EternalEmperor.com

The once completed and pretty much unreadable eternal emperor novel I wrote 4 years ago is still locked safely away where no one can read it.  My writing and editing is much better these days and will presumably only get better.

Rather than go and rewrite a novel that I have written at least 4 times in the past 2 decades, I chose to do something different.  I was reading David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers collection recently and it struck me that I should just rewrite the story as a series of short stories in a style of Drake.  Why write a long novel about a 6 events and leave the reader asking why you did it, when I could write 6 short stories in the style of Hammer’s Slammers and get the back story out-of-the-way.

The choice to create the “Arrested Development Collection” seems so natural once I realized that Drake was the author that inspired these stories in the first place.  I love Military Science Fiction.  When you read this collection I think you will see the Hammer’s Slammers style in these stories, and I am happy if you find it enjoyable.

I will be posting the stories when the editing completes.  Once it is all done I will post another version with the entire collection.

My son points out to me that most of my writing is not post apocalyptic, but is rather apocalyptic.  So what about all those nifty stories that can take place after everyone else is gone?  Well, I will leave that to Fallout games and now Fallen Earth.

I played the beta when the Non-Disclosure Agreement was up and rather than suddenly talk about this game when the NDA was lifted I chose to wait for the release.  Not because of any problems, but mostly because I am lazy.  I wanted to see what the game was going to be at launch.

What is Fallen Earth?  You are a clone wandering around the Grand Canyon after a virus and nuclear weapons have wiped out the rest of the planet.  If riding a horse and shooting a rifle while scavenging for metal to make you own ammo sounds like something you want to do in your spare time, this game is for you.

What makes FE different?  It is a 3rd person view but combat requires you to aim.  Your ability to hit what you are aiming at is determined by you skills, but the fact that you have to aim makes combat a more complicated version of the normal MMO shin kicking affair we are all used to.

The company that spent 6 years making this game is small, less than 100 people, and they have their sights set on a more eve online like model for growth.  They know they will not be WoW, and are able to be profitable with just 20,000 or so users as opposed to Warhammer Online that seems to be a failure at a million subscribers.

I would write more, but I have to go gather some copper, my revolver needs some ammo.

With the first night race in Atlanta approaching, there is only one thing for certain on Sunday night.  That would be a chance of a rain delay.  I am starting to see these rain delays and rescheduling of races as a nice reminder of how out of control the real world is.

In our world we sit around happily in control of our lives and our environment, happily ignoring the things we have no control of.  When it comes to racing the multi-million dollar operation that is a weekly televised race is as subject to the whims of the weather as any ancient hunter on the great plains.  We are forced to live at the whims of nature.

I know other sporting events must do the same but really, who watches baseball.  And football only stops the game when there is lightning.  Something about not wanting to see millionaires being lightning rods on live TV.

So, when it comes to Sunday night and I settle back in my recliner ready to watch the first night race I will be ready for the hours of banter and explanations of how long it takes to dry the track.  Even the 10 minute discussion about how the track dryers use jet engines and make the track slick due to the residue from the jet fuel.   It is just part of being a race fan.

And oh, it is a 20% chance of rain right now.