Andy Peloquin's Blog, page 30

Which Fig Do You Choose?

The other day, I ran into this AMAZING Sylvia Plath quote, from the book The Bell Jar:

“I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked.

One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out.

I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”

Mind. Blown! Such a simple way to describe the choices we make in our lives.

It’s amazing how many choices are made for us as a result of our circumstances. Perhaps our parents’ professions push us to make a certain career choice while in high school/college, and our education leads us down one path. By the time we’re in our 30s, 40s, and 50s, we’ve gone so far down that specific path that there’s no turning back. A lot of the choices were made for us, and yet we had the chance to make choices for ourselves. Often, we ended up NOT making choices, simply because–like the figs–there were so many to choose from.

All those figs look so good, and they each have their own unique attraction. We stare at them all, wishing we could choose them all. But we can’t. We have to pluck one fig, and that’s the ONLY one we get.

“What if I choose the wrong one?” A question all of us ponder at some point in our lives. More often than not, we make a choice that could be “wrong”. All we can do is learn from the choice, adjust our course, and try to make the “right” choice next time.

But worse than making the wrong choice is making no choice at all! If you try to cling to too many “figs”, they will all wrinkle, go black, and fall to the ground at your feet.

To paraphrase another Sylvia Plath quote:

“You can never read all the books you want. You can never be all the people you want and love all the lives you want. You can never train yourself in all the skills you want.”

That means you have to make a choice. Why not make it sooner rather than later? Look at all the figs on the tree and decide which one is the one you want most of all. Once you’ve made the choice, never look back!

The post Which Fig Do You Choose? appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Book Review: Hidden Elements by Michael Bolan

It’s Book Review Wednesday, and I’m pleased as punch to bring you the Book 2 in the Devil’s Bible Series. The first book, Sons of Brabant, was one of the very first books I gave a 5-star rating to, and the second book in the series is a worthy successor indeed!

Hidden Elements

It is 1646 and the Thirty Years’ War is raging. While Europe teeters on the brink of annihilation, the mysterious cabal known only as The Rapture enters the final apocalyptic stage of their plan to bring about the Second Coming of Christ.

Only the Sons of Brabant, and their bawdy Irish allies, have the skill and daring to stop them. But first, the companions part ways, each seeking a piece of the puzzle that has set Europe aflame. For they must gather and destroy the Seals of the Devil’s Bible before the Rapture can unleash their cataclysmic force. Whoever holds the Seals controls the future of the planet…

Can Willem, Isabella and Leo put an end to their brother’s madness, or will Reinald achieve his perverted goal, destroying mankind in the process?

My Review: 4.5 Stars

One of the things I loved about the first book was the fact that it was mostly military fiction, with the emphasis on the military tactics used in the skirmishes/battles of the Sons of Brabant. In this book, there is just one or two small battles, so the story was missing the military element that made the first book so enjoyable.

There is a bit more romantic drama than the first book. There is nothing wrong with it, but I just felt that some of it detracted from the awesome action of the story. It could have focused on the sibling relationship without introducing a love interest for the female protagonist. For many readers, it will be something they enjoy A LOT, but those scenes lost my interest.

As for the rest, the story was AWESOME. It went from military fiction to more of a classic fantasy adventure–a search for the Four Seals that was incredibly creative. The story was very well-written and absolutely enjoyable. The added characters of the Irish Fianna warriors made it so much better, as it gave us more people to focus on than the three siblings. On the flip side, it did detract from what I thought was the core element of the book: the relationship between the two brothers and their sister.

Action scenes: awesome. Historic elements: awesome. Intellectual/philosophical discussions: awesome. Character development: good. Description of settings and locations: awesome.

All in all, an EXCELLENT book!

Here’s a Taste:

The noise woke the entire household. Part wail, part bellow, it was a bestial sound, a sound of searing agony. It echoed for several long minutes through the long corridors of the luxurious manor house, more palace than hunting lodge, until servant and master alike were left cowering, convinced that the End of Days was truly upon them. Such was the fear engendered by the screams that not a soul moved to investigate their source.

The hellish noise disappeared as suddenly as it had started and Reinald, Duke of Brabant, opened his eyes to find that he hadn’t been transported to some nether hell; his chamber was exactly as it had been when he had retired the previous evening. Staggering to his feet, he lifted the water basin from the nightstand and upended it over his head. The cool water helped bring him back to his senses and he stood up, shaking his long chestnut hair back out of his eyes.

He did not stop to dress, but rushed out into the corridor in his underclothes, pausing only to grab his pistol and beltknife. The ornately-panelled hallway was silent, thick carpets soft under his feet as he ran towards Janssens’ room. Thinking that such a noise could only be divinely, or infernally, inspired, the God-touched priest was likely involved. His frantic pounding on the door was met with silence, so with a strength born of desperation, he kicked open the door and rushed into the cleric’s chambers.

The room was a mess, as if a wild beast had been loosed. Furniture was scratched and broken, lamps lay toppled, their oil seeping into the expensive carpets. The bedsheets were strewn across the floor. On the bed, Corneille Janssens lay flat on his back, unmoving, his mouth frozen in a deathly rictus. His eyes stared fixatedly towards the ceiling, or rather they would have done, had they still been in his head. Instead, his eye sockets were two pools of blood, rivulets of which trickled down the cleric’s cheeks onto the bed. Reinald stopped still, stunned by the violence of the scene.

As he moved closer to the prone visionary, he fell to his knees and retched the meagre contents of his stomach. For clutched firmly in each of the cleric’s bloodied hands was an unseeing eyeball.

About the Author:

It took Michael Bolan over two decades of running in the corporate ratrace to realise that all he actually did was tell stories.

There was no Damascene revelation for Bolan which caused him to pen his first work of fiction, “The Sons of Brabant”. An avid reader, he simply felt that he could do as good a job as many of the authors he read and decided to put his money where his mouth was.

Living and working in many countries left him with smatterings of a dozen languages and their stories, and his love for history focused his ideas on the Thirty Years War, the most destructive conflict that the continent has ever seen.

Now living in Prague (for the second time), Michael brings alive the twisted alleys of the 17th century and recreates the brooding darkness of a fractured Europe, where no-one was entirely sure who was fighting whom.

Michael writes while liberally soused in gin, a testament to Franz de le Boë, who was mixing oil of juniper with neat spirit while the thirty Years War raged around him.

Find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Elements-Book-Devils-Bible-ebook/dp/B017G6WPJO

Read Michael’s thoughts on his website: www.michaelbolan.org

Connect with him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author-Michael-Bolan-1492561597687012/

Tweet at him: @michaelbolan225

 

 

The post Book Review: Hidden Elements by Michael Bolan appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Awesome Resources for Creative Writing: Emotion Thesaurus

One of my greatest challenges in creative writing is finding new and unique ways to express things that EVERY other writer is trying to communicate. Every character in our books has emotions, and there are only so many ways to express those emotions right?

For example, let’s say the Hunter (from The Last Bucelarii series) is angry–which he often is. There are only so many ways to express his anger:

Frown
Clenched jaw or fists
Rush of blood
Heat rising
Nostrils flaring
Cracking knuckles
Shouting
and so on…

But, if the Hunter gets mad a few dozen times per book (which he does–anger issues, anyone?), these descriptors are going to get very old very quickly. So how can I find more clever and original ways to describe the emotions?

Enter the Emotion Thesaurus!

This glorious work, created by Angela Ackerman of Writers Helping Writers, is chock-a-block full of body language, visual cues, visceral reactions, and words to describe the emotions your characters are feeling. It is a literal A to Z of every possible emotion and tips on how to write them without sounding boring and repetitive.

Here’s the book description:

“One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying a character’s emotions to the reader in a unique, compelling way. This book comes to the rescue by highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each.

Using its easy-to-navigate list format, readers can draw inspiration from character cues that range in intensity to match any emotional moment. The Emotion Thesaurus also tackles common emotion-related writing problems and provides methods to overcome them.

This writing tool encourages writers to show, not tell emotion and is a creative brainstorming resource for any fiction project. ”

I paid a $4.99 for the book, and it’s been sitting on my iPad Kindle app for a week or so. I’ve already referred to it a half-dozen times in my writing, and I have no doubt I’ll use it VERY often as I continue to write my characters.

Sure, some of the emotions may never arise as I write the character of the Hunter. His emotional immaturity means his range of feelings and emotions are pretty limited (part of what makes him human–well, HALF human). But, as I write many more books with many more characters, I have no doubt I will get to tap into all 75 of the emotions listed in the pages.

Worth the $5? ABSOLUTELY!

Find the book on Amazon and buy it now. It will help you to be a better writer when it comes to emotions.

Bonus: The Emotions Amplifiers book (find it on Amazon) is FREE for Kindle. This book explains the 15 states (i.e.; boredom, pain, hunger, illness, etc.) that can amplify the emotions of your characters. Definitely a handy addition the Emotions Thesaurus!

The post Awesome Resources for Creative Writing: Emotion Thesaurus appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Understanding the Commander

Last week, I was requested to write an article on the different personality types that made up an effective team. As I was doing the research, I learned about the Myers-Briggs personality profiles, the 16 different types of personalities in the world. Of course, being the curious person I am, I took the test.

The result: I am an ENTJ, a personality type known as “The Commander”. LOVING it already!

ENTJ stands for “Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging”. As one site says, “ENTJs have a natural tendency to marshall and direct.” Sounds a lot like me.

As I read more and more into the personality type, it was quickly clear that the Myers-Brigg test NAILED my personality:

(Taken from Human Metrics)

“Clarity of convictions endows these Thinkers with a knack for debate, or wanting knack, a penchant for argument. The light and heat generated by Thinking at the helm can be impressive; perhaps even overwhelming. ”

(Taken from Truity)

“They are ambitious and interested in gaining power and influence. To the ENTJ, decision-making is a vocation. They want to be in a position to make the call and put plans into motion.

ENTJs tend to be blunt and decisive. Driven to get things done, they can sometimes be critical or brusque in the pursuit of a goal. They are typically friendly and outgoing, although they may not pick up on emotional subleties in other people. They often love working with others toward a common goal, but may not find time to attend to their feelings. They are focused on results and want to be productive, competent, and influential.”

Did you know that Napoleon Bonaparte, Douglas MacArthur, Margaret Thatcher, and General Norman Schwarzkopf were all ENTJs? Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino, and David Letterman also fall into this category

Here are some interesting facts about this personality type:

They tend to have the highest GPA in college
They are least likely to suffer from finance or work-related stress
They’re most likely to stay in college
They’re among the least likely to claim belief in a “higher power”
They tend to be satisfied with their work
They have a much higher risk of cardiac problems

Fascinating, right?

A bit more about “The Commander”:

(Taken from Personality Page)

“There is not much room for error in the world of the ENTJ. They dislike to see mistakes repeated, and have no patience with inefficiency. They may become quite harsh when their patience is tried in these respects, because they are not naturally tuned in to people’s feelings, and more than likely don’t believe that they should tailor their judgments in consideration for people’s feelings.”

“ENTJs are very forceful, decisive individuals. They make decisions quickly, and are quick to verbalize their opinions and decisions to the rest of the world. The ENTJ who has not developed their Intuition will make decisions too hastily, without understanding all of the issues and possible solutions.”

As you can see, plenty of both strengths and weaknesses.

One site summed up the Commander Personality in a very succinct way: “Happiness Lies in the Joy of Achievement”. Sounds a LOT like me!

If any of the above sounds like you, you can find out more about the Commander Personality type here…

For me, having these things put into words came as a beautiful revelation. Someone actually understood what I was thinking and how I feel about things, and it was awesome to get a clearer insight into the way I think, act, and behave. It highlighted my strengths and reinforced the importance of working on my weaknesses. In the long run, learning all of these things about my personality type will help me to embrace both the good and the bad about being a “Commander”.

 

What’s your personality type? Take this quick and easy test and find out more about yourself. Don’t forget to comment and let me know what your personality type is…

The post Understanding the Commander appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Book Review: Cursed: Black Swan by Ryan T. McFadden

It’s Book Review Wednesday again, and I’ve got a treat for you! Today, I’m reviewing a book that shares a lot in common with The Last Bucelarii series: a bad-ass killer, a cursed weapon, a mysterious past, and a beautifully dark story line!

Cursed: Black Swan  (A Fixer Novel)

“Let’s get one thing straight—I’m a fixer. You need someone murdered? Then hire an assassin. You need something stolen? Call a thief. But if there’s something no one else can do, or a job that no one else wants, then you talk to me.”

Nathaniel specializes in the strange, the weird, and the dangerous. But no matter how far he runs, he can’t leave behind his bloody past, nor the ghosts that chase him.

His latest job was supposed to be simple—recover the sword Black Swan. Except there’s no such thing as a simple job. When the operation goes bad, the Crucifiers, the Crooked Hand, assassins, and Crusaders are all hot on Nathaniel’s trail…for a sword he doesn’t even have. All he has to do to get it back and set his world right is to find the woman of his dreams… and kill her.

 

My Review: 4.5 Stars

From the moment I opened this book, I was hooked. The character is a sarcastic “fixer” with a predisposition for killing–not quite an assassin, but definitely on the wrong side of the law.

The story got my attention immediately. It was incredibly well-written, free of the grammar and punctuation errors that drive me up the wall, and overall a very solid book. The characters were intriguing, and I LOVED the main character’s back story. Truth be told, all his back story (the prison, the life as a prince, etc.) would make one heck of a series. But as a standalone book, it’s truly a fascinating read.

My only complaint is with the ending of the book. After the massive build-up of the character, the cursed sword, and the villain, I was sorely disappointed with the climax and the way the author chose to end the story. What started out as a book focused entirely on the main character and his story ended up with a “save the world” plotline that I didn’t like. Not that it wasn’t well-written, just not how I wanted to see the story end.

Anyone who enjoys the grimdark/dark fantasy genre will love this story!

About the Author:

(Taken from his website)

I am a writer of fantasy and horror, with short stories and novellas published through Dragon Moon Press, Edge SF & F, and Absolute X-Press. In 2014, my novella Ghost in the Machine won the Aurora Award (Canada’s most prestigious award for SF&F) for Short Fiction.

My motley past involves such dangerous work as database administration, ice cream flavouring (seriously, that’s a thing), hockey league administration, screen printing, web design, furniture building, and home renovations.

He lives in London with his two beautiful, but sometimes diabolical daughters, who he is sure are plotting to one day overthrow him.

My other writing credits (not shown on this site) include stories in Chicago Overcoat, Afterburn SF, Sinister Tales, as well as a finalist in the $1500 JFJK contest, a semi-finalist in the Writer’s of the Future (as well as receiving two Honourable Mentions)

Find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cursed-Black-Swan-Fixer-Novel-ebook/dp/B016CD464E/

Visit his website: http://www.ryanmcfadden.com/

Tweet at him: https://twitter.com/RyanTMcFadden

Connect with him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryan.mcfadden1

 

The post Book Review: Cursed: Black Swan by Ryan T. McFadden appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Awesome Resources for Creative Writing: A Scientific Look at Pain

Pain plays a very central role in my creative writing. Most of my characters endure a great deal of pain (torture, fights, capture, etc.), so I have to get a bit creative when writing the pain that they experience. Often easier said than done!

One thing that helps me to write pain (hopefully) without getting repetitive is a paper published by Lancaster University in 2010. This research paper examines the neuroscientific and psycholinguistic research of pain–specifically, the way people experience and describe different types of pain.

As the paper states, “Pain is…the kind of subjective and poorly delineated experience that is difficult to express satisfactorily in language”. Everyone has their own unique ways to describe the pain they are feeling.

The paper gives examples of creative descriptions (“sharp pain going down the bottom of my leg”), as well as similes (“like a small garden rake over my eyes and the top of my head, digging in and scraping away”).

It describes different types of pain in terms of physical damage:

Insertion of pointed objects: stinging, drilling, boring, pricking
The application of sharp objects: slicing, stabbing, piercing, lancing
Pulling/tearing: tugging, wrenching, squeezing
Application of pressure/weight:  crushing, pressing, tight, pinching

It compares it to high and low temperatures (boiling, burning, freezing, scalding, etc.), as well as comparing it to basic movements (shooting, jumping, pounding).

The paper lists dozens of different ways to describe pain, giving an explanation of each. For authors who want to find new and creative ways to communicate the suffering they are putting their characters through, this is a paper worth reading. It’s a bit technical, but the information it contains is VERY useful!

Bonus: The article led me to a Spanish paper that describes pain in different ways:

a sharp object
a tormenting animal
a fire
a burden
duration
an enemy to beat
an angry person
a possession
motion
a substance moving within a container

 

The post Awesome Resources for Creative Writing: A Scientific Look at Pain appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

A Few Things to Know About Autism

Most people who meet me think I’m a fairly normal person. On first glance, I appear pretty “neurotypical”. But once you get to know me a bit more, you find that there’s something “odd” or “different” about me. That’s because I have a very “mild” form of autism.

When a lot of people think of autism, their minds immediately flash to “Rain Man” or Temple Grandin. That’s a very severe form of the syndrome, but there are varying degrees. Autism can affect as much as 1% of the population, meaning you know a lot more autistic people than you’d think. You probably don’t realize it, as we’re mostly normal with only a few hints to give us away as being “neuro-atypical”.

Did you know that Daryl Hannah, Tim Burton, and Dan Aykroyd have Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism? Probably not. That’s how subtle it can be. The majority of people with autism are high functioning, meaning they are able to lead normal lives with only a few “quirks” resulting from their unusual brain development.

Here are a few things you need to know about people with mild autism (taken from Health Feeds):

If you have it mildly, you’re at the awkward midpoint of being ‘normal enough’ for everyone to expect the same from you as everyone else, but ‘autistic enough’ to not always reach those expectations.
We find it difficult to read people.
Hints don’t work. Just bloody tell us.
If I do things at my own pace and use my own methods, I invariably succeed. If I go at the pace others tell to go or use someone else’s methods, I can crash and burn rather horribly.
Eye contact is overrated. People say I act unnatural when I talk to them, but to me it’s unnatural to stare right into someone’s eyeballs just because everyone else is doing it.
If you think I’m ignoring you in the occasional conversation, please don’t take it personally. I can only focus for lengths of time on things I find genuinely interesting. (And even now I’m not being rude- I may truly care about you as a person, but not always about the subject at hand. Everyone has to endure conversations they’re not interested in- I’m just the guy who can’t fake interest as convincingly as everyone else. This makes me rude, rather than the people who pull it off and successfully trick you.)
Asperger’s is sometimes called ‘Wrong Planet Syndrome’, because it often feels like that’s where you were born- on the wrong planet, among a bunch of aliens who don’t function like you do. So when I say that we’re normal and you guys are weird, that really is how it feels!
Being born on a different planet can feel pretty isolating and lonely. Especially if none of the aliens understand your culture, or even think it’s something to be discouraged, feared or cured.
We work better when things are specific. Sounds obvious, but the less margin of error there is the easier things are to do.
Like everybody else, autistic people shine when given the chance to play to their strengths. When the world dares to meet us halfway, we do brilliantly.

 

The post A Few Things to Know About Autism appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Book Review: The Death of Dulgath by Michael Sullivan

It’s Book Review Wednesday, and I’m delighted to bring you one of the best books I’ve read all year…

The Death of Dulgath

Three times they tried to kill her. Then a professional was hired. So was Riyria.

When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria is hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and the cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start life as rogues-for-hire. Things have gone well enough until they’re asked to help prevent a murder. Now they must venture into an ancient corner of the world to save a mysterious woman who knows more about Royce than is safe and cares less about herself than is sane.

My Review: 5 Stars

Once again, I’m reminded of how much I LOVE Michael Sullivan’s snarky, irreverent writing. More than once, I found myself laughing out loud at some sarcastic/droll quip–most of the time spoken by Royce, but Hadrian gets in a few funny ones as well.

Though a bit slower than most of the Riyria books, this one is no let-down. It’s another story to set up the relationship between the two characters that makes the Riyria books so awesome. A “buddy road trip with an assassination” story, and just enough of the supernatural in it to remind me of the world of Riyria.

Absolutely worth reading!

About the Author:

After finding a manual typewriter in the basement of a friend’s house, Michael J. Sullivan inserted a blank piece of paper and typed: It was a dark and stormy night. He was just eight years old and mimicking the greatest (or only) writer he knew about at the time…Snoopy. That spark ignited a flame and the desire to fill blank pages would become a life-long obsession.

As an adult, Michael spent more than ten years developing his craft by studying authors such as Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck. During that time, he wrote thirteen novels but found no traction in publishing. He did the only sane thing he could think of (since insanity is repeating the same act but expecting a different result), he quit and vowed never to write creatively again.

Michael stayed away from writing for a decade and returned to the keyboard in his forties…but with one condition: he wouldn’t seek publication. Instead, he wrote a series of books that had been building in his head over his hiatus. His first reading love was fantasy, and his hope was to help foster a love of reading in his then thirteen-year-old daughter, who struggled due to severe dyslexia. After reading the third book of this series, his wife insisted the novels needed to “get out there.” When Michael refused to jump back onto the query-go-round, she took over the publication tasks and has run “the business side” of his writing ever since.

Michael’s works have sold more than half a million English language copies, been translated into thirteen foreign languages, and appeared on more than one hundred “best of” or “most anticipated” lists including those compiled by Library Journal, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and Audible.com.

Find the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Dulgath-Riyria-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B014WOCH0A

Visit Michael’s website: http://riyria.blogspot.com/

Tweet at him: https://twitter.com/author_sullivan

 

The post Book Review: The Death of Dulgath by Michael Sullivan appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Awesome Resources for Creative Writing: Name Generators

For many people, one of the easiest parts of their creative writing (novels/novellas/short stories/comic books, etc.) is coming up with the name of their main character. That name reflects their main character’s personality, traits, characteristics, and profession clearly.

Take the name “the Hunter” (from The Last Bucelarii series). It’s the perfect name for him given who he is and what he does (assassin who can kill anyone). Yet it’s also a nom de guerre, an assumed name. By calling him “the Hunter”, it drives home the fact that he doesn’t remember his real name or anything about his past. A no-brainer, right?

But what about all the ancillary characters? The thief creeping down the tunnel, the alchemist who gives the Hunter what he needs to track down the villain, or the villain’s henchmen? In any book, you easily have upwards of 20 to 30 named characters. They may not be important, but you have to come up with that name, right? Easier said than done, I often find.

Which is why I LOVE name generators!

Name generators give me a list of name ideas, most of which suck pretty badly. But there are always a few gems hidden among the dross, solid names that are perfect for whatever character I’m writing. I like to take parts of multiple names and mash them together, turning two iffy names into one good one.

Here are a few of the name generators I like to use:

— Here, you can find names for just about everything: aliens, dwarves, bounty hunters, cat-people, trolls, Taurens, pegasi, Knights, hobbits, and the list goes on! Be warned, the names here often sound clichéd, but they can be a good jumping-off point.

– This name generator spits out up to 50 names at a time, many of which are impossible to pronounce and not good enough. However, they’re perfect for my name mash-ups, and there is usually one or two solid names per generation.

– This is one of the better fantasy name generators. The names here are pronounceable, and you can find pretty solid names for your characters.

– I like this name generator a lot. You have a lot of options for coming up with different types of names (Aztec, reptilian, Lovecraftian, Dwarven, etc.), and it spits out up to 20 names at a time–most of which can be used.

There are others (such as the name generators on Seventh Sanctum or Behind the Names), but these are the ones that work best for me.

The post appeared first on Andy Peloquin.

Once is Enough

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ― Mae West

People who look at my life often find it odd. I work from home, but I prefer to do things at home. I love having people over to hang out, as it gives me a chance to cook and entertain. I love watching TV with my family, or playing board games at night. Between my day job and my writing career, I spend many hours at home. Yet a friend of mine found that unusual. They work from home, and if they don’t get out of the house, they feel stifled.

After they made that comment, I got to thinking about my life, habits, and preferences. I am, by nature, a creature of habit. I like to have things “just so”, and I need order in life. If I’m going to leave the house, I’ll do so for a reason–to go out with friends, to grab a drink, hit the cinema, pick up the kids, go to the gym, etc. But I’m not the kind of person that will leave the house “just to get out”.

On closer examination, I understand WHY I prefer to be at home: most of the things that interest me are at home. I can spend hours sitting at my desk writing. If I’m not writing, I’m often thinking, researching, or talking about the stories I’m working on. My writing takes up a large amount of my brain “real estate”. Watching TV with my family, cooking a nice meal, and just generally relaxing all take place at home. Home is where my “happiness” is.

To some people, it may seem unusual, but to me, it’s what I like. I don’t think I’m wasting my time or youth at home, but I feel like I’m getting a lot done. I’ve never been happier with my life, and I’m feeling good about all the challenges I’m dealing with.

If you enjoy something, do it! Live your life “right”, and it will be enough. Don’t let people tell you what you enjoy is odd or wrong, but do what you want to do. If it makes you happy and you feel content with your life, it’s worth it.

 

The post Once is Enough appeared first on Andy Peloquin.