Moe Lane's Blog, page 632
January 2, 2022
Movie of the Week: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE.
I enjoyed GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE: I have pre-ordered it; and I think that there’s a decent sequel for it in there, too. I do understand why the critics weren’t highly thrilled about it, mind you. It’s a recreation of the original movie, coupled with the cinematic equivalent of literally everybody involved in the project breaking down after the fifth shot of whiskey and sobbing about why did you have to die, Harold? It’s not fair! It was too soon!
…I can see why that might grate on some critics, and I’m not judging them for having that reaction. They get to like what they like. But then, so do I.
#commissionearned
1926 AD works officially join public domain.
A good day. Also of note: this includes digital recordings made prior to 1922. Also note: Milne’s Winnie the Pooh is now public domain, not the Mouse’s. …Their time will come.
‘Winnie the Pooh,’ Hemingway’s ‘The Sun Also Rises’ and 400,000 sound recordings entered the public domain today https://t.co/yo2XS5CmuJ
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) January 1, 2022
I need opinions on the new Kickstarter.
The TINSEL RAIN (sequel to FROZEN DREAMS: buy it now!) won’t be happening until March, but I’m working on setting it up now. My question is: I plan to offer signed copies of my other books as incentives. Should I do them as add-ons, or different tiers? The advantage of tiers is, I can combine shipping and handling costs; the advantage of add-ons is, it’ll make for a cleaner display. I’m not wedded to either tactic, so opinions welcome.
#commissionearned
Patreon Microfiction: Professional Pride.
This dude from ‘Professional Pride’ isn’t really a good dude. He’s got a job to do, sure – but that job is to try to make you suffer for eternity, and he enjoys doing it. And yet: he knows he’s right, bless it; and so does everybody else. But nobody will do anything about it. Hell really is other people, huh?
Patreon!January 1, 2022
‘Boots of Spanish Leather.’
Boots of Spanish Leather, Bob Dylan
#commissionearned
A: Because Cyberpunk 2077 was a very fun game that worked fine on PCs.
The question was, How did the Cyberpunk 2077 dumpster fire become one of 2021’s most played games? I think I summed it up fine in my title, but to expand a little: if you bought the game for consoles, then yes, Cyberpunk 2077 was a dumpster fire. If this happened to you and you’re a regular or even casual reader here, then my sympathy comes without reservation: if you are not, well… I still have sympathy. I also want to have some DLC come out for the PC version of the game, and it’s been delayed at least in part because they’ve been trying to make it work all right on a next-gen platform that very few people can goram buy.
So, yeah, it’s hardly surprising that sales rebounded when they finally got it working all right on XBox/PS4, and fine-tuned it on Steam. Cyberpunk 2077 is hella fun. I figure I’ll check out what mods are good after the DLC comes out…
#commissionearned
Book of the Week: Temporary Duty.
I was thinking about Ric Locke and Temporary Duty a little while back. He was a good dude (and a commenter here). He wrote a good book. I wish he was still here to finish the sequel, and maybe a few more… actually, I just wish he was still here.
Snippet the Last, THE STARS ARE WRONG.
This was supposed to be a fairly short story, too. Thirteen thousand freaking words. I’m gonna see if this one I can sell to a magazine.
Patreon!Why did I still follow? Was it from some compulsion, put on me? Or the pitiless stars above? Or was it simply because I still hoped to find my partner, and the other Guardians? I do not wish to say. Suffice it that I followed the Vicar, until we came to a door. A most ancient door, made of strange metals, and from methods now lost to time. It was priceless. It was also obscene in its pitiless, rigid angularity. It imposed itself on my senses, as if to say: I exist, whether you like it, or not. And you cannot remove the idea of me from your world, for I am more real than you.
The Vicar casually pushed open the obscenity as if it was a commonplace item in the everyday world. He also snickered as I gingerly followed him through the doorway. “If a door alarms you so, Guardian, what will you think of what follows?” I did not answer him, for beyond the door was a room full of icons and images which threatened to send me shrieking into the boon of madness-fueled unconsciousness. Would that I had!
Described baldly, the icons were perhaps not so horrible. They were images or statues of people, both men and women, with a few beasts and some designs of no-doubt occult significance. But they were wrong. A woman, hand held high, cruelly intent in smashing her burning scepter upon the unworthy; a misshapen bird of prey, clutching foul weeds and weapons in its claws. Statues of leering fat men, brazen candelabra with unlucky numbers of unwinking candles, tiles inscribed with six-pointed shapes and sinuous scripts unknown to me; and above all, two horrid banners. One reminded me of a bleeding field, with what I realized were the horrible stars burning above it. The other was a simple emerald triangle on a silver field. I did not need to be told that this must be a sanctuary for the Emerald Pyramid; the horror that permeated the room was horror enough.
Announcement: the TINSEL RAIN Kickstarter will take place on March 1st.
Happy New Year!
I am pleased to announce that with the new year will come TINSEL RAIN, the sequel to my first novel FROZEN DREAMS. Set in the magical Kingdom of New California, Tom Vargas is back, and trying to Clear a Case full of dead mages, exploding artifacts, murky motivations, and rampaging constructs. Oh, and the Universal Dominion’s sent a new ambassador. That’s always fun.
The Kickstarter starts March first: further details will be given, closer to the date. I can say that the cover’s done and the first draft has been sent to the alpha reader. This book is coming out this year, knock on wood and the creek don’t rise. The Kickstarter is just going to help determine when TINSEL RAIN comes out this year.
Hope to see you on March 1st! …And before then, too. Obviously.
#commissionearned
December 31, 2021
‘Auld Lang Syne.’
Ladies and gentlemen, a toast: To the truly deserving! …There’s so damn few of us left.
Happy New Year.
Auld Lang Syne, The Pyrates Royale
#commissionearned
