B. Throwsnaill's Blog, page 5
December 15, 2012
Fighting the Hum-Bug
Photo by Nin(j)a . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.I have turned into something of a holiday hater lately. I think my problem is that I always surf close to the edge of what I can accomplish and/or endure. So the additional stressors that the holidays bring usually put me over the edge. I become slightly manic. Last year I was pulling all-nighters trying to finish my second novel right around Christmas. I'm not doing that this year. ...
December 7, 2012
Unexpected Inspiration
Photo by h.koppdelaney . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.I just finished reading a great fantasy book. I won't name the book because it really doesn't matter, and I'm not interested in turning this post into a book review. Like many good books I read, this one made me take stock of my own writing and think about ways I can improve. This book started from a place that I typically hold in disdain: it didn't bother explaining much about setting or...
November 10, 2012
Metaphysics, Artificial Intelligence, Book III
Photo by NatalieMaynor . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.I feel like I've been sifting in the sand for fragments of metaphysical relics only to realize that unbeknownst to me I've been kneeling in the center of Stonehenge. Over the past few months I've discovered two new influences in my intellectual life: A.A. Attanasio and Terrence McKenna. I just finished A.A. Attanasio's impressive novel Radix. It is a sci-fi and metaphysical...
September 23, 2012
Fantasy, Confidence and Success
Photo by traceyp3031 . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.Most successful people conduct themselves confidently. I think they do so based on a foundation of past successes that they recall. They establish a pattern of success in their lives, and then they expect to continue in that pattern when new experiences arise. But what happens when people are confronted by a setback? They begin to question themselves and re-evaluate their approach. They...
August 8, 2012
A Warrior Blends with Life
Photo by Minha Menina . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.
I own a book by this title, and I've found it to be an engaging and enlightening read. I've read it a few times over the years, although I haven't read it recently. But the title of this book came to mind this week, and has stayed on my mind. If you follow my blog you may have read an earlier post where I mentioned that a person in my life is struggling with addiction. And, actually,...
July 21, 2012
The Danger of Fantasy
Photo by King of Ants . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.Fantasy can be used as a tool to help one navigate the passage from the comfortable cocoon of childhood and adolescence to the (at times) stark reality of adulthood. Fantasy frames what could be perceived as the pointless and brutal struggle of living in the more comforting terms of an epic quest. Fantasy, when used according to its greatest purpose, helps people cope with and interpret reality:...
July 8, 2012
Interstitial
Photo by Okko P . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.I am taking a bit of a break from writing, and settling into a routine of work, socializing, and playing a really addictive video game (Minecraft multi-player). I am still "working" on the next Hemlock novel though. I have been getting a lot of ideas for the story and dutifully writing them all down. At some point soon I will probably work up a formal outline of the plot and character arcs and t...
June 22, 2012
Hemlock and the Wizard Tower Permanently Free
Photo by Ed_45 . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.A few announcements about Hemlock and the Wizard Tower: first and foremost, it is now free across all platforms in the US (I'm still working out how to offer it for free on Amazon's international sites).
Second, I've gone all "George Lucas" on your collective posteriors and re-written the beginning of the book. Why? Well, if you've read the book recently, then you may remember that it was a bit di...
June 1, 2012
Quatrain
It wasn't that I was particularly inspired or otherwise motivated to begin this treatise--rather it was a strange compulsion that compelled my fingers to rest upon the keys and begin to type. The typing was frictionless--words flowed unbidden and unhindered, and played upon the kaliedescope of virtual paper like swans floating on a technicolor lake. They were white in their purity, but no conclusions resulted from their conveyance. They were immobile: zero force, but their p...
May 19, 2012
On Villainy II
Photo by iambarr . licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.I've been reflecting on villains again during my ramp up to writing Book III of the Hemlock series. A TV show we're watching caught my eye because I think they've actually gone overboard in the villainy department. We are in the tail end of the latest season of this show, and I've been feeling oddly disengaged from it as compared with prior seasons. In this show, through various plot developmen...
