The Alliterates » Bruce’s News

Follow Raidon Kane

Bruce R Cordell — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:10:00 +0000

Wouldn't it be cool if we could interact with our favorite novel characters in real life? Well, short of a schizoid break or some sort or reality rip that seems rather unlikely, all things considered, I bring you the next best thing:

Follow and interact with Raidon Kane on Twitter. Raidon is the character appearing in four of my D&D novels. Experience events inside his head as events draw toward the finale in Key of Stars!

You can find the Twitter feed here; just hit the FOLLOW button:

bit.ly/raidon

Elysius

Bruce R Cordell — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:21:00 +0000

Check out the sweet new wallet I got as a pre-birthday gift from my wife today: The Elysius Might Wallet. Made of recyclable paper, and is recycle-able in turn.

Media Blitz

Bruce R Cordell — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:25:00 +0000

I am snowed under by media to be read, listened to, watched, played, or written. I'm currently reading 2 books on my kindle app (on phone and mac), listening to an audio book on my phone, in the middle of watching a couple different HBO shows via netflix streaming, and have a couple hard-copy books and DVDs lent to me by friends that I look forward to watching/reading.

Not to mention the huge backlog of podcasts I listen to fairly regularly. Which I'm behind on because of the aforementioned audiobook. As it happens, I signed up for the 1 audiobook a month plan at audible.com, so I've got a lot more audiobooks in my future.

I'm also writing a novel in my free time (and if I could say more about that, I would), and proofing Key of Stars (due back to editor May 3rd).

And as it turns out, I'm also trying to teach myself Objective C, which is great fun. When I can find the time to sit down with my manual!

Time was I used to play Xbox 360, and I was up to date on all the games. No more. Not enough time. Though I suppose when the next must-have title emerges, that'll change. Starcraft II I think. If it ever comes out . . .

So like I said, I've got a lot of media to consume (and produce). Some days, such as right now when I've got a cold to drag me down, I feel burdened. Like it's just too much of a first world problem. So maybe I should give another $25 to Kiva, chuck the rest, and re-read my old copy of The Hobbit for the 20th time. Sounding pretty good...

T-Shirt

Bruce R Cordell — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Once my wardrobe consisted mainly of free t-shirts I got through TSR and Wizards. They were uniformly black. These days, the only black game shirt I have is a retro Advanced D&D one I paid for.

But I got a cool new free t-shirt today that says We Make The Rules, with some cool framing art. On the back it reads Wizards of the Coast R&D. And unlike all my old shirts that were 1 size too large for me, it fits!

Looking forward to adding it to the shirt "rotation." Yes, little things like this make me happy :-).

(Speaking of cool t-shirts, today I'm wearing a shirt that show 5 "test your psychic ability cards" Zener cards, under which reads Teach The Controversy.)

Book Reading

Bruce R Cordell — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:46:00 +0000

When an author gets a chance to read his or her book aloud to the public, it’s a wonderful yet frightening feeling.

It's wonderful because an author is always excited for opportunities to create greater awareness for his or her fabulous creations.

It's frightening because the author immediately begins to wonder if he or she is up to the task of "acting out" the parts of different characters in the selection. They wonder if they should just go for neutral voice, or if they should try to impart accent, attitude, and pitch changes between characters. If done correctly, doing the later really adds a lot of depth to the reading. If done poorly . . . well, who really wants to sit through a poorly executed southern accent the author thought might be just the thing for the villain? Maybe you do, but I don’t want to be the reader realizing I’ve entered fail-land.

I usually try for some sort of compromise in-between.

Tomorrow you'll have the opportunity to hear Richard Baker and Erin Evans read from their respective novels (Avenger and God Catcher) at the University Bookstore at 7 pm in Seattle (4326 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105). If you show up, as I plan to, you can find out where along the spectrum of acting and reading Rich and Erin decided to come down. I'm hoping acting!
As it turns out, I’ll also be giving a reading tomorrow from Key of Stars (Abolethic Sovereignty Book 3) at Wizards, but this one won’t be public until the recording is turned into a free audible file that will eventually be available for download on the Wizards web site. Once it’s up, you’ll learn how I decided to play the voices of a scribe, a wintry eladrin, and an archfey called the Lord of Bats.

If you’re very lucky (or unlucky), perhaps you’ll get to hear me trot out my southern accent when I read all the Lord of Bats’ parts.

Wonders

Bruce R Cordell — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:01:00 +0000

"Coalesced from a collapsing cloud of dust."

Be Part of Something Positive

Bruce R Cordell — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:38:00 +0000

People would rather be part of something they perceive to be succeeding as opposed to something they think is failing. True on many levels.

However, as was pointed out on my Facebook status when I posted the above sentiment, people enjoy rooting for the underdog. As TC says, "There's a strong attraction to the underdog in the American psyche."

But I'd argue that in the long run, people still want to stand with the winners. If an underdog consistently fails to overcome its underdog status and become a winner, it loses credibility. Eventually, people move on. Or, they stick with their one-time underdog that has made the transformation.

In addition, strong enough trust in a principle or cause can trump the perceived negativity in being associated with a minority opinion, business, or what have you. Which is probably why I support several causes and opinions that have only minority following in the USA.

Except . . . these causes/principles I support, while unpopular to a majority of americans, happen to be held by people I respect far more than a mass of people I don't know. Which means that I'm still part of something I perceive as successful; I'm not an outlier in my own self-selected peer group of belief.

Anyway, this is all a very longwinded way of saying: don't be negative. If you're negative all the time, people will eventually begin keeping their distance. If you own a small business, talk about your successes, not your anxieties and challenges in keeping revenue coming through the door. If you tweet or update your Facebook status a lot, keep the content generally positive or humorous.

This way, when you actually do have some sad news or melancholy thoughts to relate, your friends, followers, or customers will sit up and take note. When you have actual constructive criticism to offer, people will take you seriously. When your small business needs that tiny one-time pop, you'll get results. And so on.

Season’s Greetings from M74!

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:26:34 +0000

Card by HubbleSite

Season’s Greetings from M74!

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:26:34 +0000

Card by HubbleSite

Season’s Greetings from M74!

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:26:33 +0000

Card by HubbleSite