Shane Press (The Draconic Author) is a writer hoping to publish his first novel. Here you may find a glimpse of what he's working on, including conceptual artwork and chapter previews. There will likely end up being some form of Video Game reviews and such as well. If you like high fantasy novels, dragons, tales of heroics, and perhaps some amateur video game reviewing, you may find this to your liking.
In case you haven't noticed, I have new banner art for YouTube and my Blogspot page!
YouTube Banner!
Blog Banner!
My artistic friend Graey Erb, found on his website, worked on these for me recently! He did all the artwork used, as I've mentioned before on this blog. If you need an artist for fantasy/steampunk/sci-fi art, call on him. He'll illustrate my book, someday. Also, he has a DeviantArt page and a Tumblr and an Instagram! Go like him! This is so much fun to watch come together. Gets me juiced to write! I love seeing my ideas become reality, and I love having found someone who 'gets' what I'm looking for.
While I was at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria at the end of February, I got the chance to participate in a session of accelerated writing in the vein of NaNoWriMo, the period of writing in November where the Nation Novel Writing Month group encourages writers to attempt a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Hosted by Christina Horner, the event was called NERDOWRITO which involved forty-five minutes of writing. We were all given a quote for someone in the story to say, a character to use, and an adjective to describe something, each of which had to be used in the story somehow.
My Prompts included a quote, a character, and
an adjective, all to be used in the story
Now, I've tried to do NaNoWriMo before, and have not gotten through the 50,000-words, but I recognize the importance of deadlines as a motivational tool. In my attempts to participate in NaNoWriMo, I try to write one thousand words a day. At the NerdCon event, I managed about 375 in forty-five minutes. That means It might have taken me a little over two hours to write the one thousand words needed for NaNoWriMo. Having three bits to work from helped, as it helped formulate a story as soon as I read them.
In general, the popular opinion is that deadlines help people work faster and more intelligently, however, it's been a mixed bag for me. Because the work I set deadlines for (like this blog) carries little consequence for not meeting them I have a hard time finishing things when I'd like to, usually because other more important things (and even unimportant things) either come up or distract me. In the past, I've asked friends for somewhat unpleasant consequences to get me to finish something, such as posting a picture of myself in pig-tails on social media. That's worked a total of once since even that consequence did not impact me enough. However, I know that I react strongly when consequences will affect my wallet (like paying bills on time) or health (making sure I go to appointments). The stress involved is most likely what motivates me, as getting sick, paying a late fee, or the general shame I feel if I forget something important are things I hope to avoid. Why I don't feel the same shame when I don't finish a blog post or a book chapter, I cannot say.
That said, the forty-five minutes of writing at NerdCon netted me the very short story below. I have left it unedited and unfinished for now, just to show the raw outcome of the experience. I hope to polish it up and give it an ending some day. For now, enjoy a short sample of raw, time limit motivated writing.
* * *
It's was a mess. Or perhaps, it was just her. Swan Lake may be a classic, but the cast sure wasn't. It was the only thing that resembled a professional on stage was the set pieces, standing still just like they were supposed to. Instead, the cast moved about like a flock of wounded goslings, unable to hold poses and unwilling to follow instructions. She could at least take solace in the knowledge they had months to practice.
Samantha stared at her reflection as makeup continued to run in her tiny mirror in the cast dressing room, a luxury she enjoyed because of her role: the black swan. Toddlers auburn framed a face where mascara was forming lines down her cheek, and the eye shadow had been smudged by numerous back-of-the-hand tear wiping attempts, making the skin around her hazel eyes appear bruised. She had spent the past year studying her part and the realization she was surrounded by a cast that hadn't had ruined the experience.
“We'll get there,” Mike said, offering comfort. Her boyfriend was not a dancer, but his willingness to tolerate waiting for her to finish practice made him invaluable. “It's not like we have a booked house tonight.”
“We'll be lucky to be ready by next year!” Samantha lamented. “Who selected this cast?”
The director happened to walk by at that moment, avoiding eye contact with the diva.
“Look at it this way,” Mike said, picking up the micro camp site he had erected outside the stage door, “in a few months they’re bound to improve or get fired. Have you ever been in a bad production?”
“I can't even think about our first dress rehearsal. That's too far away. I'm worried how I'm going to get through these practices! I've never seen such lacking discipline among dancers!”
The ride home was a blur, lost amidst raging thoughts about her career. Thoughts of whether it had been a waste to come so far to be met with what she could only be called monumental incompetence. Or had she asked for this. “Why did I agree to work in this production, again?” she asked, but left no chance for a response. “Since when has ‘giving back’ been a requirement for success on Broadway?”
* * *
Thanks for reading! This week, the Internet Creators Guild (ICG) is having a #CreateICG Week on YouTube and other places! Search #createICG on Twitter to find other creators who are sharing all manner of things related to CREATEing!
A Recap of my Weekend in Boston at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria!
The Convention Schedule Cover
Not long ago on February 25th & 26th, at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center, was NerdCon. Only the second convention I have ever been to (the first was ConnectiCon last July) and it was AWESOME!
I became a Nerdfighter sometime between 2013 and 2014. It's hazy because I didn't realize what I had stumbled into until at least 2014, but I know I was watching Vlogbrothers for at least a year before that. And to be honest, saying I only became a Nerdfighter then is a lie, because those of us who relate to the Nerdfighter community have always been Nerdfighters. We just didn't know it, yet. I knew I found something I liked when I first saw a video of John discussing literature in one of my Education classes when I was studying to become a teacher after I had already graduated from Rutgers University. I made a point to remember the channel and well, the rest, as they say, is history.
I'm very glad I went to NerdCon. I wasn't sure what to expect and the fact that there was so much going on that I couldn't choose which panel or activity to go to was both awesome and frustrating because I wanted to do ALL THE THINGS! That said, what I went to I enjoyed, even the somewhat awkward moment when I realized I was in the wrong room (which I had entered a half an hour earlier) and the right room was full. It freed me up to do something else I wanted to do.
I got to attend a few panels I enjoyed. The first was a Q&A with Laci Green & Dr. Lindsey Doe (moderated by Matthew Gaydos) about their sexual education channels. The audience had many questions to ask in the 45 minutes we had with Laci and Lindsey, ranging from how to reduce stigma about getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STDs/STIs) to what healthy sexual discrimination looks like (how a person chooses a partner) to how they deal with negative people online. They put time into each response, even when that response was to refer to a lengthy video either of them had already done. At first, I felt bad for the one asking to receive an answer that meant they had to look elsewhere, but since the two have covered so many topics (and let's face it, we all had YouTube pocket edition with us) it was the best way to answer some questions. Afterward, they spent a few minutes talking to anyone who stayed at the end of the panel.
Having a Job While YouTubing Panel
Another panel I attended was about Having a Job While YouTubing, featuring Craig "Wheezy Waiter" Benzine as moderator with Dr. Aaron Carroll, Ahsante Bean, Kristina Horner, Emma Mills, and Nathan Zed. Here we had an interesting range of experiences balancing careers and YouTube. Dr. Carroll has the privilege of having a career in medical research where what he does for his career relates directly to his work on Healthcare Triage, meaning he has almost no conflict. Others on the panel work for corporations like Microsoft and PBS Digital Studios, and only got started in their careers after creating a portfolio on YouTube. Their chief bit of advice was to make time. Even if just a little, and to avoid thinking you need to produce an entire video in one go. They suggested taking some time to edit, to write scripts, research, and record on different days when short on time.
My Prompts for NERDOWRITO!
One of the events I went to was NERDOWRITO, an idea created by Kristina Horner. A writer herself and a participant of NaNoWriMo, she wanted to have a super condensed writing session with all willing attendees of the convention, so I made sure to be there. The exercise was to write as much of a story as possible in 45 minutes. To get us started, we were given three cards with the parts of a prompt on it: a character; an adjective; and something to be said in dialogue. Mine are pictured above. Those in attendance then had the rest of the session (about 45 minutes) to write. I will be sharing my polished short story on the blog in the future. I had a good time writing my story.
The other event I attended was a show featuring John and Hank Green, the two vloggers who started Nerdfighteria and Vlogbrothers. It was a recording for their Podcast "Dear Hank and John." We were all handed name tags with "Ryan" written on them, the best name in the world (accord to John and Hank). It was a humorous hour of dubious advice, news from Mars, and plenty of inside jokes.
The rest of the Con I spent in the expo hall looking at different vendors that were there, including DFTBA Records, and few different causes who came to spread awareness such as NaNoWriMo, This Star Won't Go Out, To Write Love On Her Arms, and Partners In Health. There was also The Giant Pizza to Decrease World Suck. If you donated to any of the charities present at the convention, you would get a 'topping' to put onto the Pizza. On the same display, were several places where con-goers could write and draw things related to Nerdfighteria, DFTBA, bridges, and why the day was awesome.
While I don't expect this convention to happen again, due to it being an anniversary celebration, I had a great time. I hope anyone who went had a great time as well. I'll leave you with a video I made from a humorous portion of the convention. As they say, Don't Forget To Be Awesome!
Hank punished himself at NerdCon for all to see! It was humorous and a little hard to watch. Hank, hope you feel okay. I want to thank my wife for doing the filming, a certain Purple Dragon for doing my editing, and Emma Brown for sharing some of her photos with me.
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Hello again! It's been a while since I posted last and before you ask, yes, I know I have a half a dozen other posts to finish. My attention is so scattered I'm proud of myself just for finishing this one. That said, I've got all kinds of news!
First off, I've finally started making YouTube videos. I got my computer to cooperate and have posted around 6 videos where I play either Fractured Space, a space MOBA with big ships and lots of explosions, or Crypt of the NecroDancer, a fun and addictive Rhythm/Rogue-Like where you move to the beat to slay monsters and advance the simple but compelling story, rescuing people! Check out one of my runs below, using the character of Bard who doesn't have to move to the music.
Seriously, what? Not like there are monsters down h-
Secondly, yes, I'm still finishing the "Story in Parts." That was largely derailed by January being hectic and then my 'taking a break' through most of February. It has not been forgotten or stopped, simply delayed. That said, many other delayed and pending pages are still being worked on. Motivation and focus have been premiums and I spent them on YouTube most of this month because I wanted to incorporate video into my blog. Now that the ground work for that has been laid, I will try to share my creative impulses between both mediums.
Thirdly, this weekend is NerdCon: Nerdfighteria! I will be attending and plan to record as much as I can, take pictures, and post blogs day of from my hotel room. Wish me luck! If you happen to be going to please comment! Would love to say hi!
Lastly, what I plan to do in the near future, A Review of a recently opened Early Access (Alpha) game Conan Exiles will be coming soon. Exiles is a survival game similar to Ark in a lot of ways (though I haven't played it) minus dinosaurs. It's based on Robert E. Howard's many short stories about Conan, a barbarian adventurer he wrote about in the late 1920's and early '30s which have subsequently made into three movies (two of which star Arnold Schwarzenegger and the third Jason Momoa) and a few earlier video games. More on that in the full review. I'm also planning to review the LEGO Batman movie, and if I can, John Wick: Chapter 2.
Until all this stuff happens: Best Wishes and Don't Forget To Be Awesome!
Hello, readers! I hope you're feeling well and are already making headway on whatever resolutions or goals or plans you have made for this brand new year. As a newly married man, I have some things I hope to accomplish this year, namely finding a house to make a home and get out of the cramped apartment I share with my wife. I also plan to continue making progress with my novel, as well as work on this blog! With a great year ahead for movies, t.v., and video games, I should have plenty to write about when not writing my book! With some luck, this year will be a good one for my writing career, and I hope it brings opportunities to you, my readers, as well. I also have a few posts still in the works to share soon. If anyone has anything they would like to me to review or read or watch, please leave a comment! I would love to broaden my horizons and talk about things I wouldn't normally expose myself to. Best wishes for the new year!
Happy New Year Everyone! Starting off with a review of two games I got after Christmas, Astroneer and Project Genom, both in their Alpha stages and both fun as they are so far.
Astroneer: Space Minecraft without the blocks
Astroneer is a survival-lite planetary exploration game. So far, the premise is you are an astronaut who is sent down to a vibrantly colored world to explore the planet, expand your base of operations, exploit the resources around you, and exterminate the threats that you can. "But Shane, this isn't like Masters of Orion or Sins of a Solar Empire, right?" Right! This is not a classic 4X strategy game, and (so far) there are no hostile aliens roaming around coming to kill you. After landing, you are left with your capsule (called a habitat) and your own ingenuity to survive the new world. Your astroneer (Astro-pioneer?) is equipped with a backpack that serves as your most basic battery and oxygen supply. These two resources are key to getting anything done, as you expend oxygen by moving around away from things you can tether to like your base. Tethering is automatic with proximity and allows for refilling oxygen as well as power if your base has one of many types of generators running. Away from tethers, you can find supplies of raw oxygen and power buried or embedded in the various minable surfaces of the planet (meaning the entire planet).
Let me take a moment to explain how the game plays. The only other thing your astroneer starts with is a multi-tool which doubles as both a vacuum mining device, sucking up both land and resources, and an extruder, spewing out 'land' to build bridges and walls, and also fill in holes and smooth out the terrain. Doing so uses power, which must be managed as your backpack recharges slowly.
Now, the game has many resources for you to collect in order to improve your situation. Very quickly, you will find the first two which are Compound and Resin, which will help you build the beginnings of your base, which is usually a Research system and a Smelter. The first turns Research pods you find into either new tech to build or a random resource, while the smelter allows you to refine certain materials into metals needed for construction of more advanced tech, like vehicles, generators, and additional base systems. The first you will end up building is likely a tiny solar dish and a wind turbine to power your backpack, and then your base.
From the ten hours I've put into it (the first 5 all in one sitting) I've managed to build a giant segmented truck covered in storage containers and power plants that allows me to go on huge mining trips and collect as much as possible. I also have a lunar lander style vehicle that I can use to hop from one area to another, though I have not explored the possibilities with the lander because I don't have enough hydrazine to fuel it.
So instead I take my solar- and wind-powered truck across the surface and down into caves to get hopelessly stuck and then have to tunnel my way back out.
The developers have created an interesting feature where the terrain is all voxels and polygons, and when you use your tool, you can bore straight through any surface you come across. This allows your to make tunnels through mountains, or if you find yourself stuck in a pit, to make a ramp to get where you want to go. You can also build up the terrain to make bridges over chasms, or up to areas that are currently inaccessible. I have not done much building, and have concentrated on digging in my current playthrough. But digging can get dangerous! You never know if you'll dig into a huge void and suddenly have to change direction to avoid falling to your death!
Speaking of death, I did mention this is a survival game, correct? Well, death in this game is annoying, as anything you were carrying when you died is lost and left at your corpse, while your 'respawn' back at base. You get to keep any generators stuck to the sides of your backpack (which has a limit of 2) but if you just hit a jackpot of titanium, or had exited a vehicle, you have to hoof it back to recover whatever you lost. The game kindly leaves a marker to help you find your corpse, though, as well as vehicles, bases, or beacons you leave near points of interest.
Beyond that, the game offers multiplayer for cooperative exploration. My truck currently has three seats, but I lack any friends to ride with, currently. The game is addictively fun, though, so I hope to attract some fellow astroneers when the game gets further into development. I'll make updates about any features I find especially noteworthy. As it is, the game is fun and provides constant reasons to play just 5 more minutes with the promise of achieving some goal or finding that one mineral deposit you needed to finish building your giant drilling rig! It is currently available on Steam Early Access and is totally worth the $19.99 USD. If you pick it up, I'm CDR Shiff D on Steam. Come play with me!
Project Genom: A Russian Sci-Fi MMO highlighting customization and crafting
You wake from cryosleep, trapped your stasis pod. In a panic, you fumble for the emergency release and feel relieved as the hiss of the hydraulics releasing fills your ears. You push up the lid, still shivering from the cryo-stasis gel, and step out into a dimly lit hall in nothing but the boxers they froze you in. You immediately realize something isn't right. Electrical wires snap and spark above you. Parts of the ceiling struts have crashed into a neighboring pod. Numerous other pods sit empty, but a trail of blood leads you to one of your former cohorts. He lies slumped against a wall, his hands covered in luminescent blue goo, a strange red shrimp-like creature at his feet. The puddle of red upon which he sits indicates he at least killed his killer. You thank him without words, else the creature may have claimed you as well. Looking around, you find some pants you recognize as basic security leggings. The tough fabric will keep your legs warm, and hopefully, repel the claws of any more critters that may be around.
Your attention is suddenly drawn to a camera fixated above the door to your cryo-storage vault. "Hey! You're alive! We had to seal the vault when the Diggers broke in, and then you all started thawing! Some managed to escape but you are the only one left that isn't still a block of ice. There should be a laser cutter in a box nearby. Use it to get out! You're lucky this door isn't the main bulkhead. Cut the locking clamps and you should be free. But be careful, the diggers are everywhere! If you make it to the elevator, I can turn them on to get you out. Good luck!"
The snap of the electrical connection being cut makes this one way call a short one. You search for the laser cutter and tune it to sever the clamps, and after a few moments, you slice through the steel and the door automatically opens. Stepping cautiously into the waiting chamber, you see all manner of scientific equipment scattered around. Vials of strange liquid, barrels leaking other fluids, hypo-injectors, surgical equipment, and you realize that in the panic of the last few moments, you don't remember why you were in that cryo-pod. It matters little when you see the red carapace of a Digger crawl around a corner and stop. It looks at you as you level your weapon, and then emits a screech, answered by the clatter of a dozen more bug-legs. You unload your charges at the bugs, and the last falls dead at your feet a minute later as it tried to lunge for you. Shaken by the encounter you grab as many extra power packs as you find in the crate and stuff the into the waist strap of your leggings, and continue on.
Project Genom Trailer (Note: Some features not yet implemented)
This is your introduction to Project Genom. Feels like Fallout 4, right? Well, that's where the similarities end, as you work your way through to the Ark, the remains of a colony ship sent to a far off world called Avalon. As you poke around and get your bearings in this game which lacks a clear path at first, considering it's Pre-Alpha in development. You eventually catch wind of what's been going on, and that your rude awakening is the result of these Diggers chewing their way into your cryo-unit and waking you all up before the colony was ready for you. Exploration will reveal a series of scavenger hunt styled quests which will earn you some context as well as some starting equipment, though make sure you explored enough in the tutorial to find a better starting gun. Eventually, you leave the colony to explore the planet and the game quickly becomes your normal questing and killing and searching MMO style of gameplay.
Where PG sets itself apart is the systems in place for advancing your character, only some of which are active. The main one is how you advance your skills. So far, the only two sets of skills I've noticed online are the armor and weapon skills, with the weapon skills limited to using pistols and automatic rifles. The game has 6 classes of armor (Only three are available currently: Tactical, Saboteur/Commando, and Assault) and 6 classes of weapons (Pistols, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Automatic Rifles, Blades, and Glaives). So far, advancing these skills involves using the associated weapon or armor, which involves either killing appropriate level enemies or getting him by them. Each subsection of skill has various bonuses that can be unlocked like extra ammo, damage, critical hit chance, or special actions like hitting your enemy with the butt of the rifle. Some of these things have not been implemented yet, such as mech suits, flying wing-gliders, pets and placeables like turrets and shield, and once you choose to unlock a skill or new tier of item level, you can not (as of yet) undo you choices or redistribute them. Whether this will carry over to the final product is as of yet undetermined, and with none of the other advancement systems unlocked as of yet, we will have to see where this all ends up. So far, though, it's fun to run around killing bugs and realizing you have a bunch of points to spend unlocking new tiers of gear. I did not know what I was doing at first, however, so now I have points spent in things I'd rather not use. But such is the life of a Pre-Alpha game tester.
Project Genom is also available on Steam Early Access for $13.99 USD, currently 30% off (Normally $19.99). You can also buy some DLC packs to help further fund the game which will provide you with some bonus stuff once the game systems come online. They are slightly less exclusive versions of crowdfunding packages they offered several months ago (I can't find the specifics currently). Are they worth it? Not presently, since you won't get anything out of them. Is the $13.99 worth it? So far, yes. It's fun and has interesting features and could be quite entertaining if the team can accomplish the goals they have set for it. Right now, it's an unfinished game with enough polish and content to keep you entertained, and with enough options that starting over once you hit the content wall is worthwhile. I will definitely keep people posted on any interesting developments. If you want to check out their website, click here!
