astute fiance).
So it's a really good send up of a lot of those films and it does feel very familiar. I felt, initially that it was too predictable. There was a bit of a flame war that I was mistaking familiarity for predictability, and in the end, I concede. It was a bit predictable, but kind of in the ways you want it to be.
So I rarely poop on another artist's work, and The Duffer Brothers are even from right here in NC. So I am correcting myself. Just because I saw a couple of twists coming, doesn't mean I didn't like it. One doesn't watch a Star Wars movie without kind of knowing where it's going to go (the bad guys where black, for goodness sake). So I gave myself a stern talking to, looked at the show with fresh eyes and allowed myself to be swept away for the ride.
It was like visiting an old friend, or going back to your favorite amusement park from when you were a kid. The production value was high, the ending was exceptional and there will be more to come.

I will be right there watching it when Stranger Things returns for Season 2 in 2017.

Getting back up

Chilling at my favorite pub (Saints and Scholars, Raleigh, NC) and reflecting on how I got here (not to the pub, to this place in life). There were some turmoil years just after "The Battle of Caerlon" was released. Unfortunately, I let it kill my Big Mo (momentum). I never stopped writing but progress slowed to a crawl and publishing, interacting with folks, all that disappeared.
But I'm finally at a place where I have slowed down the race a bit, took stock of where I am, and begun the recovery.
What better way than to release a new book (The Warchitect), but it won't stop there. The next book in the Pendragon Chronicles is complete and being edited. The Forsaken is being polished up and Return To Glory (my first love) is about to get a complete reboot (since reboots seem to be the rage these days). I'm moving on the the third book in The Pendragon Chronicles (working title: White Ghost), a sequel to Warchitect and a couple of other new projects that are in their infancy.
It feels good to be back in the game some. I have a partner who supports it and more time to work on my art than ever before.
So I guess the moral, or at least what I have learned, is that it's okay to get knocked down. Just get back up. Keep getting back up.
How does the Japanese proverb go? Get knocked down seven times and get up eight.
Close enough for me :)

Hey! We released another book! It's called the Warchitect and it's available on Amazon Kindle. Check it out right here!

And here is the awesome cover image by Danny Kelly:

What's your excuse?

Got a good excuse for not fulfilling your dream? Maybe you've got a couple. I know I do. Then I read a post like this by Marc Cenedalla and I realize my excuses are pretty lame.

What's Happening, Hot Stuff?

Been awhile since I posted. I hate that but it's been really, really hectic in the personal life. I have been doing a bit of publicity for "The Battle of Caerlon". I've been writing on the sequel "Lisanor" and reading quite a bit.
Right now I am reading The Sentinels series by Van Allen Plexico. Loving that.
I bought "Apocalypse of Enoch" by Shane Moore and I can't wait to read it.
I watched "Hemingway and Gellhorn". A great movie. Inspiring and daunting. Hemingway was messed up, but also brilliant.

The Avengers

So, I went and saw The Avengers last weekend. I'm not sure how I didn't post about it.
It was everything it should have been. I started reading Avengers comics in the mid 1970's. I consider myself an expert on how Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Hawkeye should interact.
To me, Black Widow will always be a bad guy...and Hawkeye is a bit suspect since he started out as a bad guy.
Hulk is just Hulk.
This movie captures the relationships so well. Avengers has always been about relationships. Cap is the leader, the soldier, but he won't leave a man (or woman) behind. Thor should consider himself above them all, but they have earned his respect. Iron Man is arrogant, but he is a true friend. Hulk has rage issues, but he's good at heart.
Of course the action scenes are mind blowingly awesome. Scarlet Johansson is mega hot and the whole cast is just beautiful.
What can I say, I should have known that when Joss Whedon takes over a franchise, it's going to be great. He has all the makings of the next George Lucas (except he seems to love his fans). There is action, coolness, and laughs galore. One area he needs to work on...his bad guys. In this one it's Loki. Loki is...ok. He's just not someone we love to hate. He's not Darth Vader.
I'll get past that. We will certainly have another Avengers movie to watch and I personally cannot wait!

Game of Thrones

I really enjoy Game of Thrones on HBO. I love the books. If you haven't read them, do it...like right now. Stop reading this post and go buy one of them.
Seriously though, I find it super inspirational and immersive and interesting. I have thought this since I picked it up in 1996 and started the first page.
One thing I love about the series is also the one thing that drives me crazy.
What I expect to happen...that never happens. Many of the events that occur in the story are so unexpected. I think the story is going to go one way and it goes in a completely different direction. It does this in a way that makes it super interesting...I guess a lot like life. The people who should get married don't always get married. The people who should live are sometimes killed. Sometimes Brett Favre and the Vikings lose to the Saints and we don't get to see the Favre/Manning Superbowl I always dreamed of...but I digress.

This series has been fantastic from the start. If you like fantasy, then you should be watching. It has great action, cool magic (that is more than a little scary), dragons, zombies and wizards and all in a way that is cool and completely without camp...and if that's not enough, the steamy scenes are well worth the watching.

Mid Year

Almost to mid year. Time to evaluate those 2012 goals and see how we are doing. How are you going with yours?
In taking a look at mine, I got GGE Publishing launched..sort of. First story still to be published. We started "Stitch", saw "The Battle of Caerlon" published and made progress on "Return To Glory". In the personal life I have kept up my fitness goals and had lots of good family time (there is a lot more detail on those goals in my personal "goals" file).
Here is what I would like to do for the remainder of 2012.

• ·         Finish Lisanor - The second in The Pendragon Chronicles
• ·         Finish Rodentia - GGE's rated G story. about 75% complete.
• ·         Publish Seeds of Vyldur - The first GGE published novel.
• ·         Edit/rewrite RTG - About 50% complete
• ·         Edit Warchitect - Underway
• ·         Begin Stitch (finish first draft) - Underway
• ·         Possibly publish RTG - The second GGE published work
• ·         Begin planning more for Pantheon - A superhero style project for development next year (2013).
• 
  

 So let's see how we do on those by December!

What are your goals? How are you going?

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! Today we are honoring all of those who have given their lives in service to the American armed forces, establishing and maintaining our freedom.
For most of us, it is a combination patriotic celebration and glorious day off from the 9 to 5. When I was a kid, it was just another day off. There seemed to be plenty of them.
Now, it seems like there is never enough of them and each one is almost sacred.
What to do? How to spend this gift of a few hours where I get to be myself for a change?
Well, for me, I will figure something out. My perfect day would have a good deal of writing and editing, maybe some gaming with my friends and my sons. A nice meal out of the house with my lovely wife. Maybe some work in the yard or a trip to the beach. I like to be a little productive and a lot relaxed.
Here's my advice today - whatever you do, don't be too hard on yourself if you just waste the day away and a relaxed haze. On the other hand, don't be too easy on yourself either. Find something that you will be happy to tell the coworkers about tomorrow when they ask "How was your holiday?"

Writing Magic

I am reading "Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly" by Gail Carson Levine. I will post a longer review soon. It's a short read so it should not take me long. It includes a lot of writing exercises that I should probably take the time to do. It seems fun. I am like everyone else though, more ideas than time, so we'll see what happens with the exercises. I know it would be good practice.

The Pendragon Chronicles

I promise not to devote this entire blog to shameless self promotion, but there will be a little. In the event that there are a few folks out there who do enjoy a new look at Arthur Pendragon's world, then it might be fun to have a facebook page devoted to the discussion of all things Arthurian.

So, here's the FB Page for "The Pendragon Chronicles", so stop by and give us a "like" and join the conversation!

And enjoy this concept image of Bedivere, drawn and colored by the highly-skilled Danny Kelly

The Battle of Caerlon - release date (it's today)

Green Gates has officially released it's first title! How excited am I? Numb with excitement!

It's an ebook from Double Dragon Press.

"The Battle of Caerlon" is the first in the Pendragon Chronicles. (the second is 90% complete already).

This all stemmed from my idea that the Pendragon Legend needed serious updating, and not the updating that has been going on lately where writers try and tell what it was "really" like. King Arthur may have existed, who knows, but the story is a fantasy story. Magic, Dwarves, Monsters and all that jazz. It needs to be written for the modern fantasy readers. That story, the one where Arthur is a young warrior, destined for greatness as he tries to stem off an invasion and put down eleven rebel kings all while magic is crashing down onto Britannia and mucking with the world around him...that story begins here...

Check it out here!

Here's the synopsis;

Britannia is shattered by war. Rome has withdrawn, leaving the island kingdom in ruins. Eleven Rebel Kings have elected King Lot as High King in direct opposition to The Council of Kings. The Council has elected Arthur, the son of Uther Pendragon- the former High King- as their Dux Bellorum, or War Duke. Arthur has assembled a force of the land’s mightiest heroes into The Pendragon Legion and has taken the field against the rebel kings. Meanwhile, King Lot, his own forces comprised of Uther’s greatest generals, has allied himself with the darkest of magic in his bid to defeat The Pendragon Legion and become Britannia’s High King. The ensuing war pits fathers against sons and brothers against brothers as the battle between good and evil threatens to engulf all of the land.

So go check it out at Double Dragon Press. If you aren't crazy about it...I apologize, but it's the legend as I see it. Full of war, blood, magic, sex, betrayal and all that makes drama interesting. 

Cinco De Mayo

I will be doing some editing today for a story written by a good friend and a great writer, Walter Rhein. The soundtrack will be the new album "Dry" by my good friend Johnny Blackthorn (just released - pick it up!). And the drink? The perfect Margarita, of course. Today I will eschew the cheapo margaritas I normally make and go for a more traditional recipe. Here's one I snagged off of Yahoo (the source of all information)

The Recipe: The Perfect Agave Margarita

Ingredients

·         Kosher salt

·         2 lime slices or wedges

·         1/4 cup tequila blanco

·         2 tablespoons agave syrup (nectar)

·         2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preparation

·         Pour some kosher salt into a small dish. Rub 1 lime slice over half the rim of an Old Fashioned glass (if you prefer your Margarita on the rocks) or a coupe glass (if you prefer it up). Dip rim of glass into salt.

·         Combine tequila, agave syrup, and juice in a cocktail shaker; fill with ice and shake well. Strain into prepared glass. Garnish with second lime slice.

Who's a good writer?

Here's a post that's probably been pontificated on at least a million times.
What makes a good writer?
Ok, you have to be able to formulate a good sentence. You have to be decent with grammer and you should be able to spell a little.
It's more than that though, right? I know plent of folks who can formulate the perfect sentence, grammatically, but that doesn't make them a storyteller. I guess it should also be noted that many of my favorite storyteller's play pretty fast and loose with the grammatical rules anyway.
So what is it?
Here's some background. Got another rejection today, this one from an agent. Rejection letters are something that happen pretty regulary. I write to please myself. Tim (Green) sees it the same way. Not looking to impress anyone too much, however, we love some of these characters and stories and would like to share them. It's not about money, fame, celebrity or any of that. We want to share our stories with like-minded people and maybe entertain them a bit in the process.
So we write, we publish and sometimes we submit. Why not try some traditional avenues as well, right?
Sometimes we get accepted and sometimes we get rejected. This happens to the best of them. Tim Burton gets ideas rejected all the time. So it shouldn't bother me...right?
Well, it does bother me. I don't know why. I go through stages from "to hell with you, . You wouldn't know a good story if it crawled up your pants leg and bit your dangling participle!" al the way to "We are the suckiest writers ever and should just go bag groceries for a living so our lack of creative energy won't poison the rest of society." And finally, I come back to "Soldier on, Bastards" (to borrow a phrase from Paddy and The Rats).
So what makes a good writer? Can it be "ensured" that you will be good? Lots of folks come out of programs granting a Masters in Creative Writing. Are all of those people then Masters? Do they get published to wide acclaim (I don't think so, but I have no data). Here are some facts on my favorites authors.
I know Stephen King has a degree in English. JK Rowling majored in French and The Classics. Joe Abercrombie studied Psychology. Terry Brooks majored in English Literature and has an advanced degree in Law. George RR Martin - degree in journalism. Robert Jordan had a degree in Physics.
J.R.R. Tolkien was, primarily a linguist. Robert Howard was basically a well-read, self taught prolific writer who piled up rejection slips for years before becoming successul. Fritz Leiber studied philosophy, but was a Shakespearan actor from the time he was a child, thanks to his parent's acting troupe.
Brian Jacques attended the school of Hard Knocks basically. No formal training as a writer, but lots of life experiences to draw from. R.A. Salvatore majored in Communications and English. William King, while his bio is vague, seemed to gain his writing expertise through work as a game designer. Nathan Long seems to have developed by trial and error, becoming first a screen writer before moving into novel. Ed Greenwood is a librarian who has been writing stories since he was a child. D&D gave him the outlet for a world he had conceived years earlier. D.A. Adams has a Masters in Writing but will be the first person to tell you that he thinks it is not necessary for writers. Mary Robinette Kowal (my cousin by the way...I'm a shameless namedropper) is a legendary puppeteer (like works for Jim Henson productions) and a voice actor (actress?) who also happens to be a kick ass writer.
So what do these folks have in common? Creativity, sure. Great storytelling ability, obviously. But what makes one better than the other and is there a path one could set out on, today, to end up at the same place as this list of folks. Some richer than others (King, Rowling), some with more work under their belt (Jacques) but all prolific, well-loved storytellers with books deemed "acceptable".
Not all are flawless at grammar. Not all have the credentials of a great education in writing.
I suspect they just had a story to tell, so they wrote it. Then they submitted it, again, and again and again. In some cases, it might have been accepted on the first try and gotten a huge advance. In other cases, it might have taken so long it seemed like a fools errand. But they kept going. Of course there are persistent people who feel like success continues to elude them.
So what's they key? I don't know. I don't have it. I suspect a lot of these folks don't know what it is either. I am sure in many cases they know what it isn't.
Puzzling. Felt cathartic to write about though.

Genre Fiction (it's what I am all about)

Discovered a great post today on Genre Fiction as art! This is near and dear to my heart (since I am all about genre fiction). Then again, maybe art is not what I'm after in the strictest sense. I think GGE considers itself more of an entertainer, but art can show up in the strangest places I suppose. Read the article and let me know what you think.

Derivative

I'm not sure what's so bad about "derivative" fantasy worlds. I guess what I write is "derivative". See, I was really excited a few days ago, I saw an editor who sounded like someone I would love to work with, but then I read that he did not fantasy worlds that were "derivative in any way".
I like derivative. I mean, I read original fantasy worlds, but sometimes it's cool to see a fireball, and elf, a dwarf, a dragon and all that jazz. Dwarfs hate elfs, magicians aren't great in combat, trolls burn, ogres are super tough but not all that smart.
I guess these are tropes of fantasy as originated by Tolkien and then perpetuated by D&D, but I enjoy them.
I am reading a D&D graphic novel and it is everything D&D was when I was a kid (IDW Publishing rocks by the way). In addition, I am playing a game called "Legend of Grimrock" and it makes me feel the same thrill I used to feel around a gaming table.
I like reading Warhammer fantasy books and I enjoy some D&D novels. I used to love Salvatore, but it got a bit repetitive, but I still recommend him to people who have never read his stuff.
So, what's so bad about derivative? Can't you tell a good story and be derivative?
When I think derivative, I think Westerns. They have all sorts of common elements, but people love them. Couldn't we do the same thing with fantasy?
I don't know, but I think I will continue being a bit derivative while applying my own touches. It works for me. I guess that's my art. We'll see where it goes.

Geeked about these flicks

So, here's 7 movies I can't wait to see!

1. The Avengers
2. The Amazing Spiderman
3. Men In Black 3
4. GI Joe 2
5. Prometheus
6. Battleship
7. The Dark Knight Rises

Death and Taxes

They are both unavoidable I suppose, but one is final and the other means you are still kicking. You are still in the bout and you still have a chance to be whatever it is you are meant to be.
I paid GGE's annual tax burden today, which is admittedly slight because we didn't sell a darn thing in 2011.
We did, however, sow lots of seed and start making some great products that will sell.
I am actually looking forward to the day when the tax burden starts to grow.
Still, I was reminded of two things:

1. There were a lot of plans I wanted to accomplish before this point
2. I have, however, accomplished a lot of the goals I set out for last year (website update underway, publishing moving along, internet presence, etc)

So, here's to another year! We'll see where we are next year at this time.