In My Ranger Era

I mentioned this in my most recent newsletter (you can sign up here, BTW), but Sector M recently celebrated its first anniversary on June 11! Now we are on to Year Two, and there’s a lot of exciting things on the horizon. There’s no doubt that it’s a time of great change for me both personally and professionally, and that’s the subject of this blog post.

What do I mean when I say that I’m in my Ranger era? Simply put, it means that my mental focus is shifting away from what I’ve done in the past to meet the challenges of the present and the future. If you are familiar with Dungeons & Dragons this will make a little more sense, but I will attempt to explain in plain speech for those who aren’t up on their RPG character classes.

The Classes of My Life

Before we get into the part about the Ranger, let’s take a look back at the other eras of my life and the classes they would correspond to on the character sheet of my life. When I was growing up, I would say that I started out as a Monk. My preferred colors were black and red, which are still reflected in the brand colors of Sector M.

Both of my parents were martial arts teachers, and even ran their own dojo for a few years. I studied a number of different styles during this time and tried to live simply. This era of my life taught me how to concentrate, how to meditate, and how to try to silence my inner devils, though that last part met with only limited success. Perhaps, most importantly, my Monk era taught me to be introspective and deeply appreciative of beauty in all its forms.

This era lasted until my early twenties. That’s when I underwent my first shift in focus or class change. I multiclassed into a Rogue. It wasn’t that I lost an appreciation for the things in my previous era, but I became much more circumspect in how I conducted myself. My colors became black and dark blue. I tried to walk unnoticed whenever I could, so I could operate and conduct myself without attention.

Despite the name of the class, I wasn’t up to anything nefarious; I just wanted to be left alone to pursue my interests without constraint. Rogues aren’t frontline guys the way Fighters and Paladins are, so they tend to look for the weaknesses in the system and save their efforts for those times when they can punch above their weight. So it was with me.

The transition to this era was definitely shaped by a character that I played for several years out at Renaissance Faires, a character who was most definitely a rogue in every since of the word. He became something of my alter-ego for a time, and he’s still there when I need him. I won’t name him here, but if you know me personally, you likely know his name. My Rogue era was predominately spent in around large cities, as Rogues are known to do in D&D, but over the last year, I’ve once again felt another paradigm shift on the horizon. 

Origin of the Era

Strangely enough, the dawn of my third era arrived with the rediscovery of a song from when I was a kid. Back in the ’80s, there was a relatively short-lived cartoon called The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, one of my favorites. I remembered that it had a really great theme song, something the ’80s was known for. Take a look at the intro.

We only got a snippet of the song, but it rocks. A little over a year ago, I found John Von Tongeren’s full song on Apple Music. Immediate download, right then and there. I found that the intro version of the song had been sped up, likely to keep it concise in the intro. As much as the intro song rocks, the full song is even better. It’s great when you’re cruising down the road or need something with a driving beat and catchy hook.    

It sparked something within me, particularly the lyrics taking a stand, ready to prove it again. This came back to me at a time when I was already yearning for something different. My professional life at the time had proven unsatisfying. It took so much from me that little was left for any of my books, games, or creative pursuits.

This pressure had been building for years before then, but I sensed that it was all quickly coming to a head. This song had a way of piercing through all that. When I lost my godfather, I had a stark reminder that our time on this world is finite and that I wasn’t getting any younger.

If I had any hope of scratching the surface of the stories I wanted to tell, and the things I wanted to see and do, I had better get to it. It was high time for a change, and that ultimately led to a moment on a beach in Grand Cayman. I have been resolved ever since.

The new era had begun.   

Into the Wilds

So why a Ranger this time? Rangers and Rogues do have a lot in common, but Rangers are meant to strike out from home, to make do with few resources, be precise with every shot they take, and to blaze a trail through the wilderness. Becoming an indie author would require me to give up many of the things I had taken for granted, like a steady paycheck, so I had to think carefully about how I would move forward.

Further, I would need to travel for signings and conventions to promote my work, which would carry me far outside my comfort zone to say nothing of home. Lastly, going indie would mean I would have to find my way in the harsh and unforgiving territory of self-publishing and self-promotion. No safety nets, no guardrails. I would need to step lightly, yet boldly.

I am only at the beginning of this journey. There are marketing platforms I need to master, advertising data I need to analyze, and convention and promotion plans I need to solidify. This won’t happen overnight, and I’m bound to make mistakes along the way, but I have a fantastic team of people supporting me that I thank my lucky stars for every day.

I will say that the production of Axis Point taught me a number of things. This was the first time that I had taken a book through the KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) process on my own. There are other routes I will pursue for my books, but KDP was the one I knew best, so it became the starting place.

Now I know that I can take a book from a simple manuscript to a fully realized book. This knowledge was hard won, but it will serve me well in the future as other books make their appearance on the scene. I have a fantasy novel in the editing/rewriting phase right now, I’m finishing up the first draft of my cyberpunk trilogy, and I’m ramping up to start on my next book. Oh, and one book I have to send through edits features a Ranger as the protagonist, so it seems fitting for him to finally get his day at last in this era of my life.

What Kind of Ranger?

Rangers persist throughout speculative fiction. The most resounding example in fantasy has to be the Rangers of Gondor and the Dúnedain. Let’s face it, you don’t get much more Ranger-y than Faramir and Aragorn. Let’s not forget Drizzt Du’orden, Tanis Half-Elven, and the Night’s Watch. Sci-fi has its share of them as well. There’s the Power Rangers, merrily morphing their way through teenage drama and kaiju fights alike. There’s the Anla’Shok from Babylon 5. (Marcus Cole is one of my favorite characters from the show.) Then, of course, there are the Galaxy Rangers who helped me to realize that it was time for a change.

Which one of these Rangers will be the shining example for me to follow moving forward?

Yes.

There’s a bit of each of them that I will try to apply to my actions as I stride forward. I’m hardly a teenager with attitude anymore, but the mercy and wisdom of Aragorn, the iron resolve of the Night’s watch, walking in the dark places no others will enter, and taking calculated risks — the proverbial “no guts, no glory” — will serve me well now that colors are black and green.

The Ranger’s Code

Since I’m undergoing my transition to this new era, it strikes me that I should put down a few tenets that I will attempt to live by in the uncertain days ahead.

Pursue my objectives without fear: I know what I want to do and where I want to be. I’m just not entirely sure how I’m going to get there. Truth be told, it can be a scary place to be. I’m likely to get lost a few times, but I must be persistent, tenacious even, to find my way through the unknown.

Endure through hardships and setbacks: Whether it takes the form of delays in production, technical issues, negative reviews of my work, or things not panning out the way I thought they would, I need to be able to take all of that in stride to keep going. In all this, I should do what is necessary to keep moving, keep flying, without compromising my principles. 

Use what is at hand to greatest effect: I will need to be resourceful and thoughtful with what I already have. If/when new resources become available, I will need to use them as efficiently and productively as possible. Even if I should get to a point where there is an abundance, I should still proceed with a mix of caution and discernment.

Find the path forward: Regardless of what new (proverbial) forest I may enter, I must find my way through it, either by seeking the advice of those who have already traversed it or by blazing a trail of my own if a suitable one is not available. A brute force approach will almost never be the answer, so I will need to be tactical and clever in my approach to matters.   

Take only what is needed, and preserve the rest: Any level of success should not be an end unto itself; it should be a stepping stone to something more. Complacency is the eternal enemy, and I don’t want to get too comfortable wherever I land. I should always strive to be better for as long as I’m able. Where possible, I should help those struggling in the wilds along the way.

Final Thoughts

Do I know how long this era of my life will last? No. Do I know if I’m eventually due for another class change, either returning to a previous focus or finding an entirely new one? Also no.

What I do know is that this is the way I will walk for the foreseeable future. The previous eras of my life taught me certain life lessons that I won’t forget, and will certainly apply what wisdom I can in all of this. The Ranger is not a replacement for those other classes; it’s in addition to them.

While a Monk/Rogue/Ranger build in the current edition of D&D would likely be a disaster (just think of the competition over your Bonus Action!), I think this is what I need right now not only as an indie author but as an individual. It won’t be easy, but then again, nothing worth doing ever is.

I am incredibly thankful for everyone who has supported me during my writing career. And, if you are someone out there who is new to Sector M, and wishes to help Ranger operations move forward, please check out the Support page here on the blog. My new novel, Axis Point, is out now. I have a Patreon as well. If you want to take a look at what all Sector M has to offer, I have a free email newsletter you can sign up for here.

Thanks for reading!

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