Eric Buffington's Blog, page 7

Irony?

There's not much worse than people who complain! They are such a pain! I can't stand it!

You Helped Me!

The other day I was driving my family into town and there was an older man stuck in the ditch with his lawn tractor.

I passed by him, and looked down at him in the ditch and thought, I could probably get him out pretty quickly. Then another thought crossed my mind. I was wearing brand new khaki pants. If I helped him, I could ruin my pants. As I drove past, I had the feeling that I really should stop and help. I stopped the car, turned around and went back.

When I stopped my mini-van and got out, his wife had joined him in the yard, and immediately told me that if I got into the ditch I'd get all dirty. She tried to wave me off, but she couldn't do much as I ignored her protests and stepped down into the ditch. With a couple of pushed we had him out of the ditch and ready to finish the yard work. I didn't even get mud on my paints. He thanked me several times, and even asked if I wanted money.

As I got back into the car with my wife and children, I realized what a service he had done for me. He gave me the chance to be a hero in front of my kids. They thought I was not only super strong for pushing the lawn tractor out of the ditch, but they also saw me being helpful to a complete stranger.

I was blessed to have a father who stopped to help people on the road when they were in distress. That is a heritage I am hoping to also pass on to my kids!

Reflecting on this experience I feel that I need to thank that man for giving me such a great opportunity! Thanks man! I owe you!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

I don't know much about Cinco de Mayo. I don't understand French. But it seems to happen on May 5th every year. They should really think about changing it to a weekend! It would have better attendance if it was on the 6th or 7th. 

Random Thought

How do I know when my blue cheese goes bad?

Book Review: Against the Beast by R. J. Batla

For starters... Love the cover art! It's simple yet very engaging!

​I enjoyed Against the Beast. It had several very interesting elements: the magic system, the way the antagonists worked, the stealing of the life energy, and the military organization were all there. The story is clean, which is fantastic and often hard to find in this genre.

I like that this story had a specific point and purpose. While it was setting up for other books, it was still a good solid story with beginning, middle and end.

The reason it is four stars is mainly due to pacing. Because there was world building, orcs, elves, magic, military, rangers and new fantasy creatures, it felt like a lot going on in a short amount of time, which made some of the story feel rushed. (Quick example is how they super charged their swords going into battle. That was something that was very creative and had the potential to be super cool, but seemed glossed over and a little rushed.) I think this same novella could have been easily expanded into a full novel that included Royn's training as a ranger. Then I would know more about what rangers were, how their gifts expressed themselves, how they were different from the other soldiers etc. Having said that... too fast paced is definitely better, in my opinion, than too slow and boring which this book certainly is not!

Definitely lots to look forward to in future books! I recommend this book to people looking for a clean, fun fantasy adventure!

Book Review: Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell

The Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In a world where the Mage Guild and the Mechanic Guild are stark opposites, a mage and mechanic are forced into an adventure together where they need to decide if the traditions and teachings of their guilds are more important than survival, trust and friendship.

This book was a lot of fun! The cover art is intriguing and made me want to know how a gun, a mage and a dragon could co-exist, and the book was a fantastic mix of these items! I enjoyed this book very much!

View all my reviews

Autism Awareness Month

This month is Autism Awareness Month. This is a time when we hopefully help to spread awareness of Autism and perhaps help to teach that people with autism are people first. Unique people with perhaps many similar symptoms, but symptoms that may express themselves in totally different ways.

At the end of March my wife and I went to Portland Oregon to get an autism service dog from Autism Service Dogs of America for our son. After being on the waiting list for two years, we were able to bring Pearl home and already we have seen some changes although many are in unexpected ways.

We got the service dog to help anticipate and prevent his outbursts, and running away. Those things actually have reduced pretty drastically in the two years we have been waiting for a dog, so we wondered what else we would see when we added a dog to our lives.

Andrew is more social, tends to stick with his class more, and has been leaving the classroom for sensory breaks less often. That's pretty good progress for a couple of weeks! He also has a buddy now who he totally loves!
On a totally separate note, I saw a video I wanted to share about Julia, the first Muppet with autism. I think they did a great job showing some things that might happen when you have friends with autism, and I also like that they kept emphasizing that it is this way for this little girl, but it might not be the same with everyone. I think it's amazing that Sesame Street is showing a Muppet with autism. Great Job!

Update on Current Projects

Now that The Kingdom of Denall trilogy is done and released, here is what you can see coming from me in the future.

Mordyar's Story:

As many of you saw in the back of The Changing, my next project in the world of Denall is Mordyar's story. This is the project I'm working on most actively right now. It is the story of how Mordyar became Mordyar. If you missed it, go back to The Changing and you can see a sneak peak chapter of this book.

This Book is Random Volume 3:

The continuing saga of randomness is about half done. I'm not sure the exact date, but it will be coming in 2017.

Relaxing:

This is a story about a math teacher who takes it easy on writing for a little bit... basically this year I am continuing to write, but I won't be releasing books as quickly as I did in 2016.

​Thank you to everyone who helped make 2016 amazing! I'm happy with the end result of the Kingdom of Denall Trilogy, and we will definitely have more adventures with the characters from those stories in some companion novels.

Codex of Light

An author friend of mine has a book that came out today! Very excited for this one. I was able to read part of an early manuscript of this book, so it's wonderful to see what it has become!

Check it out here available now in kindle form!

Just Wait! There's More!

The release date is fast upon us for The Changing, the final book in the Kingdom of Denall Trilogy! Really happy to have this entire trilogy available on February 10th.

Another fun development is that all three books are now available for pre-order in one package. It is on a slight discount to get all three books, and it includes seven extra chapters of bonus content.

Click here to check that out!

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