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Writing?

Meithar — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:00:00 GMT

I am currently in the process of plotting out an outline form of the story I {intend} to be my first Novel. It is the story I started visualizing during last years NanoWriMo event. I have written a few paragraphs of the opening chapter and plotted about a quarter of the story. I have hit a wall in ideas on story progression, so I am going to switch gears and put on the Discovery Writer Hat for a while and just write the story up to where the outline stops, then go back to plotting for another quarter.

I hope in the near future to be able to get me a new laptop, one with a 12 cell lithium battery that I think should last either 4 or 10 hours, I forget which. My current paperweight only lasts about 20 minutes if I am lucky, or an hour if I use the external battery I bought. It doesn't make much sense to have a portable PC if you have to drag around a surge protector and power-cord everywhere. To be productive I really need to be able to ignore my house after work and the internet, of which Hulu and a myriad collection of MMO's are my bane.

Also, I plan to start using my Blog page again on a regular basis so stay tuned for some words popping up there. I would say insightful topics, but it probably will end up more mindless ramblings. Also, if you haven't heard already I have an author's page created on facebook. You can find it here. I will be posting a link to it on the tab above marked Blog Site as well as a link to my Twitter page, which is something else I need to get into the habit of using more often.

Great Animated Short Film

Meithar — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 08:50:00 GMT

Felica Day, the creator and actor of the web series: The Guild linked this video on her facebook page and as it showcases both great animation and story-telling I thought I would post it here as well. It uses the open source program called Blender, which has a growing movement behind it for independent production companies showing you don't have to be one of the big boys to produce quality animated movies.

New Comic

Meithar — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:55:00 GMT

I stumbled across a new, well it is new to me anyway webcomic. Now it is actually a graphic novel series that you can only read sample pages from on the web but you can pay $2 to download the full thing to your pc and read as well as place an order for the next batch of hard copies to be made.

The characters and response for the comic seems to have been so good that they started an actual web series based on the early lives of the main characters called: Prelude. It looks very interesting and I plan to read through and get caught up on the Prelude story, not sure if I am going to buy the GN's just yet though. I will be adding this to the comic section of the links widget on the right hand side of the OC home page. The comic name is: Dream Keepers, check it out and let me know what you think.

The Guild Does It Again

Meithar — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:41:00 GMT

Felica Day and crew has come out with another awsome video. This time a Bollywood style music vid with a gamers theme. Their story-telling flair just keeps getting better and better. Highly entertaining to watch. You can purchase the track on itunes to help pay their production costs.

Dragon Age 2

Meithar — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:30:00 GMT

I am trying to cut back on posting info on games here and saving that for the new OC Gaming site, but I think I can make an exception for this game as it is from Bioware and they tell some of the best stories out in the gaming world. Telling stories is what this site is all about, mine and others so I say it is an acceptable post.

Let me know what you think about this vid and if you are as interested in getting your hands on this as I am.

Library

Meithar — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:37:00 GMT

Added a new story to the Library section titled: "Spellweaver". It is an old story I started to write back in 2000 detailing an adventure of one of my novels ancestors. I will be working on finishing it on the side, as well as some of the other stories that need to be finished.

Also, I have posted a few new abridged versions of the Karuna Histories in the Library for everyones enjoyment. There are still a few more that need to be posted, so keep an eye out for that. I added the Calendar System I created for the Karuna world in the Library as well under the story title of: "Maps". That area will also house the finished versions of the Karuna Maps once I get them done to a point I am happy with.

Starwars The Old Republic

Meithar — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:52:00 GMT

All I can say is .... WOW.

Star Wars: The Old Republic PC Games Trailer - E3 2010: Hope Cinematic Trailer

Karuna World Map

Meithar — Sun, 09 May 2010 07:45:00 GMT

Check out the Maps section of the Progress Status box here on the home page for a glimpse of the Test Version of the Karuna World Map. It is a little different from my original hand drawn maps, but I like how it is turning out. There is only one major landmark feature I am trying to figure how to add, after that I can start working on smaller sections of the map to make more traditional maps of each continent.

Enjoy!

Site Changes

Meithar — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 11:20:00 GMT

Just a quick update on the on going site maintenance.

A new tab labeled - Blog has been added with a link to my Blog page so that if I fall behind in making a post you can more easily locate it to catch up on any past posts you may have missed. New posts within the last three days will still show in the Recent Blogs area of the Homepage.
An Author's Bio Tab labeled - About Brian is in the works. I will switch it to public once I get a picture of me to post there as well as figure out how I want to word the bio itself.
I am still saving money to purchase some new buttons for the new tabs on the menu bar to match the style of the tabs I already have. As well as get the banner redone to remove the motto.

I am also going to start posting book reviews on my blog. I do not read many books anymore like I used to, but if there is a particular novel you are curious about and would like to see a review send me an email with the Title and Author and I will see about doing a review.

Writers Conference

Meithar — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:54:00 GMT

I will be attending the NETWO Conference this weekend, held at Camp Shiloh on lake Bob Sandlin just south of Mount Pleasant Texas. I got in last minute after learning about it from my new writers group, and I can not wait to get out of the house and meet more of the local writers. Stay tuned for some new pics to pop up in the gallery and a new blog post about what I did / learned over the weekend.

Site Downtime

Meithar — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:36:00 GMT

Per the official news channel for guildportal.com, the website will be down on the 15th. It is not expected to last a full 8 hours. For more info click on the news link at the bottom of the page.

Link Additions

Meithar — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:42:00 GMT

I just added a few new links for some online comics, as well as moved the links for Authors websites into their own section. I have not thoroughly read all the comic yet so I am not sure what age bracket they are best suited for. I do not think any of them go beyond some mild language, if you or I find anything too indecent, i.e. gross obscenities or nudity, etc I will remove the links. They look to be some good stories and artwork and I thought it might be worth sharing.
One of the new additions landed itself in the Literary section for it is actually a web-serial novella. After looking at the site, it seems there are more people out there who have similar sites and is something I am thinking of doing as well with some minor stories. Take a gander at them all and let me know if you like em, and would like to see something like Phantasia Online is something you would like to see me do as well.

ScyFy Channel Makes a MMO

Meithar — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:28:00 GMT

A while back I remembered hearing that Sci-Fi was going to team up with a game developer studio to make a TV show and an MMO Game. I was curious to see what would turn out from that, for they made it seem (at least to me) to be like a reality TV show following the dev process. Turns out they are making a game and TV show based off the game at the same time. Below is an video interview about it.

And here is the link to the article.
Part Two of the video.

and the link to that article.

Age of Conan Expansion

Meithar — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:57:00 GMT

AOC's first expansion: Rise of the Godslayer, is currently in Beta. The dev's recently did a live walkthrough of some of the content and I link it here for your enjoyment. I am excited to dive into this upon release!

Watch live streaming video from xfire_funcom_priv at livestream.com

Ghost Town

Meithar — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:44:00 GMT

Greetings, I know things have been quiet on the site for awhile now and I just wanted to pop on and give a little update on things. As soon as the after holiday bills settle down I will be purchasing some additional graphics for the site. The Oaken Crown banner will be getting a minor facelift, in that the motto: A Brotherhood of Gamers, will be omitted as the site is no longer focused on gaming. Two new sections will be added / made open to the general public: 1) A Bio section will host a picture of me and give the general authors background info, 2) The Library content will be opened up to everyone to see, but I need a new Library button made for the site first. (those that can currently see the area can attest to how the default button tabs looks horrible in contrast to the others). I still need to try and contact guild portal about changing the way some of the library content is displayed, to make dividing the "secret reader content" separate from the general public.

I have not been as active online as I would like due to my new writing practices. I recently started staying over at work in the mornings after clocking out, heading to the cafeteria and setting up the laptop and writing for an hour or two until my battery dies. I would like to also spend that time jumping on the website and writing my blog, but the hospital free internet keeps adding more and more content to their blocked list and sadly the Order of the Oaken Crown joined that list long ago. At home I have become discouraged from using the internet for anything other than playing the Lord of the Rings Online due to a weird script error message that keeps popping up whenever I switch webpages. I have a stack of papers with around seven ways to troubleshoot the problem, I just have to find some time to work at it and I hate troubleshooting PC's!

I stated I am writing regularly now, but I don't want to get everyone too excited about seeing a finished book soon. I started writing a story for NaNoWriMo this year that I intend on submitting to the Writers of the Future contest when it is finished, but I have put that on very temporary hold so I can finish the Karuna World History timeline. Other than some basic info I still needed to plot out for the story, I believe that info that will be revealed as I write the Histories will add more to the story than if I tried to fill in holes as I wrote it. I would hate to have my story either not place in the finals or make 2nd or 3rd place and have to wonder if finishing the Histories would have helped me land in 1st. I really want to submit this year and get my writing career launched, as I become more and more skeptical about staying in current employment, but I don't want to sacrifice quality in my haste. So, know that work is being done, but as I am still an amateur at how to piece a novel together, work may be slower than it should be.

I am still looking for quality and dedicated readers to join my "Alpha or Test Readers". If you love Fantasy and want to help mold a novel as it is created, shoot me an email on here or at: meithar@homtail.com and I will get in touch with you about it. I want to thank Dave Wolverton for the writing class he gave in Dallas a few months ago, your information has helped a lot in my writing training and I hope to attend more of your classes in the future. I also want to thank Brandon Sanderson for his words of encouragement when we met at his Wheel of Time book sigining in Dallas recently. Your correction that I am a Writer when I stated I was a Writer in Training was greatly appreciated and I hope you and Harriet enjoy the Oaken Crown mugs.

One last thing, if you are looking to take some writing classes I want to point out a spectacular class coming up next year in California. It is called Writing Superstars and it has a blockbuster list of Authors who will teach you about the business and craft of writing. They recently announced that the workshop has been increased from 2 to 3 days in length, but are still listing the price of admission with the old 2 day fee. The list of Authors attending are: Keven Anderson, Brandon Sanderson, Dave Wolverton / Farland, Rebecca Moesta, and Eric Flint. Find out more at: www.SuperstarsWritingSeminars.com.