Hey readers! I hope things are going well for you during these interesting times. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring some relief today, as I’ve got two things to talk about, and we’re going to dive right in. Serious topic first … then some fun!

Oh! Reminder to all prior Beta Readers! Check your e-mail, as the Beta invite for A Trial for a Dragon has been sent out!

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Fast Invitation

The first thing I’m going to talk about is a fast invitation that’s been extended globally by my faith. As most readers of this site know, I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who have taken great steps to curb the spread of Covid-19 (globally we put all Sunday meetings on hold before most countries were even thinking about doing anything, and immediately began coordinating relief effort). But one thing our faith is doing this week—and not alone—is a global fast across the Earth.

For some of you, that requires a few explanations. I’ll start with the “fast” bit. A fast is an act of sacrifice before God, most commonly expressed as one forgoing food and water for a period of time—two meals or 24 hours being the period commonly expressed in our faith, if able (the Lord knows if you have additional requirements, and that’s fine)—in order to focus on and request the aid of Heaven. Basically, a form of sacrifice between man and God wherein man shows dedication by forgoing that which gives mortal life in favor of spiritual life. You can find them mentioned all through works of scripture, and as a continuance of Christ’s church on the Earth today, members of my faith participate in them regularly.

But last week, during that conference I told you about, an invitation was extended to all members of our faith and anyone else around the world that would like to participate to share a global fast on Friday, April 10th (Good Friday) for the following things:

• Relief from Covid-19
• Protection for all those working tirelessly to curb Covid-19
• For economies to stabilize
• For life to return to normal

You might have heard of this, you might not have, but there has been a large outpouring of support from faiths and people all across the globe (even from those who are agnostic or, in a few surprising cases, aesthetic), each declaring their intent to take part in a global fast following the invitation.

So why talk about it here? Well, I don’t talk about my faith much on this site, but this is one of those times when I’ve chosen to, in order to extend the invitation offered to any of you that may not have heard about it. I’ll be participating in the fast tomorrow, and if any of you readers would like to participate, now you know what it is and what it’s about.

That’s it. There’s not going to be any follow up, and anything else about it wouldn’t be between me and you. Not my place. It’s entirely your own decision.

But I felt the invitation was important enough that I wanted to share it with each of you who may not have heard about it, so that those who would like to participate can join in.

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Shadow of an Empire – The Film (or Series)!

Okay, serious stuff over. Now let’s have some fun! So about a week ago, I posted a quarantine chat discussing what sort of movie (or series) you readers would like to see if Colony ever hit the silver screen. What actors you felt could fill the roles, and what style the film should be in.

And boy did you readers respond! I had a lot of fun reading through some great thoughts about who should play who, and what style the film should be shot (or animated) in. Or series. Some wanted a really long film, others hope for a series. It was awesome to hear what actors and actresses you guys picked for certain roles and imagine them in dive armor or in some of the iconic scenes from the book.

Though personally, the one I can’t unsee now is Benicio del Toro as Rodriguez. I may picture Rodriguez a bit differently in my head, but I think del Toro would nail that role. Sitting across a table from Jake and Anna aboard the Madero, carefully explaining what he was trying to accomplish and why … yeah, he’d nail it.

Anyway, after that successful run of fun, I figured why pose the same question for Shadow of an Empire, the Wild-West Fantasy Epic I released in 2018?

Though this time, I’ve got fewer pictures and suggestions of my own. Again, I’m not too up to date on actors and actresses (the last post was mostly luck) so I’m a bit of a blank here for who I think would work to play the various roles.

Of course, there’s more to it than finding the right actors and actresses. There’s also whether it would be better live-action or animated, and as a series or a movie.

For Shadow, I’d definitely prefer live-action. Westerns are rare enough as it is these days, but there’s something to capturing the gritty dust of the west (or in this case the Outlands) that’s just … It works for film.

As for show vs series, Shadow isn’t nearly as long as Colony, but it’d still make for a fairly long film. A miniseries, maybe, would work best, but at the same time, many westerns have been quite long, so there’s no reason why Shadow couldn’t be a film.

Amusingly enough, the only thing I’m 100% committed to, if Shadow ever became either, would be that whoever did it not mess with the relationship between Sali and Meelo. That would be ironclad. They don’t have a romantic relationship because men and women can be friends and colleges.

Yeah, I’d go so far as to deny the rights to anyone who attempted to change that.

So anyway, with my thoughts on things laid out, what do you guys think?  Who would play the best Salitore Amazd? The best Meelo Karn?

The best Amacitia Varay? Or Markus Nirren?

What sort of movie or series should it be? Why?

Leave your answers in the comments below, and I look forward to reading them and seeing what your guys think!

Have a great day, and stay safe out there!

And now, I’ve got work to do writing Fireteam Freelance!