C. L. Norman

For a couple of years now, I have had a problem with the world building in most fantasy game worlds. It is the tiniest thing, easily overlooked, but it has been bugging me ever since it dawned on me.

Why do people bury their dead in traditional fantasy gaming worlds?

Undead are very common figures in gaming. Who doesn’t love a good zombie-bashing or vampire-slaying? Some undead are created because of how they died; vampires, ghosts, shades, etc. These types of undead cannot be avoided, at least according to the rules established in most settings. Some, zombies and animated skeletons, are created by some mysterious force or evil necromancer or vengeful god from readily available ‘raw materials’.  Those materials are the dearly departed buried lovingly by those left behind.

Can you guess now my problem with the world building?

Yes, the burial tradition. In a world where undead are fairly common and any graveyard is likely to be the target of any being looking to raise an army of undead, why wouldn’t the dead be cremated on a funeral pyre? Christians bury their dead so that the body will be whole for the resurrection. Followers of the great and mighty <insert game world deity name here> have no reason that is ever mentioned for burying their dead. The gods don’t demand it. Resurrection is a spell that most can’t afford and few have the ability to cast. Why bury their dead?

Last weekend, my character in our Pathfinder game met her end at the teeth of a shark. My companions immediately recovered her body and cremated her without a thought. I didn’t say anything (I was too busy rolling up my next character) and yet it was an automatic decision for them. Undead sailors have regularly been walking the beaches of the island where we adventure and they didn’t want to have to kill my character. Again.

Do you have a theory about why the dead are still buried in gaming worlds? With the looming threat of a Zombie Apocalypse in our world, how do you think we should change our burial practices?

        

Happy Sunday folks. Another week over and we are back together to talk about it.

Reading

D. D. Barant’s book, Death Blows, was released this week and I had to pick it up. This series starring Jace Valchek, FBI profiler from our world, stuck in an alternate reality where humans are only 1% among a population of vampires, werewolves, and golems, is a delight. This sequel is a fun continuation of the story that began in Dying Bites and delves into comic book history. The world of superhero supernaturals is explored and is very enjoyable. I recommend this series to fans of the urban fantasy/who-done-it genres.

Writing

Still struggling with bad habits. Remember back in November when I was so excited to be writing daily during NaNoWriMo? I am working on getting back to that and shutting my inner critic up. She has gotten very noisy lately, jabbering non-stop from her position behind the driver’s seat. Rude, much? Compliments on my writing has given her permission to try to take over the steering wheel. I am working on tying her up and throwing her in the trunk. If you have a spare roll of mental duct tape, I could use it.

Gaming

We started a new Pathfinder campaign this week. I am running the Kingmaker adventure path for a group of seven friends and family. This adventure is fun and different. It is a fairly open field for the characters to roam in. The quest structure is very free form, in face it reminds me a lot of Everquest 2 or World of Warcraft. Wanted posters, NPCs wanting favors, and location discoveries yield quests that award traditional loot and experience. I fully expect to have fun running through this campaign.

Other Tidbits

Dean Wesley Smith popped the myth that writer’s don’t need to practice here.

Barnes & Noble Explorations tells us how to know if you are a SciFi/Fantasy geek here.

The NovelDoctor has some advice for getting through those troublesome middle sections of our novels here.

Romance Writer’s Revenge has a case for pantsters here, not that I need convincing.

How wondrous fine was your week? Anything new happen? or was it the same-o, same-o?

        

Howdy Folks! How was your week? Do anything wild and crazy? Try that hot chocolate with the dark cherry or discover some other yummy treat?

Movies

Last Sunday I went to see The Bounty Hunter with my oldest daughter. I have to say having a kid I can drag with me to romantic comedies whenever my checkbook and time permits is very cool. As anticipated Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston had me laughing and rooting for the big kiss moment and I wasn’t disappointed.

As a side note, after seeing this movie I started brainstorming how I could write a bounty hunter story myself, in a fantasy setting, of course. You see a lot of assassins and pickpockets in fiction but not as many bounty hunters and they deserve to wear the rogue mantle too. So keep an eye out and maybe one day you will see a bounty hunter story from me.

Reading

Remember how I said I had to fix the lack of reading I’ve been doing last week? Well I did. In spades. I’ve read the thee Mortal Instruments books by Cassandra Clare and the first two Blue Bloods novels by Melissa de la Cruz.

It all started when my daughter and I stopped at the bookstore after the movies and I got her a book and me a book with the idea we would swap when we finished. I finished the first of the Mortal Instruments book by the next day and of course I had to go right out and get the next one and the next. By then my daughter finished her book and I read that one and had to get the next. I stayed up super late reading three nights this week and even though I feel a bit sleepy I feel a lot more like myself now.

I probably don’t need to tell you after all that that I thoroughly enjoyed the books. The pacing, world-building, characters and their relationships were spot on. I even have to say that the way the Blue Bloods is set up I could believe that they might exist. Makes a lot more sense than nocturnal bloodsucking pale people.

Gaming

I was suppose to run the second session of my Night Below campaign last night but Monday I decided I just didn’t have the time to work out all the conversions necessary. So instead I am going to run the Kingmaker adventure path by Paizo. The first adventure didn’t arrive before last nights session but it turned out ok as 2 players didn’t show up and another 2 were later than they anticipated. So we worked on characters, building some background and personalities, even generated birthdays. The next session should be fun.

Writing

As you probably guessed I didn’t get much writing done. Balance is not a specialty of mine. I have decided to try to participate in the #fridayflash social event on Twitter as a result. Maybe the structure of having to have something written and posted every Friday will help out poor pathetic me who spends way more time talking and writing about writing than actually doing it.

So, next Friday, if you don’t see a story posted here, feel free to beat me about the head and shoulders with a boffer weapon. I will deserve it.

Have a good week, friends.

        

I’ve been playing make-believe for as long as I remember.

As a child, empty wooden cable reels were tea tables and carriages. The potato harvester was a castle with secret doors and chutes. A stack of roofing tiles was a rock star’s stage or a landing platform for fairies. The usual childish stuff.

Around nine to ten years old recess at school became magical. We were unicorns and pegasuses (pegasi?) and galloped through magical forests fighting evil wizards determined to harvest our magical natures for their nefarious purposes.

In middle and high school, we became people again. Heroes of stories we acted out in parks and the dunes among the sagebrush and tumbleweeds. With our wooden swords and daggers, cloaks made of black tricot, and pencil-drawn scars, we defeated evil plots and saved many a damsel. Once or twice we were even mistaken for devil worshippers by witnesses. If only they knew of all the evil we defeated in their neighborhoods.

When the ringleader of these expeditions moved away, those games ended. We began to exchange letters which sounds pretty normal until you realize that we made up a world complete with a map and characters who lived in that world. Those characters exchanged letters about their adventures. I even had one character kidnap another and send ransom notes to one of my friend’s characters.

Now I don’t get the opportunity to dress up and haunt the local parks and I’ve lost contact with that friend but I still play make-believe when I play D&D and when I write. I have lost the fun of it though. I feel trapped by the rules and it is taking the character out of the game. It is time to throw out the rulebook when I play and assume that voice and costume again. Play with my handwriting to make it someone elses.

I need to stop being the good girl who never breaks the rules of the game. I need to leave the rules behind when deciding what my character will do. Just as I need to stop worrying about if other people will “like” what I am writing and creating. And at this point in my career, those sorts of worries is liable to make everything I write pale copycats of everything I am reading.

Next time I sit down to write, I will get out my cloak and wrap myself in it. I will get a couple colored pencils and draw a few scars on my skin and make-believe a story onto the paper. And have fun doing it.

        

Writing

After the workshops and panels at RadCon last weekend, I became determined to start treating my writing more as a business than as a sometimes hobby. To that end, I have submitted a couple short stories this week and caught up on my novel manuscript so that I may continue with that project.

Another aspect of that is getting myself organized so that I can track expenses and submissions and all the other details needed to be successful. To that end I am working again to get my household finances in order and find a system that works for me in tracking and budgeting them. I am notoriously bad with the details and while I do not have a lot of things to track for writing yet, my household accounts are a good place to start learning the skills to carry me onward.

In addition to the above I have also started reading through Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Freelancer’s Survival Guide. I have only read through the second Money chapter at this point but I am learning a lot and learning that there is a lot I don’t know. Very enlightening and her advice isn’t just for writers.

On TV

I’ve been rewatching Stargate SG-1 this week. Every episode I try to identify which character is my favorite and I can’t make up my mind. Usually it is a toss up between O’Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson but then Carter or Teal’c steal a scene and I am torn between four again. My favorite episode is still A Window of Opportunity. It is like Groundhog Day with science fiction elements. Fun.

Writing Group

This week my writing group met for the first time since we closed the group to all-comers. The meeting was all about hashing out rules for members and set up the structure of the group. I know it is necessary but I found myself wanting to get past all the back-and-forth discussion and get back to the writing. Soon enough.

Gaming

We started a new D&D game on Saturday night. I am DMing the old AD&D campaign, Night Below, and updating it for Pathfinder rules as we go. I don’t have any idea how well the conversion will go but we intend to have fun finding out. My 9 year old son is joining us for the first time and it is entertaining watching him play with the adults and the differences in how he approaches the puzzles in the game.

        

Happy Valentine’s Day

Today is the day for remembering your loved ones, especially those you have romantic feelings for. As always my Valentine’s day is not filled with flowers and chocolates (that is a Mother’s day tradition) but with Magic cards and writing panels. Which leads me to my next topic.

Radcon

Every year since I was a sophomore in high school I attended the local sci-fi convention, RadCon, and this year is no different. I use to go for a mix of panels and gaming, in particular the Delver’s Bash. However for the last few years I go to attend every writing panel I can squeeze into so that I may glean every nugget of knowledge about the craft and business of writing I can.

This year I also participated in a Writing Workshop put together very nicely by Deby Fredericks. As a result of some attendance issues, I had the full attention of both Dean Wesley Smith and Darragh Metzger for the entire hour. And I’d like to thank them for the insights they gave me on my writing and on writing as a career. It is much appreciated and I hope to put your encouragement to good use.

Cavalcade of Authors

The first day of the con, or to be more precise the morning of the first day of con, an event was held for local middle school and high school students. This event had students in workshops with several authors including Patrick Carman, Ben Mikaelson, Suzanne Selfours, and more. My daughter was a participant and had a lot of fun. I helped out with Barnes & Noble, selling books and enjoyed observing the excitement in the kids at the opportunity to speak with and learn from their favorite authors. A very successful event in my opinion.

Reading

This week I reread Transformation by Carol Berg for the third or maybe fourth time. Transformation is the first book in a series of three. I adore the world building in this series of books. So many peoples and cultures are included, some are spotlighted and others fill in all the nooks and crannies around the edges. Even more I love the two main characters, Seyonne and Aleksander. They live and breathe and make mistakes. They have undesirable traits and heroic hearts. A lot is going on in this story but it is presented in such a way I don’t have to slow down my reading to keep track of it all. I highly recommend these books to fantasy or adventure lovers.

My week went well, how was yours?

        

Writing Group

Met with the group this last week. Attendance was minimal but good discussion dominated. We decided that the open attendance policy encouraged by the store is actually stagnating the group and have decided that we would close up the group, limit membership to 6 to 8. In this way we can set requirements and goals engineered towards those in attendance. The change will come in a month or so, after we have a chance to talk to the semi-regulars and see who wants to make the change. I am excited for the change and hope that the group will start working for me again.

Writing

While I was zone maintenancing (cleaning and organizing the sections) at work today, my mind was free to wander. I found myself thinking about why I am having so much trouble putting words down on digital paper. I have quit all my online games and reduced several other distracting activities to allow more time for writing and yet, I am barely putting 10 words down in a day. I have come to the conclusion that a good deal of my problem is fear of success. Or rather a strange form of stage fright.

I relish normal stage fright. That butterflies in the stomach, palms sweating feeling one gets just before they go onstage or take the podium. I look forward to that feeling the same way folks look forward to the rush they feel on the roller coaster. I have started to receive some encouraging feedback on some of my stories. No acceptances yet but it seems to be closer to happening. And that is making me nervous that I may actually have to start delivering quality work on a more regular basis. It is my dream to succeed at writing but I am not use to dreams coming true. Something to work on and overcome.

Books

This wasn’t a big reading week. I finished up the last Harper Connelly book, Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris. I adored it. I think the series ended very well though the fact of it ending was bittersweet. I thoroughly enjoyed Harper and her world and am sad that I won’t be able to visit her again. At least in a new adventure. I’ll definitely be rereading this series in a year or two, if not sooner.

On TV

I caught up with my TV shows this week. New episodes of Castle, Heroes, Leverage, and Bones kept me entertained for hours on end. I adore the characters and their antics. And as always am very excited for more.

Tomorrow night, Life Unexpected premiers. The actress, Shiri Appleby, portrayed Liz in the TV show Roswell. I loved her character and the show so much I am really looking forward to watching her in a new show. My only complaint is that it is on at the same time as two other shows I enjoy. Guess that is what the DVR is for.

D&D

We have a new player in our D&D group and I have a new character. Both of us are gnomes. I am a bard named Magpie and he is a gnome barbarian/rogue. We are having a lot of fun in this game. My character’s personality is still developing and she (and I) have no idea how to react to the flirting from the half-orc monk. We will have to see how it goes.

How was your week?

        

Last week, I died.

Ok so I didn’t die, my D&D character died. Xyresh, the 4th level Factotum/2nd level Wizard, has gone to the great beyond. A lucky strike with a hefty weapon ended her adventuring career forever. Alas, alas, alas the day.

Xyresh’s companions very respectfully gathered up her body and returned her to a temple for burial. She was carefully laid in her coffin and then prayers were said over her. Then, she was stripped of every single item of value and buried.

This isn’t atypical of D&D games but I have actually managed to play for nearly 20 years with very few deaths. Maybe this made the callousness of it all stick with me more. I don’t know. What I do know is that while they were selling Xyresh’s favorite piece of equipment, I had a very vivid picture of the bow being placed in her hand as an infant. That picture then flashed forward to the bow in her hand in her grave. In between these two pictures a story lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I have ideas and snippets of ideas all the time, non-stop, every day. Rarely though do the ideas resonate through me to the degree that I literally jumped up and grabbed my computer so I could start jotting down notes.

The story isn’t about her exactly and it isn’t set in some D&D-esque world but the story has got me working on writing again. Instead of procrastination. And all because my DM husband rolled a nat-20.

What inspires you?

        

The following is a sample of my writing, quickly written with very little revision. It stars Mouse, my favorite character from my very first gaming experience. She weaseled her way into my heart and I missed her. So I had to bribe her to return from retirement. With copious amounts of sparklies. Hope you enjoy it.

“I’m back! That’s right. Mouse has returned.” I clambered up the chair and plunked myself down on the scarred, ale-stained table. The groans uttered by Karnage and Sygmund were quiet, so I ignored them. Probably had tummy aches anyway. That certainly wouldn’t be their reaction to seeing little ol’ me. Their bestest friend on the face of Corethe. “So, what pies have you two got your fingers in?”

Karnage, a minotaur of immense proportions and unusual education (that is, he had some), snarled. I don’t think he can help it. He has the face of an animal and animals snarl, right? “Oh no. You aren’t joining us. Every time you ‘help’ the job always gets more complicated and extremely dangerous.”

“But Karnage, you know you love me!” I threw myself at him. He had very fast reflexes so I wasn’t worried about him catching me. And in case you didn’t notice, I’m like an infant in his arms, he is so big. Of course most people are bigger than me but that’s just cause everyone else has an abundance of inconvenient inches. When you’re in my line of work a compact body is very useful.

Karnage gently held me in his arms and that goofy grin appeared. The one only I could put on his ugly mug. I laid a big fat smooch on his cheek and wiggled about until I was comfortable.

“Hm hmm.” That was Sygmund. You never knew how he was going to react to a situation. Sometimes he was very fun, almost as fun as a gnome. Other times he grumped and groused and in general brought everyone else down. Strange fellow that elf. This clearly was a grumpy day.

“Somethin’ wrong, Syggy?” I batted innocent grey eyes up at him.

He glared. “Karnage, check your pockets.”

Sighing, Karnage set me down on the table and patted himself down. “Hand it over.”

“Hand over what?” I held out empty hands.

“You know what.” His fierce brown eyes were level and unblinking.

I watched my reflection in them as I slid a hand up under my tunic and pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment. I held it out, lower lip stuck out in a pout.

“I thought you didn’t try your tricks on your friends.” He slid the paper back into his battered belt pouch.

“I don’t. Usually. But you know I can’t resist not knowing. If you and Syggy would just tell me what you are up to, you would make me so happy. Not knowing is like an itch I can’t scratch. Very uncomfortable. Tell me, pleeeeaase, Karnage.” I squeezed a tear out, freeing it to run down my cheek. Most big un’s couldn’t resist it when I cry. I so very closely resemble their younglings. I admit it, I take advantage when I can.

“No. Karnage let’s go before she wraps you around her finger again.” Sygmund stood and straightened his elaborate robes. “Mouse, it was a pleasure seeing you. We must now take our leave of you.” He gave a half bow in my direction.

“Aww, Syggy. You did miss me.” Standing up on the table, I hugged him. He may be stick thin and currently in his pompous, too-good-to-associate-with-a-thief stage but he was a friend and I had missed him. He patted my back with less than stellar enthusiasm.

“Stop calling me ‘Syggy.’ It’s undignified.”

Karnage gave me another hug and then they both walked out the door.

“Huh.” I jumped down from the table, opened my hand and looked at the ring nestled there. The large ruby setting was so very pretty. Practically had my name written all over it. Sygmund was so very considerate to gift me with it.

A practiced shake of my sleeve freed a large iron key, the handle all swirly in design. I thumped it against my open palm. “They’ll be back.”

Whistling, I left the tavern and sauntered up the street.

        

Mouse. A gnome rogue character from my first D&D game. Of course then it was known as AD&D.

I created her when I was in college just after the invitation to join a game that was run in the student union between classes. I was intimidated by all the language; D20, THAC0, AC, etc. I glanced through the book and reasoned out that a fighter had to know too much of the combat rules, a wizard or a cleric had to know the magic system, but a rogue, a rogue is a free spirt and not constrained by the roles the others were crowded into.

Then it became time to choose a race and I saw the line in the gnome’s description that stated they were curious, their noses led them into trouble more often than not. I was attracted to this idea. This meant my character could poke around as much as I want to and it would be “in character.”

Next lets throw a little personality into this character. Yes, I am one of those gamers. One of those who state things like “My character wouldn’t do that.” I decided that in addition to being curious she was cowardly when it came to physical confrontations. She also loved the shiny stones and disdained those flat dull metal coins. Now I had a hook into how she would react in any situation she could possibly get herself into.

And she got herself into a lot of “situations.”

Mouse was named for one of my most favorite rogues, Phillippe the Mouse from Ladyhawke. And like a mouse she poked her nose in anything that crossed her path: doors with “Do Not Enter” signs posted on them, unexplored caves, and most importantly unemptied pockets.

Those pockets were never left empty for long though. Once emptied of the shiny rocks, those dull coins her adventuring companions kept sharing with her were distributed in those convenient spaces.

If a fight resulted from her explorations then she didn’t stick around to trade blows with the foe. That task fell to her bigger and bulkier companions. She ran and sometimes hid but more often than not found more trouble to bring back to her friends.

She remains my most favorite character in my entire career of gaming. What is your favorite character?