Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Vampire: The Masquerade character bio

From 2015, never played.

Sean McWilliams was a morning DJ working at a medium-ranked St. Louis radio station in the Crestwood suburb.  He had no particular ambition, nor any particular creative originality.  His program consisted of the usual silly songs, prank calls, and trading banter/insults with callers.  He posessed one singular talent: his
 voice.  It could get him hired at any station that still used live DJs, and he may have spent his entire life skipping from one such job to the next, across the country.

One summer morning, a minor battle over territory erupted between the clans controlling Overland and University City, witnessed by an incredulous human who escaped unseen.  Rather than keep it to himself, this  individual called into the morning show at KSHE to share the story with someone, anyone.  Sean was not feeling charitable that day, and spent the rest of his shift ridiculing the caller.  The rest of the week, he reported sightings of Bigfoot, UFOs, werewolves, and the Mississippi River Monster (a distant relative of Nessie).   

On the first morning, the unfortunate man's head carried a hefty bounty.  Before the end of the week, the bounty was cancelled.  There was simply no need - Sean's campaign of ridicule had eliminated any threat of exposure.  

The DJ, however, had earned a different kind of bounty.  He was brought into the Ventrue clan, and given a new sort of job - keeping the Masquerade as he has shown he can do.  Fortunately, the gifts he received dovetailed nicely into the mission.  The hours are a little different now.  

After a few years two things have become apparent:  First, radio is declining, so McWilliams has had to expand his technical knowledge into the online world.  Second, he has been a public figure in one place for too long.  The Prince required him to make one Childe (in the hopes of passing on his unique combination of gifts), and train that person in his craft.  Now he has moved along to Omaha to ply his trade.  To carry on his mission here, he must make his presence known to Omaha's Prince and Clan leaders.

But Sean - now known locally as Reve Coeur (a tribute to his previous home in the suburb Creve Coeur), has other missions too.  He is experimenting with casting his vocal powers over radio, podcasts, and vlogs.  He is also working to rebuild his influence among high-powered human predators, as theirs is the only blood which nourishes him.  

Once he has resided in Omaha for no more than 20 years, he plans to move on again.

Details:

This character is very loosely based upon LaCroix, a supporting character from the Forever Knight series.

A DJ who is experimenting with manipulation of mortals with electronic media - radio, podcasts, vlogs.  He wants to foment unrest and violence among mortals to make it easier to cover up vampiric activities.

He prefers to hunt predators.  Not because of any feelings for innocence, but because he feels it makes the hunt more exciting.  The moment of terror when the predator becomes the prey is almost as delicious as the blood itself.  

His casual method of hunting is to take long walks, wearing expensive clothing, and appearing slightly inebriated.  The predators he attracts this way, he rarely leaves breathing, because he considers them clumsy, boring, and motivated more from desperation than true cold-bloodedness.  They rarely have any usable influence.

His more intricate method (or plan?) involves stalking politicians, mobsters, and powerful businessmen, learning of their pecadillos and setting up "stings" - situations in which he can eventually gain some leverage.  When he drinks from these, he would rather keep them alive and under his influence.  These are true sociopaths and he believes he can use them to his advantage, whether broken or not.

He has never given anyone the Embrace and at this time has no desire to make a childe.

10 rarity points

Ventrue  currently 2 RP
Chosen blood type: predators (sociopaths?)
Presence
Dominate
Fortitude

Nature Competitor
Demeanor  Cavalier

Sunday, February 15, 2026

Offer From a Facebook Page

 

Offer: 
Scraps of fabric, lace, embellishments and ribbon. Most less than 6inches long. Good for scrapbooks and junk journaling.
 
Accumulated over years, maybe generations.
Some worn-out, some never finished,
Some the leftovers of other projects, carefully hoarded,
From a time when pennies were dear.
 
Now,
Pennies are a thing of the past,
There's no room in the house for things that carry only ghosts of second-hand memories,
And no time to make new ones from the scraps of a forgotten heritage.
 
I can't put a price on this,
So I give it freely,
Asking only that you gaze upon it fondly for a few minutes,
Your head full of grand plans,
Before pressing it between scrapbook pages,
Or putting it away for a project that will not come to fruition,
Eventually passing it on to another kind stranger
And their own grand plans.
 

 May be an image of lace

 

Apologies to the original poster if this offends.  When I saw the picture, it reminded me so much of the fabric, crochet, and crafting scraps that my late wife saved, and we stored together through 40 years.  Right down to the ziploc bag.  I recently gave away most of those second-hand memories, too.  I'm sad to have done it, yet glad to have spared my children the task.

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

My Dad was a Cop

​​
While corresponding with a remote friend, this subject came up: 
 
>>   (sorry, my dad was a cop, and these things kind of rub off) 
> Updated, and that is super interesting. I bet that must have been quite interesting, and also nervy at times with your dad being a cop. I bet you heard loads of fascinating stories.

I tried to think of interesting and harrowing stories, but couldn't.  I was a kid, and not thinking about it, plus he faced far fewer dangers in our relatively small town.  It mostly affected my life by teaching me how to be quiet, as he worked graveyard for quite a while.  Also, he drank too much while he had that job.  I suspect that there were a few issues he tried (and failed) to keep from the rest of the family.
 
I do have one story, though.  It was about his first "arrest."  He was sent to respond to reports of a piglet which had escaped its farm enclosure and was seen wandering around the town square.  He had a picture framed, which he called "Pig arrests pig"  (the local paper didn't use that headline).  He had a watch with a revisionist message:  "Pride, Integrity, Guts" -- sort of an attempt to "own" the term.  Later, he quit the force because he was passed over for a promotion that he felt he deserved.  
 
John Lee Payton, Sr.

His Missouri accent was stronger than mine, and sounded a bit more southern.  I think he tried to look like Dean Martin and sound like Andy Griffith.

He was a strict father and discouraged "feelings," which served to estrange his artistic son and discourage questions about his day.  I inherited his temper, which threatened to do the same with my family.  I hope it did not.

Saturday, November 8, 2025

The Sardine Shop

I'll be 100% honest - I don't really know this book's target audience.  It's quirky, and has heavy religious themes.  However, I am still proud of the voice work I did on it.


 Donald’s Sardine Shop—which was active in the old town of Celer, during the time of Joseph Walker and Sheriff Adrien Baker—existed primarily for the sale of good sardines, but it also inhabited a maniac hidden in plain sight. A lifetime among fish, cut off from human contact, had slowly and eerily worked Donald down into madness; to the point where the voices taking hold of his brain began prompting him to do things unspeakably vile. His life as a store owner—and psychopathic crackpot—is hereby recorded in intimate detail; for the purpose of informing future sardine shop customers of the underlying danger lurking behind those shop doors. ‘The Sardine Shop’, the new novella by Rob Ryan—author of ‘Erland’, ‘Clementine’ and ‘The Kallors’—is available now on Amazon.


Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Earth 856: A Kaiju Task Force Story

 This is my sixth audiobook, but Audible shows it as my fifth because for some reason "The House on the Bend" was removed.  I gave this one the full radio-play treatment, with music, backgrounds, and sound effects.  BIG shout-out to the Pixabay free sound community.  


Earth 856: A Kaiju Task Force Story

Kaiju Task Force, Season One, Book 4


Vance Hadrian has led his research team through a rift at the bottom of the ocean-a shimmering, unnatural doorway between worlds. On the other side lies Earth 856, a savage mirror of our own. Vance says they're here for answers. But the truth runs darker than his crew suspects. He's haunted-by the day Kaiju emerged, by the destruction they left behind, and by the terrifying potential they revealed. Vance doesn't want answers-he wants to control them. To bend one of these living weapons to his will.


Saturday, August 2, 2025

The Dungeon & the Labyrinth Audiobook by Rob Horner

My fifth narration is now live!

I learn something new with each book I finish.  I  mean, apart from the fact that I don't like my own voice that much; I learned that long ago.

This one is my best work to date.  

Ten strangers wake up to find themselves unwitting contestants in a new reality show, The Dungeon. The rules are simple: if they can make it to the end, they will live. The world is watching. Timed kill rooms, traps, wild animals, and a new breed of human monstrosity are all bent on making this game as difficult as possible. Can they come together and work as a team? Or will they fall to the perils within these halls?

Tune in to the inaugural episode of The Dungeon to find out! (Check your local listings for availability.) (All bets must be placed within the first 5 minutes of each episode, except where not allowed by law.)


The Dungeon & the Labyrinth Audiobook by Rob Horner

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Review: The Headphones

The Headphones The Headphones by Steve McElhenny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reminded me quite a bit of series such as Twilight Zone, or Monsters. A misanthrope, who has never known happiness, attempts to use a magical artifact that reminds people of their happiest time.

I've read a lot of McElhenny's work - he comes up with unique ideas and tributes to the entertainment of earlier days. Sometimes I think that he's too optimistic for horror -- where Steve King would allow his characters to spiral into misery and eternal damnation, Steve McElhenny gives them an escape to redemption.

The narrator was talented - all characters were distinct and separate, all voices well-done, and the overall mood appropriate - but the way he used accents made me question exactly where the book was supposed to be set.

View all my reviews