dreamers

I'm very pleased to announce that my first professional novel has just been published . A brief synopsis:

For fifteen years, the young prince Morgan Craft was raised among royalty in the angelic kingdom of Moralvia. But a terrible act of betrayal thrusts him into an unfamiliar world where he encounters a group of rebellious citizens bent upon usurping his family’s legacy. Soon, Morgan is made aware of an ancient legend that tells of an angel possessed of divine powers strong enough to reshape the kingdom and bring their creator back to the world. The young prince is forced to make a choice about his own future, which may decide the fate of all angelkind…

Check out the cover art at the Barnes & Noble website, if you're interested:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Reign/Tristan-Day/e/9781606721001/?itm=1

I'm a new author, so I'm still trying to build up a strong readership. If you're interested, please order a copy. I would appreciate it more than you know. Thanks all! :)

http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/?p=121

Writing as Robert Jordan, James Rigney made knowledge his stock in trade. In order to write effectively about men and non-men who fought with swords and lances, he hefted them, he swung them. He studied what life is like for a man who makes his meat and beer with a battle axe. He would hold a spear or sword and contemplate the use of it in combat. Some swords are better in small areas, whereas long swords are better suited for larger space. He’d use them to learn about things like that. Einstein is quoted as saying, “I have no particular talent. I am only passionately curious.” RJ, Jim was that, and more.

Jim collected all manner of bladed weapons. In Jason’s description of his trip to Charleston for RJ’s funeral, he took some photos of the room outside RJ’s office which the family lovingly calls “The Armory”. Those photos appeared on RJ’s blog, but they only gave you a glimpse of the collection. It is immense. The blades were Jim’s passion, not Harriet’s, so he very generously left them to the three guys close to him: his brother, son and me. The three of us have given many pieces away to others who were also very close to RJ. We invited Brandon Sanderson to wander through and pick something of his liking, something that spoke to him. He sent me the most wonderful thank you note and has placed the sword, a samurai, on the wall above his writing desk. To accompany the sword, Brandon had a plaque engraved with warm words about RJ and looks at it for inspiration as he pens the last of Jim’s epic. Some of Jim’s blades have been placed in the hands of soldiers, airmen and Marines who will find use of them when they are deployed.

After selecting items for ourselves and sharing many with others, we still find ourselves with a collection that is, well, unmanageable. Each of us would very much like to hang onto ALL the items, but eventually, in the interest of spatial or marital harmony, most of it would have to go. So, we have decided to do that sooner rather than later. We know that Jim would have wanted some of his fans to have the opportunity to own some of his personal items.

The actual mechanics of this will be handled by a close family friend, Greg Kitchens. Greg is a Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves. He is a military weapons and history expert, though he would humbly deny that fact. Greg spent hours sitting with Jim, discussing the military art, history and the numerous items in both their collections. We are honored that a blade from the collection will be in Greg’s boot when he goes to the Sand Box this December. What he doesn’t know off hand, he diligently researches himself, or finds an expert in that particular field. Greg is performing exacting research on the pieces and will offer to the best of our ability a description of each item. Every piece will also be accompanied by a letter of authenticity stating that it came from the personal collection of Robert Jordan. This letter will be individually signed by Harriet and Greg, our “Armorer”.

RJ’s blade collection contains swords, knives, hatchets, and spears. Some are antique, some reproductions, and some are modern. There are blades for hunting, fishing, camping, survival, fighting and everything in between. Most are in excellent or new condition. There are a few custom blades and many good blades from reputable manufacturers. Jim appreciated quality and simple, functional practicality yet had an eye for historical significance. His collection reflects those values. There are very few fancy wall-hangers and a plethora of solidly useful weapons, high-quality practice weapons and tools.

We will be offering the Robert Jordan collection on eBay beginning over the next couple of weeks. Some of the more valuable antiques and custom knives will undoubtedly appeal to collectors, as well as WOT fans.

Wilson
Brother/Cousin
4th of 3

[Editor's note: We'll post more details and links to the eBay auctions when they come online.]

Originally published at Jingwen. Please leave any comments there.

In keeping with yesterday’s vampiric theme, some fan rambling regarding Buffy Summers, vampire slayer extraordinaire. Her love life actually reflects my love life, and probably the love lives of many women out there. Yes, this is despite the fact that she dated vampires. I’m talking in general terms, mmkay?

1. Random Flirtage (Scott, etc.): The randoms here and there in high/middle school that you have flirtations with. Nothing’s ever going to come of it, but they’re a nice ego boost while they last.
2. Angel: The first true love. Eminently ‘unsuitable’ in other people’s eyes for some reason or another, whether it’s because they’re too old, too vampiric, too much of a bad influence, whatever. Yet, despite other people’s disapproval, you’re hopelessly in love with them. This love sticks with you forever, no matter how many others you find yourself with in the course of your life. You’ll never forget them.
3. Parker: The rebound. Whether it’s a one night stand, or a slightly longer relationship. You don’t actually like them as a person. You’re in it for one reason only - they act as a balm for your injured emotions after the painful breakfup with the first true love.
4. Riley: The all-around nice person, who everyone likes. When it comes down to it, you don’t actually like them - you try to convince yourself that you do, but really, they’re just good for filling in the space of “eminently appropriate partner” who’s the complete antithesis to your first true love. You’re with them because you think their niceness will be a nice change from the drama of your previous relationships, but inevitably, you’ll just get bored and personally sabotage the relationship.
5. Spike: The adult relationship. It’s about passion, love, and explosive arguments with equally explosive make-ups. The emotions run so deep that you would do anything for the other person…even sacrifice yourself for them.

Have a think about it. It’s a little bit like a horoscope in that this theory could potentially be applicable to anyone, but it definitely works.

Question of the Week: Is this theory applicable to yourself? If not, is there some other media depiction of relationships that you can relate to?

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/08/apparently-robopanda-comes-with-its-own.html

Thursday, August 21 at 7:30 PM at the Helen Mills Theater on 137-139 West 26th Street NYC 10001

New York, NY -- On August 21, Cory Doctorow, award-winning author and co-editor of the popular blog Boing Boing and experimental writer / artist / musician Paul Miller, a.k.a. D.J. Spooky That Subliminal Kid team up for a multimedia speaking event benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Following their respective presentations, Doctorow and DJ Spooky will take the stage together for an open forum discussion about their work and the futurepresent each eloquently addresses across different media.

Originally published at Jingwen. Please leave any comments there.

I have a confession to make. I’ve yet to read any of Stephanie Meyer’s books. There it is. I’ve said it.

In a way, it’s not so surprising, as I hardly fall into the target demographic. That’s to say, I’m not a thirteen-year-old girl pining for her fanged knight in shining armour (though, I am a girl). I’ve had my fair share of fanged crushes (mmm…David Boreanaz, the original vampire with a tortured soul), but I got over that once I hit eighteen. This is of course, discounting the past couple of weeks when I’ve been systematically watching all my Buffy and Angel DVDs again. Anyway.

But, as a series written by an author that many have touted as the next J.K. Rowling, you’d imagine that my interest would be somewhat piqued. Another series as spellbinding as Harry Potter? Could I possibly say no? It may be out of a misguided sense of loyalty, but I almost feel that if I was to read this series and enjoy it as much as I did Potter, I’d be betraying Rowling. I know, I’m certifiably insane and illogical. It does mean that I’m going to avoid reading it…as long as I can keep avoiding the furor over it.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/08/how-well-do-we-use-our-freedom-to.html

I presume this will be intercepted and read by the guest bloggers, as Neil is apparently going to China to achieve (more) enlightenment at the Shau-lin monestary, or something. I may have missed a point or two.

Suggestions for the blog:

Make the "post by" title at the TOP of the entry rather than at the bottom, and make it a bit higher contrast. That way, at the beginning of the post, we know who's talking. This isn't a problem when 98% of the posts are by Neil, but now that there's going to be a smorgasbord of posters, I'd probably help a lot to know at the beginning to know who was posting. So if Lorraine posted, for instance, talking about "her Dad" we'd know that it was someone other than Neil that was the subject.

The other thing is it would be cool to get a brief introduction to the players by name. Obviously you shouldn't post your name and address, or even real names. And Maddy, Holly, and Lorraine wouldn't need intros. But who's "Dan Guy"? Is he the same as "Web Goblin"? Just a single sentence, as deep as a playbook character introduction. Such as "I'm Jane, the person at Blogger who's responsible for rooting out all the annoying single-instance tags that Neil puts in his posts, bless him".

In Taipei airport there were toilets for men, women, enormous telephones, daleks and people feeding giant venus flytraps.

So my girl ignipes has, at my request, written a heartbreaking work of staggering genius! You will laugh. You will cry. You will probably do both at the same time.

Brendon/zombie!Ryan. Crackfic. Warning for GROSS. And also hilarious.

Originally published at Jingwen. Please leave any comments there.

I went out with some girl friends on Friday night for dinner at a Chinese restaurant called Kum Den (oh the possible wordplay). We’d all met fairly recently, over the Australian summer of 2006/2007, when we were all in China for the same language study program. We’d stayed in touch as well, which is surprisingly hard because for a lot of people, their holiday selves are quite different from their regular selves. It’s the whole “I don’t have to think about work or school” unstressful lifestyle, where you can party until dawn without consequences. When you return home, you quite often find that you simply have nothing in common with those that you got on well with when away.

In any case, the dinner was notable perhaps because they are pretty much my only girl friends, and vice versa as well. Not one of the four of us present at the get-together have more than a handful of close female friends, yet we all have a whole phonebook’s worth of close male friends. We recognise in each other a kindred spirit - someone down-to-earth, practical and without emotional complications, someone more at ease with men than women.

I’ve always had a problem - women hate me, men love me. I’m a girly girl in the way I dress myself, but I’m a man’s woman in the way I act.I drink beer, I fart, I burp, I swear all the fucking time, I make crude jokes, I love watching football, I scratch my crotch (exaggeration!) and I ogle hot women walking past. Apparently the large majority of my fellow sex don’t like to be friends with women like this, though they’re generally happy to indulge this behaviour in their men. Who would’ve guessed?

My fellow dinner partners have similar problems: one is so down-to-earth and practical that she can’t help but be scathing of the high school dramas and cliques that seem to come packaged with the large majority of women of our age group; another is so incredibly beautiful, talented, and intelligent that’s she’s often viewed as a threat; another is so earthy and sensual (even more so than myself I’d say) that she’s automatically stereotyped as a dangerous maneater to avoid.

When we get together, we’re grown ups. It’s hard to find another group of females in their early twenties here in Melbourne, who when they get together, don’t get together for the express purpose of getting pissed and dancing till dawn. Rather, when we get together we make it a point to try new restaurants every time (hidden restaurants especially, down Melbourne’s myriad network of alleyways), sitting at the table for hours with beers, just laughing and talking.

Getting together for the purpose of making conversation and eating good food, rather than for the purpose of dancing to music that ensures you don’t talk to the people you’re with, is a lost art in the Melbourne twenty-something scene. Sad really.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/08/clark-kent-reached-highest-height-with.html

• Option 1: Sanitize the blog. I can go back and delete all mentions of the RoboPanda from the blog before Mr. G gets home.


• Option 2: Use subterfuge. Mr. G will be expecting me to show up with a RoboPanda at the National Book Festival, so instead I'll show up at a different tour stop in a clever disguise.


• Option 3: Forget the element of surprise. It's too late. He's going to know. Just accept it.


• Option 4: Swap the RoboPanda with a real panda. The D.C. Zoo has a baby panda. I head out early with the RoboPanda, infiltrate the zoo, swap the RoboPanda for a real one, and then bring the camcorder to capture Mr. G's reaction when I present him with a real, live baby panda.


• Option 5: Ticky Box! Well, it's not, actually, due to concerns of possible feed conflict, but its heart is in the right place.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/08/amanda-palmer-needs-house-in-london.html

Originally published at Jingwen. Please leave any comments there.

Just because I’m aware that I’m being labelled by certain parties as a brain-washed Communist/Red China sympathiser (you are so subtle), a short list of some of the many things the Chinese central government does that I don’t agree with:

1. State-controlled media. I support a free media (rather than the monopoly on news by the People’s Daily), a breaking-down of internet censorship and the elimination of firewalls prohibiting access to certain sites, etc. I spit on Google for censoring the search results you get when doing a search within China.
2. Labour laws and official unions. While both technically exist in China, the former is hard to enforce on ground level, especially when considering the official workers unions are often staffed by those who are comfortable taking bribes from factory workers to overlook violations of the aforementioned laws. Independent unions need to be established, and the laws themselves need to be revised to include:
   1. Minimum wage of at least 5RMB an hour, rather than the 50 jiao (50 Chinese cents) which is the current average. It only comes to $1USD an hour which doesn’t sound like much, but which is ample when compared to the Chinese standard of living where you can get an excellent meal for 3RMB.
   2. Regulation of the hours that a single person is allowed to work over a seven day period. No more than eleven hours a day over six days - they must be granted a day of rest on the seventh.
   3. Government-regulated inspections of factory dormitory living conditions to ensure they meet standards to be specified by the WHO.
   4. Government-regulated inspections of working conditions (within the factories themselves) to ensure they meet workplace health and safety standards.

   Among other workplace laws and regulations of course, but the above would be what I consider to be the most urgent issues for the Chinese workforce.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/08/sophisticated-desire-for-chaos.html