d-michl-lowe

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Crafting Fantasy: The Creative Journey Behind The World of Pillar

The World of Pillar: The World of Pillar is the larger moniker I have given to what I assume is going to be a trilogy of books. The first of these has been given the title The Gunslinger and the Beast, with the next in line being titled The Mamon Engine. It might seem odd at first that I know the first two books’ titles, but oddly enough, I am more sure about the second book’s title than I am…

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A Dad's Inspiration

In the last fifteen years or so, I have really tried to start paying attention to my Dad. I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, I don’t remember. I know it sounds like I completely ignored him. That is not the case. My parents are not getting any younger, mid-sixties at this point. I have read too many stories about people who didn’t take the time to realize their time was limited. They…

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I Am Not Enough

I’ve concluded that there is apparently something deeply unlikeable and untrustworthy about me. There is a reality of who I am that others must see, that I do not. Maybe those who truly care about me know. Maybe they have tried to tell me. Maybe they have tried to help me understand, and I have stuffed cotton in my ears and closed my eyes to their kindness. Maybe I have been willfully blind to my…

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New Scetch for The Mammon Engine

Nicodemus, the Librarian of Riggleman Manor, is determined to save the Queen. Having obtained an Opus, he and his fairy, Vellum, are headed to the police station in the city of Charles Gate, to see if they can help. D. Michl Lowe

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He Pulled Me In

My wife, Alicia was working in the two-year-old Sunday School room this past Sunday. Normally, that means I am on my own for the main service. I will either sit with friends, my mom and dad, or alone in the back. This Sunday, though, I was in a bad mood. I had a cloud hanging over my head that was causing me some severe melancholy. Over the summer, our church goes from their normal two services…

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Why I Cry - Every Time - When I Play Chrono Trigger

I’ve written about it previously, but Chrono Trigger played a large part in my childhood. It was my first real RPG and the first game I played with my buddy all night. It was short enough that we could finish it in nearly two sittings, so over the course of the weekend, we were able to beat the game. My buddy didn’t even own the game; he borrowed it from a friend. However, I was hooked. That…

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How Brandon Sanderson Gives Me Hope as an Author

Brandon Sanderson, author of books like The Mistborn Saga and the Stormlight Archive Series, is a literal force within the Fantasy genre. He is a machine of creativity and pushes out books faster than his fan base can read. On top of all that, you might think that writing at a pace like that makes his books seem rushed, but they don’t. Brandon’s books are carefully crafted universes with complex…

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The Effect of a Good Church

This past Saturday, my family and I went down to the local IHOP for some breakfast. This is a relatively normal thing for us to do on the weekend. As we walked into the restaurant, my youngest daughter tripped and fell to her knees. An older gentleman reached down to help her up. He smiled and asked her if she was okay. She said yes, I thanked him, and we walked on to our table. As we sat down…

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Schalk's Cabbage Soup

This recipe yields around 6 quarts of soup and is great canned. 1 medium-sized cabbage chopped into 1-inch squares, (or enough to fill the bottom of the pot several inches up with chopped cabbage). 5-6 stalks of celery (enough to cover the top of the cabbage), chopped thin. 1 large white onion, cut into medium chunks. 1 (28-ounce) can of crushed tomatoes. 8 ounces of tomato juice or V8. 1.5…

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The Mammon Engine

The first scene of Chapter 27: A Northbound Train Character Perspective: Bedlam, Balor, and Mentia. In this first scene, we get to have an insight into a character that is a chimera. This is a creature with the body and head of a lion, another head of a goat, and finally, the tail ends with the head of a snake. We’ve met this character before through the eyes of others, but not from their…

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Chrono Trigger and the Death of My Friend

I’m starting to understand what Anne Rice harped on so often in her Vampire Chronicles so much. Eternal life here on Earth would not be as great as some might believe it would be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think I could make it work, but it wouldn’t be all unicorns and rainbows like you might first believe. In the Vampire Chronicles, the vampire Lestat, the most famous vampire after Dracula I…

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Looking Through the Window that's Not Really There

If you look at the picture above, you might be remiss to think I stare at the wall all day and to some degree you would be right. However, the pictures haphazardly taped to the wall around me are all important parts of the creative process from my book. You might not be able to fully tell by looking at it, but the maps have minor and major changes made to them. The one on the right has the…

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Kicking the Back of My Chair

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My Father-in-Law's Ethics

My father-in-law is an exciting man. I have a significant amount of respect for him. Much like my own father, he comes from a background where he invested a lot of time, effort, and diligence into providing a stable and good life for his wife and kids.  I hesitate to call him a self-made man, in that I assume many people assisted him throughout his life in achieving what he has, not the least of…

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The Lesson I Learned from an Icee

I’ve often thought about how some memories are stuck in my mind, and others seem to have slipped away from me. For instance, I remember waking up when I was five years old from a nap on the floor of my room. I don’t know why I wasn’t in my bed; I assume I was playing and merely slept where I was. That said, I awoke to a puppy licking my face. I don’t remember anything after that, but I remember…

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How I Find Time to Write

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Healing