L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 31

7 Days To Go

The Sheep Dragon is coming out on Audible in seven days (10th of August). To celebrate, how about a joke?

“Hey, Katie,” Timmy drawled. “Do you want to hear a joke?”

Katie sighed. “Is this going to be another one of your lame jokes?”

“Lame? I’ll have you know that my jokes are hilarious. Sam told me so.”

“Master, as much as I love Sam, he is a trans-dimensional protoplasmic horror. I’m not sure his sense of humour counts.”

“That’s horrible slander. Of course, his sense of humour counts.” Timmy g...

Problem Solving

One of the best ways to see if you know your characters is to ask yourself what they would do in a particular situation.

So let’s give that a try. If our favourite band of heroes from The Unconventional Heroes Series were confronted by an unexpected problem, how would they approach it?

Katie would likely come up with some incredibly complex and Machiavellian scheme that would allow her to solve the problem via some truly fiendish machinations… before realising that her plan is way too complicat...

Progress Report 25-07-2021

Huzzah! I’m still alive.

In all seriousness, it’s been an interesting couple of months. As some of you are likely aware, my knees have seen better days. In fact, I had to get major knee surgery several years ago to address a serious injury that I suffered. I won’t go back into the specifics of it, but these issues will probably never go away. A good exercise program has helped, but every now and then, I’ll do something that aggravates the knees, necessitating a more relaxed schedule and some res...

The Bucks…

I say this as an unabashed Spurs fans who bleeds silver and black…

I am incredibly happy that the Bucks won.

The past decade has increasingly seen the rise of super teams where players jump from one team to another to maximise their chances of winning a championship. I can’t blame players for doing that. Winning is hard, and all too often a player’s legacy boils down to whether or not they won a championship, regardless of the context (e.g., Charles Barkley is criminally underrated by peopl...

How To Tell If Your Fantasy Hero Is An Idiot

Are you worried that your fantasy hero is an idiot? Well, here’s an easy checklist. If you hero has done or would do any of the following, they may be an idiot.

Attempts to fight a dragon in honourable combat. Dragons are flying harbingers of fiery death that boast outstanding strength, speed, endurance, and durability. Trying to stab a dragon with anything less than a divinely forged blade is likely an exercise in futility and all but the most potent of magics are unlikely to do anything excep...

Memorable Memories #3 – So A Bush Turkey Tried To Cross A Road

In the area where I live, there are bush turkeys. These birds aren’t exactly the most glamorous of creatures, and they’re not particularly friendly either. They kind of just wander around doing whatever it is that bush turkeys do. Sometimes, they’ll wander around in gangs. I once saw a group of four wandering down the sidewalk. I don’t know if they’re supposed to be smart or not, but I’ve encountered my fair share of less than brilliant bush turkeys over the years.

On the morning in question, I ...

The Sheep Dragon Audiobook Coming Soon

I’m pleased to announce that the audiobook for The Sheep Dragon will be available on Audible from the 10th of August 2021. You can pre-order it from Audible here.

It’s a whopping 26 hrs and 34 mins long, and it is once again narrated by the wonderful Fred Berman and produced by the fine folks over at Podium Audio.

Last Man Standing

I think it’s quite ironic that in a year in which injuries have decimated the playoffs, one of the last men standing should be Chris Paul.

For all of his skills as a point guard – and he has many – Chris Paul has struggled with injuries during the playoffs throughout his career. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching one was the hamstring injury he suffered during the dying moments of Game 5 in the Western Conference Finals in 2018. That Houston Rockets team took a 3-2 lead over one of the most stacked ...

Wonderful Words #1 – Westering

There are an awful lot of words out there. Some of them are very simple indeed whilst others are more complex. Some sound soothing whilst others sound horrific. Today, I’d like to talk about the word ‘westering’.

Westering is an adjective that means ‘nearing, shifting, or moving toward the west’. It is most frequently applied to the sun. For instance: The last rays of the westering sun were a dull orange.

The reason I like this word so much is that I’ve always liked the way it sounds. Generally ...

Memorable Memories #2 – Marsupial Combat 2nd Edition

The house where I currently live has a lot of trees around it, as well as a property that is quite overgrown behind it. That property is basically bushland, so there’s plenty of wildlife around, especially since there’s a stormwater drain there that always seems to have water in it. It might not be the most appealing source of water to a human, but it’s still a source of water, and animals aren’t quite so picky.

Like I said, there’s plenty of critters around, particularly at night. Due to a vari...