Are Belong to Us
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Arms and Armor - A Quick Primer
Armor
is a must for any fantasy writer. If you’re
gonna have swords and arrows and other sharp, pointy objects aimed at your
characters, it pretty much goes without saying that you’re gonna want some
armor to fend them off! Of course, you
don’t want too much fending off. If your
fantasy book doesn’t bleed, or at least produce a little ichor from icky, dark creatures
beyond the ken of men and elves, what’s the point?
No,
really?
But
which armor to go with? Well, if you’re
looking for realism in your faux-Medieval setting (and who isn’t?), then first
you should figure out if you’re going to adhere to a time period. Yes, there are actually time periods during
the Middle Ages. It wasn’t just one big
muddle of knights and peasants and horses.
The Middle Ages spanned roughly a thousand years, and folk weren’t
sitting around waiting to get the Black Plague or misname a war. Following is a wonderful image that shows the
evolution of armor from about 650 CE to 1675 CE.
Note
how the post-Roman armor doesn’t change significantly until the image of 1050. That’s five hundred years until mail started
to lengthen and cover more than just the vital bits. Apparently, prior to this time, folk didn’t
mind their arms and legs being hacked at by the bad guys. This image, however, doesn’t tell the whole
story. Armor was part of a full-package
arms race, that included an evolution of weapons. Check out the following:
This
is quite lovely because you can see that each adaptation of armor and weapons
was an answer to how each was being deployed on the battlefield, and the answer
came in the form or variations on the theme.
As metalcraft became more refined, and thus more in demand, swords and
shields and armor also shifted as the needs required. Note how the sword of the 1100s if vastly different from the sword of the 1400s. This was a direct result of the advances in armor.
This happens until the late 1500s when armor
practically cocoons the wearer, and then someone comes along and
introduces firearms, rendering most armor ineffective.
Stupid
guns anyhow!
Friday, July 1, 2016
Samurai and the Sphinx
 |
| All we need now are ninja! |
There’s
a story behind every photograph, but some photos, and the story behind them,
are simply fascinating. Take this
Samurai posting by the Sphinx from Wikipedia:
The Second
Japanese Embassy to Europe, also called the Ikeda Mission, was sent on December
29, 1863 by the Tokugawa shogunate. The head of the mission was Ikeda Nagaoki,
governor of small villages of Ibara, Bitchū Province (Okayama Prefecture). The
assistant head of the mission was Kawazu Sukekuni.
The objective of
the mission was to obtain French agreement to the closure of the harbour of
Yokohama to foreign trade. The mission was sent following the 1863 "Order
to expel barbarians" enacted by Emperor Kōmei, and the Bombardment of
Shimonoseki incidents, in a wish to close again the country to Western
influence, and return to sakoku status. The task proved impossible, as Yokohama
was the center of foreign presence in Japan since the opening of the country by
Commodore Perry in 1854.
On the way to
France, the mission visited Egypt, where the members of the mission were
photographed posing before the Sphinx by Antonio Beato, brother of the famous
photographer Felice Beato. The members of the mission were abundantly
photographed in Paris by Nadar.
The mission
returned to Japan in failure, on July 22, 1864.
A
side note on Ikeda Nagaoki who led the failed mission—he was so impressed with
French advancements that he became something of an advocate, and tried to
encourage Japanese students to travel to Europe. He is also considered the father of the
Japanese wine industry.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Armada by Ernest Cline - A Review
 |
| Greetings Starfighter! |
Earnest
Cline’s stock in trade is his geek cred and nerd-dom. He’s a card carrying member of everything
dork-worthy and pop-culture related from the late 70s science
fiction/fantasy/gaming era forward. In
his debut novel, “Ready Player One”, this DeLorean-driving master wove together
that tapestry of geek-chic trivia, first-hand experience and scifi speculation
to create a wonderful bit of wish fulfillment.
With “Armada”, Cline dips back into that well, answering the what-if
that every game console player has secretly—or not so secretly—wished: What if
this is real? What if I’m being trained
to fight actual alien invaders?
Cline’s
story introduces us to the story of Zach Lightman, and his merry band of gamer
misfits who are gonna save the world.
Zach, a modern teen with more than one foot square in the 80s/90s era of
entertainment, has been selected, along with most of the planet, by the Star
League-like Earth Defense Alliance because of his impressive skills to fend off
the “evil” armada of the Europan invasion.
The threat had been kept secret from the public, but was sprinkled on
our collective subconscious over the decades so that if/when the time came,
Earth could join together as one species and stave off annihilation.
As
with “Ready Player One”, Cline is able to craft some excellent primary
characters. As our guide into this “what-if”
fantasy, Zach is the most rounded and accessible. The problem comes from the supporting and
secondary characters, who seem interesting, but aren’t given any time to really
develop. Where Cline was able to pull
the trick of making real-seeming characters on the barest of information, here
the lack of details flops. Readers
almost would have been better off with fewer, but more rounded characters that
we could have gotten behind, while having more cardboard extras fill in the
background.
The
timeline of the story is set on fast-forward, with the major action taking
place over a few dozen hours. This feels
like a miss opportunity, where Cline could have really drawn together the myth
and mystery of his aliens and their motives, while at the same time giving us a
real sense of camaraderie and joy/loss with each success or failure. There is almost no time for the reader to
really connect with anyone beyond Zach, which limits Cline’s potential
audience.
Overall,
“Armada” is a wonderful addition to the Cline library, and readers will not be
disappointed as the newest Duke of Fanboy’s effort delivers everything that was
promised. While not quite up to the same
bar of “Ready Player One”, “Armada” is a quick, clean and easy read with a fun
jazz riff on classic science fiction tropes.
Eagerly awaiting Cline’s next effort for another dive into his world.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Secret Project—Revealed
 |
| Lengthen your stride and quicken your pace! |
I
can’t even tell you have excited I am.
Last week, I announced a “secret project” with really wasn’t that much
of a secret if you paid attention. But for those who are new, I set out to build a replacement of the bookmark I lost. The idea came to me after I finished working
on my son’s storybook. For that, I’d
taken to Fiverr.com and found an artist whose work was in line with what I was
trying to create. I had a wonderful
experience, and the whole project came together so well that I returned to
Fiverr and found another artist to handle this project.
As I
crafted the message to the artist I’d selected see if the project was doable, I
started searching for an image the approximated what I was trying to recreate. I was only looking for an image that was
similar enough, and then I hoped the artist could create the graphic I was
looking for. My search for “gnome with
book” turned up a listing on eBay for some bookplates with THE GNOME. Not just any gnome—THE GNOME!
Where, previously, I’d been pleased by the concept of the project and the potential
final outcome, now I was FREAKING OVERJOYED!
I quickly tracked down the bookplates, purchased them, attached the
image and waited. After I’d chewed all
my fingernails off and started on the toes, I received a response from the
artist, and we were off!
His
final reproduction and coloring of the image was pretty spot-on as far as I’m
concerned. Obviously, I don’t recall the
exact details, but this project started out merely trying to create a reasonable
replacement. The image that I received
matches the one in my memory, and that’s good enough for me. That I now have the actual image (plus
bookplates!) is an order of magnitude more than I had imagined.
Sometimes,
it’s really great to live in the digital age.
If
anyone is interesting in owning one, send me a message. I’ll have about 20 extra and I’d be happy to
share! Here's the graphic of the bookmark. The final will include a beautiful, dark green tassel.
Monday, June 20, 2016
A Victorian Birthday and Mementos Mori—Guest Blog from Ash Krafton
The Victorian Era is steeped in traditions. Anything that flew in the face of tradition was shunned, cursed, and outcast. Tradition provided vital foundation, the legs upon which society stood.
Traditions embellished every moment in life. One such tradition was the celebration of birthdays. Considering this month marks the book birthday for THE HEARTBEAT THIEF, you might expect a post on birthdays. Right? Anecdotes about parties and pastries and pretty ribbons and…
…no. Just—no.
On one hand, THE HEARTBEAT THIEF *is* pretty on the outside, like a birthday party. Beautiful and beribboned and sweet as strawberries and cream. But what is a birthday if not all about victory over death? And, deep within, that is what Senza Fyne’s tale is all about.
She is, after all, the Forever Girl. Death’s Estranged. Endless. She stopped celebrating birthdays when she learned how to steal immortality. Eventually, there was only one day she marked each year: her Unbirthing Day.
So just think about all the lovely traditions she missed out on when it came to her death. The Victorians were morbidly fascinated with death and went to great lengths to mark the occasion.
Senza could not die. She denied her loved ones so many opportunities…
No one would stop the clocks or draw all the curtains, to dwell in sad, shadowy silence.
No one would post elegantly written funeral notes of invitation.
No one would stand watch over her body, every moment from death to interment (which could take three to four days to allow family to arrive).
No one would arrange flowers around her body to mask the signs of decay.
No final death portraits, with falsely life-like poses, cosmetically-created rosy cheeks, or painted pupils in propped-open eyes.
No hair trinkets. No one would trim her winter-fire red locks and weave the tresses into rings or bracelets or brooches to wear as mourning jewelry.
No one would wear mourning for her, deep black crinoline with heavy veils and dark jet jewels. Instead, those would be her own disguise, hiding the eternal freshness of her beautiful cheeks from her aging loved ones and she sneaked like a thief through the pages of time.
No drapes upon the mirrors to prevent them from enticing her soul to enter, only to become trapped for all of wretched eternity.
No black crape hung around the doorknobs to announce the tragedy of her passing, reminding callers to avoid ringing.
No elaborate funeral procession, aristocratic and stately, with plumes and pallbearers, a hearse trimmed in white to lament the passing of one so young.
No strings tied to her finger, connecting her to coffin bells above her grave. No dead-ringers, graveyard shifts, or being saved by the bell.
See what I meant when I said the Victorians were just a little on the morbid side? Bereavement, you see, was generally the order of the day, even when there was no one to bury, because life was fragile and brief and all too often lost in the blink of an eye.
Senza Fyne would not die. Mr. Knell had worked his dark spell on her and removed her from the march of time, placing her far beyond the decayed grasp of Death. Although the Ferryman would not come for her, she was forced to watch each and everyone around her succumb to the ravages of life’s bittersweet ending.
Shadows cluttered her heart, each and every day that she went forth, beautiful and young and free of what frightened her most. She could not die.
But in that, she very nearly forgot how to live.
You can read Senza Fyne’s dark tale and take that long walk with her. See what she sees, experience what she felt as she stood still, a statue in a fast-growing, fast-wilting, ever-changing garden.
This week until June 26th, THE HEARTBEAT THIEF ebook will be $0.99!
Find it at any of these retailers:
Ash Krafton writes New Adult speculative fiction under the pen name AJ Krafton. In addition to THE HEARTBEAT THIEF, Ash is also the author of a growing list of poetry, short stories, and urban fantasy novels.
Currently, she’s working on a new series, THE DEMON WHISPERER. First book, CHARM CITY, can be found on Wattpad.com where you can read it free. Find it here: CHARM CITY on Wattpad.com
Find more to love at www.ashkrafton.com
Friday, June 17, 2016
Living Life
 |
| Skydiving? You mean jumping out of a perfectly good plane! |
Happy
Friday. My friend Dave posted this up,
and it seemed like an interesting list to check off things from. I’ll play along. If you want the story on anything, just
ask. I’ll consider it:
Been Married *
Been divorced
Fell in love *
Gone on a blind
date *
Skipped school *
Watched someone
give birth *
Watched someone
die
Been to Canada *
Ridden in an
ambulance *
Been to Hawaii
Been to Europe *
Been to Las Vegas
*
Been to Washington
D.C *
Been to Nashville
Visited Florida
Visited Mexico *
Seen the Grand
Canyon in person*
Flown in a
helicopter
Been on a cruise
Served on a jury
Been in a movie
Danced in the rain
*
Been to Los
Angeles *
Been to New York
City
Played in a band
Sang karaoke *
Laughed so much
you cried *
Written a book *
Caught a snowflake
on your tongue *
Had children *
Had a pet(s)*
Been sledding on
big hill *
Been downhill
skiing
Been water skiing
Rode on a
motorcycle *
Traveled to all 50
states
Jumped out of a
plane
Been to a drive-in
movie *
Rode an elephant *
Rode a Horse *
Been on TV
Been in the
newspaper*
Stayed in the
Hospital *
Donated blood*
Gotten a piercing
Gotten a tattoo *
Driven a stick
shift vehicle *
Lived on your own
*
Rode in the back
of a police car *
Got a speeding
ticket *
Broken a bone
Gotten stitches
Traveled Alone *
You’re
welcome to steal this and post it to your blog, Facebook or whatever. Happy Friday!
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