Yo yo!

I sometimes recall my utter deflated feeling during the Covid lockdown and social distancing a few years back.  Coupled with the enduring hope that I'd be so thankful when I could get back in the world, see people again, and just enjoy.  

Enjoy everything.

I'll admit I don't always clock that in my day-to-day comings and goings.  But I definitely noticed it over the past couple of weeks when I went to the biggest city in South Dakota and days later the biggest city in Illinois.

My wife and I went out to Sioux Falls to crash an author fair at the downtown public library.  I wasn't able to participate in it due to a late submission on my part. But I was able to see my author friends, Emersyn Park, Chris Poore, and Scott Johnson.  We had a fun dinner the night before with our significant others.  

At the fair, I met Randy Faustino, a comic book writer who had a cool fantasy-horror comic, Kosmotrope, which I'll discuss more in Recommendation Corner.

But a recommendation you don't have to wait for is Pizano's in Chicago.  I went out to the Windy City for a work trip and was on the hunt for some local cuisine.  As my Chicagoan coworkers told me: Deep dish is for tourists.  If you want actual Chicago-style pizza, get the tavern-style thin-crust pizza.  Much more crusty/crackery than New York-style thin crust.  Good stuff!

And goodness abounds in my gratitude to experience all the new places and familiar haunts.  I'm writing this missive the day before Thanksgiving in the US.  And even though you're reading this in a post-gobble-gobble, full-on holiday time o' year, take a little time to be thankful for the positive things in your life.  Big and small.

Things like meeting up with friends at an out-of-town destination.  Or seeing a big @$$ building that the locals still call the Sears Tower, complete with a misty diffraction effect with its top lights.

And especially returning to a loving home.

Chris Poore and I will be selling our books at Bookfest Omaha 2025.  It's free to the public.  Come out and visit us!

WHEN: Saturday, December 13, 2025, 9:00 am-3:00 pm​

WHERE: IBEW Hall, 13306 Stevens St #101, Omaha, NE 68137 (near Millard Avenue and 133rd)

Tap on the image above to find out more details on their website.

Harry Mang refers to himself as an unremarkable man.  

He associates with hyper-powered champions of western Jeea.  In his reckoning, he is a mere mortal among gods, rogue Dragons, and Weird Ones. 

These very beings, these very friends, disagree with his self-assessment.

Harry is the Arms Master.  The man who the God of Protection imbued with peerless ability to wield all weapons, simple and complex.  He survived the War of No Hope in his younger days.  More recently, he held the line against Corsis and Hekati's horrors in Findenton during the events of The New Players.

The aftermath of that fight left his pilfered Grey Jack armor wrecked, so Vick Burnhelt gave him an upgrade of green-and-black armor.  Self-contained and durable.  Two attributes he will need in the days to come.

And he'll need more than defensive gear.  The weapons of the Victory Arsenal are his to claim.  Both in a forgotten open grave in the Fire Well and in the Protector's mountain stronghold.

But all of that will pale in his estimation when he crosses paths with an old flame.  A woman he'd thought was long dead.

Avril Enzali.  

Both of them will have words for each other.  More than words.

Find out more about this reunion in The Breakers.

Art by Ringasure.

One drawback of all my travels was a bit of a dip in my productivity on the second draft of Unseen Scars.

I'm up to page 94, which is definitely not nothing.  It's much easier to add setting and character descriptions, edit dialogue, and basically clean up all the metaphorical scaffolding with words that are already on the page.

The rewriting part of writing is just mentally smoother.  Though the charge of creating something completely new, as frictional as it can be, always beckons to me.  I'll be glad to get outlining Book 6: Back to the Dark, hopefully inside of a year.

In 2026, I'm going to explore what's needed to get a table at a regional comic con, or some other sci-fi fantasy con.  I might also partner up with Junkstock, an Omaha-area craft show.

More as it develops.

Players of the Game Out Of Context Quote of the Month:

“Cienne. Been a few.” Frulgrath kept his body language casual, as he always did in her presence. Casual, but ready for trouble. Usually of the verbal variety, but not always.

“More than a few.” Cienne grinned at him, but it came nowhere near her eyes. “Hatchet Man, eh?”

“Picked up the nickname in Sufrinzon. It stuck.”

Kosmotrope by Randy Faustino and Ashley Mortensen

This comic book from the Sioux Falls-based Bamboo Panel Studios would probably get categorized as an urban fantasy, even though half of it takes place in a forest park.

With a park ranger who is secretly a wearbear.  

He's called in by his colleagues to investigate the latest in a series of murders that have left the victims mutilated and twisted.

Meanwhile, a psychic doctor who can see ghostly images of his patients' ailments also encounters other horribly transformed victims.

I anticipate that the ranger and the doctor's paths will cross in future issues.

Randy told me that Kosmotrope and Bamboo Panel Studios are on Instagram, so check them out there if you're interested in some fantasy-horroresque comics.

The Witcher Season 4

Is Liam Hemsworth a better Geralt than Henry Cavill?  No.  Is he worse?  Also no.

I'm sure my opinion is not universally held, but I think Hemsworth has done a good job in the unenviable task of taking over the lead role.

This season takes place during the events of the Time of Contempt novel.  Geralt, Siri, and Yennifer (love the character, hate the name) are all separated on their own adventures.

I'll admit that I find Siri's storyline with the Rats less engaging with her attempting to lie low as a brigand/bandit.  It's true to the plot line in the novel, and I wasn't in love with that either.  Yennifer's assembly of the surviving magic users is more of a slow burn, but the interpersonal drama keeps her part of the story from dragging.

However, Geralt's new friends: a sort-of Dryad, a group of Dwarves, a former Nilfgardian enemy knight, and a mysterious herbalist healer are the most engaging part of this season.  And Jaskier/Dandelion is always fun.

Lawrence Fishburne is the standout this season as Regis.  I liked the character in the book as well.  Fishburne does a great job of capturing the character's disquieting kindness and benevolent but unsettling assistance.

I like all things Witcher.  Books, shows, comics, video games.  And this season scratches the itch.

Want to know the score fast? Select Quick Recap, and Corsis will detail all his jerky skullduggery in just a few minutes.

Want to know the nitty gritty? Select Detailed Recaps to jump in with both feet and learn all the big events and character moments of the Players of the Game saga.

That's all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim