Jason S. Ridler's Blog, page 2
September 22, 2012
Advice is Cheap: Short Thought on Fast Wiring
I’ve written a third installment of my own ruminations on speed and quality in writing fiction and history, but I’m still polishing it.
But wanted to mention, for those who enjoy “fast” writing, that one of best opinions on the subject came from Jay Lake, years ago, in Jay’s Rules of Writing. In his argument for the value of writing a story a week for a year, he came to the conclusion that not everything you write will be gold. Much of it will be crap. In fact, half of it will be worthless, 25% will need heavy lifting, and 25% will be ready for the slush pile with a little clean up.
These ratios won’t work for everyone, but they are a lot more realistic than those that thing a first draft are a last draft, in part because revisions are seen as valuable.
You can see Lake’s post here:
www.jlake.com/handout/Jays-Rules-1_1_...
On to Saturday junk!
JSR


September 20, 2012
“I Was A Teenage Umber Hulk!” An Homage to Dungeons and Dragons!
Elizabeth White, who has been kind enough to review the Spar books (and, thankfully, enjoyed them!) asked me back to do a post on any topic I wanted.
Given that role playing games are critical to DICE ROLL, I figured I’d share some memories of when I was rolling dice and killing dragons in dungeons in that lost era known as the 1980s! Please, go read and enjoy “I was a Teenage Umber Hulk!”


September 17, 2012
Dice Roll is here!
In Ridlerville, when it rains, it pours.
Four neat things happened this week:
I sold one of my best stories to a well paying market.
My flash fiction piece, “Punchlines” is up at OUT OF THE GUTTER!
I’m interviewed about my favorite meal.
But the big daddy of them all . . .
DICE ROLL IS HERE! Go Buy The Latest, Greatest Spar Battersea Thriller Now! There’s roleplaying games, evil cults, a double tough lady cop in training, and an insane gal who only speaks in Beatles song titles while she cripples you with jujitsu!


September 14, 2012
Fun at the Theater: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Yesterday, Nick Mamatas and I went to the Aurora Theater to watch Kristoffer Diaz’s play, and Pulitzer finalist, THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY. It’s the story of a young Puerto Rican kid in the Bronx named Mace who loves the “Art” of pro wrestling, how two folks can work together and tell a violent story where no one gets hurt (think Bret Hart or Sean Michaels). He becomes a wrestler, but soon get schooled in the harder knocks of the “business”: the sexism, the racism, the pandering to the lowest common denominator, and the fact that the “art” is getting lost in a collective wish fullfillment of the crowd wanting to be just like the bad ass champ, Chad Deity (think Hulk Hogan), who doesn’t know a wristlock from a wristwatch, but has the swagger, the command of the crowd, and the body to put “asses in seats”. So Mace has to become a jobber, the guy who loses all the time and does all the heavy lifting in the ring to make the champ look good.
The evil promoter (think Vince McMahon) is a ignorant racist but understands how to manipulate folks to make money, so when Mace tries to bring in a local Indian kid who’s got star potential and a unique sense of humor and presence (VP) to help shake things up and make some art, the boss turns them both into racial sterotypes that take off like wildfire. Unlike Mace, VP soon tires of pandering to his boss and being the evil “Fundamentalist” with a terrible finisher, the sleeper cell kick! VP has no childhood love of wrestling that’s precious, and soon won’t play by the rules. Mace is caught in the middle, and has to make a choice, and take a stand.
It was a great play. Funny, well written, and dominated by Mace’s monologues, that were funny, smart, and compelling (though a little too long in the first half). I commend the actor Tony Sancho for handling it so well. The theme of wrestling being both a creation and a mirror of American values was well done.
Check out the behind the scenes preview!
The playwright was an obvious die hard wrestling fan, knew not only the lingo and the backstage life and the awful racial and sexist stuff, but the actual philosophical underpinnings about pro wrestling that makes it stand out as a unique art form. The major theme, of myths of individual success (Chad Deity) really being the creation of someone else doing most of the hard work and not getting credit (Mace) was well conveyed.
The cast was great, and Beethoven Oden (real name!) as Chad Deity was terrific as the charismatic fellow with great looks and no talent who always wins, so long as wrestling fans want to be like him.
They also got a hand from a local wrestling company, Devil Mountain Wrestling, and some of those folks were in the audience, too! I suspect Nick and I were the only diehards, though it was fun to hear all the old guard talk about seeing wrestling as a kid, watching Gorgeous George and others.
They used a mild amount of video and jumbotron style moments, often to hilarious effect. Not so much that it broke the bubble, but just enough to get that canned weirdness of pro wrestling’s more absurdest angles in the mind of the audience.
Nick also took me to a hub of Food Trucks in Berkeley, and I got a pretty bad ass cajun sandwich at THE VOODOO VAN, polished off with a Mexican coke. And I bought a collection of letters, stand up routines, and other material from the late, great comedian Bill Hicks! A good night!
JSR


September 12, 2012
HELLNOTES LOVES DEATH MATCH!
Check out this rocking review of DEATH MATCH from the good folks at Hellnotes!
HUZZAH! Who knew this old punk rock kid could be emotionally complex! Sweet!
If you liked the review, and are one of the few billion people that have not read DEATH MATCH, join the Spar Battersea revolution and buy it today!


August 27, 2012
Super Heroes, Fisticuffs, and the future of Spar Battersea!
Wow, radio silence here at Ridlerville. I guess illness, the insane fire at Chevron, travel, end of term work, cleaning house, writing a couple books and a few short stories have eaten my time!
As today I am under strict orders to rest, I will make this short. To everyone who is buying DEATH MATCH, CON JOB, and KNOCKOUTS, or reviewing them: THANK YOU.
A few small updates:
The third Spar Battersea thriller will be out shortly. It will be called (cue drum roll) . . . DICE ROLL! And it involves Spar, role playing games, an evil cult, and jujitsu. Tons and tons of jujitsu!
I don’t know if I will write another Spar book any time soon. I love the three I wrote, and I’m glad folks are enjoying them. But I needed a bit of a break. Other cool stuff for kindle awaits, however! So keep your eyes peeled. Much more Ridler mayhem on the horizon. And I’m sure Spar, the Bullet, and the gang will return. Of course, if you buy a lot of his books, I’ll get back at it, post haste!
I was thrilled to sell “Revenge of the Iron Shadow” a tale set in a alt history steampunk fantasy version of the old stomping grounds of Kingston, to Claude and Camille for the MASKED MOSAIC anthology of Canuck super hero stories. Huzzah!
I saw THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Loved it. Just stormed into my id, grabbed on, and made me feel every moment as if I was there. I know lots of folks had a hard time with some of the social commentary, and it was an ambitious closing number, but I found it captivating from start to finish. The cast was great, and the ending made me happy. Though I could have used a bit more of Bane getting the hell kicked out of him. But that’s just me!
The next month will see the completion of a novel, the nearing completion of a historical work, and a lot of other good things. Thanks for the support, amigos. Onward to the next great thing.
Thanks again!
Jay


July 25, 2012
Minutemen, Che, and Chocolate! Elliptical Film Reviews!
My wife got us an elliptical. I dig it. I can watch TV and exercise after walking the dogs and see some oddball stuff.
WE JAM ECONO: a documentary about punk-jazz-funk masters The Minutemen. Lots of great interviews (the remaining members, Flea, Ian McKaye, Henry Rollins, friends, family, and a bunch of punk musicians I ain’t ever heard of). Great live stuff. D-Boone’s death was glossed over, sadly. How he died was never mentioned. Just that he died. Ultra talented, manically free, and inspiring stuff.
Che: biopic about guerrilla warfare leader Ernest Che Guevara. Benecio Del Toro in the title role does a fantastic job, and you see the journey from politically motivated doctor to revolutionary hero. Covered lots of the ugly side of the Cuban revolution, too, and a fairly shrewed but critical look at Castro. Done in Spanish and some English, covering Cuban victory and defeat in Bolivia. Che’s death is treated in the heroic version (there’s dispute over just how heroic he was during his torture and execution), but Del Toro tore this up. Great stuff, and worth viewing (though it is long).
Chocolate: Insane Thai action movie about a former gangster gal who has an autistic kid. Mom gets sick, and the kid, who can master any martial art she sees, goes with her adopted brother to collect mom’s debts from a bunch of old thugs. Cross dressing assassins, the Yakuza, and more stunt-and-punch fights scenes than a Jackie Chan marathon, this movie was amazing even if much of it was loopy. Sequel coming soon!
JSR


July 18, 2012
A Fistfull of Quotes
I found a list of quotes I used to tack on my wall. You might dig these.
“Be like a steady promontory against which continually breaks the waves of life.” Marcus Aurelius
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches.” Rainer Maria Rilke
“Everywhere I go I’m asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don’t stifle enough of them. There’s many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” Flannery O’Connor
“When in doubt, blow something up.” J. Michael Straczynski
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.” Albert Einstein
“I don’t have a moral plan. I’m a Canadian.” David Cronenberg

