Fantasy Author

Vash the Stampede from Trigun Rurouni Kenshin . . . . . . . . (I made this post on September 16, 2014.  I’m reposting it because it works for the question I’m going to put at the very end.) For anyone who doesn’t know the above characters, Vash and Kenshin are from anime.  Vash is a skilled gunsman and Kenshin is a deadly samurai from the Meji Era.  Two entirely different heroes from entirely…

Cover Art by Alison Hunt (Looking back I still enjoy the debut of Gregorio Roman in War of Nytefall: Loyalty.) Continue reading Teaser Tuesday: Oh, It’s You

Omniman from ‘Invincible” Now, I don’t remember the character that made me wonder about this topic.  It can fall into various categories with high body counts: Former supervillain Hero who was a soldier Monster that gains humanity Serial killer who gets a second chance To be fair, the categories can keep going.  The central point is that you have a character who lived a life of violence.  It…

Last time I went to the Bronx Zoo, I saw a sign in the World of Birds.  It stated that for every parrot that is smuggled into the country, 10 die.  Later that day, I was looking for May holidays and saw this one.  It made me want to make a simple post with facts about the Illegal Parrot Trade: The illegal parrot trade is considered the third largest black market industry behind drugs and guns. …

  Let’s do a quick list of maladies that hit me this school year: Shot to stomach that caused digestion trouble for a week. Drug-resistant staph infection that put me in hospital, required 3 weeks of wound care, and left me with both a scar AND some distention. Flu without a fever. Horrible Allergies And . . . A DAMN EAR INFECTION! This started Thursday morning and I struggled through work…

Coming to the end of Mental Health Month, so let’s just see what people are thinking and feeling. How do you think art helps with mental health? How has art helped your mental health? Why do you think there’s a connection between creativity and mental illness?

(Another poem about death . . . or life.  Sorry?) We are mortal beings In the grand expanse of time Our half-blink existence Cherished by so few Because so many miss the point They live to die Believing it the goal Aiming for heaven For all their might Avoiding the pits of hell While others plan ahead Expecting to return We live our lives for death Dwelling on our fate As if understanding Will…

(Originally posted on April 20, 2022.  Just have to change the ‘2 years’ to ‘4 years’ and add a few.) Yahoo Image Search The last 4 years hasn’t done my anxiety any good.  Normally, I’d avoid doing a big post about it because I keep getting told to not make it public.  Yet, I think I should do something to help others in the same position.  After all, the last few years have been brutal on all of…

One of the few teasers from Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age.  I still find it tough to do these because it’s the finale.  Spoilers were everywhere.  Enjoy! Cover Art by Jason Pedersen Continue reading Teaser Tuesday: The Former God Vs. The Fool

(Originally posted on April 6, 2020.) Yahoo Image Search I bring up mental health a lot here.  Usually, it’s in regards to the topic itself and not connecting it to writing.  Well, I’m going to switch that up here.  Wednesday and Friday are going to be some 7 Tip lists for depression and anxiety in fiction while today is going to be more of an open forum.  The question: Do you think mental health…

For those who don’t know, Escargot are snails that people eat.  I’ve never tried and I don’t really want to.  This is the main food I think of when I think of ‘gross’ things people eat.  I know I shouldn’t judge, but it’s hard here.  Then again, people judge me for eating calamari because they think squid is gross.  There are other ‘gross’ foods in my mind as well: Frog legs Cow…

Last Saturday, I made the goal post about the life event and tried my best to explain without going into details.  I needed to vent and it was the only thing that really happened that week.  Once I saw that audience interaction was really low by the end of the day, I felt I either made a mistake or very few cared.  Even some of the people who like right away were missing, which caused my already…

Bruce Springsteen (Depression) Many people talk about there being an association between mental illness and creative genius.  When you look at the list of those with both, you kind of think there is something too it.  On the other hand, it could be that everyone has some mental illness, but those who become famous are more willing to talk about it.  That or they’re more likely to publicly succumb…

Yahoo Image Search (Not as joyous as I thought before I read it again.  My anxiety used to be so bad that I would have full body spasms or partial ones.  These were entirely at night after I was jolted awake by my sleep apnea plus anxiety.  Hasn’t happened since late 2018 . . . In conjunction with another life event, which I won’t mention in public.  Weird.) Interesting sensations Beyond my self…

(Going WAY back to November 14, 2018 for this one.  Ironically, I was touching on this subject within weeks of my divorce kicking off.) Yahoo Image Search As I said on Monday, this can be a very sensitive topic.  So, I’m going to try to rein in the urge to crack jokes as much as I can.  Still, this is a 7 List, which tends to have a few guffaws.  Let’s get right into it. Research.  This is hands…

Cover Art by Jon Hunsinger Here’s an excerpt from Chasing Bedlam.  This was the second installment of my dystopian Rated-R action series.  I still have fond memories of writing these tales and should be happy that I wrote 4 of them.  2 were published and 2 were put on the blog with one having to be locked away.  It would be nice to return to the Shattered States one day, but it does feel strange…

(Originally posted on November 12, 2018.  Another from way back before the chaos.) Yahoo Image Search Not sure this will be a long post because this is a delicate topic that everyone seems to have a different opinion on.  Using various mental illnesses is common in fiction.  Many of us can name at least one story where a character has a diagnosis of some kind.  Sometimes it’s done with care and…