Category: Blogs!

Debating Site Clean-Up, Outlining Plots, and Returning to Day-Job

Well, it had been an interesting and personally exciting past couple days. I’m not one for the holidays, as they always end up more stressful than bringing the sentiment that they were made for, but I’ve finally gotten through a 4th of July with minimal stress.

This is to say: I got through this year without a firework mishap, such as a mortar round going off on the ground nearby, being shot at by a multi-launch mini-rocket, or lit on fire by a nearby drunk. These things have happened with a consistency that has made me paranoid about the holiday. It’s a wonder that I’m still alive.

Instead of dodging poorly-made incendiary devices, I had spent the majority of the weekend writing. It was with exhausted good cheer that I wrote my “Pages Updated” post, though I should mention that not every page is written out. I had a list of some 6 or 7 I wanted finished over the weekend. Over time, those pages will have more written out for them, and the never-ending cycle of story-updating will continue.

With that, I’ve been giving some thought to cleaning/organizing the RPG section a bit. I’ve noticed that it’s getting a little hectic for my players to find what they need, and I’m sure y’all readers are getting confused. I’ll look into how I can better streamline that section.

I also have plots to write! There are two sessions this week, and while I know what they’re going to go through, I need to fine-tune their challenges and choices/consequences.

Before that, however, I need to get my mail out of the satchel and into the awaiting mailboxes. Break time is over, so back into the Federal life for me.

Happy reading, folks! Stay safe out there.

-JB Swift

Pages are Updated!

Somehow, either by dedicated creativity or insomnia, I’ve managed to get every page planned out, with those posted as they were scheduled for.

I have a couple of the character pages posted, as well as finishing out a system that needed to have the basic details written out. With that, I can move on to the plotting of the next two sessions, maybe another before I get too tired, and if I’m even bolder, start writing out the novella I’ve been wanting to do. The outline for it was finished just last week and I can change its place in the priority list.

Now that my evening chores are finished, I’ll be plunking away at this keyboard until bedtime. The day job is not going to be kind tomorrow, so I’m doing what I can.

See you tomorrow, readers!

-JB Swift

Adventure 1 is finished!

It took way longer than I am willing to believe of myself to write out the entire adventure, which was a total of two sessions and 8 hours of game-play. The story is over 60 pages long, totaling out around 8 chapters, including the epilogue.

It is finally done. I’m almost excited enough to make inroads on Adventure 2! But I’m going to make the smart decision here and get myself to bed before I fall asleep at my desk (again).

See you tomorrow, readers!

PS~ If you don’t feel like navigating to the story’s page, here’s the link:

https://swiftscorner.wordpress.com/arc-1-adv-1-epilogue/

A Gentle Giant’s Shadow No Longer Cast

My grandfather, Dr. Edward L Rhodes, has died. I’ve been thinking over how to present this, because the written word is my comfort during stress. But I have two problems as I look into this:

1: The history of this man is phenomenal and constantly surprises me.
2: No matter how old I’ve become, Papa Ed is always that gentle giant to me.

Dr. Edward Rhodes (1929-2022) was a WWII veteran, an unsung hero of medical research, an inheritor of a Texan city, the descendant of a signer of the US Constitution, and most of all, an extremely interesting and funny man to his collection of grandchildren.

The more I’ve dug into this man’s life, the more startled I’ve become. The above paragraph is just what I have in my memories, and I’m all but certain I haven’t explored everything this man has done in his 93 years of life. I can’t write this essay the way I normally would, as a storyteller of his deeds. I still haven’t learned what all he has done.

But I can write it as a grandson remembering the man as I have.

Papa Ed was a blindingly intelligent man and enjoyed testing us grandkids with this intellect. I remember him asking if I knew anything about a given subject. If I told him no, I was about to learn everything he knew about it. I learned more about World War II from this man than I ever did in a school classroom, and I learned the emotions that went with those experiences. He would ask if I had heard about a given subject, event, or person. If I didn’t, he’d launch into an explanation.

Papa Ed taught me how to be a storyteller. He taught me how to keep track of anecdotes and how to set them up, so I’d keep my listeners riveted. He taught me to keep facts tucked away in my mind in order to draw them out during conversations and suddenly have an audience.

I remember this man as an actual gentle giant. He was always a big man to me, even after I became an adult and was technically taller than him. Wherever he walked, his shadow would fall over me. I remember the bad jokes he’d teach me as a child, most often landing me in trouble with the teachers (he loved, loved, limericks) and then he’d be scolded for teaching child-me those lines.

As I’ve reflected on the kind of man I’ve grown up to be, I keep seeing this giant in my childhood memories. Influencing and advising me on the subjects of story-telling.

I was very lucky to have seen him today. We knew that the end was coming and were prepared for it. I went to the elderly hospital he was checked into and was given a few minutes to sit with him. I regaled my grandfather, who was unresponsive and had not recognized my face in years, with stories he told me about his time during the War. I thanked him for everything he taught me, for laying the groundwork for the kind of man I’d become, and for simply being my grandfather.

My last memory of seeing him alive is of me leaning my head down to touch his shoulder and saying “thank you for everything, grand-dad” and his head twitching ever so slightly toward me.

I like to think he was saying his gruff ‘welcome’ and readying another limerick.

Goodbye, Papa-Ed. I’ll remember and retell your stories. It’s what you taught me to do, even if you didn’t know how important being a storyteller would be for me. Your shadow is no longer cast, but I will always remember the comfort your presence brought to us.

New Players, Old Writings, No Sleep! (And a Turtle!)

It’s a bitter irony that the reason I keep forgetting to do a daily blog writing is because I keep working on other writings meant to be posted here. But hopefully, I’ll start paying attention to the notification this thing sends me to sit down and put together some ramblings of what I’ve seen through the day.

That said, there’s been progress! Four new players have reached out to me with wanting to join in the Star Wars campaigns and I am deliriously excited to see what kind of stories they’ll bring to the overall timeline.

That and they probably knew I wouldn’t say “no”. They’re willing to not buck the Expanded Universe timeline so it can still be a resource for everyone, so I’m willing to add them to my list of “Things to write about”.

The story-writings have been slow, but they have been growing! Hit a rough snag while outlining the novella, but I went back to my old creative-writing notes and figured out the problem: writing fundamentals. The chapter that had the snags was meant to be one where the protagonist proved his trustworthiness while still being very mercenary. Took a bit before I figured it out: add more punches instead of dialogue. Hopefully I can start writing it out in full by Sunday.

The Sidewinder story is in dire need of attention, so after I’ve gotten a start on the novella (at least the first chapter) I’ll put everything else down until I finish Adventure 1 and post it.

With those updates, have a look at the turtle who fell out of a tree yesterday and smacked me in the head while out on the route. I have no idea how he got up there, but I do know, now, just how much pain a turtle kamikaze can cause.

With that, it’s back to the mail, readers. Hoping you all have a good weekend.

-Swift

Trying new habits and new tools

For all my progressive and liberal tendencies, I am very much a creature of habit and I’m reluctant to try new approaches to old techniques.

I’m also terrible with tech. It took several years of explaining to my elders that I have no idea why their computer wasn’t working and was more comfortable with the electronics of their generation. I tried learning how to code a few times; the results were amusing and infuriating.

But if it’s at a level I can understand, I will eventually try. It’s when I can figure out how to incorporate the new approach with my old understanding that I get excited.

Such as bento box breakfasts and scannable notebooks!

Look at the cool new things!

My wife got me both of these, and it’s taken a while to learn their usefulness. But, once I got over the hurdle that is “Swift is afraid of personal change”, they’ve turned out to be some of the coolest things I’ve received in a long time. (Sarah is a smart woman; she knows to give me a practical challenge that’ll result in me making my life a little easier in order for me to be happy with gifts.)

Learning how to cook for a bento box is a unique challenge for a US Southerner. Portion control is a strange concept and I can’t help but cook enough to feed 5 people even if it’s just me eating. But it turns out that one of my personal recipes (tuna with fried egg…just trust me, it works) is also a bento box recipe with rice and soy sauce. I can work with that.

The learning process is slow and I am reluctant to change, but if I can figure it out for myself, I’m all for it.

With that, the morning break is over and it’s back to the mail. Hopefully I’ll be awake long enough this evening to work on some of these pages, or at least start on an essay. Happy reading, folks!

-Swift

I’m back!

After taking off the month of May, and not forcing myself back into the routine the first week of June, I’ve returned to the blog site!

Which turned out to be a good thing for several reasons. May was a hard month this year, for myself and my fellow US citizens.

For myself, it was work stress and pet stress. Casey, my oldest dog, has really been showing his age lately. He’s slower, doesn’t play as much as he used to, and does not want to leave my side whatsoever. I’ve been keeping him inside most of the time now, as the weather in Louisiana doesn’t really agree with him anymore. But don’t worry: he still has an appetite, he will at least paw at me and the family for pets, and he still loses his shit at the sight of a squirrel and I’m suddenly having to chase him through four acres of land, so I know his quality of life is still good.

For my fellow US citizens…well, it’s been painful and maddening. But I’ve promised myself I wouldn’t use this platform to explore my personal politics much, so I’m going to avoid those kind of essays at the moment. If I get frustrated enough (or drunk enough) I might explore those writings. But for now, this is a storytelling site and I’m keeping it that way.

Speaking of storytelling, May was very productive!…and I can’t post a damn thing of it yet! Speaking of being frustrated.

The novella is pretty much outlined and the Sidewinder story is almost ready to be put up. I’ve run into some fun complications, though. Mostly of my own doing, as I obsess over giving my players as much information as they need and try to present that information as if it were a fiction in development (because to me, it is) which has demanded a lot of my focus. Not to mention my old adversary: Work Exhaustion.

We’re in the summer months, and 12-15 mile walks in Louisiana heat will beat the ever-living hell out of you. I’ve found myself waking up at my desk numerous times, Word document up on the computer with barely anything written on it, and I start cursing at myself as I wander off towards my bed.

That said, I’m going to keep making the effort to write, post, and edit my work as I go along. I have several pages here that need detail and attention, so they’re moving up on my priority list. Stories, what-ifs, and writing projects will soon follow. Till then, happy reading, folks!

For everyone patient enough to reach the end of the post, I present to you: Casey! As he is almost every time we go outside now!

Old man won’t leave me until I all but push him away and say to go pee in the grass.

May’s Hiatus and Promised Postings

I should’ve posted this on Saturday, but I unfortunately fell asleep early that night and was too busy for most of Sunday to write this down. I’ll be taking a hiatus from my attempts at daily postings here during the month of May. I want to focus on getting the majority of my sites’ writings up to date, as well as start on the science fiction story I’ve been playing with.

While I will not be putting in the daily posts, I will be updating the various pages with new chapters. At the end of May, I’ll write up a post that details which stories were given more attention.

With that, I hope all of you have a productive month. Take care, folks.

-JB Swift.