Velox

I know, I know. =P I'm not sure if it'll be ever on the top of my TBR list, because there's just so many things, but perhaps over the summer.

~ :: :: ~ March 12: Top Ten Books At The TOP Of My Spring 2013 TBR list! The Floating Admiral, by the Detection Club (including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, and others). I'm definitely reading this next. I love the idea, first of all, of so many classic detective novelists writing a story together. Plus the three aforementioned authors are all very great writers, and I'll really enjoy reading what they came up with. Coup d'Etat, by Ben Coes. Been meaning to read this for a while--loved Coes's first book. Killing Floor, by Lee Child. I've been meaning to start the Jack Reacher books for a while, and with the new film that's just more motivation to. The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling. Or several other books, really. I mean, sure, I want to read this book, but I'm not sure I'd consider it top on my list. Still, i'm very interested to see how this compares to Harry Potter, and decide for myself whether it's amazing or horrible or just "okay" (it seems like I've seen those three comments a lot in the reviews). Robopocalypse, by Daniel H. Wilson. I'm currently reading this, actually. I need to have most of it read by Wednesday for my Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Literature class, but I'll probably end up reading it all tomorrow, as it's really good so far. I'll be making a blog entry on Science Fiction soon, actually, because I haven't ever read anything until this class. The Night Circus, by Emily Morgenstern. Also for my SF/F/H class, but it does sound really interesting, and I look forward to reading it. Plus I need to read more fantasy. The Last Werewolf, by Glen Duncan. For my SF/F/H class. I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed to find out that this was the book we were reading to cover "horror." But oh well. Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow. For my SF/F/H class. Sounds pretty good. Human Chain, by Seamus Heaney. I'm really excited for this one. I have to read a poetry book for my poetry creative writing class, and Heaney was recommended to me by BZP Member Tolkien. I've really, really enjoyed reading every poem that I've read so far by him. Masterpieces: The Best Sciecne Fiction of the Twentieth Century, by Orson Scott Card. This is also for my SF/F/H class, but we won't be reading every single story. I hope, to, though. I actually really liked this Top Ten Tuesday, and I look forward to the "top books for Summer" because I actually have a list for that, too (as I don't have school and can focus on reading more). The Spring/Fall is more up-in-the-air and I have much less of an idea of what I'm planning to read, instead just looking at my shelves and going "that one." ~ Velox

From the Ambage topic: And so, if you are a member of the Ambage, and would like to participate, let me know! ~ Velox

Ladies and gentlemen of the Ambage, it is my pleasure to initiate work on the next published Ambage Anthology! Through the recent poll, BZPower members have decided that the overarching genre of this anthology will be Science Fiction. But we don’t have a title yet, or any stories for that matter, and that’s where you--Ambage writers--come in. How do I participate? Due to the nature of how the anthology is organized and managed, you will need to have access to Skype in order to participate (of course, you’ll also need to be an Ambage member, but that’s easy: simply post in this topic stating your intention to join). Once you have a Skype account, simply contact me via BZP PM or Private Chat and you will be added to the Ambage Anthology Discussion Chat on Skype. Important: The wheels are already turning, so if you want to participate, you should contact me before the end of the day on Thursday, March 14th. Work on the Anthology will officially begin the following day. You might be worried about your work not being ready for publication. Don’t sweat it! All stories will undergo a double round of workshops and critiques before the final deadline, so there will be plenty of opportunity for improvement and finessing. This is an event for the entire Ambage community, so we welcome anyone and everyone to participate. What does participating entail? As a participant, your responsibilities are two-fold: (1) You must submit at least one story for the anthology, although you may submit more than one. The only restriction on the content of your story is that it conform to the Science Fiction genre. Otherwise, you’re free to go wild. As a general rule, we suggest a word count within the 500-3000 range, although this is pretty flexible. (2) You must participate in both rounds of the workshops. Participation in the workshops involves replying to at least ~10 stories (this number will be specified later) by your fellow writers in each round. The first round is a general critique, after which writers will make revisions to their works. The second round works the same, using the revised stories from the first round. In each round, you should reply to the same set of stories so that you can provide some commentary on both the initial and revised versions. What are the deadlines? The following is a list of dates and deadlines for the different stages of the Anthology process. If you cannot meet the deadlines, we will have to remove you from the project--there is unfortunately no leeway for this: March 15-April 5—Stories due. Any stories you want included in the Anthology are due by April 5th. April 5-May 1—Workshop Round 1. During this period, all the stories will be workshopped. Your ~10 in-depth reviews must be given by May 1st. May 1-May 10—Revisions. During this period, authors should revise their stories. The revised drafts are due by May 10th. May 10-May 20—Workshop Round 2. During this period, you should re-read the ~10 stories you reviewed during Round 1 and provide some thoughts on the author’s revisions. Reviews are due by May 20th. May 20-June 1—Final Stories Due. During this period, authors should make any last changes. All final drafts are stories are due by June 1st.

"Clouds" - Zach Sobiech.

Attention, Ambage members: The hosts have been working hard these past few weeks, and now it's time for me to announce some changes to the Ambage! Division of Labor--the hosts have gotten together and divided the work between the four of us. We are also now having weekly meetings. This will help ensure that things get done better and more efficiently, in order to create the best experience we can for all of you. Short Stories Review Pass--this Ambage feature has now moved to the Short Stories forum, thanks to the approval of Hahli Husky. We are hoping that with the better visibility, this feature will be utilized more. Remember, simply claim the story posted before you, post your own story for review, and then edit your post within a few hours with a link to your review. Achievements--the achievements have recently undergone a re-envisioning. It was determined that they were entirely too serious and high maintenance and adjustments have been made. Most notably we are no longer using the points and ranks systems. Instead of tracking point earnings we will now be keeping track of how many achievements one achieves. These improvements were designed with the hope of making them easier and more enjoyable. Skype rules--as the Ambage community continues to grow on Skype, we've decided that it's necessary to create clear-cut rules for everyone to see in order to make the Skype community as enjoyable and fun as possible for all writers. Please read these rules in the main post of the Ambage and adhere to them. Published Anthologies--as promised, the newest Ambage feature has been implemented, and is open to all Ambage members. Check back in this topic soon for details on the next Anthology, as the next project will be started in just a few days. If you'd like to participate, make sure to join the Skype Ambage community. Member List--in order to make the main post smaller, the member list (and number of members) will now be located in this blog entry. If you have any feedback, we would be glad to hear it; feel free to PM Nuile or Velox or post your thoughts here in this topic.

[Here's an illustration of how a Review Pass works--please do not use old reviews for this:] And I have reviewed The Rain. Requesting a review for: Souvenirs, by Velox.

The Ambage Short Story Review Pass (approved by Hahli Husky) To write well, you need constructive criticism. No writer is perfect--everyone can improve. Therefore, reviews are necessary. Everyone posts stories on BZPower to get feedback. This "Review Pass" system will help with that. A place where, if you review a story, you can get a review of your own story. Here's how it works: You review the requested story last posted. You then post one of your own stories for the next reviewer. The next reviewer will read your story and then post one of theirs for the next. Please see the first three comments by myself and Nuile as an example for how this works (however, all reviews must be new). Please keep in mind the following: First you post to claim the review. Then you review; only then do you edit your post and make your review request. No "I'll get to it later." If you do not edit your post with your review within a few hours, I will request that your post be deleted and another member is free to post.You may request a review for one of your own works or for the work of another writer.You may request reviews for the same story more than once, but bear in mind that you will run out of fresh reviewers sooner or later.Off Topic Culture stories are entirely admissible.Short stories only.See the Achievements blog entry for the achievements you can get using the Review Pass.All reviews must be new reviews. The first three posts were just an example for how the system works -- all reviews cannot be previously posted on BZPower.This is for Ambage members only. However, we allow anyone to join, so all you have to do is post in that topic stating your intention to join. Now then, get reviewing!

@ Roablin ~ Ah, yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about Timothy Zahn and the Thrawn Trilogy. Those will probably be the first I'll read after the original trilogy (or even before, who knows). Thanks for the recommendation! I probably would've forgotten, haha. And yeah, thanks--it's been about ten years since I've tried to read through them.

Assigned to Tolkien.

Yep!

Aaand I have reviewed "The Wrong Path", "The Murder", and "Autumn." Whew. XD This week's: Velox: Someone's Waiting for You, by Aderia Nuile: O Dark Legion, by Chro Yukiko: The Luckiest Grandfather in the World, by Kraggh Zaxvo: Eldritch Abomination, by Velox Due: March 13th.

Hey there! I'm here with an SSCC Charity Review. Basically we're just going through old stories and giving them free reviews. And so without further ado... I really liked this. The idea really is quite fascinating, and it was very well-written. I'd actually like to see this expanded, but it works as a flash fiction piece, too. The narrator worked really well. The very personal, almost chatty voice just brought me into the story. The use of second person helped with this, too, and I really just felt like I was there, experiencing this with him. I really don't have much more to say. I apologize for being a little short, but I'm slightly drained from doing other work and two other reviews right before this. I've recently had a craving for fantasy, and I thought this was a great fantastical piece. I just have a couple quick nitpicks: I don't think the "too" is needed there, but I could be wrong. Or perhaps it should be replaced with something else... Should be a comma after "boring" The semicolon is needed. Otherwise, again, I really enjoyed this story. Very well-done, and I hope you enter more FFFCs!

Official SSCC Review. Well, I'll jump right in here and comment on a few specific things: The first few sentences of this were a little weird. Instead of mentioning the forest and then the Matoran, what I would do is start broad, then get more specific. For example, mention and describe the forest and the animals and the silence, then perhaps focus on a specific animal, and then have the Matoran disrupt that animal by running through. The last sentence doesn't really seem to fit, either, and just seems out of place. Perhaps consider something like: "A Matoran of Fire and a Matoran of Air panted, trying to control their breathing that stood out from the dead silence of the forest." I'm not going to point this out every time, but the period after "them" should be a comma, and the "said" should be uncapitalized. Here's a little "chart" that should help you out: "I think we lost them," said the Fire Matoran. The Fire Matoran said, "I think we lost them." "I think we lost them!" the Fire Matoran shouted happily. "I think we lost them," Daorn said. Should be: "These two Matoran escaped the ambush on a caravan that was heading through a path near the forest." "do" "We are at outpost Omega 10, Daorn. Let's go talk to the general here." I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the last sentence, but perhaps: "...but ever since the war and his village was murdered by an army of robots, he had to join the army." "...and you have to stay valiant until death." "...with a black scorch mark from when a faulty disk went off from his disk launcher." This is one example where I think the word choice and order is slightly odd. Here's a quick example of how things could be altered: "Just as he had finished congratulating the matoran and giving him a promotion, an explosion rocked the earth. Daorn saw fires begin to blaze around the village and could hear the screams as matoran scrambled for cover from the destruction." Now that wasn't really the best written, but I think you can see the difference. It's a little less sudden, more descriptive, and, hopefully, more moving, then. Personally I'd go even further and describe this for another sentence or two or even more. That way, the reader feels the terror that Daorn and the villagers feel. "its" should be "their" as "Berserkers" is plural. First off, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a "Giant"? I'm not too good with Bionicle names, but I've never heard of a species called "Giant" before. Unless you just mean a "big man" in which case the "G" should be uncapitalized. Here's another time, though, when the wording is a little weird. Perhaps it could be changed up a little bit to something like: "Leowa headed in to help out the effort, but before he could a giant blocked his path, armed with an ion cannon that could kill everyone with just a few blasts..." and so on. "Look out, he's about to fire!" yelled a vanguard soldier. The soldiers fired as quickly as they could, but their weapons seemed to have no effect on the giant. One of them was Leowa, killed in the second blast. I mentioned earlier how, if possible, the reader should feel fear as well. I think you could do that by instead of saying he was afraid, you show it by showing his actions. I think you might mean "encased" too. ------------------ There are just a couple more things I wanted to point out. Most notably was the constant switch between present and past tense. I think the story definitely works better in past, but you would often switch to present. For example, consider this sentence, in past tense: "He was encased in fear, the world was going slowly as he stood there."In present tense, it would be: "He is encased in fear, the world is going slowly as he stands there." See the difference? But throughout the story you kept switching between the two. For example: "Daorn is the Ta-Matoran. He wears an orange Ruru..." The past tense of that would be: "Daorn was a Ta-Matoran. He wore an orange Ruru..." The other thing is that things often don't seem to be explained very well--I was never completely sure of the setting, and some of the species ("Giant" and "Berserker") I was never quite sure what they were. I really liked the plot and idea behind this story, though. I think it's incredibly interesting and the characters seem to be cool--especially Daorn with his bravery and courage. With some work on the writing and descriptions, I think this could be a truly great story. Well-done, and keep writing!

Hey there, Peach! I'm here with an SSCC Charity Review. So first off I'm really glad this is a poem--I really don't read enough poetry, and ever since taking a Poetry/Fiction Creative Writing class last semester, and a Poetry CW class this semester, I've been meaning to. I really do love Autumn. Not so much where I live (our "Fall" happens during our "Winter" and we get no Winter =P), but it's still probably my favorite season. My favorite part being the colder weather, most likely. Though on that note, the "Colder weather" line of the poem seemed just a little off to me--specifically the "colder." I think perhaps something like "crisp" would work better. Maybe not that word specifically, but I think a single-syllable word would sound better. On the note of sound, you really do a good job here. I really liked the alliteration and similar sounds used throughout (especially the "s" sounds, it seems to fit with the "peaceful" setting of Autumn portrayed here). One small structuring nitpick, I feel like "Summer leaves/Fallen" should be switched. Not only because I think "fallen summer leaves" sounds better than the reverse, but mostly because that way it gives the poem a nice look--all lines being roughly the same length, with the exception of the very first and the very last, being single words. Maybe it's just me, but I think the only single-word lines being the first and last would be powerful, also considering the two words--"Fallen" and "Autumn" really go well together. Other than that, I don't really have a lot more to say. The poem flowed nicely and I really enjoyed this--a beautiful poem for a beautiful season. Well-done! Keep writing poetry.

Best books ever? It'd be impossible for me to pick an actual favorite, but here are a few of the best books ever in my opinion: A Monster Calls, by Patrick NessThe Book Thief, by Markus ZusakThe Hobbit, by J.R.R. TolkienA Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. MartinAnything by Vince FlynnThe Dresden Files, by Jim ButcherAnything by Agatha ChristieSherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller series by Michael ConnellyThe Four Loves, by C.S. Lewis And more. =P ------------------- To clear up the above: Chatspeak, if done excessively, is indeed against the rules, as per the Language Use Guidelines: As it wasn't done excessively (and plus it wasn't leet either), the above wasn't against the rules, but it's still encouraged to not do so. Also, in the future, Strackkorotus, if you think something is against the rules, please just report the post instead of posting. Thanks!

In no particular order: [*]ThePianoGuys[*]Switchfoot[*]Claude-Michel Schönberg (Les Miserables)[*]Matt Maher[*]Hans Zimmer[*]Howard Shore[*]Rise Against[*]The Beatles[*]Billy Joel[*]John Williams

@ Omar ~ Haha, yeah, enough people have recommended it to me that I've finally decided I'll get the first book the first time I see it at a used bookstore. =P And it's on my "series I want to start" list. @ ET ~ Yeah, I'm not really planning to get through all of them, haha. I mean, who knows--if I like them enough then I'll read a lot, if not all. Really just depends on how much I end up liking them. I have the leather-bound B&N collectible edition of the novelizations of the original trilogy, so I'll probably start with that.

I've been thinking about some things related to my past actions for a while now, and it feels like the time is right to address them, so I'm going to do that here. Put simply: in the past, I have involved myself in discussions that ended in unresolved conflicts. I said things in those discussions that I truly regret to this day, and I know that people were hurt by those things. I don't want there to be conflict between myself and other members, and as a staff member I realize that my behavior in those discussions was not appropriate. That being said, I would like to offer an apology: I'm sorry. For anything I've done or said that was hurtful. My earnest desire is for resolution and reconciliation on these issues. It was never my intention to be hurtful toward anyone, and I sincerely apologize. In the interests of prudence, I'll be locking this entry. If you do have a response, however, by all means send me a PM. Thanks for reading. ~ Velox

Top Ten Series I'd Like To Start But Haven't Yet Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm reading it this year, over the summer. I'm not letting myself go another year without doing so. Reasons are obvious. Although technically I guess I've started this, but that was years ago. Jack Reacher, by Lee Child. I love Vince Flynn and Tom Clancy and Alex Berenson and Ben Coes and Stephen Hunter. As another master of thrillers, I've always wanted to read Lee Child's books. Not to mention the new movie looks fantastic, but I'm waiting to watch it until I read the book. Alphabet Mysteries, by Sue Grafton. I love mysteries and I've heard Grafton is good. Plus I love the idea of the books named after a letter of the alphabet. Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. After reading A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, I've been craving to read more epic fantasy stories. After LOTR, this is the second fantasy series I want to read most as I've heard it's amazing. The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. Really just anything by Stephen King, but I've heard this series is good. Star Wars, by Various Authors. A lot of people seem to like them, so I want to give them a try. Hannibal Lecter, by Thomas Harris. Seems like an awesome(ly dark) character. And also so I can finally see the movie Silence of the Lambs, because I've been waiting to read the book. Chaos Walking, by Patrick Ness. A Monster Calls is one of my all-time favorite books. It'll be fun to read some of his other work. Lord Peter Wimsey, by Dorothy Sayers. I love classic detective fiction, and Dorothy Sayers is one of the masters. I'm really excited to get all of her books (I only have three, and two short story anthologies, unfortunately) and read them. The Presidential Agent, by W.E.B. Griffin. I've had this whole series for a while now, so it's about time I started it. ~ Velox

Yep, basically this. Deviantart and imgur cannot be used unless you deep-link them; flickr is allowed either way (the exception to the rule), as long as the content is appropriate. And yes, please keep this in mind for the future, Great being Velika. Thanks, guys. Question answered; topic closed.

I feel like it's starting to become like A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin--anyone you start to like will die. =P I love this show, though, and Daryl is one of my favorite characters as well. I gotta say that Rick is my favorite, though--Andrew Lincoln's acting is simply fantastic. One of my favorite scenes of the whole show was after Lori died, simply because of all the emotion that Lincoln captured in that. That really has to be one of the most convincing tragic scenes I've seen. The last episode was awesome, but I'm really sad that there's only 16 per season. It's such a great show it really needs more. =P I actually read the first issue of the graphic novel ("Days Gone Bye") a few days ago and loved it. Has a lot of differences from the TV show, but it's cool seeing them. My only complaint is that Andrew Lincoln looks much better as Rick than the guy in the graphic novel haha. Definitely gonna try to get some more, though.

Sorry for the one-day delay, guys. But never fear, the results are here: Congratulations to The Tolerable Automation, winner of "Surrender or Run" with his story, Hunter's Game! Honorable mentions go to "A Machine's Philosophy" by Dinobot Pahrak, and "Vahki" by Janus! Don't forget to enter the OTC FFFC, "Branching Out"! And once again, thanks to everyone who entered! There were a lot of entries this time, and we're really thankful for that.

Concerning your title, please keep the BZPower Rules & Guidelines in mind: Furthermore, that link appears to be broken, so this topic is rather pointless. Those two things considered... Topic closed.

So I've already said this to you, what, 3 times? Well doesn't matter: HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIMEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE : DDD Hope you had an amazing day!