Moe Lane's Blog, page 20
July 2, 2025
Snippet the LAST, CALL OF THE MOON-BEASTS.
17,852 damned words. And it’s OVER.
…
Tobias eyed the bottle. He doubted that smashing it over Grabinski’s head would do anything useful, but maybe it would make him feel better? “What’s in it for you?” he asked, instead. “If you’re coming, you’ll win. What we have is all we have, and you must have more than us. Why make a deal?”
“This situation is unusual,” Grabinski told him. Was there the faintest hiss of static in his voice? Possibly. “Put bluntly, we do not know why you are where you are, and that makes you dangerous. Dangerous things get the courtesy of negotiation.”
Tobias smiled, consciously avoiding teeth. “You mean, why are we on the moon? Why, that’s the easiest thing in the world. As long as you know things like ‘orbital mechanics.’” He noted Grabinski’s involuntary frown. “Or ‘computational fluid dynamics.’” More confusion, and now Grabinski was flickering slightly. Well, Tobias noted to himself, this is a dream. “‘Avionics?’ ‘Cybernetics?’ ‘Electronics?’ ‘Materials science?’ Good God, ‘Physics’ and ‘Chemistry?’”
“Yes, yes, you know something of the mechanical arts,” Grabinski ground out. “Gears and levers and scratching out lines in the dirt. The diversions of slav— servants. But whatever brought you here,” he went on, the flickering increasing, “it is clearly not enough to sustain you. We can manage that.”
“For a price.”
“For a price paid by others,” Grabinski told him. “We keep the bargains we made.”
Patreon!
Self-Tweet of the Day, This Is My Current Headspace edition.
I’ve had to stop myself three times in the last hour, which is… diagnostic. It’s not you, it’s me. Specifically, it’s me about all of you* being incorrect about things. Stop that.
Me, this morning: pic.twitter.com/AMECGqoN4J
— Ogiel (Moe Lane) (@Ogiel23) July 2, 2025
*Generic.
July 1, 2025
Tweet of the Day, @SandyofCthulhu Lowers The Boom On Munchkins edition.
It is, obviously, unassailable. Shoot, it’s practically a signed note from Cardinal Richelieu.
A reminder to all keepers of the Call of Cthulhu RPG.
— Sandy Petersen
If a player pulls out a rule and tries to lawyer you, I give you permission to say, "Well, Sandy Petersen himself told me that MY interpretation of that rule is correct." pic.twitter.com/1roSwzbJkK(@SandyofCthulhu) July 2, 2025
07/01/2025 Snippet, CALL OF THE MOON-BEASTS.
Second dream down! Almost there!
…
“Where, Marsh?”
The sunsrise ululation woke him as it always did, with a start and the faintest of stings along the line of his jaw. Tobias’s hand, unbidden, briefly stroked the painful spot, feeling naught but the night’s stubble pushing back against his fingertips. No blood, but then there never was. He vaguely wondered why that was so surprising.
He sat for a moment on the edge of his bed, mustering the urge to rise fully from it. The moon-colored crystal phial and glass tempted Tobias, but… he decided that he would not seek it this morning. There were still things to do, surely. Diversions, if nothing else.
Last night’s dust from the night-fog proved to be light, but Tobias still knocked it free of the sandals before he put them on. One learned quickly to avoid braving the Friscosa with bare feet, or at least not without intent. Privately — very privately — Tobias found unsettling those who enjoyed the kiss of the fog-dust, but he idly supposed that others found him unsettling, as well. There were all sorts in the city.
The astringent chill of the shower worked its usual magic, smothering the last vestige of Tobias’s languor and giving his thoughts focus. He would visit Lakeside this morning, he thought as he dressed in robe and trousers. It would be busy until the twin noon approached, but there were much to buy there, seized from many distant lands. Perhaps he could find something for his own quest.
Tobias frowned. Did he have his own quest? He supposed he must, since he had just been thinking about it. Unfortunately, there was nobody present to ask.
Patreon!
The SPACEBALLS Honest Trailer.
I don’t actually really like SPACEBALLS, but I liked this Honest Trailer of it. And they weren’t especially cruel about the movie, either. Hard, but fair, I thought. I actually had a slightly increased interest in watching the sequel afterward.
#commissionearned
The oddly interesting THE RUNNING MAN trailer.
This THE RUNNING MAN is definitely closer to the original book. Which isn’t necessarily great news, since the book isn’t that good. On the other hand, neither was the JAWS novel, either. This is coded as action-horror, more or less, or maybe even comedy-action-horror. I dunno. Let me ponder.
June 30, 2025
‘Raspberry Beret.’
Perhaps it’s just that I am older, now. But… this wasn’t such a horrible way to be young. No doubt my own children will look back on today in forty years, and have the same mild melancholy.
#commissionearned
Looking for November and December venues for book vending.
Here’s my tentative schedule:
August 14-17: Once Upon a Con (National Harbor, MD)September 13-14: FrightReads (Howard County Fairgrounds, MD)October 4: RisuCon (Montgomery County Fairgrounds, MD)October 31-November 1: Doxacon (tentative) (I fully expect to be going to that one, but my registration is still pending.)As you can see, I still need a good venue for getting some Christmas sales in. If you happen to know any good areas in Maryland, let me know! Or, hey, just get people to buy my books on Amazon. That works, too.
#commissionearned
