Ed Burnhelt does what is hard.

  By ,
Ed is one of the main characters in the upcoming “The New Players” novel, Book 3 in the series.  He hails from the advanced and isolated nation of New Grelland, and is the youngest member of a powerful and influential family.

He is gifted with Flames of Tumult that generate within his body, which grant him hyper speed and strength, and the capability to think faster than most computers.  He can also vent the electric fire from his eyes.  He is also a skilled duelist, wielding his deceased mother’s sword.

But there are draw backs to this power.  He had to spend a year in sensory deprivation to accustom himself to his enhanced perception of time.  His fellow Grells fear him, seeing an unstable weapon, rather than a person.

All of this was by design, not chance.  His family engineered his lot in life, knowing the consequences it would inflict on him.

They had to.

Corsis always lurks on the periphery.  And the Burnhelt’s need every advantage they can get to fight him.  It will not be easy, but Ed has spent his life girding himself for the trials to come.

He does what is hard.

James McGowan Reader Group- LitCon Weekend

  By
Howdy, all. LitCon is this weekend.  If you’re interested in taking a look at the works of other indie authors, feel free to take a look at their site and the Youtube channel.  I’ll also be participating in a panel or two. Also, check out the books on the LitCon 2021 Giveaway.  Cool stories await!
LitCon.org LitCon on Youtube LitCon Book Giveaway
Players of the Game Artist Spotlight
I work with a few artists for cover and website content with my Players of the Game series.  Mikhail Palamarchuk is especially good, and I’ve featured a few of his finished works in the past.

I’ll provide him a description of a character along with images that match the vibe of what I’m wanting.

Here’s a great example with Violet.  She’s a Skin Bot, an android-type character who appears in the upcoming New Players novel.  First, I get a rough sketch:
Then I give Mikhail feedback, and he provides me iterations based on my notes to arrive at the finished version.

I have him give me a variety of styles, either a higher-detail airbrush style, or a lower-detail comic book style. 

The finished version of Violet is the latter. Mikhail’s stuff is just plain rad.  That’s right.  Rad.
You can view more of his even better stuff including several of my Players of the Game characters on his ArtStation page.
Mikhail Palamarchuk’s ArtStation Page
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

Click here to view the original format.

James McGowan Reader Group- Looking Down the Road

  By
Howdy, all.

Much of my neck of the woods got the deep freeze treatment for the past few weeks.  If you were affected by the polar vortex in the US, I hope things have gotten better for you as time has gone on.  Things seem to be getting better as somewhat warmer temperatures creep back in.

As spring peeks around the corner, I have a positive outlook for the future right now.  After months of being cooped up indoors with the cold, and many months more of doing the social distance thing, I am hopeful that things might get back to some form of normalcy toward late summer and fall.  More vaccines appear to be ramping up in the US, which is a welcome development.

I will be attending another virtual round of LitCon in early March (5th through 7th).  Check out their site.  It’s free to attend.  I have a virtual booth in the fantasy section.  In April, I’ll be attending the Nebraska Writers Guild virtual conference as well. 

On top of that, I’ll be releasing The New Players in March or April.  It will focus on new characters who must contend with Corsis and his ally, Hekati the Unmaker.
Players of the Game Character Spotlight: Hekati
Hekati has many guises.  The cyborg goddess is but one.  She cultivates flowers that twist bodies and minds to her will.

She is featured prominently on the upcoming New Players cover.  More on that next month, or you can get an advanced peak of it on my LitCon virtual booth with the link above.
Recommendation Corner
Onward

This Pixar movie came out last March just as the pandemic was really hitting the US.  It’s a shame that it didn’t get more recognition.  My wife and I recently watched it on Disney+.  It takes place in a world populated by mythological people like elves, satyrs, and centaurs where magic was shunted aside by technology because tech is easier.  The plot focuses on two elf brothers voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt who go on a quest involving their deceased father.  If you want to see a buddy/brother movie with Spider-Man and Starlord (or at least their voices), check it out.

Autonomous by Amalee Newitz

This novel takes place a few hundred years from now where nations appear to have reorganized in alignment with giant pharma companies.  Human life has been extended, but inequality still reigns with designer medicines largely unavailable to the larger populace.  One main character, a female rogue scientist named Jack, tries to help the downtrodden with free medicine that she pirates from pharma companies.  She finances it with her side business of selling recreational drugs, but that goes wrong when people start working themselves to death as a result of a side effect of a drug she pirated.  Eliasz, a stoic government agent, hunts for her while having an increasingly confused working relationship with his robot partner, Paladin.  It’s a believable future that could totally come to pass.  Good stuff.
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

Click here to view the original format.

James McGowan Reader Group- The New Music Binge-o-rama

  By
Happy New Year, everyone.

Winter is here.  Lots of snow.  Lots of fear and anger.  Show someone that you care about them however you can. Perform a little act to kindness. If Gandalf says it keeps the darkness at bay, then I think it’s worth a try.

I’ve been trying out other new inputs as well.  I go through phases where I listen to music while I’m writing.  Other times I need it quiet.  Right now is definitely a music kinda mood for me. 

The big trends for me right now are epic sounding instrumental stuff like the Mad Max Fury Road soundtrack, Archangel by Two Steps from Hell, the Darkest Dungeon soundtrack, and many others.  I will also admit that I’m fond of some non-screamy metal these days.  I’ve been digging some classic Iron Maiden and another band I’ll specifically call out in recommendation corner below.

If you have any epic instrumental music that you like and want to recommend, feel free to let me know.
New Players of the Game Release
The Brigands: The Favor is now available on Kindle for just 99 cents.  The novella focuses on ViRauni.   You can’t go home again, especially when it’s infested by a brain-hacked horde. Get it now.
Recommendation Corner
Theater of Dimensions by Xandria

I’ll preface this with the admission that metal is not for everyone.  This German group transcends the genre in my reckoning.  The leader singer channels powerful operatic melodies akin to Tarja, with a lot of cool riffs and drums from the rest of the band.  Wikipedia says that the band is inactive after the lead singer left the group.  If the band is done, then they left on literal and figurative a high note.

Thin Air by Richard K Morgan

I do enjoy dystopian cyber punk when it’s done right.  This novel definitely falls in that category.  Hakan Veil is an enhanced human enforcer called an Over Rider who is stuck in the urban sprawl of the Mars colony.  He gets drafted by a local cop to babysit a colonial auditor, and conflicting agendas from multiple sources quickly raise the stakes.  Colin Mace reads the audio book version with world-weary grit.  Very compelling stuff.
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

Click here to view the original format.

James McGowan Reader Group- A Season of Better Inputs

  By
Howdy, Party People.

As we stare back at the sucknado that was March through December of 2020, I think it’s a good idea to keep a few things in mind.  Just as 2020 did not immediately start as a rancid dumpster fire (at least in the US), it will not stop burning just because paper calendars have been replaced and electronic ones tick forward to 2021. 

Still, there is something to be said for the symbolic turning turning of the calendar page. And that is better than nothing.  Let us hope the vaccines help get us out of the “gap” and into the new and improved normal.

As part of this, I personally am going to try striving for a season of better inputs. 

For me, here’s what that means: Keeping most news at arms length and averting my attention from the anger and fear like they’re part of a horrible traffic accident.  The truly important stuff will find its way to me in one way or another.  Wasting less time on social media and more time reading the books and comics in my backlog.  Consuming only compelling video content, not filler.  While I do a halfway decent job of eating healthy, I could be better, and I’ll aim to do just that. 

Will I stumble?  Definitely.  Will I keep on trying?  That’s the theme for the year.  Get better inputs in my life.  An off day does not mean the season is ruined.  It’s just an off day.

As a side note, I totally stole this idea from a CGP Grey Youtube video I saw earlier this year.  Type in “CGP Grey Themes” and you’ll find it.

Perhaps you can think of a personal theme of the season as well.
Players of the Game Updates
I plan to release The Brigands: The Favor novella sometime soon.  It will be for a buck on Amazon in Kindle form only.  It focuses on ViRauni as she returns someplace she long ago abandoned.

I’m finished up with the latest draft of the Breakers.  I have it sent out to beta readers and will soon send it off to my editor.  I’m still pretty happy with how it turned out.  And the preliminary cover is quite neat too.  I’ll share that down the road.

Currently, I’m working on the next “.5” novella, “The Breakers: Jagged Pieces”.  It’s an extended epilogue and bridge between Book 4 and Book 5.  I’m enjoying it so far.

Here’s an image of Nirva Iniv, one of the main villains from the series.  She is Avril’s sadistic mother.  She wanted to save the world once upon a time.  Now, she wants it under her heel.
December Recommendations
Pearl Harbor Minute By Minute by Time Ghost

Time Ghost’s World War II channel put together one of their best real time documentaries yet with this five-hour recounting of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  As a History major, it’s right in my wheel house, or at least my home office.  It was really well done and did an excellent job of remaining objective, while showing the darkness of modern war.  It also presented FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech in its entirety.  Say what you will about the man, he could orate with the best of them.  A very well done series.  As the hosts like to say: “Never Forget!”

Gideon Falls by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino

This comic series is almost over with an issue to go, so it might be worth waiting for various collected editions.  I’ll avoid spoiling too much.  It starts with a focus on two main characters.  A seemingly-unstable person named Norton wears a surgical mask (this comic was made pre-Covid) and searches through garbage heaps for splinters of a dire black barn in the city of Gideon Falls.  An alcoholic priest named Wilfred is assigned to a small town, also named Gideon Falls, and has to team up with a local sheriff when bad stuff involving a black barn also starts creeping into town.  If you like mind-bendy sci-fi horror, this series is for you.
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe. 

And Happy New Year!

Jim

Click here to view the original format.

James McGowan Reader Group- Tales from LitCon

  By
Hi, all.

This past weekend I virtually attended LitCon.  It was a gathering of indie authors that had several interesting panels, and break out discussions.  I attended a world building panel moderated by AF Stewart where we talked about social structures, classes, and other fun stuff.  CL Gaber was also part of the discussion, which was a treat.

I also chatted with several other very engaging authors like Richard White, Joe Compton, and Karina Kantas.  It was an invigorating experience.

Lots of the panel content and discussions are posted on the LitCon Facebook Page.  Feel free to give them a watch.
November Recommendations
Mandalorian Season 2.

I’m current up through episode 4.  This is the best Star Wars iteration of the Disney Era.  Hands down.  They do a fantastic job with the western in space vibe.  I loved seeing Timothy Oliphant in it.  And Baby Yoda (aka The Child) remains very cute and continues to eat all kinds of… well, basically anything that moves that is smaller than him.  I gotta wonder if the Yoda race is some kind of group of apex predators.  The effects are also very close to movie quality.  I enjoy it.

Interrogation.

This is a game on Steam.  It’s a visual novel that takes place in a city that’s under threat from a domestic terrorist organization.  You play a cop who’s the head of the task force that’s trying to stop them from blowing up buildings.  The writing is very tight, and you get in some very morally grey situations in your drive to try to zero in on the terrorists.  A compelling game for those who liked Choose Your Own Adventure novels back in the late 20th century.
That’s all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim

Click here to view the original format.