Saturday, March 29, 2025

Darkness is Meaningless Without Light (Showing The Humanity in Your Monsters)

"I wasn't always like this, you know. I had a family. A wife. Two kids. I had a life. People said I lost it... but that's not true. It was taken from me... taken from me by people like you. I can't take it back, not after what you did. But I can stop you from ever taking it away from anyone else, and that's what I'm gonna do."

Consider this sentiment. A short paragraph outlining a tragic loss, an implied threat, and a character's deliberate walk into darkness. It's a familiar song for a lot of us, but because of that familiarity we sometimes forget that even if we are striving for a grim and dark tone in our stories, you need some kind of contrast in order for the edges of that darkness to have an impact.

Because if it's been all dark, all the time, then your readers are just stumbling around in an unlit room wondering what the hell the point of any of this is.

And we're going to start with a pretty popular cultural touchstone...

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

Why It Matters That Frank Castle Had A Family


The Punisher is perhaps one of the most infamous antiheroes in comic books. He's a brutal killer waging a one-man-war on criminals, and he's a dark counternote to a lot of the costumed heroes out there who have catch phrases, weird powers, and codes of honor. Frank Castle doesn't have weird gadgets (most of the time), or supernatural powers (again, most of the time). He has military training, an iron will, and a grim determination to cross however many lines are necessary to get the job done.

But it's his past that truly throws what he's become into focus, and while we sometimes forget that past, it's central to who and what he is now.

Because the hollowed-out harbinger of doom that is the Punisher was once a husband. There was a day he wore his uniform and said, "I do," to a woman he genuinely loveld, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He had two children with that woman. He may not have been a perfect father, but he loved those children, and he wanted to do his best for them. He was a marine, and he served his country with distinction, performing acts of heroism that had been recognized by his commanding officers. When his family was killed, and those killers walked free, something inside of him broke, and he started his long war.

That tragedy, and the darkness that Frank Castle has steeped himself in ever since, is why his fall into the Punisher was so hard. Seeing everything he had, and the kind of man he could have been, is what makes his character so chilling. And without that backstory, and those glimpses of the family man and father he once was, it would lessen the impact of who and what he is now. If Frank Castle had just lived a terrible life since his youth, and he grew up to be nothing more than a killer who lashed out against others like himself, then he might still be interesting... but his darkness would have so much less impact if it was never contrasted with the light of a better life, a better future, etc.

Speaking of those who've lived entirely awful lives...

For characters whose lives have been nothing but one, unending horror, consider Frankenstein's monster. He was brought into the world by a fearful and uncaring creator who abandoned him, he was mistreated by all who met him, and he's known nothing but rejection, terror, and violence his entire life. But even the monster has had moments of light where we catch glimpses of what might have been for him.

Consider the family the monster spies on through the wall. We see him form bonds with them, begin to love them, and to learn about human dynamics and speech. We see him put his prodigious strength to work in a good cause, helping them when they struggle. We see him meet the blind father, who treats him with kindness, and for a brief moment we think maybe this will be the end of the monster's struggles... but no. He is rejected, wounded, and cast out by the other members of the family. We see him find his creator once more, we see the construction of the bride, and we begin to wonder if it is possible he might get something like a happy ending... and then we see him once again betrayed by Victor.

With the monster, we still see glimpses of the life he could have led, and the other paths that could have been taken. He might have been adopted into the farm family, living out his life surrounded by those who grew to love him. He might have reconciled with Victor, somehow, the two of them finding some common understanding. It was possible that his bride may have learned to love him, and the two of them could have shared an existence. But we watch as every, single one of those futures is ripped away from him, and so his bitterness and rage become far more understandable. More than that, it's so much more terrible because we've seen the monster is capable of love, care, and nobility. To see what he could have been, and to compare that with what he becomes is what defines his darkness, and makes the impact of the story so much more terrible.

So if you're going to write a dark, gritty, edgy, or even a bleak story, remember, darkness and horror are meaningless without light to contrast them... especially if you want us to see the humanity in your monsters.

Support The Literary Mercenary


If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!




Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!


That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!
 
And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on FacebookTumblrTwitter, and now on Pinterest as well!

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Methods To Support Authors You Like (While Still Boycotting Amazon)

So, I wanted to start this week's post off with an apology. My last installment about how you could support authors by using the Kindle Unlimited platform while still hurting Amazon's bottom line was based on some faulty information on my part, and I took it down before it had a chance to spread any further than it already had. I know we are all trying to ensure our money doesn't go to causes and companies we don't want to support, and I didn't want to give anyone incorrect information.

That's also why this week I wanted to put together a follow-up for all the things you can do to support authors who may be facing hardships as more folks turn their backs on Amazon as a distribution platform. And while not all of these will apply to every author out there, there should be something on the list you can do to keep the writers in your life fed and sheltered so they can keep working hard on the next story for you and all your fellow readers!

And I may not have even covered all your options here!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

Option #1: Buy Somewhere Else


This seems obvious, but sometimes we get so narrowly focused on our normal shopping patterns that we forget there are still traditional bookstores out on the market. So if there is an author you want to support, but you're not going to Amazon, make sure you try alternative dealers. For example, my books Old Soldiers, Marked Territory, and Painted Cats are all available at Barnes and Noble, and you can get hold of them for about the same price if you've been meaning to check them out for yourself!

This goes for any merch your favorite authors put out that isn't just books. Whether it's tee shirts, stickers, hoodies, or something else, if they're selling through a site you aren't boycotting, consider grabbing an item or two to tide you (and your favorite writer) over.

Option #2: Buy In-Person


Most authors who have signing events, or who come to conventions, will have books on-hand for you to buy. This isn't news to most folks, but the major advantage of hand sales is that authors get to keep a majority of the value of the sale, rather than a bookstore gobbling it up to give them a pittance. So if an author in question is going to be at an event you're attending, or just somewhere local, consider showing up to get your copy... and for bonus points, hand them cash to cut down on charge fees!

Option #3: Support Their Free Work


While a lot of us write books, we also produce a lot of extra stuff as well. So if the authors you like put out podcasts, blogs, free short fictions on websites like Vocal, or if they run a YouTube channel, make sure that you consume and support those things as well! This has the added benefit that you're saving money, getting a bunch of extra things to enjoy, and the author you like is still getting paid at the end of the day.

For the record, folks can find a ton of free fiction of mine in my Vocal archive, and I've got audio dramas along with a lot of game-related stuff over on the Azukail Games YouTube channel... so subscribe to both of those if you haven't, and go through the archives when you've got time!

Option #4: Subscribe and Leave Tips


Very few of us actually depend on our book sales to handle 100% of our bills, and at this point in our lives a lot of authors have some kind of crowdfunding platform to help us cover our expenses. So in addition to following your favorite writers on all of their social media sites (Facebook, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and so on), and interacting with what they share there, take a moment to find out what crowdfunding websites we use. Some of us are on Patreon, some of us have Ko-Fi, some of us might even use Only Fans (we don't judge here), so find out where the creators you like are making things, and toss them a little support if you can! Even if it's just a few bucks a month, it makes a big difference if enough people do it!

Incidentally, you can find me on The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, as well as on The Literary Mercenary's Ko-Fi, if you want to help me keep my records in the black.

Support The Literary Mercenary


If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!




Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!


That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!
 
And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Everything You Don't Like Is Not "A.I."

As folks know, I am not a fan of generative A.I. for a lot of reasons. The way these programs are trained steals the work from authors and artists in order to swipe money from their pockets. The products are, generally speaking, not up to the quality of paying an actual creator to make something. These programs are swallowing a colossal amount of energy, and burning through a massive amount of water as a result of their widespread use.

However, there is another annoying thing about generative A.I. that I hate... it's become the new insult the Internet is throwing around whenever they see something they just don't like.

The image has how many eyes?

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more! And, of course, check me out on Blue Sky, since that's what we're talking about today!

It Just Keeps Happening...


There are always going to be people who criticize the things you make. That's part of the job when you're an artist of any stripe. However, the proliferation of A.I. generators has caused several problems that are tough to deal with in the wild, and they don't seem to be going away any time soon. Namely that people will either assume (or just accuse) you of using A.I. when they don't like you, your work, or both.

For instance, in the recent past I've been accused of:

- Using A.I. programs to generate RPG supplemets (even though they were published before the onset of any generative A.I. programs).

- Using an A.I. text-to-speech generator in my video essays like the one below (it's clearly my own voice, and there are dozens of videos of my speaking right into the camera in the same cadence on the same channel).

- Using A.I. to post on social media platforms due to the sheer volume of posts I make (and while I wish I had a program to do this, no, I have to make a majority of my posts manually. People always seem surprised when I respond).


While this is extremely annoying to deal with, however, I wanted to take a moment to remind folks that this isn't just the inability of many people to tell the difference between A.I. and non-A.I. content. There is definitely some of that going on, absolutely, but there's something far older at the root of so many of these comments.

Put simply, it's just haters using the most recent fad to sling mud at creators. Same as they always have.

How can I be sure of that, you ask? How can I come on the Internet and state with conviction that so many of these comments are not coming from a place of genuine concern, or an opposition to the use of A.I. generators which just so happens to catch human creators in the crossfire?

Two reasons. First, it's always an accusation (typically phrased in a demeaning fashion) rather than a question. Secondly, even if you provide evidence that it isn't A.I. (whether you have a time lapse video of you making something, you can provide the sources for all the items in the project, you have time stamps and publication dates, etc.), the goal posts move. The conversation then morphs into, "Well it looks/sounds like something you'd make with A.I.," or, "Well, if someone wanted [content] like that, they'd just use A.I. instead of paying you for it," and so on, and so forth.

And while this is annoying, and frustrating, and damaging to the calm of all the creators out there still making art with sweat, blood, and spite, I want to say something else that might be a little controversial, but which I feel is important.

Screw the haters. You don't need them to succeed.

You Just Lost Yourself A Customer!


We've all been in those stores where there's a Karen pitching a fit because she didn't get her way, and she storms out with something along the lines of, "I've been shopping here for ten years! You just lost yourself a customer!" But then it turns out that she's bought like one item there in that ten year time span, and most of the time she's just a pain to the staff and to other customers.

This is the box most haters fall into, and it's why you should just ignore them a majority of the time.

So it's agreed. We move on with the day, yes?

It's perfectly legitimate to check your sources to be sure you support creators who match up with your values. And if you don't want to support someone who uses A.I., then you're well within your rights to not do that as a consumer. However, if someone comes out of the gate swinging before they bother to check that what they're seeing is or isn't A.I. (something which can usually be established by a quick check of a sales page, or just asking the creator in question in the comments section), they're probably more interested in the fight than they are in actually finding out whether your project was made using A.I. And if you make it clear you didn't use A.I., but they're still interested in hollering? Yeah... they were never going to support you in the first place. Cut it off now, and save yourself the sanity.

Remember that no matter how cool the thing you made is, and no matter how hard you worked on it, there are some people who just won't bite. They won't watch your videos, won't listen to your podcast, won't buy your books, and won't play your game... and there's nothing you can do to persuade them.

So don't waste time trying... instead, focus on reaching people who will actually become part of your audience, and who do want you to keep making more stuff.

Support The Literary Mercenary


If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!




Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!


That's all for this week's Business of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!
 
And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

"Embrace The Suck" Is A Philosophy For Writers To Live By

If you've been part of the American armed forces, know someone who has been, or if you're a sucker for iconic phrases, you've likely heard, "Embrace The Suck." Popularized in the early 2000s during America's activities in Iraq, the phrase has a rather simple meaning that can alter one's mental battlefield. In short, this phrase tells you, "You are going to have to do things that are hard. Things you don't want to do. Things that suck. But rather than fleeing back from it, or trying to lean away from this necessity, embrace the nature of the suck. This thing will be hard, it will be awful, and it might be traumatizing... but you have to fucking do it to get the job done."

This attitude is why you see people tackling the hardest, least-forgiving parts of a gym routine with energy and gusto. It's why you see people putting in long hours on a job site with a smile on their face and a cup of coffee in-hand. And if you're a writer, embracing the suck can be life-changing for how you engage with your work.

Editing... hell yeah!

Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!

Lastly, don't forget to check out my Vocal archive for additional fiction, articles, explorations of weird history, and more!

The Craft Is Often A Slog... Don't Shy Away From That!


The title of my recent blog, A Majority of Making Art is Boring and Tedious (And You Need To Get Used To That) really says it all. However, if you find yourself losing enthusiasm, getting frustrated, or worst of all attempting to start a new manuscript because it feels like the old one is getting bogged down, consider stepping back and embracing the suck. Acknowledge to yourself that no, writing this scene won't be fun because it's just a piece of connective tissue in your story. No, you aren't going to have a blast conducting the third editorial pass of this book, but it has to be done.

And so on, and so forth.

All right... only way out is through.

Embracing the suck is, at its core, about acknowledging the hard things that have to be done. It's that moment when the rubber hits the road, and everything seems way more difficult than training or experience led you to believe it would be. And it is the attitude that cringing away, putting it off, or trying to avoid it won't help... so you embrace it! You drive yourself forward, jump with both feet, and do the job with all the enthusiasm you can muster.

Because at the end of the day, it's better to fully commit to what you're doing than to mince about with it. Your results will be better, you'll make more progress, and overall the job will get done faster than if you'd tried to just skip the parts of it you don't like.

Embracing the suck is not about not being thoughtful or methodical in your plotting. It's not about just slapping words down on the page until you hit a goal. It's not about just doing something instead of doing nothing. It's about acknowledging that the way you think about writing a story or a book often bears no resemblence to how it actually happens. That process is long, difficult, frustrating, and filled with tedious double-checking and annoying revisions to make sure all the facts of your plot line up properly.

Even if it's long, annoying, and dumb, though, you have to do it. And it's a lot easier to do it if you commit to doing it, and you shove forward no matter how much it sucks.

Support The Literary Mercenary


If you want to see me produce more work, consider some of the following options!

The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
My Rumble Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)

And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, and you want to be sure my supply doesn't run low, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!

Also, if you're curious about how to write for tabletop RPGs, don't forget to check out my show Tabletop Mercenary, which you can find on both the Azukail Games channel, as well as my Rumble channel listed above!




Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!


That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sci-fi dystopian thriller Old Soldiers, the Hardboiled Cat series about a mystery solving Maine Coon in Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!
 
And to stay on top of all my latest news and releases, collected once a week, make sure you subscribe to The Literary Mercenary's mailing list

If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on FacebookTumblrTwitter, and now on Pinterest as well!