C.R. Langille's Blog, page 15

World Horror Con 2016

World Horror Con is coming back to Utah, April 28th - May 1st this year! It will be in Provo, Utah at the Provo Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. This is a great opportunity to meet some famous folks in the horror industry, to include:
Brian KeeneMichael R. CollingsJoe McKinneySara PinboroughDarren ShanKeith ThompsonLInda AddisonMichael ArnzenMichaelbrent CollingsVictoria PriceCarter ReidDan WellsThere will be plenty of panels, workshops, and other fun events like a Killer Tea and a ghost tours. Several agents, publishing companies and editors will be on site to accept pitches. Join now by going to the event website and buying a membership. This is possibly one of the last times the World Horror Convention will come through Utah, so don't miss out!

http://www.whc2016.org/registration.html

Mayhem Playtest

I recently ran a session of the Mayhem RPG for my gaming group. It's a game I picked up at the Salt Lake Comic Con a couple years back. It's whole thing is centered around balance: light vs. dark, chaos vs. order, good vs. evil, etc... Overall, I think this is a pretty fun game and it's a unique system. For one, there is a combat clock mechanism for fighting that makes the combat interesting. The clock is used for initiative, or in other words, who gets to go when. Actions you take during combat are tagged with a speed that puts you so many spaces down the clock, and you don't get to go again until the clock comes around to your spot. So if you do quick actions, you can go sooner; however, if you choose to do slow actions, it may take longer, but the payoff might have been with the amount of damage you inflicted on your enemy.

Other things I liked, were the amount of races and/or talents/curses that come with the core book, allowing you to make crazy and unique characters. There aren't classes per se, because everything is based off of the skills you choose during character creation. The mechanic of play is pretty simple, your attribute (i.e. strength, agility, intelligence, etc) determines which die you roll, then you add any skill modifiers and try to beat a target number.

There are some drawbacks to the game. First, the layout isn't the most user friendly in my opinion. For example, not everything is presented in a logical order, and sometimes one important piece of information is buried in a paragraph of text in odd places. Also, they give conversion rules for D20 systems allowing you to convert monsters from other RPGs without "too" much trouble, but I would have liked some pre-made monsters in the book to make things easier because at the heart of this game is combat techniques which really add flavor to the battles.

Overall, I'd give this game 7/10. It's face-paced in that the combat scenarios did bog down and seemed to move quickly. Character creation wasn't very difficult either, even with the amount of combinations to be had. Just be prepared to annotate the book or make your own index.

You can get the book here: http://midnightcampaign.com/midnightc..._nsite/mayhemsplashpage.html  

Goodreads Giveaway of Consequence

If you use Goodreads, then you're in luck. I'm giving a way a copy of my novel, Consequence. It's super simple, just click on the button to enter the giveaway. If you win, I'll send you a signed copy of the book. Easy, peasy.  .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: inline-block; color: #181818; background-color: #F6F6EE; border: 1px solid #9D8A78; border-radius: 3px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; outline: none; font-size: 13px; padding: 8px 12px; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { color: #181818; background-color: #F7F2ED; border: 1px solid #AFAFAF; text-decoration: none; }Goodreads Book Giveaway Consequenceby C.R. Langille

Giveaway ends January 12, 2016.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

New Year!

New Year Death Star Waffle! Here we are at the start of a new year and it's looking like it's going to be a big one. Good things are on the horizon.

First and foremost, if all goes well, my wife and I will be welcoming our second daughter into the world at the end of February! We've got a name pinned down (and no I'm not sharing it). We're pretty danged excited and anxious about the new addition.

On the writing front, I'm editing the second book of the Dark Tyrant Series and will hopefully be done with it by the next couple of weeks. I'm editing the draft of my children's book about a magical teddy bear who keeps children safe from things that go bump in the night. I'll hopefully have it done by the end of the month and submitted for consideration. I'm also drafting the third book of the Dark Tyrant Series and hope to have that finished and submitted by the end of July or August. On another front, I'm involved with the second anthology put together by the Utah Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. That anthology is finished and in the processed of being put together by the publisher. If you liked Old Scratch, then definitely check this one out, it's going to kick some ass. It's called, It Came From the Great Salt Lake: A Collection of Utah Horror. 

On the hunting front, I've already put in for a Turkey tag. I'll be putting in for big game when it opens up. I think I'll mix things up and try my hand at archery for elk and maybe go back to black powder for deer. I'll continue to put in for pronghorn, bison, and bear, but I doubt I'll draw for any of those because I lack the points.

Finally, I'm hoping to get some more reading in this year. I read some kick ass books last year, but not as many as I'd like. 

​Happy New Year!

Amazon Book Giveaway of Consequence!

Want to win a free copy of my debut book, Consequence? All you have to do is follow this link and follow me on Amazon and you'll be entered to win a physical copy of the book. By following me, you'll be able to stay up-to-date with all my news, new releases, and anecdotes about hunting, gaming, survival, horror, and writing. Pretty easy, right? Here's the link: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/d62baead1af23fbe ​

Romance for the Holiday Spirit!

Shifting gears to romance again. It's the holidays which means giving and helping out friends and family. The talented Deanna Dee has written a Christmas themed short story for all fans of romance and I wanted to help promote her new work. Here's a blurb:

In her sixteenth year on Christmas, Noelle wants a true love.
 
Noelle Peterson is sixteen and never been kissed. She has her eye on Trey Sang, but she can barely talk to him, never mind anything else. With a little help from her best friend and her goofy cousin, can she work up the nerve to approach Trey? Will this Christmas bring the first (kiss for) Noelle?

You can find it on Amazon by following this link: http://tinyurl.com/zc28k8y

​Merry Christmas!

Interview

I got interviewed by the awesome Mary DeSantis, friend and fellow author. Check it out here: BAM!

Consequence

It's alive! The book launched today. You can get it at these locations:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016X3YAVW
Paperback: - http://amzn.to/1QqK5qu
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1QqlrGq
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1060598186
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1IRStwJ
​24 Symbols: https://www.24symbols.com/book/x/x/x?id=892688

"All Aboard"

It took a bit, but it finally made it! My short story, "All Aboard" was recently published in Sirens Call Publication's anthology, Horror: Odd and Bizarre. It's a story about a small Utah town and a railroad that appears one night in the center of town. No one can figure out what it means or who built it. Things ramp up when citizens begin to disappear and others receive train tickets for a one way trip. Check it out here.

Meet Author, Deanna Dee

I'm shifting gears a bit with this post. I'd like to introduce a good friend of mine from grad school, Deanna Dee. She's the author of the wonderfully successful geek romance books, The Games of Love series. Her new book, Finish Him, comes out November 17th. You can pre-order it here. I wanted to give every one a chance to get to know her, so I conducted an interview. I hope you enjoy getting to know her. After, you should go check out her books!

​Tell us about your books and stories, what sets them apart from others?

I like to think of my stories as “romances for the romance sidekicks.” My female leads are the quirky best friends or brainiac sisters found in many other romances, and my leading men are the nerdy friends or dorky brothers. They say the lines and do the things that the heroes and heroines don’t usually get to do, and it’s so fun being able to put those characters in the spotlight.
 
What is it about geek culture that you’re drawn to?I’ve always been a bit of an oddball.

Dungeons and Dragons kept me grounded as a kid. I filled my weekends and summers with imaginary worlds. I could be anyone I wanted, and I could always emerge victorious. Geek culture is where fantastical things happen. In a way, it’s home.
 
Your books incorporate table-top RPG’s. What’s your favorite table-top RPG, and do you have a particular gaming experience you would like to share?

To this day, Dungeons and Dragons remains my favorite table top game. As for a gaming experience, here’s one from college. My party of four (including myself) had to climb a ladder. Our dungeon master allowed us to make a roll to use either athletics or acrobatics to do this. We needed at least 5, which was fine for me and one of the other members since our skill bonuses were more than five. The other two members, however, had 1s and 2s bonuses in acrobatics and athletics. Once I and the other high-bonused character had climbed the ladder, our dungeon master said “it’s so easy a five year old can do it.” The other two members proceeded to roll the most 1s and 2s I’ve ever seen in my life. Did I mention this was also a stealth mission? I actually had to sneak attack on the guard because my fellows failed their rolls so many times, they fell off the ladder. Good times.
 
Favorite villain and what it is about this villain that you are drawn to?Awesome question! Scar from The Lion King.

There’s a story there, and I want to write it. What happened in his past that made him who he is? So what draws me to him is the knowledge that I can imagine the cute cub he was and how differently his life could have turned out.
 
Who are some authors, or some books that you think everyone should read at least once? Why those choices?

Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. This man is a genius. This series is so well-crafted. I lost track of the number of jaw-dropped moments I had while reading.  Brandon Sanderson. There’s nothing I’ve read from Sanderson that I didn’t love. From epic fantasy to dystopian super heroes, he does it all well.
 
Where can people find you online?

I can be found at the following haunts.
Website: http://ddgeekwriter.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ddgeekwriter
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ddgeekwriter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13466746.Deanna_Dee?from_search=true&search_version=service
 
Final question, if you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

Another awesome question! Shadow manipulation. I love the image of whipping darkness around. Shadow cloaks, knives, portals—the possibilities are endless!