Cellodad's Weekly Game

Amazon ebook for Kindle

So my first ebook started right here on Blogger quite a while ago. 

I had two blogs, one for cello stuff and another for notes from my regular gaming groups. Each was independent of the other for several years until I had a class assignment to create a new Wordpress site and I needed content. I ported both blogs into that new site and they morphed into something new. It's unlike most other stuff that's out there. Special thanks to my friend Carson Rothrock, who has some artwork featured in Now Playing: Cellodad's Weekly Game by Dave Pierik.  In the back row on the ebook cover from left are Rod, Chaun, Shane, Marshall, Shawn and Carson. I took that shot while we were all in an elevator at a gaming convention a couple of years ago. That's me in the middle with the cello, taken outside of Olympia about a year later, I photoshopped that in. There is a certain contrast of moods and a fun collection of ideas to be found in these 335-plus pages. The seeds of many future projects are included in this. I feel like I'm laying myself bare a little bit, letting strangers into my inner worlds. It's kind of a strange feeling but I'm getting used to it.

I have in mind to do a great deal of writing in the future, as time allows. I have a great number of science fiction and fantasy ideas kicking around as well as some nonfiction and business notes tucked away here and there. As far as the cello, I could write about that as well. Focus? That could be a problem maybe, but maybe being too focused could be boring.

Here's the cover blurb:

Cellodad’s Weekly Game 

Imaginative adventures play alongside personal gig notes from a cello soloist. A quirky, playful condensation of experiences and ideas, years in the making. Author David Pierik, who works in advertising by day, brings the reader into worlds of escape, playing music and games.

Now that I've been through the process of formatting this one, there's really nothing holding me back. Look for more from me in the future. This blog is going to be one of my writing tools as I work my way through the process of creating, editing, formatting, photographing, illustrating, posting, and marketing new eBooks. 

Whew.

Peninsula College

http://davepierik.com/wordpress/2014/05/peninsula-college/

A few of my design ideas and some thoughts are at the link above –

Writing with a strong villain

How far is too far when it comes to proving how villainous your villain is? 

I've noticed that there is a lot of room for variation in this area. In Star Wars, Palpatine seemed like a friend and developed into a foe. Anakin was a friend, then a foe, then a friend again. There's a lot of story to be told in the transition through all of those gray areas and interactions. I have a number of characters I'm working on that play with this dramatic area because it shines a light on the conflict within each of us between darkness and light.

Palpatine is purely evil, but in the novels we learn that he was desperately trying to rescue his sector of the galaxy from an even greater outside threat.

We can learn not only from villains, but from rivals. In Phineas and Ferb, Doofenshmirtz (Evil Incorporated) is a bit of both but is also a loving father who is very human and simply hilarious. He is a central character around which gigantic chunks of story depend.

One of my favorite writing techniques is when the hero and his or her nemesis are in conflict and then find themselves needing to become allies in order to face an even greater threat. In like manner, oftentimes in life we find ourselves needing to rely on, or find opportunities by working with – people who have been difficult in the past. I'm playing around with a time traveling character who discovers he is his own nemesis, but also his own salvation. Aren't we all.

My advice in life, and also in writing characters is to keep your eyes open and don't burn those bridges because change is not something that might come, it's something that will come.

by Dave Pierik