Miniblog Round-Up #2
For those who missed the first one, these are what happens when there’s a topic I want to cover that won’t fill out enough page to make a proper entry. That’s kind of all the background you need to know, so let’s go ahead and jump on in!
My Super Power
It finally happened, y’all. I got a super power. Sort of. Maybe a weird genetic family trait? Okay, let’s take it back a few steps and begin… with the origin story!
Over the last year, I’ve been noticing I started to wake up before my alarm. Now that’s not much of a big deal, I’ve often been good at falling into a rhythm and beating my buzzer, at least in adulthood. But this wasn’t getting there by ten minutes. I was waking up half-to-full hours before I planned to be. Seemed like a weird fluke, changing of the seasons thing, however as time wore on it only got more pronounced. After bringing it up with some family members, I was finally able to uncover an explanation.
Evidently, this just happens to some of us. We stop needing as much sleep and turn into super early risers. Thinking back, I do remember being a kid and hearing my grandpa putter around his house hours before everyone else. At the time I dismissed it as one of those things older people did. Turns out I was correct, and now that I’m older, I’m doing it too.
I’ll be honest, at the outset it was kind of annoying. Having more hours in the day seems great, but having more hours when everyone you know is sleeping and everything to do is shut down has some drawbacks. After a little adjustment, it’s starting to become more blessing than curse though. I shifted my writing schedule to make use of the early hours, loading more out of the house stuff into the part of my day where the rest of the world is also awake.
As far as super powers go “needs less sleep” probably wouldn’t have been my jumping off point, but with every morning I appreciate it a little more.
A&D Con Update
For those of you who’ve missed the announcements, me and the rest of the Authors & Dragons crew (those useless sacks known as the “players”) will be holding a convention in Las Vegas on September 21st & 22nd. While it will be limited in size (maxes out around 200) we plan on using that small space to put on some fun entertainment.
Initially the event was tentative as we monitored sales, but I’m happy to say we’ve reached the point where everyone is committed and the con is a go. We’re reaching out to other podcasts and authors, and we’ve already started work on some of the special programming. Of course there will be panels, booths, and the usual con fair. Added on will be custom game modules run by the A&D crew for our fellow players, special souvenirs, and the live 100th Episode of Authors & Dragons.
More info will come on our website, and perhaps another miniblog if a major update feels warranted. Looking forward to seeing you there!
The Freedom to Not Give a Fuck
Three years ago, if you’d told me Legends of Tomorrow would not only be my favorite superhero show on TV, but one of my favorite current shows overall, I’d have assumed someone got into the moonshine early. Yet here we are, and that show has gone from 4th-stringer that I watched when crossovers came around to a highlight my television week. Almost like flipping a switch, it went from a dull rehash of old plot elements to this bizarre, half-experiment/half-middle finger to all the seriousness people burdened it with.
From the outside looking in, it seems like they knew season 3 was their last shot, and rather than stay the course they decided to say “Hell with it. Let’s go out with the show we want.” Plots grow crazy complicated, tone shifts to a far lighter style, and it becomes a show comfortable going for the joke rather than being a slave to some bigger idea of a narrative.
They stopped giving a fuck, in essence. Now look, despite what you might think from my demeanor, brand, and general way of living, I’m not going to say that art should exist in a vacuum with no consideration to the business side of the equation. I mean, that would rule, but it ain’t happening anytime soon so I think we’re all better dealing with the situation we actually have. Which is one where you have to balance budget with artistic ambition. Most of the time you need to have some awareness of how your work will land in the market, and to do your best to try and make it connect with the largest audience possible.
That said, there are times when you have to let your creative side run free. No rules, no tropes, no expectation of the genre. That’s what Forging Hephaestus started out for me as. Honestly, until it crossed 100k, I had no intention of publishing that book. It was something I wrote for me, one that only worked when I let the world go crazy in the same way as the old gold/silver age comics. Sometimes that’s a starting point, something to be worked on and polished until you’ve got a version you think people at large will enjoy.
But there are also times when you just let it go as is. This will very often lead to a work so bizarre and niche that no one else can appreciate it. If you’re really lucky though, your idea might not be as niche as it seemed. To others out there, the idea of a timeship involving Groundhog Day loops, puppet fights, and killer unicorns might fit the setting perfectly. And if that last line didn’t convince you to try Legends of Tomorrow (Season 3 – onward) then I truly have no idea what will.