Game of Thrones

I noticed a new follower and clicked over to check out his blog. This one appealed to me immediately since the author's taste seems to coincide very much with my own. The first posting I read was about George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones novel. He mentioned that he rereads the series when a new book comes out, and that is exactly what I do. I can't just read the new book -- the series is such a pleasure for me that I have to go back and read it all again from the beginning before I can touch the new book. Since I'm waiting for A Dance of Dragons to come out in paperback, I'm relishing the thought of starting over yet again!

The television series has been great as well, and I can't wait for season two. I hope they not only keep going through all of the books, but maintain the high quality we have seen so far. I'm only sorry that the actor who played Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane left the series and had to be replaced by another. I hope we don't lose any more of the cast.

Weekend in Vienna

We took the train to Vienna, Austria on Friday morning and stayed there until Sunday. We got lucky since it only rained lightly and for a short time. It got dark very quickly, around 4 PM, so I didn't take a lot of pictures in daylight. I visited Vienna in 1997, but this was the first time there for my family. There are simply too many amazing sights, too many photos, so I'll just give a small sample.

Moon over one of the cathedrals

The Rathaus, or City Hall

There were beautiful lights all over the center over town

Vienna Street Scene

Where Soviet Monuments Go to Die

It's been unseasonably warm here in Budapest, so we've had some nice family outings to see various sights.

My wife and eldest son share a happy moment during the expedition

One place we had heard about but could find no one who had actually gone to see it was Memento Park, a place just outside of Budapest where they decided to put all the old Soviet monuments and statues after Hungary regained her independence. As you can imagine, it was a pretty surreal outdoor museum.

Statues at the entrance to the park

Lenin welcomes you!

My youngest son being attacked by the Red Army

...and standing near a very large statue!

Nothing New Under the Sun

I suppose it is inevitable that as the world's population grows beyond all reasonable levels it becomes harder and harder to ever have a truly original idea. I like to think that many of the ideas in my work-in-progress, a sci-fi thriller set in the near future, are original. I've never heard of them or seen them anywhere, and I'm quite proud of coming up with these ideas.

Yesterday I was stunned to come across a book that has eerie similarities to some elements of my book. It's a completely different story, of course, and has none of my technological ideas, but it has...well, see for yourself:

My book is set in a near-future Moscow with the main male character named Artyom and a segment of the very poor populace living underground in the abandoned metro system.

The book Metro 2033 by Dmitri Glukhovski is set in a near-future Moscow with everyone living underground in the abandoned metro system and the main character is named Artyom.

I can just see it now, should my book ever be published, as some readers accuse me of copping my ideas from this book. I'm not going to change my details; I've had my story since the early 1990's. I never heard about this book until yesterday. I chose these details for my story for very specific reasons that are important to me.

The metro in Moscow played a big role in my life for the four years I lived there (1993 to 1997), and I always planned on it figuring into my mobster thriller. When that story morphed into a sci-fi, it only made sense that the metro would be abandoned, since it was already old and newer technologies would take its place. The idea of a group of poor taking residence there seemed fun and a bit creepy.

I chose the name Artyom very carefully, too. I wanted a name that wouldn't be too odd to an American audience, yet I wanted it to be slightly uncommon rather than the standard few Russian names that we see each time a Russian character is used in any movie or book. Artyom fit what I was after nicely. I used the name in my first novel, written several years ago since that book has a couple of the same characters as this sci-fi (the first book was a fantasy).

I guess my point is that this post serves both to air my frustration and incredulity over such rotten luck and also as a sort of proof that I did not steal my ideas from someone else's book. I came to my ideas honestly. If or when someone later accuses me of taking these ideas, I will refer them to this post, for whatever good it might do.

Happy New Year everyone! I only managed to write thirteen new chapters this year, which is disappointing even though I have the excuse of moving to a new country and settling into a new job. I hope to do better this coming year, perhaps even finish this new book.

Chess Tournament

I'm exhausted after competing in a tough chess tournament. I used to compete a lot when I was younger, but it's much tougher these days. I hadn't played for nearly three years, so my goal was to knock some rust off and hope I didn't collapse completely.

It was a round robin-style tournament in which I play each other player, and since there were twelve players that means there were eleven rounds, one per day. I started relatively well, with one win, one loss, and four draws in the first six rounds, all against the higher rated people in the tournament. Then I had my dreaded collapse, losing three in a row. What makes it worse is that I was winning the first two of these games, but blew them. I finished the event by winning my last two nicely, but it was against the two lowest performers, so I was expected to win.

Here is the crosstable - http://chess-results.com/tnr59450.aspx?art=4&lan=1&turdet=YES&flag=30

String Bridge by Jessica Bell

I'm pleased to be able to help out with blog friend Jessica Bell, whose first novel has recently been released. She's a lovely and extremely talented writer and musician.

Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell's debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written and performed by the author herself, for free!

All you have to do is purchase the book today (paperback, or eBook), November 11th, and then email the receipt to:


jessica.carmen.bell(at)gmail(dot)com


She will then email you a link to download the album at no extra cost!

To purchase the paperback:

Amazon USA

To purchase the eBook:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

To listen to samples of the soundtrack, visit iTunes.

If you are not familiar with String Bridge, check out the book trailer:

Rave Reviews for String Bridge:

“Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page, yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative.” ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie and Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal

“Poet and musician Jessica Bell's debut novel String Bridge is a rich exploration of desire, guilt, and the difficult balancing act of the modern woman. The writing is lyrical throughout, seamlessly integrating setting, character and plot in a musical structure that allows the reader to identify with Melody's growing insecurity as her world begins to unravel … String Bridge is a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a hint of magic.” ~ Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion Thrust and Sleep Before Evening

“Jessica Bell is a brilliant writer of great skill and depth. She doesn't pull back from the difficult scenes, from conflict, pain, intensity. She puts it all out there, no holds barred, no holding back. She knows how to craft a scene, how to develop character, how to create suspense. This is an absolutely brilliant debut novel. I look forward to reading her next novel, and next and next.” ~ Karen Jones Gowen, author of Farm Girl, Uncut Diamonds and House of Diamonds

Connect with Jessica:

String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell
Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/
Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell
Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

Please TWEET and/or FACEBOOK this post using #StringBridge!

Feeling Insignificant

I saw a video of a Fleetwood Mac song that blew me away and made me feel so small at the same time.

Yeah, so it's about twenty years after their heyday, but still they take what was a semi-good song on the album and make it so much more passionate here. Lindsey Buckingham can do it all, yet he never had guitar lessons and doesn't even use a pick. I couldn't imagine simply being able to play that music, let alone singing so well while doing it. And he's a lot better looking than I am, too!

 That's a little of why I am so sad. I know that the only type of immortality we really have a shot at in this life is perhaps leaving behind some fantastic piece of art - whether a painting, a song, a book, etc. - that may be remembered by people long after we are gone. It doesn't bother me when someone is better than me at some particular talent, because I can always tell myself that I have talents where I am better than they are. Then someone like Lindsey comes along and is better at way too much all at the same time, and I can never hope to compare with even a single one of his talents. He has an amazing voice, plays incredible guitar, and is extremely charismatic. He's a great songwriter and, who knows, he can probably write rings around me in fiction if he wanted to.

For those of us in the writing game these days, it's about as tough as it has ever been. We can write a book now that, if published two hundred years ago, could have stood out and become a classic, but today it would most likely be buried in the avalanche of books being poured out by far too many talented writers. So rather than our book becoming a classic and making us well-known even after passing on, our book is quickly lost in the shuffle and forgotten.

I suppose getting older is making me far too aware of my mortality and of how quickly time is slipping away as far as being able to make a lasting mark on the world.