The Court of Broken Thoughts

Hey everybody,

So I finished reading Anna Smith Spark’s The Court of Broken Knives today.

Because a few people asked me about it, I decided to share my thoughts here.

As usual, I hesitate to call this a review.

Instead, I will share my thoughts.

It will be biased.

This is something of a divisive book.

Like Mark Lawrence, I have read 5 star and 1 star reviews.

Some delighted people have devoured it in one sitting, and other disgusted people have stopped reading it after a few chapters.

Delight and Disgust.

Now I buy a considerable number of books each year, but I still live on a limited budget so those same reviews inspired me to add it to my Amazon wish list, remove it, and then add it again.

It had actually re-landed high on my wish list when I won it on facebook…

Made me feel like I received an ARC, it did.

Of course, Brandy and I had just decided to start reading the Stormlight Archive which took a considerable amount of time…

But then I got to it.

Okay… Thoughts time.

Anna Smith Spark (as you can see on twitter) is the self-proclaimed (others have also proclaimed it) Queen of Grimdark Fantasy.

To that I say…

Hail to the Queen, baby.

She is a phenomenal writer.

She uses words like damn Shakespeare (a claim I can make because education reasons).

The book switches tenses a few times between chapters, a fact I thought would jar me, but freakin’ didn’t. Instead, it provided insight and perspective.

Her words, like the broken knives in her courts, are often jarred loose from sentences. Fragmented. Immediate. Repeated. Repeated. Repeated.

It makes the story vital. It gives it a need to be communicated. Urgent.

And there is a lot of urgency. and pain. and death. death. death.

Back to our protags.

Marith – Homicidal banished emo prince. Demon-spawn hellthing. Distant relative of Dragons. Junkie. To quote a friend, “World’s Nastiest Murder Man.” But he is so beautiful.

Thalia – Ex-high priestess. Performed human sacrifices (including children – though none on the page I can think of. As a father with young kids, I don’t know if I could have stomached that). In love (maybe) with Marith. Discovering a whole new world.

Orhan – Government official. Wants to murder the emperor. Ends justify the means kinda guy. Marriage of convenience to a badly disfigured woman (poor thing). Not-so-closeted homosexual in relationship with another government official. Plagued by his conscience.

Chaos ensues.

I can honestly say, I didn’t expect the story to go as it went. To be fair, I didn’t super know where it was going to begin either… I went in with little to no background on the plot.

It kept me guessing…

Or at least I would have been guessing if I wasn’t so busy reading.

My prediction: future authors will rip off her style.

So why 4/5 stars if I loved it?

Because the people I’m barely acquainted with on Facebook are the only people I can tell to read it. I know no one in real life who I think would enjoy it. Well…who would read it long enough to enjoy it. It is a 5 Star Book… [this is an edit while reading through the post. Knocking off a star for that seems stupid. I’m’a just give 5 stars…There. Done.]

It’s brutal. Death is the answer to every problem.

So…if none of that turns you off. Buy it. I gave you the link above. Read it. And then leave YOUR thoughts on YOUR blog…and on Goodreads.

Also, I truly look forward to the sequel.

Thank you, Miss Smith Spark, for this book.

Not only for the copy you sent me, but also for the story.

You are an exceptional storyteller.

scritch out.

Kings of the Wyld: A Review(ish)

Hey everybody,

I have an absurd fantasy in regards to writing. Skip this if you already know it.

I want to write someone’s favorite book.

I want someone to come up to me one day and say something along the lines of…
“I’ve never read anything like this before. This is my favorite book.”
(Maybe not that stilted, but you get the point).

I would then say (or sign the book):

Dear So-and-so,
I wrote this for you.

Nicholas Eames doesn’t know this yet, but…

He wrote Kings of the Wyld for me.

I don’t do book reviews often, and in the 3ish years I’ve been inconsistently blogging, I think I’ve review maybe one (maybe two. More to come hopefully).

But I feel compelled to tell you about this FREAKING AMAZING BOOK.

Do you like Fantasy? Read this book.

Do you like Rock n’ Roll? Read this book.

Do you like heroes with heart who have deep and meaningful character arcs? 

Read. this. book.

I will buy two more copies by the end of this year to give as gifts. I kid not.

So where to begin…

So. Kings of the Wyld is a one part Led Zeppelin Reunion Tour, Two Parts Dungeon & Dragons, and One Part Action-Comedy. The humor is never overdone, but often serves to undercut heroic fantasy expectations where the heroes are set up to do something awesome, but falter due to age, alcohol, or just being rusty. Also, SOOOOO many allusions to classic rock songs: A few chapter titles (Rambling On comes to mind), Character names (There’s a Layla in there, and a Sabbatha – Which makes me think of Encino Man era Pauly Shore introducing someone to Black Sabbath-uh), and so many others that I should have highlighted when I read them and chuckled to myself. There are also some meta-ish references to the likes of Lord of the Rings (just certain lines that ring reminiscent of Tolkien).

The story concerns itself with Clay “Slowhand” Cooper, the bassist…I mean…a member of the legendary band of mercenaries, SAGA (who I recently bad a badge of for an ill-fated badge contest).

Ask Michael McClendon over at Booknest. He’s got my back…I was robbed. I would wear the hell out of this.

Clay has resigned himself to a comfortable life in the countryside with his adorable wife and daughter when the ex-leader of Saga, Robert Plant…I mean, “Golden Gabe” Gabriel shows up asking for Clay’s help rescuing his daughter-turned-mercenary, Rose, who has gotten herself trapped on the far side a fantasy-monster infested forest in an ancient stronghold by a giant horde of said fantasy hell-monsters.

 

Golden Gabe circa Saga’s glory days…Not really…This is Robert Plant holding a sword. My google images search kung-fu is strong.

Gabriel has gotten it into his head that the only way to save his daughter is to reunite their legendary band and go after her, which after a change of heart (which is too character driven to talk about) Clay agrees to.

Together they pick up the rest of their band mates, who I will describe as the following:

Matrick Skulldrumer (the drummer), the murderous rogue turned fat-drunken king.

John Bonham. I’d say Neil Pert, but Matrick reminds me more of this late great drummer.

Moog (The synth/keyboard man), the eccentric wizard suffering as he tries to cure the incurable disease which claimed his husband (Freddie). I can only assume Freddie is a reference to the greatest rock vocalist of all-time, Freddie Mercury and his battle with HIV/AIDS.

I use Ray Manzarek because I don’t know keyboardists well and his work in The Doors is the only part of the band I love.

Ganelon (On Lead Guitar/Axe), the greatest warrior possibly ever who has been…ya know what? I’m not telling you where he is because HE IS FREAKING AWESOME.

I’m gonna go with two guitarists to describe him because in attitude he reminds me of Slash (But I also think Slash is largely overrated) So…

Slash is he could play like Jimi.

And finally, our protagonist, Clay Cooper, who I’ve already described above as the bassist of the band…

John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin but crossed with a BEAR.

Clay is the heart and soul of Saga. Gabriel is the frontman, but it’s Slowhand that moves the song along with his steady bassline. They follow Gabe, but Clay is the reason they follow. The monster who chose to be a good man.

Kings of the Wyld hit me on multiple levels.

As a lover of classic rock and a loather of some current bands like…
The Screaming Eagles. I don’t know. They’re just who I thought of. A band with a lot of glitz and glam but lacking the substance of the old. They scream, they shout, they are the fallen angels, but does anyone REALLY care? Are we going to be listening to this song in 40 years? I think not.

As a fantasy fan and novice Pathfinder player.

And most importantly as a father.

If it one of my sons…Nothing would stop me.

If I haven’t convinced you to buy and read it yet, let me add this…

In a year where I have read: The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis, The Man Who was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark, Two Dresden Books by Jim Butcher, Two Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan, and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles freakin’ Dickens…

This has been my favorite read.

I’m hard pressed to say it’s my favorite book of all-time. I think time will tell that (and we’ll see how good Bloody Rose is)…

But!

I’ve never read a book before where I wanted to start it all over again when I was done.

It was like some of my favorite go-to movies.

They’re not my favorite movies of all-time, but there’s a reason I return to them.

I will return to Kings of the Wyld.

I will buy Bloody Rose.

I will buy whatever the hell else Nicholas Eames writes.

Because it is that freakin’ good.

Buy it.

Read it.

– Scritch out.

 

Goodreads

Hey everybody,

I know I did this recently, but I still wanted to write it down.

Mostly for my own accountability.

For the first time in ever, I’m actually using Goodreads to track my reading!
This was inspired by my wife’s boss who tries to read 50 books a year.

They’re in publishing so that makes sense.

I decided, fancying myself a fledgling writer, to really work on reading to better improve my writing (excluding this blog because, let’s face it, this hardly counts).

Therefore I am going to try to stick to reading the following list of books (in this order)

1. Fool Moon by. Jim Butcher (Finished 3/24)
2. A Darker Shade of Magic by. V.E. Schwab (Finished 4/29)
3. Salvation by Allegiance Alone by. Mattew Bates (Buy Here)
4. The Judge of Ages by. John C. Wright (15% in)
5. Speaker for the Dead by. Orson Scott Card
6. The Reader by. Traci Chee (Finished 5/13)
7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Finished 5/22)
8. Grave Peril by. Jim Butcher
9. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen (Finished 5/1)
10. Station Eleven by. Emily Saint John Mandel
11. Storm of Swords by. George R. R. Martin
12. The Silmarillion by. J.R.R. Tolkien
13. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G.K. Chesterton (Finished 5/19)
14. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (Finished 5/30)

AND on Audio Book

1. That Hideous Strength by. C.S. Lewis (Finished 3/28)
2. A Crown of Swords by. Robert Jordan (Finished 4/6)
3. The Path of Daggers by. Robert Jordan
4. Wheel of Time 9+

My goal for the year is 25. I think that’s doable.
I may bounce around this list a bit, but I want to get through all of these as part of my 25.

I am already 5 books in, by the way, having read:

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by. Susannah Clarke
2. Lord of Chaos by. Robert Jordan (audio book)
3. The Hermetic Millenia by John C. Wright (so glad this is done)
4. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by. NOT J.K. Rowling
5. Storm Front by. Jim Butcher

Mind you, all of this while revising Bloodseeker and reading/memorizing scripts.

It really is a good time to be me.

-scritch out

Bloodseeker – Official Announcement

Good afternoon everyone,

After months of typing and hacking at various keyboards, I have a rough draft of my forthcoming novel: BLOODSEEKER.

“Three times a year, the dried blood of St. Januarius, Patron Saint of Naples, is said to miraculously turn to liquid. If it does not, it is believed to signal the start of a period of war, disease, or famine. The last time the miracle failed to occur was in 1980 when the earthquake of Irpinia killed 2,900 people in Italy. In 1973, it served as a precursor to an outbreak of Cholera in Naples, and in 1939, 1940, and 1943 it closely corresponded with Italy’s involvement in World War II.

On December 16, 2016, for the first time in 36 years, the blood did not liquefy. While many, including some within the Catholic Church, regard the ceremony as nothing more than coincidence and superstition, Adrian Ramsey knows better; he knows this means hell is literally about to break loose.

On November 23, 1980, the same day the earthquake of Irpinia devastated Conza della Campiana, Adrian’s parents opened the gates of Hell.

Thirty-seven years later, Adrian Ramsey has betrayed his oath as a Bloodseeker—an ancient order dedicated to self-empowerment— so he can use his abilities to combat the escaped creatures and correct his parents’ treachery against humanity. When he and his assistant, Kiara Wells, hear of the sign of St. Januarius, they begin a desperate quest to prevent the world from being plunged into the chaos of the Hellscape.”

Please let me know what you think, and if you’re interested in being a beta reader.

I’m currently hard at work revising and editing the first draft and would love some feedback once it has made a round through rewrites.

My sincerest thanks to everyone,

J.L. Scritchfield

The Importance of Being Violent

Hey everybody,

I’ve been thinking about violence lately.

As I’m writing a novel about demons (sort of), magic (kind of), and death (maybe) and am stage managing a production of Titus Andronicus, I’ve been recently confronted with some dark themes and ill feelings I’d like to expound upon a bit.

As far as my new project is concerned, I’m still playing it close to the vest. However, the above themes are mostly there and in doing research to set it in our contemporary world, I’ve had to dwell on evil and demonic things. I’m extremely excited about the project, but every so often a chill runs down my spine.

Not that I’m afraid mind you.

There’s just something disconcerting about engaging with the, shall we say, unnatural.

Similarly, while being  a part of this excellent production of Titus Andronicus with Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company, I’ve had the opportunity to witness and in some instances help stage moments of murder, rape, and cannibalism.

For those of you who know me, violence isn’t a huge issue in my real life.

I’m a nice enough guy who isn’t prone to violence.

As a theatre artist, however, stage combat is one of my things.

See below a 10 beat fight of me getting beaten up.

Of course, it isn’t real.

It’s fun.

But when you’re watching it transpire, (evil, I mean. Something that goes against what you believe to be the way things are supposed to work) there’s a sort of jarring that happens.

Last night, while on book for the actresses playing Demetrius and Chiron, a feeling of dread came over me, and I had to know my wife and sons were okay. So…clumsily, while staying on book, I sent a text message along the lines of

“How’s your night?”

The response was everything I needed.

The boys were asleep finally. She was reading. Asked the same of me.

That’s all. I just needed to know my family was safe.

This is an extremely small (and not quite perfect) example of why I think it’s important to sometimes put yourself out of your comfort zone.

To watch, read, or listen to a book, movie, or album that puts your back up.

Makes your hair stand on end.

It FORCES you to do something.

You can’t just sit there. You can’t just read the words on the page or watch the actors perform. You need to reach out to someone you love and know that there is justice in the world. There is order in the world.

There is good in the world.

Now, I know there are people who have done heinous things inspired by simulated violence.

But I don’t believe they’re the norm.

Nor do I advocate for people immersing themselves in this kind of evil.

I know a Fight Choreographer who talked about building a dummy for a theatrical production that had to be capable of basically being disemboweled and spurting blood everywhere. He would work on it and experiment with it in his basement (as it was his job) and then just above his head, his kids would be playing. He would go from torturing this dummy to playing with his 3 and 5 year old kids. He said it was a, “challenge.”

He needed that good to outweigh the bad.

Because the bad was exhausting.

I think if you indulge those jarring senses to the point where you no longer cringe at it. When you’re so desensitized you can think about rape or murder without it seeming unnatural, you’ve let yourself go too far in, and you need some good in your life.

For me, it was knowing my family was safe.

So…

As you write, as you act, as you watch or participate,  keep in mind those things that are right, just, and natural about the life.

Let evil jar you. Let it bother you. Let it get under your skin.

And then do something.

-scritch out

January State of Blog(ger)

Good evening everyone,

I know it has been three weeks since my last post.

Forgive me. I’ve been ill.

I promise I’ll get back into the swing of things starting this coming week.

That’s worth something right?

For the few of you concerned, I did not win the Novelist competition on Inkitt.

I know, I know, you’re crushed.

But I did tell you to expect nothing.

HOWEVER!

I have been hard at work on a new writing project.

One I am extremely happy about.

I’m not quite ready to announce the title or give a book summary yet, but it is unlike anything I’ve done before. Not that you’re at all familiar with my books apart from The Shadow of Fate, which will likely be vacating in the internet in the near future.

I’ll say this much. Urban Fantasy. Blood Magic. Mythology.

Piqued your interest?

No…

Well, fine.

I’m 35,000+ words in and I still have plenty of story to tell.

THAT in part is why I have not updated recently…

Because I’ve been writing…and sick…

Often at the same time.

Anyway, I’m up and at ’em.

Tell your friends.

-scritch out

Catalyst Moon: Incursion – A Review

Hey everyone,

Sorry I didn’t write last week (for all 4 of you that care).
I had something of a busy week preparing for our family Christmas!
We have 3 more weekends of Christmas forthcoming too because of how spread out our family is, but I digress.

In my down time (or whatever you’d like to call it) while feeding Kaeden, I have been reading Catalyst Moon: Incursion by Lauren L. Garcia.

Catalyst Moon is Inkitt’s first published novel, and their second published book I’ve taken the time to read. I had not intended on doing a review, but considering how gracious Ms. Garcia was when I wrote my review of both Inkitt and Esper Files, I deemed it necessary to put my thoughts out there regarding her book too.

Especially considering I loved it.

Blurb stolen from Amazon:

Magic is new to the country of Aredia. Mages are enslaved for their abilities, locked behind high walls and guarded by sentinels – elite warriors with an unnatural immunity to magic.

Kali, a crippled mage who longs to escape her painful past, travels to meet a powerful healer in Whitewater City. But on the way her sentinel escort is decimated by monstrous raiders, leaving her with a single guardian, Stonewall: a sentinel with nothing but his chosen name and his faith in the gods. Together, Kali and Stonewall must learn to work together to survive a harrowing journey while demonic creatures from the north invade their lands.

Meanwhile, the mages and sentinels of Whitewater City are drawing battle lines and preparing for war – against one another.

What will await them should they ever reach their destination?

Let me first say, I read a few of the negative reviews on Amazon.
I try to look to the negative first because I’m a terrible person.
If you look the book up, do not let that dissuade you.

This is an excellent start to a series I believe is right up the alley of New Adult Fantasy readers.

Reading CM, I could tell Ms. Garcia has this world well envisioned and what’s truly great about this specific story is…The main story line really takes place along one road.

One road in this entire fantasy world.

She also doesn’t weigh the reader down with unnecessary exposition.

Instead, the reader is thrust into this world and left to discover it through the experiences of her characters.

Her main two characters are deeply divided and seemingly different in every conceivable way (divided by social class and a myriad of other things) but as their story progresses, they learn to rely on each other and learn their similarities outweigh their differences.

Mild spoiler: The ending provides no solutions to the greater problems of social division and bias. Instead, the reader is left expectantly waiting the next chapter of their story. The reader is left to hope for a brighter future where magic can be understood and aren’t treated like second class citizens.

To be honest, I only had one minor gripe with it.

I didn’t like the use of modern curse words.

They characters swear using their gods’ various anatomy, but when pressed they’ll throw F**k out like it ain’t no thang. My only really issue with it is that it didn’t seem to fit the world. I would’ve liked to see a fantasy equivalent (e.g. Frakkin, Gorram, or that Guardians of the Galaxy one that’s escaping me right now). I eventually got over it by telling myself the characters weren’t even really speaking English in Aredia, so the author was writing English equivalents as to better communicate the story.

I don’t know…it worked for me.

Anyway, I’d give it 5 hematite cuffs out of 5.

I walked away from this story having looked through a window into an expanding world that I very much look forward to visiting again.

Read it.

-scritch out.

And remember.

And Happy Holidays!

P.P.S.
I just realized I didn’t plug my own book.

Go Read it free still on Inkitt! The Shadow of Fate

^WTB New Title

November State of the Blogger

Hey e’erybody,

This week had brought with it a lot of introspection.

As I’ve mentioned in most of my recent posts, my novel is currently engaged in The Novelist competition here on Inkitt. It’s actually the first featured book on their website, which is really cool. I’ve finally garnered enough analytics to be considered for publishing and my reads have spiked over the last couple weeks by literally hundreds (As of this morning I’ve hit 620). I’ve picked up a good review too.

I continue to market the book as well as I’m able despite its flaws, and I can’t help but feel like a little vulnerable. It’s also exciting. Even though I know (logically) I will in all likelihood not win, I’m still excited. I’m excited people are reading. Even if it’s 34 copies. I love writing. I love telling stories. It’s what got me into acting (that and my constant need for affirmation).

I love it.

And my sequel is going to be even better.

To be fair, I’ve already written it, and it’s bad.

BUT!

I’m re-writing it now that I’m a better writer. I have an actual outline and I’m trimming the fat.

I’m so excited, and I’m only one chapter in.

I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this with anyone…well two things really.

1. My goal as an actor/author is to turn one into the equivalent of a part time job, while the other becomes a hobby. I’m happy either way. I just want to tell my stories.
2. My dream is to write someone’s favorite story.

I want someone someday to tell me, “That thing you did. That’s my favorite.”

And then I’ll smile and say, “Well, I did it for you.”

That’s who I’m working for.

I’m working for that person who someday will say…

That’s my favorite (story, character, play, etc.)

I also have a bunch of other books on the back burner right now.

I’m waiting to see what happens with The Shadow of Fate.

I think if I win, I’m going to write the sequel and maybe a few in this same world.

If I lose, I think I’m going to move on finally.

I might write the sequel and throw it up on Inkitt just so the 3 people that care can know where I was going to go (It’s my Speaker for the Dead, guys).

But I’ll move on to my epic fantasy series, The Ninth Heir.

Or my Luciferian novel, The Bright One.

Or the techno-apocalypse book idea I had a few days ago.

We’ll see. I’ve been kicking around some stuff.

Anyway…

Read my book. Actually read it. If you like it, write a review. If you don’t like…Lie. 😉

 

– Scritch out.

 

Oh, I’ve also picked up a few books to see how other authors write stream of consciousness into their writing. It’s been interesting. Looking at C.S. Lewis, Garth Nix, Madeline L’Engle, and Robin Hobb. I really want to be reading The Hermetic Millennia by John C. Wright (as he’s my favorite – See The Chronicles of Everness – It’s too good), but alas all my books are in Pennsylvania. Would love some more recommendations. I finally got my Michigan library card. 🙂

Inkitt and Esper Files: One Man’s Review

Hey readers,

Look at me! Another week, another post!

As some of you know, I am currently engaged in a novel writing competition on the relatively new website Inkitt. My novel, The Shadow of Fate, can be found here.

I don’t think it’ll change your life, but I believe in it. You should check it out.

Anyway, today’s post is two-fold, and I’d like to post it now before I don’t win the Novelist competition so I don’t seem bitter and angry afterward. Firstly, I wanted to share my experience thus far with Inkitt. Secondly, I wanted to offer my thoughts on their most recent offering,  Esper Files by. Egan Brass (Ryan Attard).

First things first…

Trogdor! The Inkinator!

Inkitt…

I believe in Inkitt. I don’t know how successful they’ll be in the long term, but I do.
My experience as an unpublished author has only been positive. When I posted my novel back in September, I had intended to just let it sit there. I figured I could refer people there to check it out and give me feedback before I took it down. A month later, I had 19 reads and the Novelist competition kicked off. During that time, I had received some mass e-mails from the website, but for the most part that was all. As the competition continued, I decided to lean into it and started sharing my novel with my social media community. My readership spiked almost overnight. I must’ve caught someone’s attention because I received an e-mail from a real person at Inkitt.

Not a mass e-mail. An e-mail to me regarding my book. They wanted to help me boost my readership. Over the next few days, I worked with them to rework my blurb, teaser, and cover photo. I loved their new teaser… It may be better than my actual book. The blurb they worked out (whether by bot or person) needed some tweaking (which I did) and the photo was pretty great. Afterward, they posted my novel to their Facebook, Twitter, and in a couple of their reading lists.

My readership spiked again. It was neat.

I’d like to reiterate. I had engaged a real person. She was extremely nice.

[Addendum] I forgot to add. I received a mass e-mail last night from Inkitt…
5 Sci-fi Books I Need to Check Out… Yeah… The Shadow of Fate was #1 on the list.
THAT was cool.

Now, with all that said, I need to back up to early September when I saw their advertisement for the first time.

I decided I needed to research Inkitt before posting my book.
I wanted to be as certain as I could be that it wasn’t a scam.
A lot of the blog posts were disheartening. A lot of them accused Inkitt of spamming and trying to take advantage of authors. Most of them were from about a year ago and had responses from the CEO addressing the concerns. I determined, based on these posts, Inkitt was using whatever method they could to build their community.

They are a start-up company after all.

The most intriguing of posts, however, came from Ryan Attard… the author of Esper Files.

The post, How I Got My Agent(s), can be found Here.

This leads me to my review of Esper Files.

Knowing that the book would be released soon, I decided to wait until it was on amazon (link above).

I am glad I did, btw, as I was given a free copy from Inkitt.

The following review my contain Spoilers. I will mark them.

I was excited to dig in to this one… It’s a steampunk superhero story… right up my alley.

I probably went in with a few preconceptions I shouldn’t have.
After reading Brass’ blog, I was expecting perfection.
I wasn’t expecting an author’s first novel.
In some ways, it reminded me of Eragon by Christopher Paolini.
You can obviously see talent there, but it isn’t quite as refined as it will be in a few years.
I couldn’t help but think that in a few years this will be the series people look at when they’re done reading his better, future series.

That isn’t to say that Esper Files isn’t good.

It is.

I just don’t think it’s particularly original.

That coupled with grammatical and spelling errors, a few action/adventure cliches, occasionally stilted dialogue, and a plot that isn’t as fulfilling as it could have been, I was disappointed.

Now I’m sure 15 year old me would have loved it.

And that’s the target audience.

27 year old me, with a master’s degree and years of reading under my belt, thought it was okay.

I don’t want that to deter you though.

I want this book to be successful.

I still think it’s worth reading.

There were a few moments I said aloud, “Oh, that’s clever.”

I just wish there were more moments like that…

 

[Spoilers]

The name: Espers – As related to E.S.P. Brilliant.
The protagonists and antagonists abilities are straight out of Heroes.
The concept is basically CW’s Flash meets X-Men, but set in alternative Steampunk Victorian England.
There isn’t a lot of mystery surrounding this specific book, though toward the end you start to see the foundation for the larger world he’s building. I think this series will get better as it grows. For that reason, I’ll be reading book 2: the Sky Cult.
There are a few extremely interesting characters, even if their powers aren’t.

[End Spoilers]

 

The grammar and spelling errors were disconcerting because I’m hoping to get my work published with them. Brandy set my mind at ease though. Apparently, it’s a trend in publishing right now to allow some errors rather than pay a few more editors… Her employer doesn’t do it…But they’re th eexception not the norm. But hey, if it’s industry standard, who am I to judge?

In his blog, Ryan talks about author’s giving their work to people who aren’t afraid to tear it in half. I understand that. I have friends (and my wife) who have read Shadow of Fate multiple times now and have torn it to pieces every time. Afterward, not only has the story gotten better, but I’ve gotten better.

It also helps that my wife works for a publishing company (an academic one mind you).

I really wish I could’ve been one of those friends with Esper Files. Not because I’m anything special, but because some of the problems I saw are the same exact issues I’ve had to deal with in my novel.

Anyway…

I suggest you read it for yourself. I’d give it a 3/5 stars.

TL;DR: Inkitt = Good, Esper Files = Flawed but also Good.

Mr. Brass/Attard, if you chance upon this, I hope you take my words well. I think you’re brilliant, and I look forward to reading your work over a hopefully long and fruitful career.

Inkitt people, if you’re reading this, keep on keeping on. I, one author with a novel on your site, believe in what you’re trying to do. I’m also thankful for the opportunity to get my work out there whatever the result of The Novelist.

 

-Scritch out

I Wrestled a Bear Once

Oftentimes when I can’t sleep, it’s because I’m imagining what it would be like to eaten by a bear… The thought terrifies me.
When I was a teenager, see, one year at Winter Retreat, this speaker talked about a girl who was eaten by a bear. His retelling was so visceral and terrifying, its stayed with me to this day. I still hate that guy for it. Seriously…Why tell a bunch of kids such a grim story? It didn’t scare me into heaven… It just made it hard to sleep some nights. being a hardcore Chicago Bears fan doesn’t help that either… But I do love my Bears. WORTH IT.

I tell you this now because I’m in the process of editing my first novel tentatively titled, The Curse of the Creator, and it is a bear.

I feel much like the half-wolf Balto in the following picture…

The Hell Bear vs. Balto

Crushed beneath the weight of a massive Hell Bear…

I began work on Curse in September 2012 shortly after starting working for Student Services. I finished my first rough draft in March 2013.

Here it is March 2014, and I’m on my third edit.

What’s painful isn’t the work or even finding time to work, it’s dealing with your own bad writing.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a paragraph and just had to stop because it was so bad. Sure, that’s what the editing process is about.
Finding errors, inconsistencies, and generally improving the work, but damn… It’s tough.

After another edit or two I hope to start peddling it to agents and publishers…Not for the sake of money, but for the sake of the story…Because I think I have a good one.
What’s difficult is when I don’t think I’m a good enough vessel for the story to be conducted.

“I just so desperately want to be better.”

This feeling goes straight across the board really. I want to be a better Christian, a better husband, a better father, author, actor, friend, artist…

I once told someone I was an artist, and they asked if I painted or something… Random thought…Sorry.

This desire to grow…to gain insight…to hone my crafts is always lingering behind an ever present veil of doubt…in keeping with my earlier metaphor…
This desire to be better is constantly crushed beneath a Hell Bear of doubt.

I don’t know if there really is an answer. I think I just need to keep at it and keep at it until one day I achieve excellence or, at least, mediocrity.

I won’t settle for less than mediocrity.

I leave you with a picture of me as a bear…

circa March 2013

 

-Scritch out

[Note: Iwrestledabearonce is a pretty fun band…I think…Check out, “Tastes like Kevin Bacon” below.]

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