And a Merry Christmas to Your Family!

I am at peace with myself.  And yes, I have RENT playing in my head.

    I am honestly not writing like I want to be, but I am writing.  I have plans to finish the project I'm on, then move over to Grimmack 2.  Somewhere in there I am going to do my final edit on "The Dragon's Apprentice" book one, and start marketing it as well.  The time frame for all of this? Soon.

    I am not setting a finite goal or anything at the moment, and I am O.K. with that.  I have been consistently writing and editing and I will continue to do so.  My progress bar is not set to an artificial timer and that is the way I feel it should be right now.  There is simply too much up in the air between my new job and everything else right now.  I know I don't have a consistent hour a day, or time during the week to write and that is fine, I am still making progress.

    Now I know, someone reading this is screaming about clear goals in a timely manner.  And they are right.  When you want to achieve something that is generally the best way to do it.  However, right now in the middle of the holidays working a new job and going to school I just don't have a consistent time frame I can work on writing.  So I will do it a little here, and a little there, and if I get published and start making money I will re-evaluate how I do my writing.

   In all honesty, I don't see this pattern changing soon since even if I get published tomorrow, I probably won't be making enough money to warrant a significant difference.

    I am an adult, and I am choosing the choices that feed my family over writing.  Most people do.  I would love to think that I might change this someday, but in all honesty most authors don't make a significant income from what they do, at least not for a long while.  While I believe in making sacrifices for your art, for me they have to be sacrifices you can live with.  I have duties before stroking my writing ego in ways that take away from other things that are priorities in my life.

    I will be clear, there is no shame in trying to write on non-specific terms, as long as you are trying to write.  Think about you story in your head on your lunch break if you can't write there.  There are thousands of prospective writers out there.  In five years of trying, most of them will have given up because they cannot live up to an unrealistic view of what they see as a "real author."  Then thousands more will take the place of those who have given up.

    In my heart it's those who keep trying to learn and advance that eventually succeed 99% of the time.  I plan on trying for the foreseeable future.  If fifteen years from now I'm in my fifties and I haven't sold a big book or done anything other than selling a few self published stories I will be happy and I can live with that.  I would be lying if I didn't say there wasn't a part of me that wants to explode as the next big author, but in reality even with a successful writing career that is unlikely to happen.  If I don't temper my expectations around that I will be dooming myself to fail.

     For now I am loving my new job.  My co-workers and boss support me.  I feel I have the opportunity to create and impact and grow.  If I play my cards right I will be happy working for this company for the long haul.

     My family is not without conflict and problems at time, but no one's family is perfect.  With me at the head I would hardly expect mine to be.  But we love and respect each other, and we work together in the end, what more can you ask for?

    School is going well too.  I have a longer road than I had first planned on, and I still hope to graduate by the time I'm forty.  That may not happen, but as long as I'm moving forward and learning I am enjoying it still.

    I will still ask, how is everyone else's writing coming this holiday season?

Merry Christmas,
Ben Marble

To support Ben Marble and his journeys on his big red sleigh consider purchasing one of his short stories at Amazon.com.

Defeated by NaNoWriMo

I am at a turning point.

     So, between job changes, outside stress, and school I got to chapter 10 of my book for NaNoWriMo this year.  That is about half way to 50k if you would like to know.  Short of the mark, but I got some work and some outlining done.  I'm happy with where this story is heading, and I plan on getting it finished and editing it still.  I would love to have it up on Amazon in a couple of months, but we will see what happens.

     How was everyone else's NaNoWriMo this year?  Did anyone finish? What did you struggle with?  How could it have gone better, and more importantly how can you plan it better for next year?  All questions that are worth asking.

    This story I am telling is the continuation of Elias' story.  It is the modern culmination of what I was building to in my short stories up on Amazon.com for you kindle and ebook reading delight.  It is the story of a man facing down his literal demon, and living with his mental demons at the same time.  I have re purposed a couple of other characters including Jaiden Knight, my half-vampire and Jill Silver, a Werewolf without a pack to help round out my characters.  I have a lot of work to go, but I am enjoying the direction I am heading.  At the end of the day, this is a story that has been brewing in my head for the better part of a decade, and I am finally giving it shape.

    I am now into my second week working at inContact.  I know I am looking at things through new hire eyes, but I am excited about the job and the future it may give me.  Opportunities exist here for upward advancement, and my bosses are very supportive of my goals, be they school or otherwise.  My co-workers are great and the environment in comfortable.  I am hoping this is a job I am at for a long time and that I can grow as the company does befitting us both.

    As far as writing advice this time, I don't have much other than find a specific time to write.  I am going to find an hour or two a week that is devoted to nothing but writing and editing.  That is not a lot, but right now that is all I am going to be able to manage.  As with anything, you might have more, or less time than this.  Plan accordingly to your needs, not someone else's.  Not everyone can write for hours everyday without sacrificing too much of what they need to give to their family, jobs, or even themselves.  We all need de-stress time, and while writing can work for this, at times it definitely won't.

    That is it for my update right now.  How is everyone else doing?

Ben Marble.

   If you would like to support Ben Marble and his fear of flatbread, consider buying one of his short stories at Amazon.com.

Doctor Strange: My Review

So, I saw Doctor Strange last weekend.

     As always with these reviews, I am going to first give a non-spoiler review of what I thought of the flick.  At the end, since this is a writing blog, I will state what I would have done differently, and that sometimes means injecting spoilers.  I still try and keep the spoilers light.

     This movie was everything we were promised.  Visually it was completely stunning.  The Acting was believable and even superb in some places. I absolutely loved it.

     Benedict Cumberbatch makes a great Doctor Strange; he manages to start out as an arrogant jerk who still manages to win you over by the end of the movie.  His character arc is essential to the plot and the way the big bad is defeated.  Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo was fantastic, and the promise of his character in future instalments is great.  If you remember him playing the Agent in Serenity you realize after the end of the credits in the last teaser how perfect he is for that part.  Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One ate up the screen any time she was on it.  Rachel McAdams was fine as the love interest, and the rest were good to great as well. 

     Plot wise, this is a Marvel movie.  While the essentials are different the structure is the same.  Start with flawed hero; put them through a new experience.  Use that experience to grow them.  Big coolness, big setback, and then overcome big evilness at the end.  While I enjoyed how they resolved the fight with the big bad at the end, I thought it was more unique of an idea then slugging it out.  (I can’t say more than that) the surprises are in how the story is told.  Not where it leads.

    Villain wise Mads Mikkelsen is fine.  He does his job as a big scary villain, but this movie has the same issue that most Marvel movies do.  You never feel any empathy for the bad guy and his nameless sidekicks.  Instead he is very two dimensional, and his reasoning for being bad is believable, but never developed to a point where I felt he was a full character.  He looks cool, he does his job and it works but it is not as great as it could be. 

     Now I hate 3D movies.  I have no desire to go stare at a screen and get motion sick for a couple of hours.  This movie if I were to see it again I would consider doing the 3D experience.  The visuals are that awesome.  I think all the mind bendy goodness works well and there are sets and moments that are just simply beautiful to stare at.

    Over all, I would give this move a solid A- minus.  The minus is for standard villain A, and underdeveloped love interest.

    Now beyond here is where any spoilers may be found.  If you read on and get spoiled it is not my fault.  You have been warned and I feel no guilt if you get upset.

    First of all, fix the villain.  This felt short for a Marvel movie, give me five to ten minutes where I see into his life and help me understand why he believes the way he does.  Or build up some empathy for him; let us see how he was broken when he came to the Ancient One.  The famous show, don’t tell conundrum.

    Second, Rachel McAdams never gets well developed as a love interest.  She is almost used more as a plot device at times, then as someone we see Doctor Strange having a serious relationship with.  I needed some more between them to establish some good chemistry.  Make that relationship believable.  I needed at the least for here to be somewhere at the end to make me believe that Doctor Strange would come back or want to continue his relationship with that character.  Instead the last we see of her is when the Ancient One dies, and then nothing.

    Pacing at the beginning might be fixed as well.  The only time I felt this show dragged was when they were establishing Strange’s character in the beginning.  This might just be me though.  The problem is I don’t know what I would cut, because most of the events that happen are important to the story.  Maybe tighten up a few moments?

    That is my feeling on this flick, how did you all feel about it.  For me it was a total win for Marvel, did anyone actually hate it?  Inquiring minds would like to know.

Ben Marble

If you would like to support Ben Marble and his machinations to usurp the Sorcerer Supreme, consider buying on of his short stories at Amazon.com, including his new short ,The Trap.

NaNoWriMo 2016

I'm all in for NaNoWriMo 2016

     This year has officially kicked off! I am excited and working on a book idea that I have been building to for years.  This book will take a modern day Elias, mix him with Jill a werewolf, and Jaiden a half vampire as they take on the demon who cursed Elias in the first place.  To be honest, if I get the job I applied for I have no idea how I will pull this off, but I'm going to do it!

     The Idea for this story has grown from several places.  The first book I finished writing was about Jaiden and his Journey as a half-vampire and discovering what he is and what that means.  That book was scrapped as I just didn’t think the story overall was strong, or that it resounded well with me.  But as with all books, I have several great ideas and a couple of characters that I have pulled out from the wreckage of that story.

     Elias I have been building up for some while.  All four short stories I have on amazon.com are related to either him directly, or in the case of “The Black Oak” it starts the events that push this story into motion.  I am finding it weird writing Elias in third person, after I have spent three shorts writing from his point of view, but hey, I am having fun with it.

     Jill is the other character that came from Jaiden’s book.  She is much different and hopefully better realized in this story.  We will see.

    The other big thing this year is I have taken a step back and I’m discovery writing instead of outlining.  Normally before I write I sit down and outline chapter 1-whatever and give what I want to accomplish in each chapter, what happens, and who’s POV it is written from.  This time I have trying to write differently.  It might kill me in the end, but I want to see how it works out with me having the basic story in mind, and my characters walking through it.

     My other stories have been put to the side for the moment.  Grimmack I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of agents, but I will be submitting him to a new round soon.  The Dragon’s apprentice just finished a full edit, and I plan on running through it one more time before submitting it out as well.  I love both stories for different reasons, and I hope eventually to have them out to folks in whatever format works best.

    As for this year’s NaNoWriMo?  With the shorts already being on Amazon.com, I plan on self-publishing it in the same manner.  If all goes well, it will be my first full-length book out on the market.

     What are you all doing for NaNoWriMo is the question now….

Ben Marble.

If you would like to consider supporting Ben Marble and his whisperings of conspiracy theories, Consider purchasing one of his short stories on Amazon.com.

Ghostbusters 2016

Yes, I finally watched it and I'm going there.

     Now, as always with my movie reviews, (this is a writing blog) I am going to say below at the end what I would have written or done differently.  Not to take away from the movie, but as an exercise to look at something and adjust how I would work things.  It's easier to do it in this format than with your own work, but it's a good skill to have nonetheless.  

      I am going to start out with, I realize this movie has had some controversy.  The first trailer was one of the most hated videos ever put on youtube (deservedly so, it is not a good reflection of this movie.) There have been accusations of people hating it because they decided to go with women instead of men.  (I have opinions here myself.)  Through it all, the movie made some money and it is rumored to be going for a sequel despite lower box office sales than expected.

     This movie has a bit of a divide on Rotton Tomatoes... not a big one. Critics at 73% and Audience at 55%. I always find it interesting when critics rate a movie higher than the audience.  And I do think that in this case, part of that is because of the audiences pre-conceptions.  I do think a lot of the audience went in expecting this movie to suck and felt that it did because of those preconceptions. Whether it was because the show was women powered or because they didn't want to see a remake of the original, they saw what they wanted to see.

     I myself enjoyed this flick.  It is far from a perfect movie for me and I wouldn't put it past the original, but I think it is worth seeing.  I found myself laughing out loud in different parts and openly enjoying different moments.  I think it was funny, well done, and worth seeing.  I would even willingly see it again.

    I have heard a couple folks say that the plot was close to the original... and I can see that.  However I think that going in you know the plot is, ghost appear, four folks team up, find reason for ghosts, try to defeat that reason, get knocked back, team back up to fight the big bad and save the day.  That is the formula for pretty much all three ghostbuster movies.  This one I felt was different enough that I have no complaints over any similarities.  Rather I cherished the Easter eggs, cameos, and everything else that was a call back to the original.

     My first issue is with the chemistry of the cast.  Other than SCIENCE! I don't understand what binds these four together.  There was a past relationship with Abby and Erin, and obviously Abby is working with Holtzman when they team back up, but other than happenstance I just felt nothing tying these characters together.  My personal theory on this is they tried to make every character so unique and different they forgot to tie them back together.  Even with Patty it's, hey I know New York, and since we are ignoring the internet and anything else you can use to get information you need me!  I wanted more bonding less crazy science.   (Not that the crazy science wasn't cool)  The one big bonding moment in the movie came too little too late for me.  I want these characters to feel invested in each other so I feel like investing in them.

    Kevin is a waste of space.  I think Chris Hemsworth phoned this part in and didn't do much for the movie.  He was a running joke that later because a weak plot device.  (Anyone could have been possessed at the end, even a man casually walking by on the street.)  I wanted to kick his character off the screen every time he showed up and I think making a meaty, stupid, receptionist didn't serve the movie very well.  Or just cast someone who is beefy and can do comedy in this spot.

    I could have done without the mayor and assistant plot as well.  They would have worked better if more thought had been put into their part in the movie, but they became pretty much a bland plot device to keep things moving forward.  If the Mayor and his assistant, (and homeland security) had actually done something to hamper the ghostbusters efforts, (bad publicity... not a big show stopper) They might have been worth the screen time.

    Other than that, Would give this movie a B-.  It did fall flat on some of the jokes and I just kept getting kicked out of the story by the lack of chemistry here and there. Like I said, I think it's worth seeing and would recommend it to fans of the franchise.

    Now her comes the part were I delve a little into spoilers.  I try to keep it light, but in order to say what I would have done differently I sometimes have to mention plot points, and events that happen.  So while I may not do spoilers, don't be surprised if I do.

     First of all, the character development needs to bond the characters tighter.  Just fighting for the cause doesn't tie people together.  I need some bonding moments and I need them early on.  Tell me why these characters are tied together emotionally.  Why does Jillian Holtzman work with Abby Yates, what put them in business together in Erin's Absence?  What makes Patty want to join the ghostbusters?  Yes she sees the ghost with them, but it never really explains why she said, lets go face some more of them together.   I need to see the girls band together to in a way that said, we are friends, we are a family.  That didn't happen.  The only attempt I really saw was too late in the movie to truly move me.

    Second I would have made Kevin a more important part.  Comic relief is great, but what if they only person they could hire as a receptionist was a snarky jerk who questioned them constantly.  Give Them a challenge rather than a pretty face to moon over.  Or write him out, and replace him with a boring placeholder.  I just needed something, a purpose beyond a badly made running joke for that character to be there.

     I would have written in some real opposition.  Instead of the Mayor and company just telling them to keep stuff quiet, I would have had them actively working against the Ghostbusters.  Don't make him a bad trope, make him a mayor who is genuinely fighting for the city and thinks that they Ghostbusters are making things worse.  Put some meat in the game rather than a weak plot point that we have seen before.  Movies are so full of corrupt and stupid politicians, make and honest one for them to fight against and then you have an interesting thing moving the plot forward.  Not something we have seen a million times before and that we just pray ends soon.

    Last of all I would reign the personalities in a big.  Holtzman is great as the mad scientist, but balance that out with a bit of personality that is contrary.  Erin is very straight forward and almost stiff, but give her some moments early on that show what she used to be, or how she got that way.  Don't just mention it and move on.  So on for the other characters.  Build them so they are less two dimensional.  I need a reason to care for them, that is true of any character in a story.  There is very little character development here though.  I can't honestly say I think any of the characters have changed by the end of this movie.

    Beyond that, I liked the overall arc of the plot.  The visual effects were pretty amazing, and i think it was well paced and directed.

    But what did you think?  What worked for you in this movie, what didn't.  How would you improve this story?

Ben Marble.

As always, if you want to support me and my attempts to rid the world of evil spirits, please consider buying one or my shorts stories at Amazon.com.

Two Separate Paths: Looking at R. Brady Frost.

Why I find it fascinating to follow R. Brady Frost.

     Yes, I'm calling out a fellow writer whom I have known since High School.  To be fair, several years passed before we reconnected via Facebook, and I have seen his physical present since we were both young and skinny.  Well, he still looks kinda skinny.  We have however, had several moments of correspondence. Read each others work, and traded opinions here and there.

      We both have a lot in common.  We are both fathers who are tackling family, jobs, and other such things.  We both work in IT, (though he is well established, and I'm up and coming as I'm still in school.)  We also both face challenges on a weekly basis on getting our writing done as one would figure from the things mentioned above.

     There are differences too.  Brady is focused more on a Sci-fi path with his current work on Clorophyllium 9: A Final Hope.  And his short stories are more inspiration based than mine.  Well, he does have the zombie one, but his focus is in different areas, that are still fiction based, than I generally pursue.  I tend to focus more on fantasy, urban fantasy, and horror.  His attention to small detail in writing is something I would love to develop and emulate as I find myself often skipping the little stuff and having to add it in later.  I know he has mainly discovery written, while I like to outline.

     The biggest difference I see is that Brady seems focused on being self-published, while I am looking towards trying to be traditionally published.  Now, I say that fully realizing that I have short stories that I have written and put up on amazon.com.  For my book though, my full stories, I plan on trying to pursue traditional publication.  Brady has always (and I could be wrong) seemed focused on self publication.

     Now, there is nothing wrong with either path.  My pull towards traditional publishing comes from the lack of desire to have to work hard on marketing myself at this point.  I also am not sure about how to market myself beyond growing an internet presence and putting up the odd short story to hope I garner some attention.

     Brady has a great website rbradyfrost.com.  He has a podcast he has been working on at hunting the muse.  And is often a lot more present on social media that I manage to be.  His podcast has writing prompts on a weekly basis, and they are great for getting you to think about different ideas. He is constantly working on his writing and even has a book, COMA: The Cataclysm on his website so people can read and actively give him feedback.

     I compare that to the fact I tried to start a Facebook page for prospective writers, and it fizzled after a couple months.  I have wanted to podcast about things myself, but have never really sat down and banged out what I would need to do one.  I don't even know what platform I would go for, as writing is not the only think I would like to discuss.

    So why do I follow Brady and make comparisons? Well I will tell you.

    It fascinates me to see what he is able to accomplish with his time.  It gives me a standard to compare myself to, that is more realistic than looking at a published author such as Larry Correia or Jim Butcher.  Those folks are published and established.  With Brady I can watch him develop and achieve success form the ground up.  It makes him more relate-able to me.  Of course it helps that I remember him from when we were younger as well.

    I also watch, because as he finds success I can learn from it.  I already know I'm not great at sitting down and writing daily.  Though I do put out a good weekly word count.  I am constantly developing my stories in my head as I go through out my day, and I have goals I am starting to set and meet better than I ever have.

    So fellow authors, who do you watch and learn from?  Who are those you look up to that may not be already published big name authors, and why?  How do you learn from these folks?  How does that fit into your goals?

Ben Marble

Please drop by and visit R. Brady Frost at his website rbradyfrost.com and/or check out his podcast at hunting the muse.  You can also find his short stories at Amazon.com for your kindle or e-book reader.

As always, if you would like to support my clubbing of select baby seals, you can always purchase on of my short stories at Amazon.com as well.

Rolling over Rejection.

That is what life is about folks.

     I finally got my answer back from Grimmack the Goblin, that I had sent into a publisher whom I thought the story would work for.  This was my response.

Thank you for submitting your manuscript entitled Grimmack The Goblin to Unnamed publisher for our review. 

We are always pleased to see new ideas, and we have now completed our review of this material. It is obvious that you have invested a considerable amount of time and energy into this project. Our publishing schedule is quite competitive, however, and as we look carefully at all the issues involved in publication, we are forced to be extremely selective in our publishing decisions. I am sorry to inform you that we are not in a position to pursue this project with you. Unfortunately, the demands of our editorial workload prevent us from sending detailed comments about your work. 

We appreciate your thinking of us and giving us the opportunity to review your work. 

     To be honest, this is about what I expected.  Years ago when I looked at Tor's website they mention right up front that less than 5% of the books submitted directly to them get published.  Submitting anywhere directly I figured I would have a similar chance.  Publishers have to be very careful about what they publish because they are making an investment when thy choose an author.  One might ask, if I knew the numbers where so low, why did I bother submitting anyway?  I will answer.

     If I hadn't submitted, then I would have 0% chance.  I love my story.  I love my characters.  I find myself daydreaming and thinking about situations and stories I can put them in. I have several plot ideas for dear Grimmack to walk through, and even being 75% finished with his second books first draft, I can see the growth the character has gone through.  I think this book, his first book is good, salable, and that many people would enjoy it.  So yea, I did my editing and took my chance.  I am not sorry I did either.  As a matter of fact my other book I'm editing (the dragon's apprentice) I plan on submitting as well to the same publisher.  For the same reason, even though that book is a lot more work than Grimmack to get nailed down and edited well.

     So what did I do when I got rejected you ask?  I didn't grab a pint of ice cream and chain watch Game of Thrones (I can do that without being rejected.) I didn't go through my computer deleting Grimmack's notes and stories in a rage that they weren't good enough.  I did not go online to let everyone know I was a hack and will never be a good author.  I didn't even drive to the mountain top and scream and wail at God because I did not achieve success on my first try with this story.  I did what I feel everyone should do.

     I let myself feel disappointed and a little angry with myself. Those feeling are natural and I'm not going to go blame some editor I have never met because they didn't like my story well enough.  I'm not going to blame my family, God, or anyone else, this was my rejection.  After I let those emotions run through me for a moment, I straightened my back, and got on the internet.  I then found a couple more agents and sent out more queries for Grimmack.

     One rejection is the last reason to stop trying.  five is not,  Even one-hundred is not.  I will keep trying with Grimmack until I graduate DATC next year, which will be about June.  At that point if I can't find traditional publication I will look at self-publishing.  At this moment I don't feel I have the proper time or energy to market myself.  When I graduate though, we will see.

     This is the attitude we have all been told we need to have to be successful.  When you get knocked down, stand up. Take responsibility for your own actions, etc.  They hold true.  The problem is not that we don't know we need to keep getting up to stay in the fight.  The problem is that it is hard sometimes to spit in the eye of rejection and keep going.  That is why I think it's okay to let yourself feel angry and disappointed.  Just make sure you focus those emotions on where they need to be.  Use them to help yourself be more constructive so you can say, "What can I do better next time?"

     That is my plan.  What is yours.  What do you do to help yourself handle rejection.  I don't know if there is a wrong answer here as long as you stand up and get going again.  The taking a moment to down some frozen milk product while watching a show is just as good as turning around and returning a punch by looking for more avenues.  What matters is that you keep going.  There may be miles and miles of road before you make it.  Or it might be over the next hill.

You never know unless you keep moving on.

Ben Marble

If you would like to support the bundle of burning twigs that comprise Ben Marble, think about buying one of his short stories on Amazon.com.

Magnificent 7 Movie Review

Here is my review of Magnificent 7.  Yes, I am doing two in one day.

     Once again, I am compelled to let you know I am not a professional when it comes to reviewing movies. There may also be spoilers here at the end.  I try to keep my initial review spoiler free, but at the end I like to say what I would have done differently if I was a writer. That means sometimes discussing details about the movie I would otherwise omit.  I still try and keep the spoilers light.

     To start, I have never seen the original show this was based on.  I walked into this movie with no bias, just looking forward to seeing a modern Western and hoping to enjoy the movie.  Man did I.

     The introduction of the villain in the first scene is wonderfully done.  He manages to exude menace in a way that makes you think everything he does has an evil motive about it.  The suspense of waiting for that shoe to drop, pulls you into the movie and along for the ride right away.

     The characters are good.  Some great.  Denzel Washington and Chris Platt play off each other well.  The other characters, well they aren’t as big, but they all get their moments that make you smile.  Vincent D’Onofrio plays such a different character form the King pin I had to look hard to recognize him.  The girl who looks like a Jennifer Lawrence rip off (sorry, but it’s kinda true) could have used more personality but I have little complaint in this area.  Every character gets an introduction, and in moments you know what that character is about.  I do have to give a special shout out to Ethan Hawke as his character probably has the biggest character arc.  Most everybody else their arc is pretty straight.  This is the character, and we will tell you why they fight and act like they do in a few seconds.

      The movie is beautiful.  There is something about all the shots of the town with the burnt out church in the background that speaks to you.  Every shot looks good, and even in the inevitable “This is a Western so there is going to be men staring at each other waiting to shoot” moments, it didn’t feel like anything dragged to me.

     The villain could have been more complex.  He is very, one note.   His motivation is greed, and he will kill anyone who gets in the way of that motivation.  No real depth.  However, in the context of this movie it works.  There is something about a villain who calmly lights a cigarette while his army charges into a town, as if he is already bored about being there.

     It is stated before the big fighting begins, that not everyone in the town will walk away from the fight.  Part of the glory of this flick is it doesn’t hesitate to show people on both sides of the fight getting shot and killed.  The body count is high on both sides.  I did expect that despite this the seven this show revolves around would escape unscathed.  I have been watching too many Marvel movies apparently.  I won’t say who, but several of our heroes don’t make it.

     This movie is a definite A in my book.  It is pure popcorn entertainment and the only big complaint I had is that there could have been more of each character.  To do this however would have made the movie much longer, and I don’t think the joy might have lived through that.

    Now comes the spoiler part.  If there is any.  So, beyond may be spoilers, I will still try and keep them light, but you have been warned.

     One thing I would have liked to see is more motivation in the characters.  You understand by the end of the movie why Denzel Washington’s character is there, but the rest seem to just follow him “because.”  There is no reason I can see for most of the characters to throw themselves into a hopeless fight, or I might have missed something.  Chris Pratt’s character was about the gold.  Red Harvest felt it was his “path?”  Yeah, that’s about it. 

     The woman who plays the heroine, who is almost the only woman in the movie that isn’t background had severe personality issues.  She could glare and cry.  That was her two modes.  I wanted to feel heartbroken for her, and I did when her husband was killed, but it faded quickly as I didn’t get anything else emotional from her for the rest of the movie.  I would have given her some more moments to explore who she was.

     I really have no other complaints.  I think for me this was a near perfect movie.  I loved it, I will own it, and I will probably watch it again a few times.

     Once again, this is a big screen movie.  The big Western landscape and the action begs to be seen on a big screen.  The movie is great, go see it.

     What did you all think of it? Did I miss something while I was excitedly noticing that guns didn’t run out of bullets?  Unless it was convenient to the plot that is.  What would you have done differently in this movie?

Ben Marble.

If you want to support Ben Marble in his madness and glory, please consider purchasing one of his short stories at Amazon.com

Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Review.

So here is a movie review for Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.   Directed by Tim Burton

     For those who are stumbling here by accident, this is my writing blog where I talk about my writing, and other related things.  One thing I like to do is review movies, with my angle being explaining what I might have done differently.  As an imperfect person I admit the things I might do differently aren’t always the right choices, but to my personal opinion it is ways that might improve the movie.  I try to keep the first part of the review spoiler free, but once I start talking about what I would have changed out of necessity I have to discuss things that happened in the movie.

     Now going into this movie I was biased.  I had just finished listening to them on Audible, and had enjoyed the series immensely.  There is a great story that spans all three books, and it has great nuance and characters all through out.  Some of these characters are only in for one book.  Some go across all three.  But our focus here is on the movie.

     For the first two-thirds of this movie I was all in.  Visually the move is beautiful and the Characters all fit (mostly) with what I had expected from the book.  There were a couple of children’s powers that were swapped, and as it was shown in the trailer I will mention it here.  Emma instead of using fire, had her power changed to air, and Olive was given the fire power.  Normally a change like this would make me cry foul, but within the context of the movie it worked.  With a few changes like that, that in my opinion were in good taste, I was happy with what I was seeing.

     Then the last third of the movie happened.  I am guessing Tim Burton only wanted to do one move, because everything suddenly went on fast forward and an ending was stitched together that didn’t do the books justice.  I will say despite this derailment it has several moments where I still felt a surge of joy, and I now feel that Enoch may have been severely underutilized in the books.

     Overall the Acting was good.  Asa Butler was decent as Jacob.  Emma, was fine.  I could have used more Enoch and Millard, as they were awesome in the book.  Eva Green as Mrs. Peregrine was fantastic.  She managed to play the part with just a slight undertone of something sinister laying beneath the surface at times.  The villains of the story were very two-dimensional and flat.

      If you want to see this, I recommend the theater just for the visuals.  Tim Burton is still magic when it comes to just making every scene pop and look beautiful. Everything from the grey beaches to the green fields outside the home are wonderful.  There is a depth to the scenery that makes me want Tim Burton to direct a movie someday that is a hundred percent visual without any words.  I think he could do it.

     I give this movie a solid B if you have never read the books, and a C if you have.  The decision to cut this to one movie took out a lot of nuance and chance to explore characters down the line.  I won’t lie here; I think it is a horrible move to tie this up in a way that pretty much keeps the other books from happening.  I wish Tim Burton had stayed close to the original story, and left it open in case someone else wanted to pick it up.  This story does deserve a trilogy to be told properly.

    Past this point is where the spoilers are.   So, if you read past here and get spoilers it is your own fault.  I still try and keep them light, but you were warned.  Don’t whine to me.

     The big thing as I eluded to, is that I would have not changed the end on this story.  I would have stuck close to the original book and as any good story, it could have stood on its own. Even if we never received a sequel, the story could have held up.  That is without saying.

    I often complain about character bloat.  This movie had it.  Not a lot, but enough that we don’t get any personality out of some of the children except in a brief flash here and there.  The twins that weren’t at the house in the book could have been left out.  The rest could have used those few moments to be better developed.

    Now, one of the things they did right was give Enoch some screen time.  He is one of my favorite characters because he is a jerk.  He is a jerk who never becomes a villain despite the fact that is the path most authors take with a character like that.  I did not like the forced love story between him and Olive.  It was unnecessary and could have been removed.  It did not have enough time to be truly developed and at the end when it comes full circle it is more of a ‘meh moment than you being excited the two characters are together.  So cut it, or find a way to give it the depth it deserves.

     The villains are flat.  Samuel L. Jackson is wasted here.  They kept the base story behind the “whites” in place, but crapped on everything that made their story appealing.  Give me the story of Mrs. Peregrine’s brothers being a large part of the movement that created them.  Make me care.  Instead these villains feel very cartoon like and not very threatening at all.  They just are not good.  At all.  It would have been better focused on just one villain, and creating the framework to add more later.  If he had been used properly Samuel L. Jackson could have been menacing and great.  Alas, that is not what we get.

     I really don’t have more than that.  This movie mostly works, and works well.  Like I said most of the complaints I have come from the fact I read the book, and I think without that you can enjoy this movie.

     So tell me what you think, do you agree with me? Or am I off base here.  What would you have done differently if you were telling the story?

Ben Marble

If you would like to support Ben Marble and his many insane endeavors, consider buying one of his short stories at amazon.com

Nailing my Priorities

Guess who’s back, back again!

     So, it has been a little bit.  Time for an update folks.

     Grimmack has passed through edit number three and has now been pushed to a publisher’s inbox whom I won’t name.  I have some hopes here, as I think my story is very fun and solid.  The final product was just north of 50k words which is on the low end of young adolescent to teens which is where I’m aiming this story.  That being said I feel it is something that appeals to older readers as well.  According to the website I should get a response between Thanksgiving and Christmas time.  I was surprised actually as I know that Tor (not the one I submitted this too) has about a six month turn around on a response.

     Now, honestly I am bracing myself for a rejection letter while hoping for an acceptance.  I do believe my story is good, but it is up to someone whom I have never met who digs through these manuscripts to decide if it is something they want to publish. They hopefully will love my story, but they may decide they don’t.  Or they may decide it’s not a fit for their publisher, or… well there are many “ors.”  I have done what I can for now within my sphere of control, for now I have put the story to the side as I wait for judgement.  I also am looking for plan B, C, and so on for if this publisher rejects my story.  Because it doesn’t fit one place doesn’t mean it won’t fit anywhere.

      I have been a little distant from my writing otherwise.  I have been cramming the last few weeks for my Network+ certification and thankfully I have passed.  Now I am on to learning Security Fundamentals and then Security+.  For now, I can take a small breath, but a new test will be on me soon.

     So, what am I working on then?  Well, I am still writing Grimmack 2 on the side.  I also am going to be working on editing “The dragon’s apprentice” which is the other book I have finished that needs some love.  That one I have had on the back burner for a while for a variety of reasons, but I have finally figured out a few things I want to do to fix the story, and while it might mean sacrificing a few darlings, I am looking forward to getting it to a point where I can submit it.

     Oh, and there is this little November thing called NaNoWriMo I am hoping to do again this year.  If you haven’t done it before, you should.  It is a fun challenge for aspiring writers.

      Otherwise life is moving on.  I am continuing in school, working on watching for ways to advance myself in my new chosen career path.  Yes, I want to write for a living, but until I get to that point I do need to pay the bills.

      So, there you have it.  A lot of fun, and work to getting to where I want to be.

      Because, let’s be honest, this is all about priorities.  If I don’t prioritize my writing, then all I am doing is talking.  That doesn’t help anyone, least of all myself.

Ben Marble

If you want to support Ben Marble you can buy his short stories at Amazon.com

Elias Returns.

Another short going up soon.

     That is right, my third short starting Elias will be coming out on Kindle/Amazon.com soon.  I have a little more tweaking to do with it and I will be putting it up.  This was written as a quick break from the world of Grimmack which is also coming along nicely.  I just need to figure out a name for it...

     I have some goals I am trying to achieve in my third edit of Grimmack.  The first is tightening up the language and prose so it reads more smoothly and professionally.  I want to add a touch more world building and detail, two things I know I'm sparse at when writing.

      Life is busy.  I have been working on my Network+ certification and I’m a couple weeks away from taking the test.  Kids have started school again, and we have been stumbling over ourselves to make sure all the million and a half forms sent home by teachers to be signed are attended to.  My work schedule is also shifting, which means my school schedule is shifting.  Good times.

     My goals are still before me.  I am working on my outline for the story I want to write for NaNoWriMo this year.  When November 1^st hits, I want to be ready to meet it head on.  I am poking at agents and soon a couple of publishers on Grimmack’s behalf.  If I don’t have him published traditionally by mid-summer next year, I will instead look at doing self-publication through Amazon. 

     I still have “The Dragon’s Apprentice” to finish editing as well.  My daughter really liked that story and keeps pushing me to get it done.   It will also look at traditional publishing before I consider self-publishing.  I am more than aware of my own limitations, and I know time wise I’m not In a position to market myself if I do self-publication.

     Otherwise, I have no issue with self-publication.  As a matter of fact, with the way trends are turning and media is sliding towards the electronic devices that rule us, I think self-publication will give some traditional publishing a run for its money in the near future. 

     That being said I know a lot of people are hesitant to touch anything self-published and with good reason.  There are some really big steaming piles of crap out there.  But there are also diamonds hiding in the self-published field.  I can think of a couple of authors who self-published first.

     You know, Christopher Paolini and Larry Correia.  Both have written great books, and if I remember right, both were self-publishing before they were picked up by traditional.

     That is my update for now.   Working on writing, working on not just claiming to be an author, but to put myself in the headspace where I can consider myself an author which is probably just the difference between author and aspiring author; Confidence. 

Until next time,

Ben Marble

Star Trek: Beyond, and Update.

No matter what I say, I did enjoy this movie.

     First comes the update.  I finished my second edit of Grimmack and I'm very happy with where the book is right now.  Both passes so far have been looking at wording and adding a little more attention to detail.  I feel the story it good and compelling and Grimmack is probably the best protagonist I've written.  Still a few characters I would like to shine a little more, but I'm happy with where I am.  After this edit I have a couple places I plan on submitting the story.

     Now to the meat.  Like I said earlier, when I watch a move I'm going to be doing a review from now on, because I can.  I like movies, I like to share opinions, and at the bottom I will say how I would have done some things different from a writing perspective.  At that point, and I will warn again, there will be spoilers because I will be discussing what I would have done differently.  I will still try and keep the spoilers light, but they will live there.

     This movie takes place three years into the Enterprises mission.  The crew we know is there, and they are all, well, as expected.  I have no complaints about the acting in the movie, but I have no praise either.  Everyone played their part nicely, but nothing made me look at someone and say, "Oh, that is amazing!"  It's all good for the crew.

     The plot on the other hand, is a mess.  It suffers from the matrix of convenience the other Star Trek Movies have.  For example in the first reboot Captain Kirk gets thrown on a deserted planet, and it just happens to be the one old Spock is living on. There are coincidences like that throughout.  Three movies through and this crew has to be the luckiest folks alive.  Well, except for the red shirts.  The resolution is also shaky.  My brother who went with me voiced it as, they Independence Dayed the final fight between the Federation and the enemy fleet, swarm?  Well, lets say we both thought of Zerg when we saw how they operated, but unlike Zerg they had a convenient weakness.

     The Action is great.  This is where the movie really excels and to be honest, the characters and plot often feel like they are there just to frame cool fight scene X around.  In the action scenes they often use all the space around them.  There are tricks played with gravity and space, and there are moments where your brain shuts off and you enjoy the spectacle of everything.

     Over all I would give this movie a 6.5 to a 7.  It is a flawed movie, but it's enjoyable.  Just don't think too hard.  Really don't, every time I start to think it brings more questions than answers.  More about that below...

So, this is where you hop off the bus if you don't want SPOILERS.

I mean it, below the trailer here SPOILERS are free game.

     The first thing here, is simplify the plot line.  There is just too much that doesn't hold up if you take the time to think about it.  The biggest thing for me was the villain after his big reveal.  You can't tell me that you can spend an extended amount of time on a planet, have the intelligence to build a giant fleet of robots? (They never actually explain what his followers are, creature or robot) and you can't find a way to make it home?  Really?  The plot needs to be something that holds up to questioning.  How did the villain get the ability to make an army? And out of who or what?  It just is never explained.   

     The enemy fleet is beaten by an use of technology that left me scratching my head.  Not so much that what they did worked, but the fact the ships just started blowing up.  They weren't hitting each other.  They didn't just stop and drift, they blew up.  It was an awesome effect but it made no sense.  I would have rather they managed to McGyver an EMP that send out a big enough wave that shut the enemy down.

    I would kill the convenience.  It makes things feel to easy at time for the characters.  This thing needs to reach terminal velocity, well it happens to be on the planets tallest cliff.  The villain conveniently forgot this thing was here? Well, lets be happy about that and don't question.  (By the way, if you are an engineer and you develop a ship that needs to hit terminal velocity to activate your impulse drive, WTF? Why would you ever, ever, ever create a feature like that?  If you are an engineer and can answer this, feel free!)  The story is more interesting if it doesn't depend on convenience.  

    Needless to say, I think this movie would have benefited the script being looked over by someone who deals in physics and/or futuristic technology.  It would have helped.  A lot.

    That is my opinions up front about this, what would you change if you could edit this script?  Even better, what would you keep the same and why?  Thank you for taking the time to read, and feel free to share your opinions.

Ben Marble

If you want to support me and my writing endeavors feel free to pick up one of my short stories at Amazone.com/Kindle 

My Suicide Squad Review

So I had a little thought.

    I love to go to the movies.  I am one of those nerds who love the dark theater, big screen and excited crowds.  It is actually probably the only time I ever like large amounts of people.  But a group of folks enjoying a movie, laughing along and hopping up and down in anticipation of different events is a fantastic thing.  Film itself is such a big medium for expression that we all have a favorite movie, or moments on T.V. we remember.  Even those who don’t watch T.V. or movies now, tend to have the memory of other shows and things that shaped their childhood while they watched them.

    Because of this, when I go to the movies now I am going to do a movie review.  I am not a film critic, and my opinion will probably count for very little.  However, as this is a writing blog, part of the review is going to be what I think I would have done, or that could have been done better or differently.  Once again I would like to express that this is all a matter of opinion.  I could be dead wrong, and if you think I am that is O.K.  It would be a rather boring world if we all had the same opinions and expectations.

     So, as per the title, let’s dig into Suicide Squad. 

     First of all, I think this is a great popcorn movie.  There is plenty of action, the visual effects are great and there is a good sense of adventure in this movie.  There were many moments when I found myself grinning like a fool and enjoying the insanity of it.  As a movie this is a great turn your brain off and enjoy the ride flick. 

     There were some compelling characters.  Deadshot is wonderfully played by Will Smith and is arguably the most central character in this movie.  Harley Quinn is wonderfully brought to life by Margot Robbie.  Rick Flag played by Joel Kinnaman is a great straight man for the craziness to be happening around.  Amanda Waller played by Viola Davis is very dark and I would say is probably the biggest villain in the film.  After that, everyone is pretty much pared down to a side character, and even though they have moments that pique the interest, they are pretty much interchangeable.

     I will voice a controversial opinion.  I did enjoy the Joker, played by Jared Leto.  I think it was a great idea to do a version of the Joker that was very different from Heath Ledger’s Iconic performance.  The manic gangster we got I thought was fun, and great.  While he is far from being my favorite Joker, I enjoyed his performance and I love the thought of him being in a Batman film against Ben Affleck.

      So, here are the issues.  This film suffers from character bloat.  There are way too many faces for the screen time so a lot of the bad A characters we were promised are little more than glorified extras.  This also means some of the characters that do get screen time, like the Enchantress, are not developed enough for use to really care.  I wanted to care about Dr. June Moon’s side of the character, but you just aren’t given the chance to.

     The story line as well is a lot more complicated than it needs to be.  Because of this, it is hard to judge the characters as actual bad guys when they are constantly making the right choices.  This is something I will discuss a little below.  Needless to say though, in a team of villains there is not a lot of villainous activity.

    What do you expect though? It’s a PG-13 movie.  I don’t mean that as an insult, but if you expected to see the villains mowing down innocents and being horrible, this isn’t going to happen in this story line or with this rating.  I will call the prediction now though, in a little bit, Warner Brothers will announce the DVD/Blu-Ray will come out with an extended Rated R version like they did with Batman Vs. Superman.  If it is like the Batman Vs. Superman version, it won’t earn that R rating either, it will just be a marketing ploy.

    So, below is where I’m going to discuss what I would have done differently and why.  As a writer I think this is a good exercise.  Do it even with movies you think are great and wonderful.  It helps you debate possibilities and their consequences.

     The first thing I would fix, would be to cut unnecessary characters.  Slipnot, Killer Croc, Katana, would all be gone.  I could put Captain Boomerang on this list as well, but I would actually use him to illustrate the purpose Slipnot did. (If you have seen this you know what I’m talking about) I would just make that moment happen later so you could get some of the fun banter Captain Boomerang brought.   Or I could take that moment out of the movie entirely fitting with the change I would make to the plot….

      That plot change would be, instead of keeping these characters in the dark, I would let them know from moment one what they are up against when they start the mission.  If the villains knew, hey we go risk our lives now, or die in a few days anyway, you don’t really need the slipknot moment.  It also would make sense why they aren’t acting like complete villains.  You don’t need the subplot of them going to in save person X, or you can still have that as part of the story, and have it as checkpoint one. 

      Assuming you cut the characters and simplify the plot line then guess what, we can now make Diablo, Enchantress, and the rest of the characters more compelling.  That time you are wasting can be put to good use.  Then the movie will be more engaging when that work and time is put into these characters so you can care about them.  All of them.  Not just Deadshot and Harley. Yes, the DC universe gets to introduce less characters, but wouldn’t we rather those characters were introduced as full interesting characters then glorified extras?  I know I would.

     The big question is, how would you change this film, or would you?  What other films would you like to think about changing?  Pick something you love, that is almost perfect, this makes the question a bigger challenge.

Ben Marble

Critics and Opinions

I'm raising an eye over Suicide Squad reviews.

     First off, I'm halfway through my second of my edits through Grimmack the Goblin.  I will have this run finished by next week, and then I plan on my third run through being a lot more comprehensive and game changing.  Right now I'm happy with the state of the story.  I am looking forward to strengthening my world building and making the third run through my final one for a bit.

     Big thank you to my alpha readers on this.  They have helped immensely.

     If you haven't heard by now the critics are panning Suicide Squad.  This hurts my heart a little as I have been looking forward to watching this moving for months.  And guess what, I'm still going to see it.  Why?  Because critics aren't my end all be all with media.

     I'm that guy.  You know the one who still enjoys watching Ben Affleck's Daredevil every now and then.  That likes (not loves) Superman versus Batman and while admitting there are several issues in that movie can still sit down and enjoy it.  I liked Man of Steel.  I like the Blade movies, and even the campy Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin because I can see them for what they are.  Moments to turn of your brain and enjoy some action.  I loved the Warcraft movie despite the critics ripping it down.  It is a good movie, and I will stand by that.

    If you hate these shows, your point of view is just as valid.  I'm not going to judge you for not liking some of the weird shows I enjoy.  You are welcome to enjoy what you want, even if I don't as well.  If you like Rap and Nickelback, (ok, I like a little Nickelback) we can be friends.  If you vote Democrat, Republican, or flying spaghetti monster may his sauce be upon you, I am cool with that.  I'm going to bring my point back to critics however.

     Critics have the job to let you know if a movie is good or not.  Or a book,  or any other type of media.  They take their expertise (I'm not sure if there is a movie critic school, degree etc... but wouldn't be surprised if there was.) and give the judgement to the movie on whether EVERYBODY would enjoy a show.  Not just the fans, not just the non-fans, everybody.

      I can walk into Suicide Squad and I'm pretty certain that as long as the movie accomplishes some good action, Harley Quinn and Deadshot fun, and somewhat of a storyline I will be happy.  If it blows my expectations away I'll be ecstatic.  I have no illusions that what i'm going to watch is going to be deeply intellectual or Shakespearean.  It is a pop-corn fueled action flick.

     I look at movies that are supposed critical failures and a lot of times I see the critics points.  Avengers one was great because it was the culmination of years of work from Marvel.  Avengers 2 wasn't likely to reach that high point, but when they made it a move that not only had to be a great flick, but shoved things in there to set up the rest of the MCU that baggage dragged it down.  I look at Captain America: Civil War, and that one was great.  Why? Because it was again the Culmination of several things including Avengers 2 and wasn't bagged down by having to set up a lot of new stuff coming in the Marvel Universe.  I still love both Avengers movies, but I have to admit the second one wasn't as good.  So the critics were right to bag on it a little more.

     However, with Batman Vs. Superman, the critics were right.  If I took my daughter who hates super hero movies to it, she would have hated it.  If I grabbed Joe Shmoe off the street who didn't have an opinion, he might have looked at the ending and been, "ummm Martha?"  Or he might have turned his brain off and enjoyed the action.  The critics are supposed to judge which re-action Joe Shmoe is more likely to have.

     With writing I hear again and again authors warned not to read the reviews on their work.  There are some hateful folks out there and they are happy to let you know if they think you suck.  There are also literary critics who once again are judging based on "If anyone picked up this book," not "If a fantasy nerd picked up this book."  It makes the critics opinions pretty much invalid for a large group of people who fit in the fantasy nerd circle.

    Anyway, I've rambled.  In short, Enjoy things because you enjoy them.  Don't let people be they critics or friends make judgments for you.  If you want to see Suicide Squad vs Batman Vs Ghostbusters, go see it.  If you enjoy it, smile and enjoy it.  If you hate it, well you won't know until you see it.

    Just don't let people decide what you like for you.

Ben Marble

     As always, if you want to support this crazy habit of writing you can purchase any of my short stories on Kindle or Amazon.com.  A Fey Deal, The Choice, and The Black Oak.

Grimmack 1.1 done.

Grimmack the Goblin is done, roughly.

     So that means that I am doing a quick run through this draft, and then it will be on to Alpha readers. Ah, that step where I beg people for feedback so that I might get an idea of what to work on and what is working and not working.  This is the interesting part.

     I have already gotten some feedback because I had the advantage of having a co-worker I sent each chapter to as I finished it.  My goal, (and it was achieved a bit) was to have him laughing here and there behind me at the very serious book that is Grimmack the Goblin.

    Really this book is very much a poke at fantasy genres.  It is silly, the main character telling the story is sarcastic, and a bit of a coward.  This book, unlike other was not a slog in parts to write because I had fun the whole time.  If I manage to do anything with this story, I think I have a few more Grimmack stories in me as well.  Like I said, it was absolute fun to write, and I look forward to doing the next one.

     The amazing thing was that this story is much brighter and more fun than anything I have written before.

     Here comes my challenge.  Right now the book is sitting at about 43,000 words.  I'm adding a bit in this edit, but to hit the "standard" length of a YA or younger book I am looking at moving that count up to 50k-75k words.  So, part of what I will be looking for from Alpha readers is "what is this story missing?" "What would you like to see more of."  part of the problem with this also being that there are some arcs I would like to make a whole story out of.  I'm fairly certain that if you read the story you will know which ones.

      So here it is, anyone who is interested in giving me some honest feedback, let me know.  I do not want anyone to feel obligated to read this, but if you are interested I will happily send you a copy to read through.

      I want to state:  I am not looking for an editor, or someone to judge the prose, though if by all means something in my writing style bugs you, let me know.  What I am looking at is people to read this story, and give my an opinion.

      Opinions like, "I think this story would be better if..." or "I think this character needs more development...."  or even "I love this part where..."

     If you tell me I am no Brandon Sanderson, I will be like, "umm... Not trying to write a Sanderson."

    So, anyone who wants to volunteer let me know.  I will keep posting about this story as it progresses.  My hope is to be marketing it in a few weeks.  If from the point where I start marketing it, and six month pass then I will probably look at self publishing instead.  However, I want to try the traditional route first.

Good reading and great adventures,
Ben Marble