Super in-joke!

This weekend, I noticed in the t.v. guide that Superman was finally appearing on Batman: the Brave & the Bold, in the episode, "Battle of the Super-heroes!". So, we made it a point to watch the episode.

My first thought was, "Wow, they're really going for the corny, old-school Superman".

Then things got real crazy.

And really funny.

Funny, that is, if you are aware of Superdickery.com.

That site collects all the crazy out-of-context Superman comic covers over the years that make you scratch your head. Superman being cruel, Lois trying to get Superman to marry her, etc.

In the episode, Jimmy Olsen even starts to say, "Superman sure is being a d..." before he gets cut off.

It’s all funny, but start with Galleries - “Examples of Superdickery” & “Confounding Covers”.

Some of these covers were directly lifted for the episode.

Just a few I spotted;

Super 1

Super 2

Super 3

And, I believe there were also a few Dark Knight Returns visuals when Superman battled Batman (Batman had armor on), but I didn't get to verify that.

Re-reading the Gael

As if I didn't have enough new books to read, I got sucked back into some re-reading.

Reading this for entertainment and writing inspiration.



Cormac Mac Art is, perhaps, Robert E. Howard's least realized hero. There were no sales in his lifetime, only two completed tales, and some fragments and outlines.

I don't know why these stories appeal to me so much. Perhaps it is the Irish connection; or the Viking adventure - or both.

I don't remember if I read these before I read Conan or not. Maybe this was my first realization that Howard had various series of tales featuring different heroes aside from Conan.

For those who don't know, Andrew Offutt revived the character in a series of pastiche novels during the 1970s/early1980s. I have all of them, but I've only read three so far.


Unofficially, David Drake contributed a novel, The Dragon Lord, as well. It's a fun read, if you get a hold of it.

Anecdote of reading and napping

Just a fun anecdote.

Borders dropped their prices this weekend 30%-50% off.

I went to the store again and brought my 2-yr old to get her out of the house for a while.

She fell asleep right as we pulled into our home driveway.

She almost never naps. I couldn't waste the opportunity.

That's the great thing about book shopping. I was able to adapt.

I read a tale from one of my new books in the front seat, she slept in the back for forty minutes.

Then she woke up, and we went inside. :)

(I bought another Warhammer anthology, Death & Dishonour and The King's Gold by Arturo Perez-Reverte (another Captain Alatriste novel.))

A matter of character

OK, fellow writers. Query time.

How do you create/deal with your characters in fiction?

Do you wing it? Give them detailed character traits, histories, etc?

Not-so-detailed information and discover as you go along writing?

I am curious. I have a pile of stories ideas. I am realizing that in addition to “real life” excuses, some of the ideas just won't gel, and I believe it is a matter of not having a handle on the characters.

I have plots, some neat trappings, but I need to execute those with characters that matter, or really – who cares? And, I know that if you throw three different people (characters) in a room, their traits and habits and reactions and interaction will also create/drive plot.

I realize some of my stronger stories were ones where I made an instant (and easier) connection and intuition with the characters.

So, what do you do when you need to get to know your characters, and it doesn't happen off-the-cuff?

Book buying

Another long weekend flew by, and the month is nearly closing. Time for a post! ;)

Nothing much here. I want to increase my reading amount this year, but February has been a tight month on my time. I started, and I am still reading, Eric Brighteyes by H. Rider Haggard.

Friday, I had an afternoon free (1/2 day vacation to burn) so I treated myself to book shopping. I went to an independent book seller in my area - a huge warehouse with thousands of books, The New England Mobile Book Fair - which is neither mobile, nor a fair (they are open year round.)



It's a great place, with new books. Sometimes, though, it's as good as a used book store because you might find something out-of-print hidden away. Once I stumbled on a mint, unsold, Conan of the Isles. It must have been there for twenty years before I grabbed it.

Of course, as time goes by, such finds are less likely. But, on Friday, I stumbled on a handful of Saberhagen's Lost Swords novels. No idea where they've been hiding - I guess somewhere in the back, though, being a warehouse, most stuff is out on the shelves. Very happy to acquire those. Also bought a couple of more Warhammer novels, and finally Robert E. Howard's Sword Woman (the new Del Rey edition.)



The business is up for sale (the family owning it would like to retire and move on.) They've been at it 54 years. Everyone hopes someone buys and keeps their model and makes no changes to the store. It's a real treasure, especially in this time of dwindling brick-and-mortar stores.

I decided to curb my spending and left the four TOR re-issues of Moorcock's Hawkmoon on the shelf. I was very tempted, and they are nice. But they are thin books and even with the illustrations the cover price $13.99 seems steep. Lots of folks have said they enjoy these more than Elric, and I am very tempted to read them. But I think I'll just keep an eye out for used editions. The tales have been through a few different publishers.

After all that, Friday night I received the official "your local Borders store is closing" email. 20% off starting Saturday, so I went and bought yet more books. This time, some Dr Seuss for my daughter, a Warhammer omnibus and two titles by A. Lee Martinez, (In the Company of Ogres, The Automatic Detective.) I haven't read Martinez, but I've heard good things about these books. I'm usually not one for comedic fantasy, but these sound like I would enjoy them.



As usual, I now need to find room to squeeze these titles on my bookcases, and find time to read them all!

January reads

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian.

The opening novel of O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, adventures in the Age of Sail.

I had enjoyed the movie adaptation, Master & Commander: Far Side of the World. I'd heard this series praised many times, so I thought I'd give it a read.

Maybe I'm too used to reading action but I slogged through 129 pgs before it got interesting with the first naval battle.

I was expecting more of a direct action series like Cornwell's Sharpe.

While I admire O'Brian's research and documentation of the naval life, there was so much age-of-sail naval jargon that it seemed more like reading a foreign language than elucidation.

I also feel like he dropped a bunch of sly historical jokes and puns that went right over my head. I felt at times that I was reading a "dramedy."

I guess it's just me. I didn't enjoy this novel very much. I might return to the series - perhaps skip to Far Side of the World - but it will be awhile.

Someday I'd like to read another Age of Sail novel as point of comparison; Forester's Horatio Hornblower or Kent's Bolitho novels, perhaps.

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Meantime, I took a break from the Age of Sail and delved back into Warhammer with...


Oathbreaker by Nick Kyme.

I just wanted a quick read with violence and action, and Kyme delivered. This novel is about dwarfs (In Warhammer, the plural of "dwarf" is "dwarfs", not "dwarves". Why they insist on this affectation, I don't know.) Dwarfs bashing goblin, orc and skaven heads, and who could want more?

Taking an inspiration from Lord of the Rings, no doubt - imagine if Gimli pulled together a small army of dwarves to retake Moria and you get the plot for this novel. Some of the visuals of the dwarf halls seem to come right from some of the Moria CGI work in the movie adaptation of Fellowship of the Ring.

Uthor, an ambititous dwarf, makes an oath to retake Karak Varn, after the great dwarf hold is taken by skaven (bipedal, intelligent, evil rat men of the Warhammer universe.) Though we are introduced to other dwarf characters, I read this novel quickly and some of the characters blurred for me. This novel is the second of three that form a loose trilogy about the dwarfs as a Warhammer race. We are shown various facets of dwarf society - the merchants, the stone workers, the engineers, the slayers, etc.

In the end, it is more about the dwarfs than any single dwarf. But, that's okay.

It was a fun romp, a quick read and that's all the entertainment I was looking for.

Just an FYI; in the novel trilogy, Oathbreaker is proceeded by Grudgebearer by Gav Thorpe and followed by another Nick Kyme novel, Honourkeeper. Given that they do not feature the same characters, ordering doesn't really matter.

In Black Library fashion, all three will be collected in an omnibus later this year, simply entitled Dwarfs.

Books read in 2010

I had a very slow reading year, this year. Not sure why. Sure, there was the baby, but he didn't show up until October.

Ah well.

As with writing, I hope to accomplish more reading in 2011.

A lot of these I've blogged about over 2010. Some I never got around to commenting on, for whatever reason.

But, here is the list;

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+ The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle (ebook)

+ Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King

+ Slaine: The Exile by Steven Savile

+ The Sword of Rhiannon (a.k.a. Sea Kings of Mars) by Leigh Brackett

+ The Space Wolf Omnibus (Space Wolf, Ragnar's Claw, Grey Hunter) by William King (Warhammer 40K)

+ The Berserker Throne by Fred Saberhagen (ebook)

+ Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (audiobook)

+ Of Berserkers, Swords and Vampires by Fred Saberhagen

+ The Sharp End by David Drake (Hammers' Slammers)

+ The Song of Roland (ebook)

+ Barbarians, Marauders & Infidels by Antonio Santosuosso (history) (ebook)

+ The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson

+ Dark Worlds #1 (ezine)

+ Casca: The Warrior (#17) by Barry Sadler

+ War of Art by Steven Pressfield (ebook)

+ Killing Trail by Charles Gramlich (ebook)

+ Steppe by Piers Anthony

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I've noted the one audiobook and ebooks, for fun. All ebooks were read on the Kindle except War of Art which was epub format, so I read it on my Mac using the Barnes&Noble Nook reader app. (much nicer on Mac than the PC version, btw)

I noted Dark Worlds ezine because it was fairly large, but I think there are some other e-reads I forgot to note during the year. I need to be better about that in future.

I am surprised I didn't squeeze in at least one Warhammer read. (I did read the one Warhammer 40K omnibus)

My favorites were The Broken Sword and Of Berserkers, Swords and Vampires. Sword of Rhiannon rounds out my top three.

Happy New Year, see you in 2011!