Sim Hero v2.0 Kickstarter!

We’re at it again with a modest $670 goal.

Check out the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/geekfevergames/sim-hero-v20

If you love RPGs & Simulation games – this is the game for you! If not, then you are like 99.9% of the populatuion and you may continue with your regularly scheduled Sunday.

What I’ve been up to… late 2014

Wish I can say I was done with Brasilia… Not there quite yet.

My little game is up for an award, would appreciate a click-vote (takes 2 seconds):

http://www.indiedb.com/games/sim-hero

The game is free and officially releases tomorrow.

2014 was rough, rough… Perhaps we’ll find more time for writing in 2015!

Happy Holidays & New Year!

What I’ve been up to… Mid 2014

Been a while, I know.

Brasilia sits here on my virtual & actual desktops… waiting for my attention. With my house collapsing on us (wish I was joking), it’s been a stressful 2014. Anyway:

Health

I had my 15 year appointment a few weeks ago with my surgeon. Before the visit, I told myself I was just fine and that part of my life was now over. Sure-as-shit, after 15 years, my surgeon told me ‘goodbye,’.

Needless to say, we celebrated with food & chocolate.

Games

As y’all know, I also make games. We are currently in a Kickstarter for our first board game and all the details can be found here.

Check it out!

Writing

I also wrote a short story to go along with the game mentioned above, you can find that for free on Smashwords here. Amazon is hopefully going to make it free as well soon, that link is here. (it will be free Wednesday-Sunday on the Kindle store this week)

Brasilia

As I mentioned, it will get my attention, I’m just not sure exactly when. It is written, I just need the time & energy to edit it a buncha times.

 

Science has finally caught up with me…

Well, it’s just a budding theory about how “life” is formed (article link at the end), but if you’ve read Babylon – you might have picked up on my hints surrounding this topic. In fact, from this new theory, more people may finally coming around to my view of our universe:

“He is making me think that the distinction between living and nonliving matter is not sharp,” said Carl Franck, a biological physicist at Cornell University.

Well, yeah, Mr. Cornell… Get on board with me already!

Eden & Babylon (and beyond) are certainly my attempts to explain my thoughts on life & our world through the best medium I know how. (I’m not about to hit school for another 4-6 years to get a degree) Hey, Science – go look at my publication dates! I’ve felt, for a long time now, that the simple categorizations of alive/not-alive (and the associated mindsets which come along with that distinction) are inherently “off”. Wrong on some level.

Maybe that’s why I still need science in my life – to support what I’ve already been trying to articulate in my fiction. Would it blow your mind to discover that seemingly “not-alive” things exhibit “life” in the same ways we do, at a 2nd-law of thermodynamics level? Swirling liquid can self-replicate. Snowflakes and sand dunes follow and internal building order/structure not much unlike how life builds upon itself into a complex organism.

“Hippies” were sometimes referred to as “tree-huggers”. Well, I guess I’m a “dirt-hugger”? A mountain may cause the landscape on the other side to turn arid, supporting all the life and “not-life” qualities which abound in that environment. Yet, who thinks of the mountain as “alive”? … Nobody except me? You see, just because we cannot perceive intent, awareness, free will, self-defense & feeding patterns doesn’t mean that mountain isn’t important. Valuable. Serving a purpose. Aware. I argue that it most certainly IS, we’re just not keen enough or attuned enough to understand.

Yup, pretty outlandish, right?

Well, prove me wrong! Until we understand all the mysteries of the universe (or universes… or the “world” beyond our universe… or the realities beyond that), there is just no way to be certain about anything. Science tries its best with experimentation, observation & theorizing. Religion attempts to cater to the human condition by offering something science cannot – a “reason” or a “place” to call home for the soul (or whatever label you wish to attach to that part of yourself you cannot explain… hmmm… another blog post on that topic someday?) So, are my views more akin to “religious” views since they aren’t based on much beyond my “gut” feelings about the world around me? (not to belittle Religion, but this is clearly where many religions have originated, and I don’t view that as a negative whatsoever)

Years ago, perhaps I would agree with that postulation. Now? As science keeps corroborating my gut feeling? As I read more philosophy (classical and modern) which aligns with views? I dunno…

Centuries ago, some groups of people enslaved others because they thought little for those other groups’ humanity. Decades ago, we thought women inequal (and that sentiment continues in some cultures). We now give rights & protection to some mammals and other animals.

What’s next? Plant rights? Dirt emancipation?

What is the logical evolution of our awareness & tolerance for how we interact with our world? Where are the lines drawn? (At mammals because they are most like us? At all “living” things? What if a snowflake exhibits “life”? What is reasonable?)

And my last question: At what point do we just accept the big “what is”? And what will that mean for moralists, “leaders” and cultures as a whole?

… yes, this is what swirls around in my brain on a daily basis. You are welcome. 🙂

(the full article is here)

An ASCII Thanksgiving for you all…

Enjoy!

What I’m up to (Fall 2013 edition)

Yup… it’s been a while. Let’s see if we can summarize:

Eden Series

I desperately need to get back on track with Brasilia. The core is there, I just need to run it thru a few more edits and get it to my review group. I’ll always be the first to say: don’t force your stories. And, if I was working on Brasilia the past few months, that would have been forcing it. It will come… at its own pace.

Antaran Legacy Series

I get emails from people asking me when Book 2 will be out. For Duty seems to be a fan-favorite. Gosh… I wish I could spend some time on the sequel. The entire story is in my head, I just gotta get it down on paper. I’m agonizing right alongside y’all. Sorry!

Other Junk

• I’ve been busy managing a new small press: Fable Press. Assisting other authors along the publishing journey has always been something I enjoyed. Earlier this year, a few of us came together and decided to just “do it.” We have 9 books published thus far!
• I’m also close-ish to releasing my first board game, alongside one of my hetero-life-partners. We branded our little endeavor “Geek Fever Games” and I’m quite excited to finally see a project realized.
• And, then this happened. I coded the game last year as a reaction to my realization that the game I wanted to play simply didn’t exist. (I guess I’m a lunatic that way) So, Geek Fever will be working on that title as we move into 2014 and beyond.

Final Word

While my recent pursuits may seem, on the surface, to cut into my writing time – the simple truth is that the writing time just hasn’t been there. I haven’t been “in a place” to write, and since it’s not how we pay the bills – I take it as it comes. I do hope to get back on track with Brasilia soon, and hopefully I’ll have some updates for everyone.

In the meantime, stay classy, Internet!

Eden, the Graphic Novel Update

Where is that graphic novel? Well… it’s all in the Kickstarter video here. No, I usually don’t do stuff like this, but I also don’t give up easily on the stuff I want to do. So, one way or the other, I’ll be finishing this project.

Your help could make it a reality!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2062086221/eden-the-graphic-novel

For Duty free Giveaway!

I’m sending out a signed Hardcover copy for For Duty over at Goodreads. Check it out!

———–

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Antaran Legacy, Book 1

by Matthew Plourde

Giveaway ends August 03, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Brasilia *now* on its way…

Whew. My life certainly has the ability to explode around me still. Though, I must admit, it is of my own choosing. When you try to change some fundamental things about how you live your life, there’s bound to be fallout. In this case, it hindered my available time to write… to tell a story. But nothing worth doing is ever easy, so I’m not at all dismayed or regretful.

Is all of that in the past? Not remotely. Change takes time, and I’m not about to abandon the changes I wish to make.

With that said, Brasilia is ready for peer review (starting with my wonderful, lovely wife). I’ve decided to take a different direction, while my free time is clearly under “uncertain” status. I’m going to write, and share, according to a new schedule. You see, the majority of Brasilia was completed 6 months ago. It’s only my notion that a novel needs to be of a certain length, and of a certain format that has led me to great delay. I had it stuck in my mind that I needed to follow the established conventions to share my story… I forgot something important: the story is ready when the story is ready. For me, right now, that readiness must follow the storyteller’s schedule… the storyteller’s life. And my life right now will dictate how the story gets released.

You see, I truly believe the best way to tell a story is to tell it in one complete thought. Eden took 10 years (and it shows in spots), but Babylon and For Duty only took a few months each. I think they are better stories for it. So, no more. I plan to write & release when the story is complete. And, right now, I don’t have vast tracts of time to dedicate to massive books (I do envy some of my peers who have that luxury). The releases will be smaller, in almost “chronicle” format, and I plan to release them quicker… all leading up to the final book (Alexandria).

So, expect a fall release of Brasilia (I can say that with confidence now), followed quickly by the first “Eden Chronicle”, which will begin to tell the story which leads to the finale, Alexandria.

I am thankful for the words of encouragement from those of you who found some joy in my novels. I do take my self-proclaimed title of “storyteller” very seriously, and know that this is the best course for me right now. I must tell this story and I do care enough to share it with anyone who will listen.

Thanks for listening!

Erzulie vs Derechi

Truth.

Y’all didn’t think I forgot about our pal, Derechi, from Eden — did ya?

Who will prevail – demon lord or fallen angel?

How have the events of Babylon changed Alexandra?

… all of this, and more, soon to be revealed in Brasilia, the next installment of the Eden Saga.

[final rounds of editing begin in 1 week]

Haven’t started the Eden Saga yet? For shame. Go grab Eden now.

Erzulie faces down her newest opponent. (Studio work & photograph by Miceli Productions HD)