Richard Lee Byers's Blog
July 29, 2019
My 2019 Gen Con appearance schedule
THURSDAY
11:00 AM - Atlanta Marriott – Where Do You Write Best?
Noon - Ballroom Marriot – Modern Sensitivities in Historical Contexts
1:00 PM – Atlanta Marriott = Letting the Reader Fill in the Blanks – Finding a Balance in Worldbuilding
2:30 – Antimatter Games booth #455 Exhibit Hall Indiana Convention Center - Signing
FRIDAY
10:00 AM – Meeting Room 12 Stadium – Green Ronin’s Nisaba Press
11:00 AM – Ballroom 1 Marriott – Capturing the Creepy: Getting the Details Right
Noon – Austin/Boston Marriott – The Healthy Writer
1:00 PM – Atlanta Marriot – Finding Your Groove: Good Habits for Writers
SATURDAY
10:00 AM – Atlanta Marriott – Beyond the Speculative: How Reading Other Genres Can Help Your Writing
3:00 PM – Austin/Boston Marriott – Writing Allies: How to Be a Good One
11:00 AM - Atlanta Marriott – Where Do You Write Best?
Noon - Ballroom Marriot – Modern Sensitivities in Historical Contexts
1:00 PM – Atlanta Marriott = Letting the Reader Fill in the Blanks – Finding a Balance in Worldbuilding
2:30 – Antimatter Games booth #455 Exhibit Hall Indiana Convention Center - Signing
FRIDAY
10:00 AM – Meeting Room 12 Stadium – Green Ronin’s Nisaba Press
11:00 AM – Ballroom 1 Marriott – Capturing the Creepy: Getting the Details Right
Noon – Austin/Boston Marriott – The Healthy Writer
1:00 PM – Atlanta Marriot – Finding Your Groove: Good Habits for Writers
SATURDAY
10:00 AM – Atlanta Marriott – Beyond the Speculative: How Reading Other Genres Can Help Your Writing
3:00 PM – Austin/Boston Marriott – Writing Allies: How to Be a Good One
May 22, 2019
LANCELOT is now available!
LANCELOT, my new MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS novella from Green Ronin, is now available!
I won't say this one is pure superhero fun. I'll let you be the judge of that. But it does open with a flying superhero fighting dinosaurs at a world-famous landmark, so that indicates the vibe I was going for.
https://greenroninstore.com/collections/nisaba-press-fiction/products/lancelot-mutants-masterminds-novella-epub-mobi-pdf
I won't say this one is pure superhero fun. I'll let you be the judge of that. But it does open with a flying superhero fighting dinosaurs at a world-famous landmark, so that indicates the vibe I was going for.
https://greenroninstore.com/collections/nisaba-press-fiction/products/lancelot-mutants-masterminds-novella-epub-mobi-pdf
January 29, 2019
UNDERCITY is now available
I'm proud to announce the publication of my novella UNDERCITY. This is cyberpunk/future noir SF set in the universe of the ANDROID game, I had a lot of fun writing it, and I'm pleased with how it came out. You can check it out here:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/android-novels/products/undercity/
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/android-novels/products/undercity/
November 16, 2018
Nisaba Journal: Issue 1 is now available
NISABA JOURNAL: ISSUE 1 is now available! This is an anthology of stories set in the worlds of Green Ronin Publishing and includes my story "The Prisoner," a MUTANTS AND MASTERMINDS superhero tale.
https://www.amazon.com/Nisaba-Journal-Issue-Michael-Matheson-ebook/dp/B07JNGZGT7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542316434&sr=8-1&keywords=nisaba
https://www.amazon.com/Nisaba-Journal-Issue-Michael-Matheson-ebook/dp/B07JNGZGT7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542316434&sr=8-1&keywords=nisaba
October 10, 2018
The audio play of BLACK CROWNS is now available
BLACK CROWNS, my second full-length novel about the Black River Irregulars, is now an audio drama from Graphic Audio. This is sword-and-sorcery with a steampunk overlay set in the Iron Kingdoms universe of Privateer Press. If you like my Forgotten Reams work, the Selden stories collected in THIS SWORD FOR HIRE, or any of my other heroic fantasy, I think you'll like the Black River Irregulars as well.
https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-black-river-irregulars-2-black-crowns.html
https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-black-river-irregulars-2-black-crowns.html
September 5, 2018
The audio play version of BLACK DOGS is now available
GraphicAudio's audio drama version of my fantasy novel BLACK DOGS is available now! (BLACK DOGS is my first full-length novel about the mercenary company the Black River Irregulars. It's sword and sorcery with a steampunk overlay set in Privateer Press's Iron Kingdoms universe.)
https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-black-river-irregulars-1-black-dogs.html
https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-black-river-irregulars-1-black-dogs.html
July 16, 2018
The audio play version of MURDER IN CORVIS is now available
I just found out that the audio play version of MURDER IN CORVIS is now available. You can check it out here:
https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-black-river-irregulars-murder-in-corvis.html
https://www.graphicaudio.net/the-black-river-irregulars-murder-in-corvis.html
July 4, 2018
My fantasy novel THE SHADOW GUIDE is now available
On this Independence Day, could anything be more patriotic than buying a fantasy novel by an American writer published by an American publisher?
Okay, sure, but will those things score you a sword-and-sorcery yarn to read? I think not.
Just one caveat: An earlier version of this novel was published as THE GHOST IN THE STONE. If you allready bought GHOST, I wouldn't want you to buy this one thinking you were getting something 100% new.
Although if you want to see the series continue relatively quickly, you could buy a copy for a friend or post a review. Just a thought.
Anyway, see what the critics are saying.
"Loved the scenes where creatures ripped people apart! My editor always cut that stuff out." -- A. A. Milne
"The hero is a fisherman's son. There should be more fishing!" -- Slade Gorton
"The depiction of the specter character is problematic. #NotAllGhosts" -- Jacob Marley
June 24, 2018
A new approach to sword and sorcery
It's not easy to come up with a fresh approach to sword and sorcery fiction, but thanks to my chance discovery of the book cover image below, I'm ready to offer something innovative. Enjoy this taste of my forthcoming trilogy starring Borgar the Boppin' Barbarian:
Borgar glared across the smoky coffeehouse at the cloaked and hooded form of the sorcerer known as Zarzanides the Hellborn. Setting down his bongos and drawing his broadsword, the mighty-thawed barbarian growled, "Focus your audio, Daddy-O, 'cause I'm only going to warn you once. No hoodoo cat sacrifices a chick to the Demon Lords of Outer Dullsville while I'm around, you dig?"
Borgar glared across the smoky coffeehouse at the cloaked and hooded form of the sorcerer known as Zarzanides the Hellborn. Setting down his bongos and drawing his broadsword, the mighty-thawed barbarian growled, "Focus your audio, Daddy-O, 'cause I'm only going to warn you once. No hoodoo cat sacrifices a chick to the Demon Lords of Outer Dullsville while I'm around, you dig?"
May 27, 2018
That deeply personal and tragic connection
For me, in modern adventure/thriller storytelling, no trope feels trite, predictable, and frequently downright silly more often than the revelation that the protagonist has a deeply personal and preferably tragic connection to the story problem.
In the remake of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (which I watched last night and that got me thinking about this), it turns out that Sam Chisholm is helping the beleaguered townspeople because Bartholomew Bogue's men previously raped his mom and killed his sisters.
In SPECTRE, it turns out that Ernst Stavro Blofeld has engineered all the world-shaking threats James Bond has faced through four movies because he's really Bond's resentful foster brother.
Do these revelations really strengthen the stories, or do they just seem contrived? I think the latter. I also think you can have a satisfying story where the protagonist does what he does simply because his sympathies have been engaged, he wants to get paid, or it's his job. Take, for example, the original MAGNIFICENT SEVEN or a whole lot of other 007 stories.
Now, with all that said, aspiring writers, there are clearly many agents, editors, and producers who believe the protagonist's deeply personal connection is exactly what a story needs to sing, so, hey, apply what I've said here with extreme caution. But, readers, I pledge to you that if I ever write a serious story about an Allied soldier fighting in World War II, he won't be on the battlefield because Hitler stole his bicycle when he was a kid.
In the remake of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (which I watched last night and that got me thinking about this), it turns out that Sam Chisholm is helping the beleaguered townspeople because Bartholomew Bogue's men previously raped his mom and killed his sisters.
In SPECTRE, it turns out that Ernst Stavro Blofeld has engineered all the world-shaking threats James Bond has faced through four movies because he's really Bond's resentful foster brother.
Do these revelations really strengthen the stories, or do they just seem contrived? I think the latter. I also think you can have a satisfying story where the protagonist does what he does simply because his sympathies have been engaged, he wants to get paid, or it's his job. Take, for example, the original MAGNIFICENT SEVEN or a whole lot of other 007 stories.
Now, with all that said, aspiring writers, there are clearly many agents, editors, and producers who believe the protagonist's deeply personal connection is exactly what a story needs to sing, so, hey, apply what I've said here with extreme caution. But, readers, I pledge to you that if I ever write a serious story about an Allied soldier fighting in World War II, he won't be on the battlefield because Hitler stole his bicycle when he was a kid.
