NerdWordApparel and the Folly of Distractions

Hello Lovelies,

I wanted to provide you one last side-note update before I got back into the swing of Little Island Tales and other assorted works. Sometime back, I very briefly mentioned via our Twitter account that I had made a little shirt design out of boredom. Well, fast forward a week or two and I've actually found that making little graphic illustrations for shirts and apparel is actually a lot of fun and might want to make a little side business out of it.

Enter NerdWordApparel.

As all of you veteran readers might imagine, me being me has the tendency of diving head first into projects and such because I'm a horrible person who might actually be a workaholic. That aside, given a number of issues I'm having with the game design for Uncanny Valley, I've decided to redouble my efforts in this area for the time being and am now putting my snark and nerdisms to good use outside of regular writing. With that said, outside of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, this has been where my energy has been focused for the last week.

I bring this up for three reasons: One, I like to share what I'm doing and where I'm going when it comes to the matter of any of you going "You know, I haven't seen any actual new content...what the hell is Robert doing?" I'm deciding that coming up for breath isn't fun so why not drown in creative works projects. Two, because I know many readers are, by definition, nerds with passions and loves of their own, some of you might actually like the work I'm doing at NerdWordApparel and find some desire to get yourself some fancy/snarky graphic design shirts/mugs/etc. Last, but not least Three: to keep my writing and my graphic design works separate and not antagonize one group or the other, I wanted to do a one-time shout out regarding NerdWordApparel with all relevant links to those that are interested and let you follow them from there (if you so desire).

With that said, here is where you can follow us. Please note, the TeePublic link is the current 'shop' until I set up a more permanent website storefront.

Shop: https://www.teepublic.com/user/nerdwordapparel
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NerdWordApparel/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdwordapparel
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerdwordapparel/

To those that are interested, just a quick word of note: I intend to release new designs twice a week every Sunday and Thursday (I'm actually going to be releasing one later today, wouldn't ya know). I currently have a few Dungeons and Dragons related items, however designs will not be limited to this and will be all across nerddoms and fandoms. Perfect example, Thursday's launch will be a very cute dinosaur design that is more fun for all ages then perhaps snark about Dragons. I intend to have everything from fantasy to adventure to non-fiction and pretty much anything that makes me fellow nerds' hearts go pitter-patter-pitter. If you like the concept, give me a follow and see if anything catches your eye as the weeks roll on.

Finally, I want to assure everyone that there shouldn't really be any loss in or change of schedule to RBPublishing. The hows and whats for the my creative process for both projects actually mesh pretty well, particularly since a lot of my creative writing is performed when I'm away from home whereas a lot of my designs are done at home. In turn, it more means I'm intentionally shorting myself free time for movies/games/etc. than anything else, but that's self inflicted and is what it is.

I hope you guys enjoy it (if you're interested) and promise that we should have the next Little Island Tales out here shortly.

Love you all,

- RB

Musical Inspiration

Hello Lovelies,

In trying to work on the next entry for Little Island Tales, I ran into a bit of an issue. What issue you ask? Well...I HAVE NO INSPIRATION!!!

At least, not at the moment.

Ok, maybe it's not THAT bad. While I know where I want to go with the story and the steps that are being taken to get there, I'm recovering from one of my normal medical procedures and therefore my brain is just a bit muddy on the uptake (gotta love all them painkillers...buh). I currently can't quite put the sentences together (at least not with impact in a form I like) and so I wanted to take a more human moment to discuss writing and the processes behind it rather than leave you in the hard-vacuum of silence that I have had a bad tendency of doing the last couple months.

I've talked about inspiration before on this site and about the little things that help to push me (and theoretically other writers) to make the things they do. Everything from a wildly overactive imagination to the types of books and movies they read; just about anything in the world can serve as inspiration for the next tale or story. Everyone has their own thing that works at least sometimes to get their blood boiling and get the words flowing.

As such, today I wanted to address music and its role in my own inspirational process. For any of my regular readers, you know my biggest rock tends to be fear and horror. The things that scare me most are the ones that fascinate me the deepest. Monsters, creatures, cryptids, myths, aliens, etc. all lend their own unique touch to the things I create and this is something that is plainly seen in my works; so it raises the question of how does music provide inspiration?

Well, at least for me, music is a much stranger beast than reading a story or watching a movie. Whereas exposure to other general forms of inspiration give me an idea for content and story progression, music provides me a much more ethereal inspiration. I often find that it gives me a sense of emotion, tone, and environment more than anything else. In other words, it gives me a 'feeling' for the world at large in my writing. The music that I find really inspires me varies from day to day and week to week, however will often maintain a similar overall tone.

So what do I listen to?

Well, the common default that I often go back to when actively writing is Rock. There's a wide range here, so depending on the who and what, it may or may not contribute to the tone of any given story. I've often found that more Psychadelic Rock like The Doors tends to work well but, even more commonly, variations within the Metal genre are very effective too (particularly when writing hard action). Artists like Rob Zombie and Powerman 5000 have contributed to some of the more tense or chilling moments throughout my pieces. One artist in particular, Jonathon Young, has proven really entertaining for his Rock/Metal remixes of a number of different songs which have provided me a great deal of new depth to old pieces.

On the flipside, occasionally I need something more atmospheric; something I can hear and listen to but maybe with a deeper tone outside of rock songs. You need something more folky or ambient, something with less hit and more punch. More overall feeling behind it. I've found YouTube has been particularly wonderful for this because you can find a wide range on there. Some of my favorites include old folk songs like 'O Death' (which I've featured before) or 'Misty Mountains Cold' (from Lord of the Rings), Cajun inspired beats such as Kaleo's 'Way Down we Go' and Rag'n'Bone Man's 'Human', or even classical tunes such as Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata'. If I'm feeling particularly off, dark ambient music such as ones produced by JediMaster or Two Steps from Hell (Featured above) serve wonderfully to get me the ether mixing.

When all is said and done, music is less about showing us something to inspire us and helping us find that which is resting beneath the surface. It helps us pull up and out, rather than to internalize, those forces and things that would fill our minds to the brim until they overflow.

So, with that said...

What music inspires YOU most?

Lost - Part 1

    Bbmpbbmpbbmp

   “mmnyh”

    Bubbmpbubbmpbubbmp

    “Uhh...wha?”

    Bubbabumpbubbabumpbubbabump
    "Wher-?"
    All at once, reality seemed to explode into existence in a flash of pain and sound and smoke. Cecilia's senses burned and she found herself on the ground, clutching ribs that were alight in agony and seemed to have a bit more give than regular, non-broken bones should have.
    Around her, the world wailed.
    A klaxon screamed its warning for all who would hear, barely drowning out the sound of men and women screaming, boots stomping on hard metal, pulse rifles firing, sounding like a jackhammer on a steel drum, and the roar of something monstrous and unknown in the distance. All of it was muffled even more by the crackling booming of fire.
    She sat up quickly and screamed.
    "Ellen?! Kera?!"
    She couldn't remember what happened or how she got here, but she knew she wanted to find her sisters and quickly. Had they been with her? Were they ok?
    It didn't matter though. She had bigger issues.
    All around her, an inferno raged. The fire licked at her skin and she had no idea how to get away from it. Each time she breathed in her lungs were being seared with smoke and she felt herself coughing and hacking; an action that was getting progressively faster and therefore worse as she began to hyperventilate. The world seemed to close in around her as the panic threatened to send her over the edge.
    "ELLEN?! KERA?!"
    tunktunktunktunk!
    Someone running towards her?
    "Ma'am!" a voice screamed barely audible over the roar of the fire. "This way! Come this way! We have to get you out of here!"
    A marine.
    "I can't!" she said quickly, the panic only taking a firmer grip. "I-I can't!"
    It was all she could muster. The world burned with fire between them.
    "You have to! Come on! Please! Just run towards me. Run as fast as you can. I'll be here to catch you!"
    Her throat tightened and, despite the blazing inferno around her, Cecilia's palms went cold and sweaty. She shut her eyes tight.
    "Alright." she said, her shaking voice betraying her. "On three."
    "On three." the marine agreed.
    "One." she began.
    "Two."
    Before she could muster a 'Three' there was an echoing crash and a screeching roar as the metal of the hall bent and screamed in defiance of a preternatural force. The marine screamed back, firing the pulse rifle at something. They were silenced a moment later and all fear of fire was wiped away as the marine was slammed into Cecilia's chest, thrown like a ragdoll, sending them both sprawling backwards. The combined force and weight sent them clean past the flames and down a chasm that was open in the floor.
    Cecilia hit the ground below with a sobbing cry as the marine, dead weight, crushed her with their bulk; broken ribs burned and stabbed in protest of the pressure.
    "Get off!" she yelled and pushed against the dead marine. "Please get off!"
    Above her, she could hear the thing. It scrabbled and moved across the metal of the hall above with the sound of someone raking a dozen pickaxes against a grated chalkboard. It seemed to blend into a terrible crescendo of oncoming death with the klaxon as she desperately clawed at the body that weighed her down.
    She kept pushing, kept trying to get the corpse off of her shattered ribs and weak body. She felt the load soften slightly as the heavy pulse rifle clattered down next to her.
   The creature was just crawling through chasm she had fallen through, growling softly under the klaxon and the claws, when she managed to free herself from under the dead marine and scuttled backwards in terror.
    Cecilia only escaped back an inch or two before she hit the wall.
    Above, the creature seemed to realize she was trapped. It made its way slowly, carefully, down to the next level; it's growl growing into twittering, high pitch that reminded her of a cat stalking a bird.
    She shut her eyes tight, sobbing.
    Her hands fell to the pulse rifle on the ground beside her.
    She had never used one before. No official training of any kind. But she knew the concept of a gun. You point it at something and pull the trigger. Hopefully you have the right end pointed towards what you want to die. 
    The creature roared. Maybe it recognized the threat of the gun. Maybe it was just done playing with her. It scrabbled forward with that same high-pitched, gut wrenching sound of claws on metal.
    Cecilia grabbed the weapon's stock, raised the gun, and squeezed the trigger; praying it was even vaguely pointed in the right direction.
    Pulse rifle's are so much louder when you're the one firing them.

Follow Up: Religion in Space

Hello Lovelies,

So, after some heated discussion with someone, I realized that I might need to add some clarification to my last post regarding religion in space. While I won't go into the finer details, the essence of the conversation went about like this...

"Why in the HELL are you talking about people's religions?! You have
 a writing blog! Stick to your stupid little stories and don't pick fights!"

While this is not the direct quote, this is definitely the gist of what started the conversation. With that said, allow me to clarify.

I run a writing blog. I live under the belief that any topic within human existence can be focused on in writing. How they are handled will naturally be up to the author and based on the author the approach can be well-done or it can be offensive. The existence of a subject should not be a reason to start a fight with someone.

The fact that Muslim individuals might face an odd circumstance based on a currently followed belief is not trying to pick on Muslims. The face that Christian individuals are currently the most commonly represented religions in most science fiction novels/books/movies is not trying to pick on Christians. Pointing out observations and considerations is not attempting to be bigotted. Only applying hateful thoughts to those works is.

With that said, allow me to answer the first part of the question, "Why?" Religion, at least within our current context, is a huge part of human culture. It exists. Whether you consider one, some, all, or none to be good or bad, it exists. And, as it exists, it very well may be a source of inspiration for some people in their writing. Personally, I haven't chosen to focus too heavily on the topic in my own writing because I haven't had a story come to heart that was inspired by the topic. But that doesn't mean if there's a potentially interesting idea I think it should simply be ignored.

In short, what I'm saying is to two fold. First, to the writers: don't censor yourself if you've got a story to tell and it might be a sensitive topic. People can and will find things to get angry about. Sometimes they're very justified. Sometimes they aren't.

Second, to those that were offended: I'm sorry you took it the wrong way. The act of addressing a concept, of talking about a thing that exists, is not hate. If I ever spoke in a demeaning or hateful fashion on this topic or any other, you're more than welcome to point it out. But the act of simply talking about a subject that some people aren't necessarily comfortable with, whether it's because you're for or against it, doesn't make that topic any less viable. Again, for the people in the back: acknowledging something's existence is not being hateful. So once more, I'm sorry we don't see eye to eye, but I don't believe in hiding from something like religion just because it's a touchy topic.

With that said, I'll get off my soap box. I'm hoping I didn't scare too many away, but I needed to say my peace. Whether it was meant that way or not, I don't take kindly to being bullied over what I originally thought of as a largely inoccuous and academically interesting concept.

I hope you have a pleasant day and will hopefully see you again soon.

Galactic Worship

Hello Lovelies,

I was recently reading an article with regards to the UAE considering building a city on Mars. While the consideration is definitely interesting and there were more than a few comments leaning to either side of the argument, one question that was asked grabbed my attention.

"How would Muslims in space face Mecca to pray?"

While I don't know if the question was asked out of venom and spite or if it was a genuine intellectual curiosity (as many, many individuals were taking their time to bash the UAE for nothing more than being non-American/non-Christian), it did raise a very real question for me. How would they? My understanding of the religion is that individuals must face Mecca while doing their prayers, so how would that work within the context of galactic travel and/or colonization of other planets within or outside of our given solar system.

Just dwelling on it, I imagine space travelers that are actively in a ship wouldn't really have an issue so long they're pointed in the right direction (provided they know what direction Earth is); but what about those colonists on another planet. Let's make the equation easy and say we're on Mars and Earth is directly 'above' us. What then? Does the individual find some inclined method to face our home planet or do they do something else?

This really got my brain buzzing about the possibility of different religions in space. Really thinking about it, the recurring religion portrayed in most Science Fiction movies, books, and games always seems to be Christianity. I'm not sure if this is out of ease or simply out of the commonality of the Christian faith.

Depending on what concept you follow, the concept of religion in space can go one of two ways. Some feel that religion will be done away with as man explores the stores; the need for belief in a high power stripped away by the intricacies of the universe. Otherwise argue the exact opposite: that being lost among the stars and seeing the wonders of space travel will only give birth to a belief that some larger force is at work.

While I won't raise the argument in either direction, it really does make me wonder how space travel and exploration would influence a given religion. Christians definitely seem the easiest to visualize overall, as they would basically just expand their faith to include that their God created all they see...no matter how vast or large. I imagine Muslims to be the same, but they obviously face the aforementioned prayer issue. The Jewish faith seems equally similar, only touted by the issue of 'don't light your minora on a spaceship'. All together, I think the Buddhist faith presents the most readily spaceworthy since they already acknowledge the existence of other worlds and yet they consider the existence of all worlds inconsequential in the great scheme of things.

All in all, this is little more than an open forum...a way to get your brain boiling for interesting concepts that might influence your own writing or creation.

What can you think of with any given religion that might present an interesting challenge or development based on space travel?

(Current Untitled) - 03.29.16

http://www.wallconvert.com/search/apocalypse/

    Whether most people admit it or not, many dream about some kind of worldwide catastrophe. Whether it be zombies, some kind of massive plague, or maybe even a world war. Many people dream about having the planet wiped clean of humanity.

    Now don’t get me wrong, few would ever dream of admitting it.

    The very thought of the horror of such an event, how many lives would be wiped away in any kind of global catastrophe, is sickening. So many men, women, and children, each with their own individual hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, gone forever. Billions lost. It turns the stomach.

    However, it’s hard not to admit that there is a certain allure. If there wasn’t, why is modern media dominated by this post-apocalyptic ideal?

    Those brave enough to admit their own desires will surely have their reasons. The environmentalist might say “Now the world can begin to heal.” The survivalist might say “Now I can live without being bothered.” Hell, we all know at least one person who wants nothing more than to just go fight the zombies that might plague this theoretical world.

    At the end of the day, no matter the reason, it all boils down to individual greed.

    The desire to see the world turned from that which it is into a barren wasteland, no matter the type, stems from a selfish desire to make the world itself yours. No rules. No boundaries. Take what you want and make your way in the world without anyone telling you what you can or can’t do. A clean slate to do what you will.

    But there’s one problem

    No one ever thinks that they will be the one to die in this apocalypse. They are the one who will see it through. They are the one that will see the world born again. They would never hope for such a disaster if they didn’t think they’d survive it.

    Would they?