R.A. McCandless's Blog, page 46

Review - My Child the Doberman

What you may not know about “My Child, the Doberman” by Michael Sherwin and Nykol Dedreu is that it started life as Facebook updates as imagined by the authors in the voice of Baron, their adopted Doberman. I had the good fortune to follow Baron’s posts, which were mostly funny, but at times poignant and enlightened.
“My Child, the Doberman” is laid out as a series of conversations between Baron and either one of his human parents, Michael or Nykol. Along with the conversations come various ph...

Editing - Go Away

Editing today.  Do not disturb on pain of . . . ummm, pain.  I guess.  Yeah.  Lots and lots of pain.  Probably emotional pain.  Perhaps something in the spiritual department.
I don’t know.  Go away.  I’m editing!

Also, enjoy this:

Caring Less

I’ve been sick the last week.  Perhaps this will remind you of me.

Books? Don't You Mean Crack?

Golden Books sure have changed!A book came in the mail yesterday, and my youngest son, Xavi, grabbed the package.  My boys love to see packages opened, because no matter how boring the stuff is inside, there’s still the potential that it’s awesome.
Until it’s opened.
“Awww,” is the usual disappointed response.
Not yesterday.
“A book!” Xavi cried.  “For me!  I LOVE it!”
It was a book.  It was not for him.  He still loved it.
He ran off with the title clutched in his dirty li...

Arrows and 12 Year Old Girls

Today's lesson is . . . you kill each other off.The following names have been changed from the following to protect the . . . ummm . . . innocent?  Yeah, letâs go with that.
The post was from a: "Jane Doe". -- come on now a (12-yr. old girl) with an arrow in her lung --- and asking; "How long she has to live in order to speak?" There is no amount of potential hopeful proceeds from any sane literature that could justify that train of thought.
Suzanne Collins, Stephen King, Veronica Roth, Pa...

I'm a Drunk, Alcoholics Want to Quit!

I'm not as think you drink I am!The filters on my particular email system handle the spam pretty well.  I never really pay attention until thereâs a good dozen and then I go through and clean them out.  Most days, 99.44% of the spam is actual spam.  Itâs mostly the run-of-the-mill stuff, like male/female enhancement products, get-rich-quick and quicker schemes, various natural and chemical âremediesâ.
The usual.
Today, I was treated to âFind the right Alcohol Rehab for You!â

Shoul...

The Darkness of DARK DUNGEONS

Friends don't let friends RPG.A long, long time ago in a country no so far away, there was a crazy scare about roll-playing games (RPGs).  The freak-out was of the pre-internet viral type that came from misinformation and a news cycle that would could latch onto the crazy and play it as fact.  Misinformation and disinformation became fear, confusion and utter chaos.  Suddenly, Satanists were everywhere, peaking from around alley corners, prowling graveyards and offering free 20...

Travis Ludvigson Five Star Review

By all means, mess with Del!Itâs always a little odd to see me referred to, as I refer to authors, by last name.  Itâs like reading about someone else, especially when the reviews are so positive.  It makes me feel like a really real author with the talent and the skill and everything!
Once again, McCandless succeeds in creating an engaging story full of interesting characters immersed in a fast moving plot.
In "Hell Becomes Her," we dive back into the life of Del, the deadly Nephilim...

Four Steps to Writing Believable Characters

Alright! Alright! You're interesting!Itâs a mistake to believe that genre fiction, fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, etc., rely more on cool gadgets and exotic locations than good characters.  Consider, for a moment, Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Plenty of fantastical, amazing, groovy settings, a fully-formed, fully-realized magic system, and grosses of groovy gadgets to serve all kinds of purposes.  But what really sold the show were the characters.  Enough so that most...

Speed 2: Cruz Control

Watch out for that guy behind you!Last nightâs Iowa caucuses was not quite a shocker.  The number one and number two spots for each was pretty much a given.  Youâd have had as much chance flipping a coin as trying to read the political tea leaves.  Iâm pretty certain I called it for Trump, but Iâd forgotten that, at the end of the day, Trump is clown shoes.  Outrageously big, very distracting, but ultimately useless for the average voter.  Ted Cruz already had a base...