As always, Vayland Rd. is for my Dad. It’s not a subtle story, or graceful, or maybe even good — but I like it.
I originally wrote it as part of a fundraiser for prostate cancer research, which was the goblin Dad was fighting at the time. The prognosis was bad, but the end result was a full remission.
Since then, he’s fought another tribe of the little bastards, this time involving surgery around his mouth. He won that one, too.
He turns 60 today. We have the same birthday, actually.
Strong connections. Better than a silver needle in the collarbone any day.
So, on his birthday, I’ll say the same thing I said to him when I wrote the first draft of this silly, simple little story:
“You keep swinging, old man, and I’ll keep handing you the big sticks.”
Kate’s wanted to see this story for awhile, and kept asking about it, so in a way this revision is for her.
It’s also for Chuck, who reminded me of the goblin/cancer connection a few months ago.
Here’s a list of links to each part of the story, in order.
… and with that, I’m taking the day off.
Happy Birthday, Dad.
Awesome stuff, by the way. Been following along — very cool exposure of the process, and very cool results.
Well-done, sir.
— c.
.-= Chuck´s last blog ..My Wife Just Leveled Up =-.
Kate found the ending a little abrupt, and I see her point, but… eh… part of the artsy-fartsy point was that the ‘real life’ story never ends. “The End” is just an epilogue, which proves prologue to the next thing, etc. etc.
Or something. Maybe I just fell asleep at the keyboard during the writeathon.
Happy All That. (This happens to be my third little sister’s birthday as well.)