Richard Lee Byers's Blog, page 24

A moment from tonight's ARROW

I'm a fan of ARROW, but sometimes it gets a little weird. This moment from tonight's episode was a case in point. (This isn't the original dialogue verbatim, but since I don't have a perfect memory, you'll have to settle for me giving you the gist.)
OLIVER: Do you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here? You may not have killed Sara, but you're still a murderer!
MALCOLM: What are you going to do, arrest me? I can escape from any prison. So your only real choices are to let me go or kill me. And I hear you're not a killer anymore.
OLIVER: Shucks, when you put it that way, I guess I'm stymied. Run along, then.
You know, Oliver, you could TRY putting him in jail and see what happens.

A rare political post from me

I almost never talk politics in social media, but everybody else is expressing his or her opinion, so I might as well say something.

In the final push up to the midterm elections, the GOP will be using a new piece of music in their TV spots and at their campaign rallies. If you'd like to hear it, I have it here.

(By the way, even if this plaintive anthem doesn't persuade you to vote Republican, I hope you will still vote.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej7dfPL7Kho&list=RDej7dfPL7Kho

Thank you, Time Lord Fest!

Thanks to Ken Spivey III and Time Lord Fest for having me as an author guest today!

So this was my Saturday...

I haven't competed at fencing for a long while. I just go to my club and fence for fun.

But the club was having a  just-for-fun kind of tournament for members only, and because I wanted to support the salle with the entry fee, and because I had my arm twisted a little bit, I decided what the hell, I'll go in.

As I was driving my sixty-four year-old self there this morning, I wasn't expecting to do all that well. I knew one of my fellow competitors was a fencer in his early forties and that all the rest were teenagers.

Now, an optimist would have said that having years of experience on all these people should give me some sort of edge. But the fact of the matter is, the younthful fencers have the energy and reflexes of the young. If many cases, they train seriously and take private lessons as I have not for many years. Plus, I just wasn't feeling particular warlike. So I wasn't crazy about my chances.

Anyway, I stopped at Wendy's to get a litltle something to eat before proceeding to the salle. As I placed my order, the teenage young lady at the register asked me, "Do you want the senior drink?"

"I don't know," I replied. "How old do you have to be to qualify for that?"

"I'm not sure," she said, "but it's for the elderly."

THE ELDERLY! Which, based on my appearance, she was certain that I was! How demoralizing is that?

Anyhow, I ate my BBQ pork sandwich, went on to the salle, and over the course of the afternoon, and much to my surprise, managed to take first place.

So thank you, fencing, for making me feel that no matter how geriatric and decrepit I may look to fast-food employees, the grave isn't yawning at my feet quite yet.

Gone in Sixty Seconds (or at least it seems like it)

The Dragon Con website indicates that all five host hotels are sold out for 2015, and unless I'm confused, this happened without one or two of them ever being opened up for reservations via the site.
I believe I understand why this happens, I don't think any one person can fairly be blamed, and I don't know how to make it better. But I commiserate with anyone who had his or her heart set on being in one of the Big Five and got shut out, and I think it would be a great thing if this situation could be improved somehow.
Anyway, I just want to mention that a friend and I have stayed in one of the overflow hotels for the past two years, we saved money by doing it, and I didn't think it was hugely inconvenient or that we missed out on much. So if you love Dragon Con or are curious to check it out, I wouldn't let the unavailability of the Big Five keep you away.

I was on the Arm Cast podcast

I was on the Arm Cast podcast with Armand Rosamilia (whose horror novel CHELSEA AVENUE is now available.) You can listen to that here:

http://armcastpodcast.libsyn.com

I'm on the Locus Bestseller List

I try not to be TOO self-aggrandizing on social media, but occasionally, it's hard to resist. Look what (and who) is on the most recent Locus Bestseller list (down at the bottom in the game-related novels category.)http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/2014/10/locus-bestsellers-october-3/

Writing for art vs. writing for money

I was part of a roundtable discussion on writing for art vs. writing for money on Sean Taylor's blog. Check it out:

http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2014/10/art-vs-money-writers-sound-off.html?spref=fb

How I want my novels blurbed

I had so much fun at Necronomicon Convention that it's hard to pick a favorite moment. But one contender was when a certain fan was discussing a certain writer. As it turned out, she didn't like his work, and when she saw him at a convention, his performance did nothing to change her opinion. "He's even worse in person!" she declared.
And as I pointed out to Will Ludwigsen, who was sitting beside me at the time, what an awesome blurb for a novel that would be! Just as I hope and pray that someday Gilbert Gottfried will do the Audiobook version of one of my novels, so too do I now hope to see the cover of one of them proclaiming, "He's even worse in person!"

MURDER IN CORVIS is now available!

Murder in Corvis is now available. This novella is a sword-and-sorcery yarn, a murder mystery, and, seeing as how it's set in the Iron Kingdoms universe, has a bit of a steampunk overlay to it. It's the first piece of fiction to star the Black River Irregulars, whom fans of the setting may recall from some of the gaming products.

You can check it out here:

https://skullislandx.com/iron-kingdoms/murder-in-corvis