Bioshock had one of the most interesting fantasy settings I’ve seen in a very long time; they took it even farther in the sequel. If you aren’t familiar with the series, Bioshock takes place in an underwater city called Rapture. It was a civilization not held to the rules of the surface world. The game’s focus is primarily on genetic research. Rapture had no rules stopping scientists from whatever they pleased.

I use “was” and “had” on purpose, the Rapture in the game takes place after the city, and her people, have begun breaking down. Genetic mutants rule the city now, with a little manipulating of course.  That’s what Bioshock does best, after all, the manipulating leaders who are always more than a little crazy.

The sequel has a new twist to it, now you are one of the Big Daddy’s from the previous game. With it comes some nice upgrades. Now you can dual wield your plasmids and your weapons. This was the first really great improvement over the last game. The second I found came with the hacking system. It’s simpler, and less repetitive, but it will also get your pulse racing a little bit when you mess up, and it’s much easier to mess up now.

The biggest improvement is the new creative strategy scenarios. In Bioshock 2 you really get to set up your battles much better than in the first. On top of that, you have a whole new set of weapons that will set many different sorts of traps for your enemies to walk through. You can really lay out where people will come from by looking around, and then plan your battles accordingly.  It’s fantastic.

And then there are the Big Sisters. These are just crazy. They are, at the very least, much  faster and stronger than you are. You know when you’re going to have to fight them though, so again you can plan ahead and setup some defenses. If you like the strategy of a good shooter you’ll like this, it’s not your every day run-and-gun, it takes some thought. This game is definitely worth checking out.

Thanks for joining us for the thrilling conclusion of Founded In Battle! Morine accepts her place as part of the crowd as the four are thrust into the first battle of their journey, to protect Sandall itself! Just as an aside, this is by far my favorite thing I’ve ever written. I hope you all agree! Next week will be the whole story, so we’ll see you in two weeks for a brand new story! Have any ideas for one? Now’s a good time to tell them!

As always, thanks for listening!

Hurray! I’m happy to finally announce the release of our of Tuesday Night Stories homepage! You can follow that link or you may have noticed it was now in the menu above as well. We currently have 4 full-length stories that you can listen to and download, and Founded In Battle will be added in full soon. In addition, I’ve decided to add the text to each story for those that like to follow along, and those who prefer to read a story instead.

As I’ve done more and more research of this insane industry that is publishing, I’ve discovered, quite by accident, that I’ve done pretty much everything people suggest. I can’t recall where I read it but there is this quote I like. The only difference between a writer and a published writer is persistence, or something close to that. This is seen nowhere more than in the arts. So many writers spend their whole lives hoping what they have to say will be worth reading by others. That, of course, requires talent, agents, publishers, an audience, etc, etc.

It could be said that I’m on the “right path” to publishing a book. That could mean nothing of course, but if you look at the writer checklist (didn’t know there was one? Muahaha welcome to the crazy) then the argument could be made that if I stick with it I’m bound to sell a book. Let’s examine then, shall we?

1. Write a book – Indeed, this is an important step toward publishing. You could add plotting, creating characters, and all that if you’d like, but this is more or less the start. You have a finished book, what to do with it? This was the first thing I got right. Woo!

2. Set aside said book – My book was terrible. I loved it, don’t get me wrong, it was a great feeling to read it. But it was terrible and I put it away in a folder (where it’s still sitting). Hurray, I completed step two.

3. Writer another book using skills learned the first time – I happened to have another story to tell. You know, it was one of those “What a GREAT idea!” moments. Well skipping all the juicy bits, I wrote another book. I was on the right track and didn’t even know it at the time.

4. Edit, edit, edit, then get someone better to edit – I have the supreme pleasure, and the slight terror, of having a wife that is far better at editing than I am. After 4 drafts there was no page of my manuscript that didn’t have marks from top to bottom. You don’t need to research publishing to guess this step is important!

5. Discriminate against agents and test the waters – Yup, you heard me. Choose your top 10 agents then send your query to 5 others. Or better yet, attend a conference and try those agents first (which is what I did). You keep your top 10 list, you’ll see why in a second.

Send out those first 5 queries, wait patiently for your rejections, and hope for some tidbits as to why. My responses were dead on (that’s why they’re agents). “The prose is good and you do a fine job setting the scene (always take the compliments where you get them!), but I felt a bit removed from your main character, Colby.” That’s a direct quote from one, the others said the same, but not as clear. One good, detailed response out of 5 is GOOD luck. Now you know what’s missing and you know what these agent’s were looking for. Fix these things, then fix up your query to show other agents that you’re strong in that area (note: that’s show NOT tell). Most agents want at least a few pages. Make them stronger.

6. Write another book and keep submitting – Here is where you wait, and show your persistence. Almost every single published author has stories of rejections. Your book very well may not find an agent. Maybe the market isn’t ready for it. Maybe it’s not very good. Maybe you just aren’t ready for it. Write because you want to tell stories and each book you write will be better than the last. Patience and Persistence.

What do you think, agree or disagree? I’ve found it to be pretty accurate in the fantasy genre.

Good evening, all! Tonight’s episode moves to the High Lady Keilly. The day of attack has finally come and she must bring everyone together to fight in unity. The truth behind her plans serves as good of strategy as any. Listen on and see if Keilly can ready the good people of Sandall to fight!

As a side note, today I fixed a problem somebody mentioned with the iTunes podcast feed. The problem is resolved and the feed is working again, sorry about that! Click here if you have iTunes and want to see our podcast listing. There is also a link to it on the blog sidebar.

As always, I hope you enjoy the story!

It’s kinda funny that I am adding two football posts so close together. It makes me look like I am a big fan when I’m not really. I’ve never been against the sport though. Other than ice hockey, it’s even the only sport I enjoy watching. The Davey O’Brien award is a national quarterback award given to one college player every year.

My grandfather, Charles Ringler, founded the award. So it’s extra fun for my family to get to go. We take up about three tables in all (alright, about 2 1/2!). My grandmother always sits with the family of whoever is getting the award. It was fun getting to meet McCoy’s parents and grandparents this year. They were so very friendly. Unfortunately, Charles wasn’t able to come because of his health. But McCoy and Fouts spent part of the day with him before coming tonight, also very nice of them.

Colt McCoy of UT won the award this year. He seemed like a really nice guy. A lot of people I’ve seen get this award came across arrogant, but he didn’t at all. I guess that’s what comes from growing up in a small TX town, go Texas! Dan Fouts, retired player from the Chargers, won the Legends award, and his speech was absolutely hilarious. This award you DEFINITELY see arrogance during, but Fouts gave a good speech and didn’t come across that way at all. All around, it was great fun. Here’s a picture of my family all dressed up before we left.

One of of the best things about going to this thing every year, despite the fun of getting to dress all fancy and meet professional athletes of course, is the food. MMMMMmmmmmm! This year was delectable as always, but the desert is always the most fun. This year it was orange cheesecake on a crazy-rich chocolate crust, I looove cheesecake, have I mentioned, love it. See picture below for mouth watering goodness.

P.S. Sorry about the feed problems the last couple days, if anyone noticed. Was tinkering with the blog and, of course, I should have left well enough alone. Fear not, for I have fixed what should not have been broken!

I wanted to drop by and wish everyone a great Valentine’s! It’s fun when it ends up on a Sunday, since more people have a tendency to have some free time today. Samantha and I have had a whole lot of fun today, and I’m promised a fantastic dinner that is yet to be announced. Surprises are great fun.

I have a lot to share with you guys since I haven’t had the time to post much lately. It’s important to me that we keep the podcast episodes coming consistently for you guys, but that means some of the in-between posts get pushed aside at times. I think things are calming down now though.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lately David and I have been talking a lot about voices and accents. We both felt like introducing them more; me to my character descriptions, him to the voices he reads. A fresh attempt at it, I realize, but I think it really comes across this week. I’m particularly impressed with his introduction to the mayor of the town. It’s brilliant!

This week’s story changes to the viewpoint of the archer, Owyn Dest. Just when he think maybe he’s followed a bit too far, he finds Keilly ushering him to lead for a change. Being a man of Owyn’s experience, he has his suspicions.

As always, thanks for joining us!

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