Some newbies to the fiction world tremble in fear at the very thought of considering themselves professionals. They may voice it in hushed whispers, as if a circle of professional writers will leap out of the shadows and commence stoning them to death.

When can you say with a clear conscience and no ambiguity that you are in fact a professional writer? Should you say it at all? Should others praise (or not) your writing abilities and yourself refrain from the subject all together?

…Indeed, should you?

Are you a professional writer? Are you an imposter? Are you an amateur with a desire or perhaps a facade of grandeur? Do you have a degree in English Literature and believe that qualifies you as a professional writer? Does it? Should it?

Hit a nerve, did I?

I was encouraged by many English teachers to pursue a career as a writer. My Freshman English teacher, however, was not one of them. She happened to be a published writer and discouraged anyone from pursuing that goal. In fact, she seemed to teach that writing was a nearly unobtainable rite of passage that very few could dream of accomplishing. If false writers were stoned to death, you better believe her stones would have caused the deathblows.

So then, the question remains, what is a professional writer and indeed, are you?

One proper explanation for a professional writer is one who makes a living writing. In this economy, that would narrow down the pros handsomely, wouldn’t it?

In that case, small press writers would never be considered pros unless they are selling thousands of novels and can sustain themselves financially. If you are a fantasy or science fiction writer does being a member of the SFWA declare your heir of professionalism? Couldn’t hurt. I would dare say anyone who is a member of the SFWA is a professional writer but not all professional writers are members of the SFWA.

If you happen to be a self-sustaining writer, then bravo for you and I tip my proverbial hat in your honor.

Seriously, does monetary gain alone promote you as a professional writer? Did Homer (if indeed Homer existed) make money off of writing or was he a wandering vagabond poet at the mercy of others’ hospitality? Many of the great writers didn’t become popular until after death. So what, do you write on their tombstone, “In life he wrote but in death he became a professional writer?”

Well then we can surmise with this argument that monetary gain alone does not qualify one as a writer of proper professional status, right?

Let’s venture another possibility. Do sales give you the title professional writer? Is it gauged by the number of books you sell? Hmm…but what if you don’t write novels? What if you spent your life just hacking out short stories? How many published short stories qualify you as a professional writer? Ten, fifty, a hundred or a thousand?

Is it the millionth published word count that lifts you to the heir of a pro?

A million words published is like ten to twelve average sized novels (80-100k words) or about four hundred short stories or articles averaging 2500 words each.

Is it the air itself? In that case we all need to move to La Rinoconada, Peru and perhaps we’ll strike gold.

La Rinoconada is a gold mine located in the Peruvian Andes at an elevation of 5100 meters, that’s about 16,728 feet and over three times the elevation of Denver, Colorado.

Confused? Good that means you are thinking.

What is confusion but our inability to understand intelligent structure or fear of not being able to categorize that structure in an ordered fashion?

I had fear of going to the bathroom when I was a kid. Always thought the toilet was going to suck me in…Go ahead, laugh. I think it actually did once.

Anyways, fear and doubt does play a huge role in the ability to call you a professional writer. However, it does not mean you are one just because you have the guts to say so; and it doesn’t mean you aren’t one because you will not say so.

What is the point of all this?

Sometimes it is better to let others praise you and simply refer to yourself as a writer. As a writer you will always be loved and hated. This is the path of all who choose to entertain. You may be a great writer in the eyes of one reader and a slack hack in the eyes of another. Sometimes that opinion may be shared by the same reader.

You may even get people who say they wrote a story once, tried writing a novel and had a family member who could write. Perhaps they’ll mention that they wrote some in college and the teachers were impressed. In other words: “I have a vague recollection of what you do, but that is really as far as my interest goes.”

Perhaps you will get hit with, “Do you make any money?”

“No, not really,” you may reply.

“You must not be very good at it,” they may say with no apparent conscience of the sting in their words. Or they may simply reply, “Then why do you do it?”

Why do you?

You’ve heard about the starving artist? Well, writing is an art and many writers struggle to make income based on just writing. Very few can make a living as a writer. It isn’t easy to do and you have to be a really talented hack to do it.

I do mean hack as in articles, nonfiction pieces and the concept of selling numerous manuscripts. Yes, novelists and short story writers can make money and sometimes really good money. Most of the prominent writers are an environmental adaptable species: Ergo, they go where the money can be made and usually that money is made in freelance non-fiction articles.

So what is a professional writer?

A professional writer is someone who gets paid for his work or at least could get paid for his/her work. If you aspire to be a writer, I hope one day your dream will come true.

Just remember that dreams—all dreams—remain so until you as an individual decide to make it a reality. In writing, that means write, write some more, write often and don’t stop. Words on paper are never transformed into life until they are created with blood, sweat and many tears. In other words, love what you do and do it even when you don’t want to.

So don’t give up and remember you are the only thing keeping you from your pen, quill, feather, or key pad.

So, happy writing—professionally speaking, of course!

“A Professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”  -Richard Bach

Hello,

I have been gone for a while and my wife would never argue that point. I’ve had some health issues that have placed me a little under the weather. Not sure how much time I will be able to dedicate to this site but I will chuck something out here and there. I promised Eugie Foster a showcase and although I never forgot, I sure did procrastinate.

Eugie Foster is a name in itself that sounds poetic, majestic, perhaps a little blended into the fantastic. Indeed, with further research you would discover that all of the above is true and you can add sophisticated, intelligent and highly competent to the repertoire of talents that makes the sum of Eugie Foster.

Truth is her websites are so concise and detailed I could hardly do them any justice.

Who is Eugie Foster? This is straight from one of her sites:

Honestly I couldn’t do better than the information already available so check her sites:

Eugie Foster Web Site

This is her official web site chucked full of all kinds of goodies from her bio, career, talents and lists of literary works and dedication to the literary world.

Her Blog

Seriously, where does she find the time to blog? If I could do a fourth of her active lifestyle I would be happy

Dragon*Con

*Attention all geeks and nerds*  Eugie Foster is the Director\Editor of the Daily Dragon the onsite newsletter of Dragon*Con and is a Director of the said Dragon*Con. If you are fortunate to set foot in the Dragon*Con—and  I strongly encourage anyone who can possibly attend one to do so—you would see her there hard at work and putting others hard at work if she could Jason M. Waltz-CEO of Rogue Blades Entertainment would gladly attest to that.

I would give my right boot to attend a Dragon*Con once in my lifetime but opportunities for that are slim for a fellow Akronite such as myself.

Well, as promised here is a short and sweet showcase of Eugie Foster.

-From the editors, writers and producers of the Christopher Marshall Showcase.

Current staff: One (and sometimes that is debatable.)

Enjoy,

Christopher Marshall, Nerd at Large

* Can’t hyperlink to any of Eugie’s affiliate sites so you’ll have to Google the old fashion way. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it is beyond my abilities to fix.

Welcome as we round up the Showcase on RBE. All thanks to Jason M. Waltz CEO of Rogue Blades Entertainment and the writers, artists, affiliates and associates who have or are working with RBE and most–no doubt–will be working with him again in the future.

Now then, back to the matters at hand. RBE is best known for anthologies and at the RBE site both original works of RBE and affiliated works are available. Let’s start at the beginning…

Return of the Sword

“Return now to the days of true adventure! Join fierce warriors in savage battles of survival and supremacy as they face hordes of vile foes, vie against inner demons, or struggle before onslaughts of both. Enter the halls of heroic fantasy in awe and marvel at the deeds of the mighty. Close upon the heels of Howard’s Conan, Moorcock’s Elric, and Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser come Ehart’s Ninshi, Heath’s Brom, and Hawkes’ Kabar. Unsheathe your sword and follow in their steps if you dare!” –RBE

Return of the Sword is RBE’s first original work and sports twenty two talented authors.

Sages & Swords

Sages & Swords is an original Pitch Black Books Anthology (Pitch Black Books) and is available for purchase on the RBE website.

I would like to add that Lords of Swords is also available from Pitch Black books and includes thirteen stories with authors from Tanith Lee, Vera Nazarian, E.E. Knight, D.K. Latta, Nancy Virginia Varian and more.

 

Demons

Boasts of at least twenty-eight stories by many authors who have already graced the pages of RBE’s anthologies as well as a few new faces.

Roar of the Crowd

Scheduled to release sometime in mid 2010. Don’t worry, you have plenty to read until then.

Rage of the Behemoth

This RotB Anthology contains 21 stories about the biggest, baddest, boldest behemoths ever to roar across the pages of heroic adventure! Over 150,000 words of monstrous mayhem record the ferocious battles that rage between gargantuan creatures of myth and legend and the warriors and wizards who wage war against, beside, and astride them. Behemoths and battles will be presented in four-story sections of five different habitats introduced by the stunning illustrations of John Whitman and headlined by well-known authors Mary Rosenblum, C.L. Werner, Brian Ruckley, Lois Tilton, and – writing together for the final time - Andrew Offutt and Richard K. Lyon.

I may add that this anthology is a clever work of art. Here is a glimpse of the habitats and corresponding authors:

Welcome aboard as I continue the showcase with Rogue Blades Entertainment. First off, my apologies for the tardy second entry. Things got off to a slow start on the circulation to the showcase and I wanted it to have a little more ‘face’ time before I went on.

Thanks to Jeff Draper for kicking off the comments and to Jason for his replies. Jason wants the comments so feel free to speak your mind and always be civil.

I would like to explain once again that The Author Praises for Jason will appear here in the next part of this article. Currently, they are on another site. I have five sites so I keep things spread out for different hits. However, I simply repeat the same material on all sites so you aren’t missing anything.  It’s just a matter of when you will be seeing it.

Before I start…

The old pun, “Editors wear many hats,” is well known. Jason it seems has taken this concept a little farther to include hat and beard. Or perhaps this is his version of good editor/bad editor?They say pictures are worth a thousand words so…

…Need I say more?

Sorry Jason I just had to do it. You can enjoy Jason’s alter ego on von Darkmoor’s thoughts. He has well written and concise articles so enjoy them.

Enough of that… The next question I asked Jason was,

What do you feel it [heroic fantasy] brings to both old and new generations?

Jason replied,

“I think Heroic Fantasy brings the same thing to both generations: Hopes and thrills. For the older readers, it is the thrill of familiarity, of a return to what once was…and the hope that it is so. For the newer, it’s the thrill of freshness, of novelty…and the hope that such is truth. For both, for all readers, it is the hope that there is someone out there worthy of being named ‘hero’ – and the thrill of finding it to be true.

The more exciting authors can make it, the more believable they can make the unbelievable, the more addictive it is. Give the reader somebody he/she can be or at least believe in – no matter how remote a possibility it is, convince the reader that the possibility ‘to be’ exists – who, reluctantly or not, does what Spectra Editor David Pomerico said in his Pulse of Spectra newsletter (“Heroic Measures,” 7-2-09) – saves the “regular people.”

‘Good’ still matters. Down deep inside each of us is the recognition of what ‘good’ is, and we want someone to do good by all of us. Saving us regular people is good.

Here’s an interesting yet not new thought: Batman is actually much more of a heroic figure than Superman. Superman is the epitome of a hero. Superman possesses most every quality man deems heroic. He naturally possesses them. There is no struggle to attain or maintain them. There is no choice for him but to save the regular people. On the other hand, Batman must regularly struggle to even be considered heroic. He must overcome personal fears and biases, and thwart personal desires. It is a choice for him, and each time he must question saving the regular people. He must choose to stand for something he is not…and in that standing become it for the rest of us. Both are expected to be heroic. But every time Batman is, we’re still a little bit surprised. That’s Heroic Fantasy.” -Jason M. Waltz

Again, I think Jason made valid points. One such struggling character turned heroic is R.A. Salvatore’s Artemis Entreri, each time he chose not to do what came naturally, you were surprised. Yet, if felt good to see the change in a man who once spent his life killing without thought or condemnation. Somewhere deep in the darkness of his cold heart a hero began to form… a batman if you will. Conan a hero? I think he grew as a hero as he grew in age. For all of his savagery he had a rough code of honor and in some ways kinder than the civilized world of his time.

Frodo a hero? In the most unlikely way he was far more than a hero. Why? Because he exceeded over what was ever expected or believed he could have and all of that was by choice. A choice not to be fettered by what should have been his limitations, but to exceed those limitations for others. A a selfless sacrifice gains the status of hero.

Look at Robert E. Howard’s Kull.  I think the turning point of his heroism was made in one simple decision in the short story, “Exile of Atlantis”.

*SPOILER*

Kull chose to defy the people that raised him as there own to spare a girl he did not even know. He killed her quick to save her from being burned, but his first thoughts were to free her even at the risk of killing the entire tribe. He couldn’t do that due to the thickness of her chains, but he spared her a horrible death. In my mind, that moment marked his future as true hero. He did what he thought was right despite the popular beliefs that opposed him—and nearly killed him.

In my early twenties (many moons ago) I was at a restaurant eating with some family and friends. A lady there had just changed her mind about something. I commented, “Women always change their minds.”

“We do not,” She looked at me indignantly.

“Yes you do.” I foolishly retorted. (Since then I have discovered the futileness of arguing with a woman.)

“I do not.” She smiled, “I simply reevaluate my decisions based upon newer information.”

I laughed until I cried. That statement has stuck with me for about twenty years.

I think the mark of a heroic protagonist is freedom, not freedom to do—sometimes they have little choice in that—but freedom to choose to do something heroic. To reevaluate their decisions as it were, based upon new information to do the right thing.

The final question I asked Jason was,

What direction would you like to see Heroic Fantasy take in the future?

He replied,

“I would like to see a future wherein ‘Heroic’ in fiction is recognized, is not frowned upon nor ignored. A future wherein ‘doing the right thing’ is not dictated by anything other than simply being the right thing.

Won’t happen for two reasons.

We’re flawed. Rather, the creation known as ‘mankind’ was allowed to become flawed, misaligned. Aggressive, profit- and domination-oriented decision making is our norm. Only total reprogramming of the human psyche will ever replace that. And if that were ever to occur, we wouldn’t be we any longer.

The other reason this won’t happen is that we do not want it to. If mankind were ever to attain the peace of equality and unity, the perfection, as it were, of Superman, there’d be no need of heroes. There’d certainly be no villains to thwart, no anti-establishment figures, no dissension or crime or wars requiring salvation from. By attaining our ideal, we rid ourselves of our need for heroes.

For that is part of the heroic appeal: its unattainability by all. The Few. The Proud. The Heroes. A community of superfolk – men and women composed of Kal-El’s personal fortitude – is alien to the mind of man. The best we have ever imagined was the multitude of religious pantheons nations crafted. The original ‘superior’ folk, the gods were built upon lies – for they but mimicked us on a grander scale. With infinite power came itty-bitty living space – the confines of the human mind.

We need our heroes to be more than we can be. En masse and individually. So where would I like to see Heroic Fantasy take us? To acknowledgment of our plight, our need and our chance for redemption. We need our heroes – for we’re only as good as they are.”  - Jason M. Waltz

Not a whole lot I can add to those comments. That is the responsibility of the writer. More so for Hollywood has failed us and television has failed us more often than not.

The depth of the true hero is flawed. Flawed not just because the hero has faults, but flawed because the hero is believable. A flawed character is a realistic character, a character who learns from mistakes and makes those mistakes because the human persona in itself is flawed. Why is that so important? In a nutshell, because the reader can relate and with that relation they continue to move on and read.

They share the struggle with the character and if the writer can pull it off with craft and skill, the writer becomes invisible. A seamless weaver  joining the hands of the hero with the reader and leaving all else behind. Simply put, a page turner. The best writers do it, and the rest [of us] struggle because they can’t.

Often I hear writers comment, “I am in control of my character, they do what I tell them to do.”

That is a mistake and unfortunately not just a mistake that only some novice writers commit. Characters do what they should do according to who and what they are. If they are real and if you expect the reader to believe they are real, you have to let them decide their own actions. Once you create a three-dimensional character they should “come to life” in your mind. If that is true, they make the decisions and you write them accordingly. If not, your character becomes  just an extension of the writer and not a complete persona.

I have found myself in a pickle many times by placing my main character in a situation that I have no way of knowing how they are going to get out of it. So, I ask them, “Okay, what are you going to to do now?” Sometimes it takes a while before I get an answer. It can’t be the great omnipotent writer who gets them out, it has to be them according to there wits and perceptions or it just isn’t believable.

For instance, how believable would Frodo had been if Tolkien had him pick up a sword and slay a thousand orcs? Or Aragorn beaten by an unarmed goblin? Characters have to stay in character. That is something I learned in Drama and Theater Arts. Characters need to stay in their character not in your interpolation\interpretation of that character. That makes them believable. That is hard for a writer to do, almost like having  a child and then letting that child go to make there own decisions and sometimes their own mistakes.

That is the difference between a Superman and a Batman. Superman is perfect, unflawed, everything the writer makes him per se, and Batman is what the hero truly is unbiased by what the author thinks he should be.

Agree or disagree with Jason? Put your comments below. He is not out on a witch-hunt so don’t feel bad. Jason is kind and answers questions in an established and professional manner. You have the right to agree or disagree but you do not have the right to not be civil about it… Well, at least here you don’t.

I’ll will wrap the third part up with the Author’s Praises and a little about the authors themselves and what RBE offers in terms of anthologies and novels.

I hope you enjoyed yourself and gained something from it. Until next time… well, bye.

Part One: What is Heroic Fantasy?

To look upon the home page of Rogue Blades Entertainment is to take a nostalgic glimpse of what is Sword & Sorcery, or at least what has become of it. Perhaps not just what has become of Sword & Sorcery, but a more personal view into the true heroes of Sword & Sorcery.

The fantasy genres have blended so much over the years (and sadly diluted through innumerable RPG games and misplaced Hollywood films) that the heart of this iconic genre has been nigh but lost—or at least incredibly misinterpreted to the common population.

Say the word “Sword & Sorcery”, and most people give you an, “Oh you mean like that old stuff that use to be in Weird Tales? Authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard? Yeah and those old characters like Conan, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Elric of Melnibone.. . Aren’t all those authors dead?”

And no, they are not all dead and no, they all did not write S&S. The actual terminology of Sword and Sorcery was originally given to Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories by a correspondence  between Michael Moorcock and Fritz Leiber (Mr. Leiber being the one to actually coin the term)…If the account in Wikipedia is accurate and that is never an assured thing.

The sad truth is that video games and Hollywood have miscued fantasy characters and creatures to the point they all run together. I have read forums where youths think elves are, “Just humans with pointed ears.” Dwarves are “Short people” and Ogres…well, who else but Shrek? Dare you ask them about a goblin they will brighten immediately and say, “Oh you mean the Green Goblin from Spiderman?”

Go to the Middle School and older and all your replies will usually involve Forgotten Realms, R.A. Salvatore (Drizzt may have played a huge part in the revolution of RPGs), MORPG’s or novels constituted by Wizards of the West Coast. I happen to enjoy a good RPG game and have played many. I loved R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt novels and Mr.Salvatore himself is an alright guy. I tip my hat to any man who can sell over ten million novels. Plus he gave me very good advice on my first novel by saying (paraphrasing) enjoy it while you can because after the first novel you have deadlines to meet forever thereafter.

Still, the pulverization of vanilla fantasy characters into the younger culture does create a stereotype of said fiction characters. Other than a few different abilities and physical appearances, most interpretations of fantasy characters are just extensions of humans.

Yes, a small part of the media’s archetypical understanding is based on poor literature. Some stories have portrayed elves as nothing more than pointed eared humans, dwarves as short people (or in one Hollywood film that I recall, they didn’t even bother to make the dwarves short) fan fiction may play a huge role in diluting what was once a highly revered genre of fast action, brawny sword wielding men and voluptuous heroines. A time when a man was a man and a woman a woman…By Crom!

Could you imagine our politicians and liberalists in the Age of Conan?

“Oh Conan, you shouldn’t steal that man’s horse.”

“Conan, if they don’t want you to be king…you should just resign.”

“Conan, put that sword down. We need to communicate with our enemies.”

“Conan if they want to slaughter the entire village, you should let them. If you raise your sword against them you are just proving you are no better.”

…I could see the walls of Conan’s Aquilonian palace lined with the sun-bleached skulls of many a politician.

For that reason, I cringe to use the term Sword & Sorcery. Plus, most of the works today have blended the genres so much you can’t really place them in one category. Sword & Sorcery needed a face-lift, an upgrade for a newer generation and at Rogue Blades Entertainment, I assure you it has. Heroic fantasy is a new skin for a newer generation, an upgrade from Sword & Sorcery.

RBE describes heroic fantasy as, “This is the fantastical root of and father to all that RBE is interested in. Heroic fantasy incorporates the epic/high fantasy tale on one hand and the sword & sorcery/low fantasy tale on the other. It is a strictly heroic tale written in favor of neither one side nor the other. Its story often appears to be of a lesser magnitude than that of the epic tale, while its protagonist sometimes appears to have a higher purpose than that of the usual sword & sorcery character. David Gemmell’s novels are good examples of heroic fantasy.”

David Gemmell—(1948-2006) Bestselling British novelist best known for Heroic Fantasy and with over thirty novels to his credit.

The true heroes of this iconic genre are the writers themselves: Not just the pioneers like Howard, Leiber and Moorcock but all of those who sought to follow in the footsteps of heroic fantasy. Wielding pens like swords, weaving words like intricate spells, and pages the land both beautiful and deadly that their heroes embarked on with fearless passion. For without the writers, the legend of heroes fades…

Just as important are people like Jason M. Waltz and Rogue Blades Entertainment to keep the legacy of the writers alive or they too, would fade into dismal history. Small press publishers like Jason are devoted to the art of the literature not just the monetary value of it. Perhaps someday that will change and small press will grow as people’s interest in better quality literature increases. Perhaps one day big publishers will fail to reinvent themselves and inadvertently collapse into the ashes of a far less viable regime. Until then, we must rely on small press to read good heroic fantasy.

Does that mean that the heroic fantasy genre is dying out? As I mentioned earlier, it is commercialized into perpetual oversaturated boredom via Hollywood and video games (much like this sentence).

Do not be sad die-hard heroic fantasy fans, for the genre is far from dead. Don’t believe me you naysayers and skeptics? Well, of course you don’t.

Read the introduction under, “Welcome To Rogue Blades Entertainment” and all of your doubts of a dying heroic fantasy genre will begin to fade. How can you doubt a man who introduces his web site with:

“…We are invigorating a NEW Age of Heroes with hard-hitting, fast-paced tales reminiscent of mythic battles and warriors from pulp and lore. With a clash of swords and ringing steel, RBE delivers the ultimate in motivational entertainment…” –RBE

Jason M. Waltz has strived with fierce enthusiasm to wield a notch with sword, axe, fire and blood. A banner to the legend that is heroic fantasy fused with a younger generation. A hope that heroes and heroines, whether by wit or forged steel, will carve the immortal legacy of heroic fantasy into the hearts of readers both young and old. Heroic fantasy is not just about charismatic sword wielding heroes of another age, it is about hope, stamina to persevere despite the odds and bring forth victory even in the face of defeat.

It is about following a warrior as he fights through a throng of blood crazed savages only to be outmatched in brawn and forced to use his or her wits to win the day. After you close the pages you can reflect on life and say, “losing my job isn’t so bad, or even my home,” or any kind of hardships or tragedies that may come your way. You could say, “at least I didn’t have to fight through a thousand savages. I can get through this; I will get through this and become stronger for my troubles.”

In other words,

HEROIC FANTASY IS NOT A MEANS TO ESCAPE YOUR PROBLEMS; IT IS A WAY TO COPE WITH THEM. You can consider it a stress relief, perhaps just a momentary escape—or a literary aspirin, if you will. If you have no stress then consider it Nirvana for the brain.

I asked Jason M. Waltz a simple question and like everything that Jason does, he answered with a cogent tenacity that reflects his heroic personality.

I ask you—the reader—to take a moment and step into your mind’s parlor. That’s it, sit back in a carved walnut high-back chair. Tap the proverbial ashes from an A. Peyrau terracotta pipe (caricatured in the likeness of Joseph Pulitzer’s head) and pat the old English bloodhound one last time as we cogitate with Jason as he answers my question:

What in your words is Heroic Fantasy?

“Heroic fantasy is the conceptualized desire of mankind to save itself…or at least others more vulnerable than we. It is our hopes embodied within an iconic figure all and more than we could ever be that foremost faces the worst that can be done to us – and somehow survives. That’s the key: Success measured in survival. Surviving – hopefully but usually not unscathed – to renew assumption of those hopes and dreams, to shoulder anew a duty to persist in the face of any and all odds.

So what makes a hero? All that is done in spite of one’s personal desires or despite one’s inclinations. Aragorn succeeded as a hero not because he wanted to – but in direct opposition to his own hopes and desires…and fears. Conan succeeds as a hero not because he wishes to – but directly as a result of his normally-considered less than savory desires…the pursuit of wealth, women, and wine.

Heroes – as I stated in the Foreword to Return of the Sword – are ordinary people performing extraordinary actions. They are the ones who do what no one else does or will. They face down the ugly foes not because they dream of their body broken and the loss of their personal pleasure but because they cannot allow such things to happen to those around them. Inadvertent heroism is normal. Recurring heroics is abnormal. It bears repeating: Heroic individuals are those who do the extraordinary in ordinary times – and also those who continue to do the ordinary in extraordinary times.

Heroes have larger stories than you or I do. There is no tale that does not have a hero, though not all are bigger than life or face gigantic, global, or galactic foes – but the best ones do! The best tales of heroes are the ones most memorable, those most attractive, and most controversial. Mack Bolan. Jason Bourne. Odysseus. Drizzt Do’Urden. Hondo. Shane. Edmund Dantes. Tom Swift. Doc Savage. Tarzan. Jack Bauer. The list is endless.

What is ‘Heroic Fantasy’? Heroic Fantasy is man’s ideal experienced individually: It is the triumph of the one on behalf of the many through survival with a dash of élan.” -Jason M. Waltz

A huge thanks for all the writers who participated in this and yes, all of your golden comments will be posted here in the body of one of these parts as well as on the other site. Until then, if anyone wants to check them out here is the link: RBE Authors’ Praises 

Most importantly I want to thank Jason for his kindness,  patience, and his comments. Not to mention the time he took to write them and think them through…And for actually trusting me to do this!

Jason commented on “Return of the Sword” which is one of his anthologies chock full of stories by talented authors. If you haven’t picked up a copy you should. That way you can see what heroic fantasy is first hand. I have given you a link below. You can own a copy for under twenty dollars or have an electronic version for under ten!

Return of the Sword

…and that my friends [or enemies] is it for now. Join me next week as I bite my nails, rip my hair out and continue our journey with RBE. You want to know what I asked Jason next? Well, join me next week and find out.

Until then, why don’t you visit RBE and if you have already—do it again!

      Rogue Blades Entertainment     

-RBE-

If you are not happy with this article, or if I have offended you in anyway, please send any and all complaints here: Forward

Introduction

Where can you find the legacy of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Michael Moorcock, and many other heroic authors coupled with a new generation of authors who have not only taken the torch, but also kept the flames of Heroic Adventure alive?

Where can you find forty plus authors with writing credentials from published novels, awards, to appearances in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Black Gate, Flashing Swords, Abandoned Towers, Everyday Fiction, All Possible Worlds, Ricasso Press, and many more?

Authors like Mary Rosenblum, Michael Ehart, Bill Ward, Steve Goble, S.C. Bryce, Bruce Durham, Angeline Hawkes, Christopher Heath, Kate Martin, Andrew Offutt, E.E. Knight,TY Johnson, Jason Thummel, and far too many to list here.

Not to mention stunning artwork by Mike Johnson, Didier Normand, Johnney Perkins, and John Whitman.

If you need a swashbuckling fix, dashing adventure, or a well-written, enthusiastically entertaining yarn of fantasy, where do you go?

Have you ever wished the pulp era never died? Do you wish you could still read stories where action is fast paced and the story never blogged by chunks of meaningless back-story?

Have you ever cried out, “Get to the point!” after reading innumerable pages of tiresome description? Have you ever felt let down—even betrayed—after the hook at the beginning of the story?

Did you ever feel the main character was a puppet, controlled by the author, and not a three dimensional, living, breathing personality?

Have you felt that the neat little cookie cutter stories would better suit a bakery than a work of fiction? Or perhaps most of the words were to fill out a blatantly long word count and have no point to the story?

Well, you need Rogue Blades Entertainment.

“I need who?”

You need Rogue Blades Entertainment!

RBE is ran by a man who is radical, a rebel in his time. Why? Because he actually still feels that a story should be entertainment, a work of fiction shifted from the real world into a world of imagination. That a story of fiction can give hope to the reader.

Heroic Fiction should not just be used for an analytical amputation from dry, supercilious farts who feel their intelligence is the brightest jewel of a darkening, ignorant dominated universe. (Sometimes an apple really is just an apple.)

I have nothing against education as long as it used in the proper way, not to lift the individual up but to help others to be at the same level.

Not only Does the CEO—Jason M. Waltz—encourage the great heroic literature that founded the genre, he also strives to keep the legacy alive. His anthologies host a slew of talented writers and artists.

Come visit me on November 1^st when I begin a month long journey of showcasing Jason M. Waltz and Rogues Blades Entertainment.

You will not be disappointed!

                     CEO-Jason M. Waltz

–C.D. Marshall

Insatiable: 1.unable to be satisfied. 2.extremely greedy.

Insatiable is under insanity in my dictionary and I found the combination of the words to be quite fitting. Next month—November—I have decided to go into insatiable insanity.

What am I talking about? NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, where writers of all ages, locations, and genres come together to meet the challenge: To write 50,000 words in the month of November. Yes, I have joined and decided to compete for the first time. Yes, I am insane and no, I am not alone!

Akron has 121 participants so far and world wide, NaNo has thousands of writers from every corner, crook, and cranny. The Rubber City may not be big on writers but we are flexible (sad rubber joke).

Do you have what it takes? Want to try it? You have nothing to lose and so much insatiable insanity to gain!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I did promise to post a few books that I can vouch for. So, here they are. Now, I just want to warn you that book sites are full of bells and whistles to get your attention and your money. You can’t be a kid in a candy store and if you do, don’t complain to me!

As always, just keep in mind that How To Write Books are guidelines to be interpreted, defined, and accentuated by your personal craft. Not all views in the books are absolutes, they must be filtered through your perceptions and personal beliefs.

Then again, there is the conundrum of publishing. To write everything through your personal craft and beliefs may very well keep you sane, but you will probably have a new mailing address just to hold your rejections.

To write to sell you have to target what publishers want. That means you change the focal point of your craft to please them. Sure you don’t have to, you can keep your astute beliefs that the way you right is fine…Just enjoy being poor and keep your day job:)

These are my top three picks:

#1 “On Writing Well”  by William Zinsser, a writer and teacher. This book is a must have to the writer’s library.

#2 “The 10% Solution” by Ken Rand. This is also on my “must have” list. At first glance it may seem short but the more you delve into its pages the more deeper your thoughts are provoked. The 10% solution is a viable help to the writer on all levels.

#3a (for fiction writers) “Self-Editing For Fiction Writers”  is on my top three for fiction writers and an invaluable source to commonsense writing.

#3b (for nonfiction) “Writing For Story" by Jon Franklin. Even if nonfiction is not your thing I would read this book. IF you are a writer of nonfiction, he is an absolute must read and perhaps belongs on the #1 nonfiction list.

These are the top three suggestions from me. Not much, but if you are seeking a clarity to writing, these pages will help you on your way.

#4 “The Complete Handbook Of Novel Writing” by the Editors of Writers Digest Books. It covers chapters from Craft, Art, The Process (of writing), Genres, Marketplace, and interviews.

The book covers many subjects but not in deep, exhaustive detail. It is a primer to get you kick started in a certain genre and as such, covers many subjects. I found it to be a good read and help but not a must read beginner book.

Dictionaries: Yes, I have a few. Yes, I need to use them more. As a writer you need several. Even with a trusty dictionary on your word processor, you still need another source. I have an Oxford pocket version of a dictionary and thesaurus. In addition, I also have an old Thorndike Barnhart Dictionary to research some of my older words. My most valued tool is a Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, it is mammoth but a true gem.

I also have three Grammar books that contradict each other most of the time, but also a must have. Naturally, the editor’s preference is the final say of how to and what not on writing. Proper format is essential.

Are these all the How To Write Books I have? Nope. For the basics of writing I think these are good starter books. You will probably end up with a shelf full of books. However, there will always be just a few that stick with you.

Most of these can be found at Amazon or your local bookstore. Writer’s Digest has a bookstore as well (with many bells and whistles).

Happy reading!

-C.D.Marshall

Seriously, credentials in a  How To Write book are an absolute necessity and a filter to help weed out the fluff from the good stuff. Would you read a book of “How to be an Actor” by an Emmy award winner actor or by someone named Buzz who “may have been associated with commercials that did not air ”?

The same formula is for writers as well. Check the credentials always. I don’t care if the book is on every shelf from the United States to Bangladesh…CHECK THEIR CREDENTIALS! It will save you precious time and money. You ever hear the phrase, “Not all that glitters is gold”? Well in the writing business, “Not all prose is a rose”.

So, the question could come to mind: How do you find the right, “How to Write” book? Can’t say all of your endeavors will end up in a positive note. I have books that have sat around my home for years before I actually opened them or turned the first page. Some to regret and many to a better understanding of the writing profession.

Fact is, a “How To Write” book may have a wealth of information in them and you may not be at the level of your profession to fully appreciate the instruction. So, how do you—as a writer—start to explore these ideas without inhibiting your own voice, style, or mutate into a “they write like so and so…” which isn’t always a bad thing as long as “so and so” has passed from this Earth a milieu ago. Although I must admit I have never been accused of writing like Homer. Have you?

Always remember my golden rule:

“No matter where you are in writing,

or where you may think you are in

writing, the craft of writing is a

skill you will never master; but will

always strive to perfect.”

You can find free sites on the internet that have writing helps. Some are just as good and even better than the How To Write books. The problem is not all of them are legitimate. I would recommend only reading those supplied by an association of professional writing such as SFWA, P&E, or by a well known college, school, or professor. We writer’s tend to be invariably selfish and what has worked for one may very well never work for you.

As far as writing a synopsis goes this is by far the best article I have ever found:

Quantum of Synopses: Novel Synopsis Basics:

http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2009/01/quantum-of-synopses-novel-synopsis.html

Writing a Novel Synopsis That Rocks:

http://querytracker.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-short-writing-novel-synopsis-that.html

Many How To Write books are pretty good. I can’t vouch for them all unless someone pays me (kidding), but I can vouch for those I have read. Truthfully, if you have the money and either some writing experience or none at all, I highly recommend the LONGRIDGEWRITER’SGROUP:

http://www.longridgewritersgroup.com/index.htm

TAKE THE FREE APPTITUDE TEST AND SEE IF YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO TRY THEIR COURSE!

longridgewritersgroup.com/index.htm

I can vouch for them, they are  a legitimate writing course who sincerely want to teach writers not just how to right but how to write right. I had Mary Rosenblum, also the web editor, and she is a wonderful, brilliant, and talented teacher. She has taught me many things, and if I had her for ten years she could still teach me more than I will ever learn.

…Now would you like some suggestions on books in the field of How-To’s ? Well, I will start giving a few on later blogs and add on as I go. I have read some, and I’m sure many more exist that I will never read. I can’t recommend what I haven’t read unless someone pays me (again,kidding).

Thanks for stopping bye and if you are reading this then, WOW, you actually read the whole thing through. Good attention span!

Later,

Dudes & Dudettes

by Christopher Marshall