Category Archives: Culture

S for SWTOR

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My 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge revisits my best posts from the 2014 to 2019 Challenges.

S for SWTOR (2018)

Here is a game-world I spent many hours in with my partner. Plus, ever since I loved the first film, the movies keep going as well – our latest watch being The Mandalorian. On the other hand, exploring the literature and folklore behind this game proved interesting – and unexpected.

I will be posting about other creative Origins of various On-line Games that were relevant in 2018 and still are meaningful.

Links to my other 2020 A to Z posts can be found here: https://rolandclarke.com/blogging-from-a-to-z/blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-2020/

To visit other participants see The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA/

Q for Quisling

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My 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge revisits my best posts from the 2014 to 2019 Challenges.

Q for Quisling (2014)

 A word we often see, maybe use. But do you know how it originated?

Shakespeare perhaps? Or???

In fact, it was a word originating in World War II and appropriate in many contexts. Name one use before you read the original post.

All the research nuggets were unearthed while I was creating the game-world for my novel ‘Wyrm Bait’. Those, evolved into my post-apocalyptic saga Gossamer Flames. And the research is ongoing as rabbit holes keep appearing.

Links to my other A to Z posts can be found here: https://rolandclarke.com/blogging-from-a-to-z/blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-2020/

To visit other participants see The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA/

N for Native

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My 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge revisits my best posts from the 2014 to 2019 Challenges.

N for Native (2014)

I’ve been interested in and inspired by ‘Native’ or indigenous people for decades. In the 1980s, I campaigned with tribal human rights organisation Survival International, when I was editor of ‘New Ground’, a green-socialist magazine. I’ve worked that concern into some of my writing, including the world of Gossamer Flames.

This post was echoed in later years, as in 2015’s First Nations during the War of 1812. Does my interest in Romany people for another North Wales case relate? Or just on human rights?

Anyway, all the research nuggets unearthed while I was creating the game-world for my novel ‘Wyrm Bait’, evolved into my post-apocalyptic saga Gossamer Flames. And the research is ongoing as always useful – and interesting.

Links to my other A to Z posts can be found here: https://rolandclarke.com/blogging-from-a-to-z/blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-2020/

To visit other participants see The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA/

F for Feeniks

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My 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge revisits my best posts from the 2014 to 2019 Challenges.

F for Feeniks (2014)

My fascination with The Firebird and The Phoenix goes back decades, well before Feeniks the bird character and this post emerged. I must have a penchant for avian ‘totems/spirit guides’ since there are at least two more in other writings.

As I write this intro, I’m listening to the 1910 version of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird suite, which I first encountered in its ballet form during my teens.

You can listen to the same powerful music too:

All the research nuggets unearthed while I was creating the game-world for my novel ‘Wyrm Bait’, evolved into my post-apocalyptic saga Gossamer Flames. And the research is ongoing.

Especially doing research into the Slavic Folklore surrounding the Firebird for my short ‘Feathered Fire’. My story appears in the IWSG anthology Voyagers: The Third Ghost. which is released on May 5th 2020. Read more about Zharptica here: https://iwsganthologies.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-spotlight-roland-clarke-author-of.html

Links to my other A to Z posts can be found here: https://rolandclarke.com/blogging-from-a-to-z/blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-2020/

To visit other participants see The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA/

E for Elder Scrolls

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My 2020 Blogging from A to Z Challenge revisits my best posts from the 2014 to 2019 Challenges.

E for Elder Scrolls (2018)

This was one of the games I was playing when I began my investigation into the creative Origins of various On-line Games. However, it was a challenge delving for the literature and folklore behind this one. Maybe given the massive success, I could have dug deeper.

Since then, I’ve not played this one again, although my wife has. And there are games I would now add to my A to Z selection – like the excellent G for Greedfall. However, I will visit other games that I got immersed in and did highlight in 2018.

Links to my other A to Z posts can be found here: https://rolandclarke.com/blogging-from-a-to-z/blogging-from-a-to-z-challenge-2020/

To visit other participants see The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YphbP47JyH_FuGPIIrFuJfAQiBBzacEkM7iBnq6DGDA/

A to Z April Challenge Theme Reveal 2020

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As April draws nearer so does the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge and lots of exciting posts on loads of new sites.

I’ve been doing the A to Z Challenge since 2014 and began pondering my 2020 theme sometime last year. But in the last few months, everything has overwhelmed me – emails, regular posts like IWSG and WEP, replying to comments, and my own writing. Plus, my health issues.

So, I’m taking the simpler way out – reposting my best posts from 2014 to 2019 Challenges.

Thanks to Jacqui Murray for triggering that approach with her 2019 solution: ..a genre for every letter of the alphabet, but with one or two posts every month. Her reasoning chimed with my own thoughts about too many posts to write/read/comment on etcetera in April.

She wasn’t alone as others found other solutions to negotiating the A to Z Challenge.

However, I’m still going to post on the official A to Z days, starting with A for Assault on Wednesday April 1st, 2020. If you’re tempted and follow that link, you will discover Part One of Azure Spark, which evolved into a novella featuring my Welsh detective Sparkle Anwyl. I edited the posts into three acts, and all three will be posted during April: on the 1st, 11th, and 23rd.

I suspect not everyone got to read ‘Azure Spark’ so this will be another chance. A chance to to revisit older posts on other themes; like my 2017 History of Kanata or my 2015 The War of 1812. But I’ve yet to decide what posts to choose.

Watch this space.

All I can say is Sparkle Anwyl’s case will be complete, and Azure Spark is referenced in my WIP ‘Fevered Fuse’ – my current priority along with the more imminent and crucial release of the IWSG Anthology, Voyagers: The Third Ghost on May 5th.

V for Voyagers on April 25th?