Comments for Flames Rising

Comment on Regaining Home: The Final Novel of the Redemption Trilogy by Miguel

Miguel — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:10:05 +0000

I helped fund this kickstarter and ended up extremely dissatisfied.
While abiding by the letter of the kickstarter rules, she definitely failed to uphold the intent. Namely a “good faith” effort to go forward with the backer reward.
When I discovered the vignette had a tiny word count as compared to the story reward and was told that my prompt could not possibly be completed, I noted my surprise and feeling that the vignette had been misrepresented. I should note, that having taken the time to look at the definition of a standard vignette again, I’m beginning to wonder if this response was in fact an outright lie, particularly after having consulted other authors and been assured that some version of what I wanted could have been completed within the limitations of a vignette.
She offered to alter my backer reward to correct this and I suggested I provide additional monetary compensation to qualify for the story level as this would seem to correct the issue. She then came up with additional problems with the prompt and noted she could no longer change backer rewards via kickstarter/amazon. I suggested another method such as paypal/check (as other kickstarters had done in the past) and corrected my prompt to address all of her objections.
Instead of making it clear that she was unwilling to accept other methods of providing monetary compensation aside from kickstarter/amazon so I could decide if I wanted to try and work within the confines of the vignette as she saw it, she summarily ended the conversation because of my lack of interest in another reward and refunded my money. Her last communication projected an intent to avoid doing the work at all rather than making a good faith effort to complete it. In other words she attempted a “bait and switch.” Presenting two options that would have provided little to no additional effort on her part rather than the comparatively time consuming project she had originally offered.
When she complained over aspects of the original prompt, I altered it to address all of her stated concerns, even when she argued that a short story could not be anything but fiction (despite the plethora of works that exist simultaneously in both the non-fiction and short story categories). It was not until the end when she made clear that the purpose was not to work with me to get a backer reward that fulfilled my desires within its stated intent, but to force another reward down my throat so that she would not have to make a good faith effort to complete a difficult job that she had advertised and accepted.
When writing to the public, she made a show of willing to do her “best to accomodate” genres, her preference that she have a character type to work with and examples giving those characters motivations, and complete openness as far as setting so long as the material was rated PG13 and under. When presented with a topic she was unwilling to complete, she attempted to obfuscate this fact with fake helpfulness and problems with the prompt structure. When this was dealt with, realizing she had no grounds for refusing, she summarily dropped the project, dashing my hopes and wasting both our time and effort.
As to the job itself, I asked her to write about an event in my life that I find confusing and she already has knowledge of in the hopes that I would find her story illuminating. There is no breach of privacy, the parties involved insisted they were straightforward and I have all the information I need. However, because she found the topic difficult, she chose not to rise to the challenge of attempting to portray the interrelationships between people and the failures that sometimes occur. Given the wording of her guidelines and the apparent intent: to challenge her as a writer to write about things a reader might like to see in an attempt to improve herself and challenge her limits, I find this an odd and unfortunately cowardly response. Her guidelines could have produced far more uncomfortable but still interesting pieces. Hitler’s speech after winning World War II, a soldier taking part in genocide tracking down civilians, a boy at the funeral of his mother, or any of a number of topics that could be done without entering into the R category. All with opportunities to show character types and create mood in ways that may challenge her.
Perhaps it was because she had intended to publish the vignettes/stories later, and didn’t wish to do so about people she knew. Then it would have been reasonable to suggest changing the names of the characters to conceal identities, but this objection was never raised. Perhaps she thought by removing the one vignette requested she would be able to dodge the extra work of making that vignette available to the other backers as well. I don’t know I can only give my opinion based on her actions, and as near as I can tell, she was unwilling to live up to her promise and did her best to avoid her responsibility.
I would complain to Kickstarter, but given that kickstarter has historically done a poor job of holding people accountable, I am following the example of other dissatisfied customers and complaining on other places on the internet. While I do appreciate having my money refunded, I do feel it my duty to note the appalling failure of customer service in that last e-mail, not to mention warning others of the emotional letdown and wasted effort they are likely to suffer when buying her products.
The prompt guidelines as sent out to show I am not taking them out of context:
Connections: If you’re looking for a short story that features any of the characters or settings I’ve written before (whether in an anthology piece or from the novels — or even from my games!), let me know, and we can skip the rest of the details. If not:
Genre: What style of story or snippet do you want? I am strongest in fantasy or urban fantasy, but I’m happy to work with superheros, science fiction, light horror, Western, space/weird Western, or pulp adventure. Mystery or other unlisted genres will be more of a challenge for me, but I’ll certainly do my best to accommodate!
Setting: Where and when would you like the story or snippet to take place? This can be as vague as “long ago in a land far far away” or as specific as Detroit in the 1950s.
Characters: I would prefer if you gave me a character type to work with here. Ideas like “female superhero trying to get into a superteam” or “young swordfighter trying to prove his mettle” give me a better idea of the type of story that you want than a name and physical description.

Comment on Max Brooks Introduces Extinction Parade by shortymonster

shortymonster — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:43:41 +0000

Excellent stuff! We have no local comic book emporium in my neck of the woods, but based on other stuff they’ve done, I can’t imagine they won’t be releasing this one in a collected edition at some point down the line.

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Monica Valentinelli

Monica Valentinelli — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:06:09 +0000

Thanks, everybody! FlamesRising.com will pick the winners this week. You should receive an e-mail by Sunday.

Braiiiiiiinnnnnnsssssss!

- Monica

Comment on Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Review by BANE

BANE — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 06:32:55 +0000

Hell, I only play D&D Basic and AD&D 2nd Ed. 3.0/3.5 is terrible and slow. 4th is okay, but nothing beats the classic old school D&D/AD&D. I like for my players to walk down a hallway without ability checks or rolling dice every two steps. 3.0/3.5 is the absolute worse thing to ever happen to the D&D brand.

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Tomas Martinez

Tomas Martinez — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:22:32 +0000

I love the zombie genre, I think it’s great that it’s getting so popular. Even thought we might not like everything zombie related, at least it’s being made.

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Jennifer MacDonald

Jennifer MacDonald — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:06:48 +0000

I want to be a zombie when I grow up.

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Jeremy Mahan

Jeremy Mahan — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:30:10 +0000

Zombies were people, too, but I’ll still trip somebody to get away from them!

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Tristan Knight

Tristan Knight — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:15:40 +0000

Zombies have become so commonplace that they’re–dare I say it?–almost a zombie apocalypse in their own right.

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Shane McCook

Shane McCook — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:48:27 +0000

I have to say that I prefer the magical, mystical zombie to the biological zombie. I actually have an easier time suspending disbelief for a magical agent than for a biological one.

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Ned Leffingwell

Ned Leffingwell — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:14:41 +0000

I think the zombie kick has gone on a little too long. Dare I say the phenomena might be dead by the summer?

Comment on Extreme Zombies Give-A-Way! by Greg Principato

Greg Principato — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:13:29 +0000

After seeing the title, I couldn’t help but imagine zombies doing basejumping, parkour, and various other extreme sports. Would it still be bodyboarding if the board is another zombie? Especially so.

Comment on Dungeons and Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness Movie Review by isolation bordeaux

isolation bordeaux — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:55:49 +0000

I think it was on of the Wayans Brothers but even that one wasn’t this bad

Comment on Hoodoo Blues RPG Review by » Hoodoo Blues Reviews Vajra Enterprises

» Hoodoo Blues Reviews Vajra Enterprises — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 06:31:34 +0000

[...] “the game that just grabbed my throat until I tapped out admiration for it on my keyboard” by Flames Rising [...]

Comment on March Fourth — With 10 Horrifyingly Good Deals For GM’s Day by shortymonster

shortymonster — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:33:34 +0000

The Arkham Sanitarium pack looks amazing! I don’t even play that much CoC and I want it.

Comment on Designing the Macabre Tales RPG by State of the Tentacle: Cynthia Celeste Miller | Cthulhu Reborn

State of the Tentacle: Cynthia Celeste Miller | Cthulhu Reborn — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:19:45 +0000

[...] You can read a much more detailed description of the intriguing mechanics of Macabre Tales, as well as the features of H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction which inspired them, in this essay penned by Cynthia herself. [...]

Comment on Call of Cthulhu: Delta Green RPG Review by Review of Sandy Petersen’s Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition | New Universes

Review of Sandy Petersen’s Call of Cthulhu Sixth Edition | New Universes — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:44:41 +0000

[...] top of your list. You may also want to explore other related products, such as the award-winnning Delta Green [...]

Comment on New Deadlands Noir fiction by Shane Hensley & John Goff available now! by All-Adventure Action Stories Vol. 5 No. 3 (Spring 1938) | The Great Pulp Magazine Index

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:53:15 +0000

[...] New Deadlands Noir fiction by Shane Hensley & John Goff available now! (flamesrising.com) [...]

Comment on The Strain Vol. 1 Comic Review by Review: The Strain - First 750 Words

Review: The Strain - First 750 Words — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 14:23:26 +0000

[...] The Strain Vol. 1 Comic Review [...]

Comment on Left-Hand Path for Mage: the Awakening Available Now! by Akani

Akani — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:28:59 +0000

I’m new on the left hand path so i will like to know more and get higher grades of initiation

Comment on Regaining Home: The Final Novel of the Redemption Trilogy by Alana Joli Abbott

Alana Joli Abbott — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:26:09 +0000

Thanks so much for getting the word out!