Category Archives: boding

Published: December 14, 2021

A Quest for Work-Life Balance, A Place for Questions, and Final Events…

As I sit down to write this, it’s just after midnight, and I’ve done a thing that I don’t normally do during the fundraiser.

I’ve taken an evening off.

Well, let me be clear. I did have a little meeting around 4:30. And I did make a couple calls to people to see if they might be interested in helping to read the early chapter of Doors of Stone with me if we hit our stretch goal. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about with that, you’ll have to check out Yesterday’s blog.)

But it was only, like, 3 calls. And it was worth it, because I got Homestar Runner on the project. And it was only a 40 minute meeting, which was worth it because I got to tell someone designing a graphic, “Pick a font that looks like Goku said it, then add an extra exclamation point.

But other than that, I just spent time with my boys. We had dinner and ate some cake. We played a bit of a game, talked about our feelings, and then watched some youtube videos. We hugged and cuddled and made nonsense jokes. I tried to relax and was mostly successful.

It’s something I’m working on. This whole work-life balance thing. Where I take time away despite the fact that we’re *right* and the end of the fundraiser and there’s about a hundred things I *could* be doing to tweak or nudge things along. And I’m the only one who can do them. And if they don’t happen right now things will will go off the rails…

It’s made easier by the fact that when I refreshed things on my phone, I saw we’d broken a million dollars. And we’d done so without me actively having my shoulder to the wheel the whole time, which is a really helpful thing for me to realize.

I’d like to thank y’all for that. Partly because I know you folks who care enough to tune into the blog are a lion’s share of the people who have been donating, and also helping to spread the word about the fundraiser and the prizes and stretch goals.

So thanks. Thanks for being good, and wanting to make the world a better place. Thanks for helping me roll this rock. We’re killing it this year…

I’m also *very* pleased that folks seem to be liking the new stretch goals I up on my team page. Including the *very* good graphics we keep updating and improving. The fact that y’all have been steadily donating there means I’m going to be hopping back on the stream early tomorrow to to try and make some progress against the Ender Dragon before I have to cough up TWO favor rings.

But it will have to be early, because after that, it’s a big day. Because in case you missed it before….

Pat's Streaming Schedule for 12/14

These are three pretty big things. And y’all don’t even know what that second one is, because I’ve been keeping it secret. But I’m excited to share.

Oh, speaking of, if you have questions for the Q&A, you can submit them here.

There’s going to be a *lot* of people on the livestream tomorrow, so it will be harder than normal for me to pull them straight out of the chat. Plus, I know not all of you can tune-in live….

Also, here’s a specific graphic just in case you didn’t notice the third thing on the schedule tomorrow.

Disco Does D&D

Yeah. Really. That’s going to be happening on my twitch channel tomorrow to help raise awareness of the Worldbuilders fundraiser.

What a wild world we live in. I can’t imagine what my mom would think if she was still around. She watched Star Trek when it originally aired. When I was a teenager she introduced me to it, and we stayed up late to watch it together on the weekends. When Next Generation came out, we tuned in for the premiere and groused about how weird and wrong the new ship looked… then tuned in every week to watch the new episodes faithfully, getting over our bullshit and quickly growing to love it….

What would she even think of what my life looks like now?

So… yeah. That’s what I’ve got tonight. I’m going to stop refreshing he fundraiser page and go get some sleep.

I’ll see y’all tomorrow. It’s going to be fun.

pat

Also posted in Ask the Author, Book Three, My Mom Would Like This Blog, side projects | By Pat32 Responses
Published: February 26, 2019

Thriving in Winter (And Looking for a Colorist)

So here we are. February.

In my head, it seems like 2018 has barely ended, but at the same time I know objectively that it’s been months since I updated the blog…

Despite the radio silence, things are actually going pretty well here in rothtown. Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that things have been a little emotionally rocky for me the last little… forever. But in this case, the quiet was a signal of things getting better, not getting worse.

Generally speaking, things have gone from this…

To this…

If you don’t live in Wisconsin, this might be hard to interpret. But let me reassure you, it’s a vast improvement.

One of the things I’ve been doing is getting my literal and figurative house in order so that I can go back to getting more creative work done. I know this might come as a surprise to a lot of you, but I have a couple ongoing projects that I’d *really* like to finish before the heat death of the universe.

One of those projects is a graphic novel I’ve been working on with Nate Taylor for years and years. He’s such a delight to work with, and every time we collaborate, the result is something so much better than I initially hoped for.

So we’ve been going back and forth on this project for ages, and now that I’ve got more comic experience under my belt, we’ve decided to finally get it done. And since we want to do a couple kinda crazy things with it, we’ve decided to keep the creative control all to ourselves and do it as a kickstarter project. (At some point later this year.)

But here’s the thing: We need a colorist.

So I’m sending up the signal flare here. If you’re a colorist, or if you know someone who you think would like to throw in with us to make something beautiful… here’s what we’re looking for.

*Ahem.*

Elodin Enterprises is a Stevens Point-based company that works with the intellectual property, licensing, and merchandising for the author Patrick Rothfuss. We are looking for an accomplished colorist for an upcoming graphic novel.

(Does that sound super official or what?)

Our ideal candidate is an experienced individual who is self-motivated and committed to clear and frequent communication with the author and artist. The project is already in development, and applicants should be available to start as soon as mid-March and commit to the project through completion.

Relevant experience and skills include:

  • Online Portfolio
  • One or two examples of finished projects
  • Good communicator
  • Video conference capable
  • Availability for a full-time commitment
  • Work quickly, and produce consistently (like 7-10 pages/week)
  • Able to work independently
  • At least 3 solid work references

This work can be done remotely. Pay will be commensurate with experience. Relevant experience is required, as is computer experience.

To apply for this position, please submit a cover letter and online portfolio to [email protected]. No calls, please. We will be in contact after the Application Deadline of March 18th, 2019.

Elodin Enterprises is an equal opportunity employer.

(End official pitch.)

So… yeah. Drop us a line if you’d like to come and make something beautiful.

For the rest of you, I’m so excited to show you all the various delightful things I plan on finishing soon.

See y’all soon. Be good to each other.

pat

P.S. Be cool in the comments, okay?

Also posted in Achievement Unlocked!, calling on the legions, cool things, Nathan Taylor, Nathan Taylor Art | By Pat189 Responses
Published: November 26, 2018

The Coming Storm

So. Tomorrow we launch our yearly fundraiser. It’s our 10th anniversary. A big milestone.

Worldbuilders is my pride and joy. It has changed my life, and I’m as proud of it as I am of my own sweet children, and I love it as much as I love my children. It is a force for good in this weary world, and I’m so proud of the fact that over the years beautiful geeks of all nations have come together, raised nearly 8.5 million dollars, and made the world a better place.

We’re going a lot of new things to mark our 10-year anniversary. We’re pulling the trigger on a plan I’ve been slowly assembling for years. (It has to do with D&D) I’ve been mulling it over for ages, and I’ve finally figured out how to make it work…

On top of that, I think this is the year I’m going to pull an arrow out of my quiver that I’ve been keeping in reserve for a *long* time.

But the biggest news of all is that we’re changing the format of the fundraiser itself. Worldbuilders isn’t going to be a four weeks long (plus a little) this year. This year we’re doing the whole fundraiser in two weeks. Less than half the time we normally use to let it all play out.

It’s big stuff. And we’re making all these changes for good reasons. And they’re good choices. I have high hopes for this year. I think it’s going to be our best year ever.

So now, tonight, I should be writing a blog where I rile y’all up. I should do some cheerleading. Get you excited about what’s coming….

And that’s the blog I sat down to write tonight. But I’m not feeling it.

So instead, tonight, at 2:17 am, I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m not excited. I’m stressed.

No. That isn’t even the real truth.

The truth is, I’m scared.

It should come as no surprise to any of you who have read this blog over the years that I hate and fear change. There’s a reason I still live here in Stevens Point. There’s a reason I still wear the same coat I bought in college. There’s a reason I still use my beloved, 30-year-old Model M keyboard.

(This keyboard has seen some shit, y’all.)

We’re changing the fundraiser this year. And I know it’s for the best. But… I don’t like changing things that work. And the truth is, Worldbuilders has worked amazingly well for almost a decade now… We’ve raised over 8 million dollars to help people all over the world. We’ve helped tens of thousands of families. We have saved lives. We have given families hope and peace. There are children out there who are fat and happy because of us.

And still, tonight, the evening before the fundraiser, I’m scared.

I’m scared people won’t like the changes we’ve made. I’m scared people will be confused. I’m scared we won’t be able to get the word out to new people. I’m scared donors from previous years won’t come back….

I’m worried people won’t realize the fundraiser is *so* much shorter this year until it’s too late. I’m worried that they’ll show up on December 13th, when we’re normally still going strong, and realize they’ve missed out on everything.

I’m worried I haven’t done enough to prepare, and this year will be a failure, and it will be my fault.

Aaand that’s it. I don’t have a sudden reversal to end with. No big closer. No ray of light.

I was kinda hoping if I started this blog I could write my way out of this feeling, but it’s still here. I’m worried that it’s all going to be a trainwreck, and thousands of kids will go to bed hungry because I screwed up.

I just literally sat here for five minutes (It’s 3:05 now) wondering what I can possibly say to pull this blog up into something inspirational.

And I got nothing.

But what else can I do but put my head down and bull forward? My little boy has been filling up jars with change so that he can have enough money to buy a cow for Worldbuilders this year. So we’re going to do that. (I feel a little better thinking about that.)

(He’s so much older than this now, but I love this picture.)

Also, y’know what? Here’s a picture of him with a fake mustache because it’s my blog and I an post pictures like this if I want.

Also, here’s my littler baby dressed up as a bug.

(Cutie AF)

Oh. Wow. When I was scrolling through the files in my media library, guess what I just found.

This:

Hell. Every once in a while I can really put some words together, can’t I?

I guess I’ve got to take my own advice, don’t I? I’m not as good at this as I’d like to be. I’m not as organized or as clever or connected as I wish I were. I’m scared all of this is going to fall apart around me and that the fundraiser will fail.

But what can I do? I guess I’m going to Bilbo it up.

So when I wake up tomorrow (Monday) I’m going to e-mail people and call in favors and do interviews and pull strings and contrive every of trick I can think of to get eyes on the fundraiser this year. Because we’re giving away some *cool* stuff, and I want the geeks of the world to come donate money, make the world a better place, and win some cool shit while they’re at it.

I hope you’re ready, everyone.

I hope I’m ready too.

Either way, I’ll see you soon.

pat

Also posted in Heifer International, hubris, the man behind the curtain, things I shouldn't talk about, trepidation, Worldbuilders | By Pat101 Responses
Published: June 15, 2012

Fan Coolness….

Long ago, I wrote a blog answering the question, “If I mail you a book, will you sign it?”

It that blog (which included a flow chart that I’m still pretty proud of) I explained the truth of the situation. Specifically, that I’d be happy to sign your books, but there are complications. Books get lost in the mail. Books get damaged. It takes time for me to sign a book, time to package and unpackage it, time to go to the post office, money to ship it, etc.

Generally speaking, it’s easier, safer, and faster to just buy a signed book in our online store: The Tinker’s Packs. Plus the money you spend there goes to charity, so it’s a double win.

Still, I know what it’s like to become attached to a book, and to want to have that particular book signed. So in that blog I told people if they *really* wanted to send me a book, I’d sign it, provided they followed certain rules. Most important among these is that they include return postage and send me something cool.

I expected the requests to kinda die down after that. But I was wrong. Very, very wrong.

In the years since I posted that blog, I’ve received hundreds and hundreds of gifts. So many that I can’t even begin to put an accurate number on it.

And for years, as I’ve opened the packages, I’ve thought to myself, “This is so cool. I’ve got to show this to people on the blog….”

Unfortunately, with rare exception, I never get around to it. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

But a couple weeks ago, I got something I really want to tell you about.

The package showed up, late in the afternoon, and I dug through it looking for the toy surprise. A lot of times, getting a package or a letter from a fan can be the high point of my day.

At the bottom of the box I found something heavy wrapped in cloth. When I picked it up, my first thought was, “It’s a knife.”

Now this isn’t a first for me. Folks have sent me knives before. Someone sent me a knife they’d carved themselves out of wood. Someone else sent me a skinning knife from Alaska once.

But this was *really* heavy. So heavy that I almost thought it couldn’t be a knife. I have a knife made from a railroad tie, and this was heavier than that.

When I unwrapped it, I found this:

The entire knife was metal. Everything. Blade, guard, handle. Everything out of solid metal.

I looked at it and thought: Did someone make me a copper knife?

Then I thought: No. Nobody would do that.

Then I thought: This really looks like a copper knife.

Then I thought: Seriously?

So I brought out the letter and read it. It was from a guy named Tait and his friend Loren (no relation). Who run a little site called Esoteric Garage. They explained that they they liked to goof around with forging things as a hobby. And when they were talking about my books they came to the conclusion that, “a copper knife could be really useful if you wanted to kill a namer.”

Then I thought, These guys have been reading the books really closely.

I geeked out pretty hard. I called Tait and told him that this was the coolest thing I’d seen in months. He confirmed that the entire thing was copper. Even the rods that hold the handle together. Clever stuff.

After I got off the phone, I was still all excited about my knife. And I started to think, “I think I’ve been wrong about copper weapons. I think you could probably really fuck somebody up with this.”

So there I was, at the work house, holding a knife. And you know what it’s like when you’re holding something like that. When you pick up a nice  baseball bat, you want to swing it around. You pick up a hatchet, you want to cut some wood. Some things yearn toward their purpose. Some things are the embodiment of a purpose. Some objects are practically crystallized verbs.

What I’m getting at, is that I was filled with a powerful urge to stab something.

This is not my best expression ever. Apparently, this is what I look like when I’m trying hard to repress the urge to stab.

I should stress that this urge was, first and foremost, scientific. You see, this sort of thing is research for me. The more experiences I gather, the more effective I am as a writer.

Luckily, I’m able to control my scientific urges to a certain degree. This is especially fortunate, considering Amanda, one of my assistants, was in the workhouse with me.

So, in the interest of science, I stepped back and stabbed the nearby doorframe as hard as I could. Because, y’know, it’s my house, and I can do whatever the hell I want.

What did I learn from the experiment?

1. I made a good choice in hiring Amanda. As I stood there, looking at the knife sticking out of the wall, she said. “I kinda figured you were going to do that.”

2. You can definitely fuck somebody up with a copper knife.

3. Copper’s more durable than I suspected.

Also, I was reminded that my readers are very cool. Because not only did Tait send me a knife as a present, but he mentioned he might have something to donate to worldbuilders in a couple of months….

Thanks so much, Tait. Rest assured that I’m pretty sure you’re not legally responsible for anything I do with this. At worst, you’re accessory-before-the-fact.

Have a good weekend everybody,

pat

Also posted in cool things, fan coolness, geeking out, Science | By Pat73 Responses
Published: February 19, 2012

Concerning Hobbits, Love, and Movie Adaptations

So the other day a friend forwarded me a link to the very first-ever film adaptation of the Hobbit.

It’s only about 10 minutes long, and worth your time. I’m embedding it here as an example of why I’m extremely leery of anyone ever making a movie out of The Name of the Wind.

Isn’t that an absolute trip? They added a princess to the story and everything.

Now it turns out there are good reasons for why this adaptation was bizarrely short and startlingly off-script. But rather than summarize them, I’ll just link over to a post where the guy that made the film explained why it turned out as it did. It’s actually a really interesting story.

After watching it on youtube, I saw a link and followed it over to watch the trailer for the Hobbit movie.

I won’t deny that I got a bit of a tingle watching it. But honestly, my response was half-tingle, half anticipatory dread.

A dread-tingle. Or dringle, if you prefer.

You see, the first video I posted up there was bad enough to be good in a funny train-wreck sort of way.

But the trailer makes me think that the Hobbit movie is going to be good enough that big pieces of it will make me want to vomit pure bile.

“But Pat,” I hear you say, “Why the concern? The Lord of the Rings Movies were good!”

Yeah. They were good movies. I won’t argue that. They were also moderately okay adaptation of the books.

And yes, I’m aware that referring to something as ‘moderately okay’ is the very definition of damming with faint praise.

Without going into it in any detail, (that would be a whole separate blog’s worth of post) my main problem with the Jackson adaptations is that they lose the subtlety of the original stories.

It’s like this: Tolkien’s books were full of subtle tension, drama, action, good characters, and a world of startling and immersive richness.

Jackson’s adaptations had some brilliant action scenes, great special effects, some pointless action scenes, drama, melodrama, a lot of panoramic cinematography, good casting, and an inexplicably Scottish dwarf with all the character depth of a Disney animal sidekick.

So I’ll say it again. Good movies. Ah hell. I’ll even admit that they were great movies just for that fight scene with the rock troll in Moria.  But only moderately okay adaptations.

In the Hobbit trailer, I see the same thing happening. The Hobbit was a lighthearted story about a slightly bumbling average-Joe who goes off on an adventure and discovers hidden resources inside himself. (Spoiler alert.) It was fun. If the book came out today, it publishers would probably market it as YA.

While it had action and drama, it was not an action-packed Hollywood-style dramapalooza where Gandalf and Galadriel have emo makeouts.

I can tell in my bones that the movie is going to be chock full of scenes that were never in the original story. I’m not talking about a little extra dialogue here and there. I’m talking about completely invented cutaway scenes that stuff more action in, and subplots that were only barely alluded to in the book. My off-the-cuff prediction? At least 20 minutes worth.

It will be a good movie. Maybe even a great movie. But it will also be, at best, a moderately okay adaptation of the subtle, sweet book that I grew up loving.

You know that it’s going to be like? It’s going to be like wandering onto an internet porn site and seeing a video of a girl I had a crush on in high school. You probably knew someone like her. The smart girl. The shy girl. The one who wore glasses and was a little socially awkward. The one who screwed up the curve in chemistry so you got an A- instead of an A.

She was a geek girl before anybody knew what a geek girl was. And that was kinda awesome, because you were a geek boy before being a geek was culturally acceptable.

You liked her because she was funny. And she was smart. And you could actually talk to her. And she read books.

And sure, she was girl-shaped, and that was cool. And she was cute, in an understated, freckly way. And sometimes you’d stare at her breasts when you were supposed to be paying attention in biology. But you were 16. You stared at everyone’s breasts back then.

And yeah, you had some fantasies about her, because, again, you were 16. But they were fairly modest fantasies about making out in the back of a car. Maybe you’d get to second base. Maybe you could steal third if you were lucky.

And maybe, just maybe, something delightful and terrifying might  happen. And yeah, it would probably be awkward and fumbling at times, but that’s okay because she’d be doing half the fumbling too. Because the only experience either one of you had was from books. And afterwards, if you make a Star Wars joke, you know she’ll get it, and she’ll laugh….

That’s the girl you fell in love with in high school. You didn’t have a crush on her because she was some simmering pool of molten sex. You loved her because she was subtle and sweet and smart and special.

So you stroll onto this porn site, and there she is. Except now she’s wearing a thong and a black leather halter top. She’s wearing fuck-me red lipstick and a lot of dark eye makeup. Her breasts are amazing now, proud and perfectly round.

Someone’s taught her to dance, and she does it well. She’s flexible and tan. She has a flat midriff and walks like a high-class Vegas stripper. Her eyes are dark and smouldering. She has a riding crop, and she likes to be tied up, and her too-red mouth forms a perfect circle as she sighs and moans, and tosses her head in a performance designed to win any number of academy awards….

And what’s the problem with this? Well… in some ways, nothing. What you’ve found is perfectly good porn. Maybe even great porn.

But in other ways the problem is blindingly obvious. This girl has nothing in common with your high-school crush except for her social security number. Everything you loved about her is gone.

We loved the sweet, shy, freckly girl. We still remember her name, and after all these years she lives close to our heart. Seeing her in lipstick and stiletto heels dancing on a pole is like watching Winnie the Pooh do heroin and then glass someone in a bar fight.

It just isn’t something that I look forward to seeing….

And that’s how I’m going to feel when I watch the Hobbit.

I’ll be one part entertained, two parts nostalgic, two parts irritated, three parts outraged, and one part oddly titillated.

And I’ll watch it, and I’ll enjoy it, and afterwards I’ll go home and feel more than slightly sad….

pat

Also posted in Being a Curmudgeon, Consistent Verb Tense Is For Bitches, movie talk, My High Horse, things I shouldn't talk about | By Pat175 Responses

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