Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

In this latest Raptor Squad update we are featuring Episode 10 Book 2, which (obviously) continues the events set in motion in Book 1. In this installment we see the introduction of several seminal Raptor Squad personalities, the most prolific of which is the Tapani Nobleman Xander Paddox. Also introduced is New Republic Liaison Jonus Kable who starts to mix things up right out of the gate.
Both are wonderful characters I had a lot of fun writing and you’ll hopefully enjoy in this fiction. Sometimes I struggle with how to portray certain characters in our fiction, but I feel the best way is to show them with all of their flaws intact. Basing them on the characters played around the table by real people is integral, because as the players we all had our own characters flaws and imperfections that invariably made their way into our characters.
It’s these flaws that really flesh out and make Raptor squad not only believable but easier to relate to. Vic is stubborn and had trouble with women; Klux has a lack of confidence and direction; Koort has questionable interpersonal skills and far overestimates his abilities- and the list goes on.
As most know, in fan fiction there are always tendencies by inexperienced writers to fall into the “Mary Sue” trap- portraying the heroes of the fiction as more important/heroic than those that originally appeared in the canon work. I take pride in saying that I feel you won’t find that in our fiction, as Raptor Squad has problems. Real problems. The heroes aren’t always heroic, the things they do don’t always work out and in the end the characters have significant flaws that makes them living breathing subjects rather than some writers “hero fantasy” where everyone is perfect and can do no wrong.
Nope. In this fiction you get blemishes and all. But being heroic isn’t about how many stormtroopers you can kill or how many planets you save- it’s about the sacrifices you make and how you live with those decisions and consequences that define a hero.
So! Enjoy the fiction! I worked hard on it, and owe a great deal of thanks to my wife Tracy (as always) who is not only my muse but my best friend and proofreader and without whom this fiction would never even see the light of day. As always, we encourage feedback! Tell us what you like, didn’t like or what (or who) you would like to see more of!

Welcome to the Eighties!

The 80’s ruled.

I’m sorry, they did. I can point to a million reasons why, but I’ll summarize:


1. Better movies
2. Better music
3. I was younger
4. Better Candy
5. Starlog Magazine still ruled.


See? Now there might be some of you who disagree, and that’s fine. You would also be wrong. But don’t let that drag you down- you just don’t know any better.

Point is, I used to love me some Starlog Magazine.

See, back in the 80's before the interweb, where you could get movie info before they even write a damn script, you had to get information on flicks and sci-fi through magazines, tv shows and word of mouth. Not easy to do when most media still thought of sci-fi as “goofy kids stuff” and rarely reported on anything new and word of mouth only took you as far as folks with like interests.
But real news stories on sci-fi, those were hard to come by.

Enter Starlog magazine.

Starlog was THE magazine for sci-fi buffs like me, packed with pics, stories and all manner of goodness that made my little eight year old heart flutter. Back when Chris Reeve was sporting the Big Red “S” and a film named “TRON” set the movie world on its ear with its cutting edge computer graphics, Starlog was the magazine that brought you the updates and stories that whet your appetite.

So why am I talking about it now?

Because, like most things from my childhood- all of my issues were either read to tatters or disappeared over time. I regret to say I don’t thave even one issue left from those halcyon days. But no worries! There is always back issues to spend my hard earned dollars on, right?

Well, there was till I read this line the other day:

“On Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007 at approximately 11 a.m. a warehouse, operated by Kable News, in Oregon, Illinois containing back issues of Starlog and Fangoria burned to the ground.”

Damn.

So, crushed, I thought my childhood treasure trove would never return to my hands- that those wonderful magazines would forever be but hazy memories, tinted by the sepia tones of hot summer days sitting in my Aunt Wilma’s back yard reading about some movie called “Heavy Metal”.

Ah, but if the interweb is good for nothing else besides deviant pornography and pirated music, it is most certainly good for one other thing:

EBAY!

That’s right! For a mere pittance I will soon have in my hands over two dozen copies of Starlog dating back from the late 70’s to early 80’s!

YEAH!

Needless to say I’m freaking thrilled. And you can bet these bad boys are going to be treated like they were woven from freaking gold.

And don’t even bother asking if you can borrow one- the sound of me laughing in your face might be too much for you to handle- especially if I’ve been eating a lot of garlic.

If you’re lucky I might let you watch as I read them from a distance.

On the website front, the update is coming along better than I expected! So you can look forward to seeing it roll out sometimes this Friday!!!!

STARLOG!

Another update on the update? Madness!

Yep, looks like I’m going to hit my Halloween deadline.

Only downside is that I won’t be able to post as many vehicles and such like I normally do. Basically this update will see the new fiction, a few new profiles, a few new pics for existing profiles and of course artwork for the fiction.

Still, a nice offering that I want to have up for everyone’s enjoyment.

Now, Book 3, now that sucker is going to be coming with some fanfare. I’m planning on having new profiles, pics, a new feature, new vehicles/starships…lots of good stuff for that update.

I would like to promise a News Year Day rollout but I can’t/won't. Besides hating placing time limits on my creativity, the holidays tend to throw a wrench into the works in all manner of unexpected ways…soo…….

Take your time and enjoy Book 2 when it comes out! And of course keep your eyes open for Book 3! I won’t give away any spoilers other than to say that yes, there will be some meaningful deaths in Book 3! Not sorry attempts at “shock” deaths peddled out by all of the hacks currently writing Star Wars novels.

And like I said previously, I'm thinking about compiling all three books into one volume and getting it printed for those interested...especially since it's going to weigh in between 5-600 pages and having it in your hands would be a lot easier when it comes to enjoying.

Keep watch for more details!

It’s a fine line between cool and lame

I’m one of the fortunate ones.

I remember when Boba Fett was cool.

I mean badass cool.

I remember seeing him for the first time (and not the craptacular version on the Holiday Special- I’m talking the Jeremy Bulloch version in Empire). So I remember when he swaggered on the scene, showing folks why he was The Man.

Then?

Then the worst thing that can happen did:

They decided to tell his story.

Now 20+ years later he’s a joke. You look him up on Wookieepedia and instead of a paragraph about how mysterious and badass he is, you have pages and pages of crap- some nonsense about him having kids or grandkids, running the Mandalorians, saving the Solo’s and like all of their kids or some crap. And don’t even get me started about what they did to the Mandalorians.

As Jeremy Bulloch told me when I met him: “It’s all a bit of rubbish. If I saw those writers who shat all over ‘The Fett I would stab them in the throat with a bit of glass.”

Ok, he didn’t actually say that when I met him, but dammit I could see it in his eyes.

So, this is what the Fett has become?

PPHHHHHHHHHHPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTTTT.

Not for me.

For me, Boba Fett is still cool and mysterious- and all of the stories these two-bit hacks have scribbled out about him?

Don’t exist kids. Not in my world.

Save for a handful of great stories from Dark Horse Comics that came out years ago, all this Vong crap and nonsense? Never happened.

You want a watered down old dude as your Boba Fett, go ahead, have a ball. Not me. My Boba Fett is still the badass that beat out all of the other bounty hunters to nab Solo and blasted his way out of the Sarlacc.

Yeah, cause I know cool. And that’s just how it’s gonna be.

Tour De Force!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a minor update on the upcoming update. So an update on the update, if you will.

Book 2 is done, and just needs a few tweaks and should be good to go by the Halloween deadline.

But Book 3?

Wow.

No, I mean, WOW.

See, I was happy to be about 120 pages in and thinking I was close to having that puppy wrapped up…then I reworked my outline (yes kids, I do use outlines like real writers) and now?

Damn, this sucker is looking to weigh in at 250 pages easy.

Which is going to put the entire Episode 10 in the 550-600 page range.

Now that is some serious writing folks!

And I’m really happy with it. Oh sure, you can always go back and nitpick and pick apart your writing and look at things you could have done better/different (I do it all the time with my earlier stuff), but if you don’t settle down, put a seal of approval on it and get it out the door you’ll never get it finished.

I’m also driven by the great feedback I’m getting from folks on this fiction- everyone seems to like it and I won’t lie- it’s nice to have folks tell me I should be writing for a living or that my stuff rivals/exceeds what is already put out there by “established” authors. And these are folks who read- a lot.
To be sure it’s an ego boost- but way more importantly it gives me the enthusiasm to keep writing and continuing the Raptor Squad stories.

Hell, if I wasn't already so 'financially secure' where I work I might actually consider quitting and taking up writing full time.

Anyway! I’m still holding on to the dream of having Book 3 posted by year’s end, bringing this portion of Raptor Squad's story to a close while opening oh so many other doors.

So, keep your eyes open!

These Pipes Are Clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who can match the subject line with the movie it came from gets a No-Prize.

Anyone who knows what a No-Prize is gets, you guessed it, another No-Prize.

Anyway, Book 2 is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meaning, the final is done. It's been polished, refined and checked for glaring spelling and grammatical errors and is ready to be published to the site.

Yay!

Good stuff. Now I just need to get the art done and it will be posted!

So Much to Do!

Well, fortunately, things have begun to quiet down a bit in my life (between hurricanes showing up in the Midwest, my wife being sick and finally getting that under control and my mom going through all sorts of stuff lately I’m thrilled to be able to utter that last sentence), so I’m able to redirect some focus onto the next update. I’m almost done proofreading Book 2, now I just need to buckle down and get some artwork done for it. Likely we won’t have a lot of starships or profile bios to add to this upcoming update, for the simple fact that most of the characters that show up in the fiction already have bio pages. Still, it’s a good piece of writing and really gets into some serious character development- not that there won’t be action! There will be! But it’s not going to be loaded up like in Book 1 or Book 3 (which is almost complete- well, the rough anyway).

So! If I’m able to buckle down and get things moving this week, I’m hoping to have the update completed and up by Halloween.

And for those of you who are reading this current fiction arc and giving me great feedback- I appreciate it! Keep those comments and feedback coming! It really helps me to see what you like and what you can do without and where to direct my energies.