Dover CookI switched from revising “Lows and Highs” itself to updating my background notes for the story. They are five years old and they are no longer good enough for me. I changed them so that while they reflect my views, they are less likely to turn the story into an author tract.
The external conflict in the setting is between three factions: the followers of an established religious pantheon, a school of philosophers who ponder humanity’s place in the world and a society of wizards.
I stalled out on revising “A Confederation Ghost Story “. I switched off to a science fiction suspense story, “Hard Contact”. I was only able to revise the synopsis for that before I got stumped. This month I am revising a fantasy swashbuckling story, “Lows and Highs”.
“An Elf Confederation Ghost Story ” has changed and grown over time. That is a story in itself. The first addition was in 1985. I added some species with the intent of changing it from a Traveler setting to a Star Hero setting. The next change came in 1987. That was when I decided to morph it from a setting to a story.
I have narrowed down my fiction writing to one piece. Its working title is “An Elf Confederation Ghost Story”. That’s a reminder to myself for how the story ends. It’s also an aid for writing the through line.
“An Elf Confederation Ghost Story ” had its origin in an alternative setting for GDW’s Traveler table-top roleplaying game, circa 1983. I liked the Third Imperium yet I also enjoy world building I not only drew inspiration from GDW’s published setting but also reports from a variant Traveler campaign, the Eight Worlds. My own setting started with three folk, Elves, giants and terrans.
I have been doing little with this blog since the ragged end of last month. I got off to a stumbling start in September. I moved at the start of July. It took a month and a half of planning and preparation to do it. After the move it has been an ongoing process of adjustment for me.
This year I have been encouraging myself to read every day. As someone in a Twitch chat said to me, “It’s like mental coffee”. I use a habit-building app on my phone to help me do that. My goal was to read from a book, physical or e-book, every day. I started small. The first habit I set to form was reading at least one page per day. The app works by tracking whether or not you have done or skipped the activity you want to do that day. When you have done it for twenty-one days, the app informs you that you have formed the habit. So, I have been increasing the number of pages I want to read every time I form the habit. Most recently I formed the habit of reading at least five pages a day.
I have the organization skills of a cat so I do not have a firm blogging schedule.
Informally, I am attempting to let only a little time pass between new blog posts.
Alternating with new posts, I have been trying to go through the archives. As I posted before, I have been editing or deleting posts. They were the ones where I was acting like a jerk. I have been trying not to do that. The intent is not to memory hole them. If anyone who has read this blog would like to know more about why I removed a post, I have added my email to my contact information. Fair warning, I do report spam.
My other goal in going through the archives is to remove posts which refer to Paizo’s Pathfinder First Edition table-top roleplaying game. I am decommissioning this blog as a Paizo fan site.
And when I am not doing any of the above I am setting up another blog as a Paizo fan site, one step at a time.
I have written for myself for some time. I started typing stories for myself in 1980. I began keeping a diary late in 1982.
I started sharing stories with others when I was dragooned into being the Dungeon Master, the referee, for the group I was part of in 1981.
I don’t think I’d share diary entries on this blog. Nearly all of them are mundane. A fair number of them are log entries on daily things I keep track of. Much of the rest are problem-solving, writing things out so I can frame what I’m having difficulty with. A small number are brain dumps on current events.
This year I decided to start sharing the stories I have been telling and writing for so long. That is what the fiction samples I have posted are.
I started this blog because I signed up at Goodreads. That account was through Facebook. I abandoned it in 2018 for multiple reasons. I signed up with my creative writing email account and started another profile. My intent for this one is to support the authors I follow on Twitter. I have attempted to limit the books listed on that profile to ones by the authors I follow or closely related ones.
My Twitter handle is @dovercook.
Caveat: I do curate my feed and I do due diligence when a Twitter account follows mine. Please don’t be a jerk.
I made a mistake four years ago when I started posting Pathfinder material on this blog. I did it and complied with the Paizo Community Use Policy to the best of my understanding. This year I have developed a clearer understanding of the Community Use Policy. This post is the start of making amends for that mistake.
From today on, I will no longer be posting material from the table-top game company Paizo on this blog. I will be posting any of the other kinds of creative writing I do.
I will be going through the site archives and deleting posts with Paizo content in them.
Dover Cook 
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