Murder at Avedon Hill - Novel and Podcast

Murder at Avedon Hill Gets a Publisher

2009-04-09T23:56:00.003-04:00

http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/archives/298

Murder at Avedon Hill is being published later this year by Dragon Moon Press. For more information, visit the Murder at Avedon Hill website.

Murder at Avedon Hill Video Promo

2009-01-20T13:07:00.002-05:00

38 episodes (of 42) have been released. Over 10,000 have downloaded the first episode so far, and I am very happy with how the podcast has been received.

Finally finished a video promo for MaAH

Murder at Avedon Hill Continues

2008-08-05T19:06:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted here in a long time, but I still get referrals from here every month... so I guess I should post here sometimes.

I've released 27 episodes of the podcast so far. I've got around 15 more episodes left. The response has been great. I'm in the Top 100 Daily podcasts in the Lit section of iTunes most days, and on Page 2 of the Featured Podcast list under Literature as well.

Most recently the podcast has been named as a finalist for Best Podcast Novel at the Podcast Peer Awards.

Episodes 6-9 are up

2007-12-06T16:47:00.000-05:00

Episodes 6-9 are up at the novel's website.

The Fuzzy Slug: Murder at Avedon Hill - Vampire Hunting

2007-12-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

The Fuzzy Slug: Murder at Avedon Hill - Vampire Hunting

Episodes 3-5 are up!

2007-08-10T14:09:00.000-04:00

Episodes 3-5 of Murder at Avedon Hill, my podcast novel, are available at http://pgholyfield.com/maah

I'm especially happy with Episode 5, which features guest voices Christiana Ellis and Matthew Wayne Selznick.

First two episodes of the podcast novel are up!

2007-07-03T13:41:00.000-04:00

Murder at Avedon Hill is up and running. Good vibes from everyone so far. Stop by and listen in.

Updates on the official Murder at Avedon Hill website

2007-02-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

Murder at Avedon Hill Episode T-Minus 3 - Introductions, a couple skits, and a lot of promos.

Appearance on the Five Minute Memoir podcast - I recall a day from my youth.

Murder at Avedon Hill Promo - Leann Mabry plays Gretta in my first promo for MaAH

Appearance on J.C. Hutchins's 7th Son Podcast - I wrote a skit about people hurting themselves while doing Kilroy 2.0 impressions. Several great podcasters helped me pull this off. It's called "Kilroy 2.0 Stress Disorder"

Appearance on Scott Sigler's The Rookie Podcast - I wrote a fun short story about meeting Scott Sigler at Dragon*Con. It's a little bit comedy and a little bit horror at the same time. Scott dropped it into his podcast feed last month.

My Last Blogger Post...

2007-01-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

Well, it's time.

I'm starting up my podcast.

I'll be uploading my finished novel to Lulu.com very soon.

Please check out the new and improved blog and website, over at http://pgholyfield.com

I've already got an audio promo up; I'll have more audio uploaded over the next two weeks, and I'm set up on iTunes and Podcast Pickle

It's been fun. For anyone that stopped by over the last two years, I hope you'll head on over to my wordpress site/blog. It looks good, and even though the template will change over the next month or so, I love the way wordpress works. Sorry Blogger, you really needed to make this new version of blogger more podcast friendly.

Until next time... goodbye and good luck.

Evolution of Dance

2006-12-23T20:32:00.000-05:00

Again, I know I'm way behind on these, but here's another one...

White and Nerdy

2006-12-21T00:37:00.000-05:00

Um, I know I'm late on this, but this is just too funny.

Yes, I'm a Beta Clone...

2006-12-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

I wrote a review of 7th Son: Book 1 - Descent a few months back. J.C. Hutchins, the author, is one hell of a guy and has helped me more than he will ever know along my journey... whereever the hell I end up.

Anyways, I love me some t-shirts... so here I am in my beta clone shirt!

If you haven't already... get the hell over to jchutchins.net and give his podcast novel a try.

Tag in the Seam Pimps Murder at Avedon Hill, and vice versa :)

2006-12-06T08:54:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm a big fan of Leann Mabry's pocast "Tag in the Seam." She provides insight on being a 'real woman,' and she shows great comedic talent just 'being herself.'

I did a promo for her podcast last month, cobbling together some sound bites and adding a voiceover to tie it together. Not high comedy, but she liked it enough to post it on her site.

In her most recent episode she mentions me and plugged the fact that I have my podcast starting soon. For those of you that are coming over after hearing her podcast, my first T-Minus podcast leading up to the start of the novel will be posted after the first of the year, after we move to another hosting company and I convert this site to WordPress/Podpress.

But before that I hope to be announcing that a short story I wrote will be appearing on a popular podcast... I'm just waiting to hear if/when it might go up before releasing any details. :)

I took the day off today to continue the final edits of my novel. So it's time to get back to it... Later guys!

Preparations Continue

2006-12-04T00:13:00.000-05:00

Several events will take place over the next few weeks that will be very important for the book and the upcoming podcast. First we (my one website and the many my wife has created and maintains) will be moving to a new hosting company, one with a LOT of bandwidth (yeah!). Because of this I will be moving from blogger to wordpress (and podpress). While this means leaving blogger, which I have enjoyed, I will be moving to a blog that integrates so much better with podcasts. Along with this I will be revamping my website. I will most likely be taking a page from Lonnie Ezell's website, as he does a good job of meshing Book and Podcast within his site.

Nanowrimo is over...

2006-11-30T19:53:00.000-05:00

I didn't quite make it, but I have 30,000 words to work with once I finish editing my first novel. :)

Congratulations to everyone that participated and especially to those that made it.

I for one am really proud of the work we did over at the Nanomonkeys podcast. It started as a suggestion I made over at the HHM website (first to do a support group there, and then to combine forces with the ISBW website). Chris Miller, K.J. Johnson, and Mur ran with it and prodcue something pretty special. 34 podcasts in 30 days. You can't beat that with a stick.

As for the novel edit, I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I've got around 95 pages left, plus I've got a map that's around 60% complete.

Lulu Authors Unite!

2006-11-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

Stacey Cochran, author of Amber Page: And the Legend of the Coral Stone has done a wonderful job of marketing. He is one of the few Lulu authors I know that has gotten his P.O.D. novel in bookstores, has had book signings, etc. The podcast version of his novel can be found at Podiobooks.com.

Stacey has taken it upon himself to organize 'meet-ups' with other Lulu authors in North Carolina. I wasn't able to make the last meeting, but he did created a video that he has posted on Lulu about this event.

Great work Stacey! I can't wait to get this book uploaded to Lulu so I can join you at a future book signing!

Mid-month status

2006-11-16T13:01:00.000-05:00

Just throwing out (or up) all the stuff I've been working on (in no particular oder):

1. Novel final edits: what I had hoped to have done by November 1st is still taking place. I'm around 60% done. If the family ever mends, I'll plow through the rest and upload to Lulu.
2. Map for novel: Starting to shape up. I've got a few more mountains to do, and then rivers, forests, cities, and roads.
3. The Nanomonkeys Podcast - I've done most of what I need to do for this. I've got a mid-month update sound file to edit and send to Chris Miller today. I had wanted to do interviews with the nano participants I interviewed at the beginning of the month, but it ain't gonna happen.
4. NaNoWriMo - behind in my word count, but happy with what I've done so far. While the novel is a murder mystery set in a fantasy world, this is a ghost story set in that same world.
5. Podcast short story - I have a short story that will be podcast soon on a popular podcast. I have a guest voice that will appear on the story that is going to make this even better! I can't wait to get it done and share what this is all about... soon.
6. Tag in the Seam - I did a promo for Leann Mabry with the Tag in the Seam podcast. I'll point a link to it once it starts getting played.
7. My T-minus podcasts - As soon as I'm done with #1, I'll be doing three or four "T-Minus" podcasts leading up to the start of the Murder at Avedon Hill podcast novel. More on this soon.

Once the crud leaves our family alone, I'll be very happy. BELIEVE me.

Just discovered Technorati

2006-11-08T17:19:00.001-05:00

Technorati Profile

I have no idea all the stuff you can do with Technorati, but it sounds like illuminati so I like it.

NaNoWriMo - The Fallout :)

2006-11-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

Doing my best at Nanowrimo...

At around 6000 words, I'm getting hit on all sides by other priorities. Liza is still recovering from the nasty crud that has had her under the weather for almost a month now. I'm still editing the novel. I just finished editing all of my content for the Nanomonkeys podcast. I've got a cool story that will be podcasted through another website (announcement later) and that means more recording.

But it is all worth it. And I'm going to have time to do some sprints this week (20 minute segment writing as many words as possible). During my one and only sprint thus far, I wrote 1100 words. Some of them made no sense, but hey, what can you do. :)

Halloween Halloween Trick or Treat...

2006-10-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

I usually don't post too many family pics on my blog, but it's Halloween and it was a fun day.

Gosh I hate Dora. Halloween song is still stuck in my head.

Here are pics from the day. I have loverly children. I'm biased though.

This is Samantha, 4, Cinderella through and through.

This would be Alex, 9 1/2 months old. She was going to be a Virginia Cavalier cheerleader, but we opted for the bunny. Hopefully the cheerleader outfit will still fit her next year.

We met Riley while we were out. Riley is in Sam's pre-school class, and we had no idea she lived just a few blocks away from us. Happy times were had by the kiddies.

This is what makes life worth living, in case you didn't know...

First Nanomonkeys podcast is up!

2006-10-31T23:35:00.000-05:00

The first episode is up on the Nanomonkeys podcast site! Chris talks about getting started, and Mur and Chris interview Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo! Great stuff.

NaNoWriMo Podcast - The NaNoMonkeys

2006-10-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

I am breaking into podcasting in a great way... on the coattails of others, of course! I helped organize a NaNoWriMo support group at the House of the Harping Monkey website (or at least started a thread on the forums :) ) and when Mur Lafferty stated she wanted to do something for NaNo on her I Should Be Writing podcast, I suggested to both podcasts that they join forces (since they already know each other) and do something for the month of November.

The result is a NaNoWriMo podcast called "The NaNoMonkeys" Throughout the month of November we'll be posting daily 5 minute episodes meant to support those going through NaNoWriMo. In adition I am doing interviews with NaNoWriMo participants, including J.C. Hutchins and Lonnie Ezell, to discuss their NaNo plans an their methods of coping with a 50,000 word deadline!

I'm just thrilled to be working with Mur, Chris Miller and K.J. Johnson. I'm still learning all this stuff (how to do interviews, editing sound files, etc.), and you'll just love hearing my flu-affected voice on some of the interviews I've done so far.

You don't need an iPod music video

2006-10-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here is a short music video by Canadian band Uncle Seth, mainly meant to break the myth that you need an iPod to listen to a podcast.

I want to make sure no one will get scared when I start releasing podcast content. :)

Tag in the Seam Podcast

2006-10-18T23:00:00.000-04:00

One of the great pleasures of Dragon*Con was learning about Tag in the Seam. Billed as the "Don\’t Believe the Hype! A Podcast for Women" podcast, Leann sells herself and her podcast woefully short. Her marketing tagline should be "Women had better appreciate this podcast. Men sure will."

Leann, like my wife, is the type of woman that George Hrab is singing about in "Brains Body Both." She has a great sense of humor, is intelligent as hell, and as she explains in one of her podcasts (about how geeks don't really know how to flirt), "I think she's perty." (Clair (Leann's fiancee), feel free to punch me on the arm when I see you next year at D*C. I'm sure my wife Liza will once she reads this). Her take on topics such as the Bride gene, PMS, laser treatments, the lost art of the pick-up line may masquerade as "podcast content for women," but in actuality she is speaking to the men of the world-- to men like me, who see a lot of her in their own spouse/significant other; to men who just don't understand certain things about women and will stop say "Oh, now I understand" several times during her podcasts; and to men that will simply fall for the cool girl that likes geeky goodness.

All you have to do is listen to the episode called "The Survival Guide to Cohabitating with the Modern Day Geek" to understand that she may be trying to help the women of the world 'recognize' and 'learn to love' the geek in all men, but in reality she is speaking to the men in the world, confirming that there is hope for the geekiest of us all. (Ok, that was over the top, I know. But this episode is freaking hilarious, and if nothing else, it is the first podcast my wife ever listened to that made her laugh... for that alone I will be eternally grateful to Leann-- I can now prove that listening to podcasts isn't a complete waste of my time).

If you don't have 40 minutes for that podcast, just listen to the first 5 minutes of Tag In the Seam Episode 10: Welcome to Hormone Hell - if that doesn't hook you, nothing will.

Great content and great production values can be found in every episode, and both have improved with each new episode. Give it a try.

Short Story on the Misfit Brew podcast, Episode 16

2006-10-17T00:06:00.000-04:00

I recorded a character study for Mick Bradley's Vegas After Midnight RPG setting and it was played on his Misfit Brew podcast in September. I forgot to post about it here (which was stupid of me). After all, it is the first of many steps that I will have to take in order to take over the podcasting world... muwahahahaha (evil laughter).

The story gave me a chance to work on my vocals (in preparation of doing Murder at Avedon Hill as a podcast novel), to work with music files from the great website Magnatune.com, and to continue learning how to edit and lay down tracks in Adobe Audition.

Finishing the Novel, Vegas, and Preparations for NaNoWriMo

2006-10-04T23:20:00.000-04:00

October is going to be a busy freakin’ month. I’m in the process of editing the novel, which has to be done by October 25th. I’ve added 4 short scenes to the book, one to add one more ‘action’ sequence and the others to show a little bit more about the main protagonist’s motivations. Now I’m going through my print copy, marking up the margins and deleting everywhere I can (I’ve got to get the word count down). Once that is done, I’ll apply the edits to my soft copy and then hopefully have the 20th-25th for one last read-through and edit.

While this is going on, I’ll be finishing the map I’ve been working on using CC3. I’ve got most of the main elements completed, but I still have a lot to do to make it shine.

Sunday I leave for Las Vegas. It’s the same conference I went to last year (a users’ conference for a software company… my real-life job is training people how to use this company’s software). But this year my wife Liza is coming with me, so it will be a lot more pleasant than last year’s event.

But that will take away a good five day chunk of time from me and the novel. In addition, I will be working with Mur Lafferty of the I Should Be Writing podcast and Chris Miller of the Round Table podcast (and others) doing work with the upcoming NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I’ve got an idea for a story that I’ll do for NaNo; the goal is 50,000 words in 30 days.

This is why the novel HAS to be finished and sent off by the end of the month.

Wish me luck!

George Hrab Sings Cruel Spines

2006-09-20T01:21:00.000-04:00

I uploaded my first video to YouTube. It is George Hrab singing Cruel Spines on Michael and Evo's Wingin' It Live at Dragon*Con 2006. Enjoy!

I'm a Survivalist... Yep.

2006-09-19T15:23:00.000-04:00

P.G. Holyfield
Originally uploaded by TeeMonster.

Tee posted this pic on his flickr account. Has a year gone by yet? Can we go back to Atlanta yet? Puh-lease?!

Dragon*Con

2006-09-10T20:48:00.000-04:00

Dragon*Con, the science-fiction and fantasy media conference, took place in Atlanta, GA last weekend. I attended it for the first time and it was simply a wonderful experience. I spent most of my time attending the podcasting track sessions, and got to meet a lot of the podcasters and podcast novelists that I have come to admire over the last year.

For some of my musings on the event, please visit The House of the Harping Monkey website. I was the Round Table podcast's Dragon*Con correspondent and left some voicemails that they released as short podcast "side dishes." Side Dish 5 details my anticipation of the upcoming weekend as I arrive and after Friday's events. Side Dish 6 is the voicemail I left after I returned to Charlotte, NC.

I had the pleasure of interviewing two novelists while at Dragon*Con, Tee Morris, co-author of the podcast novel Morevi, and J.C. Hutchins, author of the podcast novel 7th Son: Book 1 - Descent. They were my first interviews, and they couldn't have been any nicer to me. I'm still in the process of editing the audio, but once I am done the interviews will be released first through the Round Table podcast and later through this site.

The highlight of the entire Con for me (and for many others) was the Live Wingin' It show on Saturday night. Mur Lafferty read an essay that rocked the house, and George Hrab actually did rock the house. Please check out George's website. His music reminds me of a funky Talking Heads meets Frank Zappa meets Bare Naked Ladies.

Here are some photos from the weekend!

Tee Morris during a panel.

Evo Terra and Swoopy during a panel.

Caroline and Sam Chupp during the gaming podcasting panel.

Gary and the Pickle from Podcast Pickle.

J.C. Hutchins during a podcasting panel.

Joe Murphy before the Slice of Sci-fi Live podcast.

Michael R. Mennenga during a podcast panel.

Mike Stackpole with me.

Tracy and Laura Hickman agree to a photo. I got Tracy to sign my DL1 D&D module from 1984 soon therafter (YEAH!)

Tracy and Laura Hickman during their DragonHearth Live podcast. I got to play a part in a reading from one of their unpublished manuscripts; this reading was part of their Live podcast from Dragon*Con.

The beautiful and talented Laura Hickman

My hero, Mur Lafferty

The Sarge! Tee Morris poses with a Survivalist.

Paul Fischer of the Balticon and ADD Podcasts.

Tracy Hickman during his Live DragonHearth podcast.

More of Tracy Hickman during his Live DragonHearth podcast.

The Parsec Awards - A Celebration of Speculative Fiction Podcasting at Dragon*con 2006

Tracy Hickman, Mur Lafferty, and Michael R. Mennenga during the Parsec Awards.

The Brobdingnagian Bards played during the awards.

The Hobbit-Tossing skit! (Jim VanVerth, Patrick McLean, and Rich Sigfrit.

Evo Terra presents an award.

Patrick McLean with his two Parsec Awards.

Patrick McLean and Nic Rummel, writer and artist of the How to Succeed in Evil comic book.

Tee Morris gets played byRich Sigfrit, the Evil Tee.

Wingin' It Live!

Evo Terra kicks things off.

George Hrab discusses parasitic vertebrates.

Yoda enjoying a drink during Wingin' It.

Patrick McLean keeping the blood from rushing to his cut fingers during the show.

Scott Sigler with a fan who created a cool shirt. "Contains Mature Situations, Language, and Lots and Lots of Violence!!!"

The Nature of Podcast Novels, and a Review of 7th Son: Book 1: Descent (a podcast novel by J.C. Hutchins)

2006-08-21T00:04:00.000-04:00

The first time I felt the need to write a review of a podcast novel was for Brave Men Run by Matthew Wayne Selznick. Well, it's happened again. Here's a review of 7th Son, along with some additional comments on podcast novels and novelists in general.

______________________

J.C. Hutchins has a promo for his podcast novel that reads as follows:

Three weeks ago, the U.S. president was murdered by a four-year-old boy.

Today, seven men stare at each other in a locked conference room. Kidnapped and brought to this underground facility, the strangers are sitting in silence, thunderstruck. Despite minor physical differences, they all appear to be the same man, with the same name … and the same childhood memories.

Unwitting participants in a secret human cloning experiment, these seven “John Michael Smiths” have been gathered by their creators for one reason — to capture the mastermind behind the president’s assassination.

Their target? The man they were cloned from; the original John Michael Smith, code-named John Alpha.

______________________

Hooked yet? This description was more than enough for me, but there are descriptions and then there are stories, and how many times have we discovered that a story just didn’t meet our expectations?

Well, let me tell you (and if I’m the first I certainly won’t be the last), the story of 7th Son kicks its promo’s ass and then dates its sister for good measure. 7th Son: Book 1: Descent is a thriller that pulls the listener along at a breakneck pace. J.C. Hutchins uses the confused and shaken seven main characters (the clones mentioned in the promo above) wonderfully as a tool to keep the reader off-balance. Not since the amnesiac Jason Bourne of Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity has this method been used to such perfection. What would happen if you were pulled from your life and given proof that you were a clone? After changing your pants, you’d have to learn to live by a whole different set of rules. And as the clones learn, you as the listener learn things.But even better, any knowledge gained by the reader is filtered through the seven utterly different personalities of the clones themselves.

The reading by the author is commendable as well. Each character has a clearly different ‘voice’ and personality, but even so, the voice of Mr. Hutchins enhances the character development. Because the same man is doing each voice, it makes the fact that they are all clones of the same person strike home even more (the same, but different... sort of like Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb).

Hutchins does a great job of giving the reader just enough information to understand how thoroughly the seven clones are being strung along. You realize early on that John Alpha, the original John Smith that the clones were cloned from, is using his knowledge of them and of himself to lead them to him for his own purposes. Yet the process is what makes this first installment worth listening to. The process of the seven clones getting over the shock of meeting their six ‘brothers’ (hell their six other selves, a sybil crack nightmare gone from bad to worse), the process of becoming a team, of using their individual strengths to work together to bring down this man that is not only their enemy but IS them... it allows Hutchins to build characters that we care about and believe in by the end of Book 1.

Also, like all great science fiction, Hutchins makes the reader think about ‘ideas’ without pushing some sort of political agenda (so far at least :) ). In the first book we have already been faced with the question of a clone having a soul, the question of genetics vs. environment, nature vs. nurture, and probably several others I’ve forgotten because the story is so compelling. And the nepth-charge technology introduced in 7th Son leaves a nearly infinite number of plotlines available to Mr. Hutchins over the next two books. To keep this review spoiler free, let’s just say that if I’m right, there is a certain character that isn’t who he/she says he is, and if that is the case, then there is much more to the nepth-charge technology that has yet to be revealed.

But the most important element of a thriller is the plot itself. Already from the promo you understand we have a political assassination, cloning technology, a cloning project where something horrible has gone wrong, and seven men that have to deal with the knowledge that they are not real, at least genetically. You’ve got a little dash of Boys from Brazil, a pinch of The Bourne Identity, a dash of The Manchurian Candidate, and a whole lot of brand new ideas from the mind of J.C. Hutchins—basically, you’ve got yourself a worthwhile listening experience.

Podiobooks fall somewhere between audiobooks and audio dramas. An audiobook is a reading of an author’s text, usually by a narrator other than the author. An audio drama usually has multiple actors portraying different characters from a work, has a higher production value, and the work is usually edited to fit the medium.

But a podiobook is a compeletely different aural experience. In most cases the podiobook is read by the author. This gives readers (in this case listeners) a connection to the work that previously has only been felt between singer/songwriter and listener. You can hear the words on the page exactly as the author intended them to be read. The author knows the characters better than anyone, and podiobook listeners reap the benefits of that relationship.

Also, the serial nature of a podcasted novel (chapters of 7th Son: Descent were released once a week for download) lends itself to certain genres. Thrillers, horror, fantasy and science fiction—any story that can build on visceral emotion over time can succeed in grabbing a reader/listener by the ... neck and not letting go.

The connection between podcast author and listener is enhanced further through the feedback loop that is inherent to podcasting. Listeners are welcomed to provide feedback to the author, feedback that is incorporated into the listening experience by wily podcasters, with the novelist answering questions before or after his/her readings, or through the playing of phone messages left by listeners. Again, this serves to create an emotional attachment between author/listener that traditional authors and publishers would normally spend four or five novels to create. J.C. Hutchins has done an admirable job of creating a community of listeners and supporting their needs just as much as they are supporting him.

There are rock stars and there are Rock Stars. Scott Sigler has established himself as the early Rock Star of podcasted novels, and rightfully so. “Earthcore” set a standard that most podcast novelists have yet to meet; and then he surpassed that standard himself with “Ancestor” and most recently “Infection” (my favorite). But where Scott Sigler succeeds because he is a freakin’ force of nature, dragging you kicking and screaming down the rabbit hole to meet the devil, J.C. Hutchins succeeds because he understands even better how to create emotional attachments to characters while building a tense plot that keeps you off-balance from the very start. And once J.C. has you, he doesn’t let go.

Which leads me back to the podcast novel 7th Son. 7th Son: Book 1: Descent is the first third of a “The Stand” sized novel J.C. Hutchins wrote but has not yet published. Like Scott Sigler who embraced releasing his work through podcasts, J.C. opted to release 7th Son as three podcast novels. The first of the three novels does a wonderful job of setting up the story arc that will be continued through the second and third books. One of the only quibbles I have is that a couple of the clones were given short shrift in Descent. I’m sure this will be rectified in the next two books. I mean, it was originally one humongous novel. I’m sure if there hadn’t been a break between “Descent” and “Deceit,” I wouldn’t have noticed at all.

Even though it is obvious that Mr. Hutchins simply chose a particular event around a third of the way through his written manuscript and said “This looks like a good place to end book one,” it works. You get a confrontation between good and evil, you get revelations that contradict much of the information that the ‘seven sons’ have learned over the course of Descent, and you get your first look into the evil that is John Alpha... and now we have to wait until Book 2: Deceit.

J.C., you glorious bastard you.

The final sentence...

2006-08-12T23:13:00.000-04:00

has been written.

I wrote it a while back, but haven't posted much lately about the novel (been busy yapping about podcasting). It took me a while to find a good ending scene. I was reading Terry Brooks's Sometimes the Magic Works and in it he wrote:

Don't settle for a beginning that doesn't feel strong and compelling or an ending that doesn't completely satisfy. Make your story arc the rainbow it deserves to be.

Frankly it took me two months longer to reach the end of my first draft because I wasn't satisfied with anything I was coming up with for the end of the book. Finally I thought back to one of the firt comments I got from my friend Scott. He asked me why the main character allows his companion, a young man he seems to be protecting, to be placed in constant danger. Finally it hit me. I found a way to explain why this happened throughout the story, enhanced a story arc that will appear in future novels... and got me an ending that made me happy.

Now I've got a hard copy with 300 pages of edits to go through... and 4 scenes to add. And oh yeah, I'm around 30,000 words over where I wanted to be.

Preparing for Dragon*Con

2006-08-08T23:45:00.000-04:00

I am looking forward to Dragon*Con in Atlanta at the end of the month. I bought a couple of t-shirts (one for Four Ugly Monsters and one for the book), my wife created and ordered business cards for me (tied to the novel; you can see the business card here. I am really looking forward to attending the podcasting track and meeting a lot of the podcast authors I've been listening to for the last six months.

I also hope to attend some of the panels on Battlestar Galactica, and if there is anything dealing with the the Joss Whedon universe I'll be checking in.

I have continued work on the book. I am on the last few paragraphs of the first draft, which I will finish tomorrow.

Current word count: 144,221

Last update... I recently recorded a short character backstory for a play-by-post campaign I'm going to take part in starting in September. It may be played on the Misfit Brew podcast at some point; I will post a link here if this happens.

Actually, here's the last update. As I might have stated before, I plan on doing an audio version of Murder at Avedon Hill. A group of podcasters have started a support group for new podiobook creators and I'm getting great feedback on my first test recording. I hope to start doing more with this over the next couple of months.

First Foray into Podcasting... sort of

2006-07-19T01:01:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned The Dragon's Landing Inn website and podcast. I feel it is the best RPG podcast out there.

Recently they asked listeners to record their own version of the DLI closing credits (where they give out their email, website address, ask people to vote for their podcast, etc.) and they started playing the listener contributions in episode 49.

Since I want to get into podcasting (for my book and maybe someday do a podcast on virtual table gaming?) I recorded a parody on the movie Poltergeist that included the DLI closing credits and some inside jokes that those not familiar with the podcast might not 'get.'

It was my first foray into using Adobe Audition to mix different vocal tracks, add effects to do different voices, etc. I sent in a sample for them to review so I could get feedback (I knew it was too long and I didn't have enough variety between the three female voices in the clip), but they ended up using it 'as is.'

The link to the podcast (Podcast #51) is on the left side of this screen:

http://www.dragonslanding.com/mambo/

The parody is the last five minutes of the podcast, if anyone gets the chance to listen to it. It was fun... I'm hooked on this podcasting stuff.

A notebook... who knew?

2006-07-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I belong to a forums for writers offered by Mur Lafferty (I Should Be Writing, link over on the right). On one of the threads on that site people discussed the need to always carry a notebook with you, in case you have ideas, thoughts, snippets of dialogue, etc.

I've never been one to write down ideas that pop into my head. I usually just let them mull around in my brain until I have a full story idea and then start writing. Now if the thoughts are tied to my campaign/world setting, that's a different story.

But I've never carried around a notebook, per se. Until the other day, when I was sitting in a seminar and the hosts gave us a cool marketing toy that just happened to be a metal covered notebook. Since the seminar was soooooooooooo entertaining, I began thinking about novel ideas... and short story ideas. And then I started writing them down in my new notebook :)

I fleshed out what could end up being the fourth Land of Caern novel. :) And then I mapped out a short story -- the first non-fantasy short story I'll write since I took a creative writing class in 1993. I'm really excited about it, although it won't be a happy one... just an emotional one.

Updating the Blog

2006-07-05T15:47:00.000-04:00

Added a bunch of template info on my blog... links to podcasts and podiobooks mostly. More later tonight.

Four Ugly Monsters Content Pack

2006-06-27T22:41:00.000-04:00

This week I'm finally finishing up my work on a content pack for the gaming company I co-own. The art has been ready for two months now (at least). My job has been to consolidate the art into a content pack that can be used with the virtual table application Fantasy Grounds. Also as part of this content pack I've created around 30 NPCs, descriptions, story hooks, etc.

The content pack is a small town that can be used as a stopping point for any campaign a DM is running. The various maps and tokens can also be extracted from the pack and used separately... if a DM needs a map of an inn and some tokens to represent an innkeeper, maid, and bartender, they can easily pull them out of the pack and use them as they will.

Book update: Another 400 words written over the last couple of days during lunch.

Word Count: 138,456

I also upgraded my mapping program recently (Campaign Cartographer 3). I should have the world-map for the book finished in the next couple of weeks.

Family not Spared...

2006-06-21T09:12:00.000-04:00

Samantha finally got the bug. She's starting to feel better today (after two car seat incidents we don't have to go into here). Alexis has not gotten it; hopefully the drugs she's been taking for her first respiratory infection will keep this out of her.

Accordingly, I haven't been meeting my writing quotas this past week. I have been able to spend some time going through my hard copy, continuing my line edits. I'm up to page 200 (out of 310). The goal is to finish the first draft by the end of the week, and then go through my line edits (of course I've said this several times before). While I'm doing that I'll be adding the new scenes I've mentioned before.

Current word count 137,637

Stomach Viruses Suck!

2006-06-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

I caught a 24 hour stomach bug that made me do something I haven't done in several years... something I'm sure you can figure out for yourselves without me having to describe it. Then the wife got it yesterday, and it still has her feeling less than 100% and it's been 48 hours for her.

We're just hoping the kids don't get it. It sucks.

Look, Up In the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman

2006-06-12T23:00:00.000-04:00

Wasn't sure if this was a first showing or if its been on for months, but saw this retrospective on A&E tonight. It crossed all the incarnatinons of Superman (comic book, tv, radio, movies, broadway musical?) and was a good way to spend two hours.

It did touch upon several of the established mythology and symbolism of Superman, including the allusions to Moses, to Jesus, to the hero's journey. I had also forgotten (if I ever knew it) that some of the elements of the superman lexicon (flying, Perry White as the editor of the Daily Planet, invulnerability to everything but kryptonite) were established in the Superman radio show and not the comic book. At the end of the show it turned into a sales pitch for the new movie, but it served its purpose: I now want to go see Superman Returns when it comes out.

My first podcast mention!

2006-06-09T20:44:00.000-04:00

The guys at the Round Table mentioned the website on their podcast earlier this week! As I've stated before, I'm really enjoying the gaming, writing, fantasy and sci-fi podcasts I've found so far. They help me pass the day at work, and I still get my work done (I promise!).

Finally Taking the Time...

2006-06-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

Spent an hour or so tonight updating my blogger template. Added several links on the right side of the screen, mostly to podcasts I subscribe to. This podcasting thing has taken me over... I love being able to listen to my iPod at work.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off to continue writing the last chapter and a half of the novel. I'd so love to have the first draft finished by the end of the week.

Three Podcasts

2006-06-02T22:16:00.000-04:00

Like I mentioned in another post I've gotten into podcasts lately. I have found several great gaming related podcasts:

Dragon's Landing - Discussion of role-playing games by gamers. They have a lively forums where they discuss role-playing, gaming, rules, etc. They are working on a generic, modular role-playing system called CHUPA that I may one day convert for use with Fantasy Grounds.

They have a segment in their podcast called The Frugal Gamer, which points out free websites that support role-playing games and inexpensive rpg products that one might look at as a frugal gamer.

In one podcast they briefly discussed virtual table apps such as openrpg and mentioned Fantasy Grounds and Battlegrounds:RPG Edition. I posted a brief response in their forums about FG. When the time came I posted about our webcomic at Four Ugly Monsters. The comic and FUM was mentioned in their latest podcast. It was great to see the first mention of our small gaming company in a well-respected podcast.

The House of the Harping Monkey - This is a podcast that deals more with the subject of mythology and philosophy and how it is used in gaming, movies, literature, etc. But the podcast is made up of gamers and the topics on the podcast and the forums deal with these subjects extensively.

They are beginning to build out a MUX that I want to check out. They also have a play by post game starting up. I have never gotten involved in a pbp game... it looks interesting.

Gamer: The Podcasting - Gamer the Podcasting is a show dedicated to talking about games of all sorts, specializing in roleplaying games and live-action roleplaying games.

They focus on the art of role-playing, more often on LARPing than table-top gaming, but their forums take on both sides of that fence.

Plus they've got a female perspective you don't find very often (and she's good looking to boot, not that you can see someone on an audio podcast, but hey, does that really matter?).

I am going to attend a couple of cons this summer and will be concentrating on the podcasting tracks going on there. I plan on doing a podiobook of my novel after it is done, and if I continue to listen to six plus hours a day of gaming/sci-fi/fantasy/writing podcasts that are out there, I might just have to throw my hat in the ring at some point.

Three Steps Forward...

2006-05-27T15:37:00.000-04:00

Two Steps back.

I wrote approximately 1200 more words over the last three nights. Getting over my hump of stressing over the impact of the climax of the novel and just finishing it, knowing I'm going to go back and edit it anyway.

I got some feedback from my father in law on what his first reading of everything up to chapter 40. He pointed out the same thing that my friend Scott said, which is that the novel gets slow for a few chapters early on. It's a mystery, so the main characters are out meeting people that could be involved in the murder, but I needed an action sequence to break up these chapters.

I figured out how to handle this... I'm adding a "hunting" event that will bring another chance for Arames (the main character) to interact with Father Jorrus, an undead hunter intent on discovering a vampire he believes is hiding in Avedon Hill.

It will be good, but it's another 2,000-3,000 words that I'll have to add. Considering I want to cut around 30,000 words of this novel before I'm done, I'm going to have some issues later on.

Purge-writing and a new comic strip

2006-05-21T13:34:00.000-04:00

I locked myself in my office last night in an attempt to write without editing, regurgitating words onto page until I finished the last two chapters of the first draft. It didn't quite work out (konked out just after midnight, 1,200 words later).

Tonight I'm going to do the same thing. It'll be a good night for it (Desperate Housewives will be on the big t.v., and I'm not interested in that at all. :) ).

We got another fun item completed over at the Four Ugly Monsters website. Our first comic strip based on the "Four Ugly Monsters." It's called FUM:Stripped, and it pays homage to one of our favorite TV shows, Southpark. Apologies in advance to anyone that has ever done a real comic strip :)

Back in the Saddle (sort of)

2006-05-16T22:35:00.000-04:00

Recovery time completed (mostly). Spent time during lunch today working on copy for my 'teaser' podcast.

With no background in radio or music or any other recording industry, I need to learn how to record my own voice, how to edit my narrative, how to mix in music, etc. I also need to determine if my current computer setup will be sufficient to produce a podcast novel with the production value I’ve heard in other podiobooks, especially those from Podiobooks.com.

After I finish this post I will spend another hour or so working on chapter 41 of the novel.

Murder at Avedon Hill Podiocast - Teaser

2006-05-13T12:41:00.000-04:00

This post is simply a placeholder for now. I am working on a teaser for the upcoming podiobook that will be released at the same time as the print version of the novel. I'm creating the .rss feed for this, a prerequisite for obtaining access to the podsafe music network.

More to come... soon.

5/9 Update - Music Search 'Catch-22'

2006-05-09T23:56:00.000-04:00

Diary of a Self-Published Author Word Count

14,401 / 60,000 (24.9%)

Murder at Avedon Hill

135,098 / 100,000 (135.1%)

Had to watch House tonight. Wrote for an hour or so afterwards.

Trying to learn how to do the .xml feed for my future podcast. Working with a 'catch-22' of a system at music.podshow.com. The Podsafe Music Network allows people to download royalty-free music that can be used within podcasts (for a small fee and I assume a follow-up communication with the music owner to seal the deal). I don't have a podcast yet, but I want to start collecting music that I will use as loops within my planned podiobook. The problem is you cannot register at the site until you have an existing feed for a podcast. :(

The workaround is to set up a dummy feed, which is what I am doing now. Anybody that has music, medieval mood music, mystery music, etc., please let me know!

I'll be out a few days. I've got some elective surgery Thursday... no more babies for me :) I still hope to write some this weekend though as I sit on my fat duff recovering.

5/8 Update - 'Brave Men' Run Review

2006-05-08T23:42:00.000-04:00

Diary of a Self-Published Author Word Count

14,401 / 60,000 (24.9%)

Murder at Avedon Hill

134,948 / 100,000 (134.9%)

Thought I'd add my word count for my How-To book / Diary that I'm writing while I'm working through the process of publishing my first novel.

Just finished the Brave Men Run podiocast. Great job by Matthew Wayne Selznick. I posted a review of the podiobook / novel on Amazon. It goes as follows:

A Great Visit to a 'brave new world'

You don't see many examples of "super-hero" stories in novel form (unless you are speaking of graphic novels, of course). But 'Brave Men Run' begins its existence in a non-graphic form, both written and as an audiobook (actually, the better term is podiobook in this case). I could definitely see 'Brave Men Run' as a graphic novel, but for now I am very happy to have experienced it in its current form.

As with most good novels, when you peel back the layers of 'Brave Men Run' you find more depth. On the surface it is a coming of age novel. The main character endures high-school during an alternate-Earth Reagan era. He falls in love and is transformed by the events that take place around him.

'Brave Men Run' is also an origin story, in comic-book terms. It introduces what character William Donner calls 'The Sovereign,' similar to the 'mutants' of X-Men stories. The twist here is that the story is told through the eyes of main character Nate Charters, a boy with definite differences that has no idea if he is one of these 'Sovereign' that have announced themselves to the world.

The tone of the story is that of an outsider seeking normalcy in an 80s world. But if being a misfit in high school wasn't enough, this 'Sovereign Declaration' produces a new form of alienation for Nate Charters.

'Brave Men Run' has been called "The Breakfast Club meets the X-Men", and "Spiderman as directed by John Hughes." The 80s feel is realistic across the board, and the voice the author gives to Nate Charters (especially in the podiobook) is on the mark. Children of the 80s will enjoy the references, comic book readers will enjoy the references to the 'silver age' of comics, and the story is enjoyable to boot.

If you are unsure about purchasing the book, please take some time to listen to the free podiobook version that you can obtain from the author's website or through I-Tunes. As stated before, the voice of Matthew Wayne Selznick is perfect for the main character, and the production value of the podiobook is great for those that are hesitant to try this form of media.

A strong recommendation for this book and its companion podiobook!

Word Count and Work Shops

2006-05-04T22:25:00.000-04:00

Murder at Avedon Hill Word Count
134,798 / 100,000
(134.8%)

I decided to take a page from Mur Lafferty and add a word count for my novel here. You'll notice that my word count is higher than I really want it to be. I will be doing my best once the first draft is finally done to pare it down to 100,000 words. If I don't succeed, I'll be okay. It's simple economics though-- the more words you have, the more expensive the book will be to print.

I joined the "I Should Be Writing" Writer's Workshop, moderated by Mur Lafferty. I'm posting Roh-Kin out there for people to review. Hopefully I can get some good feedback on the short story.

Dedicating Time

2006-05-03T23:02:00.000-04:00

I'm setting aside two to three hours a night to write now. I've got to finish this first draft. Argh.

In case you missed it, I love podcasts. Mur Lafferty is my new hero.

Podcasts:

I Should be Writing
GeekFu Action Grip

I pulled my blog into my main website using a floating frame. I normally hate frames, but this one page looks cool and is integrated into my full site very well. Let me know if you think differently.

Podcasts are cool...

2006-04-29T00:24:00.000-04:00

I feel like my eyes have been opened. I've found several podcasts that I simply love so far:

Dragon Page Cover to Cover
Dragonhearth - a podcast by Tracy and Laura Hickman
The Survivor Guide to Fantasy Writing

There are more, and I'll post them and talk more about content another time.

Podcasting and a book you should check out... Brave Men Run

2006-04-26T01:22:00.000-04:00

I've recently discovered podcasting. I got an iPod for my birthday (actually it was a gift for both my wife and myself, but I really don't think she is going to see much of it ). I've downloaded a lot of podcasts that I have really enjoyed, some from ESPN, some from 1UP and CGW, others from Penny Arcade... and lastly some podcasts done by Lulu.com, the company I'm using to help self-publish my novels.

One of Lulu's podcasts was an interview with Matthew Wayne Selznick, author of Brave Men Run. (yes, men with three names usually indicates a proclivity for serial killing, but he seems like a cool guy). I checked out his site and he has a free audiobook version of his novel on his site. I have already decided to tackle this myself with my own novel... for him it has been a great marketing tool. Time to start researching how to do sound editing!

Check out his site if you get the chance. Brave Men Run is a sort of "X-Men meets The Breakfast Club." As a child of the 80s, I'm enjoying what I've listened to thus far.

I'm hoping he will be willing to share his experiences as a self-publisher that has used Lulu.com; I need all the help I can get.

Someone want to loan me some time?

2006-04-17T23:58:00.000-04:00

I simply don't have the time I need to do everything I need to do... nothing new to most of us, but I just wish... ah, just shut up and get back to work.

I'm trying to finish the non-art elements of a content pack for the rpg accessory company I work for, Four Ugly Monsters. I've got to get this done this week, as we plan on releasing this content pack next week. Today, with the help of my wonderful wife, I finished working on a new online store for the website.

In addition I've got to do around 150 pages of edits for my book tomorrow, so I can print out the pages for an editor I have.

Next I have to finish the last couple of chapters of the book. I'm taking off from work this Thursday and Friday to get this done. I've got to finish the first draft by the end of this weekend.

I've also got some things to finish at my 'real' job, including a demo of the testing application I support for a testing group I don't know. Always fun doing that.

Again, nothing out of the ordinary. I've just got to suck it up and do it.

Later.

A Browncoat forever...

2006-04-04T23:14:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to say I'm embarking on another ride... I'm going to be joining a group of rgp'ers that are setting up a game in the 'Verse. Like they say, Find a crew. Find a Job. Keep Flyin'. (Like I don't have enough to do)

Writing a book on publishing my first book

2006-04-04T23:08:00.000-04:00

Over the last year I began a checklist of all the items I've done and still have to do in order to even have a chance at making Murder at Avedon Hill a success. This document has developed into a 40 page outline...

So what I am going to do is continue fleshing out this document. It will end up being sort of a diary on self-publishing my first novel. Part diary, pulling in info from blog entries, posts on various websites, and other musings... part "how to", from the point of view of a fiction writer trying to break into the publishing business. Since my day job is that of a QA testing guru, I'm going to break out this diary into 4 sections: Plan, Prepare, Test, and Execute.

I won't make the mistake of trying to sell this as "This is how you can publish and market your book!" This will be a book about how I did it, with the premise that it can help you get organized and see how much goes into successfully publishing a P.O.D. work (And then I can do a "one year later" edition).

Wish me luck!

Short Writing Examples Posted

2006-03-10T00:09:00.000-05:00

Looking for reviewers!

In anticipation of completing my first novel I have posted two (one new, one reuploaded) free short pieces over at Lulu.com. I'm doing this for two reasons:

First, to try out the uploading/conversion process at Lulu. My book is going to be a bear to upload when the time comes, as it has special fonts for chapter titles, lots of b/w images throughout (maps, icons at the beginning of chapters, etc). I'm going to have to convert the word doc to .pdf and then upload it (so I can embed those fonts prior to uploading).

The second reason is to entice those of you that have already published with Lulu to become reviewers of my novel once I've finished the editing process. I'll use the Reviews forum for this when the time comes, but if there are fantasy and science fiction writers here that like these short pieces and might like to receive a review copy of my novel when the time comes, let me know.

Here are the short downloads I'm referring to::

Roh-kin - (6 pages) - short character piece meant to introduce a character that will appear in a future novel.

Seeker - (10 pages) - actually the prologue of what should be my 4th novel (if I got these things mapped out correctly :) ).

The idea behind these two short pieces is to introduce readers to my writing style and setting. The Land of Caern is a world where the Children of the Creator god Az can choose to be born into the world as mortals, and often do. It is a world where the conflict between religious faith and arcane magic has reached a breaking point. It is a world where demons have periodically crossed over through tears in the fabric of the universe caused during the ancient wars between these Children. Are the Children pulling the strings, or are they simply being swept along towards the destruction of the barriers between Caern and the demon-world called Tourim?

So anyways, if you have a few minutes and can read one or both of these short pieces and can comment on them, I'd appreciate it! (you would have to join lulu to download them, but it is free and is a good place to hang out if you are an apiring writer).

First Real Editing Session

2006-02-10T15:01:00.000-05:00

I went through my first real editing session with my editor last week. It was an eye opener. It was more general, working through character motivations, plot holes, issues he had with the book. The one great thing about the session was that he told me to hurry up and finish the last chapters because he wants to see how things turn out. Better than the alternative I'd have to say.

One great idea we worked through together is adding several sequences throughout the book that will better define the main character, Arames Kragen. This book is actually 'out of order' with regards to Arames... it takes place some 30 years after the events that will be covered in future novels. As a result by this time he has already been shaped by the events of his life, and I need to use some of these new sequences to better define who he is and why he is doing what he is doing in the book. I'll be using dream sequences where he talks to an old friend that died 30 years before (Gareth Beckwin, a character in my free short story 'Seeker'). These dream sequences actually help me with my plot for my next book, which deals with Arames being accused of something horrible--his dream sequences become so real he begins to wonder if the things he is accused of doing actually happened.

Anyway, back to the current book. I made it through half a chapter yesterday and should finish the chapter today. This will leave me 2 more chapters to go. At the same time I've got around 300 markups over 100 pages from my own initial editing exercise. Once I finish these edits and the last 2 chapters, I get that to my editor and we'll start the real editing work.

Wish me continued luck!

New baby... new website... now I just need to get back to the book!

2006-01-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

Daughter Alexis was born on January 10th. The wife had a hard time of it though, getting an infection and later pneumonia. She's back to normal now, but I haven't had a moment to even think about the book, even though I only have 2 chapters to go.

In the meantime I have opened a website with three other guys called Four Ugly Monsters. It is a both a fan site for users of the Fantasy Grounds virtual table application and also a commercial site. Our focus will be on the creative aspects of FG. Our primary goal is to build and release targeted token/map packs, full-blown content packs, and d20 modules for use by Fantasy Grounds GMs.

We are now offering our first products, character and monster token packs for use with Fantasy Grounds and other virtual table applications.

I hope to get back to the book in a week or so.

The Final Push, Part Deux

2005-12-17T13:15:00.000-05:00

The tunnel was not lit as well as I had thought, or maybe the tunnel is just longer than I thought it was. (I wrote a while back that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as my novel goes). I still have some work to do.

I took three days off from work this past week to write. I completed two more chapters and edited a lot of info in earlier chapters. The problem I'm facing now (that I've mentioned before) is trying to remember plot points in chapters I wrote over a year ago. I am happy today, however, because I worked through my last problematic plot device and now can concentrate on the last three chapters which detail the final confrontation between our heroes and the murderer of Gretta Platt

Fantasy Grounds Visual FAQ #3 - Working with NPCs

2005-11-02T14:22:00.000-05:00

In a continuing effort to bring in new users of the Fantasy Grounds virtual rpg table application (and thereby bringing in more prospective customers for my own work :) ), I have created a third Video Tutorial that shows users how to create and/or import NPCs (Personalities, as they are called in FG) into the FG application. I'm getting pretty good at this stuff. I'm going to redo my first efforts because I've gotten better at Powerpoint and using the Narration functionality within Powerpoint.

Time out for Las Vegas

2005-10-21T22:45:00.000-04:00

Work still progressing on the book. I had to take time off from writing earlier this month to attended a work-related conference in Las Vegas.

Where I work I am an administrator and trainer for a testing tool called TestDirector (now called Quality Center). Mercury (the company that sells the product) has a Users conference every year (Mercury World). This year the conference was in Las Vegas. In addition to attending the conference I gave a presentation on how to equip testing resources to be more successful using TestDirector. I created a website at work that helps testers understand the processes that have been created to help them consistently use the testing tool. The focus of the presentation was on the website and other training tools I have created for the teams that I support.

Considering that I have never spoken before more than 20-30 people, it was quite amazing that I pulled off this presentation. Of the 2500 conference attendees, around 400 attended my presentation.

I tried to stay as loose as possible, but it was very difficult (I'm the one on the left).

While I was being introduced I did my best to not shake. Luckily I had a podium to hold onto while I gave my presentation.

The message of the presentation was "People, Process, Product... And in that Order." The idea is that you can have the best product in the world, and you can build great processes to use that product, but if your people are not equipped to use those processes then they can only be so successful at using the product.

Overall the presentation went great. I relaxed after the first five minutes. The presentation lasted 40 minutes and then there was a 15 minute question and answer session. The representatives from Mercury were happy with the presentation as well. It was different than most presentations at the conference, because instead of speaking at a high level about ideas and processes, or digging into the technical elements of the tool that only a percentage of the audience would appreciate, I spoke about how to better enable the people that use the product.

I also had a certification class the day after the conference ended, which meant that instead of going out each night in Vegas I was either preparing for my presentation or studying for my exam (Don't get me wrong; I still had fun losing $200.00 in the casino at Caesar's Palace :) ).

Fantasy Grounds Visual FAQ #2

2005-10-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

I completed another visual tutorial for those wishing to learn how to use the virtual gaming table called Fantasy Grounds. This one is on how to work with 'modules' in the app, which can be a little confusing if you are trying to equate an FG 'module' to a D&D 'module'.

Fantasy Grounds Visual FAQs

2005-09-22T18:36:00.000-04:00

I've released the first of hopefully several videos that will help new and prospective users of the rpg virtual table application Fantasy Grounds learn how to better use the application. The first "Visual FAQ" answers the question "How do you use Shortcut Pins to Link module assets within FG?"

Power-Poster Nominee over at Lulu.com

2005-09-14T22:49:00.000-04:00

One of my pre-release marketing strategies is to become an 'entity' at various websites across the internet. I have become at least 'known' on several fantasy and science fiction sites, and 'well-known' on several RPG and computer game related sites. When the book is released I hope at least some users from these various sites will make it over here to take a look at my work.
One site I have frequently visited and contributed to is the online publishing site Lulu.com.

Since I plan to publish through Lulu if I am not picked up by TOR books, I have spent time on their forums, conversing with other aspiring writers, providing info to visitors to the site, etc. There are those that do not view online publishers as 'worthy of merit', but P.O.D.s are an growing niche in the publishing world and Lulu is quickly becoming one of the biggest players in this market.

Recently I was given the status of "Power Poster Nominee" by the Lulu staff, which should lead to the status of "Power Poster." While I don't post as often as many on Lulu's forums, I guess they like what I post. I get a nice little icon under my name when I post now, which hopefully will convince people who see my posts to take a closer look at what I have to say (I mean write :) ).

The Land of Caern 'Franchise'

2005-09-09T19:26:00.000-04:00

Always plotting, I am...

As stated in an earlier blog I have become involved with an online virtual table for role-playing games called Fantasy Grounds. It has allowed me to flesh out my 'world' to the point that I plan on releasing content (d20 modules and d20 conversions for use with Fantasy Grounds) soon after the release of my first novel.

The Final Push

2005-09-03T19:55:00.000-04:00

I finally feel like I'm coming down the home stretch. I have 8 chapters to go, and while my heroes haven't completely figured out who the murderer is, the remainder of the novel is much more action-oriented. Instead of holding conversations and gathering clues, I've now reached the point where the heroes are simply caught up in the action that is carrying them towards a final confrontation with the killer of Gretta Platt.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting more here, simply becuase I have more to post about. Here are my current goals:

October 31 - First Draft complete
November 30 - Editing complete
Six to Twelve weeks later the book will become available, depending on how fast the 'system' works (working with Lulu.com to get ISBN, copyright, receiving and approving review copy, getting the books through Bowker to online stores like Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.).

More on Tuesday... thanks for stopping by!

Fantasy Grounds

2005-07-15T18:23:00.000-04:00

I've recently begun using Fantasy Grounds to run an online d20 session in my Land of Caern campaign setting. I have several players that have created characters and we are currently playing through some single player modules in preparation for when the players all come together.

More details about this can be found and the website I am contributing to, Adventuresome Dreams.This is allowing me to flesh out events that will take place during books 4, 5 and 6 in my series (nothing like having a plan for the future, eh?). I've already made some major changes to Caern's history, magic system, and pantheon based on the work I've done for this campaign.

First Map of Caern

2005-07-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I recently purchased Campaign Cartographer Pro 2, an awesome mapping program. I'm learning a little bit at a time. Here's an early version of the first map within my campaign setting. It is an image of Western Yew, which makes up approximately 1/16 of the world map.

Every good fantasy book needs a map or two. I plan on delivering at least that part of the deal.

Submission sent in...

2005-07-04T14:01:00.000-04:00

Book News - this month I completed and sent off a submission for Murder at Avedon Hill to Tor Books. I would like to thank my wife Liza and my friends Scott Neilson and Matt Sanner for their editing help. While I am planning on self-publishing Murder at Avedon Hill, I had to make the attempt with Tor. Wish me luck.

The submission contained the prologue, the first three chapters, and a synopsis of the book. Going through this process forced me to address some problems with character development that I had previously identified; I believe the overall start of the book is much stronger now. I am still worried that the submission doesn't have as much "action" as a publisher might want to see. Hopefully though my writing style will be noticed (and loved).

Go visit Joel Gates, "The Scribbler"

2005-05-25T19:06:00.000-04:00

Joel wrote a very nice post on his blog about my progress. Self-publishers like to help each other, which is very refreshing to see in today's world. :)

Go visit his site and say hi!

The Scribbler

Interviewed!

2005-05-25T00:08:00.000-04:00

I was recently interviewed about Murder at Avedon Hill by Jay Watamaniuk, online community manager with Bioware Corp., creators of computer games such as Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The interview was posted on Bioware's community website last Wednesday. The interview details how the project came about and the progress of the work thus far. My official website traffic has gone up 1000% since the interview was posted.

Thanks to Jay Watamaniuk over at Bioware for the opportunity!

Possible Book Cover?

2005-04-26T19:09:00.000-04:00

The following screenshot represents the first piece of original artwork based on the Land of Caern and the novel Murder at Avedon Hill. It will probably not be the book cover (the next version should be :) ) but I am very happy about the way it turned out.

I hope you like it!

Still haven't worked enough on the website. Hopefully by May 15th we'll have a major update to the site.

Update: Things are moving forward quite nicely

2005-03-23T22:28:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest.

Two more chapters completed.
First pass at cover art completed by my Dad. This allows me to move forward with my official website.
One of the first items on the list for my website is a contest for potential readers to create symbols for the 12 immortals, "The Children of Az". Wrote up rules for that.
Joined several websites that will help get the word out for my book when the time comes.
Submitted two short stories on Zoetrope.com - got good reviews from several members, and since all reviewers on the site are other authors I am getting a good list of people to get blurbs from for the book cover.
Helping wife design website. She's got some great ideas that I hope we can make happen.

For those interested, sign up for the mailing list on my official website: http://www.murderatavedonhill.com

Zoetrope.com

2005-03-06T23:49:00.000-05:00

I recently discovered Zoetrope.com, a virtual writing workshop sponsored by Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope Studios. There are different areas for different types of writing: Short stories, screenplays, novellas, short scripts, poetry, flash fiction, etc. The site promotes and encourages reviews of other authors' works by requiring five reviews per submission you make.

Both reviewers and author submissions are rated, which helps foster the review process. In less than a week I have gotten some great feedback about the short story I published here as a free e-book download. And in the process I have met more than a few writers that are very talented and that seem to like my writing style... which is a great thing for someone new to all of this like myself.

Work Continues...

2005-02-10T13:22:00.000-05:00

The Good News? Another chapter completed.

The Bad News? Something kept telling me that the symbol my wife and I had created for the Aarronic Advisors (the group that acts as a sort of checks and balances against the religious and secular powers in Caern) was too familiar... and then I found out why. It was almost exactly the same as a celtic symbol I had seen many times during my life. Oh well. It only goes to show you that we are shaped by everything we have seen or done, because it certainly wasn't done on purpose.

Nevertheless we went in and made changes to it.

So what were the changes? Well, I rotated the symbol so that the points (representing the three provinces of Caern) would align to their respective places on the map of Caern. The center of the symbol represents Thorn’s Way, the independent principality that the Aarronic Order calls home. The outer circle represents Caern as a whole, while the inner circle symbolizes the work of the Order trying to keep Caern safe.

Anyway, more work on the book this week. I still need to finish some editing on the early part of the book so I can send it out to a couple of publishers. Wish me luck!!

Web site announcement

2005-01-25T16:30:00.000-05:00

My wife has put out the inital page of my website. It has the symbol of the Aarronic Advisors (very cool graphic), a message from me, plus a link to subscribe to news updates about the progress on the book. You can navigate to the site three different ways:

www.landofcaern.com
www.murderatavedonhill.com
www.pgholyfield.com

Lots of stuff will be placed on this site over the next few months:

News
History of Caern
The Gods
The Provinces
Maps
Preview
Artwork
etc.

The plan is for this site to become the one stop resource for The Land of Caern. At first however the site will be geared to the first book, Murder at Avedon Hill.

Progress Continues

2005-01-24T13:49:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend I finished chapter 26 and reworked some of the early chapters. I'm still planning on self-publishing but I'm going to go ahead and try for one of the big publishers. Since they only want three chapters and a synopsis in most cases, that is what I worked on.

My dear wife (the web site designer) began work on my author/book/fantasy setting website. It will be up in the next week or so. We created a symbol for the "Brotherhood of Aarron" (a non-religious sect that attempts to act as a checks and balances against the political and religous organizations in Caern) that is pretty cool.

My next steps are to create flags for the three "provinces", icons for the twelve gods, and continue work on the map.

Progress... and Method

2005-01-15T16:46:00.000-05:00

My wife gave me several hours of writing time this morning. It is great to have someone that wants me to do this as much I do.

I finished chapter 25, and began fleshing out my outline of chapters 26-28.

I hear the question asked often: how do you write? Do you just sit and write or do you plan things out?

Unlike most other things in my life, I'm a planner when it comes to writing. And Murder at Avedon Hill began as a plan for a module for the game Neverwinter Nights. NWN allows creators to build stories into the game that other players can go through in a D&D setting.

Becuase I was creating this as a module, I planned out everything... the 40+ characters, each character's story, motivations, etc. Since this is a murder mystery, I built lists of evidence (and false evidence). I was using the chain of evidence idea in the game to allow players to learn things, open up conversation trees, etc., based on information they had acquired up to that point. I created new monsters that could be used in the game. I created pages of pages of conversations that the players of the game would see when interacting with the 40+ characters in the module.

The title of the module was going to be Murder at Avedon Manor. The plan for the module was to have three possible murderers. This way a player could actually play through the module multiple times and have different endings. This turned out to be a boon for writing it as a novel, as it is much easier to create a believeable false suspect when you already have a version in mind where that person did commit the murder.

The module never got created (I was relying on developers who were going to take my information and transform it into the game, and like so many other ideas, life got in the way). All of these things helped me prepare for the change in direction.

Before I started chapter 1 I had a 20 page outline detailing everything the entire story from beginning to end. I have characters that I can throw into a room and talk to and know exactly how they would act, what they would say, and how the characters that are talking to them would act and say as well. I know the town from end to end, because I had to create every building in preparation for the NWN module. I know every home, every business, every road, every secret passage of Avedon Hill. I know every family history.

I don't plan on this being the case for every book I write in the future. But it is nice when I sit down knowing everything I need to know about these characters and the plot... now I just have to finish the thing.

On Art in Fantasy Novels...

2005-01-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Today I'm taking some time to think about the art I'm doing for my novel (and overall series... it's never to early to think about the future).

Cover Art: I'm very lucky because my father is a wildlife artist with 30 years of professional experience.

Here's a link to his commercial website.

He will be doing my cover, which is very exciting for me. The details are still being worked out as to the content so I won't describe it here since it might change, other than it will have the two main characters involved in some important event in the novel... facing down enemies of a fantastic nature more than likely.

In addition I am working on other artistic elements that will be leveraged in the work. For example, one of the main themes of the series is the interaction between the gods and man. The gods can choose to be born into the world as mortals, but with no memories of who they are. As events unfold they may learn of their true nature, but even then they are mortal. It's sort of a checks and balances relationship set up by the creator god Az to protect the physical plane of existence against the powers of his "Children."

In any case, there are 12 gods that the people of the world worship. I'm creating symbols for each of the gods that will appear in the book at the beginning of chapters, that sort of thing.

Next comes the map of the world. Caern is the setting for the fantasy series, and I have a map for it that I created in a wargame mapping program. I plan on doing a hand-drawn version of this map to include in the book (what fantasy series doesn't have a great map of the world?!).

Lastly comes some small drawings that I want to place in the book. I'm not a professional artist but I think I can get away with doing these myself... just pencil drawings of weapons, monsters, people, etc. that are important to the story.

As I get closer I will probably post some of these items here for review. I look forward to feedback that will help me make this first novel a success.

On Writing...

2005-01-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

I'm still learning as I go.

It's hard, but you can only become a better writer by actually writing... and rewriting. And then writing some more.

And then rewriting some more.

And then starting over.

Okay, maybe it's not that bad. But here's an example.

When I started writing Murder at Avedon Hill, I had no plans on organizing this as a book. The idea was to make it a serial, releasing chapters every week that would allow readers that were fans of a computer game (Neverwinter Nights) to try and guess what might happen in the next chapter.

I was using it as an exercise to flesh out my fantasy setting The Land of Caern. It was an opportunity to think through some elements that make fantasy worlds come alive:

the magic system -- who has magic powers? how does it work? how does religious based power differ from secular (wizardly) power (or does it?) Is magic part of someone or can it be imbued on items such as potions, or weapons?

the religous system -- who or what are the gods and how do they interact with the people of the world? how do the religious organizations work and interact with the secular governments of the world?

the government -- How many nations/powers are there? How does this translate to the people that live in each area? What are the relationships between the "powers that be"?

Anyways, a lot of the information in the work so far is more expository than you would normally see in a novel. But in the context of the "serial", it worked well. I could talk about the immortals that choose to enter the world of the living (as mortals) to help (or hurt) the world... and then two months later when they read a later chapter they have a good reference as to what is going on when they meet one of these immortals in person.

The other problem with the chapters I originally did for the Vault is that some were artificially geared to end with a sort of cliffhanger, since the "game" was based on "what will happen next?"

So, the problem now is that I am not writing any more chapters as a serial... I'm writing it as a novel for publication later this year. So I have to finish the story (I'm on chapter 25 out of a probable 40) and then rewrite the first 20 chapters so it has less exposition, flows better, etc.

If anyone has any thoughts about writing, feel free to comment here. I'm always looking for new people to converse with on the subject.

Just Thinking about the Process

2005-01-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

My name is Patrick Holyfield and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina with my wife Liza and our beautiful two year-old daughter Apple (no, that's Gwyneth's daughter... my daughter's name is Samantha).

I have been writing for years (mostly technical writing), but have not made the time to write for myself and my first love, fantasy. The last three years however I have had short stories/articles posted on several computer game-related websites, most notably on Neverwinter Vault.

After some kicks in the ass from readers (figuratively) and from my wife (literally), I have decided to take the plunge and finish my first novel and publish it myself (or at least through an independent publisher such as Lulu). I have looked at going through more traditional channels, but I don't really like rejection.

I am diligently working on the second half of my first novel. It is a mystery set in a fantasy world; the working title of the novel is Murder at Avedon Hill. It has most of the things you would expect in fantasy fare (magic, monsters, etc.) but it is more of a straight-forward murder mystery than you would normally see in a fantasy work.

You can see a preview of some early chapters here. Actually, it is more than a few chapters (23, representing around the first half of the novel), but I'm in the process of completely revamping them so I'm not worried that they are out there right now. In fact, that website will be one of the marketing tools I will be using once the novel is published (along with the many other fantasy related websites on which I am "known").

Here is an intro to the mystery:

Avedon Hill is a quiet town. Nothing much ever happens there. The same families have lived there for generations. The Avedons have watched over Avedon Hill since its founding over 400 years before. But even in a quiet place like Avedon Hill horrible things can occur... things like murder. Arames Kragen, retired Advisor to the royal family of Yew, arrives at Avedon Hill desiring access to the mountain pass controlled by Lord Avedon. But Lord Avedon has closed both the pass and the town. Gretta Platt, Housemistress of Avedon Manor, has been killed. Only a handful of people live in Avedon Hill, and all are suspects. Arames Kragen is no stranger to murder and intrigue, but even he is unprepared for the mystery surrounding the death of Gretta Platt.

This is the story of Arames Kragen and his attempt not only to discover who killed Gretta Platt, but also to discover the truth about a town that has apparently has more secrets than inhabitants..."

The story began as an interactive game on the Neverwinter Vault website. Readers could "bet" on answers to questions I would ask at the end of each chapter (what would happen in the next chapter, that sort of thing). It was a good way to keep me on something of a schedule. I was using the story as an exercise to flesh out my fantasy setting (The Land of Caern) ... the politics, the religion, the conceit of the gods living as mortals by choice in order to affect the world, the magic system, etc. But the response I got from it has led me to the point I am at right now (publishing it myself).

I plan on posting blogs on my progress, but also on anything else that strikes my fancy (like the Alias season premiere tonight... ahhhhh). Have a good one!