A look back and then a look ahead at whats to come this year!
Hi all,
It’s been a while since I said something other than I’ll be at the Renaissance Festival! While I wish I could say I’ve been doing some amazing writing, its been way more mundane.
Continue reading “A Year and Then…More? Writing into 2026”In celebration of the shortest day of the year and the longest night of the year, check out our Yule Altar!
Hi everyone,
It’s been a busy time here in the Ottalini household, but I’m excited for things to settle down a bit with the school year starting, and even more pleased to announce my return to the Maryland Renaissance Festival this October 2nd, 2022! Thanks to the kind generosity of Page after Page, the preeminent (and only!) Bookstore at the festival, I’ll be signing copies of my novels and anthology, which you can pick up there in person!
Also feel free to chat with me about all the great Dungeons and Dragons modules I’ve been putting out this last year.
See me last year in my author get-up. I’ll hopefully have a few additional pieces of gear to wear this year! Make your reservations to visit the faire here, and come out and support me and my books (and have a cracking good time at one of the best events in the Mid Atlantic!)
If you can’t wait to get your copies, you can always order them in advance here!
Goodbye 2021, may ye stay in the past where you belong. Welcome 2022! Today I want to briefly review some of the awesome successes I’ve had this year, and share some plans for the year ahead. I have a Writing New Years Resolution to accomplish this year!
This year saw me transition somewhat from writing full length novels and novellas to adventure modules for role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Part of this was to allow me to complete more writing projects faster, and part of it reflected a shift in my interests and a connection between work I was already doing, and an effort to capitalize off it. It also lets me expand my writing styles, explore new characters and concepts, and improve my story design skills.
But let’s get down to business. What exactly did I write this year?
Reflections of Brass, my paperback anthology of my three ebook novellas, was released in November through Amazon Print On Demand Services. I’m excited as every part of the Steam Empire Chronicles now has a paperback version available for people to read!
I also published seven (!) different Dungeons and Dragons / Role Playing Adventures through DMs Guild. I had been working on several of these projects in 2020, and finally took the plunge to publish them, and I’m really glad I did! Here’s a summary of the work! (Over 100,000 words worth of work, and 250+ pages of awesome things!)
I’ve had a lot of fun making these, and I’m excited to share more with you in the future! Which brings us to my writing goals for 2022.
That’s it! That’s my goal. I’d love to try and push myself to do a full dozen, but I also want to be able to focus on completing commissions for my terrain side hustle, as well as eventually work on a new installment for the Steam Empire Chronicles. I’m also planning to eventually combine all the Temerrit Tales into one massive print creation that I can bring together and get bound and printed.
Thoughts? Ideas? Recommendations? Let me know!
My Holiday Message
Greetings all! While I’ve been pretty silent on the blogging front, I wanted to share my holiday message with you all.
May 2021 be a better year than 2020. Here are my New Year’s Wishes and Hopes.
From my family to yours, please take care of yourselves and others. Lots of Love,
Daniel
The Work White People Must Do.
It is not anothers' responsibility to tell us whether or not we are acting, perceiving, being, racist. It is ours. It has always been ours. We hide obfuscate blame others. If only... But he... Why didn't she just... Yet We, the White Folk, don't even follow these rules ourselves. We are the rioters. We are the betrayers. The Police, and the Criminals. We cannot ask demand request that our Black and Brown fellow citizens teach us how to not be racist. We must change. One day, one moment, one interaction at a time.
I will also add this. A book club will not fix this problem. Posting a black square on your Instagram will not fix this. This problem – the systematic influence of racism on our institutions and society in the United States and around the world – is bigger than you or I. But we can push for changes to the system.
The challenge is avoiding the ‘false success’ idea. Making one thing change, isn’t actually change. To maintain the political will for change, we – White allies – must use our voices to press for change. Change that makes a difference, not simply ‘let’s establish a commission.” There are many places to learn more, and the process of education and training yourself in the manner of anti-racist teaching/learning/acting is ongoing.
Hi there,
Normally, on a Sunday, I’d be doing a Year of Accountability post, but seeing as it’s been a rough week for a lot of people, it just didn’t sit right with me.
As a white male, I have privilege. Privilege I cannot always recognize and see. As a graduate of the McDaniel Equity in Excellence program, I expanded my ability to recognize my privilege and the spaces where it flexes its muscles – both literally and figuratively. I cannot sit here and simply say “I understand what my fellow black and brown citizens of the United States are going through”.
Because I can’t. I can witness it. I can empathize. I can feel frustration for them and anger at the system that willfully allows such actions to occur, time and time again. My own frustration comes from the feeling of being limited in how to respond. I am not in a place to go out and protest, and while talking and sharing facts and support online is something, it doesn’t always feel like something. It is hard to be an ally when you feel like you cannot do anything to help.
Normally, I would bring up these issues in my school’s social justice program – our Student Diversity Leadership Team – but with distance learning coming to a close, this limits my ability to work with my students in this regard. 2020 has been a solid 1-2-3 series of blows to our communities and families, to our sense of ‘normalcy.’
But if it is normal for African American men and women to be murdered in their own neighborhoods, their own cars, their own homes, by police, in situations where their white neighbors would not, is normalcy what we want?
We can either push forward, or fall back. I’m honest in saying that I don’t have answers, just some half formed ideas. I’m not an expert in community organizing or reforming the police department, but I have some thoughts that may, or may not, be useful. Starting with this one simple idea.
As a teacher, if I get fired for misconduct, my teaching certificate gets yanked. No more teaching. I have to jump through hoops to get it again. I can’t roll into the county next door and get a job. Why can these officers? If places in our country continue to operate in a ‘three strikes you’re out’ – shouldn’t we hold police to a higher standard? One strike – you’re out, and obviously not fit to be a police officer.
I have other ideas. None of which will solve the problem – there’s no ‘solving’ this. There is mitigating and reducing and building community relationships.
Most importantly of all, I think the best idea is to listen to what others, with better ideas, have to say. Listen, follow through, listen again.
Stay safe out there, wear your mask.
At school, teacher appreciation week can be one of the best weeks. Perhaps you get a breakfast or lunch (or both! On two different days! That’s the best!), or a small gift in your mailbox (Please let it be candy!). You can tell the students who made their gift themselves – I save those – and the students whose parents give them something large and unknown early in the morning.
“I don’t know what this is, but I was told to give it to you.”
My favorite gifts are from the parents’ who give the Visa gift card and say “I can’t bring alcohol into the building for you, so get some yourself.”
Continue reading “Teacher Appreciation Week during Quarantine / Stay At Home Orders”
Want to support a local bookstore, but don’t have one anywhere near you? Check out Malaprops in Asheville, North Carolina.
Many of you may know that I consider Asheville to be a second home – my extended family is from the city, and I’ve been traveling there ever since I was a newborn several times a year. So why Malaprops? Malaprops is one of my favorite places in downtown. Relaxed, with a good selection curated by excellent staff members, including ‘mystery reads’ that are wrapped in brown paper. I always enjoy finding different things there then I can find anywhere else.
They also own the nearby Downtown Books and News, which provides a heaping boatload of used books, but also maps, magazines, and other periodicals.
So why am I sharing this now? Well, with the current economic climate shuttering so many small businesses for the foreseeable future, if we want the local bookstores to survive, we have to purchase from them!
I’ve been ordering books for my cousins (who happen to live in the city) and using Malaprop’s $2 delivery within the city. But I’ve also been fortunate enough to keep my job. Not everyone can support their local book store in this manner. But if you can afford to, and want to, check out Indie Bound Local Bookstore Community or BookShop. Both places support different local bookstores. The best way to support a bookstore is to go through its own webpage.
If you don’t need more books(!?) you can also donate to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. This organization is working closely with independent booksellers nationwide to support, uplift, and protect jobs and people during this challenging time.
So I guess what I’m saying is – if you can help out, help! If all you can do is post and share local bookstore links on social media, do it. Take care!
*Note – No payment/reward for this post, just me being happy with service & hard work*
Today’s post looks at one of the fallacies of our current environment: The Myth of being a Productive Writer during these Stay-At-Home Orders.
Continue reading “The Myth of Being a Productive writer during Stay at Home Orders”
Modern Papyrus 