PH Factor/Meier's House of Clocks

Hans Meier is a gold standard in the steampunk community. He does amazing steampunk costume and accessory work that holds a place in the upper echelon of craftsmanship and aesthetic beauty. Hans is not only an insanely cool guy but he also is very popular in the steampunk subculture. He was one one the first people I heard about when it came to goggles, accessories and guns.

I'm also writing this because a unique opportunity has come upon Hans and his work. He runs a shop called Meiers House of Clocks in Tacoma WA and Chase (as in the credit card company) is awarding 12 small local businesses $250K grants to those that get votes and the support of the online community.

It's crazy easy. You just need to go HERE, log in with facebook (it literally takes 2 seconds) and enter "Meier's House of Clocks" in Tacoma, Washington
Then hit "Support" and you're done.
By the way, this is totally free. Chase adds $5 in the grant pool when you vote.

He only needs 250 votes to get in so, that should be pretty easy right? Well, yeah but every vote counts and the more we can drum up, the better chance a well deserving, top notch artist and craftsman has at getting a lot of money for his business.


While you're at it, check out the PH Factor store website HERE.

Black Caverns

Yeah, two music posts in like a week. This one is about my friend's band Black Caverns. It's ever evolving instrumental music of the ilk of bands like Isis and Pelican. There are lots of layers that remind me of a dramatic movie soundtrack but with a harder edge. It's spooky, sometimes dark, sometimes melancholy, and sometimes inspirational.

I heard a new song this morning and it made me want to put it on my writing music list and inspired me to write this little blog. Forget that these guys are my friends, they make good moody music that I could easily hear on any anti-hero major motion picture soundtrack.

It's often hard for me to get into heavier instrumental music but this is easily accessable and taps into feelings that conjure up vast landscapes, battle scenes and vengeful sky pirates heading off to level a far off city.

Take a listen to their newest song "The Ides of March" here.

If you like what you hear and I can pretty much guarantee you will, you can find them on Facebook as well. Or hey, comment here.

Beginnings and Endings

Beginnings and Endings

Ending
As you probably know, Thomas Riley 2 is finished. It took insanely long to finish because of reasons that I explained in an earlier post. Life, divorce, move across the country, getting settled in a new house, becoming a step parent. There's more I'm sure. But I'm happy to say that TR2 rings in at a pretty hefty  101,571 words and 241 single spaced Microsoft Word pages.

Beginning
So I'm working on Thomas Riley 3 and while I know where it is going and how it will end, I'm having problems starting the first chapter. The same thing happened on the second book too... I write half of the first chapter and I'm not happy with it... then I do it again, and I'm not happy with it again. I'm not worried, I'll get it right, it's just a pain in my ass. I will give these hints. TR3 should have some elements of time travel, and a possible trip to America... um, I mean "The Colonies".

Ending
If you know me, you know I'm a pretty obsessed hockey fan and my Nashville Predators were taken out by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round of the playoffs. I'm disappointed... I always am when the season is over. I kind of felt like they would go really far this year. But I have to hand it to the Coyotes, they kicked out butts fair and square. So, I'll defer to the sports fan cliche: There's always next year.

Beginning
I'm finally getting pretty settled in Washington. Things are different, that's for sure but they are awesome in totally different ways. Despite what everyone says, the weather is amazing. Everyday feels like Halloween in Nashville. Also the weather reminds me a lot of London or Amsterdam. Anyway, Gig Harbor feels like home. I mean essentially, it's kind of a place one would retire... There's an amazing Harbor (hence the name), fun mom and pop places to eat and a few fun water front bars that we've been enjoying. It's a much slower place than Nashville but it's also awesome.

Steampunk Discount

In honor of Star Wars Day, (Well, I'm claiming that part) Echelon Press is giving a discount 20% on selected titles all month! Check out the newest steampunk anthology, Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance, that I'm in with Elizabeth Darvill, Sean Hayden, and Jennifer Williams. So get a sweet discount on some fun international steampunk stories for all ages.

Click here for the link to the book.

Make sure to use this discount code for your %20 off: ZUSND7VY

MCA

I thought it would be appropriate to give my own little tribute to MCA, (Adam Yauch) of the music changing group, The Beastie Boys. While hip hop might not be for everyone, The Beastie Boys changed music forever in the 80s. Adam died today after losing his long time battle with cancer.

My first live concert ever was The Beastie Boys on the Licenced To Ill tour when they opened for Run DMC in 1986. Even though they drove my parents crazy, my dad was totally awesome and took me. (I was ten at the time) I'm pretty sure The Beastie Boys were drunk on stage but they were still awesome in their own middle finger to the world kind of way.

The crazy thing about The Beastie Boys was that their legacy lasted for 33 years! Pretty crazy for a group that was supposed to be a flash in the pan. And wow, did they ever make some bad ass music in that time. I still know all the words to Paul Revere.

So thank you Beastie Boys and thank you Adam for all the great tunes and all the great memories. Rest in Peace MCA.

Here's the newest Beastie Boys video featuring everyone that's anyone in Hollywood today:

http://youtu.be/FSXnxsXqvAU

Thomas Riley 2 is done

I'm done! After way too long and the roughest yet most amazing and wonderful time of my life, I'm so happy to say that Thomas Riley 2 is finished. I promise, this won't happen again. I'll literally be starting Thomas Riley 3 tomorrow. Thank you to everyone that have been so awesome waiting for the next book. I hope that the extra time it took to finish this has yielded a more dynamic novel. Musically, it took everything from Cradle of Filth to Made out of Babies to La Dispute and Touche Amore to get the steam to write this. Also the art above is a rough in progress look at the cover art by the amazing Will Routon (who did the art for book one). I figured he wouldn't mind me sharing.

Thomas Riley 2 (which doesn't have an official title yet) is a much darker story than book one. It's definitely an act two kind of tale. It's a love triangle that has turned into a love square. The story follows Thomas Riley and Cynthia Basset into a new battle against their longtime enemies, the Lemurian nation where Cynthia threatens everything with her love for famous sky pirate and now Lemurian recruit Sam Burges.

This instalment in the Thomas Riley series has a title wave of new characters and dangers ranging from Lemurian sharpshooter Joseph Allerberger, the even more insane than his predecessor, Doctor Wolfgang Gerhard and an airship larger than the Titanic that has the futuristic ability to manipulate the weather. Also there's an "American" pirate, Captain Bradford Booker who assists Thomas and Cynthia on their journey with his ethnically diverse crew to find Sam Burgess when he was taken prisoner after saving Thom and Cyn in book one. And finally, a young Sophie, or (Long Form) Sophie Marie Franziska Antonia Ignatia Alberta von Hohenberg, daughter of the Lemurian ruler takes center stage in book two. You may remember her from book one when Thomas and Sam infiltrate the Lemurian palace to rescue Cynthia. You'll also get a more in depth look into the characters from book one. Ann Read has become more bitter and vengeful while her counterpart Kathleen Benika has become completely mad. The latter may or may not have cannibalized a priest...

I like to think that more time was taken for the reader to really get involved with the characters, you get some back story as well as a hearty look into their personalities (even though many of them are completely crazy). Also for those who were wondering where the phantoms come into play in book one... all of that is explained and actually is now a part of an evil Lemurian scheme to win the twenty year war. Also, for those wondering what happened to Lillian Beuafort's soul? You'll get all the answers while being given a host of new ones.

So again, thank you to everyone that has been so patient waiting for this to be finished. This includes everyone from friends and family to Zova Books and fans that have been so great during this process.

Bleeding Heart Blues

Bleeding Heart Blues

When it's awesome and when it's important to me, I like to post about music from time to time. Today, I wanted to write up a little post about my hella good friends who are in an amazing band called Bleeding Heart Blues. From my hometown of Nashville, TN, these guys (and gal) have done so much not only for the local music scene in Nashville but have also been through it all (which I assure you is mind boggling if I took the time to tell you) when it comes to music.

All the members of Bleeding Heart Blues are masters at their craft and have a unique style and personality that's honestly hard to find anywhere else. I've heard a lot of people try to pin them down as a band by comparing them to other bands and every time, it's different and wide ranging. Like if you asked me who they sound like, I'd say: Heart meets Janitor Joe, meets Danzig, meets Cat Power... the list could kind of go on forever but you get my drift right? Dark and evil at times yet often awesomely heavier than you'd expect. Think Angsty like AMREP bands but with the charcoal soul of Austin's own Black Angels.

Don't take my word for it, check out their latest album here.