I had been following these talented tribute artists for a few years on you tube, and I finally got to see them last night. They rocked the house, they really studied the mannerisms and vocal tones of the original members.

Check them out here: http://fleetwoodmactribute.com/TUSK/

The following is chapter 1 from an upcoming horror short story I’m writing. I hope you enjoy.

1-Aiden

Fear never struck Aiden Williamson as he walked home from school through the old junkyard. It was the shortest route to his house and admittedly, he liked seeing what treasures others may have thrown out. The piles of broken metal and glass surround the sandy ground, along the junkyard is a large chain-link fence which he knew how to hop like a pro.

 The teen decided to stop and kneel by one of these piles of waste and dig around, searching for anything that might be just fixable enough to be useable. The weather was nice enough for such adventure, the sun was warm and the sky blue and cloudless, there wouldn’t be many days like this as winter would soon rear its head.

Taking off his school bag, he found a silver, jagged knife after digging through some old boxes and scrap. Upon examining it, it looked relatively new and not rusted at all. Maybe it was thrown out by accident? Washing off the dirt would be easy, he closed his new found weapon and put it in the pocket of his khakis.

The junkyard was where he could feel his best, away from the sounds of cars and away from the noise of high school. Living in suburbia wasn’t preferred, but his dad had a good job and knew moving was out of the question. However, he was 17 and once he hit 18, he’d be on his own.

His concentration was broken by the sound of someone behind him. No. Something. He wasn’t a big kid, not by a long shot. A little over 5 feet and had arms like sticks, he wasn’t the best at defending himself. Taking out the knife and holding it in a defensive position, he swiftly got to his feet and looked into the eyes of an animal he had never seen.

It was the biggest dog he had ever laid his eyes on. 33 inches tall at the shoulders, pure white with splotches of dirt and grime from the months of living on its own, ears that stuck up in the air tentatively. Its nose pink with a slight redness around the edges.

The dog knew Aiden was nervous, animals can always sniff out fear. By the sound of the heartbeat, bits of sweat that trickle down the flesh, the sound of rapid breathing. All were classic signs and Aiden was showing them in spades.

The dog approached Aiden’s hand, sniffing the end of the blade. The human was prepared to strike if needed and run home. He could get a good head start home if he jabbed the furry creature and hurt it enough just to get away. The dog’s nose then hit the blade of the knife as it approached Aiden slowly; the tiniest spot of blood was stained on. Human blood. Perhaps it was from a gang fight or maybe whoever had it last had an accident? The dog didn’t think about it. He loved this taste. He wanted more.

Not from Aiden though, for there was something about this boy worth saving. Aiden put the knife back in its pocket and the human and dog lock eyes-something in both sparked. Friendship. Afterall, what’s a dog without a boy? A boy and his dog. Isn’t that what everyone says?

What we have here in “Game of Thrones” in a nutshell is a dark, epic tale, a character driven story with magic in the background. Characters come first, then the action set pieces. Lots of death and sadness and poor choices, but also some amazing choices and truly good intentions. In my eyes, it’s brilliant storytelling and I am loving it. Truly breathtaking (As I write this, the series will end next week)

Villains aren’t 100% evil; heroes aren’t 100% good. GOT characters are all flawed, flawed, human characters who even through life MASSIVE changes, good or bad still can turn and do something horrible and unexpected. Or, a character can go through darkness and come out a better person and become a ‘hero’-I hate that term by the way. Hero is so ‘black and white’.

George R.R. Martin always hates predictability, no characters in this show are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ They make choices and it all has consequences. I feel like 99% of the internet disagrees with me and chucks it up to ‘laziness’ and ‘shock value’ and some of the fans are hateful of everything in this show that isn’t seasons 1-6.    

I really do think events, from Season 1 onwards are all foretold, whether we like them or not. This show is not for masses who want things clean cut and dry, for good and evil to be neat. This show is for people who want true darkness, bloodshed, uncomfortable moments of anger and sadness, to see people triumph and then fall (and fall and triumph in good cases)

 Humans don’t do things that make sense 100% of the time, sometimes people are complex. It’s not lazy writing, it’s true to life.

The GOT fan base is odd, why do we have to nitpick everything and hate something that really doesn’t deserve it? I think people calling the show poorly written in the last two seasons are wrong, they can have their opinion of course, but I truly think the show is still brilliant. Sure, I think in the earlier seasons the dialogue WAS better in spots, but I still call this my favorite TV show of all time.

Regardless of how it all ends, even if I’m sad or disappointed, this show took me on a ride that I will never forget. Knights, castles, dragons, war, vengeance, huge wolves and dragons who took my imagination away-it’s everything I would want in a show. It made me feel like a little kid watching “Lord of the Rings” again.

For reference whether you’re a fan of the show or just getting started, my favorite character is Daenerys Targaryen, I won’t get into her arch because it would be huge disservice to the writers and the amazing actress who portrayed her, Emilia Clarke but I think she had the most interesting (plus hey, I gotta thing for dragons!) I liked every season equally, yes, I am in the minority when I say that, people might @ me and call me crazy and ‘how can you like lazy, boring writing?’ etc.  I loved every moment of this ride. I didn’t wait because no matter what happens, this show will forever inspire my writing and my characters, I’m not sad it’s going to be over- I’m glad I had this journey.

by Aaron B.

It’s no secret I love fantasy, ever since I started watching “Game of Thrones” I really got suckered into the whole world. I also love “The Dark Crystal” and when I was younger, “Lord of The Rings” was a huge part of my life. As far as reading, I could never quite get into the genre though. I always found books in that category long and boring. My ADHD probably had something to do with it, but even the GOT novels I didn’t enjoy, I could only get through about four chapters before I shrugged it off.

As I browsed through Amazon endlessly looking for some fantasy series to get into, I saw an ad for a series called “Child of the Daystar” (The Wings of War Book 1) and what struck me was the character on the cover. More then fantasy, I love anthropomorphic beings. Aliens, Dogs, dragons, whatever. I am a sucker for anything with humanoid creatures. I also love big, buff dragons (no surprise since my own novella “Forlorn” features one) Of course, when I saw this cover, I needed to know more. The description really got me. ‘Among the scattered fringe cities bordering the Cienbal desert, the true name of the Monster of Karth is spoken only in whispers…Raz i’Syul Arro.’

A badass monster in a fantasy world, where he isn’t some side character and the humans take center stage-but HE takes center stage? This really was what I was looking for. I read a short sample and I was hooked. I bought it that moment. I was in New York at the time and only had my phone, I read the first chapter on my phone, but I was that into it. The first book was really, really good.

The writing style was something I could really get into. No super long descriptions that go on and on and on, but an author who knew what to tell, just enough to get you used to the world but not so much that I found myself asking ‘when it stuff going to start happening?’ lots of action, blood and revenge. Themes that I love and try to emulate in my own writing.

The way Bryce handles Raz slicing through bad guys and taking vengeance is really for me, the heart of the character. Vengeance is such a big part of these stories, not in a formulaic way though. It’s always exciting to see what new obstacles Raz will come across. Seeing people who do horrible things let lessons dished out by a buff lizard (atherian) is amazing.

As for the other elements, I do enjoy them. Not as much as Raz’s journey, without him-I honestly wouldn’t have continued reading. But there’s Syrah Brahnt who is a strong female character who possess magic, she’s part of this whole religion, along with really her secondary family, the priests and numerous others at The High Citadel, we do get to learn about the priests a bit as they often bump into Raz. But Syrah is easily my second favorite character, she’s smart, a fighter, sassy and also has some interesting thoughts about Raz.

There is a deeper, dramatic message in all of this action and fantasy. That is the fact that Raz looks and acts like a monster, most revere him as such-but really, he is more heroic then a lot of the characters in the book. This message of discovering tolerance rings so true in society, this series does it without being over the top-but it’s a fact I think about every time I start reading.

Overall, I can’t say enough good things about this series, the world building is huge, the descriptions as I said just enough, the violence intense and totally r-rated (which is how I like it!) Bryce truly is a talented author and without him, I wouldn’t have found a fantasy series to latch onto. I thank him immensely.

A fantasy web series set in our modern world, a dragon discovers the lives of different humans and tries to find the one he feels connected to the most, while also trying to find one of his own kind.