I am sharing my Lego love with the next generation.

I collect Lego sets. It’s one of those things about me that makes me who I am. I’ve accepted this. My wife has accepted this. Everyone is fine with the fact that I collect Lego sets.

But there are problems with Lego set collecting.

• I would always like more Lego sets.
• I don’t have enough room to display the Lego sets that I currently own.
• My children are a bit young to fully appreciate Lego.

And so, once my kids were born, my Lego sets have been banished to the far-flung (and out-of-reach) places in the outer depths of my house. I peek in every now and again to make sure that everyone is happy. I even add to my collection from time to time. But once the set it put together, I place it with the others, store the box in the attic, and leave it be.

My wife and I made this beautiful glass-top table a few years ago. Yeah, there’s a table down there somewhere.

A Kingdom series guard surveys the tabletop land of Vikings and dragons.

The Lego Realm has slowly been taking over the nearby bookshelves.

What started as just the top of the bookshelves for the larger sets has spilled over to the lesser bookshelves below.

The Dragon Emperor approves of his child-free domain.

The Mad Scientist gleefully plays God against a backdrop of literature.

But my kids are getting older. And while it might have once been true that they saw my Lego collection as a colorful feast of bite-sized plastic, I think they know better now.

You see, I’ve been getting them hooked slowly on gateway toys like Quatro blocks (4x the size of normal Lego) and then Duplo blocks (2x the size of normal Lego). So I think they have a taste for awesomeness.

Now, I have a choice to make. I can bring my Lego sets in, fully assembled, and hope that they will play with them as is (knowing full well that this will never happen). Or I can take everything apart and introduce them to a box of possibilities, with which they can make their own sets (as I did when I was their age).

I am choosing the latter. Let them stretch their imaginations as I learn to stretch my love of Lego to include them inside. It’s a good thing that I love my kids more than almost anything else (I’m looking at you, my beautiful wife).

Soon, this box will be filled with my Lego collection.

My childhood Lego stuff has been languishing hidden in this old popcorn tin.

The tin had rusted shut, preserving my childhood inside.

Here’s the collection so far, without dismantling any of the assembled sets from the out-of-reach Lego realm seen earlier.

Among my childhood Lego stuff, I happen across two of my favorite robot creations. I think the one with the red eyes may have been evil.

My daughters await the opportunity to help me dismantle the sets so we can add them to the bin.

Hard at work, taking pieces apart.

Another gratuitous shot of my girls and my Lego stuff.

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Lego Goes Steampunk

I just got my illegal edition of the Lego Club Magazine in the mail, and what do I find on the cover but a Steampunk duel between a gentleman and a vampyre atop an enchanted train! For those of you who don’t know, I am a huge Lego fan and I’ve recently taken a shine to the Steampunk scene.

I mentioned once how my Lego collection inspired one of my 3-day novel entries, and since my WIP has elements of Steampunk in it, I’m hoping for a bit of inspiration from these sets as well. Here’s the intro to one of the new characters:

You can browse the collection of sets here.

I must admit that I would rather the Steampunk elements be the focus and not the monsters, but I’ll take what I can get.

If you are at all curious about steampunk, be sure to check out the links below. I am a member at the Brass Goggles forum and have had only positive experiences with all of the gents and ladies that I meet there. Steampunk has to have the politest members of any subset of the population.

The Links:

• http://brassgoggles.co.uk/forum/
• http://steampunkworkshop.com/
• http://www.steampunkemporium.com/

Is anyone else out there writing with elements of Steampunk? I’m just curious.

Flash Fiction Challenge | Before, But After…

The last contest I did was fun for me, but it lacked in participation. Maybe my prize wasn’t good enough. Anyway, here’s the new contest:

Before, But After… – A One-Sentence Biography.

Craft a single sentence that provides a bit of depth on a character of your creation. Each biography should follow the format below.

Before he was arrested for tax evasion, but after his time as Lieutenant Governor  of Maryland, Jeff Small worked as the greeter for a major retail chain.

or

Before her body hit the bottom, but after she jumped from the heights of the Grand Canyon, 23-year-old Jennifer Bennington discovered that she was happiest when falling.

The one-sentence biography can be about an existing character or a completely original character to this contest. You also don’t have to be a writer to enter the contest, just willing to participate.

To enter, just leave your sentence in the comments of this post. A winner will be chosen at random from among the participants.

The prize: This set of books.

Set includes The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens.

What are you waiting for?

The contest ends July 20th, 2012. All comments must be in by then. And like usual, I can only ship within the continental US.