The Fireside

  When there's a movie coming out that I really want to see, I try and avoid seeing any previews or images, and keeping the experience 'fresh' and not being 'spoiled'. However, curiosity is one of man's traits.....

One of the challenges I’m faced with writing my book series creating something ‘new’, or having a different approach to the genre I’m contributing to.

As a thank you, I'm going to reveal quite a bit about my novel, from a series of questions I found online and have been using as I write... *because it's still early and I want things to be kept 'under guard', I won't go too  detailed, but here's a look at the worldbuilding.

There is a series of books I intend to look into due to a building interest, and recommendations.

I live in  Canada , also known as “The Great White North”. In my province (not state), we get various weather throughout the year, with occasional ‘spikes’, possibly due to global warming. The summer is usually +20 - +30 celsius (not farenheit), and with the mugginess of humidity, it can feel worse. As if you’re trying to breathe something solid instead of air. Typically, that’s end of July and August. In the winter though, it usually gets between -15- -25. And then there’s the wind chill. When it’s windy out, it can feel a lot colder, as the winter breeze can pierce through worse than any sharp object. That’s the very worse, but if one dresses proper, it’s not that bad. And not for  all  of  Canada , just where I live (and other places close by). This week, however, can make one feel as if they’re living in the  Arctic . In a small town in  Ontario , I saw that the temperature was about -32, with a wind chill making it feel as if it’s -45. I beli...

Dress warm http://www.theweathernetwork.com/alerts/615cwto/caon0512/?ref=warnings_citypage

...but this  would make a fantastic Birthday gift: http://www.stephenyoull.com/stephenyoull.com/Game_Thrones.html Color prints are 13” X 19”—$65.00 per print plus shipping. Pay by check or Paypal.  You know, in case any readers are feeling generous.... my next post, I'll be giving you something. 

Tonight is the Ottawa Senators' home opener, in some Canadian sport...

The Ravens have won the AFC, and are headed to the Superbowl! I'll be cheering for them and hoping that they win the big game. Even if they lose, they had a great overall season, and the AFC win is the icing on the cake. Good going guys, but it ain't over yet....

Here is my book (re)review of  The Great Hunt ….

After a hell of a lockout (in the bad way, it was crazy) to the surprise of many, myself included, NHL hockey will  return. It seems that most games begin on the 19th, but it varies team by team if I'm not mistaken. Being an Ottawa Citizen, my first team is the Senators. I also like a few other, such as the Flyers, Bruins and Oilers. Of course, come playoff mode, I pick my favorite match-up, should the Sens not get far.  I will not go into the politics of the lockout, just glad that hockey is back! I'm not 'advanced' enough to follow the stats, just playoff time with who is leading. I watch regular season games too, but I watch more  during the playoffs, as it has more intensity. So enjoy the game!!

Wow. I hit a milestone. Since I began this blog, I've had over 10 000 pageviews (currently at 10107). Thank you all for visiting and reading what I have to say. I'm doing this blog for me...but I must acknowledge and thank those for visiting. I was not expecting to reach 10 000 (or more). Needless to say, a future blog post in the very near feature will offer a special thank you.  Now that NHL hockey will soon be back, and my beloved Ravens have made NFL playoffs, there will be a few more sports-posts.

Wow, what a weekend it's been! Friday night, my girlfriend got to meet my parents. My poor sweetie was nervous the whole week about meeting them. Fear of awkwardness, fear of someone not liking else etc...but it turned out great! Everybody likes everyone. It means a lot to me that it turned out well.  We had appetizers at downtown, and survived leaving, as it was freezing raining. By that time of the night, the rainfall from the day had froze, and the water on top made walking slippery and treacherous. After we parted ways for the night, my girlfriend and I went back to her place where her sister and cousin got some of their friends together and we played a card game (I forget the name) and drank. Following that was bed time. In the morning, she had to work so it was up 'early'. I passed some time out on my own for a bit - grabbed a coffee and treat at Starbucks, book-browsed (and read a few bits and pieces of one or two) at Chapters. I was there for a litt...

The Oscar nominations are out! The list of nominees, and my thoughts, await!

No, I’m not talking about Hitchhiker’s Guide . Though, I do believe Adams was onto something

I am now halfway finished reading the second book of The Wheel of Time, The Great Hunt. 

...the same day that The Wheel of Time  ends, George R.R. Martin posts this : http://georgerrmartin.com/if-sample.html George has this to say, from his blog entry announcing this: "Me, I have a lot more writing to do. On WINDS, and half a dozen other projects."

Today’s the day. The finale of The Wheel of Time. The publisher has sent out daily teasers for the past month or so, and here they are compiled here. Spoiler warning, in case.

Attention Stephen King fans, Dark Tower fans,  and  comic fans... the newest story arc of the Marvel's Dark Tower series will soon be out, or is out already depending on where you get your comics.

In just two  days the Final Book of The Wheel of Time , called A Memory of Light  is released. The series began in 1990 with this....

Wow, I got e-mails form George R.R. Martin and  Ken Follett in the same day!! George wanted to wish me a happy new year, and Ken did as well, with some news: " Dear Jeffrey, Happy New Year! I hope that it will be a peaceful, prosperous and rewarding one. Thank you for your wonderful response to Fall of Giants and Winter of the World . I'm delighted that so many readers have thought them engrossing stories that have also provided some insight into the great events of the first half of the 20th century. I am hard at work on the third novel in the 'Century' trilogy, Edge of Eternity . This will follow the descendants of the five families through the Cold War and into the end of the century. I expect this to be published toward the end of 2014. " Looking forward to that book for sure!! Many thanks to Ken and George both for taking the time to write me!  

Sci-fi & fantasy giant, Locus, has recently named the best novels of the sci-fi & fantasy (and short story, novellas etc..) of the 20th and (so far, but not sure how 'recent') 21st century. A good deal of them have been nominated, or won, Hugos and / or Nebula awards. I myself am going through the list to see what interests me, and adding it to my Goodreads reading list. See the list(s) : 

There appears to be quite a few fantasy books coming out this year. No, not The Winds of Winter (yet...I'm betting 2014 for that one though if it's this year, sweet). There is a host of other novels coming up throughout the year - as well as ones I hadn't heard of yet, or ones that may arrive sooner than later.

2012 was a great year for me. I got renewed at work, went on my own vacation and flew for the first time. My novel, A Climb of Chaos , has gotten some significant development. Fleshing out, writing and crafting the book, as well as the series, will take time, energy and effort. My blog here has been an outlook to share some of my life, as well as provide an outlet of creativity to keep me writing and thinking when I'm not in Kalvel.  Also, I am no longer single. Well, I haven't been as of recently; yet that's still an accomplishment this year of sorts. I found love (or rather it found me) and things are just going so well.  On the reading side of things, I believe I read about 11 books, not including comics / graphic novels, which has included a few series:  A Song of Ice and Fire , The Hunger Games , Millennium (official title of Stieg Larrson's trilogy) and now The Wheel of Time .This year, 2013, I'll meet my goal! Santa Claus was also generous...