Behind the Scenes: The Creation of Oolong

When I created Oolong for Oblivion's Gate, I went through a much different creation process than when I created Rokai and company for the Kingdom Chronicles. After all, they are very different creatures. Whereas Rokai and co. are based on the European myths, Oolong is built into a whole ecosystem and taxonomy of animals and mythical creatures.

One of the dragons from The Nine Dragons handscroll, Chen Rong, 1244 CE. USA public domain. Wikipedia.

To help you understand the scope of the project, here's a contracted list of the animals and creatures I studied and researched while creating Oolong:

Mythical creatures:
- Oriental dragons (As many as I could find, including, the long, imoogi, naga, and more)
- European dragons (wyrms, drakes, wyverns, etc)
- American dragons (like Quetzalcoatl)
- Other feathered serpents
- The Leviathan
- Other sea monsters

Real animals:
- Lizards
- Boas
- Pythons
- Cobras
- Vipers
- Sea-snakes
- Legless lizards
- Crocodilians (Crocs and alligators)
- Geckos
- Eagles
- Fish
- a healthy bit of endothermic (warm-blooded) vs ectothermic (cold-blooded) animal behaviors
- and much more.

It took a lot of work to get him worked out just right, but I'm very pleased with Oolong. Are you? For you writers out there, how far have you gone to create animals and creatures for your stories?

Review-This-Book Kindle Sale -- January 30 - February 5

Calling all fantasy readers and reviewers! 

I've written many times about the importance of reviews in the world market. They give people a better understanding of what they're buying before they buy it, from the perspective of regular people like them. Well, I find myself caught in the review tide, and I need your help.

I want to share my books with more people around the world. I want to see more people fall in love with the characters and stories. But I need to get more reviews to help me do that. SO...

I'm throwing my hat into a Review-This-Book kindle sale.

The sale will last from January 30th - February 5th on Amazon.com.

From January 30 thru February 2 at Noon, both series starter books, The Kingdom and the Crown and Mimgardr, will be just $0.99.

From February 2 at Noon thru February 5, the price of each book will go up slightly to $1.99.

The goal of this sale is to spread the books around and draw in more reviews. If you've already read my books, please take a few minutes to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. If you haven't read them, don't miss this chance to pick up a great book.

Links to each Kindle book page can be found on the right-hand side of my blog. Simply click on the cover picture under the heading "Kindle". You can also check them out on my author site HERE. There you can read the entire first chapter for free if you wish and still find the links to Amazon.

Thanks for helping me spread the word and for writing reviews. Have a blast reading!

Phase One Wallpaper Promo

In follow-up to my last post "Fans, Assemble!" (which I'm still hoping to get more of your comments on), I want to show you a couple of the cover-inspired wallpapers that have been put together. I like them because they're simple. What do you think?

Unfortunately, these promos are too small for you to download right now. We're still in beta. ;)

I'll start with this one, for the Kingdom and the Crown:

 And this one, for Mimgardr:

What do you think? Comment below.

Fans, Assemble!

This is going to be short but very important. I am working on a project, and in order to get it done right I need your help.

Here's what I'm working on:

I'm pulling together an assortment of Kingdom Chronicles and Oblivion's Gate paraphernalia that fans of the two series will be able to collect and share with their friends. Phase One of that plan includes creating more memes, quote pics, and wallpapers (Like the one to the right). All of these Phase One treasures will be free to download, like, share and pin.

Here's where you come in:

I want these piece of official fandom material (that sounds fancy) to bear your influence. So, I need you to write in your favorite moments, images, lines and quotes from all three of my books. All of them. There's no limit on the number of submissions. In fact, the more you send in the better. I just ask that your submission contain as much detail as possible (character, book, chapter and maybe even a short why). Please send them in either on a comment below or an email via the contact link to the right of the screen.

Also, feel free to offer ideas and requests for other fandom goodies that you'd like to see come along with Phases Two and Three.

Thanks so much for your help! You fans are important to me, and I want to include you as much as possible.

Klalumpelo!

My Ilia

Good morning, Medleretz! Today I wish to explain a bit about the name of Princess Ilia in Oblivion's Gate. So get ready, all you fans out there. Here comes a bit of trivia knowledge.

If you will take a look at the pronunciation guide at the end of Mimgardr, you will see that Princess Ilia's name is not pronounced the same way as it is in common Medlerene usage (something akin to "Eel-yah" or "Ill-yah). You will find it pronounced "Ahy-lee-uh." This is because Ilia's name in Oblivion's Gate comes from the realms of her elfin bloodline, not Medleretz.

Here in Medleretz, the world you and I occupy, the name Ilia can be spelled a host of different ways, including Ilia, Ilya, Illya, Illia, Illija Ilja, etc. All of these forms are transliterated and transcribed compositions descending from one of three roots. The most dominant of these roots is the Russian-ized version of the Hebrew name Eliyyahu, or as we know it better in English Elijah, meaning "My God is Yahweh (Jehovah)". The second root is a Kurdish name meaning "Great and Glorious." No matter which route you take, both of these are normally reserved as masculine names. The third root, however, is the feminine one and the only one pronounced with three syllables (ill-ee-uh). It comes from the Latin Ilia, which is a secondary name for Rhea Silvia, the mythical mother of Romulus and Remus. All three roots are great and any person named with them should be proud, but they are not my Ilia.

If you will reread the first few pages in Mimgardr, chapter 39, "Blood Blossoms," you will find yourself enlightened by the words of Ilia's mother as to the meaning of Ilia's name. Did you find it? In one line she calls her daughter "my little star," and a few lines later calls her "my Ilia." Coincidence? Could be. But it isn't. Ilia's name is Elvish, and in Elvish Ilia means "Little Star", which is more important than you might think. Ilia has a huge role to play in this trilogy, despite what became of her in the Battle of Mimgardr. But that's all I'm going to say about that for now, because I'd hate to spoil the surprise for you and I've explained what I wanted to explain. So to summarize in two sentences: Ilia is an Elvish name in Oblivion's Gate. It is pronounced "Ahy-lee-uh" and means "Little Star".

I hope I've wet your taste buds and instilled a craving for more background details. I promise there are loads of little coded secrets tucked away in the pages of my books, and I'm excited to see how many of them you can find. I did put them there for you after all. :-)

Have a great day today, and please take a minute to leave a comment below.

Help a Reader: The Heart Render and the Nova Core

I was questioned recently about the quests for the Heart Render and the Nova Core, two artifacts of immense power, that take place in Mimgardr. I was going to answer them myself, but I think I'll turn the inquiries over to you readers and see what you think.

Here's a little review to start:

The Heart Render is a dagger-shaped shard of White Blood that was magically enhanced until it became a type of scalpel for operations on the human soul. Conversely, the Nova Core remains a mystery; we aren't specifically told what it does, only that it resembles a cut diamond mounted in the heart of a golden sun. Both artifacts are so powerful and potentially devastating that they were hidden in specially designed places. But when Dan Barker's life comes into serious jeopardy Morgan reveals that these two artifacts are the only things that will allow him to save the apprentice. So with the dominant vote of the King of Hearts Dan himself, Oolong and Ilia are sent to retrieve the Heart Render from the Master of Elvarheim while the Master of Hearts and Aaron, his apprentice, journey into the Kemem Desert to retrieve the Nova Core.

The quest for the Heart Render is only partially described in Mimgardr but results in successful recovery of the artifact. The adjoining quest, however, is anything but a success, turning instead from a journey of retrieval to a battle of wills, and before they can reach it the Nova Core is lost to the enemy.

With the loss of the Core both quests are reduced to folly and Morgan's plan is overthrown, so the Heart Render passes into the hands of King Michael and disappears for the rest of the book. The Nova Core, however, reappears at the Battle of Mimgardr when Dan is struck down and Hades, Lord of the Fallen, uses his powers to join the Core into the Oblivion, and there it stays until the end of the book.

Now, here are the questions: What was the point? Why would [I] write a journey into the story that does nothing but go in a circle? Or does it go in a circle? Do the Heart Render and Nova Core even matter? What do you think?

Editing: Why They Say Not to Ask Family and Friends

If you're an aspiring writer, independent (indie) or otherwise, then you've most likely heard and read the following counsel:

DO NOT RELY ON FAMILY AND FRIENDS AS EDITORS, 

EVEN IF THEY ARE PROFESSIONAL EDITORS.

I know I've read it. And like I did, you probably wondered or are still wondering why. Most of the articles on the subject will tell you that it is because family and friends care too much about you; they don't want to hurt your feelings by being "too honest."

I'm sorry, but that is a load of garbage! That may be what family and friends have told people who came asking, but it is merely a huge lie used to shield themselves from what they really can't bring themselves to say. The real reason seasoned writers advise you not to rely on family and friends to edit your work is--and get ready, 'cause this is gonna sting; I'm about to be very brutally honest--

The truth is: Most of your family and friends do NOT care about you or your aspirations. They are only concerned with themselves and their own fleeting happiness.

Now there are a lot of writers, family members and friends up in arms right now reading this, but I stand by what I typed. It's because they care more about themselves than they do about you, your manuscript or your life.

How could I say such a thing? I'll gladly explain.

Right out of the gate, the surface of the issue is this: you [the writer] asked them [your family and friends] to edit your manuscript because you trust them to be honest about it. You probably knew better than anyone that there were a number of things wrong with it; whether that be grammatical errors, punctuation issues, weak spots, boring spots, etc. You expected that the paper would come back with red editing ink all over it, with an arsenal of comments, suggestions, corrects, etc., both positive and negative. And what happened? They weren't honest; and the manuscript came back sparsely marked with positive feedback and 1% of the needed corrections. Why? Well, the common answer goes something like this, "I didn't want to hurt their feelings." But you tell me if your feelings aren't crushed when you get that manuscript back and you see that they didn't do what you asked.

"I didn't want to hurt their feelings" is one of the most childish and self-absorbed responses I've ever heard! They didn't want to hurt your feelings? They didn't want to tell you the truth for fear of hurting your feelings? Hmmm... So what if you self-publish the book? What about when the book hits the market filled with more holes than a strainer and more mistakes than an outlet store? What about when it falls flat on its face, and you [the writer] are left heartbroken because your lifelong dream was just flushed down the toilet? What will they have to say about your feelings then? I'll tell you what I was told once by a person that edited a friend of mine's story; he said this, "Well, it's not my fault. I feel bad, but he should've asked more people to edit it." I replied, "Did you tell him that?" He replied, "No." And I said, rather caustically, "Well, now we know. You are the Brutus to his Caesar."

Can we please move past Little League and the Pinewood Derby where we habitually create a bunch of hollow awards so that we don't have to deal with the sadness someone feels for being crowned "the loser"? 'Cause let's be honest here, there's only gonna be one winner, no matter how many teams or kids are involved, and the team that wins sure isn't getting any trumped up award. And let's be more honest, if you've ever been around the kid that gets the hollow award, are they ever actually fooled or happy? Nine times out of ten, no. Kids aren't stupid, and neither are most adults. They didn't enter the "prettiest car" or "best team support" contest, they entered a race or a tournament expecting to win. When are we gonna cut the overprotective crap and the play suit made of bubble wrap so that we can help people grow up maturely?

The truth is, writers, that the only thing most of your family and friends care about when their editing your manuscript is the instant gratification that will come when they hand the manuscript back with only good things to say. They think they will look like a hero. They just want to walk away from the experience able to say "I read it, I gave it back, I'm still happy, they're still happy and we're still friends" as if they did you any service at all; and so they lie. Simply because they care more about their own pride and feelings than your hopes, dreams and potential career, they will lie on your manuscript, they will lie to your face, they will lie to themselves and they will lie to others. They would rather stand by and watch from a distance as you crash and burn than be the one who puts themselves in the fire with you, give 100% of the corrections they see, offer 100% of their effort, and stand by you in the process of fixing and building your dream into a success. They would rather take the lazy road of instant gratification than the arduous road of labor, love, truth and compassion. They do not care about you or your ambitions; they care about themselves. That's the deep, dark, psychological fact behind all the sugar-coated cover-ups and excuses.

Having someone of this caliber edit your work would be worse than giving your manuscript to your worst enemy and watching them burn it while they talk about how terrible it is, or sending it to an unknown editor and having them just throw it away. And it's definitely worse than sending it to an editor and getting it back with a red front page and a big note that says CRAP on it. A person who will lie to your face and say only good things, just to protect themselves or "your" feelings, is an adversary to you and your work. They are a fair-weather ally who will not stand beside you when the storm comes, and would rather watch you drown than get their sleeves wet.

But what about those few of your family and friends, the hard-to-find percentage who would make good editors? What are they like? How would you spot them? A good editor, or companion in any right, is one who understands this basic principle:

Sometimes a person must be broken before they can be helped. In these times to love a person is to hurt them.

A good editor recognizes that the only way to make sure your manuscript is ready for the big, bad world of marketing is to test and fashion every molecule of the work. They know things will need to be fixed, cleaned up, cut out, or even added in. They know that hurting your feelings now will save you from a broken heart later, and they are willing not only to hurt your feelings but will help mend them as well. At times they may appear brutal and heartless, but they understand that criticism without advised corrections and follow-up compliment is useless. They are brutally honest, but they are also tenderly helpful.

We live in such a happy-ending world that forcing someone to endure pain is looked upon as evil or cruel, but many times it is the most powerful emblem of our love. If you've ever worked on a farm or an orchard, been around an EMT, or even read a religious volume, you will understand that knowing when to hurt something is the greatest evidence of your love and best wishes for it. A wild tree must be pruned before it can bear good fruit, a broken bone must be set before it can heal, a sinner must be spiritually scoured before the agony of sin can be relieved. Often times we are our own worst enemies, and it takes an outside hand, willing to hurt us for a moment, to show us our true potential.

I grant that it's hard to help a person improve when their feelings are hurt, especially when you're the one who did the hurting, but that is the cost of being a friend and being a family. A true friend and real family member should understand that better than anyone else, and that's why they are so often asked for help. Unfortunately, most of them don't understand it and fail the test of love.

There is no line that breaks my heart more when talking to people than to hear them say, "I didn't want to hurt his/her feelings." After such a line I am always left thinking, "No, that's not it; you didn't want to hurt your own feelings, nor give anything of yourself." And from that moment on I know I've found one more person who cannot be fully trusted until they take time to mature.

The Polysemy of Love

In modern English love has become a very restricted word. I've been taking polls this last week and found some interesting results. Though it could have a multiplicity of definitions, we often use love for just three: 1) love for a significant other, 2) love for family and 3) love of objects, which would be better expressed using a verb like treasure than love, but oh well, we do it anyway. Love must be clearly understood in its usage or it can lead to embarrassment, teasing and awkward silences. Hence the only way we commonly use love in addressing a friend is when we treasure them more like an object or simply appreciate having their company. (e.g. Two friends talking to one another about a third friend. One exclaims brightly, "Man, I love that kid.") We often restrict ourselves to words such as like, simply so that a usage of love won't be misunderstood. Even 'I care about you' is taken to mean the same as the full-blown 'I love you' in most cases, as a phrase of complete and sole dedication, which stops people from using it. And let's not even touch the complete phrase 'I love you.'

Why is love such a treacherous polyseme in English? We have words like affection and charity, but we wouldn't say 'I affect you' or 'I chare you,' because affect means something different and chare isn't really a word. Treasure sounds funny (I treasure you), and we only hear appreciate on rare occasion because it doesn't really mean what we're trying to say. It is as though English employs no way to specify one's love without a complex, explanatory sentence or a whole heap of awkwardness to go with it. What's wrong with this broken language? Why are we so afraid of love?

Maybe we just need more words for it that help us better express our feelings. In Greek there are words like storge, philia, eros and agape, which demonstrate types or levels of affection and love. Hebrew has seven words for love--I'm told anciently it had more--and Chinese has several words too. In fact most languages I've studied have multiple words (verbs specifically) for love that define it to a specific degree. So why not English?

In Vagan, there are seven words for love. However, they are different than the seven words of Hebrew. Vagan love words all share the same root, three characters best anglicized as 'chez'. A differing vowel syllable added to the first of the root gives chez its proper meaning. For example, as we learn from Zarrys in The Kingdom and the Crown, ochez (oh-chez) is equivalent to the singular dedication and affection--the love--found in a relationship between husband and wife. And whereas achez (ay-chez) would express the type of love one has for a friend, uchez (oo-chez) would imply the love of a child for its parent and awchez (aw-chez) the love of a parent for its child.

That's just four of the Vagan words, and already we've alleviated part of the stress love is under in English. So maybe we need to dig into the English past and find some words that have been long forgotten. Or maybe we need to create some new ones. Or perhaps we could simply grow up a bit and cut the belief that the word love is only a proposal of sex or marriage, which is how most people I polled this week would take it if a friend told them they loved them, especially a friend of the opposite gender. Maybe one of those changes would help balance things out. Or maybe I'm just up in the night and everything is fine just the way it is? What do you think? How do you feel about using the word love? Comment below and let's talk.

Thanatos, Son of Darkness

After discussing the dullahan yesterday, I decided to do a follow-up and talk about the legend behind the leader of the fallen Grim, Thanatos.

Leighton, Frederic (1830-1896), "Hercules Wrestling Death (detail)"

In Mimgardr Thanatos was once an elf of large proportion, standing nearly nine feet tall. He was a student of Merlin the Great, and apparently he wielded quite an influence over his classmates. At the time of Zuren's fall, he followed Zuren into the darkness. In order to become part of Zuren's special league, it was required that he sign a magically-binding contract and carve out his own heart as a mark of loyalty. When he had did so, the contract engendered several changes in him. His once noble elfin appearance was demented and consumed, his true name was wiped from every memory, and his name became Thanatos from there on. Over the years of his fall Thanatos became cruel and malicious, continually wielding dominion over the remaining Grim and sinking further into the darkness. Once in Oblivion he was assigned the duty to keep watch over Oblivion's Gate, and later joined Master Morgan in an attempt to free the duo as well as the rest of the Grim from the Fallon Ones' control.

But as we talked about yesterday, Zuren chose the names for his minions based upon his love of death. So, where did Thanatos' name come from?

The "real" Thanatos of ancient myth rises from the Greeks as a god of death. Born the Son of Erebos, who was the personification of Darkness, and Nyx, the personification of Night, Thanatos was the twin of Hypnos, the personification of Sleep. Thus the twin children of Darkness and Night were Sleep and Death. Other negatively deemed children included Moros (Doom), Eris (Strife), Geras (Old Age), Oizys (Suffering), Apate (Deception), Momus (Blame), Nemesis (Retribution), and finally Charon the Ferryman.

According to Theogony, written by Hesiod the Poet, Thanatos and Hypnos were never allowed to behold the light of the sun. And while Hypnos was benevolent and kindly, Thanatos is described as having "a heart of iron, and his spirit within him is pitiless as bronze: whomsoever of men he has once seized he holds fast: and he is hateful even to the deathless gods." Thanatos was seen as cruel, merciless and indiscriminate, only able to be cheated or tricked on rare occasion and beaten back only once, by Herakles. He hated--and was hated by--both mortals and the gods. The use of his sword was the dedication of a soul to the life and gods of the Underworld.

Later on however, when the people of Greece found death more desirable than life, their depictions of Thanatos changed. They began depicting the heartless wraith as a winged child, much more like Cupid, who wore a sheathed sword on his belt and carried an inverted torch. Thanatos became the overseer of peaceful passing and lost his role as the hated reaper. Which I personally believe tells us more about the condition of Greece than it does about the ancient Greek mythologies. When a tyrannical god of death becomes a welcome guest at your parties there must be something terribly wrong in the world. It wasn't until later that the true nature of Thanatos returned.

Thus is the history of Thanatos. I hope this gives you more insight into what Zuren might have hoped his new-found slave would become. I also hope it gives you some ideas as to what the rest of the Grim might be named. Got any good guesses? Want to know more? Please comment below.

Legend of the Dullahan

Quidor, John, "Headless Horseman Pursing Ichabod Crane", 1858, paint.

The Headless Horseman we are familiar with in our day draws its influence from either the Celtic
Dullahan, the horseman of the Brothers Grimm, or a mash-up of both. This includes the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow created by Washington Irving.

In Mimgardr, we learn that when Zuren began his fall he dragged down all save four of his classmates. (One of the four was Michael Maccini, and the other three have not been identified yet.) Ever consumed by an obsession with death, Zuren assigned each of his followers a coded name taken from a legendary psychopomp or death angel. Then he bestowed upon them a contract, a cloak, a scythe, and magically-incurred mutilation. One of those followers earned his new name on the day in which Zuren beheaded him for attempted betrayal. That would be the one known in the story as Dullahan.

The actual dullahan (or dulachán, meaning "dark man") is also called Gan Ceann, meaning "without a head". It is an old Celtic myth with variations between its Irish and Scottish roots. On the Irish side dullahans are known as a type of fairy, on the Scottish side the dullahan comes as the haunting spirit of a man name Ewen who was decapitated in a clan battle at Glen Cainnir.

According to standing tradition, a dullahan is the herald of death. It is often depicted riding a dark horse or occasionally driving the coiste bodhar, "the silent coach", a black carriage drawn by six horses and adorned with symbols of death, human bones and human pelts. It carries two things with it: a whip made from the spine of a man, and its severed head. The head has small, black, darting eyes; skin like rotted cheese; and a smile that literally stretches from ear to ear. Often times the decaying head may glow with the radiance of decaying matter, giving the dullahan a light with which to see in the darkness of night. Though this is hardly needed, for the eyes of the dullahan can see for leagues across the countryside with almost telescopic capacity.

Traveling with frightening speed, there is no way to bar the road of the dullahan. No lock, no gate, no barrier can contain it. And if it is spotted by an onlooker while on its ride, it will either lash out the spotter's eyes with its whip or cast a quantity of blood upon them, often as a mark that they will be among death's next victims.

When the dullahan reaches its destination it stops its mount, whether horse or coach, and speaks the only thing it can utter: the name of its victim. In that moment the person's soul is drawn out of their body and dies. Then the dullahan rides on.

Supposedly the only chance you have to drive the dullahan away is to wield gold against it. The dullahan has an unjustified fear of the metal, and if used rightly it may just frighten the fairy away. Unfortunately, this is a disputed hope.

Though the origin of the dullahan myth is unknown, one thing is for certain: the dullahan certainly holds its own among the multitudinous death herald myths. It's a figure never to be trifled with, and certainly not a figure you would ever invite around.

What are some of your favorite myths? What about them makes them your favorite? Comment below.

Excellent Questions from a Pondering Mann

If you haven't been to either my Facebook fan page (here) or the Oblivion's Gate Facebook fan page (here) recently, then you may not have seen the essay that was posted to both yesterday morning by a fan and friend of mine, Mr Aaron Mann. The essay, which I learned from messaging the author is dubbed "My Pondry," is dedicated to Mr Mann's thoughts and questions regarding Mimgardr and its upcoming sequel. It is written for fans by a fan and includes some very good points that fans of the series might want to consider. BUT before you rush off to read it, I must warn you that there are a few Mimgardr spoilers in the essay. It is a response to the book after all.

I very much appreciated and enjoyed Mr Mann's essay, and I want to thank him for it. Knowing that he is asking the questions I want readers to be asking at the end of Mimgardr helps me to know that I have succeeded in my cause as a storyteller. And knowing that he isn't the only person to be asking to those questions only serves to confirm that success.

Mr Mann, if you see this blog, I want to say thank you for the time you took to jot down your impressions and share them with the world. I'm excited to see what else might come from your hands in days to come, and I'm even more excited to answer your questions with the release of the sequel in a few months.

For the rest of you reading this, here is a link to the posted essay: "The Pondry." If you would, please take a minute to read it and comment on it. I know that both Mr Mann and I would appreciate it.

A Personal Tip Concerning Vagan

First, for those who don't know, Vagan (not Vegan) is a language I created myself to be used in the Kingdom Chronicles. I built it from the ground up, giving it its own rules, alphabet, everything. For an example of how it sounds and looks anglicized, pick up a copy of either Kingdom Chronicles book. For an example of how it looks, check out the door on the cover of the Elements and the Exodus.

Although I built Vagan myself, there are still some tricky bits to using it. There are words and sounds that don't exist in it, many synonymous English terms that only have one translation in it, some single English words that have up to ten translations in it, and rules of grammar and punctuation that are entirely different. Vagan is a fun language to use, but making sure that English things don't slip in or transliterate unwanted can be tricky since English is my dominant language and Vagan is far from common use.

So to combat the issues I've had when readers have asked me to translate something for them, I've made use of a personal tip: Never be afraid to double-check yourself by writing it down or checking the dictionary. Until I finally earn my own horde of geeks (I use that term respectfully and excitedly), who all want to learn Vagan, I'm speaking and writing it by myself; so I have to make sure that I don't use it incorrectly or the whole language goes down the drain.

Why the Title "Mimgardr"?

As you can imagine, I went through quite a host of titles before deciding to name the first book in the Oblivion's Gate trilogy Mimgardr. I had several pages worth of titles that I compiled over time, each focusing on a different piece or portion of the tale. It was an amazing array.

Over several weeks I carefully sorted through the lists and removed potential titles until I had a short list of ten. The short list was focused on one goal: titling not just the first book but all three books in the trilogy. It was formatted with four columns, including Series Title, Book 1 Title, Book 2 Title and Book 3 Title. And once the list was complete I took it to editors, beta readers and others to gather opinions from those who had read the book and knew more about the story. Their responses each added new light, and one by one sets of titles were knocked away from the list until I was left with only three.

One set I felt was too sappy and would undoubtedly make the book sound like a dirty romance novel to most readers, so that one I knocked of easily; but the other two, they gave me quite the fight. They were two I had felt especially good about all along but had not been willing to trust my gut about until after receiving the confirmation of others. Now the only issue was deciding which to pick. In the end, I chose the set titled Oblivion's Gate, which inherently dubbed book one Mimgardr.

Mimgardr, as a place, was Merlin's special training realm in the book. It hung on the brink of Nothing; it was the crossroads for all other realms of the Great Heart; and it was the setting for certain events that would shape the destinies for several key individuals and entire nations as well.

Mimgardr, as a title, reflected the importance of the place, both for the prologue and epilogue and for all the chapters in between. It was also an eye-catching title, one that makes you look twice and wonder what it could mean. It's a mysterious title with a strong, mythical power to it, and it emphasizes the type of story that the book contains, a foreboding mystery seeped in myth, fantasy and conspiracy. It was a wonderfully fitting, short title, and in the end it won the battle for supremacy.

I am very pleased with Mimgardr, its title and story, and hope you will share it with you friends so that many more readers will have the opportunity to fall in love with it. Unfortunately, however, what happened in Mimgardr will not stay in Mimgardr, so my question for you is: What do you think book two will be titled?

The Many Things You Know

I was channel flipping on Youtube this morning after watching a short video about Mandarin and ended up on a clip of Avatar: The Last Airbender. How'd that happen? I don't know. Does a trip to Youtube ever turn out simple? Anyway, the clip was the introduction of the character Wan Shi Tong, the Spirit of Knowledge.

Wan Shi Tong, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 2: Earth, epis. 10. "The Library"

When he first appears in the episode he introduces himself by saying, "I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things, and you are obviously humans; which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study," and instantly you know where the episode's issue is going to be. I, however, got hung up on the self-titling phrase, he who knows ten thousand things. Ten thousand bits of knowledge is really not that impressive, especially for an owl-spirit that boasts its intelligence over any and all men.

To quote Bill Nye the Science Guy, "Consider the following."

If you can count from zero to 10,000, you already know 10,001 things. Then add every letter in the alphabet, every word you know, every feeling you've ever felt, every color you can think of, every taste you've ever experience, and keep building from there. Then add to the list every ability you have and every facet of them (including how to write and read each letter, group of letters, word, idiom, phrase, sentence, cliche, etc.). In short, even if you stopped right now and dedicated your whole life to listing everything you know, never learning another thing, you would die before you finished listing everything you know.

That's the awesomeness of human intelligence, its sheer ability to take in and retain information. The brain is so intelligent it even begins to take its intelligence for granted by lumping information together. (Have you ever considered how many things you have to know just to get onto the internet and read this blog?) To quote King Michael Maccini from Mimgardr, "When the will is strong enough, it is astounding what one's mind can do."


However! I must grant that in the cultures on which Avatar: The Last Airbender is clearly based, 10,000 is often used the same way we would use zillion, jillion, gajillion, etc. It is a figurative number used to indicate uncountable quantities. But in our modern age 10,000 has become a number of almost little consequence. So maybe if it had been "Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten trillion things," we might've been more impressed (that's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 vs. 10,000, for you visual people like me out there). But even then ten trillion things is couch change compared to the estimated 2.5 petabytes (2,500 terabytes) worth of information that the human brain can store. Again, to put that in physical perspective: the entire print collection of the Library of Congress is estimated to hold only 10 terabytes worth of information.

So, here's a pat on the back to your brain. Not only is it so complex it can contain categorized information on a gajillion things, but it's so complex that we still struggle to simply tap an understanding of the fulness of its potential.

Cheers!

A Peek into Naminé's Perspective

Klalumpelo! And good morning! It's good to see you again.

Yesterday I listed several questions that you can expect answers to in the Kingdom Chronicles: Book 3. I also verified the intended length of the book. I hope you enjoyed that information and were excited by it because today I have a surprise for you. I've brought you... an excerpt... from Naminé’s perspective!

I don't want to say too much about it, so I'll just give you a little background and let you read. The following clip comes fairly early in the book and sets the emotional stage for the chapter. One thing I particularly enjoy about the portions of  this story told from Naminé's perspective is that you get to really see inside her head. Throughout books 1 and 2, most of what we've gleaned about her personality has been through Zarrys's interpretation. Well, now it's her turn to give us some insights into herself and Zarrys. I know several of you out there have expressed to me the kinship you've felt with Naminé over the passing books, and I hope that getting to take a step inside her mind will help you understand and love her all the more.

I have one favor to ask of you: After you've read the clip, please leave some feedback in a comment below. Whether it be a comment about the text itself, your feelings about exploring other perspectives, or even just a grammar correction (this is a drafting copy after all, and it was transferred to a blog template), I don't mind. I just want to hear your feedback. So, please honor me with that gift.

And with that, let the excerpt begin:

     The warm breeze took Naminé’s flaxen hair for a partner as it danced around the room. The young queen sat in her father-in-law’s floating throne looking up through the open hatch in the roof. Her mother-in-law’s gem-studded, golden hairbrush lay forgotten in her lap. Heavy thoughts weighed upon Naminé’s mind, bringing her very low, yet she listened quietly to her husband’s irritated tone as it echoed down around her. Zarrys had discovered a secret hatch while studying the tower’s schematics, and ever since the roof had become his retreat when he sought for a moment of privacy.

     A set of heavy boots was making its way up the winding stairs below, and Naminé knew who was coming simply by the sound of each footfall. She honestly wished the visitor would turn around and go away. They had scarcely returned to Yerhan an hour prior, and she knew this was not a good time for company.

     “Your Majesty?” General Dagah called up through the primary hatch in the floor. “Your Majesty, may I come up?”

     “Yes, General,” Naminé answered as sweetly as she could while trying to conceal her feelings. “Come in.”

     Dagah stepped up quietly and looked around the divided room. He scanned the curtain that split the room in two, obviously in search of the king. His armor and cape were dusty, and the man had not shaved for several days. After the initial scan, he bowed to Naminé politely. “Good evening, my lady.”

     “Zarrys will be down in a moment,” Naminé excused, reclaiming the brush and pulling it through her hair carefully.

     “How was your journey?” the general asked with a patient smile.

     “Your soldiers were right,” she answered. “The people of Goram were ready for us to come. Nearly the whole city has followed us back.”

     “So it was the whole city,” Dagah concluded to himself. “It’s causing quite a tumult down there, trying to find the right homes for them. That’s why I’ve come. I need your husband’s council.”

     “Tread carefully, General,” she cautioned softly, turning her gentle eyes up toward the ceiling once again. “This hasn’t been a good day for Zarrys. Fallon weighs heavily on his mind--on both our minds.”

     “You’re still fighting it then?”

     “Fighting what?”

     “The truth.”

     Naminé was instantly offended. “Excuse me?”

     “Your Highness, Fallon is dead,” Dagah replied. He tried to speak softly, but irritation overflowed his tone. “He was killed that day by some bit of power. It’s honestly no different than the hundreds of other soldiers who were killed that day. And while mourning is proper, you must recognize that Fallon has been gone for nigh on three months. The king has duties to tend to, duties that are here, now. He must let go of Fallon before denial loses him the entire kingdom.”

     “Have you ever lost a person close to you, General?” Zarrys demanded fiercely, dropping into the room just as Naminé opened her mouth to rebuke the outspoken military man. Zarrys’s white hair and robes billowed in the air as he descended, and they settled in a disheveled manner when his sandal shod feet found the floor.

     “King Zarrys,” Dagah blurted quickly, dropping into a deep bow.

     “I didn’t order you to bow,” Zarrys snapped sharply, checking the position of his diamond crown. “I asked you a question.”

     “Zarrys, I—”

     “Have you? Have you ever lost someone close to you?” Zarrys demanded again. The king took an aggressive step toward Dagah, and Naminé quickly slid to the edge of her seat. She dropped the brush behind her, ready to intervene on Dagah's behalf even though she was just as upset as her husband.

--Excerpt taken from The Kingdom Chronicles: Book 3 by S. R. Ford. (c) 2014. All Rights Reserved.

I hope you enjoyed that and are excited for more to come. Please don't forget to comment.

Until tomorrow!

Silence Broken

S. R. Ford. (c) 2012. All rights reserved.

Good morning!

In November I posted that I had marked the Kingdom Chronicles: Book 3 for extensive renovation. Since then I've been pretty quiet about what's going on. If that has been torturing you, I hope you'll forgive me. I've held my peace up to this point because I haven't been entirely sure what all of the changes would equate to. But now that things are taking form, I want to share some of what you can look forward to in book 3.

As I said, things are coming along pretty well now. I'm not finished yet and probably won't be for a few months, but things are coming along much better than before. I am much more satisfied with the way this version of the story is playing out. The writing is much more complex and intriguing than the original drafts, which means the story flows along much better for the reader.

Over the passing weeks I've received numerous questions regarding the book. Several have asked about the length of the book (whether or not it would be longer than book 2, and whether or not each book in the series would be longer than the last), and I can honestly say, "No. They will not keep getting longer." In fact, book 3 is shaping up to be around the same length as book 1, the Kingdom and the Crown. It may end up a bit shorter; we'll have to see. Don't worry about ending up with books 1000s of pages long. It isn't likely to happen, and it certainly isn't planned to.

Many of you have asked questions about what will happen in book 3. Unfortunately, I'm not quite ready to give you the answers yet. I'll have to leak them to you over time. But of all the questions I've been asked, let me list the popular ones that will most certainly be answered in book 3:

- What are Shunul and his armies going to do next? Do they need time to regroup?
- How will Zarrys build and establish a new nation?
- How will they rebuild a ruined city? What will the new city look like?
- "WHAT THE [censorship] HAPPENED TO FALLON? WHERE IS HE? IS HE DEAD?"
- What happened to Nathan and Bartholomew, and how is their family taking the betrayal?
- What will become of Brazor?--And Kirah and Kimira?--with Fallon gone?
- With Prozon gone, what will become of Fiona?
- What happened to Mount Ryel? When, if ever, will it reopen to Zarrys?
- What kinds of things did Zarrys the First hoard in his towers? And why?
- What are other Vagan cities like? Where are they? What condition are they in?

These questions and more will be integral parts of the story, and some of them have farther reaching implications than you might think.

I hope that's enough to catch your interest for the day. Tomorrow, I have a much nicer surprise for you, so make sure that you follow by email or remember to come back by. Don't forget to Like my Facebook page, follow me on Twitter and Pinterest, and leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. Your support means the world to me.

Good morning!

If You Give a Book a Soundtrack

The range of reader comfort zones spans quite the spectrum. On one end we find people who require absolute silence and zero movement around them whilst they read, and on the opposing end we find those people who can read in any sort of circumstance, no matter how loud or busy the world is around them. As for me, I prefer a bit of light music to accompany me.

Music, when utilized properly, has a powerful way to stimulate every facet of the mind. It increases
activity all around, especially in regards to memory, imagination, emotion and heart rate. (That heart rate one was kind of a joke, but tell me you don't respond physically to music.) I do grant, however, that music will become a distraction if it is too loud, the wrong genre or too wordsy. Why else do you think movie composers spend so much time creating the perfect soundtracks?

As an author and movie score/soundtrack collector, I love to build playlists that focus on certain emotions or characters. I have lists for romance and suspense, villainous tunes, epic travel music, heroic themes and many more. (If you know some good soundtracks for that, comment below or email me. I am always looking to expand.) Then I use those playlists to help me brainstorm ideas for my stories or to beef up my reading experience. I turn words on pages into movies in my mind, and by so doing I remember, decipher, imagine and enjoy the words even better than usual. The careful addition of music makes almost any book, great or not, into a quotable, memorable experience. You should really give it a try. If I get it finished soon enough, maybe I'll share a promo soundtrack for Mimgardr with you.

Have you tried it already? Does it work for you or not? If you're trying it for the first time, what do you think? Comment below. I'd love to hear your opinions!

More Bastards Every Year; Something's Gotta Change

I'm taking a step out into the minefield today and I'm digging into a subject that can get very touchy for some people, but this is something I've been think about a lot lately. So now that I have your attention, let's make sure that you don't misunderstand my usage of the word bastard.

The English word bastard became a title for illegitimate children during the 13th century. Its exact legal definition has varied based on the nation and time in which it is used. In less admirable circles, bastard children have been denoted by terms such as the fatherless, by-blow, whoreson, love child, pride child, accident, etc., all terms of defamation used by most to suggest that one's parents, especially their father, cared nothing for them. Unfortunately bastard has also been assigned to those ranks in some vocabularies, giving rise to new legal terms like illegitimate and extramarital in the battle for "political correctness." (As I stand on the issue of politics in language: Creating new words will never remove the fact that there are ill-mannered people in the world. Any new words we create will simply become polluted overtime and new words will have to be invented. It's a never-ending cycle, like an argument with a mountain troll. Take a stand behind something's true meaning, and expect the people around you to be intelligent. That's my opinion.) Anyway, according to the first definition in both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries, a "bastard" is any child born to parents who were not married to one another, and that's the only fashion and extent to which I ever use the word. And no, I won't apologize for it; that's what the word means so that is how I will use it. I have no intent to belittle or defame any such children or parents.

That being established, let's move on.

As I've been studying trends in US history over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about three things: 1) how tired I am of hearing that my generation has no understanding of commitment, 2) the continuing increase of bastardy in the country, and 3) the dropping birth rate. Less couples are having kids; and of those couples that are having kids, ever more of them are not married to one another. Here's a few of the resources I've been exploring on that issue:

1- Child Trends Data Bank (July 2013 Report and 2013 Analysis)
2- CDC - National Survey of Family Growth (Published Reports)
3- CDC - National Center for Health Statistics (Data Brief, May 2009)
4- United States Census Bureau (2011 Report)
5- Washington Post (Article by Hope Yen, 07 Jan 2014)

According to Child Trends, the rate of illegitimacy has been increasing between 50-100% every decade since 1960. In 1960, the rate of American births to unwed mothers was 5.3%. By 1970, that number had doubled up to 10.7%. In 1980, it was at 18.4%. In 1990, the year I was born, it was at 28%. At the turn of the millennium, it reached 33.2%. And in 2010 we hit 40.8%. Though the change is truthfully very extreme, to many it comes as no surprise, especially to those who have paid attention to history, both ancient and American.

Two major societal changes have come up with the so-called "Me" Generation (the Baby Boomers), one popularized by the hippies and the other by Veruca Salt-like characters. (Thank you, Mr Dahl.) As the Mes have reproduced, so have these two problems. The first is introduced as "self-realization" or "self-discovery", and the second is a mash up of "something for nothing" and instant gratification. As Robert Downey Jr.'s character Tony Stark said concerning his time as a hostage in Iron Man, "I saw that I had become part of a system that's comfortable with zero-accountability." Tony may have been referring to the weapons industry, but the same thing could be said of our society as a whole. We've been raised to think only of the one, particularly NUMBER one. Everything is about "Me! Me! Me! I want! I want! I want! Now! Now! NOW!" And even though we claim to care about one another, we're more likely to stab someone in the back (figuratively) than we are to hold the door open for them (literally). (Want proof of that? Go observe a major electronics store on Black Friday.) We've been trained up as a society to think firstly of ourselves and what #1 wants or needs.

So, are we surprised that marriage is being thrown to the wind, co-habitation has become "normal", and divorce is commonplace? Not in the slightest bit. Marriage requires more commitment and dedication to another person (and later, people) than any other relationship there is; and in a world of zero-accountability and self-centered focus, commitment to anyone but yourself is absurd. Without a legal attachment, you can just walk away from each other when you get uncomfortable or feel too run-of-the-mill or pinned down. That's why the laws concerning a child's claim to their parents' support have become so complex lately; certain parents think they can just walk away and leave things behind because they have no legal marriage attachment, so the law has had to rein society back in a bit before the whole country goes straight to pieces.

I think the craziest part is the twisted analyses that try to make it look like everything is fine and that nothing has changed. These reports are comical, because everything they use to support their approval stands absolutely against them in the grand scope of history. People say that competition in the business world, collapse of schools, increased crime rates, decreased family commitment, increased divorce, domestic and civil abuse, political involvement, mental and physical health issues, and national stability aren't connected, but if you know the first thing about history you know that they absolutely are. Every major, renown empire or kingdom in the world has passed through the same cycle of descendant generations, collapsed internally, and either dissolved or been conquered. We're no different, and if we don't stop this cycle the USA will come to an end sooner than we like to admit.

Abraham Lincoln's words "A house divided against itself cannot stand" are now legendary; however, while they are quoted left and right in conversations about government, they are often completely shunned in conversations about home and family where they are by far most applicable. Parents that are more focused on their individual successes than their commitment to each other and their kids will raise children that exhibit that behavior to the n-th degree, putting further stress on the parents' relationship. You may think that whether or not you are married is a not big deal, and maybe to you it isn't, but to your kids it will be. I promise it will be. Children develop a good part of their personalities through duplication of parental example. Their brains record and duplicate what they experience and observe most frequently. The environment, particularly the emotional one, in which your children are raised will be imprinted on them forever, and they will replicate it throughout their lives. What's more, children can sight hypocritical behavior in a second, and that second of example will undermine decades of your verbalized instruction on a host of topics. No one trusts a hypocrite, especially not a child. Why? Because a hypocrite is a liar.

I was lucky to be raised in what many today have called an "old-fashioned" family. I had married parents who, though I witnessed them pass through very rough times, showed me by word and deed how dedicated they were to each other. Their marriage and anniversary are sacred to them, and I know that perfectly. They said it often and they live it always. My parents are together on everything they do side-by-side, and they never act until they have come to an agreement about the best way to proceed. And what does all that teach me? It has taught me that relationships are all about commitment. If you're going to start a serious relationship, you put your whole self into it--not just what you're comfortable with giving up. A serious relationship requires a sacrifice from both persons, and sacrifices always require you to be uncomfortable at some point in time, though not permanently. I've learned that if you're not willing to go the distance and give some things up for the other person, you're nothing more than a parasite, leeching away the other person's strength and giving them nothing in return.

I firmly believe that most divorces never need to happen. While divorce can originate from the fact that two people never really loved each other (although I believe this only happens very rarely), divorce never happens because you "fell out of love." Divorce happens because one or both of the spouses killed their love selfishly; they were more willing to sacrifice the other person and their children than their own appetites and desires. I believe this example coupled with the modern age of me-ism is the originator of our explosive marriage decline, co-habitation normality, and the escalation of bastardy.

If you love someone, commit to them. Do it officially, and do it every day thereafter. You may have deceived yourself into believing that marriage is just a piece of paper or a tax write-off, but you are so wrong. The very ceremony in and of itself is a sacrifice, a way of showing your significant other (and the world) that you are dedicated to one person and that he or she is most important to you above all the trinkets and fancy things the world can offer.

Whatever way you choose to live your life, in the end the Mes beget the Xs, the Xs beget the Millennials (or Ys), and the Millennials beget the Zs. That's the way it works. As my high school Chemistry teacher once said, "You stand on the shoulders of those who came before you. To a major degree, you are what they showed you to be." Do large parts of my generation loathe or fear commitment? Yes. But it's because the older generation taught them to. And if we don't reverse something soon, it will snowball into a hellish nightmare that will threaten the very survival of the USA and Western culture. That's the fact of it.

Respecting the Power of a Locomotive

Photo taken by Rodney Medeiros, submitted to Standard.net. 01/08/14.

Yesterday morning, I was surprised to hear that there had been a train wreck in Weber Canyon, which
is just a few miles from where I live. Though the complete details of the wreck are still under investigation by Union Pacific, we do know that one train rear ended the other, causing five railcars and three locomotives to be thrown off the tracks. Several cars rolled downhill and spilled their cargo onto the adjoining highway, closing down all but one lane of traffic. Luckily no one was seriously hurt and grain was the only real casualty. (You can check out news reports and an eye-witness video taken shortly after the wreck HERE at KSL.com or HERE at Standard.net)

As I looked at the pictures and videos of the crash I was incredibly surprised how much damage had been to the derailed cars. They were all smashed up and torn open--destroyed. I had always thought that such destruction to a train could only be achieved by Hollywood and demolition crews with the aid of explosives, machinery and purposeful maliciousness, but as I've studied the wreckage my respect for the amount of power and force that travel with these state-of-the-art iron horses increased.

Photo taken by DYLAN BROWN/Standard-Examiner. 01/08/14.

I've loved trains ever since I was child. The sound of their horns, the stampeding rumble that followed them over the tracks, and the sheer awesomeness of the work they can do fancied my young mind endlessly. And I suppose that living in Ogden, UT, which was an epicenter of railway traffic and one of the wealthiest cities in the state during the rail period of US history, has only added to that infatuation. The old Union Station downtown is one of my favorite places to visit. Though now it is only a faint shadow of its former grandeur, the station gives visitors a chance to learn about the roots of Ogden's former fame as well as a hands-on experience of the evolving US rail system. Ogden is to me as Radiator Springs was to Sally Carrera in Disney/Pixar's Cars. What I wouldn't give to experience pre-interstate Ogden, Ogden in its heyday, Ogden when 11 sets of busy tracks stretched out behind the station and influential people like John M. Browning, George S. Eccles and others all lived in and around Ogden. What I wouldn't give to see trains take back at least some of their influence over passenger travel across the USA. To see the station re-open for mass public traffic would be a dream.

Whatever becomes of the US railroad industry, one thing is certain: I will always respect the might of a locomotive. I will still get chills whenever I hear a train horn or feel them rumble across the tracks, and I will still mutter whoa as I watch the tracks and ties bow under a train's weight. Some things are simply too amazing not to stand by in awe. Just ponder on all that power rolling by you on the tracks, and then think about the things more powerful than locomotives that mankind has been able to construct.

Nicolas Flamel: The Posthumous Legend

In his native French he was known as Nee-koh-lah, but you probably know him by the English form Nik-eh-lehs. He lived his life as a successful scribe, but after his death the world would know him as one of the most famous and successful alchemists ever. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the posthumous legend, Nicolas Flamel!

Monsieur Flamel was born in the 1330s. During his lifetime he ran two shops as a professional scribe. He was also a married man, having wedded his wife Perenelle in 1368. Monsieur Flamel lived into his 80s, designed his own tombstone in 1410, and died eight years later in 1418. He was buried in Paris at the Musée de Cluny.

If you'll notice, there was no mention of alchemy, immortality or magic involvement in the afore paragraph. There wasn't a single mention of the fable Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life. There weren't even any notes about scientific fancy. How could that be? Well, it's because no evidence of such entanglement between the subjects and our good monsieur exists. In fact Monsieur Flamel's name was not linked to those subjects until the 17th century, 190 years after his death and burial. It all began with a book.

Paris, 1612. Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques is published and hits the shelves. Who is the book attributed to? Monsieur Flamel himself. Twelve years later, in 1624, Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques is translated into English and hits the London shelves as Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures. In the publisher's introduction Flamel's entanglement with alchemy is first discussed. The story, which focuses on Monsieur Flamel's search for the Philosopher's Stone, goes as follows: At some point in his life Monsieur Flamel purchased a strange, 21-page book. This book gradually becomes an obsession of sorts, and he dedicates much of his time to the decryption of it. In 1378 he even takes a trip to Spain, hoping to get some help with the translation. During his return journey, it is reported, Monsieur Flamel encounters a sagely stranger, who identifies the book as a copy of the Book of Abramelin the Mage before allowing Monsieur Flamel to continue on his way. After he arrives home Monsieur and Madame Flamel successfully decode enough of the book to reproduce the Elixir of Life and the Philosopher's Stone, which they then use to create silver and gold.

Not until 140 years after Exposition of the Hieroglyphical Figures' publication, in 1761, is the book's proposed history officially challenged as a myth by Étienne Villain. Villain puts forth the opinion that the source of Nicolas Flamel's alchemical fame is nothing more than the invention of the publisher. In response, other writers defend the book's claim, adding to and embellishing the legend of Nicolas Flamel by publishing accounts of sitings and encounters postdating Monsieur Flamel's death. As the years tick on, the life of a great scribe is overshadowed by the posthumous revelation of his "most secret" achievements. Today, we know of many books, poems, documents, comics, shows and songs that make note of his alchemical successes, whether taken as a serious point or a legendary one.

In truth there is no evidence one way or the other as to whether or not Nicolas Flamel really was involved in alchemy to any degree. Maybe a moment of curiosity opened the door to centuries of legendary gossip, or maybe he really was the great fabled alchemist he is claimed to be. Who knows? But no matter which side you take on the battle between fact and fiction, one thing is certain: Nicolas Flamel's legacy will continue to play into the fantasies of fiction for years to come.

Pictures used:
1 (Top-right) - Villain, Étienne François, from Histoire Critique de Nicolas Flamel, 1761.
2 (Bottom-Left) - GrandPré, Mary, illus. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. By J. K. Rowling. New York: Scholastic Press, 1999. Print.

Habits: Bake Until Golden-Brown

I don't know about you, but I've heard a lot of different rules concerning the formation of habits. They--and by they I mean social scientists and other groups--say that doing something for x amount of time effects a change in the brain from one sector to another, and that that is when a habit has been created. Commonly, the minimum time they say is required is 21 days, but that isn't constant. Off the top of my head alone I can remember being told it was seven days in elementary and junior high school, then at some point it went up to two weeks, then to three weeks. I've even been told minimums from 30 days up to three months.

In high school I raised these inconsistencies as a rebuttal against the 21-day rule and was told, "Well, it is only recommended as a minimum requirement. Every person is different." I was tempted to roll my eyes and reply, "So, you're saying 'the rule' is a fake--that in actuality a habit can form by doing something consistently for anywhere between ten seconds to your death? That doesn't sound like much of a groundbreaking discovery to me."

Now of course I realize that was my rebellious side appealing for far too much dominance over my tongue and I would probably never openly reply like that, but let's think about this for a minute. Why is it that some activities develop into habits within seconds and other never tend to become habits regardless of how hard we try? And why are some habits extremely difficult to break while others are easier to let go of than air?

On average, a person can pick up knuckle popping, gum smacking, finger drumming or hair toying without even thinking about it. They simply do it once or twice, and--BAM!--habit. But then there's the other end of the spectrum that includes things like exercise, diet changes, religious practices and much, much more.

I don't know how many of you reading this are actively religious, but if you are, think about this.  In Christianity it is a biblical commandment to study from the prophetic writings and pray daily. I know there are similar expectations in most religions and philosophies. But how many of you out there actually keep them? Forget the commandment aspect for a minute, and let's talk purely about habits. For people who are just taking up a religion, it can be incredibly difficult to acquire these new daily habits. In fact, some people give up part way in and never bother letting the habit reach fruition. And even if they do get into the habit, the battle isn't over. For those who persevere it can be all too easy to break the habit. You accidentally let a few days slip by during a busy vacation and--BAM!--the habit is broken and three weeks pass before you pick up the Bible again. By then you're back at square one.

The same is true of exercise and diet, but religion has a tendency to contain more of the toughest-to-form habits that there are, which is why I make an example of it. For some reason, varied by each person's individual beliefs, we as people often find religious habits inconvenient, obtuse and uncomfortable. Maybe this is because some practices just never seem to make that change from scheduled activity to daily habit. (Or maybe I put that backwards, and it's the feelings of disfavor that block out the habitual possibility. What do you think?) Anyway, we force ourselves to do things over and over again every day, knowing inside that what we're doing is good and wholesome, and yet we never seem to reach the blissful day when the activities convert into "holy habits." Some battles naturally feel like they cannot be won.

What's my point with all this? It is this: There may be a minimum time for habit formation, but there is absolutely no maximum. Most good things like exercise and religion will take your whole lifetime to develop into sturdy habit. If you're working on building any new habit or breaking an old one and feel like you are making zero headway, do not give up. You may feel depressed because you aren't succeeding at the speed you had hoped. Maybe a close friend has accomplished the same feat in less time and with greater ease. But don't you dare quit on yourself. You put those metaphorical cookies in the oven and bake them until the edges are golden-brown. Maybe your oven can't burn as hot as your friend's for one reason or another and that's what is holding you back, but whatever the reason, don't you quit. If you are patient and keep working to keep the fires burning consistently, you will get cookies. And when those cookies are done you will savor and appreciate them all the more.

There is no rule that can be trusted about the amount of time or number of reps you have to do before something becomes a habit. The 21-day rule is a myth. So whatever habit you're trying to make or break, do not give up on it or yourself. You have the dough, you have the wood, you have the oven. The question is, are you willing to use what you have to make some delicious, golden-brown habit cookies?

Black Blood's Counsel

Thanks for writing in the great questions, everyone! You know what you want, and I'm excited to give it to you. Today I'm going to address a rather popular question about Oblivion's Gate:

Where did you get the inspiration for each of the Fallen?

In truth, this is an incredibly tough question to answer because the inspiration didn't come with a picture of the final product, nor with a mold left behind by another character. I didn't know the Fallen as "the Fallen" when I first created them. I came to know them over time as I studied out their lives, temperaments and tendencies.

Several of your letters have asked if I based the Fallen on other existing characters or persons (I got a kick out of some of your proposed allusions), but other than Hades, Anubis and Loki (who are mythic gods) none of the Fallen were based on any particular character or set of them. A few of the Fallen do have a fabled character to which they have linked themselves (like Tangaroa's choice to become the embodiment of the Flying Dutchman, or Zuren's Grim who were forced into a certain appearance by a curse, for example), but it was each Fallen's individual history that actually effected their personality, appearance and obsessions. The Fallen arose from scratch.

In fact, there is only one character in all of Oblivion's Gate that was designed to pay homage to another, but until the series is complete and that homage is officially revealed I will keep that character's identity a secret. All other characters in Oblivion's Gate are drawn from myth, legend and 98% scratch.

In the original sketches for Oblivion's Gate, the Fallen Ones were a syndicate of very stereotypical villains who had joined together in hopes of breaking free from the humdrum lives they had found themselves in. I never cared for the idea and only used it to fill in the blanks. It wasn't very original, it didn't mesh well with the body of the story, and it was rather childish and boring. So I actually scrapped the Fallen altogether and moved on, hoping that a wholly different idea would inspire me when the time was right.

I finished developing the complete world of Oblivion's Gate (the realms, the races, the dialects, the complexities, etc.) by lacing together the real, modern world and the worlds of ancient myth. Then I rounded out the protagonists and scenery. When I finished, everything was ready but the villain. My ideas for a villain just didn't want to come together. Then as I was reading through my notes on the Life Bloods one day, I had a new idea. It stemmed from the effects of Black Blood and inspired me to breathe new life into the forgotten concept of the Fallen Ones.

Black Blood does more than just change appearances and blend things together; it tampers with everything. And when living things are exposed to it, it has terrible effects on the mind. Certain characteristics of the Exposed are amplified and/or given new dominance, all based on the circumstances surrounding the moment of exposure. Sometimes the effects and new found obsessions are so emphatic that it seems the original entity has been entirely lost.

Considering these effects, I pulled together a host of regular, everyday characters, perfectly synonymous with their home realms, kingdoms and circumstances. Once I had each of their personalities, appearances and histories down, I took a great deal of time to consider how, when and why they might be exposed to Black Blood. (Was it on purpose or accident? Were they prepared or not? Questions like those.) And after discovering how the characters would behave, it became obvious how the exposure would affect each one. And that is when the Council of the Fallen became the force we encounter in Mimgardr.

The Fallen in final form are incredibly complex, and I'm almost sad that you readers don't get to know them very well during the first book. But, as the trilogy goes on you'll learn more about the days prior to their demise and you'll learn what made them into who and what they are.

Did that answer your question? Please comment below with follow-up questions and personal thoughts? And don't forget to email me questions about new topics HERE.

Extraordinary Destiny

Have you ever been in a situation where it seems that everything is against you--where even though your intentions are genuinely good, the world seems to be saying "absolutely not" at every turn?

Currently I find myself going through one of those times. Everything seems to be working against me. As a writer I can't seem to pen the right words in the right order, nor does life beyond the pen want to cut me a break. But as I continue to swim against the rapids, I'm becoming ever more aware of the tiny successes, the little things we tend to leave unrecognized when life is going well for us.

This change in perspective came when I realized how dismal my journal was beginning to look. I had been reporting on the progress of things every day as I usually do, but over time that progress was becoming much more regress and a black cloud seemed to permeate the pages, which is by far how I want my journal to tell the story of my life.

Then one day while I was going through Pinterest I rediscovered this quote from Clive Staples (C. S.) Lewis: "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." It reminded me yet again that by focusing on what wasn't working I was missing out on opportunities to see what was changing in my life, keeping me going, and helping me grow. Did I like the fact that my plans weren't progressing? No. But did that mean there weren't good things happening in other aspects of life? No. Thinking about this, I reminded myself of the good habit I had somehow let go of over the passing months, and that called for a course correction.

I shifted my focus, both in writing and life, and picked up that old habit again. I began searching for the moments in each day where I merely saw good happen, and recorded them in my journal alongside my personal reports. The moments didn't require my personal involvement (though that was the preference), I simply had to be a witness to them. Sometimes they were tiny things; other times they were much larger. But every day I had to find something. The more of them I recorded, the more the black cloud faded and my resolve strengthened.

That change in perspective and re-adoption of habit has helped and encouraged me in my figurative swim against the river. I'm seeing other parts of my life that are progressing and parts of myself that are growing stronger. While I see no lull in the tempest for me yet, knowing that good is still going on around me helps me to know that smooth water will come again, and hopefully when I get there I will find myself ready and excited for the feasts and battles that lie ahead.

Down with the Letter C

I before E,

Except after C,

Unless pronounced "Ay"

As in neighbor and weigh.

That's not the way it's recorded in Ebenezer Brewer's 1880 Rules for English Spelling, but that's the way I memorized it in school. This little rhyme reminds me so much of my frustration with the English language. You see, I'm a fan of phonetics in alphabets and languages, which is a trait not to be found in English. But English isn't what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about a little piece of it that is much older--the ninth syllable in the above rhyme and the third letter in the Latin alphabet, the letter C.

The letter C came into being through a series of changes in calligraphy and pronunciation. Phoenician was kidnapped by the Greeks, the Greek alphabet was modified for use by the Etruscans, the Etruscans lent their alphabet to the Romans, and the Romans influenced languages all over the world. Altogether it was a messy transformation due to the fact that each language was missing the sounds and order of its predecessor. Many new characters were created, superseded, and passed on. C being one of them.

My big question is, why haven't we deleted C from the alphabet after all this time? Is it a bad habit we're too lazy to kick? K and S both make the sounds C can produce, and G takes up the original pronunciation C had back when it was called gaml, gimel and gamma. Not to mention, relinquishing C would alleviate part of the struggle faced by those learning and reading English and other languages of Latin descent.

Now, I know linguists who think the banishment of C would be a travesty, but honestly, wouldn't it be more productive to have individual symbols for combinations like SH, CH, TH and each vowel sound than to have a redundant copycat letter that makes spelling more complicated than it needs to be? C's day of glory has long since passed in my humble opinion, and as the world continues to slowly merge and interact a single phonetic alphabet that includes a character for every known sound would be much more effective. Some languages wouldn't need to use every character in the alphabet, but the use of a single alphabet would make it much easier for people to learn each others' languages and translate those languages.

I say down with the letter C and its unneeded fellows, and up with a single, worldwide, phonetic alphabet. What do you think? Am I crazy or am I right? What do you think? Comment below.