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Saturday Morning Ramblings

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I was 23 when my ex-wife and I first started dating.  In many ways, I was just a dumb kid, full of dreams and ambitions, but truly clueless about how the world really functions.  I believed in my abilities as a writer and even had a handful of publishing credits under my belt, but in terms of building a career, I had no idea what I was doing.  I decided to go to graduate school for an MFA in Creative Writing because I thought that degree would afford me the opportunity to write full-time and teach for a little while until I began making a fortune from my books.

She and I married my fourth semester of the six semester program, and I was utterly miserable in graduate school.  All of my passion and love for writing was crushed by the petty workshops and backbiting students and the un-inspirational core faculty.  To this day, I will not join a formal writers’ group for those reasons.  Shortly after she and I married, we found out she was pregnant, and without any real support system in Memphis, I chose to get my Master’s in Creative Writing (which is considered a lesser degree but still allows one to teach on the collegiate level) to find work and be able to provide for my new family.  I also made the decision to move us back to East Tennessee to have our families near us  for support.

Shortly after the move, she had a miscarriage and for the most part blamed me because of the long ride in the bumpy truck.  The first year of our marriage was almost as bad as the last two.  I worked several crappy jobs while looking for teaching work and struggled just to keep a roof over our heads.  By this point, at 26, I had given up on writing.  The experience of graduate school had been too much, so when I first landed a teaching position, I resigned myself to being a full-time teacher.  At least, I rationalized, I could share my love of language with others.

The school where I held my first full-time assignment treated its faculty like second-class citizens and worked us beyond anything reasonable.  For over 8 years, I gave those bastards my absolute best, and in return, I got a paltry salary, a mountain of attitude, and zero respect.  Not from all, there were some people there who were wonderful colleagues, but the bad far outweighed the good.  In 2003, about halfway though my career at that school, I experienced a rebirth of sorts when my first son was conceived and, despite working full-time at the college and part-time on the weekends, poured myself into crafting The Brotherhood of Dwarves.  I truly believed writing would be my ticket out of education and the way to provide a better life for my son.

Other than the birth of my second son, 2006 was a rough year for me.  My marriage was unraveling in front of my eyes, and my relationship with the college had soured to the point that I would no longer attend meetings to avoid the negative bullshit.  I felt besieged at home and work and felt trapped in a life that was draining me of all hope.  To make matters worse, Brotherhood had been a resounding flop in terms of sales, and I had no way to release book two, Red Sky at Dawn.  The only positives in my life were my two sons.  Being their daddy made everything bearable.

When I look back at that time of my life, I feel like my youth was drained from me by a woman who didn’t believe in me and a college that never appreciated me.  Today, that’s why I’m so steadfast in my mentality that no one will ever mistreat me again.  I’ve paid my dues and, since the divorce in 2008, learned to live without my children on a daily basis.  I cannot and will not accept anything other than respect and fairness.  Without those two as a foundation, nothing can be healthy or positive, and I’ve already lost too much of my life to draining experiences.  Now, I will not settle for anything less than an equal balance of give and take.  Slowly but surely, I’m inching towards the man I want to be, and one day, I will get there.

General Posts

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings

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I’m no choir boy.  I’ve kicked up my share of dust and had my share of fun, but I’m no derelict either.  I’ve worked since I was about 10, starting out helping in my dad’s business.  I’ve worked hard physical labor, delivered pizza, taught classes, written books, sold cars, and busted my ass to eke out a meager existence.  None of it has been easy, and more times than I can count, I’ve thought about giving up and becoming a vagabond.  But that’s not who I am.  In my heart, I’m a warrior, and I’ll fight until my last breath to achieve my goals.  There may be stronger, smarter, better-looking, more successful men than I am, but there aren’t many who are tougher.  I’m not saying that to brag, just stating a fact about myself.

Last semester, I pushed myself through some of the hardest moments of my life and am proud that the only days I missed at work were those when I had doctors’ appointments.  Once, I delivered pizza for a couple of weeks with a pulled calf muscle.  Each step sent blinding pain up my leg, but my children needed a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, so I ignored the discomfort.  I also took an 8 pound iron ball to the head and lived to tell about it.  There are tougher men than I am, but it’s a small measure.

I’m no choir boy.  I’ve done my share of living, but when I’ve given myself to a woman, I’ve not broken my word.  There aren’t many men who can honestly say that.  There aren’t many women either.  If I commit to a relationship, I’m with that person and no one else.  Again, I’m not bragging, just stating a simple truth of myself.  When I’m single, I’ve broken a few hearts, but I don’t lie or lead anyone on, never offering more than I can live up to.  I’m always honest about what I can and cannot give.  At this point in my life, I don’t know if I’ll ever love again.  Only time can answer that.  Right now, I just want to heal and focus on my goals.

This place I live in is nothing to brag about.  It’s old and dilapidated with few modern luxuries.  The materialistic people in this world would turn their noses up at it and shun me as a bum, but it’s my little corner in this world and brings me peace.  I can live without the comforts for that.  I wrote most of Dorkhun in this broken-down motor home and will complete book four here, too.  My life may not have the shiny facade most people try to build to show the world how great they are, but I’ve never really given a damn about the facade.  I’m content with myself as a human being, and that’s enough for me.  That’s not to say I don’t have lessons to learn and maturity to gain because I do, but at my core, I’m decent and can live with that.

I’ve learned to define success on my own terms.  I’ll probably never be wealthy, the toast of the town, or a rock star, but those aren’t my goals.  They may have been when I was young and immature, but now, I define my success by the quality of what I do.  Every time a reader tells me they enjoyed one of my books, I’ve succeeded.  Every time a student thanks me for giving them a solid foundation, I’ve succeeded.  When I leave this earth, I’ll have left a mark, maybe not a huge mark, but a somewhat positive one.  I may not be prince charming or a knight in shining armor or nice little choir boy, but I’m D.A. Adams, father, writer, educator, and friend.  That’s enough for me.

General Posts

Saturday Morning Ramblings

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The Brotherhood of Dwarves - Book One

Here are the two newest reviews for The Brotherhood of Dwarves.  Thank you to both of these reviewers for taking the time to read the book and write up their thoughts.  The first is from Soliloquy: the Personal Blog of Kaitlin Michelle:

REVIEW:

This book was received as a review copy.  I enjoyed this book a lot, and look forward to reading the sequels.  Roskin is the main character, and he is heir to the throne of one of the Dwarven Kingdoms.  He is given the choice to take a year to “find inner peace”, before accepting his role in the counsel.  His heart seeks adventures so he decides to leave his homeland and seek glory in other lands.   He goes on many adventures, but his main goal is to seek the statue The Brotherhood of Dwarves, from the Black Rock Fortress.  I felt like this was a very good fantasy novel.  D.A. Adams keeps the reader entertained throughout the book.  It was very short, so it was a quick read.  The characters are detailed, and every time they get comfortable something comes along to mess things up, which keeps you entertained.

THE VERDICT:

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy novel, and likes a short read.  If you liked The Hobbit, you will probably like this book

The second is from The Independent Review Site by Daniel Cann:

The first in a series of novels by D.A. Adams finds Roskin, heir to the throne of a remote, peaceful kingdom of dwarves, craving excitement and adventure. Roskin is the son of King Kraganere and the heir of Dorkhun; he is also half dwarf and half elf. Hot-headed and impulsive he craves adventure and experience.

The story follows him as he serves ‘a year of isolation to find his inner peace.’ It was interesting to read a story with a privileged dwarf at its centre going through his own rite of passage.

I particularly enjoyed Roskin’s interactions and relationship with the old warrior Red who serves as wise counsel and mentor to the green Roskin. Together they get into plenty of brawls and scrapes. The action is not for the sake of it as the reader can see Roskin learning from his mistakes. He also takes quite a few knocks as he evolves from a coddled royal into a hardened traveller and adventurer.

As well as Red, the young dwarf is joined on his journey with some unusual and interesting characters such as Molgheon a female dwarf, Vishghu a female ogre, and Kwarck, a half-elf wizard. I would have liked a little more depth and back story but perhaps that is missing the point as Adams keeps the action coming thick and fast.

This is very much a ‘land divided’ with many kingdoms and disputed areas. There are also three types of dwarf: Tredjards, the Ghaldeons, and the Kiredurks. Factor in disputed human, elvish and orcish lands and you have a melting pot and plenty of scope for conflict and danger.

The novel is packed with in-fighting and scheming as well as an impressive roll call of dwarves, elves, humans, ogres and orcs. Roskin’s main quest is to find and return a stolen platinum statue known as ‘The Brotherhood of Dwarves’ which used to symbolise the unity of the nations in the past.

The unlikely group of allies assembled around Roskin find themselves venturing to Black Rock, an imposing fortress to retrieve the artefact. I would have liked more background and detail on the statue and after being mentioned it is never brought up again, but perhaps as this is a series of books its importance will become more apparent later.

I really enjoyed learning of the differences in culture between all of the lands. Adams is great at reminding us that there are many languages spoken including orcish and elvish. This helps in making this world solid and more vivid.

Roskin certainly discovers the harsh realities of this world as he endures first-hand the suffering of the slaves at the Slithsythe Plantation which is ran by amoral and sadistic orcs.

I found the addition of buffalo to this fantasy world unusual but I suppose there is no rule book saying that there can’t be. The plantation also seems to belong more to the Antebellum South of the nineteenth century than fantasy fiction but again it is used to good effect in highlighting the cruelty of the orcs.

The novel is short and sharp but always entertaining even if it does end rather abruptly. The main purpose of this entry seems to be in setting the scene: introducing characters as well as the history and geography that I am sure we will get to know much better. It’s a good opening effort and I will be looking out for the sequels and hope they will give us a little more depth to what is a promising start.