R.K. MacPherson's Blog, page 11
May 1, 2012
Pride and Prejudice
W00t! TERA's launched!
TERA‘s launched. This game has occupied my thoughts, dreams, and most of my world domination brainstorming sessions since January 4th, 2010. As a writer, part of my joy came from being in from the beginning to help shape and refine the vision for the Western market.TERAis not my creation, nor solely my vision, but unlike my previous experience onAionas a fledgling writer, I felt up to greater challenges.
Certainly I got them.
Racial characteristics, voicing, backstory, nam...
April 23, 2012
Forced Perspective
Today’s Wisdom: Don’t pick up and recap the bottle of ghost pepper flakes, NOT wash your hands, and then rub your eyes.
You’re welcome. Also, ow. Also also, ghost pepper flakes go GREAT with oatmeal.
I’m nearly finished with revisions to Stormcaller. It never ceases to amaze me what other people catch during their readings. Some readers caught the same typos and goof ups (for the record, I blame the Week of the Shitty Keyboards), but what really interests me is the questions people come up with...
April 17, 2012
Wordtastic (Re)finery
Rewrites continue on Stormcaller. I’ve gotten great feedback from several people (Thank you!) thus far. As a writer, I can already see where I’ve improved over previous works. As fond as I am of Antigone’s Fall, it’s apparent that Stormcaller is a stronger novel. While I’m not willing to totally attribute that to Erin Evans’s “Outline! Outline! Outline!” dictate, I must admit that knowing vaguely where the story was supposed to go made writing it easier.
Revisions, on the other hand, never see...
April 9, 2012
PAX It Forward
PAX East is over! Long live PAX East!
Boston Skyline
As expected, 2.8 bagillion people descended on PAX East and at least half came to visit our awesome booth (see below). Many hadn't heard of TERA, but everyone who played it loved it. We burned through nearly all of our open beta code cards in two days. Enthusiasm ran high, to say the least.
The TERA booth, ready to rock.
That kind of opportunity is a gift and a treat. I'm always stoked by interacting with fans–that sort of enthusiasm's...
April 4, 2012
Man About (Bean)Town
Today I woke up, drove all around Puget Sound, got on a plane, and held my bladder for five straight hours. It was the best day ever.
I'm here for PAX East, working with the rest of the awesome peeps from En Masse Entertainment as we show off TERA before launch next month. In less than a month. This is big for me personally (I like gatherings of geeks) and professionally (I've been in on TERA almost from the beginning). It's fun to see this through and it's great to watch people experiencing t...
March 30, 2012
Moving Forward
Been a busy couple of months. Haven't been too active here. Sorry about that.
The primary culprits are writing and writing. As we gear up to launch TERA, the writing demands and deadlines increase. It's fun, exciting, and possibly immuno-suppressing. The happy part is we're just over a month away from launch, so that's exciting. We've also introduced three new ebooks, including one of mine! This is my first shot at writing tie-in fiction that isn't vignette length. I'm very proud of the work t...
February 29, 2012
First Draft–Complete!
I finished the first draft of what will either be called Stormcaller or Eldritch Blood at 0125. On Leap Day, no less!
I'm elated to be done with this particular phase. This was my NaNoWriMo novel and I hit 50,000 words in the first 10 days. I made it to 60K by the end of November. Then it sat on my computer and mocked me. The biggest mistake I've made on this novel was putting it aside when I had momentum going for me.
Note to self: Don't do that again!
My hangup came from the fact that I had a ...
February 23, 2012
Ignis Fatuus
Foolish fire. What am I chasing? Why does it never appear closer? What do I work towards? Am I seeking reward or am I trying to justify decisions long past?
Foolish thoughts. The stories and ideas never stop. Am I struggling to birth a new vision of the world or retreat from one? Can I face my future or must I conjure alternatives? Will these words be the legacy I can never have…or will they simply vanish in the sea?
Foolish fears. Am I at the cusp of accomplishing something or losing it...
February 20, 2012
Narrative Punch
io9.com recently ran a piece breaking down the story elements in the Mass Effect series, which got me thinking about the differences between storytelling mediums. I love Mass Effect because stories and characters matter. I love the little details, the sense of time-depth, and the relationships. Frankly, I feel like this form of storytelling is only going to get bigger and better, but that doesn't mean novels and short stories (and everything in between) need to take a backseat.
Oh, no. On the ...
February 15, 2012
Right Like Hell
It's the race to the finish, that final push that I generally loathe. Since I already know how my stories end, there's not as much compulsion to finish them. Starting things is more my thing. Several gracious beta readers looked at a few key chapters and sent in their feedback, but look at me–all growed up and mature–I didn't even start revisions yet.
As National We Hate Singletons Day is over, there's nothing standing between me and the epilogue.
Except, you know, actually writing.
For myself, ...
