Bill Bodden's Blog, page 14
July 2, 2018
Juggling Rules
As most of my readers know, I'm a freelance writer. Most of my work has been done in the tabletop gaming field, where I've written for companies from Games Workshop to Third Eye Games, and many in between.
Writing for such a diverse selection of games, its important to be familiar with a lot of different game systems. Knowing how the rules work is critical for my success. Writing for a new game system usually adds anywhere from...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/07/02/jugg...
Writing for such a diverse selection of games, its important to be familiar with a lot of different game systems. Knowing how the rules work is critical for my success. Writing for a new game system usually adds anywhere from...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/07/02/jugg...
June 25, 2018
A Home for Big Kitties
While we prepare and ponder adopting some new furry friends of our own, we visited one of our favorite sanctuaries over the weekend.
Valley of the Kings is a non-profit big-cat rescue located in southeastern Wisconsin, near the towns of Darien and Sharon, close to the Illinois border and only a short drive from Delevan and Lake Geneva. Valley of the Kings rescues big cats that were seized or surrendered by people who...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/06/25/a-ho...
Valley of the Kings is a non-profit big-cat rescue located in southeastern Wisconsin, near the towns of Darien and Sharon, close to the Illinois border and only a short drive from Delevan and Lake Geneva. Valley of the Kings rescues big cats that were seized or surrendered by people who...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/06/25/a-ho...
June 22, 2018
Declaring War on Disney
IN a shocking development, there's a debate raging on the Internet -- I know, right? Anyway, a group of self-entitled fanboys are trying to raise money to REMAKE The Last Jedi. The Star Wars movie that JUST CAME OUT a couple of months ago. Disney apparently did it wrong, according to these folks.
The first thing that went through my head when I head this plan was: "Disney's lawyers will have plenty of work to keep them busy, I guess." The second thing was: what a colossal waste of time, money, and effort. Go out and create your own myths and legends if you don't like the ones being handed to you. The fact that folks feel the desperate need to protest something made for entertainment -- not for political or socio-economic reasons, but because it wasn't what they wanted -- makes me wonder...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/06/22/decl...
The first thing that went through my head when I head this plan was: "Disney's lawyers will have plenty of work to keep them busy, I guess." The second thing was: what a colossal waste of time, money, and effort. Go out and create your own myths and legends if you don't like the ones being handed to you. The fact that folks feel the desperate need to protest something made for entertainment -- not for political or socio-economic reasons, but because it wasn't what they wanted -- makes me wonder...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/06/22/decl...
June 11, 2018
What a Monday!
Yeesh; I went to add a new post today, and couldn't log in. I called my hosting service, and they discovered activity that suggests a brute force attack was underway to try to take control of my website. The IT guy I spoke with suggested it was common practice to break in and use a site to send spam emails and such, and they installed a capcha on my site to help prevent this from happening again.
The tech also noted that my site still seems to be...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/06/11/what...
The tech also noted that my site still seems to be...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/06/11/what...
May 30, 2018
Post-Holiday Catch-Up
This past Monday, May 28, was Memorial Day here in the US. It's a Federal holiday, so a great many people enjoy the day off. It's a day when we honor our war dead, and the patriotic displays can often be overwhelming. It also happens to be the weekend of WisCon, what used to be my local convention. I say "used to be" because I don't really feel much kinship with that event any more. Instead of lots of warm greetings as in the past, I really only have a couple of close friends who still go, and while I cherish spending time with them while they're in town for WisCon, the remaining time is spent...
To read the rest of this post, please visit my web site: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/30/post...
To read the rest of this post, please visit my web site: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/30/post...
May 21, 2018
A Special Kind of Evil
Writing villains is easy. Writing GOOD villains is substantially more difficult. As with any character, they need to have a reason to exist, and often a reason for their evil. They have to have motivations that are grounded in reality, motivations that make sense. Even if that sense is twisted, we still have to be able to following the reasoning behind it.
The idea for this blog post came from a Twitter Tweet about a work in progress by colleague Alex Bledsoe . Alex and I have had stories published in the same anthology twice -- in Sidekicks! and in Haunted: Eleven Tales of Ghostly Horror -- and his novels and short stories are well worth your time to buy and read. Here's Alex's tweet:
"All right, I've written up to the point that my vaguely superhero-ish hero and slightly supernatural villain are finally face to face. Now all I have to do...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/21/a-sp...
The idea for this blog post came from a Twitter Tweet about a work in progress by colleague Alex Bledsoe . Alex and I have had stories published in the same anthology twice -- in Sidekicks! and in Haunted: Eleven Tales of Ghostly Horror -- and his novels and short stories are well worth your time to buy and read. Here's Alex's tweet:
"All right, I've written up to the point that my vaguely superhero-ish hero and slightly supernatural villain are finally face to face. Now all I have to do...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/21/a-sp...
May 14, 2018
Asshole Culture
As if the title weren't obvious enough, this post contains harsh language and depressing themes. Be warned.
*****
It occurs to me that, more and more, Americans (and possibly the world) revel in being complete jerks to other people. Cries of "He speaks his mind." or "She tells it like it is!" seem to be code for "He/she enjoys belittling people for his/her own amusement."
Everybody is a jerk once in a while. I've been a jerk plenty of times, but it takes a special kind of asshole to be proud of treating people poorly. We're seeing it all too often today, and it's...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/14/assh...
*****
It occurs to me that, more and more, Americans (and possibly the world) revel in being complete jerks to other people. Cries of "He speaks his mind." or "She tells it like it is!" seem to be code for "He/she enjoys belittling people for his/her own amusement."
Everybody is a jerk once in a while. I've been a jerk plenty of times, but it takes a special kind of asshole to be proud of treating people poorly. We're seeing it all too often today, and it's...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/14/assh...
May 7, 2018
Novel vs. Short Story
I was having a discussion recently with an acquaintance. She had asked about my published fiction, and I was explaining that, so far, I've had two short stories published, and was working on a couple more, plus a novel. She replied that she never reads short stories -- didn't like them, in fact. I was baffled. Short stories seem the perfect medium in so many ways: short and to the point. Perfect bedtime reading, and the writer has to really learn to economize their word usage to keep the short story short -- something at which I definitely need more practice.
After asking around, I've come to discover that there are a LOT of people who don't...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/07/nove...
May 4, 2018
May the Fourth Be With You!
I first saw Star Wars when it came out in 1977. It was the early days of the Disco era, and I was... young. Anyway, I was given this shirt as a gift, and have...
To read more of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/05/04/may-...
April 30, 2018
My Green Thumb
I like plants. I don't have quite the same affinity for them that I have for, say, dogs or cats, or wild birds, but I enjoy tending them and watching them grow.
In our tiny, postage-stamp back yard, we've had pots that for years now have grown Morning Glories. We added a trellis behind the pots so the MGs would have something to climb, and every year they get to the top of...
To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/04/30/my-g...
In our tiny, postage-stamp back yard, we've had pots that for years now have grown Morning Glories. We added a trellis behind the pots so the MGs would have something to climb, and every year they get to the top of...To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://billbodden.com/2018/04/30/my-g...
