Book Recommendation: Shift

I absolutely love this series and I'm very excited that Matt Merrick takes himself seriously as a writer. After publishing Exiled and then seeing the critiques about a couple of typos, he gave Shift double the attention. Replacing his original editor and then adding a second copy editor, along with an army of beta readers, Merrick has outdone himself. Not only is the writing improved but the advanced editing is obvious and has made Shift one of the few books I would place out there as a must read for anyone who loves action and adventure fantasies. Here is my review for Goodreads, that will soon be on Amazon. Happy reading everyone. I'll be back Monday with a new weapons weekly about the Aztec culture. Have a great weekend.

Shift by M.R. Merrick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If you loved Exiled, you'll absolutely love Shift. This sequel to the action packed adventure Exiled takes you on another journey through dimensions and battling demons. Chase and company try to not only save the universe, but find out the truth about themselves. Merrick's writing has improved a great deal since Exiled, it's phenomenal actually. Not only has he improved his editing by far, and Exiled wasn't that badly done, but his ability to make the characters even more real has grown. The self searching and character development in this story was very well done. As expected, the story is stuffed cover to cover with adventure, drama, action, a little romance and comedy tossed in to leave no dull moments anywhere. I can't wait for the next in the series. As all serial endings, it leaves it open for another face off another day, but at the same time closes the chapter on the events of the plot. I loved this book. Someday someone in Hollywood needs to see this series, it would make awesome action movies.



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Weapons & Warriors: The Kanabō of the Samurai

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Although the Katana and other smaller blades were the most famous and most common weapons a Samurai used, they weren’t the only weapons in his arsenal. The Kanabō was probably the heaviest of the weapons a Samurai trained in. This two handed monster varied in actual length and weight, but there were those made that were the length of a man and were heavy enough that when swung down in a chopping motion they were powerful enough to destroy what they hit.

The thick club-like shaft was usually made with a very strong heavy wood, and sometimes with iron. Then one end was studded with iron spheres. The studs were inserted in rows along the length of each side of the shaft. Once completed it looked like a giant baseball bat with iron balls lined along its length.

There is a saying in Japan that goes “Like giving a Kanabō to an Oni.” What is an Oni you ask? It is basically a mythological Japanese demon that was supposed to be very strong. Strong enough that artistic depictions of them often had them wielding the Kanabō with only one hand. So the saying basically means giving someone an advantage while they already had the best chance; never a good idea.

Weapons & Warriors: The Ninja, The Truth of the Shinobi

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

They were once known as the Shinobi, but just saying the word Ninja usually makes people conjure images of ghostlike black clothed figures sneaking around and killing people without ever being seen. Believe it or not, that is the Hollywood ninja. The true Ninja is shrouded in mystery plenty enough by their own myths and legends that Hollywood has virtually deluded their existence to being magicians with weapons and martial arts. In reality, most ninja started out as farmers and labors. They made their weapons from the tools they used and learned martial arts from monks that had been influenced by Chinese refuges from generations before.

The victim of a real ninja probably looked right into the Ninja’s eyes as he died. More often than not, the Ninja would be so inconspicuous that they could waltz right up to their target and kill him without anyone realizing what was happening until he had already slipped away. They didn’t wear black pajamas. They wore what everyone else in the room was wearing. Blending in like a covert spy. Essentially, that’s what a Ninja really was, a spy who had been trained in sabotage, espionage, and assassination as well as combat.

Samurai were usually the enemies of the Ninja, and Samurai despised the Ninja who did not honor the Bushido code. A Samurai had to face his enemy and state his intentions before fighting honorably, even on a battlefield. A Ninja had no such limitations and because of this, Samurai were often known to hire local Ninja to sow chaos with their enemies and gain the edge without actually getting their own hands dirty and hurting their own honor.

Writer Ramblings: Drums of War, er Gaming

“The sounds of the drums echo through my head on the waves of memories as I dream of war. I hear the battle cries around me and the roars of dragons as they fill the skies and rain their fire down on everything beneath them. We mount our wyvern, drakes and brooms and fly up to face the monstrosities that threaten the world. Fearless and proud, our nations unite under one banner. Thousands will perish, but nobody is worried about that, we all return with another life to rise up and battle again. The endless sky of leathery wings must be defeated or all will be lost. And when we are done with the invaders, we will return our attention to the weak Alliance who hate our Horde.”

I wrote this once while playing a game that I love very much. Since I’ve began writing in all of my spare time, I’ve deactivated my account and moved on, but recently I saw a trailer for an upcoming expansion to the game and I’ve began dreaming about it all over again. I played it for years and I even managed a couple of guilds. My favorite till this day was called Red Steel, and believe it or not, it had nothing to do with Russian tanks. The name came from a classic D&D module for a location on the world of Mystara which had a unique resource that was like a fine red dust, but if processed, it could be made as hard as steel and could take on magical properties.



Weapons & Warriors: The Sai of the Ninja

This is a very popular weapon around the world, only made more famous by its use in films such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Xena, Daredevil and Elektra. Children everywhere became obsessed with the Sai after the red banded Raphael jumped onto the big screen, kicking butt with his half shell and his trusty pair of Sai.

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Like many of the weapons of the ninja, this was once a farming tool used in Okinawa. The weapon actually originated from a similar style of weapon in southern Asia, called a tjabang, which originated from the Indian trisula (trident). Contrary to what most people believe, the tip of the Sai is not sharp. It is actually a rounded smooth rod from tip to handle. The bottom of the handle is exposed steel and sometimes diamond shaped. The ninja often used the weapons backwards with the blades of the Sai running along their forearms to deflect attacks and then punched with the ends of the handles. The force of that kind of punch would probably be equivalent to being hit with brass knuckles.

Weapons & Warriors: The Rajput, Sons of Kings

The Rajput warriors are a noble caste that once ruled portions of India and Southeast Asia. Their reign dates back to the fall of the Gupta Empire sometime in the 5th or 6th century and lasted until 1947-1950 when the final Rajput princes joined their kingdoms with modern India after it achieved its Independence from British rule. They were given the option of joining Pakistan, India or remaining independent. Overwhelmingly they decided to unite with India. Rajput literally means the son of a king and they were born as nobles and trained to fight as soon as they were old enough to learn. They were mentally focused and well respected warriors by all who traveled in these regions. When the British occupied India, they recruited heavily among the Rajput because they admired the warrior culture that they felt could help them with the colonial army.

The Rajput had to defend their lands against many invaders over the centuries. Some of these powerful enemies were the Mongols and Arabs. Despite being outnumbered, they held their ground and repelled almost every invader that tried to conquer them by force. The region ruled by the Rajput was very fertile and productive and was very irresistible to its neighbors. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Islamic invaders constantly troubled the Hindu Rajput. The Rajput fought valiantly but often fought amongst their neighboring Rajput kingdoms as well. This inability to unite caused many problems towards the 1300’s and Islam began to spread throughout their lands. Eventually they allied with the Mughal Empire in the 1600's and remained loyal even after the British supplanted the Mughal power 200 years later.

Weapons & Warriors: The Bhuj of the Rajput

The Bhuj is a small axe that is named after the Indian city of Bhuj. The design is that of an axe, but it is often called an axe-knife. The long blade runs down the steel shaft. The thick heavy blade allows the weapon to chop through virtually anything and the short length of its shaft allows for more agility when in engaged close with an enemy. The bhuj is quite easy to use as much as a thrusting weapon as a chopping weapon. The tip of the blade is sharpened on both edges and is capable of penetrating most armor. This axe was often called the elephant knife because of the elephant head tip on the end of the steel shaft. The ornament doubles as a handle for a thin blade that is hidden in the shaft of the axe.

The Elephant Knife is as deadly as it is decorated. Engravings run along the blades and shaft. The scabbard for the blade is often decorated as well. Despite the weight of the axe, the small size made it easily portable and made for a great weapon against those with spears. The blade could easily snap the wooden shafts of enemies as they were thrust at the Rajput. Another advantage the Bhuj has over other axes was the sword blows against its shaft. Since the entire weapon was made of steel, it would not break if a sword or axe struck the shaft.

Wrtier Ramblings: Nanawrimo!

Believe it or not, that title is not a typo.

I’ve gone and done it! I signed up for the Nanawrimo for 2011. I have no idea really what that all is other than a writing marathon, but I figure it’s a great excuse to knock out the first half of another book. Since I can’t start the writing for it till November, that rules out the horror I was going to work on, I’m still in research phase for the Back to the Future Terminator crossover fan fiction I’m planning and I’m already 12,000 words into the fantasy. So I don’t feel comfortable writing any of those for my Nanowrimo.

Lucky for me, I already have an outline set up for another project. I’ll be done with my polishing on Devil Dog pretty soon and it will be sent out to editors and beta readers this month. I’m very excited and nervous at the same time. My baby is growing up already.

So the big question is what am I going to write if I’m already going to be pretty deep into the co-written horror, the fantasy is already started and Devil Dog will be in the hands of strangers? The only real solution is Devil Dog 2! Why not, the outline is written and I have concepts and plots designed for a full seven book series. I might as well start getting the sequel drafted.

50,000 words in a month! I am very excited to attempt this and somehow my wife is ok with it. So here I come. Bring it on November because I will write you down.

Weapons & Warriors: The Chakram of the Rajput

Fans of Xena the Warrior Princess will probably be familiar with the Chakram. This weapon is a flying disc of death. Its razor sharp outer edge is capable of slicing through bone, and can be thrown up to around 90 feet (30 meters). The hoop shaped design was aerodynamic and would not alter its flight due to wind. Rajput trained to pinch the weapon with the thumb and forefinger to avoid cutting themselves when preparing to throw this deadly ring. Unlike Xena’s magical chakram, the real ones usually did not return because they were imbedded in whatever they hit.

The weapon could be thrown like a Frisbee, but during combat it was most often thrown with a vertical throw to avoid hitting any allies to either side of their target. Another method that was often used to toss the weapon was by spinning it on the end of a finger and then flinging it with a flick of the wrist. This was believed to make the weapon more deadly as it would be spinning at a greater rate when it struck its target.

Weapons & Warriors: The Urumi of Kerala

The Urumi is one of the most dangerous weapons to use in the history of weapons, not only for its enemies, but for the wielder himself. This whip-sword was first designed in Southern India where it was known as a Chuttaval (Coiled Sword). As you can see in the video, it is very flexible and quite dangerous. The only downfall of the weapon is, like all other whips, it does not penetrate armor. What makes this whip-like weapon far more deadly than a leather whip is that it is made with steel, flattened into about a three quarters inch to an inch and sharpened like a razor on both edges. The four to six foot blade was often coiled around the waist when not in use, making it quite portable. Women who learned to use this blade would wear it like a fashionable belt.

Weapons & Warriors: The Katara of the Rajput

Art by TL Jeffcoat

This is one of my favorite weapons in the Rajput arsenal. Its design is pretty simple, but the weapon itself is far from simple to use effectively. The Rajput carried these weapons as a form of self-defense and status. Sometimes inaccurately referred to as a bundi blade, these deadly daggers were the fiercest purely offensive style weapons ever used by the Rajput. Training of this weapon involved dual wielding techniques and was a style of martial arts all its own. Improper training of this weapon left a warrior vulnerable to attack, but once trained, the dual wielding Rajput was a force to be reckoned with. The Rajput hunted tigers with these blades. Killing a tiger with such a purely offensive and short ranged weapon would be a boost in status for a Rajput, marking him without question one of the bravest and most skilled warriors in the land.

Weapons & Warriors: The Khanda of the Rajput

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Some of you weapon buffs already know about this very well respected sword of Indian history. The Rajput warriors ruled much of Northern India before and during the medieval ages. The Khanda was their pride and joy and the main piece to their amazing arsenal of weapons. In the hands of a Rajput, it could dice an opponent in mere seconds. The Rajput word translates to the Son of a King. They were born into this title and trained in the ways of the Rajput from youth. The Khanda is also symbol of Shiva and can be seen at the Mysore Dasara festival. 

I will go into more details about the Rajput history and culture later on, but for now, let me tell you about this unusual blade. It was forged with iron, sharpened on both sides of the thick blade, but the tip was made blunt. The thick flared tip increased the weight of the blade and assisted in its ability to slice through anything in its path. A thin point was placed under the handle which allowed a deadly backswing. This could be used as puncture weapon if sharpened or a bludgeoning tool. Some of the later designs included a spine in the blade to increase its strength for chopping through thicker obstacles. The Rajput used two hands with this sword, and although it was light enough to swing with one hand, it was capable of chopping through leather and chain with enough force behind the blow.

Weapons & Warriors: Spartan Culture, Warriors from Birth

I opened with the look inside the movie of 300 because it mentions things about the culture of Sparta that is believed to be true by many historians. That includes throwing imperfect newborns into the sea. Everything about the way the Spartans were raised was about warfare. These people really believed they were the direct descendants of Hercules.

While we’re on the topic of culture, one of the areas of training the Spartans focused on was hand to hand combat. The Aspis, Dory and Kopis were just the first weapons in their arsenal. Included along with these dangerous objects was the Spartan himself. As strong as blacksmiths, and as agile as hunters, there wasn’t a tougher, meaner and better trained warrior in the ancient world.

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

It wasn’t just the men who trained from the age of two. It was also the women. The Spartans were one of the earliest cultures to adopt a gender equality concept. In most Greek nations at that time, women were considered inferior, and were not allowed to participate in military training or get involve in political discussions. They were not even allowed to use money. In Sparta, a woman without the scars of her training and discipline was considered a coward, and was ridiculed by the other women and shunned by the men. The more scars the woman bore from her discipline and training, the more influence she gained. It’s unclear if the Spartan women were influenced by the Amazon women, but there are many similarities in that they were very strong minded and physically capable of fighting equal to the men.

Have you ever heard of Helen of Troy, the Spartan woman that sparked the Trojan War? She wasn’t a dainty helpless princess like the movies depict. She was strong mentally and physically, and well sought after in Sparta. After many men came to gain her hand in marriage, her father asked Odysseus to help him choose a  husband for her. She probably wasn’t abducted by Paris of Troy, but more  likely persuaded him to take her away. Paris was not a hero, or a warrior and by all means was a coward by the standards of Sparta. A few historians speculate that Helen even grew to despise Paris as a weak man when he hid behind his walls and let his brother Hector fight for him. Those same historians also believe that Helen began a relationship with Hector before he was killed in the war. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hector is the real reason she ran away, he was as great a fighter as any Spartan and was a hero of Troy.

Spartans encouraged their youth to be headstrong and vigilant. When a youth was out of line or broke a rule, no matter if it was a boy or girl, they were lashed for their crime. This was as much as an encouragement as it was punishment. It was a way to prove your resilience, to be headstrong and then to accept the punishment and the scars from it and wear them like trophies the rest of your life.

 The culture of the Spartans raised them to be tough and hard. Tomorrow, I’ll be discussing the ultimate weapon of the Spartans. The one thing that all this training was for, the Phalanx...

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Weapons and Warriors, click here to view the entire catalog of weapons and cultures. Thank you, see you next week.

Book Recommendation: Flash Gold

It's been a rough week for me, and I was intending to write up a post that was a bit emotional about the topic of love and how it affects people and makes them do really strange things, but it ended up being a sad rambling of thoughts. Instead, I am going to treat you with one of the novella's I've read recently and really enjoyed. I don't know how Lindsay Buroker is able to capture the magic of character development, but every book I've read is full of lovable colorful characters. Tonight I share my favorite of her books called Flash Gold. It's a steampunk western style setting and the hero is a woman engineer with a big secret. I won't say too much because I'd hate to spoil it, but you won't be disappointed if you love adventure and action. The characters just come to life and the usual Buroker humor is even crammed into the story. If you're looking for a quick adventure and some laughs, this is the novella for you.

Flash Gold by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my kind of story. My only complaint, it wasn't long enough. I really fell in love with the characters almost instantly. Awesome steampunk engineering, and the story never slows. I will be impatiently waiting for another book, another adventure.

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And if you have read it already or you do read it and love it as much as I did, the sequel "Hunted [The Flash Gold Chronicles]"is already out. I'm still in the first quarter of it and I'm already enjoying it as it picks up where Flash Gold left off.



Weapons Weekly will return Monday with a special Spartan finale addition. Holiday or not, Writers don't take vacations. See you Monday!

Weapons & Warriors: The Kopis of Sparta

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

Some may remember this widely feared sword in the hands of Gerard Butler as he hacked legs and arms off Persians in slow motion. For those who haven’t seen the movie 300, if you love ancient warfare movies or artsy storytelling, you should check it out. It is bloody and full of mythically exaggerated Persians, but it's a very well done story, based on a true battle that altered the path of the world conquering Persians who were lead by the legendary Xerxes. If you have a weak stomach for blood, it's very bloody and violent.

The Kopis should have been more related to the axe than the sword. This was the scariest sword of ancient Greece. The blade is about three feet long and curves forward, making it perfect for thrusting around a shield. The end of the blade is wider than a normal sword and heavier by design. The added weight allows this sword to be used like an axe, efficiently hacking through bone with a single swipe. This blade was often used for cutting meat or slaughtering animals for sacrifices.

Weapons & Warriors: The Dory of Sparta

The first weapon an enemy faced when fighting a Spartan was his spear, also known by the Spartans as a dory. These spears were very long at about seven to nine feet in length and were used primarily while the warriors were in phalanx formations. The phalanx is when the warriors lined up in a square or rectangle. Those in front would hold their shield in front of them a little to their left and covering their fellow warrior’s right side. This created small windows that they would poke their spear out of. Not just the first row of men either. They usually set up the formation about eight rows deep. So those behind the front line would hold their shields high to block any incoming arrows or rocks and poke their own spear out of any space available. This is quite a formidable site if you were facing this on the battlefield. It was the equivalent of a Bronze Age tank. Invincible and deadly to anything that tried to face it head on, except for maybe another phalanx.

Doesn’t sound effective you say? Ask the Persians at Thermopylae. They had an army of three hundred thousand including ten thousand of their most elite warriors called the Immortals. Three hundred Spartans used this formation to bottleneck the Persians into a valley and stop them in their tracks. The only thing behind the Spartans was a few hundred farmers from the neighboring regions, untrained for war and scared out of their minds. Even the Immortals were defeated when they marched against the Spartans. It’s not just a movie storyline, this was a historical event. The heavy shields and armor forced enemies to close in for melee combat to break the phalanx. This was not an easy thing to do when the broad leaf shaped blade of the dory was protruding several feet from the impenetrable bronze wall and wielded by a lifelong disciplined warrior. Most of the enemies of the Greeks had not adopted shields or using metal to coat them, making their front line extremely vulnerable to the dory.

Spartans trained with the dory all their lives and they had no equals on the battlefield when it came to the accuracy of how they used this weapon. The spear made an excellent ranged weapon as well. They were built to be well balanced, straight and sturdy so that it could be thrown as easily as jabbed. The leaf shaped blade was designed so that if anyone was pierced in the torso by this spear, it didn’t matter where, they would soon be dead because it was wide enough that it was nearly impossible for it to miss an organ. It could also be fatal if it struck a limb because the odds of slicing through a major artery was pretty good. Unlike a sharpened stick that could miss vital organs or be deflected by armor, the wide blade was made of bronze so it could pierce armor as well.

The dory wasn’t meant to be a close ranged weapon, but when it was in the hands of the well trained Spartans, it was as deadly as a sword. The rear end of the dory was often tipped with a bronze spike to be used in melee if the Spartan desired to do so instead of drawing his sword.

Here's a bonus pick just because I had requests to see the alternate and wildly popular Spartan apparel from the recent movie 300. I'm sorry ladies, but according to history, most Spartans actually wore a bronze muscle cuirass over their chests. The armor was usually designed for the man wearing it, however and it more than likely did not do justice to what was underneath it. Keep in mind I said most. I think read somewhere at one point the Spartans had removed the cuirass to allow more flexibility and agility.

The Spartans exercised and practiced combat as part of a daily routine. The movie probably did not exaggerate the physique as much as it did the violence. The Spartans were the champions of the ancient Olympics year after year in their time for a reason. That wasn't because they let any part of their body become imperfect. Some historians have said that the Spartans even disposed of any newborns who had any form of imperfection. They took strides in perfecting their genetic lines. They're daily combat routines also weeded out their week, who were even killed in practice if they were unable to protect themselves. That is a topic for a different post however.

Hope you have enjoyed another post on an ancient weapon. See you next week.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Weapons and Warriors, click here to view the entire catalog of weapons and cultures. Thank you, see you next week.

WIP Update 8-10-11: Devil Dog and The Warlord

Just a short post this Wednesday on updates is all I have time for and there I’m pretty sure I can stuff it all in pretty quick and painless.

First update: Devil Dog is still in edit mode, but I’ve been trying out some new tricks to make it less painless. One of my editors recommended it after I complained about how much I don’t want to do it after reading the book and rewriting so many times already, but it needs to be done. I’m preparing a blog to discuss his tips as well, for those who might be interested in those. Not only are some of the tips making it easier to go through the manuscript, but they are going to verify the story flows as it should. I’ll be posting some excerpts pre-editor pretty soon on my Facebook fan page.

Second Update: I’m well into the first chapter of The Warlord. It’s been slow going, but I’m very excited about what I’ve got so far. I can already tell this book will be much larger than the Devil Dog. I’ve been building this world for twenty years. Cultures, peoples, religions, languages, history, geography, etc. have all been detailed. I’ve even toyed with an RPG rules game someday. Wrote the first 50 pages of that a few years back and saved it.

Third Update: The sequel to Devil Dog hasn’t been touched too much since I plotted out the scenes and designed the outline and characters. I’m still working on the opening line, but patience is the key and I’m sure it will come to me eventually. I have plenty else to do in the meantime.

I guess a detox update is in order. I discovered I suck at dieting/detoxing. I can’t go more than three days before giving into the call of something sweet. So I’ll just go back to working out and eating in moderation. Hope everyone is having a great week, I’ll get something more interesting up by Friday and I’ll link up another book review tomorrow.

I’m also trying to come up with a weekly special post. Something like Medieval Weaponry Mondays. That’s the front runner on my short list of ideas. Actually, I think I'm going to run with that. It's one of my favorite hobbies along with castle construction and defenses.

Book Recommendation: Exiled

I'm not a professional book reviewer, and I don't do a lot of reviews unless the book stirs more emotions than, eh I liked it or I didn't. I don't have much to update other than what I've mentioned in my last post. Writer Ramblings: Writing More Than 1 Novel at a Time? which ended up being sort of an update instead of an actual rambling about people who write more than 1 book at a time. So tonight I share a review I did for a book that came out a month ago, and I'm still waiting for the paperbacks. This is one of my favorite novels.

Exiled, Book 1 by M.R. Merrick

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is probably one of the most exciting books for me since I read The Sin War trilogy by Richard Knaak.

I love the cover of this book. I want a wall in my house painted just like this picture (and someday I'll be a millionaire and have the money to pay for a wall painted like this, right? I can dream.). The book starts off with a lot of action and the character development is pretty good. I enjoyed the plot, I love a story that appears at first to just be one man’s struggle then suddenly he has to save his world from the forces of evil. I thought some of the story was predictable, but the story was written well enough that it didn’t bother me. I myself wouldn’t have written the story any different. It was excellent. Action filled, but not monotonously so. The hero was likable, and the first person point of view from the protagonist was a fresh take as I’ve only read one other fantasy type novel that stuck with one person’s point of view. There were a couple things towards the first half of the book that look like minor errors. A couple typos, but they didn’t interrupt the flow any more than stopping to notice them before barreling on. I thought about knocking a star off for that, but as I became obsessed with finishing the book, I was satisfied after a very explosive and climatic ending. I am ready for the next installment.



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Writer Ramblings: Writing More Than 1 Novel at a Time?

What to do when you're muse is out of control. I'm suffering from the opposite of writer's block these days. I just started my detox today and apparently the detoxing hasn't slowed down my muse as I thought it would. So what to do? This isn't as much of a good thing as some people might think. I fleshed out notes on a 16 book superhero style series. I don't even have time to work on that, but it's shooting to the front of all my thoughts. This is probably because of all the superhero movies coming out lately.

I'm going to be focusing on two other series already. The shorter one I've already started with the Unforgiven series, book 1 called Devil Dog (Modern Day Action Thriller). It's written and is now going through edits and reader testing before its publication. Book 2's outline is complete and the temporary working title is going to be Rampage and Revenge. I'm pretty sure that title will change later.

The second series is a fantasy series that I've also conjured up enough material over the last 15 years for 16 thick novels. My brain feels like it's going to explode. No wonder I had a migraine a week ago. Tonight, I'm putting the finishing touches on the outline for the fantasy book that I'm calling The Warlord and then I will begin writing it tomorrow when I'm unable to edit Devil Dog.

I've heard some mention that you shouldn't work on more than one book at a time, but the question is, why not? I guess I'll find out the hard way. As long as I stick to my outlines, I have a feeling I'll be writing 3 or 4 books a year. I won't just rush them out, I would hate to sacrifice quality, so if editing a book takes another 6 months then, so be it, but if I can crank out the manuscripts and not require them to be rewritten, well, I ask again, why not? With the amount of detail that goes into my multiple page outlines that defines everything from constant themes, subplots, character descriptions and arcs and every single scene mapped out, it would be a task to actually get lost and mixed up. I guess we'll see.