Nick Bolock's Blog: Nick's Insight to Madness, page 6

Of Flashlights and Hometowns!

In the approximately six years (at this point) of cell phone ownership, I have owned 4 cell phones. Two of which have had or do have flashlight functions on them. When I discovered the feature on either phone, BOTH TIMES I managed to flash myself in the eyes. A simple *click* or hand wave to activate the flashlight and then I look directly into the light.
Why?
Partly because I don't think it through while I play with the phone features. Partly because it's some weird reactionary habit I have with flashlights. No, really. When I have a flashlight I tend to turn it on and then look into it to see if it's working. Yeah, I know, it would be smarter to just shine to stupid thing at a nearby surface to see if it works, but that's not much fun.
Anyway, the reason I bring this up is to hopefully make my readers (or whoever reads my "Blog of Eternal Madness") smile at my senseless flashlight antics. The other reason is... Well... To try and make puns about seeing lights or something. I don't know.
Either way, it makes me also think about things that are habits for other people (and nuns. *ba-dum tss*)
I mean, I sometimes wonder what other people I know are doing at any given moment or what they would do with something silly like flashlight-glancing. This idea almost circles back into my writing oddly enough. Any author has written stories with shifting perspectives, but one thing I try to do is write the same scenario with a different character in place. (i.e. Rising Seas: Vladimir x forest critters vs Sinclair x forest critters)
I'm sure many other writers do that just to see how things work around.

The other thing that caught my mind lately was how I've met other people from what I consider my hometown, Bethlehem, PA.
Two people in the last week have come into my work place and, in general conversation, revealed that they are from Bethlehem (or nearby). Usually when I reveal my similar origins, they are amused and ask which part of Bethlehem. There's a little banter about then and now, considering I haven't lived there in five years AND the few times I visited I haven't ventured much into the city proper. 90-something percent of the time I've never met these people when I lived in Bethlehem. Complete strangers, the lot of them.
Without sounding pretentious, the worlds I build, the worlds that anyone builds, are living breathing things like a child's imaginary friend. Despite that I'm not very detail-oriented with my worlds and have only offered quick glimpses, I do wonder what the random strangers would be like in Vladimir's position or their outlook.
It's like that twenty year old question now of: What do the NPC Trainers in Pokemon DO before you arrive and after you leave? Don't they have lives or things to be doing?
It's just something to consider in all the madness we see day to day.

Big News!

A few things I wanted to share with my little community that are going on right now:

As of new year, I am going back to school to finish up the English degree I started! Yay! *trumpets* My eventual plan is to go into teaching. Hopefully it doesn't take a whole heck of a lot of time to finish (here's looking at you old college! Release the kraken!... I mean, my credits!)

However, this change WILL NOT affect my writing career. Regolith is still coming out the last Wednesday in September.

In other news, I've been dabbling in some oddball short stories that popped into my head while reading 'The King in Yellow' (What the hell am I reading? It's weird.)

I have a concrete title for the third book, Dragonsbane, and a plot line with fully fleshed characters! Yay! *more trumpets*

What else...? Um... I guess that's really it. So far, Regolith's editing has been painless and carefree. That's good because with Rising Seas I had to rewrite a lot of stuff. Yikes. Hopefully, not again!

Anyway, that's all my news today. I hope that anyone who reads this is having a good day or does have a good day. :)

Toodles, and stay tuned!

Regolith Part 8: Editing and What I've Learned Already

Last Wednesday I read through the first six chapters of Regolith and... Ohhhhh boy. Yeah, there are quite a few things that I changed later in the story and didn't realize were still in there (like references to mana, which I moved away from using, or the mayor having children and contradicting that something he says).

So far I'm glad to report that most of the problems stem from plot errors and contrasts of my ideas rather than grammar errors. That makes me happy, happy, happy. However, the title of this post is "What I've Learned Already" so I'll get down to that.

Part of the problem is that I didn't update my chapter notes. I noted in a previous blog post that I took way better notes this time - which I did - but I never updated them as I went along writing. It was somewhere around the middle of the book where I read an article that proved to me that the concept of mana (a mystical life-giving, blood-like substance that allows the use of magic) was flimsy at best and my idea of magic needed better drawbacks. So I fleshed out more ideas and even added a sort of cycle to the life and death of magic.

Another part of the problem is that I'm usually thinking and working on what I'm doing in my head in places where I don't have paper. It would help if I did, but sometimes I don't.

So far I've learned to be more confident in what I write and to embrace every word unless its wildly outlandish. I feel more confident in Regolith and the Storyteller War as a whole with this one nearing the end.

I also have a cemented release date:
September 30th, 2015. It is the last Wednesday in September. I feel like that gives me a great enough time to work everything out and set the book up for pre-orders and what not.

And this is your friendly neighborhood author, signing out! Stay tuned right here for more moon collapsing goodness!

Dragonsbane Part 1: I shouldn't be writing

Well, as much as I tried not to continue writing a new book and TRIED to take a break before proofreading Regolith...

It didn't happen.

I started Dragonsbane (Formerly known as Finale of the Dragon, and will remain with the new title) last Thursday out of boredom. I figured, why not? I have notes of incredible depth, a great understanding of the plot, and a grand picture for the characters.
That is, until I already broke away from my notes.
Some of the characters have already changed and I even added some, AND I even changed a long plot thread.

So, for the first time ever, I'll be keeping a dual blog going between parts of Dragonsbane and Regolith fighting for your attention.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Regolith Part 7: The End of a Draft!

Well, it's finished.

My primary draft of Regolith is done and done. Now I start my two week vacation from the book. Then I get to review it and hammer it and temper it and all. Finally, My release date SEEMS to be shaping up for a Wednesday in September.

So, my thoughts on how Regolith shaped up? I think it shaped up rather well, BUT I think I missed out on some of the themes I was shooting for.
I remember saying that I wanted to make this a darker fantasy novel. Did I manage that? Ehhh, not really. At least I don't think so. The body count is higher, the magic is lesser, the rules are stiffer.
How do I feel about the story structure where you know how it ends and you're just reading to see how everything plays out? I feel much more confident on it now.
My characters? Crow, Ravenlord, and Trevor played nicely. The villain isn't as interesting as Alistair Sinclair from Rising Seas, but he serves his purpose.
My setting? The thing is... I've gotten a lot of feedback on my set pieces and environments. I mean, people have complimented me on TWO VERY PARTICULAR things: Alistair Sinclair's character and my descriptiveness from Rising Seas. I hope that things for Regolith are that compelling. I really hope.
My cover art? A work in progress.
My cosplay? Completely unrelated, but coming along with under 60 days to go.

All kinds of wild things are going on. I plan to beef up my manuscript more with descriptions, changes, and etc. I've almost settled into a niche of "Lite Fantasy" as opposed to heavier fantasy epics.

Anyway, that's my little update. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Breaking Traditions: Of Paper and Action Figures

(Fair warning, this is going to be a more personal blog about me and not so much my writing. You've been warned!)

I can be quoted as once saying "I will never use an e-reader or read an e-book."
Did that change? Yep, it did as of last year. My fellow author published her book on an e-book format and that was the easiest way for me to get it. Then again, I really didn't want to ask for a print copy (that I would have paid for) because at the time I barely knew her. So I bought an e-book. Will I do it again? Maybe, maybe not. I still like carrying around a book to read even if its paper or hardcover or what have you.

Recently, I broke another tradition of mine. Never, NEVER, buying a toy or action figure that I wanted online. There have been exceptions to this before, and by exceptions I mean I already bought a Legacy Megazord because I couldn't find it. Other exceptions include video games and plush animals. I don't count those. I ended up buying two figures that I couldn't find and they weren't expensive. Got them on Amazon.

The other reason was they helped me fill out the free shipping on Amazon. You have to spend $35 and I needed stuff for my Otakon 2015 costume.

So, at this point, you may be wondering one of two, or two, things. A: Why is a 23 year old collecting Power Ranger's toys? The answer is easy. Because I want to and I enjoy using my imagination and acting like a child every so other still.
B: Why did you NOT ever order figures online before?

Well, that's been a tradition of mine. The reason is one I'm sure other people can relate to, but here it goes.
You see, I like the surprise and wow factor of finding these figures out in "the wild" as I've heard some collectors say. "The wild" typically means Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R' US, and etc because their stock is pretty random and there's a chance you won't find something you want.

Even when I was a child, I LOVED going into an old toy store called K.B. Toys and simply looking at all the cool things they got. Not that I ever really bought somethings or asked my parents for them, but still, I loved the surprise of seeing new things.

Now, that surprise is, well, dampened. When I was growing up and saw a new toy, I never would have thought to go online and look up what else was in the set or wave or anything like that. I took everything at face value, but also relied on the box art. (Some of the boxes included pictures and model numbers of other things in the set.)
I can still walk into Toys R' Us and see all the cool Power Rangers toys, but I could also go online and see them too. I'll admit, I could go blind on the whole thing and just not search online, but still, the knowledge is there. (In fact, I just searched to see what the entire toy line comprises of)

I actually brought this up over the weekend when I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron with my girlfriend; the movie trailers don't leave anything to the imagination anymore. I feel like the movies trailers and teasers just tell us everything. From experience, the original Jurassic Park Trailers BARELY showed the T-Rex. To contrast that fact, the Jurassic World trailer clearly shows the Indominus Rex front and center.

Maybe the surprises just aren't there anymore? Maybe they are and I'm too old or too smart for them?

On the "not using and e-reader" thing. It would be easier to buy books cheaper, but that ruins the fun too.


Once again, thank you for reading my nonsense about toys and things. The next entry will definitely be about Regolith and the end of Regolith. SO.... Stay tuned!!

Rising Seas: One Year Later

I'm a day or two late with my blog post, but this post marks a special occasion. One year ago this week (27/28 of April), Rising Seas was released to the Kindle, effectively being "released". Technically I had the print copies already, but that's besides the point.

Looking back over the course of the year, (Yes, this will be a looking back blog post) I realized that there is a few things I'd change, and a lot I wouldn't. I still feel like the plot is all over the place, but somewhat focused. Other than that, I like how it turned out.

I've learned a good bit too, I'd say. Streamlining publishing online and all that stuff. I meant some new people, made jokes about my writing, and kept this blog running... Sort of...

Looking forward, I see Regolith coming out before the end of the year. I have an idea for cover art, a handful of chapters to write, and some editing. But that's it, and my second entry into the series is done.

My one big fear is that the entries, because they are self-contained, may put people off. I still have one or two people asking about Rising Seas's sequel, the under developed Dead Phoenix, that would have tied things up. I worry that the sudden: "Hey! New location, unexplained changes." bit may put people off, but they'll get used to it... I hope. It all ties together in the third and the last book. So... Fingers crossed, guys!

Another thing on my mind is WHERE I put Rising Seas out. I used Kindle and Smashwords. Yay! It's on all the Amazon shops!... But it's also 50,000 other places besides because Smashwords is an aggregator.
Not that I'm complaining, but that kind of bothers me. I've gotten (at the time) 121 sample downloads, but no purchases. The money is whatever, but it's also the fact that I have half idea where the book is being displayed at and what sites. Google it and see what I mean!

Probably in the future, I'll just use the Kindle platform. I like it, it's quick, clean, and... Well... Quick. I ran out of words.

So this blog turned into a small past/future bit. Ah well, you guys, my readers, already know this blog is a loose, stream of consciousness type of writing, prone to veering of course like a son of a gun.

Anyway, thanks for reading today and have a good one! See you around!

Here we stand, and here we... Something... I forgot the rest

This interval of time's blog post is brought to you by the letter D, and in part by viewers like you!

In a way, I'm not lying at all.

My blog today comes in the form of a question that someone asked me. Now this person bought a copy of Rising Seas a few months... Well, almost a year back. (I can't believe it has been that long.) I ran into them yesterday when they came into my work place and their question to me was: "I was reading your book, and I LOVE it, but my brother borrowed it just before I finished. So... Uh... How does it end? I really want to know!"

My response? "Uh... Well, to be honest, I don't remember at all!"

Was I telling the truth? Not really, no. Absolutely not.
Why did I not spill the ending? That's simple. I didn't want to just be like "X blah blah Y blah blah X blah Z" and ruin it. I feel like there was more emotion in what I wrote than what comes out of my pie hole. (See "The Value of Words", my last blog, for an idea on that.)

It got me thinking back to a time when, last year, my girlfriend posed the question: "What would you do if someone asked you something about Rising Seas that you don't know or feel comfortable with?"

EASY.
Be truthful or lie like a politician.

I know one day I'll get a question like: "Was Vladimir's obsession with the Princess born out of a metaphysical manifestation of mankind's relationship with their need to wage warfare across time and space to prove their self-worth?" or something wild and crazy. Kind of like when anyone takes a Shakespearean class and you always get that one person who one-shots the metaphors and/or understands the literature on some kind of hyper level... That's not me for sure. Some of that stuff doesn't make sense to me. I'll admit that. It took me two and a half years to fully understand that the Nightwish song "Poet and the Pendulum" was the writer's parallel struggle with dying by time/old age or dying young by suicide. Took me a looooong time.

But I'll tell the truth and be honest with stranger questions. Do I think it's some kind of parallel commentary? Not really at all. Yes, many of the fantasy works people have read like Lord of the Rings, Sword of Truth, Narnia, Game of Thrones, etc all contain the author's viewpoints of what's broken in society at the time. However, I don't really think I see any of my views coming out any where in anything I write.

If I ever have to give a talk or sit at a panel and someone blatantly asks how Rising Seas or anything ends without reading it. I'll say I'm not telling. Why? See above about the whole emotional payoff part.

In part, that plays into experience. I mean, there are a lot of things people know already from famous movies and games that have lot their emotional value. Kane's last word, Rosebud, was his sled, the only thing that brought him joy (And in the words of Peter Griffin "I just saved you two long, boobless hours".), Aeris dies in Final Fantasy VII, etc. We know these things and accept them. Somethings we know, like Harry stops Voldemort, and we accept them, but we still can't appreciate the emotional pay off unless we experience the movie or books.

SO! Getting back on track. Read books, stay in school, take your vitamins, say your prays to whichever deity or god or goddess you prefer, and read the end of a book before watching the movie. (Unless it's Game of Thrones)

The Value of Words

As anyone of my close friends might know, or some of my blog readers have surmised, I am prone to rants, raves, and branching thoughts that go from subjects like preparing grilled cheese to Egytian gods. Zero to sixty in about thirty minutes or less. I don't think I do it in my blogs all too often. There were a few times were I went from my work to fishing, but that's in the past.
My blog post today is about the value of words, or the perceived value. I'm talking about words both written and spoken. Heck, let's even throw thinking in there to for grins.
Last week during my shift at work I heard a radio ad that advertised a bank up the line doing some kind of gala/dinner/fundraiser. The centerpiece of this event was an author (I'm not sure if she was local) who was giving a talk on the book she wrote about time she spent overseas in the Middle East. After the fluff and stuff of the ad, they came down to the price. It was a modest price for dinner and a talk. The usual "pay this, show up, eat, and listen to someone talk" kind of deal that I'm sure many of us have seen before.
This fundraiser put a value to her words that she'd speak during this event.
So after I heard the ad, I remarked rather loudly that "I would give a talk at a dinner for free!" and I went on about it for a minute or two.
There I was doing the appraisal of words.
When authors or publishers or even people reselling books set a dollar amount, they too are valuing words.
Kids in school get values for their words in the form of a grade. When some apply to college, they write something to enhance their chances of getting in. Do well writing a job resume and the value is the job you're after. We write wills that are jammed with value in the form of monetary value and sentimental value. At our funerals, people tell stories about us and use words to make our memories whole and valuable.
The reason I bring this up is to also point out that we value the words of different sources differently. Sometimes we entirely discredit the words of an adversary or put too much faith in the words of our heroes.

I think you get it at this point.

In Rising Seas, Vladimir assigns value to what Sinclair says about the nation. He appraises what the Devil-Lord says to him.
In Regolith, Celine says a lot that Ravenlord will fail to value. Etc etc.

It is my opinion that often we don't value words enough sometimes. The simple songs of love, the gentle praise, the soft whimper of a child, the bold words of youth, the lessons of the middle-aged, and the memories of the elderly.
I myself am guilty of sometimes spending too much time talking to people as opposed to doing something. One thing I adore is hearing someone else tell a story. For a moment in time, I get to value and appreciate a new tale and imagine the power of those words as they spin a tale.
I enjoy telling the more humorous stories of my life because I don't often assign a good deal of value to the bad times.

A fellow author and friend of mine, Catherine DePasquale (author of A Future Spring), shared with me an ebook that talks about the blogs of authors that I have yet to read. It's funny to think that I just remembered it now after finishing The Complete Circle Series by Ted Dekker. I'll have to get around to it.

I hope you learned something today from my more direct blog. Next time will be more about Regolith and how that's shaping up exactly.

See you around and have a great day!
Thanks for reading!

Regolith Part 6: Closing in on the end

As I type my way through Chapter 17 of Regolith, the clatter of fingers on the keys of my gaming laptop, I review my plots and thoughts. Then an idea hits me, a sudden realization...
I am no less than ten chapters from the end of the book.
What has become my second full novel after shelving "Dead Phoenix" is taking flight in beautiful ways. The landscape of greens and cities and sand and decay are building into the conclusion of a novel that brings another character into the fold.
Chapters 17 and 18 mark a major turn in the novel. The reader will see a shift in the balance of power among the protagonists and the antagonist. Beyond that we see Trevor growing up and maturing and Crow finishing his story. It's as simple as that.
I've come to appreciate my time writing more and more. It's a break from reality as I enter into a world of fantasy where nothing special is expected of me. I'd go on to say it's also relaxing for me.
With my nearing the end of the book, I guess I have to start planning my revisions, book cover, and promotions, and etc. And this and that there, as my uncle would say.
I have some ideas for the cover, but I'll talk about that later.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!