COU, Vol 1: Forward

A bit about what it is all about.

Forward:

��������In my teen years I was introduced to the likes of Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Christie, de Camp, Doyle, Henry, Howard, and a host of others. Their worlds were the realms of fantasy and fiction. I am not sure if it was my current predicaments as a teenager in the 1970's southern USA, my insatiable need to know, or just humanity's predilection for fantastic stories. Having a Scot-Irish-Celt ancestry, the fantastic always seemed to grab my attention and the right telling of it. I read the tales of Sigurd, Siegfried, and Beowulf with relish. Of heroic battles and great obstacles overcome. These things tempered my belief that I could somehow rise above my difficulties and survive to be lauded the hero.
From my earliest days as a reader of such stories, I saw my own life an epic tale in the writing. Having aged somewhat since then, my life seemed to have been in transitional chapters, or the chapters that lay the foundation for future things to come. I put aside, for a time, the dreams and fantasies of youth; the great pilgrimages, the horrific chaos of great battles, of tides turned by a single act of bravery, of right decisions that saved the day or the poor ones that caused hopeless ruin. I put them aside for the more mundane tasks of finding my way in this world. I did not completely loose my ties to the fantastic. I discovered pen & paper role playing games, and for a time, the fantastic lay within reach once again. Those moments in gaming with like minded individuals produced living fantasy, in that we were creating the moments of the fantastic through our gaming and the telling of those stories as our characters worked their way through whatever puzzlement lay before them. Most enjoyable times. Alas, gone.
��������What was birthed out of all of that was the 'gaming' world that I created while I was game master. I could see those worlds in my head. They were like cinema to me. Slowly the gaming world became more and more detailed, therefore alive to me. In my moments of drudgery of life, going through whatever the work required, I played there in my mind � unless of course, whatever I was doing required my full attention, like school or working with electricity! In my bunk at sea with the Navy, these worlds of 'gaming' coalesced into the world I came to call �rthe. Hours and hours of sleepless nights were filled with traipsing through the hills, valleys, plains, deep forests, and rugged mountains seeing what lived where and what motivated them. This was a fantastic obsession. They became my children.
��������I have read that to some writers the characters become so real it is as if they are there retelling the stories to the writer. Such was the case with Robert E. Howard of Conan and Kull fame. While my characters never visited me I did visit them. I watched their lives as a benevolent benefactor. I wanted to revisit them and retell the stories as I saw them unfold. There were some great moments in their histories with some parts yet to be told. And herein lies that opportunity, to tell the tales of these characters and the world they shaped or shaped them. I hope you enjoy them I much as I did and I hope I retell their stories well enough to take you into their world, if only for the moments of your reading.

Dave "Doc" Rogers

Reviews

[An Ordinary Woman]

Excellent writing. Viewing your life as an epic tale in the writing is quite a remarkable take on things. I can relate because I've done the same thing well sort of. I can look back and see the different chapters of my own and have always viewed it that way but I hadn't thought about viewing my future as such, just the past.

Nicely penned, I enjoyed this.

[Lena M. P.]

When life can send us lemons it is nice to walk among the lemon trees and daydream beneath them. I think it is wonderful that you can take the wonderment of young, the adventurous soul and breathe it into your characters and into your life. Well written.

[Rain]

This is a fantastic begining. You chronicle your path so vividly, it draws the readers in. You've created an attachment of the reader to you. Brilliant. Rain..

[TL Boehm]

I concur with the chronicles idea as well, and I understand about characters becoming "alive" to the writer...well stated.

[Donald Meikle]

Tales told of times in Wherevva can and should internect Is that a word? simply by the environment and characters ( supporting actors) can be in several tales. I rather like the characters creating the stories by
simply being themselves, and the game master thing has got to have forced you into telling or retelling
almost like a hunting friend's description of times that change with each telling. Just let it flow mon twill tell itself!

[Carole]

I love your "forward" and think you explained the coming content with lucid detail and clarity and that it will definitely put a draw upon your readers. This book is going to be an interesting one. The fact, that you are so well read, and have so much experience under your belt will only add to the "reality" you wish to create, Doc. I am looking forward to reading the menagerie you create from your own experiences, as I am sure many are. Thanks for taking the time to share. Dive in to the deeper depths and create what only you can. Looking forward to seeing you on the "Best Seller" list. :-)

[Anne Martin]

I think the chronicles idea works best if you have a consistent cast of characters that you place in each of the stories. That may be the case if you have developed the stories from RPG, but it is something to be aware of. You might also be careful of the arrangement of the stories as far as creating a thread that runs through them, giving them a connection, and some kind of resolution in the final story. I think that is what makes "chronicles" different from an anthology of short stories.

Also, it's Clarke with an "e," assuming you mean Arthur C Clarke.

Good luck.