I’ll still be attending MALCon here in Denver from 12-14 August. It’s right around the corner so if you’re in Colorado, I highly recommend attending!
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend Dragon Con this year. The expense of travel and hotels is too much.
I’ll now be attending Honor Con in Raleigh, NC from 28-30 October. I’m really looking forward to that one and I’m excited to attend. It’s a military science fiction convention, so if you’re in the area you should check it out.
Because Honor Con is the same weekend as Mile Hi Con, I won’t be able to be at both places at once. I will no longer be attending Mile Hi Con.
That’s all for now, I’ll keep you posted on further changes to my schedule.
As a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs, I decided to go see Legend of Tarzan. The movie came out recently but sort of dropped off the radar, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.
Legend of Tarzan isn’t a “profound” movie for all that it has a number of potentially hot-topic subjects. There are underlying themes of man vs nature, man vs man, and man vs himself. Those are there, but those themes are secondary to the spectacle. The audience is expected to feel the wonder and excitement, not to spend time thinking about existential topics.
And it works. Legend of Tarzan manages to tackle a host of potentially controversial content and turn it into a fun adventure. It isn’t the best move (not by far), but it is fun.
I joked after seeing the movie that it was a better superman movie than than the past two movies. Tarzan is a strong, brave hero… just as in the books. You aren’t meant to question his abilities or strengths, just to watch as he overcomes obstacle after obstacle. He uses a surprising amount of compassion and empathy to overcome obstacles… or sometimes just an ability to take a beating.
All in all, it’s a fun movie. There’s a lot of good humor and fun action. Not an essential movie, but true to the underlying fantasy of the books.
One of the first bits of professional advice I found confusing was regarding my “voice”. At the time, I figured I’d just write a story, how I wrote it was my voice… right?
Well, sort of. You see, a writer has a certain tone that they use when they write. It’s a mix of word-choice, plot choices, pacing, and characterization that not only singles out who you are as a writer, but it also has effects upon your readers.
Some authors have a frenetic tone that writes a book fast and also makes for a quick read. Such styles lend themselves well to fast, action-oriented stories.
Other authors are driven by the details. Sections of dense, complex prose is there to lay out the world in a clear, enriched fashion.
There’s no one “right” way to do this, just what works for you as an author. I find that I have a different voice when I write military science fiction than from my epic fantasy series. Some of that is necessary in that you don’t want “modern” terms and comparisons in a fantasy setting (at least, not without good reason). Some of that is simply that I’m writing with a different goal in mind.
Voice plays into reader expectations as well. As you develop readers and fans, they come to expect a certain voice. If you don’t write that way, it can lead to confusion. They may not be able to pick up on what’s wrong, but they’ll feel it.
So how do you develop your voice? Well, in a big part, it’s simply how you write. The words you chose and the way you shape your story. The central piece of this is understanding your voice. It comes back to your central ideas and your unique perspective. The details that you pick out to put into your writing, the way that your characters react to events, even the colors you take the time to mention.
There are dozens of books on finding your voice. The central part that I’ve found is writing more. As you become more comfortable with writing, as you relax and enjoy it, you infuse what you write with more and more of yourself. The things that get you excited, the scenes that you love, that will speak with your voice.
Today is a day where you have the opportunity to find not just one or two, but twenty good books. Conservative Libertarian Fiction Alliance has a book-bomb going on, where they’ve selected twenty good books for your reading pleasure. (I happen to be one of the twenty)
I’ve read and even reviewed several of the books on the list. If you have the time and inclination, get over there and check them out. They’ve got a variety of books in all kinds of genres, from space opera to urban fantasy, mysteries and even non-fiction. Give it a look, support authors, and most importantly, find something fun to read.
I took a walk last night. And before you roll your eyes, no, I’m not playing Pokemon Go.
What I was doing was walking around and watching people (I do that as an author, it helps write better characters). I’ve seen a number of disturbing trends in our society, not least of which is a decline in, well, being social.
What I saw was a park filled with people, more people than I’ve ever seen there before. Old people, young people, black people, white people, Hispanics, Asians, families, and individuals, all of them walking around, pausing to talk with one another, and then going about their business. They’re playing a silly game… but more importantly they’re having fun and they’re thumbing their noses at the cynicism and world weary attitudes that have made our current society so dark.
I hear nothing but criticism online and especially through the media. What that tells me is that the usual magnets of entertainment are afraid. They’d rather you were glued to your smartphone reading the latest bad news (shootings, now with more bloodshed!) or absorbed in the current trainwreck of an election cycle. The last thing they want is people outside, talking with one another in a friendly fashion.
Pokemon Go isn’t anything particularly new. It’s a rehashing of a 1990’s era Nintendo game which at its root is just a scavenger hunt. If it gets people out of their house, out of their normal comfort zone and most importantly, talking to one another in a civil, friendly fashion… then what’s the problem?
I’ve heard criticism from all kinds of angles. “Criminals are using it!” Well, hate to break it to you, but criminals also use dating services, want-ads, and the internet. “It’s disrespectful to have them chasing these things through location X!” At least it has people showing up, there, right? The vast majority of people I’ve seen playing this game aren’t just walking around, their noses pressed to their screens. They’re walking around looking at things, checking their phone and walking again. If this gets someone to visit a memorial or a church, then they might see something or experience something that they wouldn’t either see or do. And I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything that would be inappropriate about the happy laughter of kids in a place like Arlington National Cemetery. You know what that is? It’s freedom to live life and it’s wonderful… it’s what those who gave their lives for.
There’s plenty of other spurious arguments. Most of them come back to “it’s silly.” So is being a grumpy curmudgeon. Go out and watch people. They’re having fun, they’re being a little silly, and if you ask me, that’s just what this country needs right now.
Liberty Con is here and gone, so fast that I only now realized I forgot to take pictures. I took notes, but I’ll apologize in advance if I leave out someone’s name or forget who said what, as I said, it was a busy weekend.
The first day was a bit of a blur to me, meeting new people and seeing friends again. I was on an excellent Fantasy panel with Rob Howell, Jeremy Hicks, S Andrew Swann, and Michael Ault. While a lot of the focus was on what each author wrote, there was also a lot of discussion about what we like to read and the trends we’re seeing in Fantasy. There were a lot of great perspectives, especially since we had a variety of writers there who write everything from humor to grim fantasy. It was interesting to note that those authors focused more on humor don’t feel the need to “ground” their fantasy (sort of in a Prachett style of writing) versus those writing epic fantasy at least want a developed system of rules for internal consistency.
Saturday was a very busy day for me. I was on a Military Science Fiction panel with Doug Dandridge, Charles Gannon, Peter Grant, and James Young. We had a hard backstop of the Baen travelling slideshow, so we knew we’d be run over if we ran over on time. It was a fun discussion, which started out on the topic of whether you need to be an actual combat veteran to write combat in books. Peter Grant made a good point in that it’s essential to fully understand it, but I felt (and I still do), that it’s not necessary to write good military science fiction. I think we have plenty of examples of excellent authors who don’t have that experience, but they do talk with those who do and they draw on research to do it well.
After that I had a Space Opera panel with Doug Dandridge, Julie Cochrane, Daniel Hoyt, and Mark Wandrey. This was a panel that went off the rails a bit as we ended up discussing topics like Game of Thrones. I’ve got to give props to Dan Hoyt because he did a fantastic job herding cats to try to keep us on topic (especially since he didn’t know he was moderator until he got there). Special thanks goes to the audience, since we were scheduled opposite to the Baen Travelling Slideshow, thanks all of you for showing up!
I attended a couple of panels Saturday, one on the Noir genre with Larry Correia and several other authors. I came in a bit late but it was a fun discussion, particularly as they went into cross-genre blending such as in Dresden Files and Grimnoir Chronicles.
The last part of Saturday I was at the Mad Scientist panel. It was fun, though I think we needed a bit more mad science! There were a few people there who seemed too limited in their scope, if you ask me. Dream big, right?
Sunday I didn’t have any panels, but I got to meet several people, both readers and authors, and got a chance to pitch the idea for my YA novel to Toni Weisskopf (Much kudos to Toni, she’s an amazing woman with the patience of a saint and the business acumen of a railroad tycoon). I was scheduled for a reading in the afternoon, but unfortunately with the time of my flight and the drive to Atlanta, I wasn’t able to do that.
All in all, it was a great convention. I’m already missing it and I’m preregistered for it next year!
For those of you who haven’t read Look to the Stars or The Freeport Mutineers, both short stories will be available for free this weekend. Feel free to pick up a free copy and please leave reviews!
The Freeport Mutineers
The Freeport Mutineers, by Kal Spriggs
Young Midshipman Wachter is about to face the rope.
Troubled by the rumors spread throughout the Southern Fleet, the young officer turned to the Marines and Sailors under his command… yet he and they were betrayed, arrested, and convicted of mutiny, all under the orders of the ambitious Lord Admiral Hennings.
Faced with the prospect of not only his own death, but that of the men under his command, Wachter must somehow find a way to do the right thing. Yet there is little hope with he and his men jailed, weaponless, and condemned, while the town of Freeport lies under martial law and the threat of dark sorcery.
Only one course lays open to him, to break his oaths and to swear allegiance to the cause of another, to become exactly what his enemies have accused him of being: a mutineer.
Look to the Stars
Look to the Stars, a short story by Kal Spriggs
Sometimes it’s hard not to kill anyone.
Mason McGann is a smuggler, a liar, and a cheat. With his ship impounded by customs, he figures he has no choice left but to auction off information about the lost Dreyfus Fleet. But things are never what they seem when you hold information that can change the course of history. All Mason wants is to buy his ship back, but he might have already set greater events in motion than he realizes.
Mason has to deal with a rogue military commander who is willing to kill for the power to conquer entire star systems. Worse, he’s going to have to face his own past…
There’s nothing in it for him, just his own stubbornness and the knowledge that if he doesn’t take a stand, millions could die.
Look to the Stars is a short story in the Shadow Space Universe
Since I’ll have a 3 hr drive from the airport and I’ll need to get a rental car, I’m really hoping I don’t have any delays flying in on Friday morning.
I celebrated Independence Day by watching Independence Day: Resurgence.
Independence Day Resurgence is a disaster flick cross-dressed as military science fiction.
Aliens…
Now, if you’re looking for some in-depth characterization and a vibrant plot… well, this isn’t what you’re looking for. Much like stumbling across Tim Curry in drag on Rocky Horror Picture Show, you can tell there’s something a little off about the thing.
While ID Resurgence is dressed up in a pastiche of patriotism and chest-thumping humanity is great… well, it almost feels like the movie doesn’t believe it. Humanity spends 20 years building up an awesome effort to defend itself… which it loses in under five minutes.
…Who does that? Come on, it’s military SF, if it’s a doomed effort, at least let us get to watch and celebrate the individuals who are about to die defending humanity, right? You can’t just show off all this drool-worthy military hardware and then not even give us a chance
It is my very favorite gun…
to see it really perform! That would be like if Jayne never got to use Vera after his awesome introduction!
And then there’s this weird sort of planetary government. We’re told that humanity has united and there’s no war and blah blah blah… oh, look, there’s some kind of African warlord whose people don’t seem at all friendly. But we’re unified, no more nations? But there are still Chinese and they don’t seem to get along well with the Americans. But there’s no nations… right?
It’s sort of hard to get fired up about a global government that doesn’t seem to really do anything. They did a cool memorial ceremony… they seem to sort of be in charge of the military, and they have a world council. We don’t even really see a name, although the rebuilt White House seems to house the President of this world government.
And the plot overall is… well, predictable. There’s the aliens. There’s our pathetic attempt at defense. There’s the countdown to world destruction. There’s the crazy last-ditch hail-mary play to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. It feels like someone took a list of Science Fiction movie tropes and started checking boxes. (Giant alien queen, need one of those, school bus full of kids in danger’s way, need one of those too, hey, destroy two major cities for the price of one, sign me up!… oh, look, a special on nuclear warheads that don’t actually do anything, we definitely need a few dozen of those…)
Now that I’ve bashed the movie a bit, I’ll go into the good. This is a fun time. There’s explosions. There’s heroics. There’s sacrifice and emotional bits… and there’s a great sense of humor. This isn’t a movie that takes itself too seriously. The heroes are cracking jokes in the midst of the destruction… and that kind of humor is what gets you through such desperate situations.
The movie also has a sense of optimism. There’s no one crying out to give up, to give in. Everyone struggles to find solutions, to find a way to save humanity, right up to the very end.
In all, though, it never rises to the potential that they had with a strong cast and a big budget. ID Resurgence could have been so much more… and for that I’m left disappointed.
Fate of the Tyrant is now live! Get your copy just in time to enjoy over 4th of July weekend right here. (I promise there’s plenty of explosions)
The Tyrant’s time has come.
Winter has come to the Five Duchies, a time of bitter cold when noblemen scheme and commoners wonder how to feed themselves through the long, dark months.
In the far north, the Warlord Tarjak Rusk stirs his forces, guided by the wizard Xavien, Herald to the dark spirit Andoral Elhonas. Xavien knows that the time has come when the Five Duchies are vulnerable… and with the might of his master behind him, Xavien could conquer the civilized lands as an undisputed tyrant.
In the Duchy of Masov, Duke Hector the Usurper faces a civil war, brought on by the survival of Lady Katarina. If he doesn’t squash this rebellion with the coming spring, he’ll face a war on two fronts. Yet even if he wins victory, it will be a hard fought one against his own people, leaving scars that might never heal or even shattering the Duchy into splinters.
The fate of the Five Duchies might well be decided in Masov, but if Hector and Katarina cannot resolve their differences, then they’ll only be the first to fall to the raiders from the north. Only if they can unite against him can they seal the fate of the tyrant.
You can get Fate of the Tyrant from Amazon as paperback and ebook.
Kal Spriggs 