LONDINIUM: What is "tactical football" and why did I invent it?

Sorry it's been a while.  I'm writing Londinium when I have the opportunity and, unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity as much as I would like.

The World Cup is winding down so I thought I'd share a little something I made up for the book: tactical football.

You'll recall that the basis for the book is a present day police story set on a world where the Roman Empire didn't fall.  I imagine that our football (soccer) exists and is sometimes called "common football" or "community football," but a more militaristic version is the one that swept the world.  Created in the Army a few centuries ago by a fort's general who wanted to impart lessons of teamwork and strategic thinking on new recruits, it uses the circular arena floor of colosseums:

The active field measures 100 meters across, plus however much for out-of-bounds area, the benches, etc.

Labeled:

(Going forward, I'll be using "tactical football" terms for everything, but "our" terms will be in parentheses and italics.)

Oriented with the compass, there are four gates (goals) that all must be occupied at one time by one team in order to win a set.  At the end of three thirty-minute-periods of play, the winner is the team with the most completed sets.  The taking of an occupied or neutral gate awards a point, but these points do not count toward sets or decide victory.  If anything, points are indicators of how vigorous gameplay was.  Each gate is ten meters long and two meters high.  The approach (penalty box/area) is a twenty-meter arc centered on each gate.  The ball must pass through a gate in order for it to be claimed by an attacking team and it must not be touched by anyone's hands or arms while in play; defending shieldmen are the only exception.

The beginning of a game:

There are sixteen players on each team: twelve players and four shieldmen/shields (goalkeepers).  Above, the shields are the players ringed in white.  When not actively defending a gate, shields may play as regular players.

The game begins with two opposing gates occupied.  A skirmish occurs at centerfield: the ball is placed on the spot and all players stand outside the center ring.  The official whistles and players rush to take possession.  The shields and supporting players may instead head toward other gates in order to hopefully claim those if the ball enters that quarter.

A look at active gameplay:

The quarter in which the ball is present is called the active quarter (highlighted yellow above).  Before we get to the siege of the east gate, let us note the west gate.  The defending shield is allowed within the approach.  The attacking shield is not because the ball is not within the quarter.  As both the north and south quarters are as-yet-unclaimed and the ball is not within the quarter, neither team's shields are allowed within the approach.

When the ball entered the eastern quarter, the attacking shield was allowed to enter the approach.  While in active play, the attacking shields are allowed to grapple with the defending shields in order to prevent defense of the gate.  The number of attacking players within the approach, however, may not be more than the number of attackers outside the approach and within the quarter (this was my attempt to create an arcane "offsides" rule).   Above, you will note that there are four red players within the approach and five outside, thus this siege is within the rules.  Note: shields do not count toward these siege rules.

As originally conceived, such siege rules were not part of the game as played at Army forts, nor were penalties for assaults committed during play.  Needless to say, it was a far more rough sport.

If the ball goes out at the touch of an attacker, the defending shield takes possession and kicks it where they please (goal kick).  If the ball goes out at the touch of a defender, an attacker takes possession at the nearest flag for a flanking kick (corner kick).  From there, the attacker may either kick it toward the same approach that was previously active, or they may kick it toward a different quarter altogether. 

If the attackers claim the gate, all previously defending players, including the shield, must abandon the approach as the new defending shield will kick or throw the ball to a different area of the field.  Once all four gates are claimed and defended by a single team, a set is completed and the game will continue with a skirmish at the centerfield and the two original gates being the only ones occupied by either team.  Example: let us say that red wins the siege depicted above.  The ball is kicked toward the north gate and red claims it.  Now red controls three of the four gates.  If they push toward south gate and claim it, they have won the set.  In order to deny them the set, blue must claim south gate or reclaim one of the other three.

Three thirty-minute periods are played, separated by twenty minute intervals for rest.  Reinforcements (substitutions) are allowed only during the first two periods: each team gets five per game and the player being removed from the field has one minute from the time the reinforcement enters the game.  This means a team may briefly have seventeen players on the field.  Each team may only place one reinforcement at a time.  Shields may be reinforced but the departing shield must leave the gate immediately.  (Note: a shield that defends a gate is not allowed to depart that gate until after it has been claimed by another team or until a set has been completed.)

In the third period, because reinforcements are not allowed, if players are injured, then that team must play without their full complement.  If a defending shield is injured, a non-shield player may take their position.

If both teams are tied at the end of the ninety minutes, a second ball is added to the field and play will continue until another set is completed, however long is necessary. 

Well.  Now that that's clear, let's see how I used it in the story:

Mm.  Maybe I overthink things a bit.

Thanks for reading. 

 

 

 

Four* Stories for "One Day in a Very Long Dominion War"

( * Two were selected.)

First off, download the whole book from Tranquility Press right here for free. 

Rewind with me to August of '25.  I was unemployed and the job search was going ... swell.  Just swell.  OK, it was not going swell.  Whatever.  I was ruminating on an idea or three for my next creative endeavors when I happened across a post by Tranquility Press on BSky.  They were accepting submissions for a Dominion War writing project.  The deadline was just a few days away.

The writing prompt was simple but thought-provoking.  One day in the middle of the Dominion War.  Not focusing on the major characters or anything ... just a day in the life.  Of anyone.

I think I went for a walk in the neighborhood and pretty quickly had an idea for and worked out the basics of my first story, "Loading Torpedoes," by the time I got home.

(You can read "Loading Torpedoes" below.)

I banged it out quickly.  Just a few hours for the first pass and then another pass or three in the following days.  I think it turned out well. 

As I wrote "Torpedoes," I had an idea for another story.  An interrogation of a Vorta series of clones by a Romulan operative who was tired of the whole thing.  Obviously, that became "Jolan Tru All Over Again."  I incorporated some Romulan lore created for Picard and threw in references to several events in Deep Space Nine's history around that time ... it's a fun story of two professionals trying to get at truths the other doesn't want to reveal.  Time is too short, of course, for progress to be made.  Writing this one took a bit longer as I kept wanting to adjust the dialogue, make it funnier here, hint at something else there ... Reading it in its final form made me want another pass, but that's OK.

(I might have caught the mistake I made ... did you spot it?) 

Art by Radinka Daynara

At some point while writing "Jolan Tru," I had another idea.  Something with Klingons.  I looked at a map of the Galaxy used on the series and spotted a little spot inside the Empire but near Federation space, so I had the thought that a colony there could be blended ... humans and Klingons together.  Far from the war in the Beta Quadrant but the war wasn't far from their minds.  That, of course, became "naD tetlh."

Art by Mika Kurzmann-Abrams

Like "Torpedoes," writing this one went very quickly.  The characters were fully formed in my head for whatever reason.  It was almost like I only had to transcribe what happened and what they said.  When the first pass was done, it was just about done-done.  Subsequent passes only tidied things up, made new word choices, and the like.  When it was done, it was immediately my favorite.

While writing that, I had the thought that I should do something with the "bad guys."  And I had a germ of an idea: a disgraced Jem'Hadar unit trying to regain their status, trying to regain their lives as only victory could.  It took another day, but I wrote "To Be the First."  A slight story, to be sure, intended as mostly an action piece with the Jem'Hadar we follow trying to survive a harsh planet and win the favor of the Founders.

With four stories now complete, I sent them off to Tranquility ... only to then see that they had extended the deadline.  Oh well.  A few months later, I got the good news that two had been selected.  I think they made the right choices.

To this day, I don't know what creative alchemy was going on and how I was able to crank out four complete tales in so short a span of time.  I wish I could bottle it and partake of it now and then.

Thanks to the editorial people and judges at Tranquility Press who chose my stories.  Thanks also to the two artists who depicted my characters (as seen above).  It's been fun. 

So, what are we writing about next?

(To read "Loading Torpedoes" and "To Be the First," click the JUMP)

"One Day In A Very Long Dominion War": a fan project anthology has chosen two of my short stories!

 

Earlier this year, I saw that there was a short story anthology coming from the very cool fan outfit, Tranquility Press.  And they had been accepting fan submissions.  Oh, I wish I had known about it sooner, I thought.  Then I saw that the due date was in the future ... I had two weeks left!

I read the prompt: 

We are asking for pieces on events around the galaxy on the 11th of March 2375 – the same day as the baseball match between DS9's "Niners" and USS T'Kumbra's "Logicians." The rules are simple: you can talk about anyone, any group, anything in the galaxy that has been altered by the titanic struggle of liberty against the Dominion: except Primary cast members from any Trek show. We don't want to know what Jean-Luc Picard or Katherine Janeway were up to, we want you to tell us a story we haven't heard before. We want to know about Federation reservists on the ground on Chin'Toka, convoy duty near Minos Korva, or new Romulan fleets working up behind the neutral zone. 

We encourage you to consider stories beyond the front line, Starship crews, Marine Raiders, and Klingon Warriors. One Day in A Very Long Dominion War should be about the people's war too; the Federation factory worker, the Cardassian civilian, the Romulan intelligence attache.

Each story should be between 1500 and 3500 words.

With a burst of creative energy, I sat down and wrote four short stories, finishing them all just in time for the August deadline.  I didn't know if I could submit four ... but I did anyway.  In the end, they chose two.  (In my opinion, the best two.)  That is a huge honor ... there were so few slots, but they gave two to me?  Insane.  I'm very grateful.

Here are one of the judge's thoughts about my two stories, as posted by TP:

"naD tetlh" has an undeniable sense of 'trueness' about it that really left an imprint on me after reading. It's a remarkable, human story that presents as a slice-of-life, but it cleverly sneaks up on you with some great emotional moments. Short but by no means lacking, this story conjures up a great sense of place with economy of description and dialogue. Deft work here, a great 'war-at-home' tale.

"Jolan Tru All Over Again" speaks to my love of cold war spy thrillers, and there's something of a LeCarré feel to this locked-box narrative. It's like a one-act play, an echo of beloved DS9 episodes like "Duet" and "Waltz," with two characters sparking off one another as they fence and dig at the truth. There's no fat on this story at all, it's stripped back, lean and scalpel-sharp, and I enjoyed how it gets into the character of the Romulan and Vorta leads.

I'm not certain when the final anthology will be published, but I'll be sure to keep everyone apprised.  I will absolutely be posting links when it is.  And, when it drops, I will also post my two "leftover" stories: "Loading Torpedoes" and "To Be the First."

So.  Something to look forward to.

Thanks for reading. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing LONDINIUM, Part I: Maps and the first chapter!

 Finding time to write has been the difficult part of getting going for this book thus far.  And when I have a bit of time, I can sit and stare at the screen.  Sometimes I'm just not "feeling it" for whatever reason.  That sucks and there's little to be done for it.

Another obstacle?  What to listen to as I write.  Readers know I listed to the thirteen-plus hours of the Galactica/Caprica soundtracks over and over, totaling thousands of hours, but what to listen to as I write a story set in a modern Roman Empire?  Well, I started by listening to Roman and Greek music (or at least recreations thereof).  Eh.  Then I moved on to movie soundtracks, but those weren't terribly inspiring and I often got distracted thinking about the movies and scenes I was listening to.  I ended up back in the Galactica-verse.  Yeah, I'm listening to Bear McCreary's great music, over and over again, again, as I write.

Longtime readers know I love to map things.  It helps me immerse myself in the worlds I'm building and maybe it helps readers, too.  If nothing else, it shows the readers that I actually put some thought into the bullshit I write.  This time, since I am writing about our world in a different dimension, mapping our world with Roman lines and names on everything would be helpful.  So here you go:

 

Click to embiggen

 

I had to do a lot of reading on Roman history and indigenous languages to understand how the world might look.  Europe was called "Europe," the Atlantic "the Atlantic," and "Africa" to the Romans is what we would call "north Africa."  "Oriens" is Latin for "east" and I chose that for Asia's name; thus also the "Eastern Ocean" aka "Oriental Ocean" ("Oriental" not having been used as a slur in that universe).  Some of the other continent names come from an ancient map of the world by Crates of Mallus.  He called the land south of north Africa "Antoeca" while he also hypothesized a pair of continents on the other side of the world, Perioeca and Antipoda.  Thus, when my Romans went exploring, that's what they called these lands in the "New World."  Australia gets the name "Marege" from the Makassar people of Indonesia, who, centuries ago, spoke of the land to their south as "Marege," the "wild country."  

I had to map Londin a bit, too, so I started with the various police districts and I imagined greater Londin as a bit bigger than the London of our universe:

"Southwark" is a name used in London today, but it's a quite ancient name, so I kept it for the book.  Newfield and Broadhand are based on ancient Roman settlements in those areas and I just translated their Latin names into English.  If you Google "Londinium," you'll likely see a polygon settlement on the north side of the Thames; that's the "Old City" in the above map.  The "New City" is the provincial and city buildings (the governor's palace, the Senate house, magistracy, etc.) that function today on the south side of the River Tames (no "h" in that universe, and it rhymes with "aims").  "LIC" is the "Londin Intercontinental Skyport"; "The Star" is the massive railway and subway (called "underway") complex that got its name because the converging rail lines looked like a star.  "Portaper" is a neighboring city that handles a lot of cargo because it straddles the Tames; name derives from Latin for "port" and "opening."

The story of Londinium is set today, but in a world where the Roman Empire didn't go away.  (I wrote out a very detailed history of the world that I'll probably include in the book as an index.  I did it mostly to keep things straight in my head as ideas came to me and to provide backstory to the various cultures.)  The world is governed from Roma and all people born on Earth are citizens of the Roman Republic.  Londin has been associated with Roma for almost two thousand years.  The Normans never invaded, England never had its own kings or queens, English isn't spoken there ... neither is Italian, for that matter.  The language of the Republic is called "Roma," and it's probably some flavor of Italian, but not exactly.  (This is why some cities may sound Italian to our ears, like "Bonaventura.")  I'm writing in English because that's what I know ... I'm not JRR Tolkien over here inventing a whole new language.  Well, at least not this time.  The people of Brittan are not reserved ... they are wholly different than the people of Great Britain.  That's something I wanted to communicate in this first chapter.  These aren't Brits, so don't imagine them speaking with a Cockney accent or something.  Slang "yes" and "no" comes from corrupted Germanic, "ya," "na."  There's no "OK"; these people are more apt to say "Aye" in its place.  The Republic has existed in one form or another for almost three millennia.  It is ever-present in the people's lives and no one questions it.  It's a different world.  I'm curious if all of this is conveyed.

Read the chapter after the JUMP:

"CAPRICA": Available now!

 

From the author of the acclaimed Lords of Kobol and Colonies of Kobol series ... 

In 2010, the Battlestar Galactica prequel series, Caprica, debuted and was canceled. We saw "The Shape of Things to Come," but what happened next? 

In CAPRICA, read the rest of the story. Follow the Graystones as they try to build a body for Zoe. Follow the Adamas as Joseph rebuilds his life and falls in deeper with the Ha'la'tha. Follow the Cylons as they spread throughout colonial society and are radicalized by the religious teachings of Sister Clarice Willow. And then it happens: revolution. 

The Cylon War ensnares billions. As the colonies struggle to unite in the face of this dire threat, the Graystones and Adamas are torn apart. The Messengers of The One True God work behind the scenes to ensure the survival of the species. And Zoe must make a choice: fight to protect humanity or fight on behalf of her "children," the Cylons? 

There is a Plan and questions will be answered. 

(Note: this book was previously published as part of Colonies of Kobol.)

Get it for FREE here:

Smashwords
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Everand
Kobo


In other big news, since it's my birthday, I'm giving away stuff.  My scifi/horror ebooks are now FREE.

Read all about it here.

Thanks for reading.

EVERYTHING* IS FREE!

 

 

To celebrate my 50th birthday, I'm giving away my books.

Yes, Lords of Kobol and Colonies of Kobol are free (as is Caprica), but now my other scifi/horror ebooks are, too.  No longer will you have to shell out the princely sum of 99¢ to read these monoliths of modern literature.

DISPLACED: A Baltimore police officer awakens in his car, sitting atop a chunk of road in the middle of a cornfield. For the next several hours, he fights his way through strange creatures, meets up with odd companions and comes under siege by terrifying beasts. Displaced is an action-packed, sci-fi mystery that will keep you turning the page until the very end.  

DIARY OF A SECOND LIFE: Three hundred years after the end of the world as we know it, young Wess Marin feels compelled to leave his insular community and strike out in hopeful desperation on his own. He aims to stop the menace that still ravages mankind, but on his way, he will encounter terror, both from the living and the dead. Wess finds a gleaming city, but will they help him realize his goal?

8 DAYS: Imagine the end of the world is coming in eight days. What will you do in the time left to you? Now, imagine that the world doesn't end after all. How do you feel about what you've done? Follow the stories of several people and the world as they tackle these questions in the near-apocalypse novel 8 Days.

THE ART OF DEATH: An evil art museum curator has found a Babylonian artifact and performs a ceremony in the light of a Blood Moon to gain eternal life. He needs sacrifices, lots of sacrifices, and he gathers monsters from the world's folklore to do his bidding. Follow his victims as they fight for their lives in one hellish night at the museum. Vampires, werewolves, mummies, and more await you in The Art of Death!

Check out the Scifi/Horror tab on my website for links!  Enjoy!  And be sure you leave a glowing review, too!

* - Not everything is free.  My sexy adult books are not.  Neither are my shirts and posters and stuff on Etsy.  But the other books are.  Feel free to wish me a happy birthday by buying a poster or something.

"CAPRICA" FAQrica! plus an EXCERPT

 

 

Everything You Want/Need to Know about CAPRICA (the book) ...

"Is this fan fiction?"

Yes.  I wasn't paid by Universal to write this therefore I am not charging you to read it.  It's free.

"So did you just pull the story out of your ass or what?"

That's a little harsh, but actually, no.  I didn't.  The fansite Caprica Times published an interview with the last showrunner, Kevin Murphy, after the series was cancelled.  In it, he explained that season two would pick up five years after season one (where we see them in the finale's montage) and feature occasional flashbacks to show how they got there.  Now, I didn't feel like I could do that in my writing because constant flashbacks would get annoying/confusing, but I felt like I could tell a more linear story, showing the five years leading up to the "Shape of Things to Come" montage and then beyond.  A few story beats were also revealed by Murphy, but I won't be divulging those here as they're basically spoilers for the book.  To put it succinctly, I pretended like I was a one-man writer's room for season two and three of the show and Murphy's comments were my instructions.  (Anything that falls outside of his instructions, I guess, does qualify as "pulling it out of my ass.")

"Do I need to have watched Caprica to enjoy this?"

Are you serious?  Yes.  You should watch Caprica.  There are some references and story points that will only make sense if you've seen the show.  I wrote it right after a binge of the series, so I'm sure it'll read well after a binge, too.

"What about Galactica?"

Hmm.  Probably not.  You're OK there.  It'll be enhanced by having watched it, though, I'm sure.

"What about Blood & Chrome?"

You are thorough; I'll say that for you.  "Need to," no.  If you saw it once, that's enough.

And I'll stop you now.  No, you do not need to have watched The Plan before reading this, either. 

"OK, smart guy.  What about Deadlock?  Should I have played the video game Deadlock?

Huh.  You got me.   No, you don't have to have played Deadlock.  A few ships get their names and designs from the game, but no storylines or characters.  The base game starts in year five of the Cylon War and this book only covers the first few years of the war.  There's no real crossover.

 "Maps?  Where did you get these maps?"

I made them.  The "stellar" maps are based on the QMX map released a decade or so ago, which was based on a writer's room document by Bob Harris, Kevin Grazier, and Jane Espenson.  A lot of tidbits about the various colonies come from that document and I used them in writing Caprica and Colonies of Kobol.  The map of Caprica itself is based on the very tiny bit of land visible on the QMX map and a couple of shots from the show.

"Wait a minute ... Colonies of Kobol?  This book isn't really 'new,' is it?"

No, not really.  CoK is an enormous book (over 2,000 pages in Word) so I'm sure that's daunting to potential readers.  Plus, some people might not care about rando characters centuries before the TV shows on other worlds.  There is a hunger for more Caprica, however, so releasing just that portion of CoK made sense to me.  Caprica fans will get a taste of what might have been, and maybe they'll want to try out the rest of my books.

There are a couple of new pages, however.  You can read those after the JUMP.