The Importance of Music

Those of you who know me, know that I love music.

- Rock

- Classical

- Orchestrated Soundtracks

- Musicals

- Video Game OSTs

- Funk

- Folk / Folk Pop

Those are just some of the genres in my collection. I could go on and on, I love music. I have been singing from a young age and have been seen in numerous stage musical productions ranging from "The Music Man" to "The Fanstasticks" (yes, that's how it's spelled). So it should come to no surprise that I listen to music while writing, a lot of music.

Music speaks to us on a level that no other genre can. It speaks directly to the heart and can hold a conversation with us regardless of our native language. Music is the language of the soul.

But, you're not here to talk or read about my thoughts on the soul. You want to read about my writing. So let me attempt to tie my thoughts together. I find that, for me, when trying to create a piece that I'm struggling to get the tone down on, finding the right song can help me get the right words down on the paper. I'm not alone in this either. Brandon Sanderson, while finishing up Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" listened to this song from Final Fantasy X while trying to nail the feeling for the final chapters.

While working on "The Devil from the River", I have drawn a lot of inspiration from some of my favorite Spaghetti and Space Westerns. I have listened to their music on YouTube while taking notes on my characters and world building. I have amassed a good number of songs that I have put into a playlist and have that playlist on repeat while writing my drafts. However, one of those songs has become more than just a mood setter for me. It has become the theme song of the Unforgiven Sins series.

As I listened to the song in a playlist, I realized that the song was far more than just a mood setter for a scene or a chapter. It was, in a short 4 minutes, capturing the feeling I was targeting for the entire series.

I was flabbergasted. I have found songs that had come close to the theme of my book before, but nothing that ever really matched it perfectly, like a child's wooden block fitting into the proper hole.

And now I want to share that song with you.

"Soul of a Man", covered by Steven Stern, is a haunting melody of a man struggling to find meaning in a dark, unforgiving world. Give it a listen and share your thoughts. I hope you enjoy.

What's in a Name?

Hi again everyone.

Last week I told you about my need to rework the title. One of the most difficult things for me is coming up with names. For the first year of working on this project, I didn't even have a title for it. I just called it my Steampunk Western Project. No matter what name I tried to call it, they never sat right with me. Then, out of the blue, I came up with the name "The Rise of the Ash Bringer".

At first, I didn't much care for it. It sounded a bit too cliche in my mind. But after about a week or two, I became used to it, so I decided to use it for the title of the first book in the "Unforgiven Sins" series. I was excited to have a name for it, but over time, projects change.

Things in the story had to be removed and planned to be added into other books down the line. After numerous changes, the title that I had worked so hard to discover, didn't work any more. I knew I had to change it. I was disappointed, but a part of me always knew that I had settled what was more of a place holder rather than the actual title of the first book.

This was a crushing set back in my mind. I was already struggling to find time to write now that I had a full time job along with other commitments, now I had to come up with a new title? Part of me just wanted to keep the name the same, but the larger part of me knew I couldn't settle. I had to find the title. The book had changed too much and the focus had become something else entirely, the title just didn't make sense anymore. So, I went to my writing group for help.

My writing group, the Cyber Dragons as we call ourselves, is filled with great minds. We bounce off each other in ways that make us laugh and inspire us to improve our current draft or give us all new ideas entirely. I've have come up with at least 3 ideas for stand alone novels thanks to some of the conversations we've had. If anyone could help me find a title, it was these guys and gals.

After throwing around ideas and themes from Spaghetti Westerns, which "Unforgiven Sins" draws a heavy influence from, I was finally able to settle on the new and final name of the first book. The name sits well with me, and more importantly, it feels like I've found the title that was there all along.

So, without further ado, I am pleased to present to you the reworked cover of "The Devil from the River".

Rise of the Ash Bringer Update

Hey all,

Just a quick update for you on the progress of Rise of the Ash Bringer. I am going to be changing the name of the novel. This has come after a lot of personal debate over how much the draft and content of the novel have changed since originally coming up with the title. I will reveal the new title later on after I've gotten with my brother and reworked the cover.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that I will no longer be posting the deadline for my novel. It has just caused too much stress in the past. However, I will be updating you each Wednesday on the progress of my novel.

Thank you for all of your support. Your excitement for this novel is the primary reason I want to do the best job that I can on it.

The Joy of Writing or Happy Little Words

Before you read this post, I want you to watch this video. And if you've already watched it, watch it again. Seriously, it's worth your time.

Done? Okay, here we go.

Over the past several months, I have found it a struggle to write and it has been bothering me. I don't know why, but I go through phases where I love to write and I find it a joy to see my thoughts down on paper. Then like a scorned lover, my love of writing departs and I hate everything I type. I want to write. I have sat down to write. But when I have opened up my laptop, I have just sat there and stared at my screen dreading even putting down a single word.

No, I'm not bipolar. I don't lose my love for life or other things, just my desire to write. It has been a difficult thing for me to grasp.

I love stories of all sorts. The medium doesn't matter to me in the least. I've found amazing stories in fictional books, movies, documentaries, live theater, TV shows of all shapes and sizes, video games, radio shows, music, epic poems, listening to other's talk about their lives, and even text books. So it should be no surprise that I've told stories throughout my life on stage, in written form, through role playing games, even playing with my action figures and LEGO sets. I LOVE stories, and yet, that love is not enough to overpower the fear that cripples my ability to see my thoughts come to life on the page.

My one desire is to tell the world my stories and to support my family through those stories, which is why this inability to write that drags on for months at a time terrifies me.

At least, it did terrify me.

You see, until Sunday after having a good conversation with my father, I had no idea what was preventing me from writing. And now, I know what it is, and I know how to fight it. I'll let you know what that fear is later on in the post, but for now, I need to fill you in on what happened to help me see what was keeping my fingers from the keyboard.

Let's go back to the video that I posted above.

On Saturday, I went to a good friend's birthday party. This friend, whose true name I shall avoid but will address her as Irene, loves Bob Ross. Really, who doesn't? Irene said she has always wanted to throw a Bob Ross party, so she and her husband decided Saturday would be the perfect time for it. I decided to attend because why not? It sounded like a lot of fun.

After a great potluck meal, we cleared the table, broke out our modest paint supplies, and watched that video I posted at the top. And you were wondering how I would tie Bob Ross into a post on writing.

Something clicked on in me after I first listened to that song. I hate that phrase because it doesn't do justice to what happened that night, but it's a start. Surrounded by a rainbow of paints, sets of brushes, and a mess of canvases, I felt invigorated. It was all so new and familiar at the same time. The smell of the oil paints filled my nose and took me back to years past when I would sit in my mother's workshop and watch her work and paint along with her with my watercolors. I cannot recall putting oil paints to canvas before Saturday, but it felt like I was coming home when I made the first stroke of white on white.

My Happy Little Painting

After watching and re-watching an episode of "The Joy of Painting", we all walked away with something incredible. My painting didn't turn out like Bob's in the slightest, but I find myself not caring. I had done something new, I had created in a way I have never done before and it was invigorating and therapeutic at the same time. It was like a part of me that had long been sleeping had awoken and was ready to go out and see what else it could do.

On Sunday, I spoke with my father about the experience. About the joy of creating for sake of creating again rather than struggling to find the perfect words. My father, who had a big smile on his face as I spoke to him, told me about how he struggled with perfection in his projects. He is a woodworker, by hobby, and has made some wonderful creations out of simple blocks of wood. He said that he would struggle for weeks worrying about ruining a project by making the wrong cut. Then after weeks he'd say "Oh, what the heck," and go for it.

It was then that I realized what had been holding me back in my own writing. You see, my love of creating hadn't gone anywhere. It was still with me, it had just been overpowered by my own desire to perfect my craft. The fear, my crippling fear that has kept me from working on advancing my writing career, has been perfection. I was demanding perfection of myself because I felt it was needed otherwise my books wouldn't be good enough to put bread on the table. I realized that I couldn't have been more wrong.

No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. And it's OKAY! We make mistakes to learn from them and move on. I was letting my fear of making a mistake hold me back.

And I owe it to Bob Ross and my father for showing that to me.

Bob Ross has a saying, and I may just have to find a way of getting it on my wall. He likes to say, "We don't make mistakes here, we just make happy accidents." With that thought in mind, I cast aside my perfectionist tendencies and wrote on Monday night this week. I wrote for the first time in weeks and, much like at the Bob Ross party, I created out of the joy of creating without the need for it to be perfect.

And it was wonderful.

"The Heart of God" is Live!

Today on Amazon, my very first published piece went live for all the world. This is such an exciting time for me.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but this week the preorders on "The Heart of God" put the book book above 179,000 on the best sold list for the Kindle Store. Yeah, that's a big number, but out of the millions of books available for on Kindle, my short story broke the 200,000 mark. Personally, I think that's huge.

Thanks for your support in this time in my life. More exciting things are on the way, so stay tuned.

The Heart of God

I am pleased to announce my episodic short story series, Tales of Olin, has launched. The first story, "The Heart of God" recounts the origin of Olin and how his actions brought both magic and ruin into the world.

"An ancient order is coming to an and. Their enemies hunt them down one by one. In the hopes of preserving some of their knowledge, one of the last magi tells the story of the first, Olin."

Available now on Amazon.com for preorder.

Also, as hard as it was for me to do, I ended up scrapping a good 2/3's of Rise of the Ashbringer. However, it was for the best. The current draft is much stronger than it was in the past. Stay tuned for updates on that project in the near future.