Ahimsa Kerp's Blog, page 3

New Story: Broken Places of the Earth

      In a bit of an experiment, I’m going to sell some of my short stories directly on Amazon. Yeah I know they will be buried under the deluge of other self-published titles but I do like having control of my stories and there’s little reason not to try. I have a couple … Continue reading New Story: Broken Places of the Earth

Who will Edit the Editors?

I once worked with an editor who said ridiculously nice things about my writing. Nicer than mom could even say! You really have to see it for yourself. I went back and dug up some quotes, only redacting any identifying details. These are the comments for a story I subbed (and was subsequently accepted.) “I’m … Continue reading Who will Edit the Editors?

Fantasy Tropes: What are they good for?*

Tropes Fantasy fiction is rife with tropes. We’ve all bemoaned the most overused: dark lords, ancient prophecies, faux-medieval Europe,  quests, magic blades, and so on.  Some argue that the existence and over-reliance of these tropes is more good than bad, in that it allows them to be tweaked or twisted. Joe Abercrombie, for example, plays … Continue reading Fantasy Tropes: What are they good for?*

Back on the Chain Gang

Over the last year(ish), I finished a novel, self-published a book of short stories and have been developing RPG material but my short story output really shrank down to nothing. But in the last month I wrote a new Lovecraftian story and finished a Post-Apocalyptic story I began 6 years ago and put aside. That … Continue reading Back on the Chain Gang

Furthering Appendix N

I have to admit that although I played D&D a lot[1] back in the day that I never really knew about the famous Appendix N. Part of that is we were playing AD&D 2nd edition and part of that is I was always a player in TSR games[2]. But also I think as responsible nerds we … Continue reading Furthering Appendix N

A list of movies for RPG Geeks

I’ve watched a lot of fantasy and RPG movies over the years so I thought I’d put them into a list. The first two are short and the rest on the list are vaguely feature-ish. There is no order here; everything is a recommend based on inclusion. There are no doubt lots that I’ve left … Continue reading A list of movies for RPG Geeks

2016: Oh! Lord, stuck in Lodi again.

Past Years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 This year I continued my trend that began last year. While it wasn’t conscious, I’ve jumped off the short story writing and subbing treadmill. I didn’t submit a single story to a market this year. Will it continue? Maybe not forever, but for now I am happy … Continue reading 2016: Oh! Lord, stuck in Lodi again.

Top 5 Books of 2016

Once again, I did not manage to read 100 books this year. And I didn’t even get close! Technically I reached 50 and that counts things like Calvin and Hobbes and Roald Dahl books. But the thing is I probably read more than ever, just fewer novels. I continue to read slush for a specfic journal, … Continue reading Top 5 Books of 2016

31DaysofHalloween – The Rest of October

Real life and some other projects got in the way of daily blogging, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t watch anymore Halloween movies. Here’s the list for the rest of October 2016. I should mention that we watched Hausu without subtitles and I think that only improved the experience. But the whole thing is on … Continue reading 31DaysofHalloween – The Rest of October

NanoWriMo 2016

I have mixed feelings about (Inter)National Writing Month. On one hand, I’m of the opinion that writing isn’t just something any one can pick up and do. It takes a lot of time to study the craft and the implication that all it takes is time is a little insulting. (We don’t have national Plumbers … Continue reading NanoWriMo 2016