Happy Birthday Wolfgang!

Yeah, I put Wolfgang there to trick you, but I did it for a good reason. Today is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthday. In case you are drawing a blank, read this.

I discovered ole Wolfie back in high school when a sadistic teacher made us do a book report and for some reason I randomly picked up a book about the composer. I tore through the book and discovered that this was one messed up guy...just like me in high school, except I wasn't an amazing composer, or brilliant, or amazing.

He lived a tortured life that ended tragically before he could finish what in my opinion, is his most amazing work. The Requiem, a tortured, amazing music odyssey through musical genius. Anyway, I thought I would say happy birthday to my favorite composer and give you a chance to listen to some of his amazing music. Happy Birthday Wolfie!

Enjoy. :)

Moleskine Maps XXIV [The Lair of the Mad Halfling]

Just a quick map today, woke up early and could not go back to sleep. I may write this up later if I get a chance, flesh it out a tad more.

For some reason Finzickler the Mad Halfling wouldn't leave me be, so I drew a map of his home to annoy him. Perhaps your players will invade his house for me. Just remind them to beware of the feral degenerate ogre named Booger he has befriended that lives in the lower level cave.

Moleskine Map XXIII [Nameless Small Town]

Trying out some new ideas for small town maps in preparation for a project for Occult Moon. Made a few mistakes on this one and I feel the lines are a tad too wobbly in places to really work.

Moleskine Map XXII [The Deep Pit]

I drew this map up this morning while I was scanning in other maps for a project I am working on for Occult Moon Publishing, scanner was slow and I got bored. Threw this together and inked it in maybe ten minutes. I essentially sat down and said "I want to have multiple crossovers and go real deep." So this is what you get.

As I was scanning my Moleskine notebook, I could not draw on it, thus this was drawn on the back side of standard white copy paper that I had actually just printed a NDA for another publisher on.

Hey, call it recycling. :)

Cash Laramie & Gideon Miles [book review]

I read the first book and enjoyed it, reviewed it here. Here we pick up right from the get-go with an excellent background story called Origin of White Deer. This story is fantastic and is a good enough reason to purchase this anthology, Co-authored with Chuck Tyrell, this origin piece significantly adds depth to the character of Cash Laramie and gives you a clearer view of his personae than just a tough, good-shooting cowpoke. I hate to say this but when the story ended, I really wanted to continue reading that story, I wanted it to continue.


A few other stand out pieces are Maggie's Promise, a great piece about sadness, failure, and a father's loss. Cash Laramie and the Painted Ladies, Gun Justice, and Reflections in a Glass of Maryland Rye are a few of the better pieces.


Stories contained within:
Origin of White Deer (with Chuck Tyrell)
Maggie’s Promise
Miles in Between
Cash Laramie and the Painted Ladies
Gun Justice (with Chuck Tyrell)
Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil
Reflections in a Glass of Maryland Rye

I really enjoyed this book. I am a sucker for a Western, so take that statement with a grain of salt, but I really enjoyed this one. The origin tale was engrossing and excellent story-telling.  These tales seemed a tale darker than the first book, for an example, read Maggie's Promise, probably one of the darker and heart wrenching tales I have read in some time. For those of you who are feeling the lack of love for Westerns these days and are in need of something, movie, book, etc to help you with your lost stories of the open skies, a six-shooter on your hip, and a duty trail to call home, this book is just the right sort of thing. Here is me hoping they sell a shit-ton of these books and help revive the the genre.



Book Blurb:
Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles Vol. II continues to chronicle the tales of two unorthodox 19th century U.S. Marshals. With seven more adventures, this collection includes the novella "Origin of White Deer" where the outlaw marshal leaves his Arapaho home as a teen to find his roots in the lawless town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. These noir tales infuse the Western genre with a fresh perspective on topics like race relations and social justice while still delivering pulse-racing action in the tradition of Wanted: Dead or Alive and Gunsmoke.

Coloring with friends!

Some friends over on Google+ have taken it upon themselves to color my drawings! I am highly honored that people like my maps, but others taking their time to color MY maps is really humbling. So I want to say a big thanks for folks taking their time to color my maps. Keep them coming, I love it!

I really like this one that Bastian Dornauf posted yesterday. The colors are nice and really make the walls stand out strongly, creating a great contrast.

This was his previous coloring of one of my maps.

He also did the campsite map I posted earlier on the blog, which started this whole coloring thing. Thanks Bastian, I am totally digging this!

Larry Moore, who is creating a new RPG I am looking forward to seeing, BareBones RPG, took a moment and colored a map I posted over on Google+ that I mentioned I hated. He made it much better than I.

And then Jon Roberts, of Fantastic Maps fame, took the same map and did his own version. So he made it WAY better and I am honored he colored one of my maps!

I just want to say thanks to everyone for taking the time to color one of my maps, I am deeply honored that anyone simply likes my maps, but then also taking the time to do something with them, well, I just want to say thanks.

Moleskine Map XXI [The ogres lair] clean

Clean version of yesterday's map. One change I have made is I used to reduce the size of the maps before posting them (I scan at 300dpi and this creates rather large files) but I have decided not to do this as it makes the images a tad blurry and I think this will make crappy printed maps.

Maybe not, but I don't like it looking a little blurry.

So there.

Ok, so here is the clean version of yesterday's Ogre's Lair.
(click for larger, no blurry, version)

Fire and Ice [book review]

I picked this little tale by Christopher Bunn because I wanted something short and lite to read. I am not a huge fan of fantasy...surprise surprise, so I was a bit hesitant, but a few reviews I read pointed out this was more in the tradition of a classic fairy tale than a straight fantasy. Plus heck, 99 cents is a hard price to beat.

I read this in one sitting and the reviewers were right. This is a classic story with morals and I would say fits perfectly in the category of 'fairy tale'. It would be suitable for any age and tells a tale of two people who realize their love is more pure than gold and riches and the only way to find happiness is to find that other person that completes you. I can easily see a parent reading this tale to their children as a sort of fun moral story.

If you are looking for a lite-hearted, fairy tale type of story, this is a great little tale. Suitable for young children to read or have read to them.

Moleskine Maps VII [The Watchgate of Kel-Tor], Redeux

Another using the new process, and personally one of my favorites of the series so far. I can see it on the side of a sheer cliff, clinging to the rocky sides of the mountain. Maybe throw in some ghosts and ghouls, tortured souls of the soldiers that once manned this garrison on the remote frontier.

Moleskine Map XXI [The ogres lair]

Just a quick map today. Finished this one up in about ten minutes after finishing up another map for an upcoming product for Occult Press.