Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Bumble Bindlegrim

Check out The Holiday World of Mr. Bumble Bimblegrim. It comes from the imagination of my amazingly talented cousin, Robert Aaron Wiley. His blog Bindlegrim also has some amazing stuff on it.

I snagged this from his about page on his website:
Hello! My name is Robert Aaron Wiley, and welcome to the holiday world of Mr. Bindlegrim! An alter ego, if you will, for myself who never had much restraint when it came to holidays - always starting too soon, or too late (as evidenced by my parents confiscating that obnoxious 70s Halloween vinyl, I was playing over and over well after the holiday was done). Later in life, 2004 to be exact, I rediscovered my interests in these traditions, exploring them through art, writing, and music, and most recently novelty objects like bobble heads.Please look around, enjoy, and contact me if you have any questions:

This is the book trailer for his halloween book:



Check it out!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

New Market: Rollicking Tales

Thomas H. Pugh, a forum friend, is starting up a new publication called Rollicking Tales. This will be a themed anthology.

The first theme is Farmer's Almanac and the deadline is December 31, 2012. Submission details can be found here.

My only involvement with this publication is that I tried to rain on his parade of starting up a new publication. (It's A LOT of WORK.) Fortunately for you, he had an umbrella of enthusiasm and passion for publishing.

Check it out! Rollicking Tales!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Serious and Silliness

First the serious. I was beta-reading a short story which had a fantasy being based on bears, eg a bearlike humanoid. Which I think is pretty cool. The problem I had with it was the description of their nails. The author used talons, so I imagined bird type feet because talons are what birds of prey (eagles, hawks, falcons, etc.) have. Bears have paws and claws.

While nails, talons, claws, and hoofs are the same anatomical structure in vertebrates they really aren't synonyms. Primates have nails. Birds specifically birds of prey have talons. Bears, wolves, cats, dogs, etc. have paws and claws. Horses, cows, goats, sheep, camels, etc. have hooves.

If you're going to base a sentient fantasy creature on a known species, then take some time to look up that species anatomy. Otherwise your friend with a zoology degree is going to get confused.

Now for some silliness.

Giant Pandas playing in the snow



Even funnier

Red Pandas playing in the snow

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Do Something; Do Anything

I think I need to watch this everyday until the message sinks in.