The Death of Joffrey

*Note that if anyone hasn't yet seen the last couple of episodes of Game of Thrones, this will contain spoilers.*

When I finally saw the episode of Game of Thrones when 'King' Joffrey is poisoned, I was disappointed to learn that I had misinterpreted who had done the deed. I'm not disappointed at misreading anything--I'm disappointed because I think my version was way better!

Martin must have been too subtle for me, but I somehow never got it that the Queen of Thorns poisoned Joffrey, conspiring apparently with Littlefinger. In my version, I felt that Cersei was using the opportunity to rid herself of her hated brother Tyrion and had poisoned either Tyrion's wine or something that was served to him. Then Joffrey came over and ate some of Tyrion's food and drank some of his wine (at least if I am recalling things correctly). Just imagine the horror of Cersei watching as her son kills himself with the poison that she herself had put there! Delicious!

Gerry Rafferty

Gerry Rafferty was a songwriter whose work is well known to most people but they don't necessarily know him at all. Have you heard any of these? Great songs to listen to when you are in a mellow mood (or would like to be in a mellow mood!).

Finished Second Novel Today

Hooray for me! After more than three years of off and on writing, I finally completed the first draft of my second novel, a science fiction thriller called The Immortality Game. All you writers out there know that this is really just the beginning of the work on the book. Now comes editing and reworking of scenes that don't quite work. I have a couple of beta readers lined up, but if anyone has time and really wants to help out in that regard, the more the merrier!

Superstitions

Where the heck do superstitions come from? I poke fun at my wife all the time because she has tons of them. I'm not religious and I have a logical, scientific mindset in almost all ways...except when it comes to sports. And, yes, I know that makes no sense. Yet somehow I do seem to be able to predict sporting results (that matter to me) more often than not, based upon my sporting superstitions.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to other sport enthusiasts at work and I explained to them why Peyton Manning was going to finally win his second Super Bowl. I explained how my sporting luck was on a huge roll. My Red Sox had just won the World Series. My Arizona Wildcats basketball team was undefeated and #1 in the country for the second straight month. And Peyton Manning had just won the AFC championship handily over my Patriots (note, I am not a Denver fan, but ever since the Colts booted Manning, I have wanted Manning to win a SB in order to show the Colts organization what a mistake they made). All sports that mattered to me were rolling in the right way.

Then Saturday came. In the second minute of a game against Cal-Berkeley, Arizona's third leading scorer Brandon Ashley broke his foot and was suddenly gone for the season. Arizona still nearly continued their unbeaten streak, but lost on a last second shot. Here's where my sporting superstition kicked in--now I knew Manning would lose the Super Bowl, because the dam had broken on my sporting luck! I would have gladly bet money on it if I had a means to do so.

I wasn't shocked at all when the very first snap of the game went all wrong and turned into points for Seattle. I just said to myself, 'Yep, now it starts, just like I thought.'  I turned the game off before halftime and went to bed rather than continue to watch a pointless exercise--no matter how great Manning is, there is no way he could overcome the dam breaking on my sporting luck!

Sorry Peyton, it was all over for you the second Brandon Ashley came down wrong on his foot the day before!

Gaiman's Quirk

I've recently been reading a lot of Neil Gaiman's books. While he isn't one of my absolute favorite writers, he is very good and I have been enjoying them. His writing style is amazing and I could only dream of being as good. What has struck me as funny, though, is that there is a single bit of linguistic usage that he does in each book that is jarring to me. It's just the one bit and nothing else!

About six to eight times in each book--check out Neverwhere or American Gods, for example--he uses the phrase 'turned on its side' to refer to someone tilting their head to one side. For me it just feels wrong and causes a little mental shudder. One doesn't tilt their head on one side, at least not to the way my mind works. One tilts one's head to one side.

Funny how something so tiny can keep messing with my reading enjoyment!

(Update, for those who may read this in the future) Mr. Gaiman was kind enough to leave a comment which makes me believe that this quirk is not his but rather must come from whomever is 'translating' his work for American English audiences. I found this issue in all three books I recently read--Neverwhere, American Gods, and Anansi Boys--but all were US-editions.

New update as of June, 2014--My thought, above, that this was caused by someone translating between British and US English must be wrong. I just finished reading Good Omens and this 'turned his head on one side' thing occurs three times in it...and it was all in British English.

The Genius Writer

I noticed something the other night, and not for the first time either, and it made me wonder how many other writers out there experience the same thing:  I'm a brilliant writer in my subconscious!

When I'm in the middle of writing new chapters for my books, I tend to fall asleep at night thinking about the upcoming chapters. While hovering on the edge of sleep, I often see the chapters unfold much like watching a movie, and it just amazes me how great the dialogue is. I know that as I'm 'watching' the chapters I find myself thinking, 'Wow, this is going to be an amazing chapter!'.

The problem is that this doesn't translate well into real life! These episodes always occur when I'm nearly asleep, so I can't force myself to wake up and immediately write down what I just experienced. Instead, I wake up the next day and a much vaguer version of the chapter ends up being written. They are never bad, but they lack the magic that was there the night before, especially when it comes to dialogue. The dialogue is so amazing and witty and funny just before I fall asleep...and so pedestrian when I type it out the next day.

So, does this happen to you? And what is wrong with me that I can see a brilliant writer is buried inside of me but I'm incapable of drawing him out while fully conscious?

What I Read in 2013

At the end of 2012 I used Goodreads to make a list of all the books I read that year, and I think I'll do that each year since I enjoy the process of reviewing how my reading went. For example I didn't realize I had doubled my reading this year until I began to compile this list! My reading really slowed way down near the end of the year, so I had initially thought I would have a smaller list this year.

Here they are in the order in which I completed them along with my star ranking from one to five with five being a book I thought was great and would read again. Four stars is a book I really enjoyed but might not want to read again. Three stars means I liked the book but wouldn't read it over again, and anything less means it had issues for me.

1. The Passage by Justin Cronin ****
2. Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber *****  I read these decades ago in my teen years and loved them, so I decided to reread the series this year. I still love the first couple but found the quality diminished as the series progressed.
3. Swords Against Death by Fritz Leiber **** and a half
4. Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber **** and a half
5. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson ***
6. Swords Against Wizardry by Fritz Leiber ****
7. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking ****

8. The Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber **
9. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie *** and a half
10. Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie ****
11. Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie ****
12. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters ***
13. Shadow and Claw by Gene Wolfe *** and a half
14. Sword and Citadel by Gene Wolfe ****
15. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold **** and a half

16. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Howard Chaykin **** and a half
17. The Beholder by Ivan Amberlake ***  Ivan is a writer friend of mine and I'd love nothing more than to give him more stars, but this book is intended for a different audience than me.
18. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller *** and a half
19. The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell ****
20. Roma by Steve Saylor **
21. The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer **
22. Enemy of God by Bernard Cornwell ****  Continues the retelling of the Arthur legend begun in The Winter King. This whole series was excellent.
23. Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey ****
24. Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell ****
25. Urban Legends of Rock and Roll: You Never Can Tell by Dale Sherman ** and a half
26. 11/22/63 by Stephen King ****
27. The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company by Glen Cook **** and a half
28. The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia **
29. The Complete Prose by Woody Allen *  I love Woody Allen's movies, so I was aghast to read just how terrible his writing can be
30. The Twelve by Justin Cronin ****
31. Shift Omnibus by Hugh Howey ****
32. Dust by Hugh Howey ****
33. The Terror by Dan Simmons **** and a half

34. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien ***
35. Zen and the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury ** and a half
36. Finches of Mars by Brian Aldiss ** and a half
37. The Return of the Black Company by Glen Cook *** and a half