Month: June 2024

Players of the Game Character Spotlight: Thebes

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Thebes doesn’t mean to annoy his allies.  It just happens.

The Imp moves faster than bullets, which while tactically useful, the trait also makes him impetuous and motor mouthed.

Ashe Stelfire has little love lost with the toddler-sized Demon.

And yet.

Thebes is reliable.  He excels at reconnaissance and piloting.  He helps teammates under fire, performing acts of bravery that save lives of those on his side.  The Imp often slashes into foes before they even see him.

His daggers look like short swords in his grasp, causing corrosive harm to those he pricks.

While many of the Brigands might describe him as a little prick himself, he’s their little prick.

Read more about Thebes in Repenter and The Brigands.

Art by Moonarc.

James McGowan Reader Group- Jimifying

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Hey hey!

I’m reasonably sure every novelist out there at least partially writes their books because they haven’t read a yarn that has the specific ingredients they crave.  A particular character, or strange place, or weird power, or whatever else, a storyteller yearns to craft something unlike the stories that have come before.

I am no different.  

I’ve always wanted to read an epic story that’s equal parts comic book visuals, high fantasy politics, space opera interpersonal relationships, and video game kinetic action.  I’ve not yet come across a story with such a combination in the wilds of Audible and various bookstores.

So I write those stories.

It’s like the ultimate Choose Your Own Adventure story, where the options are limitless.  Though it does take a considerably longer time to craft it than it does to consume it.

And to the surprise of no one, I exercise such customization in all aspects of my life.  My wife and others call it Jimifying.

Is there a chicken casserole recipe online that calls for a set group of ingredients?  Then I’ll definitely be swapping French onion soup and adding broccoli.

Is my ISP offloading my old email address to some other subpar outfit?  Well then I’m not just going to take their shoehorned solution.  I’ll make my own domain and set up my own email.  I used Hover, in case you’re wondering.  No complaints so far.

And if my 25-year old key chain finally gives out?  I used that opportunity to get a new customized black leather key chain with a Grellish Claw on it.

Along with a Boulevard bottle cap opener that’s still going strong.
Whether I intend it or not, I often end up Jimifying most things in my life.

Including artwork I commission of my story’s characters. 

As is the case with Thebes above.
Players of the Game Works in Progress
Well, The Game War’s third draft ended up being more of a full-on read through to make sure the plot is coherent throughout and adding in a lot of the chronology time stamps I put at the beginning of each chapter.  I had to include time zones this time, because the action is spread out across Jeea with events occurring simultaneously.

And the fourth draft is combines both typo hunting and making sure plot holes and character interactions are patched up.

It’s a three step process of using ProWriting Aid in a chapter on Scrivener, then pasting it into a Google doc and seeing if it can find additional grammar problems, then using the Windows + button combo to bring up the magnifier which reads the text in a stiff robot voice.

That last part is a little rough with its mispronunciation of Crystala as CRY-STALA and Celsis Kri as CHEL-SIS KREE, among many other proper nouns.  But it totally catches a lot of contextual typos that both PWA and Google Docs miss.

I’m up to Chapter 35.

Of 109.

I hadn’t been numbering the chapters in the earlier drafts because I knew that I’d need to jumble them around.  It’s epic.  But nothing worse than other similar fare in the epic sci-fi fantasy genre.

So I’m about 1/3 of the way there with the fourth draft.  I’ll export it to a Word doc following that and do a quick spell check.

Then it’s off to the editor and beta readers.

And I’ll start plotting book 4.5 after that.  Hooray!

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Ed blurred to Candice and held out a metal-clad arm. “I can’t tell. Is this cool enough to touch?”

She held a hand over it, feeling warmth, but nothing scalding. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his shoulder. “It’s divine.”
Recommendation Corner
Fallout on Amazon Prime

I’ve not actually played any of the Fallout games. They’re on my list. Just haven’t gotten to them yet.

You don’t need to have played them to enjoy the show. The retro-future 1950s backstory. The vaults. Ghouls. Knights. Pip-Boys. All of them are well explained in the show’s narrative.

Lucy, Maximus, and The Ghoul/Cooper are all well fleshed out.  Walton Goggins in particular does a fantastic job both with nose and sans nose.

And for a show about the apocalypse, it does have a lot of humor.  Especially with the characters played by Chris Parnell and Fred Armisen.

I look forward to seeing where the story goes in season 2.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 3 by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto

The quick backstory: An evil version of Reed Richards called the Maker went back in time and created an alternate reality where he prevented the Marvel heroes from gaining their powers or otherwise diverting them from their heroic destinies.

Peter Parker was among those who were denied.  He grew into adulthood, married Mary Jane, and had two kids.  He’s happy, but he feels like something’s missing in his life.

Then an a younger version of Tony Stark shows up.  And gives him a vial with the altered spider that should have bitten him in it.  And he must decide whether to take the plunge.

This is one of the more interesting takes on Peter Parker I’ve seen in years.  A guy who’s going through an early-mid-life crisis.  One who has zero experience with powers, but much more experience being an adult.

I look forward to seeing where this goes.
Check Out the Players of the Game Series on eBook and Paperback
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim