Chateau Lloyd

I was always a voracious reader and as I got older, I began imagine myself as an author.  The problem that confronted me was trying to figure out what to write.  I was good with short fiction and research papers, but beyond that I was at a loss.

I don't remember when I first heard the phrase "write what you know," but applying it helped me to move forward.  I've also taken an interest in the biographies of authors I admire to see how their experiences shaped their writing.

A big influence in this sense is Stephen King's "On Writing."  I was told that the first half of the book - which is largely autobiographical - isn't as useful as the second.  I found the opposite.  The second half is great if you want to learn how to write like Stephen King, which I absolutely do not.  Instead, I found a lot of insight in how he came to focus on the horror genre.  He had a rough and unhappy upbringing and so he wrote what he knew.

The same is true of other authors, of course.  Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" contains such vivid descriptions of the Italian Front because he was there.  This also works in the realm of fantasy.  JRR Tolkien's wartime service unquestionably shaped his vision of evil and his descriptions of Mordor and the Dead Marshes - just as much as his linguistic and historical knowledge created his iconic visions of elves, dwarves, men and hobbits.

There's another area of knowledge for authors, though, and that's relationship experiences, which is what I want to talk about here. 

Back when "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was on TV, I couldn't help but notice that none of the relationships in the series went well.  It didn't matter what the context, they all went south.

Okay, it was a show about angsty teenagers, but the spin-off went the same way.  So did "Firefly," both on the show and in the subsequent movie.

Now I get the value of having drama and working long-term relationships can be awfully dull, but there is some use in having a stable romantic relationship as a baseline which can operate in contrast to the other tormented ones.  Whedon never did this, and I always wondered why.

Subsequently we learned that his relationship with his wife was rather difficult.  Not only that, but apparently he had a casting couch and used it frequently.  Setting aside his blatant hypocrisy in claiming to be a feminist while exploiting his talent for sexual gain and degrading his long-suffering wife, I think this is the key to understanding why the relationships in his work ended up the way they did.

Put simply, he didn't know what a good relationship looked like and apparently couldn't imagine one, either.  When he did have one (in "Firefly") he killed off one of the characters.  Even happiness became unhappy.

"Man of Destiny" has a number of romances, some of which end well, and some don't.  In that respect, I think I did a better job than Whedon (and certainly my personal life is better).

Of course, Joss Whedon exceeded my entire sales with a single night's audience of any of his shows, so who am I to boast, right?

In my own defense, Whedon did have the advantage of being third-generation Hollywood.  I'm pretty sure I'd have an easier time getting discovered if my father and grandfather were well-known authors.

Getting back to the point, I find it fascinating that someone who was otherwise imaginative and well-rounded had this blind spot. 

I've put up a few movie reviews here, but this is my first "anti-review."

I define an anti-review as an explanation for why I'm not going to bother seeing the movie at all.

I've expressed my misgivings about the series before, but up0n further reflection, the deciding reason I'm not going to see The Last Jedi is that I simply don't care about anyone in it.

These characters are utterly uninteresting.  They have no depth and no screen presence.  In fact, they are so bland, I can't even remember the names.  I think of them as Mary Sue, Failed Stormtrooper and Fighter Pilot.

If the "big reveal" was that one of them died, I'd be completely indifferent because there's no "there" there with any of them.

The original cast was lightly sketched, but they had personality and drew upon fun archetypes.  These guys, not so much. 

Ironically, Rogue One has much more interesting characters, but being Hollywood they killed them all off because That's Dramatic and also Tragic. 

It was also - given the plot as presented - stupid.  In heroic space fantasy there are myriad ways to kill people off (don't I know it!) - the trick is to make it meaningful.  The deaths in Rogue One felt contrived, not dramatic or heroic.  Maybe if their tactics hadn't been so stupid...but I digress.

The funny thing about this latest installment is that even Mark Hamill can't stomach it.  There are lots of youtubes showing him damning the thing with faint praise.

Now actors don't always know much about film-making, but I've noticed a recurring theme of his is that big duel between Darth Emo and Super Jedi Girl was totally botched.  He notes that when he read the script and he got to the part where the old lightsaber starts twitching in the snow he assumed this was where Luke entered and saved the day.

He's absolutely correct.  That would have been the perfect parallel to the scene in Empire where Luke first learns to use the force to retrieve his lightsaber.  Luke would then have used his superior skill to defeat (for the moment) Darth Emo and this would also parallel (in an inverse way) the master/apprentice situation in the first trilogy.

Instead, Jedi Super Girl completely implausibly saved the day by herself and Luke was reduced to a cameo that took less actual screen time than the journey montage that preceded it.

That's the kind of poor plot choices that I can't handle at this point in my life.  If I went to the theater, I'd either walk out, want to walk out, or curse constantly under my breath.

I'll probably watch it eventually when it's free on dish or something, and I'll make it into a drinking game or something fun.

But actually seeing the film in a theater would be a chore, so I'm going to skip it.

The reviews for the new Star Wars movie are starting to come in and they're overwhelmingly positive.

And yet, I find myself feeling that I'm going to see The Last Jedi because I ought to, not because I want to.

Such is the burden of the Twenty-First Century Star Wars Fan.

Yes, I'm a big Star Wars fan.  Or at least I was.  I still own a movie-grade set of stormtrooper armor.  It sits in a storage bin in the basement.  I last put it on for Halloween when my youngest was in 5th Grade.  The class seemed to appreciate it.

I think about selling it, but I put a lot of effort into the thing, so I take the easy path and do nothing.

Which is exactly how I feel about the new movies.  I want to take the easy path and do nothing.

I must be honest.  I hated The Force Awakens.  I really did.  It took me a while to put aside sentimentality and the fun of seeing Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher again, but I really really didn't like that movie.

It wasn't because I was a Star Wars fan, either.  It was because I am an author.

Once you've started writing or creating a story, you become more attuned to elements of plot, character and the importance of keeping things consistent.  There is no longer any consistency in Star Wars.  It's basically a cross between Star Trek and the Avengers.

I freely admit I was annoyed that the heroine - Super Jedi Girl - could do everything better than any other character.  She was a better pilot than Han, a better mechanic than Chewbacca and - upon picking up a lightsaber for the first time ever - dusted the villain.

And so now she's going to get trained.  But why?  She's already the Bestest, Most Awesome Hero Ever.  She's a 50th level fighter/magic-user/thief/cleric in a 3rd level dungeon.  Who can possibly stand against her?

Well, I guess that's what we're going to find out.  This is the Second Movie in the trilogy, so the Good Guys get screwed. 

I suppose I should be more optimistic, but the last five movies were a disappointment, so I don't think it's unreasonable to suspect the sixth will be as well.

And in case anyone wonders - no, I'm not expecting lighting to strike again, I'd just like a movie that is good on its own merits.  I find the fact that we have to add the qualifier "Star Wars movie" a true indictment on the finished product.  We're clearly grading on a (very forgiving) curve because when you get down to it, these are actually pretty awful films that would have gone nowhere without having "Star Wars" in the title.

Today The Imperial Rebellion went up on Amazon.  The series is done and available for purchase.

The complete "Man of Destiny" series runs 250,000 words and more than 1,000 printed pages.  I often wondered if I could write a trilogy.

Well, I guess I can't, because I had to add an extra book.

Still, it's pretty cool having it done.  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I'm now reviewing the proofs for Man of Destiny's fourth book, "The Imperial Rebellion."

It will take a me a few days to go over them but it looks like things are right on schedule.

The title is a last-minute change.  I had been using "Destinies Fulfilled" as a working title, but I never really liked it.  This was because Man of Destiny was supposed to be a trilogy.  When I decided to press ahead with a fourth book, I had no idea what to call it.

I think "The Imperial Rebellion" is consistent with the other titles.  The cover is pretty cool, too.

I'm told that the ending is particularly good, but of course I would say that, wouldn't I?

“Fall of the Commonwealth” is now available for the Kindle and in paperback. 

This is the longest book in the series because so much is going on.  It was the most fun of all the books to write because after three years of working on the series, I really felt close to the characters. 

Justin Tolliver really comes into his own in this book.  The romance between Adam Flyte and Cristen Morra also develops more fully, but my proof readers tell me that the real love story is between Phae and Arrin Morra as they fight to preserve their marriage amidst war and political upheaval.

“Fall of the Commonwealth” also explores how conflict can drive people to extreme measures.  There’s a widespread belief that once one side senses defeat, the heart goes out of it and the war comes to an end.  That’s actually the opposite of what usually happens.

The Alliance knows it is losing, and Richard Martel and Oliver Praeto have to decide how far they are willing to go to turn the tide. 

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of dissention in the Commonwealth ranks, particularly between the Ordo Militaris and the Ministry of Defense.   Maxim Darius knows that nobody wanted him to become Premier and he also knows that plans are already in motion to kick him out.  He’s got a lot of enemies and only one of them needs to get lucky to bring him down.

If all goes according to plan, the final book in the series will be released in a few weeks.

I've always loved raspberries.  Many years ago my grandparents grew them and some of my fondest memories with them are of us going out and picking them fresh for breakfast.

So when I got a house with a decent yard, I decided I would plant some of my own.  I went to a local greenhouse, bought some plants and placed them where the soil and sunlight seemed ideal.

There were only a few berries produced that first year, but the year after there were many more and it seemed like I would achieve my goal in the following summer.

And then the deer showed up.  Our area has been overrun with deer and until they were culled last year, they were getting into everything.  Nothing would deter them because they were starving.  They ate the berries right off canes along with just about everything else they could reach.  I got no berries for two years and basically gave up.

That's when I began to notice the wild raspberries.  Hardier and more aggressive than my cultivated variety, they've been quietly overrunning the opposite side of my yard.  This year they've really taken off and I've already picked several pints of sweet, juicy berries.  They lack the tartness of the cultivated red kind, but my kids don't seem to mind.

The best part is:  I had to do nothing but pick them.  They're displacing weed plants and filling in the gaps left by fussier plants that I don't have the time to support.  I just show up and pick them. 

The lesson is that nature often knows best.  I did research and placed my plants where I thought they would grow best, but in fact the other side of the yard was much better - so much better than wild raspberries moved in to claim it.

This lesson that applies to writing.

Sometimes the plot doesn't go where you want it to.  I'm working through the final edits on Book Three of the Man of Destiny series and I'm recalling all the plot points I wanted to use but had to abandon.  My manuscript has a number of outlines attached to it that I likewise abandoned.  I knew what I wanted to do, but the story thought otherwise.

I plan to publish it later this month, so watch for it.  If all goes according to plan, Book Four will come out in August and the "Summer of Destiny" will be complete.

So the free weekend is over, and lots of people have downloaded free copies of "A Man of Destiny."

What did you think about it?  Favorite characters? 

Leave a comment here or on my author page.  I'm eager to hear what you have to say.

Go get 'em!

Tomorrow, A Man of Destiny will be free to download on Amazon.  This is a great (and risk-free) chance to get into the series.

Rise of the Alliance went live last week and I hope to have the third book up by the end of June.  I just got the edits back on Book Four, and if things work out, it will be published in July.

If you grab the download, please leave a review or a comment here.  The feedback I've gotten back from my proofreaders has been very good, but I'd like to know what other folks think. 

If you like it - let people know!

If you don't - keep it to yourself, okay?