I Promise That I Am Still Alive (So Far . . .)

Hello everyone,

     I realize that it may appear, to those who follow me on my blogs and Facebook groups and such, as if I have fallen off the face of the Earth. I promise that I am indeed still alive. I have had a lot happen, including moving forward with the adoption of one of my foster sons (yay!) and a great weekend of gaming at Crit Hit 2017 (also yay!). Tomorrow (knock on wood) I should have a day to myself to catch up on writing and updating everything (e.g., I'm several days late already for the next installment of Appendix N Revisited - Lest Darkness Fall Revisited, I want to post Road Crew reports for some of the DCC games I ran at Crit Hit 2017, I just went over a week without being able to keep up with my Camp NaNoWriMo writing, etc., etc.). Updates are coming!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - The Gaeludyr, Tyrfingur, and the return of the Oathkeeper

Hello everyone,

     Well, as you know if you've been following my blog, I've had a busy time lately - I went to Phoenix Comicon 2017 and on behalf of Crit Hit and the Goodman Games World Tour 2017 Road Crew, I ran some games. I also got the chance to play some D&D (3.5), which I have not played in about 6 years (since I left the great State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations), so that was fun. But writing took a bit of a back seat while I was at the Con.

     Except that my brain never really takes a day off from writing. Especially when I get to attend the Phoenix Comicon panels for Tor (which is a corporate representative every year, sadly, rather than authors) and Del Ray (which is always well-attended by authors, several of whom I enjoy). I got lots of great inspiration there, doodled down in my vade mecum and journal, and came home reinvigorated.

     So I sat down and finally finished hammering at "The Gaeludyr" (which is to be the latest in the Tales from Midhgardhur series on Channillo). I ran it past Tanya, who pointed me to a similar story by Ursula K. LeGuin with which I was not familiar. I can honestly say we ended up with similar stories independently, but anyway, my story is specific to my world and is part of a larger chain of stories yet to be told. I took a long time with this one because I feel that it's a bit tricky, and I'm still not satisfied that I have it perfectly the way I would like it, but I think it's close enough. I've scheduled it to post on Channillo on 6/5/17, barring any further revisions and editing on my part. Word Count: 2283 (It is a very compact story by design).

     Speaking of Tales and Channillo, don't forget that I am running a contest through 6/4/17 for a chance to win a free code for a 3-month Bronze membership to Channillo. All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog in a way that I can identify you between now and the end of the day on 6/4/17 - the winner will be announced on 6/5/17!

     I've started planning to keep myself disciplined with my writing through the normally chaotic summer months. In edition to getting Tales up to date and then keeping it so, and beginning to think about a second published volume of Tales, some of my projects include the following. I am still working on Tyrfingur, the tale of the accursed blade. I have recently formulated an outline for the long-awaited sequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. And I have an idea for writing author blog annotations for the existing Tales. So I am going to keep myself very busy writing this summer!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday and a Cursed Sword

Hello everyone,

     It is once again Word Count Wednesday, so the final word count on "Angels of Death," which posts tomorrow for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo, is 5679. If you're not yet a subscriber, check out Channillo.com and Tales From Midhgardhur. I'm still editing Ormsbani with the Armadillo Authors' Workshop - if you're an author in the Phoenix, AZ area, you can find us Thursday nights at the Armadillo Grill down on Camelback from 7-9 PM.

     I still need to get working on my next projects for Tales, and a second volume of the book series Tales From Midhgardhur should be out by the end of the year. Also, I'm back to researching the next novel I want to write - the story of the cursed sword Tyrfingr, or "Tyrfingur" as my rendition of the Old Norse would be for Midhgardhur. A Northerner king named Svafurlami captures two dvergar, or dwarves, and forces them to forge for him a magical sword - but since they make the blade under duress, they also curse the blade! The chronicles of the cursed sword Tyrfingur are the intended subject of my next novel!

     I'm also working on my next installment of "Appendix N Revisited" for this blog, with Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core up next for May, and Lin Carter's Thongor and the Wizard of Lemuria up for June!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Appendix N:

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 17 - What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Hello everyone!

     I am pleased to say that I am officially over my word count goal of 10,500 words (currently at 10,528 words, in fact!), so I have "won" Camp NaNoWriMo. Now I start editing the heck out of this so I can add it to the next book I have forthcoming, Tales From Midhgardhur, Volume I. I also plan to make the finished version available for free on Kindle, since it forms a sort of prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. And don't worry - I am also working on my next story for the Channillo series, Tales From Midhgardhur!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 12 - Back In Black

Hello everyone,

     Well, as AC/DC says, I'm back in black! That's funnier if you know me personally and know that my wardrobe pretty much consists entirely of black clothing . . . but also makes the point that music is a powerful source of mood and inspiration for me. When I am writing Midhgardhur material, I often seek inspiration or even just ambiance in music. Tonight's music is MANOWAR - If there were an official soundtrack to my Midhgardhur stories, it would be the music of MANOWAR! In particular, tonight's soundtrack is Battle Hymns and Sign of the Hammer! If you don't know this band, you should check them out! They are not for everyone, but if you're one of the people for whom they make their music, you'll probably fall in love with their stuff (although the albums to which I am listening right now are their earliest work, and not necessarily their best work). Anyway . . .

     So I took the weekend off from writing to attend a new Arizona gaming convention called Crit Hit. Crit Hit 2016 was a lot of fun! I ran three different Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG zero-level funnels, and it was awesome! When I returned from the convention, I was a little burned out, I did not get right back to summer camp work right away (shame on me!). So today I had to buckle down and get back to it! I am hacking away at my word count goal (I'm currently at 8606 words out of my goal of 10,500 words, so I'm getting close - only 1900-odd words left to go to my minimum goal!). Today I added a bunch of stuff I wasn't sure would make it to the story, including mention of Halfdanur's parents (their story is complicated, and I wasn't sure I wanted to get into it - for the most part I didn't, I just mention them in passing. I just finished reading a novel that deals with the historical Halfdanur's parents - you can check out Song of the Valkyrie by Steven M. Rogers if you are interested!). I also figured out a way of working in an episode that seemed a bit too silly to work in my story in its original version, so that felt good. Anyway, I'm now fully back in the writing groove . . . back in black!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

P.S. The image above is an illustration of the murder of Gudhrodhur the Hunter, father of Halfdanur the Black, by a man with a spear. This episode was mentioned in my writing today, so I thought it would make an interesting illustration for this post!

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 7 - End of (Out)Line

Hello everyone,

     To say that I am exhausted would be such a dramatic understatement as to be actually worthless in conveying how I feel at present. I have a two year old boy who decided not to sleep more than a combined total of about 2.5 hours last night (not continuous!), so I'm going on a couple of days with no real sleep at all and trying to cram everything to meet self-imposed deadlines . . . So yeah. Anyway. Tonight, I caught up with the end of my initial outline for my Camp NaNoWriMo project. I'm at 7873 words or so, but I've reached the end of the outline I was working from. So now I have a lot of editing and fleshing out of this skeleton to do, especially if I am to make my goal of a minimum of 10,500 words. I also have material for my next Channillo story for Tales From Midhgardhur pouring from my skull - I need to get it onto paper or pixels soon, before I lose it! Plus, I may not get much done over the next couple of days - I need to actually sleep at some point, and I'm going to Crit Hit in Phoenix, AZ this weekend . . .

     On a related note, I am very much looking forward to Crit Hit. I'm Judging 3 Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG modules ("The Portal Under the Stars," "Sailors on the Starless Sea," and "Hole In The Sky"), plus I signed up for some games I love - Call of Cthulhu, Hunter:The Vigil . . . and I signed up to try Tunnels & Trolls with Ken St. Andre (the creator of T&T, which was the 2nd RPG ever created), so that's like Geek Bucket List material right there, that's like playing D&D with Gary Gygax . . .

      Anyway, given the circumstances, I may not post again for a few days. Don't take it personally. I'll be back!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 6 and Word Count Wednesday

Hello everyone,

     Today is the 6th day of virtual summer camp at Camp NaNoWriMo, and it is my first Word Count Wednesday of the month! The news from camp is that I am at 5994 words on my Camp NaNoWriMo project, The Tale of Halfdanur the Black, which is awesome - my ultimate goal is a minimum of 10.500 words, so I am more than halfway done already, in theory. But I also figured out today what I want to do for my next Channillo project in Tales From Midhgardhur. At present, I have just the barest outline of that, at 136 words. But I think it's going to be a great story! And it may end up being the kickoff to Volume II of Tales From Midhgardhur . . .

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 5 - Rough Chapters Taking Shape!

Hello everyone,

     Well, the 5th day of my virtual summer camp at Camp NaNoWriMo is drawing to a close, and I have a rough outline of three chapters completed, at a total of about 4511 words! I think it is going to be six chapters total, and the ones I have written are in pretty rough shape, so I have a LOT of work to do - but there are rough chapters taking shape! I've got a two-year-old toddling around my house, which limits the writing I can do during the day, and this weekend will be a wash for me (I'm Judging some Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG games at Crit Hit here in Phoenix this weekend!), but I've got my outline and I'm getting as much of a head start as possible so I'll be ahead if my productivity crashes, which seems like a virtual certainty at some point!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 4 - Independence Forever!

Hello everyone,

     Happy Independence Day! The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Today it was not just American Independence Day, but also the 4th day of virtual summer camp with Camp NaNoWriMo. My toast for the 4th of July every year is "Independence Forever!" - the final Independence Day toast of John Adams, who died on the 4th of July, 1826, the same day as his friend, Thomas Jefferson.

    I've been working on The Tale of Halfdanur the Black, and I think it is coming along quite well. I finished the first draft of the Dofri episode I mentioned previously. It is much longer than I expected, and needs editing, but it is a good start. Currently, my word count is up to 3646 words.

     Meanwhile, the print version of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper is off to a good start, and I'm very proud that my Channillo.com series Tales From Midhgardhur was runner up for Best Fantasy Series in the 2016 Channillo Awards. Tales From Midhgardhur will also form the basis of my 2nd book in print, which should be available around the end of August - Tales From Midhgardhur, Volume I. It will contain all the stories published on Channillo.com so far, as well as The Tale of Halfdanur the Black (which will not be on Channillo, but will be available for free from Amazon on Kindle).

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 3 - More Giant Stuff!

Hello everyone,

     Day 3 of Camp NaNoWriMo, and the writing is going smoothly. I credit the fact that I plan a lot in advance so I can flesh out my outline to my heart's content without getting lost in what I'm doing. Anyway, I worked more on introducing the "Dofri the Giant" plot line to my story today; it wasn't in my original outline, so I'm concentrating on that first, in case I run into problems I didn't anticipate because this wasn't in the original specs. Currently, the tale is sitting at 2484 words. According to Camp NaNoWriMo, I'll hit my minimum word count on July 13th if I keep up this pace. Keeping up the pace may prove difficult, given the recent changes to my household routine, but I'm happy to be ahead of the curve for now - at the very least, it means I have a bit of a buffer if I am not able to work on my story some days . . .

Happy Reading! Skál!
~Colin Anders Brodd

Camp NaNoWriMo Day 2 - Giants In The Earth

Hello everyone,

     Well, my writing time is very short for the 2nd day of Camp NaNoWriMo (I've got a 2 year old toddling around my home, and I'm running a Pathfinder game in about an hour!), but I did a bit of work on The Tale of Halfdanur the Black. In particular, I've been working on adding an episode that was not in my original outline (it does not appear in the sources I originally used for research, but I found it in another saga, and I want to use it) - an episode in which the young Haraldur frees a giant named Dofri from imprisonment (the illustration above is of that scene in the Flateyjarbók). So I did some work on the giant today. My word count is currently at 1975 words (my goal is at least 10,500) - also, coincidentally, the year in which I was born! Anyway, I'm done with writing for today, and off to prepare for Pathfinder! 

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday: I CAN drive 55 . . .

Hello everyone,

     Just a Word Count Wednesday update - my word count this week is 55 words! 55? Aye, 55! Now, you may think I'm slipping, and I could come up with excuses (e.g. our fostering license was finally approved, so we're suddenly quite busy around here!), but the fact is, I don't need an excuse - it was a challenge, you see! Trying to write a good Midhgardhur story with only 55 words. So, my next installment in Tales From Midhgardhur is slated for July 1st, and will be titled "Hjalti's First Holmganga." It is an exploration, in just 55 words, of the first time that Hjalti (a character well known to fans of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy) fought a holmganga duel, back when he was just a young retainer to Jarl Ragnvaldur when Halfdanur the Black was king of Vestfold. The duel took place at Haugathing at some point during King Halfdanur's reign. Anyway, whittling the story down to just 55 words was quite a challenge, but I am rather pleased with the result. I hope you enjoy it!

     Before I sign off, I ought to mention that I am getting very excited about Camp NaNoWriMo starting July 1st! I am working on The Tale of Halfdanur the Black, which will constitute a sort of short prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. I am also hoping to help raise funds to support NaNoWriMo - my fundraising page is HERE if you would like to sponsor me and help a good cause!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday: Crown and Prequel

Hello everyone!

     It is time once again for Word Count Wednesday! This will be my last one for a while, since I plan to be offline for the next couple of weeks! So what have we got, hmmm?
     Well, my latest offering for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo posted today, entitled "Ingjaldur's Crown" - it weighs in at about 5890 words!

     Also, after much tinkering, I have the outline complete for a prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper, to be titled "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black" - the revised outline weighs in around 5180 words! I am signing up for Camp NaNoWriMo this July, and I intend to make "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black" my special project for "summer camp"!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Prequel News: "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black"

Cover Art - Queen Ragnhildur's Dreams

Hello everyone,

     So, I know I have mentioned recently that I am working on a prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy, but I've been pretty short on details so far. I can now tell you that it will be a very short prequel (like a short story), and it will be called "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black". It will mostly concern the father of Haraldur Halfdansson, who is ultimately one of the great antagonists of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. I put together some cover art (the scene is from "Queen Ragnhildur's Dreams," a chapter in the story). I'm not yet hazarding a guess as to when it will be ready, but once it is, my intention is to make it available for free on Kindle.

     I'll post more updates as they become available!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

"Ingjaldur's Crown" to be released on schedule!

Good news, everyone!

     I finished writing "Ingjaldur's Crown" (I felt like I was never going to finish it at times!), and it will be posting to Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo on schedule (6/1/16)! "Ingjaldur's Crown" is set soon after the events of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy, and returns to Asa, Hrefna, and Hrafn for the first time, really ("Hrafn's Ninth Night" was a sort of prequel for Hrafn, but this is the first time I have returned to all the main protagonists!). So this was fun and exciting for me!

      Of course, I am still working on the thus-far untitled prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper, which is going to be a much longer project than any of my short Tales From Midhgardhur. Not sure what the July project will be yet, but it might involve Asa and her companions as well! All of this is working me up to the point where I might actually write that sequel that so many people have asked me to write!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - A Prequel and a Crown - More Asa Oathkeeper!

Queen Ragnhildur's Dream

Hello everyone!

     Well, it is Word Count Wednesday, so here are the updates:

     For everyone who loved The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy and asked for more of Asa, I'm actually working on TWO stories related to that novel at this time! One is a so-far-untitled prequel that I intend to offer for free on Kindle when its finished; Asa is not actually in the prequel (she is only five years old at the time the end of the prequel is set), but it is a return to that novel, in the sense that it sets up the background of the antagonist, Haraldur, telling the story of his father (Halfdanur Svarti) and mother (Ragnhildur Sigurdhardottir). Anyway, I finished the outline for this story yesterday, and the outline sits at 4373 words. I hope to make it a little longer than the typical story on Tales From Midhgardhur, perhaps a very short novella, by the time I finish it.

     The other piece is a short story for Tales From Midhgardhur on Channillo titled "Ingjaldur's Crown" - this story does feature Asa, Hrefna, and Hrafn, and is set at a time not long after the end of The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. I haven't really started hacking away at this story yet; right now it sits at 1910 words. I had planned to release this one on 6/1/16, but I may not quite make it in time. The latest I want to push it would be 6/4/16, since I'm planning on doing some camping up in canyon country (northern Arizona and southern Utah), and I shan't have access to the Internet much there!

      I've been getting some great feedback on Twitter recently; if you're a fan and don't follow me there yet, I'm @Valerianus on Twitter. You can also follow my author page on Facebook and my author profile on Goodreads if you would like to help support my work!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

"Old Blood, Bright Fire" has posted on Channillo!

     The latest of the Tales From Midhgardhur, "Old Blood, Bright Fire", has posted to Channillo! As I mentioned previously, this is a story from my version of Arthurian mythology, which oddly enough was one of the early inspirations for Midhgardhur (primarily about Norse mythology). Enjoy!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday - Double Trouble!

Hello everyone!

     It's time for Word Count Wednesday and I've got double trouble since I'm trying to meet two (self-imposed) deadlines, here - my Tales From Midhgardhur offerings for both May and June on Channillo! For May, I've got "Old Blood, Bright Fire" scheduled for released on 5/21/16 - it is complete, sitting at about 7018 words! For June, I've got "Ingjaldur's Crown" scheduled for 6/1/16 - I've started that one over, and I'm linking it to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper: A Midhgardhur Fantasy, so I'll be bringing in Asa, Hrafn, and Hrefna. That one's just getting started, really, at about 383 words!

     If you missed it earlier, I'm also working on a short prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper as well, and beginning to get into serious research for this year's NaNoWriMo. I'm still editing my 2nd novel, and working on all sorts of projects! Keeps me off the streets and out of trouble, as they say!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Forthcoming: "Old Blood, Bright Fire"

Hello everyone!

     Well, I am hard at work on a number of projects, as I outlined on my blog post for Wednesday. Today, I wanted to take a moment to talk about my next upcoming story for Tales From Midhgardhur, titled "Old Blood, Bright Fire". It constitutes a seeming departure from my usual Midhgardhur projects in that it is not primarily based on Norse mythology and fantasy, but rather on Arthurian mythology and fantasy.

     This is not actually a new direction for me, just the first time my interest in Arthurian fantasy will be reaching a public, general audience. When I first discovered NaNoWriMo, in fact, the very first project I ever attempted was a novel that dealt with Vikings in Midhgardhur's equivalent of the Danelaw finding that my version of Arthurian myth was linked to my version of Norse myth. I never finished that one (and it was intended to be the first of a trilogy!), but maybe I shall return to it someday. I'm certainly laying the kind of groundwork I would want with this story!

     So, to be clear, yes, it is a Midhgardhur story! It is set on the island of Prytania (Britannia), and deals with events leading up to the birth of King Urtur (Midhgardhur's version of King Arthur). it covers ground others have covered before in their own way, but this is the Midhgardhur "twist" on Arthurian legend. Favorites from my childhood lurk in the back of my mind and certainly affect the shape of the narrative (the movie Excalibur, Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave novels, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, etc.) but it is definitely my story.

     So why am I coming back to this now? Well, this is my Channillo story for May. May 1st is Beltane, or Bealtaine to give it a better spelling (used in the story) - the Festival of Bright Fire. A festival of love and sex and fertility and all that good stuff! I wanted to write a story about Beltane. Once I started thinking of Beltane stories I wanted to tell, I came back to my version of Arthurian mythology in Midhgardhur, and realized that my version of Ygraine (Ygrayne in the story) fit perfectly. May is also the birth month of a dear friend of mine who was as fond of Arthurian myth as I was when we were younger, and was very fond of the character of Ygraine at one time. So in a sense, the story is partly for her.

     Anyway, I do hope everyone enjoys "Old Blood, Bright Fire" - I probably shan't have much opportunity to return to Arthuriana any time soon, not when I have so many more Viking stories to tell, but Midhgardhur's Arthuriana is always there in the background, and maybe someday I'll even return to the novels I intended to write about it all . . .

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd

Word Count Wednesday and SO MANY PROJECTS!

Hello everyone,

     Right now, I have so many projects going on, I almost don't know where to begin! It is pretty exciting!

     First of all, I am tinkering with a (so far unnamed) prequel to The Saga of Asa Oathkeeper. It won't be a novel, maybe more of a short story than a novella, even, but it will set up some of the background to the events of that novel. It is currently only 881 words, but it's growing!

     Second, I am still editing Ormsbani. I finished a second draft, which is printed out for review, and I think it is looking great!

     Third, I am in research for my next NaNoWriMo novel, "Tyrfingur" . . . I don't start writing until November, but I'm really happy with the research!

    Fourth, I am trying to work in two different short stories for Tales From Midhgardhur, one for May ("Old Blood, Bright Fire") which is currently at 1534 words, and one for June ("Ingjaldur's Crown") when I shall be away on a camping trip. I have scheduled releases for these - "Old Blood, Bright Fire" should be available on 5/21/16, and "Ingjaldur's Crown" should be out on 6/1/16.

     That's it for updates right now!

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd