For several reasons - each of which is too long to get into now - I chose to self-publish. So PLEASE, I beg you, write good Amazon reviews for The Last War once you finish it. Also, Would you all believe I got the cover custom made for only $35 and from a Ukrainian company no less.
I hope you all enjoy it (and again write good reviews)!
He was Tiger, born of the desert winds. She was Del, born of ice and storm.
I rarely make mistakes regarding Fantasy books as nearly two decades of reading little else has given me what I like to call "my Fantasy instinct." Like anyone I read the back/inside cover and from that judge whether or not I think I would really like the book, but my Fantasy instinct allows me to feel the book in question, to sense its aura one might say. Call it esoteric if you will, call it a sixth sense/instinct born from long experience, but, regardless of name, the result is that 99% of the time I am correct. There is a reason, after all, why I can count the Fantasies I have quit using my fingers and still have some leftover. That said, and as the above statement affirms, I can be wrong and have quit books; rarely, rare enough as to be almost never, but it does happen and, alas, with increasing frequency since the grimdark (such as GRRM's and Kearney's) can fool my Fantasy instinct. Hence when I do stop a book I never look back, having quit only after long and deliberate thought. Naturally I remember them, but I never regret or second guess my choice to quit.
Time to determine once and for all if this series will have a place on my bookshelf.
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| Point of order, even Wizards of the Coast acknowledged my skill once. |
How
does one become a Master Riddle-maker? By making riddles, naturally, and I
will do my best to impart the lessons I give my students verbally here
in written text. Unsurprisingly, the process begins with quote followed
by two riddles of my own:
"Good riddles do, in general, provide us with satisfactory metaphors; for metaphors imply riddles, and therefore a good riddle can furnish a good metaphor." - Aristotle
What plays with words and logic, yet never tells a lie = ?
It can either be found by, or given to you, when found you understand it, when given you might not = ?
The answers are respectively "a riddle" and "the answer,"
the wording of each, plus the quote, describing how riddles work.
Indeed, I use these riddles to teach prospective Makers and the point
has never failed to get across. That said, I often
tell my students that to make a riddle is to "describe something
without really describing it, yet in such a way that it only perfectly
fits a single answer." I will now walk you through the process.
However, we only got the chair riddle after changing it, and that is a critical part of riddle-making. I do not bold this idly. So many times have kids come to me with a riddle they created and love – one that even rhymes! –
and are so proud of. Until I point out that the riddle has more than
one possible answer. At this point they have one of two reactions: they
either dig in, stubbornly trying to assert that there is only one
perfect answer because they do not want the change the riddle they
worked so hard on since if they change it then it will not sound as
good. Or they, while disappointed, accept it and work to reword/adjust
the riddle until it has only one perfect answer. The final reaction is
the mark of a true Riddle Master. As I often tell my students, riddles
do not have to rhyme. Yes rhymes are fun and can add a special flare to
the riddle in question, which is why I try to make mine rhyme when
possible, but they are not necessary. Indeed, many of my finest and
favorite riddles (such as the Grandmaster) do not rhyme.
Sometimes you even have to start making the riddle all over again from scratch.“Kill your darlings” is a common piece of advice given by experienced writers, meaning that one must sometimes remove characters, sentences, or entire subplots one has worked hard to create yet that must be removed for the sake of your overall story. Well, the same applies to riddle-making. Better a non-rhyming riddle that may not even role off the tongue that well yet works than a smooth rhyming one that does not. Believe me when I say that it pays to do the work, because if you do not then those you give the riddle to will point out the flaw by coming up with the other possible answer while trying to solve it and then explain why their other answer works when you say it is not the correct answer. Trust me, I learned this lesson the hard way and, besides from not being fun, it undermines your credibility as a Riddle Master. Today it is rare for my riddles to have flaws, but when one is pointed out, typically by someone trying to answer it and coming up with a workable answer I had not thought of, I thank them and vow to rework the riddle in question. Bottom line? Like a piece of writing, a riddle typically goes through multiple drafts (at least two) before it is ready. Remember that most if not all things are easier said than done and riddle-making is the opposite of the exception. Myself and the few Master Makers I have successfully trained can make solid riddles at will only after long practice. It, like lifting weights or doing any sport or test of skill, is challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it, after months of practice, it becomes second nature.
Luck to you, and happy riddle-making!
Well, the new trailer for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes just took our old assumptions and stabbed them.
So,
judging from the full cover of the game coupled with what we just
learned, I think Sothis may be a foe this time too, and this does not
look like a Happy Ending story-route like Revelations was for Fates, but
rather a new Warriors version of Three Houses. Not another route, but an
alternate version of the game entirely, with Byleth and Sothis on the enemy side and Shez and red-eyed guy on the good. Regardless, I shall stand with Edelgard in the Scarlet Blaze route just as I did her in Crimson Flower.
Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?  |
| Sabriel |
