Fnord
Troubadour
Okay, so the stereotypical fantasy salutation is out of the way. 
Anyway, hello. I'm not a fantasy writer in a professional sense, but I've always fantasized about being a fantasy writer, and took a few swings in my time nonetheless.
About two years ago, I got married and had a little reception here in Omaha and invited some friends from back in PA out for it (I actually graduated with Nathan Lauffer, who showed me this site) and one of my friends brought back an interesting time capsule from middle school; a sketchbook containing some ahem *interesting* comic books I drew and a battered and taped-together three-ring binder that was a fantasy book I hand-wrote in 8th grade. I thumbed through it one evening and looked at all the pictures I drew and the stuff I had written and had that feeling you get when you look at an old yearbook; wistful but a little embarrassing too.
I had taken a lot of cracks at writing before that and since, but this nondescript binder was the only one I ever completed from beginning to end. It was your typical fantasy quest story; a group of bored youths in a small pastoral village who decide to take up with a whimsical traveling merchant type in need of company who get reluctantly embroiled in the twisted plots of an ambitious sorcerer who is trying to call through demonic lords while unwittingly serving as their mortal puppet. Along the way they meet some exotic characters (including befriending a stone golem who through an accident of magic was given sentience and free-will), eventually journey to the cavern fortress of the wizard and (somewhat) foil his plans. It didn't end happily in the typical sense (probably an extension of my view of the world at the time) but it was a lot of fun to write nonetheless.
Since 6th grade, with only a few breaks since, I've been an avid Dungeons & Dragons player, mostly in the Dungeon Master role (I seem to remember once on the school bus while reading the Forgotten Realms Adventures book, Mr. Lauffer enunciating the title of the book in a very distinctive and drawn-out Olde English accent "Fo'go'en reelms" in a way I took as him mocking my habit but have since always pronounced it that way in my head every time I've seen the logo since) and have always enjoyed world-building.
So now, rekindled by reading "Game of Thrones" and needing a creative outlet since being a musician has been largely put on the backburner for more scholarly pursuits, I've decided to seriously ponder taking a crack at writing again, if only for my own pleasure.
And as a good friend of mine says, if you are going to take up a new interest, the best way to go about is to surround yourself with people smarter than you. So here I am.
*waves*
Anyway, hello. I'm not a fantasy writer in a professional sense, but I've always fantasized about being a fantasy writer, and took a few swings in my time nonetheless.
About two years ago, I got married and had a little reception here in Omaha and invited some friends from back in PA out for it (I actually graduated with Nathan Lauffer, who showed me this site) and one of my friends brought back an interesting time capsule from middle school; a sketchbook containing some ahem *interesting* comic books I drew and a battered and taped-together three-ring binder that was a fantasy book I hand-wrote in 8th grade. I thumbed through it one evening and looked at all the pictures I drew and the stuff I had written and had that feeling you get when you look at an old yearbook; wistful but a little embarrassing too.
I had taken a lot of cracks at writing before that and since, but this nondescript binder was the only one I ever completed from beginning to end. It was your typical fantasy quest story; a group of bored youths in a small pastoral village who decide to take up with a whimsical traveling merchant type in need of company who get reluctantly embroiled in the twisted plots of an ambitious sorcerer who is trying to call through demonic lords while unwittingly serving as their mortal puppet. Along the way they meet some exotic characters (including befriending a stone golem who through an accident of magic was given sentience and free-will), eventually journey to the cavern fortress of the wizard and (somewhat) foil his plans. It didn't end happily in the typical sense (probably an extension of my view of the world at the time) but it was a lot of fun to write nonetheless.
Since 6th grade, with only a few breaks since, I've been an avid Dungeons & Dragons player, mostly in the Dungeon Master role (I seem to remember once on the school bus while reading the Forgotten Realms Adventures book, Mr. Lauffer enunciating the title of the book in a very distinctive and drawn-out Olde English accent "Fo'go'en reelms" in a way I took as him mocking my habit but have since always pronounced it that way in my head every time I've seen the logo since) and have always enjoyed world-building.
So now, rekindled by reading "Game of Thrones" and needing a creative outlet since being a musician has been largely put on the backburner for more scholarly pursuits, I've decided to seriously ponder taking a crack at writing again, if only for my own pleasure.
And as a good friend of mine says, if you are going to take up a new interest, the best way to go about is to surround yourself with people smarter than you. So here I am.
*waves*
