Of Dreams & Memories

I am in a shuttle. Not a train. More like a plane, or a spaceship. It is an in-between of those two, really. It is shaped like a long rocket without wings, and it is populated by rooms, and halls full of safety-chairs, where people wait for the landing. Only the bottom part has an engine and control center.

I am inside a waiting room, all for my own. I just woke up. I get the feeling that the end of the journey is approaching. Although I slept through it, it was not a long journey, actually. It is a mystery to me where I am, and where I am headed. And although it is a mystery, it is not important. The only thing that is important is the landing.

I slowly climb out of my room. It is connected to one of those sitting halls, through a corridor entrance, above me. The gravity is awkward, and although I do not float, I do need to crawl my way out of the room. As I approach the above chamber, I find myself pausing next to a window.

Instead of a "disposable rocket",
This is the actual final result!

The view is intimidating. It is not just a freefall. It is an accelerated drop, from who knows how high. There is no sound. I keep staring into the incoming ground. It is littered with boulders, as if the landing site is meant to be more of a hazard, rather than less.

Suddenly, the thrusters below me burst, and the noise of combustion roars, as if from a long distance. Just as it seemed the vessel would hit the ground, and my mortal life would end miserably yet quickly, an ever so slight wobble motion hits, and everything just stops.

We have landed, and not surprisingly, everyone in their sits start applauding.

Jerny At Ways, Part One

The Crossroads at the Eagle Nest

Click here to download this blogcast in MP3 Audio.

Maghir's father died, shortly after the boy had reached his seventh birthday. The grief tore at his mother, who decided she would travel alone and see the world, so that healing would come faster. She left Maghir and his younger sister Pae to their aunt and uncle; her elder sister's family.

Turning and twisting in his sleep, Maghir dreamed of the morning his father died. He and his younger sister were playing with the lambs; those who had already grown enough wool to be fluffy to the touch. Two rams were wrestling under a big oak tree. His father did not appreciate having his rams injured or dead from fighting, so he moved in to kick one of the giant heavily-horned rams.

This was not an unusual day. Life at Maghir's family farm was a quiet and simple one. Mostly pleasant, and sometimes harsh. Just as life should be, or so Maghir imagined. Suddenly, he heard his father yell followed by a loud crunch. Pae turned to look and so did he. They both stared to see their father lying broken on the ground. One of the giant rams sniffed at the man curiously.

"Dad? Is he dead?" Pae asked without looking away. Maghir had the words dad and dead confused in his mind.

"Yes," he said sharply. "Of course he's dead, Pae. Just look at him." Their father was not twitching or moaning. The two children had seen many people and animals this way, before. A broken body, so badly twisted that it was a surprise to not see blood oozing from the corpse. "Stay here and make sure nothing comes to... eat him," he turned to look at Pae, his eyes worried and his lips pursed.

As he turned and walked back towards their wooden hut, beneath the trees further inside the forest, he was not surprised to see his sister only staring in disbelief, or was it shock, at the twisted corpse of their now ever-restful father...

End of Part One. Listen to part Two.

My Gameplay Mechanics @ Wiki.AssafKoss.com

Officially, all my latest revisions for an Online Multiplayer Fantasy Action gameplay mechanics are publicly available on my wiki, at:

Wiki.AssafKoss.com

My kind of lady. - The Final Fantasy Wikia

I am trying to sort out the Do's from the Do Not's, in a manner that reflects on how such games should be, instead of what is already, obviously, wrong with them. Titles that fit into this genre description include, but are not limited, to MMORPG's, MMOTBG's, MMOFPS's & many of the modern day MMO(G)'s.

Be warned, that while this wiki is publicly visible, it is not public for editing, at all. I am glad to incorporate YOU, if you feel this is relevant to you. Simply contact me in any way, if you want in on the editing work.

MMORPG #3 Life Cycles

Open in a new window/tab to view full size!

For a fantasy themed game, it seems quite sensible to use Death as a living realm in itself. It does sound contradictory, though. In a more sensible game, Death could be ignored and the logic may be sorted with life cycles, instead. That is, that Life cycles and recycles, and while the soul (player) remains the same, the body (character) changes. It may be reborn, shape shift or even die and restore as a new individual completely.

I feel that most games would rather ignore this topic and issue. Simply, make the character restore back to life with a penalty, or even die completely only to remake an all too similar character once more.

I do find the idea of never dying and only losing consciousness, to be reawakened, a comfortable and kind method of practice. It's better to remove Death from the equation if it's going to be treated like a bother instead of an opportunity! :-D

MMORPG #1

Recently, I've been giving shape to some ideas that I had regarding computer games. This is specifically about the hot-topic genre of online role-playing, or in another word, MMORPGs.

I often use Paint to quickly draw my ideas. I feel that text is generally inadequate to really show someone else what I am thinking about. Colorful boxes and lines on the other hand, with titles, sure do seem more fun! When I tried to collaborate on an idea with a friend, and even though she did not join up eventually, a website caught my attention.

Creately.com

Here is my first flowchart. It starts rather big. Then, I move onto smaller and more precise flowcharts. I should really call it a Block Diagram.

Open in a new window/tab to view full size!

Hiatus & Changes

I have decided to stop writing stories. I will keep them online for now, but I will not do anything en-towards it.

It is, indeed, a lovely thing how time does not really apply in the world of the Internet. I have had quite a hiatus from blogging, due to the emotional crash of deciding to drop my literature workings, and expected to drop the blogging, as well. Surprisingly, I found myself time and again thinking about the blog in a more personal manner - disregarding the value of it as a tool to advance books.

My muse has been faltering.
Now, it has returned!

I shall remove the "Daily" part of the blog, but still use it often. Many ideas must be discussed, and many an experience should be told! :-)

Here's a little shiny I've made after recently joining a hobby team of MMORPG developers.

Imagine someone using my sword to kill!

 

I'm Just Trying To Be Funny

I don't know what's going on. My funny bone isn't working. I find myself without my regular intuitive and spontaneous humor. I write stories, but I can't really find the funny humor in them. I write posts, but I can't really think up anything funny to add.

I only get some rhetorical humor going on when commenting on Facebook.

I guess I'm nothing but a troll, after all.

The Myth of Commonality & Public Interest

Today, I would like to discuss with you a myth that is the cause of war on our public freedom. This is the idea that the public has a common interest, at all.

Barack Hussein Obama II

I will repeat. The public never had, and never will have, a common interest. There for, no person or group of people will ever be able to represent the public under any commonality.

Just as a group of wealthy executives, who spend their days in offices, are unable to represent poverty stricken communities; so are the poverty stricken community of any town or neighborhood, unable to represent those of wealth and status.

The analogy that best exemplifies this case, is the one where an engineer is replaced by ten popular citizens. Without the hard gained skills and knowledge necessary to bring about results, those ten cannot achieve what the individual engineer achieves every day.

George W. Bush

Social representatives are professionals. They are not, on the other hand, magicians. Those who claim to answer the needs of all are liars. Those who claim to improve on the issues at hand, without first proving that no personal interest will conflict with these issues, are frauds and cheats.

Modern-day politicians have no choice, but to be frauds. Finance remains their sole interest, and as long there is any interest in finance and power for a politician, then there is no hope for freedom.

Ralph Nader

Reversely, if the only interest of the social representatives is freedom, then there is no doubt that the result will be public freedom.

A politician that is both aware of, and learned in, the lives of all people, will without a doubt be obliged to keep freedom above all. It is only an unlearned and unaware politician that brings forth the demise and destruction we see raging at the beginning of the third millennium A.D.

Queen of England
Elizabeth II

On both accounts must a politician be tested and proven, and must they be created and shaped. How could we expect a politician to do our bidding, when they are unaware of the misery of people during their work? It is as if a blind architect was chosen to build our cities. How could we expect a politician to succeed in doing the right thing, when they are unlearned in the things most important to us? They are learned only in conquest and power. It is as if we were to expect an infantry soldier to take upon himself the role of a strategist. Indeed, it leads to bloodshed and misery.

Tomorrow, I will post on my first attempt at describing the requirements we must all bid necessary, for a social representative to fulfill, before gaining the creed of office. I am certain that all true leaders and social activist will take much interest in having such a practice activated, for the benefit of all.

A New Language In Process: English

I enjoy sharing and reading in writers' forums. It is a  suitable hobby for a wanna-be author. It has been an interesting experience to receive different comments about my choice of words and style. I would like to investigate this topic today.

Charles Dickens in 1860

Even though English has some very important rules, which guide us all in its' proper use, so that meanings are inferred correctly, it has long lost its' place as a privately controlled language. It is no longer the language of any one people, nor two or three. It has become a global language. A language of all people. With this change in ownership, many rules and ideas have been introduced into English.

Any person who had the occasion to entertain Engrish, Japanese English, or Indian English well spoken by legions of telephone representatives and support personnel, has had the unusual experience of being part of a conversation that does not claim to be in actual English; but rather in Global English. <Insert New & Entertaining Name Here> might just make the original language not as common as it still is.

Pfft Gamers.

And not to mention internet slang and "leet" writing. It may be that the new ways people use English to communicate in writing could lead the future of our new global language!

j00Z |\|3\/3r |<|\|0\/\/, U|\|L3$ j00Z 7r'/. :)

No Blog Post Today

Emptiness is a vastly misunderstood concept. Space holds all matter, yet it is inherently empty for sight. People contain the force of life, yet we are inherently empty of it, for when the balance of a body fails, so does its' life vanish. Emptiness is not a lack of substance; rather emptiness is the balancing counterpoint to substance.

Imagine an object that is both empty and substantiated. It has no properties at all times, while it has all properties at no given time. This object is our reality. We, and all existence and living beings, are a confluence of the balance of reality. Each of us represents a balance. Anything we experience or do is a state of such balance.

A balanced life, which is the optimum state of all beings at any moment, requires a careful handling of both substance and emptiness. Substance is represented by the material world; all things that are sensory. Emptiness is represented by a digestion process of all matter, either physical or mental. Emptiness is not the lack of or opposite to substance. Rather, it is a process; unlike matter, which is a result or substantialization.

An inclination for results is unhealthy. An emphasis on processes is also unhealthy. Just like the well-trained juggler, so do all beings must throw and catch at the same time this accommodating experience of life.

Fail Brilliantly by Gwen Gordon

In nine (9) pages, Gwen manages to bring us into her private world of challenge and chance. This piece is related to Buddhism and the practice of meditation, and how it has intertwined itself into her life. In it, Gwen raises some important questions about the validity of such a practice, and shares with us her fascinating answers.

http://www.gwengordonplay.com/pdf/fail_brilliantly.pdf

Enjoy.

Utopia

I have just finished reading the book Utopia (1516 by Thomas More), which I have gone through quickly in the past as well. It is essential for any modern day thinker to observe the changes that have occurred around us in history, and to see which of them do not change so much, while also acknowledging those changes that do not change at all.

In the story, More goes through crucial topics in every day social organization, such as finances and money (in which he debunks the need for coin and property); employment;  corruption and unlawful law and judgement; and even goes at some length into politics and royalty.

Even though many ideas and topics in the short book of one-hundred and eighty three (183) pages seem to be irrelevant for modern day logic and need, it is without a doubt a testimony and clear example of the goals we are still aspiring to reach even today. Do not dismiss this important artifact from our past.

The original cover for the book.

The Life Of A New Author

This blog marked the birth of a new author. Me. The excitement and opportunities ahead had motivated me, and got me to publish two wonderful stories in eBook format. The anticipation, and with it both success and failure, have put an odd discomforting vibe on my writing. I would like to share this experience here.

Some call it "writer's block", while others just see it as temporary mood swings. I accept the challenge my own mind has set, and am unwilling to simply bow down to inability. Even though I have tried music to alley the discomfort, there is a feeling of disinterest and lacking in my new books. It started with my Science-Fiction novel Future Value, and after disagreement with the horridly slow pace at which that book was half-written, I have moved on to my fourth book and the second in the Robert The Fail series titled the same with the subtitle "Losing To Trees."

In both cases I find interest in the story and characters, yet find myself disinterested in the writing itself. I have tried to simplify the methods I use to concoct my stories in the Word text editor to no avail. Now, I am forced to consider other methods with which to share my stories, beyond the default option of writing a hundred-page standard book.

I wonder if it's just winter taking its' toll on me.

If you have shared the same or a similar experience in your writing, please share it as a comment. :-)

Amazonian Adventures #2

Today, I found out that my eBooks were hoarding serious technical bugs. >< Obviously, something that my audience would feel to be amateurish. Immediately, I turned and fixed those bugs!

Complaint #1
Amazon's file conversion system blows. I use the most simple and technically-correct Word 2010 documents, and still Amazon insist on bugging up my eBooks. Bad spaces - Wrong bookmarks - Inability to handle Unicode. *sigh*

Love trolls.

Complaint #2
Every time an author updates their book's files, it can take plenty of time for Amazon to update. In the meanwhile, if a mistake was made, there is no option to cancel submission - and upload a new file. No, I must wait these twenty-four (24) hours or more, until I can upload my books again, and then only a day later will those updates be available. Better be careful with that submission button.

A Soundtrack For Authors

It seems that many of us have lost the secret art of inspiration. In the past, artisans and craftsmen had an abundance of natural environment and quiet in their daily life. The sounds of water, animals, and the wind had reigned the cacophony of their lives.

Just as the painter needs a brush and a canvas, so does the writer need his own tools of the trade. In a similar fashion to a painter that chooses his studio or a special location for his painting, so does the writer need his special locations that would induce concentration and help his creative flow. For example, I benefit from the parks and remote locations in my suburban area away from the city.

Sometimes, though, it is not possible to find a comfortable and accessible remote location. For this, music can be our atmosphere, and assist in the writing process. When I do workout, I prefer good rock or metal music to encourage me. On the other hand, when I do something as immobile as writing, I require quiet and soothing music. I enjoy tracks from "fantasy" and "celtic" themes.

Feel free to add your own suggestions! :=)

How To Write A Book (A Practical Guide)

Had to add that "practical guide" part there :=P What? It gets results.

Anyway, today I want to share with you, my dear readers and blog-followers, my secret methods for authoring a book. In order to reduce technical issues when writing a story, I have devised so far two methods that speed up my creative writing flow, and minimize the effort necessary in maintaining concentration while writing an entire story.

One, is my Book_Template file. I didn't want to shift between different programs/interfaces while writing a story, so I had to figure out how to implement my ideas using only Word 2012 or any other interface. Therefor, before I write my story I first fill-in a template file with the following:

Title, Subtitle & Summary. These allow me to choose a topic and general theme for my story. The summary specifically allows me to note down any important ideas that I want to include in the storyline.

Main Characters, Secondary Characters, Miscellaneous Characters & Locations. These are short lists I keep in my template, so I can keep an eye on all those details, and change them in an organized fashion. This keeps me from obvious errors, and also helps me order my characters and locations. This order helps for referencing inside the story.

Chapters, Sections & Subsections. I divide my story into titles. Every chapter is split into several sections. Every section is split into several subsections. This allows me for a consistent storyline, which is also very easily manipulated. Also, using the titles as a reference, my writing-flow is more steady. This reduces distractions dramatically and builds up self-confidence while writing.

The second method is a simple Heading manipulation in my story file. I have been using it with my current book, Future Value, and I am very pleased with the results. Under the View tab in Office 2012, it is possible to reveal the Navigation Pane. Then, I simply copy my template into the story file, and edit it so that each chapter, section, and subsection are set as a Heading in their according levels (Heading 1/2/3). Other titles are kept as a Title or Book Title heading, so they do not crowd my Pane. This allows me to add content directly under my titles, and it also allows for amazingly easy navigation within my story. I find this method more efficient, than simply checking back with my template file after every two or three paragraphs. :=)

TIP: One of the awesome things with headings is that the author can select all content that is of a certain heading, even Normal text, and immediately apply any action to it. Even remove all Normal text with a single button press!

Attached are my up-to-date Empty Template file, and an example of a properly headered Story file:
http://speedy.sh/TE8nS/Empty-Book-Template.docx
http://speedy.sh/SA2Nj/Empty-Book-Example.docx

Categories For Blog Posts

After considering the organisational methods of my blog, and seeing that navigating around this bundle of text may not be so easy, I have decided to categorize posts.

This means that every post will be tagged according to its' categories. This is rather flexible, and to my own division, so it is not expected to be purely logical. I have added a cute Tag Cloud on the <<-- left for your enjoyment. ;-)

This is the entire list of categories as of today:
review, opinion, thoughts, reflections, update, memoir, book, ebook, publish, zen, wilderness, lifestyle, inspiration, motivation, poetry, writing, author, blog, forum, media, help, action, fantasy, epic, drama, novel, series, anime, manga, comic, tv, life, advice, how to, howto, health, diet, nutrition, tech, technical, game, garden, gardening, plants, trees, herbs, diy, do it yourself, guide, experiment, finance, money, amazon, programming, coding.

How To Make A Story Sound More Interesting

Often, authors will think of events and characters that really capture the mind. These would beg and insist to have a story-world to be told about in. While a good idea and a character is something to start with, it is obviously not enough. Interest is lacking.

A good event or story need several things:
A. A reason for it's occurrence; whether it is told before the event of afterwards.
B. Relevant emotions that create sympathy between the characters and the reader. Without describing such strong emotions, the reader will feel disinterest.
And finally, C. Every event must be in relation to its' affect on others in the story. I once saw on TV a joke about this issue. The newscaster read from the prompter: "An atomic-bomb has fallen on Los Angeles last night! No one was killed or injured in the event." :-D Hehehe Classical.

I hope this helps. ;-)

My Third Book

I have started writing my third book. It is not a continuation of my past books, although I am planning to sequel "Robert The Fail" with another title ;-)

Hans Fallada at work.
I should be as keen!

This book is part of a series of notes I have taken regarding the meaning of life. I know all authors share their opinions regarding the meaning of life in their stories. Never the less, I intend to write a short book about taking chances, and promoting oneself within the social game of life. This is very specific, and will handle a very specific topic.

I plan on releasing it around mid-January. Be prepared to meet Mark Chandler in his new adventure titled "Future Value"!

Amazonian Adventures

Kindle Touch

As one may notice by the small adverts to the right, I have been releasing eBooks on Amazon these recent weeks. This is a project I have taken on myself, as I am a great fan of stories & books. I felt I must repay society, just as I had enjoyed the products it gave to me.

Also, I felt that books are a magnificent way to promote one's ideas, and even gain some cash. With this motivation at mind - I have been working hard at writing, conceptualizing, and managing my books on Amazon. These guys may be tricky at times. It took me several weeks to understand the right approach for getting things done.

For example, my books would not have their Number of Pages displayed, until I had finally messaged Amazon support directly. They have a form for this specific request, but it seems redundant. Another example, is changing the price of an eBook, and repeatedly releasing it updated, thus it may eventually cause the release to be bugged - and not work in diverse ways. Be warned. Enjoy :)