Book Signing & New Love

Before I get into the rambling section of my blog post today, let me announce that I will be doing a book signing on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 7 pm at the Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Crestview, Kentucky.  Here's the contact information if you are interested:

Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2785 Dixie Hwy.
Crestview Hills, KY 41017

At signings I typically answer any questions you might have regarding the books or my writing process.  Also, I am planning to bring along some new work that hasn't been released yet.  If no one has questions, I might do some reading of the new work.  I'll try to bring some other goodies as well.  I hope you can make it.

Now to the ramble...

The book is coming a bit slowly this week.  The first six chapters seemed to fly from my fingertips and I have a feeling that the other 20+ chapters will do the same as soon as I get the rest of the story outlined.  My main concern at the moment is that there is a lot of talking in the first few chapters.  It's all really important information but I'm afraid that there isn't enough tension, fighting, and general violence.  The next chapter I have planned should help fix that as well as give Gage some "private" time with Trixie.

Sitting on the floor, starting up at my wall calendar while listening to music yesterday (this is how I outline books), I had two new characters sit with me.  One I just refer to as the "laughing madman" and the other is a woman with an odd habit when it comes to names.  I don't know if they're going to appear in the new book, but I hope so.  They're ... different.  I'm beginning to learn that in this new world, there's this enormous gulf of gray area between what is considered sane and insane.  Let's just say you could fit whole cities in the gray area and still have room for some suburbs and ample parking.

A separate ramble...

I'm a gamer.  Not one of those hardcore gamers who has played every hot video game to come out for a system, but I do like a good video game.  In truth, I got started in gaming kind of late; not getting interested until the release of the PlayStation 1.  Somewhere along the way, I picked up Final Fantasy 8 and fell in love.  I've played Final Fantasy 7-13, except I didn't play the online one and I haven't finished 13.  I've played Guitar Hero and Rock Band, as well as a scattering of other games.  Years ago, we used to get a large group of friends together to play a first-person shooter called Time Splitters.

I'm not a great gamer.  I don't have fantastic hand-eye coordination so AA (action-adventure) games are hard for me, but I still love them.  I watched my brother and O.H. play both the Batman games as well as all the Uncharted games.  I've spent hours watching Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia (who later became an inspiration for our own beloved Danaus), and lots of Resident Evil.


After recently getting sucked into some online play, I've attempted my first AA game solo, and I've found a new love.  His name is Ezio Auditore di Firenza.  For me, a great game is more than killer graphics and a strong combat engine.  A great game has to have a great story at its core along with heart-gripping characters.  I believe that Square Enix (the makers of Final Fantasy) have some of the best storytellers in the business, but recently, I've come to realize that Naughty Dog (Uncharted makers) and Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia makers) are excellent storytellers as well.  More importantly, Naughty Dog and Ubisoft make amazing, memorable characters that you love.  I like Tidus, Cloud, and Yuna from Final Fantasy, but I love Ezio and Nate Drake (from Uncharted).

I finished Assassin's Creed 2 last night, and I have to admit that I was a little heartsore when the credits rolled.  Through the passage of 20 years, you followed this character through heartbreak and triumph only to be left with more questions.  I understood why he did the things he did, but at the end, I wanted to walk up to him, place a hand against his cheek, and ask him, "Was it worth it?"  I think he would give me his patented little smirk, and say that it was, but I still feel sad for him.

Naturally, I've started the next game, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, but I'm debating whether to stop there and not go on to Revelations.  There's something in me that doesn't want to see the character at the end of his life.  Sort of like he won't get older and can't die if I don't play that part of the game.

But then, I still get a little heartsore when I think about how infrequently Mira and Danaus visit with me now.