We Should Be Like Bander @Solsticepublish

If only more people in this world were like Bander Greenlith.  He is one of the two fraternal twin brothers in “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and “The Sapphire Crucible.”  For those of you unfamiliar with him let me paint a picture.  As elves go he his big and strong.  He chops down trees for a living.  In some ways his greatest weakness is also his greatest strength.  He is not the most intelligential fellow that has ever been in a book.  The bad part of that is he is easily led astray, particularly by his brother Rander.  Bander can be tricked and cajoled into many things.  If he actually spent the time to consider the matters, he might act differently.  On the other hand, Bander never gives matters serious thought unless he is forced to do so.  He is blissfully ignorant and sees no reason to change.  While some people value money and others think only of power, Bander is happy so long as he is well fed.  A good meal in vast quantities will do more for his mood than all the gold in the world.  In this way he is a simple character and one who is easy to like.  Many fans have told me he is their favorite person in the stories.  As the books go on, however, we learn that there is much more to him when he is forced to consider the situation at hand.  He is thoughtful and does not get caught up in the drama of their trials.  When everyone else is analyzing every angle of a problem, he looks at things from a basic level and often finds the obvious points that have been overlooked.  It is not always the most intellectual person in life who comes up with the answers.  It is sometimes the simplest, most logical one who sees things clearly.  Bander is a reminder that we shouldn’t need many material things to be happy.  If you have good food and good family and friends, there isn’t much more you need.  The books have plots and subplots with many different characters trying to further their own position in life.  Bander is along for the ride and there to help at a moment’s notice.  What more could you ask for?  He’s an honest, generally happy fellow.  If more of us were like him, I think it would make for a happier world.

Review of "Seeking the Storyteller" @Solsticepublish

Hunter: Seeking The Storyteller
By Jessica Walsh & Briana Lawrence
This is a fantasy story about “demons” who leave their own world and enter ours.  The term “demons” is used to describe anyone from the alternate world whether they are friend or foe.  Two “Hunters” (people who track down demons) named Fagan and Alix are given a tip to meet an old partner at an abandoned house with some important information.  They arrive to find their friend shot to death and several demons hiding on the premises.  They capture the demons and take them prisoner in their warehouse holding cell.  Their names are Dox, Cyn and Haven.  They each have very special abilities.  Dox can move through the shadows and is literally the monster in the room when you sleep.  Cyn is actually human but had a demon surgically placed within her without her knowledge that enables her to control plant roots and use them as weapons.  Haven is a young man with a dragon tattoo on his arm which signifies a real frost dragon coexisting within him giving him tremendous power but little insight other than to not trust people and stay on the move.  Beyond trying to figure out the murder of their friend, Alix has an ulterior motive in keeping them alive.  The demons have knowledge of “The Storyteller”; a demon who can change your past, the present or the future all through sketches that appear in their notebook.  Another demon arrives named Mira who fills in many of the blanks for the partners.  She is not there just as a source of information; however, Mira seeks to recruit them all to help stop a war about to commence in the demon world that might spill into ours.  She also promises a meeting with The Storyteller.  There is action and drama as conflicting personalities try to work together with extreme difficulty.  I’m not a spoiler but I can tell you there are some surprises and twists at the end that will make you yearn for the sequel.  The writers do a masterful job of creating characters so dissimilar that you need to follow closely to keep track of them all.  As the story moves along you learn more and more about each of them.  The plot is gripping and holds your attention.  This is a nice piece of fantasy writing with a fresh take on the theme.

The Little Things @Solsticepublish

People have a tendency to focus on the big things they want in life.  “I could be happy if I had that car or house or job.”  Those are all important things but they happen with seldom frequency.  Waiting on such things leaves us in a state where we are yearning for happiness.  Now the little things in life are the ones that sustain you and make you feel happy.  What sort of little things, you may wonder?  It varies from person to person.  Perhaps that little thing is rewarding yourself with lunch at your favorite restaurant.  Maybe all it takes is a game of basketball with some friends or having a drink with your pals after work.  For me I found a little piece of heaven today when I went to Panera and bought my family a dozen bagels.  It was something I used to do weekly but had cut it out of my routine.  It is said that “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and that was certainly true today.  Wow that bagel was good!  It was still soft and warm when I opened it.  With just a light layer of whipped cream cheese spread over the top I thought I had just had them for the first time.  It was as if they had improved the recipe in the time since I bought them last.  That felling of happiness made the whole day feel better.  Maybe it wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, but it made me happy.  That’s really what it’s all about.  The big things in life are what you hope and aspire for but it’s the little ones that make your day special.  As a young boy I would eat apples often as snacks.  Before I could eat one, however, I always had to wash it and then give it to my mother.  She would rub it with a towel until it shined.  Clearly it was all mental but a shined apple from Mom always tasted better.  It was just a little thing, though.  To this day I wash my apples and shine them up before eating and do the same for my children.  It doesn’t matter if the reward is food or doing something you enjoy or whatever.  As long as you do something special for yourself or someone else every day you will have that great feeling.  Those are the feelings you remember and cherish.  It could be just about anything but the fact that you did something out of the ordinary will make your days happier and brighter.  So do a little something for yourself today.  The little things are what sustain you.

Different Interpretations @Solsticepublish

I’ve had the pleasure of talking with some fans and have enjoyed the back and forth.  What I love the most about writing is finding out how another individual interprets what you have written.  How many times have you loved a song and thought it was about one thing only to discover it was about something else.  A band I like quite a bit called Matchbox 20 put out a song some years back called “3AM”.  I thought it was about a woman calling a man and inviting him over for extracurricular activities in the middle of the night.  I saw them in concert a few years ago and the lead singer told the audience that it was actually about his terminally ill mother calling at odd hours with strange requests.  Man was I off base.  I realize after listening to my readers that my words have one meaning when I put them down on paper and often are interpreted totally differently by my audience.  At first I thought that maybe I had done something wrong.  It turns out that most of the time the readers not only have plausible interpretations but also are excited about their viewpoint.  Painters create their works of art and are trying to portray a thought through image.  Yet it is rare that 2 people see art the same way.  It’s not a bad thing.  I think it means that sometimes there is more there than even the artist realizes.  Some of the insights relayed to me have been fascinating.  The characters are always seen as different than I envisioned when I created and designed them.  The interpretations are fun to hear and inspire me to work harder.  Characters I never really considered important to the body of the story become fan favorites.  Scenes I put in to take the story from point A to point B captivate the readers.  Writing is a wonderful profession and I am so grateful to all those who enjoy my work.  I am also grateful to those who did not enjoy the works as much.  Their criticism has helped me develop into a better writer.  I don’t think you ever are done growing as an author.  There are always new things to learn and new ideas to express in different ways.  If you have any feedback on my work, I would love to hear it.  You can reach me at rivalgates@hotmail.com.  There is also a link on rivalgates.com.  I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

The Crucible and Beyond @Solsticepublish

I have been working on Book 3 in the Sapphire Chronicles called “Mandrean Revenge.”  It will be a more compact book, as much of the groundwork has already been done in “Quest for the Red Sapphire” and “The Sapphire Crucible.”  It will encompass the action many of you seem to love in my stories but there will be a new strange dynamic taking hold of the story.  There is a part of me that wants to blurt it out but there’s no suspense in that.  It should be finished by the end of the summer.  “The Sapphire Crucible” continues to sell well and the response has been tremendous.  People are anxious to see what happens to Linvin and the gang.  I love each of my stories for different reasons.  This particular one is great because it fills in a lot of the blanks left from “Quest” and adds new characters and storylines.  As I said in my character interview earlier this week on “Sallie’s Book Review and More” http://yesterdaydaugher.blogspot.com/2014/05/dicover-rival-gates-author-of-sapphire.html one of my favorite characters to write in this book is Necromancer.  Now I am fully aware that using the name Necromancer is as common in fantasy literature as swordplay.  This Necromancer, however, is very different than many in other stories.  He has agendas within agendas and you will never know his entire plans.  He is helpful and harmful at the same time and always sarcastic.  Overall, he is the spicy kick in the “Crucible” story.  There are periods of pure evil and there are times of pure hilarity.  There are reasons he had to be called just Necromancer.  I can’t explain them yet.  That’s still a couple of books away!  But do read the character interview referenced above if you haven’t already.  He’s quite a character.

My Daughter Wants A Puppy @Solsticepublish

I want to mention just to start with that I have posted the first chapter of “The Sapphire Crucible” on my website at  http://www.rivalgates.com/chapter-11.html  In my day job I am a salesman and I take great pride in my ethical portrayal of that role.  One thing I know, however, is if someone is trying to sell me.  Enter my youngest daughter.  While I love all my children equally, she is like a big cube of sugar.  She is that sweet.  I know it.  Her mother knows it.  And I am saddened to say, she knows it all too well.  That girl can work the cute angle like no one I’ve ever known.  It scares me for when she’s old enough to date.  But that will be a blog years from not.  I’m only just adjusting to her older sister having a boyfriend.  Back to my point.  My youngest daughter usually finds a method of getting her way.  We had a great dog for about 12 years and then she pasted about a year and a half ago.  I really do like dogs but right now is just not a good time to have one for a number of reasons.  Ever since then my daughter has been on the “I want a puppy” bandwagon.  There are several methods she uses.  The first one I call the Heartstring Approach.  She brings out pictures of our old dog and reminds us of fond memories of her.  Then she tells us how much she misses having a pet to love.  She even found a friend whose dog just had pups and was giving them away.  This was compelling and my wife caved but I did not budge.  From then on I was labeled “The Dog Hater”.  After a few months of that, my daughter moved on in full force to what I call The Guilt Approach.  She pointed out that her older brother was able to get a puppy all those years ago and it was always “his” dog.  Going a step further, she pointed out that both my wife and I grew up having dogs and it was unfair that she couldn’t have one.  My wife buckled (she loves animals) but stood firm.  I maintained my new name and told her I didn’t care.  We were not getting another dog.  Undeterred, my daughter moved on to The Onion Approach.  As a parent you have to be on your toes with this one.  This is the argument where she asks for all the reasons we can’t have a dog and then proves why they are invalid arguments one after another.  They are peeled away like layers of an onion.  She liked to pull this one out when we were tired from work.  We told her that our yard in the house we are in right now is not fenced and a dog would be running away all the time.  So, for her birthday that year she asked for a fence.  That wasn’t exactly in the birthday budget and didn’t happen.  She knew that would be the case and filled the rest of her birthday gift list with the word “Puppy” over and over with pictures of puppies copied from the internet and placed in strategic locations.  Then she pointed out that we just kept out previous dog on a chain when she needed to go out and we could do it again.  No sale.  We told her that a dog was hard on the house; particularly the carpets.  She promised to keep the dog exercised and clean up after her.  We explained that my wife was allergic to all dogs to some degree.  My daughter pointed out that our beagle previously gave her few problems and we could get one again.  I told her they were very expensive dogs and she turned around and said she wouldn’t need another Christmas or birthday gift.  Whatever excuse you give her, she will overcome it.  I admit even I am running out of reasons not to get a new dog.  It has reached the “Because I said so” phase which only reinforces my dog-hater persona.  We are at a test of wills and I don’t know how long I can hold out.  I still think I can outlast her

New Character Interview! @Solsticepublish

“Sallie’s Book Reviews and More” is a wonderful blog that has posted a character interview from “The Sapphire Crucible” by one of my favorite characters in the book, Lord Mandrean’s Necromancer.  You can check it out here.  http://yesterdaydaugher.blogspot.com/2014/05/dicover-rival-gates-author-of-sapphire.html

I hope you enjoy it