Revenge of the Gamer

Checking my calendar I see its been over a week since my last post.  Since I’m trying to make them weekly that means its time for another one!

My last post was pretty well received and most people were amused by the mental image of me with a mullet and a blood stained jacket.  This time around I don’t have any stories from my past, but given how much people liked the last one I’ll be sure to include more in the future.

So what’s the title of the post about?  I’m driving from Northern California down to San Diego to perform my Mother’s wedding.  A few years ago my sister asked me to perform her wedding, and I had a lot of fun doing it.  When my mother asked me to perform her wedding I was more than happy to.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be driving down to San Diego.  Its an eight or nine hour drive, but instead of dreading it I’m actually excited.  That’s a long time to be trapped in a car with nothing but my thoughts and the voice recorder on my iPhone.  I’m hoping to brainstorm quite a few ideas for the Faelands novel, and get some work done on the story for my Exalted game as well.

Speaking of which the Exalted game has been going almost frighteningly well.  If I had to guess I’d say I’ve run something like thirty campaigns in my life.  This is far and away the best, with the potential to do all of the things I’ve ever wanted to in a game.  If nothing else it makes me feel like a damn good storyteller.

The writing is going even better than the campaign.  As of today I’ve edited 106 pages of the Yuri novel.  That means I’ve made it about a third of the way through, and given how long the first 100 pages took to edit I’m confident I’ll be done by the end of August.

I’m inordinately proud of the novel so far.  I can confidently say its better than the existing published ones for Exalted.  I can’t wait to finish adding the polish so I can show it off and see what the community thinks.

Then the road is cleared to the Faelands novel.  As you can see by the link I’ve put up a site.  Its not really intended for the public, instead serving as a sort of wiki where I can keep all the information about characters, setting and story. 

Since the novel is based on my game world I have literally hundreds of pages of source material already done, and I’d really like to get that all online where it can do the most good for me.

The plot is shaping up nicely and using all the lessons I’ve learned in the past six months I really feel strong enough to do it justice.  Its going to be far more work than I ever envisioned when I first decided to write a novel, but its a labor of love. 

Wish me luck!  I’ll post again when I get back from San Diego on Monday.

If you look at my previous posts they all have similar elements.  I talk about my novel, my short stories and the campaign I’m running.  These things are important to me so it stands to reason that you’re going to hear a lot about them on my blog.  Today I’d like to try something different and tell you a bit more about me.

I’ve lived an interesting life.  So interesting that many stories I tell aren’t believed.  People look at me like I’m crazy, though I suppose I can’t really blame them.  I’ve been on the back of a milk carton after being kidnapped.  I’ve shot Martin Lawrence in the face with a paintball gun.  My father made the front page of the local paper after he was arrested for drugs.  He was the president of the school board at the time.  That’s just a thin slice of the more bizarre events in my life, but it gives you an idea of what I’m talking about. 

Today I’m going to tell you how I met Saul, one of the other authors I’ve mentioned in the blog.  It’s a long tale but one of the advantages of being the author is that I can ramble as much as I want muhahahhaha.

I began high school in Syracuse, New York.  They had a wonderful school system, and after dreading junior high I quickly learned an appreciation for the way things were done in high school.  They segregated kids based on intelligence so we had an advanced class and a…less advanced class.  I was in the advanced class and for the first time I was surrounded by people of a similar intellect.  For once we weren’t going at the pace of the slowest kid in the class.  Instead, we were able to learn much more quickly and I loved it.

In junior high I’d been a C student, but in my very first semester I hit the high honor roll and stayed there for my entire stint at Solvay High School.  I’d been a geek in junior high, and I guess I was still one in high school.  The difference was that in high school there was a whole community of geeks, instead of just me.  I made geek friends and got myself a cute little geek girlfriend named Allie.

The first week of my junior year my father was busted for possession of marijuana and speed.   All of a sudden my friends weren’t allowed to hang out with me anymore.  My girlfriend’s parents no longer felt I was a ‘good influence’.  My whole life came to a screeching halt, and I was miserable.  In response my father did what he always did when something wasn’t going his way…he decided to move.  In this case we were leaving New York and moving all the way out to California where I knew not a single person.

I begged and pleaded to stay behind with my grandmother, who loved the idea.  We were overruled and my father insisted I accompany the rest of the family.  This made me bitter on several levels.  First, I had to leave my brother behind.  He was three years older than me and having just turned 18 there was no way he was going to move to California.  I also left my dog behind.  I was very close to Ruffin and it devastated me.  We left her in a kennel and I gave them all the money I’d saved from my paper route, but it eventually ran out and they put her to sleep.  I also left behind my friends, girlfriend, my job and a full scholarship to Syracuse University that I was elligble for through my job as a junior reporter at the local paper.

Yes, yes I know it sounds like a bad country song.  It really wasn’t all that horrible, but at 16 my whole world was shifting on its axis.  You can imagine my state of mind as we drove across the united states, with each day putting my old life further and further behind.  I was bitter, angry and spoiling for a fight.  Back then the style in New York was the dreaded mullet.  Seriously, I kid you not.  The chicks loved it though I have no idea why.  So here I am an angry 16 year old driving across the united states with a mullet and a dirty jean jacket.  Somewhere in Arizona I had a really bad nose bleed all over my jacket, so add in a blood stain.

When I arrived at school in California I had no idea what to expect.  I’d been a geek in New York.  Not completely unpopular by any means, but certainly not part of the in crowd.   Not knowing anyone at this new school I was terrified of what might happen.  What if I couldn’t find any other kids who played D&D or Shadowrun?  What if they hated me because I was from New York?

The reaction I got upon my arrival was nothing I could have imagined, though in hindsight I shouldn’t have been surprised.  I showed up with long hair, my bloody jacket and the whispered rumor that I was from *gasp* New York.  When people thought of New York they didn’t envision the small town I’d lived in.  They imagined the hardened streets of Harlem and assumed I was a gangster.  After all, who else would wear a mullet and have blood all over their jacket?

Not long after I arrived a kid picked a fight with me.  He was a good foot taller than I was and made fun of me because I was poor.  What he didn’t know was that my dog had just been put to sleep because I was out of money.  My father had moved without first having found a job, so for a little while my family was living on welfare.  I don’t know what came over me, but I saw red and the only thing I could think of was my dog dying.  I snapped and beat the ever living crap out of him.

I don’t remember the kid’s name, but we called him Beanpole because of his height.  Well, poor Beanpole wasn’t all that hurt from our scuffle and came out of it with nothing more dramatic than a small cut on his face and an even smaller bruise on his lip.  Unfortunately for him he had a doctor’s appointment after school, and the doctor insisted on putting bandages on his face.

The next day when he came to school rumors flew all over campus about what a cold blooded killer I was.  I was the angry killer from New York who’d beaten the crap out of a much bigger kid.  That same day a cloud of girls started following me around, though I was too young and too timid to understand why.  I’d effectively become the alpha male of our class without meaning too.

Within three days I had a girlfriend.  Not one of the plumply pretty ones like I dated in New York.  Danielle was one of the hot ones and she wanted me.  I was shocked but what teenage male would say no?  Certainly not me.  Danielle and I had absolutely nothing in common except that she had breasts and I wanted to touch them, but somehow it turned into a year long relationship.

Superficially things looked great.  I had a girlfriend and I was popular.  The thing is I’m a gamer geek and I missed gaming.  I tried sitting in the library with a Dungeons & Dragons book displayed prominently in front of me, but with no luck.  I was starting to despair when I heard someone at the next table mention the word ‘resurrection’.  I figured I had a 50/50 shot.  Either they were talking about religion, or they were talking about gaming.

I took a chance and plopped myself down amidst four guys.  All four of them shot me terrified glances, but they relaxed when I asked if they were gamers.  It turned out they were, but they were in need of a GM.  It was a role I was happy to fill, and one of those guys (Jeff) was the best man in my wedding and is still my best friend today.

Another one was a die hard Christian named Saul, though he’s long since become a heathen like the rest of my friends.  That’s the same Saul you hear me mentioning in the blog.  Fifteen years after we first met we’re still friends, and we still have the same dream of seeing our name on a novel.  Anyway, long story but I hope you enjoyed it.

Every campaign I run is an attempt to one-up the previous one, probably because I’m such a perfectionist.  My games heave nearly always been good and I’d even call a few of them great.  Many are talked about years later and provide the examples I use in my Evil GM Tricks column.

Usually, though, my games are plagued by issues that kept them from living up to their full potential.  Sometimes I had the wrong players.    Some games were ruined by the location I ran them in (try running a game in February in a house with no heat).  Sometimes I chose the wrong system (D&D 4th edition).  My only recent game that felt like it had the potential to go the distance was cut short when I left Los Angeles to move home.

Last Saturday was the first full session of my Exalted Campaign and its off to a better start than I could have hoped.  All three players have strong character concepts, and have poured many hours into their backgrounds.  Each loves to roleplay and slipped naturally into character very quickly.  In past games that sort of immersion took time to build, so I definitely feel like this group is ahead of the game.

They really seem to enjoy the story so far, and I’m having a hell of a time running it.  Its nice having so few players, because in each session we cover far more of the plot than would be possible with a larger group.  When I ran my Exalted game last year it was definitely a solid game, but five players meant everything from combat to travel took a lot more time.  This time the game isnt’ suffering from any of major roadblocks, and I’m hopeful it will go the distance.  Time will tell!

I’m also working on other projects.  Sunday I submitted an article to the Rifter, which I believe they’ll accept.  Its a rehash of one of my favorite Evil GM Tricks, and I know Palladium is always looking for that sort of thing.  Assuming they accept that I’ll probably re-write several more articles and send them as well.  In the meantime I’m still working on the Chaos Earth short story, which should be ready by the middle of next week.

In addition to the niche fiction pieces I’m also working on a pair of original short stories.  The first is a sci-fi story about the likely future of our world.  Its about an old man in a world where overwhelming debt is the legacy we’ve left our children.  People are no longer allowed to retire as they get older.  When their bodies fail, they’re simply given a job on the internet.  When their minds fail they’re finally put to sleep like an animal.  The story also explores the idea of corporations owning everything, even ideas and phrases.  Its dark, but that seems to be what most magazines are looking for.

The other short story has a title and a premise but needs an ending.  Its called The Bargain and is a fantasy story from my Faelands world.  The story is about a man who finds that he’s made a bargain with a spirit.  He’s given up all of his memories, but doesn’t know why or what he’s been given in return.  Its my first attempt at a mystery, and I’ve found it challenging to write so far.  Wish me luck with this one!

I covered most of the progress with the novel in my last post, but things are still going very well.  I’ve finished editing the prologue and the first three chapters, and have about 15 chapters to go before I’m done.

It’s also been a week for reconnecting with old friends.  I haven’t spoken to Shannon in about three months, but managed to track her down this week.  She’s doing well, and has been working on some fan fiction for World of Warcraft.  Given the quality of her past work I’m eager to see what she’s written.  If I’m lucky she might allow me to post some of it here.

I also got a hold of Daniel, who I’ve not spoken to since April.  He was at a Kajukenbo conference in Las Vegas with his Sifu, and it sounded like he had a good time.  He might get a chance to come up and visit me in the near future, which would be nice as I haven’t seen him in what feels like forever.

-Chris Aka Arkelias

First off, happy birthday me!  Today I turn 33, which feels about the same as 31 and 32.  I’m still a kid at heart, though it looks like I’m finally moving into my mid thirties.  One of my birthday traditions is a lot of introspection about my place and direction in life.  In the past these have taken the form of journal entries, but now that I have a blog this seems like a much better place for it.

Until now everything you’ve seen me post has been positive, but I’ve hit my first massive hurdle as far as my writing goes.  I haven’t slowed down.  The quality continues to improve.  So what’s the issue?  Getting published.

I did some research online, because I wanted to learn more about the game I was getting into.  Since 2007 every major publishing house has laid off staff.  Some of the major ones like Bantam are closed to all new submissions…they aren’t accepting books at all.

Those books they do publish aren’t selling.  Because there are so many other entertainment options books in general are less popular than they used to be.

At the same time a record number of novels are being written every year.  Anyone with a pulse and a keyboard can type out 300 pages of crap, and that crap is floating around everywhere.  So how do I get past the crap and get editors to actually look at my work?

Honestly, I don’t know.  Standard submission to publishing houses is generally ignored, so you need an agent.  From what I’ve seen if you have quality work finding an agent is possible, but what then?  If you’re agent is good he might get a publishing house to pick up your work, but for that to happen your novel better be damn good.

I’ll definitely be trying that route, but it seems like an uphill battle that gets more challenging every day.  I need to start thinking about a plan B in case it doesn’t work.

So what’s plan B?  Self-publishing.  Publishing your own novel generally results in a spectacular failure, which doesn’t surprise me at all.  Most novels are crap, and even the few good ones that are self published never reach their market. 

If you self publish you need to do all your own advertising, and very few people are both good writers and good self promoters.  I have the advantage of being both, but haven’t had to use my marketing skills since I left the mortgage industry three years ago. 

I need to dust those skills off and start putting them to work.  I need a Facebook page that sings, more publicity on this blog (read: any), and any other social networking I can set up.  I need a larger body of work for people who stop by to read, and I need to broaden the type of stories I write.

I believe that we stand at the threshold of a new era.  As the internet grows in size more and more readers will choose to read content online.  eBooks are the future, especially with platforms like the Kindle and the iPhone which allow people to read anything anywhere.

It seems to me that the best way to hype your book would be to put together a pimp website.  Then develop an eBook for every major platform, and just distribute it electronically.  Your overhead costs are next to nothing, and if the book is popular most of what you make will be profit.

eBooks can sell while you’re asleep.  They can reach readers in India, Austrailia, England, the US or anywhere else in the world.  It seems like a no brainer for me to join the eBook wagon.

Now I just have to figure out how.  My skills with Publisher are pretty decent, and I can design a decent layout for a novel without having to pay someone else to do it.  That’s the easy part.  The hard part is advertising.  How do I get the book to the readers?  How do I find them?

I’m thinking one of the first things I can do is start writing niche fiction.  If I write Exalted fiction and distribute it for free, I might get some traffic to my main site from it.  Repeat that process for Shadowrun, Star Wars and every other IP I can think of. 

I can also post on forums across the web, though I need to find the right communities.  I also have to be careful how I do it as no one likes to see a bunch of ‘buy my book’ spam.

Beyond that?  I don’t know.  At least for the short term, though, I have a plan.  Work on the website, work on the writing.  I’ll just keep creating content while I learn the ins and outs of the market.  One step at a time, and eventually I’ll achieve my goal of getting a novel published!

It’s been one hell of a week!  The article over at www.gamegrene.com has done extremely well.  Every other article on the main page averages under 1,000 reads, but after just a week mine has garnered nearly 8,000 views.  That’s definitely rewarding as it shows that I’m putting out quality articles.

In other news my campaign is in full swing.  Last Saturday I had all three players come over, and I ran them through some scenes from their character’s past.  We also completed the introduction story that gets them up to the point where the party meets. 

The players really seemed to like the website which you can check out here if you’re curious: http://unconqueredsun.wordpress.com

They also seem to like the NPC handouts, which I pioneered in my last Exalted game.  They show a picture of the NPC along with some basic information that would be apparent to someone who met them.  The handouts serve to fix the NPC in the party’s minds by giving them a visual reference.

The novel is still going well, though I’m starting to run out of steam.  I’ve worked on nothing else for nearly six months, and have finally backed off a bit.  Looking back I realize I’ve belted out 300 pages, which works out to about 50 pages a month.  Given my previous record that’s nothing short of amazing, especially considering that I’m working on projects like my campaign as well.

Over the last two weeks I’ve belted out 40 pages of new material which will serve as the intro to the book.  I have three more scenes to write, after which I go back to page one and give the whole thing one last edit.  I’m excited about finally being done.

I’ve put more work into this project than any other, and it shows.  I feel confident that the story is interesting, and I’m hoping people in the Exalted community will enjoy reading it. 

At this point I’ve given up on having White Wolf publish it.  A cursory look at their product schedule doesn’t show any novels for any of their game lines.  I’m guessing they just don’t sell well enough to justify the effort they’d have to put into them, which is why their letting their fiction lines die off.

I never expected to submit it anyway so I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything.  I’ve decided to just go with the original plan instead.  I’ll make the slickest PDF I can, and then distribute the novel for free online.  If its good people will read it, and it will get me at least a little attention.

If nothing else writing the Exalted novel has taught me more lessons than I can even begin to articulate.  Up until now I’ve always looked at writing a novel as a very linear process.  You sit down and belt out chapters until you’re done.

Now I realize that you need a much better roadmap.  You write some chapters, sit back and reflect on the characters and story, and then write some more chapters.  You meander in different directions, and ultimately discard some of what you’ve written.  It’s been an interesting journey, and one I wouldn’t trade for anything.

It’s also got me thinking about the next novel.  I have some really good ideas for the Faelands book, and can start on it at any time.  The thing is now I’m questioning if its the next project I want to work on.

I spent some time today looking around the web, and I found over a dozen publications looking for short stories.  All of them pay at least $.05 a word which works out to $50-100 per story depending on the word count.  That’s not going to get me rich, but it does mean I could get my name in print while making a small profit.

I’ve decided to write at least one story each week, and the excess time will be spent editing the Exalted novel until its completed.  While doing that I’ll keep fleshing out the chapter outline for the Faelands novel.  That way when the Exalted novel is finished I can start on it in earnest.  I still want to finish the rough draft by January first, and if I get started by September I should be able to do that.

I’m still amazed by how many words I belt out a day now.  For so long I struggled.  I’d set goals of 1,000 words a day and I’d just fail miserably after about three days.  Every single time.  Now, I belt out 2-5k words every day like its nothing, and I’ve been doing it for over five months.

In a way that terrifies me, because I worry about slipping back into old habits.  What if one day I wake up and stop writing again?  I’m hoping to avoid that.  Since I’m very goal oriented I figure the best way to keep at it is to get more things published.  If I make a little money and see my name in print that will help me keep my momentum.

The current short story is for Rifts: Chaos Earth, which is published by Palladium Books.  It’s an old story I wrote several years ago, but I’m re-tooling it and finally submitting it.  The last piece I submitted was accepted, and it wasn’t nearly as good as this will be.

Anyway, this is one massive post.  Guess I hada lot to say!

-Chris Aka Arkelias

My latest Evil GM Tricks is up over at www.gamegrene.com .  You can read it here if you’re interested!