Soooo, the way I come up with stories is that I will usually imagine a few different scenes that will play through my head like a movie, soundtrack and all. If you catch me spacing out either a.) i'm having a seizure, or b.) watching a scene of the story i'm currently writing and working out the bugs. Then I fill in teh places between the scenes with anything that's missing, and then I start outlining and making up character backgrounds to explain why they act the way they act. Music i a big part of how I write because I always imagine specific songs playing during specific scenes and tend to put that song on repeat while writing it. It drives my brother insane.
Anyway, when I'm done, there's usually one song that stands out as kind of the theme song of the story as a whole. So here's the songs that go with the stories I've written. I'm not going to pot MP3s of these songs so you'll have to look them up on your own if you're unfamilliar with them.
Beyond the Lost Horizon - Holdin' out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler. The reason for that is probably pretty obvious if you've read it. Imagine it playing in the background as Brand, Raven, Temari and Tristam are storming Arcanis to rescue Kriss from the Black Tower and stop Shanndryss from releasing an ancient evil.
Spires of Infinity - Holiday (Faded Glory) By Green Day. This song is about breaking through the lies of society to find truth. I chose this one for this story not only because it's really catchy, but because Gabriel is trying to break through the shell of lies that he's built around himself and starting a new life.
The Path - Ready to Roll by Jet Black Stare. This song is basically Sam's theme song, and as this story is mainly about her struggles with her past and trying to fit in where she clearly doesn't, I figured it was a fitting song for the story as a whole.
Exile - Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. A story about two outcasts has a song about being an outcast, no brainer there.
The Ark of Zarathustra - Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire. This story is building up to basically the end of the world, so Eve of Destruction is very fitting.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The Path Chapter 7
I've finished chapter 7 of the first draft of The Path and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
This chapter gives some insights on why and how the human race spread from earth amongst the stars, and hints at a war long long ago in which Earth was destroyed. I plan to eventually write a book about that war, or rather the civil war amongst humanity afterward, but it'll be a long time in the future before I get around to that, so I'll give a little background. About 150 years in our future scientists discover alien ruins on a newly colonized world with instructions to creating a Jump Drive, which allowes instantaneous travel between two points in space. They built it, but got it a bit wrong because their translation computers were not perfect in translating hte alien writing. The result was that when the Jump Drive was activated, it tore a hole in the universe to a different plain of reality where beings of pure energy lived. Seeing our universe they began flooding through the tear and wiping the human race out, taking our worlds for themselves. They could easily read human minds and they quickly learned what frightened us, using the forms of biblical demons in psychological warfare, and those of angels broadcasting that god had sent them to exterminate his mistake of hte human race. So the humans started calling them Demons, and their dimension the Netherworld. eventually the humans developed weapons capable of affecting beings of pure energy, and the Demons were pressed back, but the breech between our two universes was never completely sealed. There are thin places where Humans can be pulled into the Netherworld, and where Demons can be brought into this universe by trapping their energy and consciousness into flesh. This is where Heretics and all that come from in the worlds of Spires of Infinity. Eventually the Jump Drives were perfected and the human race scattered throughout the universe exploring and colonizing countless worlds.
I also had an interesting idea with this chapter. What would happen when a world is colonized, and then all the people with the educations, the engineers, scientists, doctors and such died off? Would they train more to take their place, or would technology begin to degrade and disappear? I think that without outside contact with a larger civilization, recieving teachers, teaching materials, and supplies, that civilization would eventually degrade back to pre-electric times, and basically start over again, with the people discovering for themselves what makes electricity and electronics work rather than standing on the shoulders of long dead scientists taht no one remembers anymore.
There are also some further insights into Sam's character here, like her complete lack of modesty. When I first concieved of her character I was trying to make the most over the top offensive woman that Gabriel had ever met. And once I'd done that I had to go back and bactrack on her character and come up for motives as to WHY she was the way that she was. She acts like a total slob to make herself less appealing to rapists, for instance. In this chapter you find out that she doesn't care if she's seen naked by anyone because that's how she grew up. She lived on the streets. She had no money for clothing until she met Mister Mittens, and so she had to make due with rags that didn't always cover everything that needed covering for modesty's sake. When you don't have access to clothing that covers all of your naughty bits, you either learn not to be affected by people seeing them, or you live in a cave out of the way of other people's eyes your entire life. She is still outraged at invasions into her privacy, but if she's showing it, she doesn't care who sees it.
This chapter gives some insights on why and how the human race spread from earth amongst the stars, and hints at a war long long ago in which Earth was destroyed. I plan to eventually write a book about that war, or rather the civil war amongst humanity afterward, but it'll be a long time in the future before I get around to that, so I'll give a little background. About 150 years in our future scientists discover alien ruins on a newly colonized world with instructions to creating a Jump Drive, which allowes instantaneous travel between two points in space. They built it, but got it a bit wrong because their translation computers were not perfect in translating hte alien writing. The result was that when the Jump Drive was activated, it tore a hole in the universe to a different plain of reality where beings of pure energy lived. Seeing our universe they began flooding through the tear and wiping the human race out, taking our worlds for themselves. They could easily read human minds and they quickly learned what frightened us, using the forms of biblical demons in psychological warfare, and those of angels broadcasting that god had sent them to exterminate his mistake of hte human race. So the humans started calling them Demons, and their dimension the Netherworld. eventually the humans developed weapons capable of affecting beings of pure energy, and the Demons were pressed back, but the breech between our two universes was never completely sealed. There are thin places where Humans can be pulled into the Netherworld, and where Demons can be brought into this universe by trapping their energy and consciousness into flesh. This is where Heretics and all that come from in the worlds of Spires of Infinity. Eventually the Jump Drives were perfected and the human race scattered throughout the universe exploring and colonizing countless worlds.
I also had an interesting idea with this chapter. What would happen when a world is colonized, and then all the people with the educations, the engineers, scientists, doctors and such died off? Would they train more to take their place, or would technology begin to degrade and disappear? I think that without outside contact with a larger civilization, recieving teachers, teaching materials, and supplies, that civilization would eventually degrade back to pre-electric times, and basically start over again, with the people discovering for themselves what makes electricity and electronics work rather than standing on the shoulders of long dead scientists taht no one remembers anymore.
There are also some further insights into Sam's character here, like her complete lack of modesty. When I first concieved of her character I was trying to make the most over the top offensive woman that Gabriel had ever met. And once I'd done that I had to go back and bactrack on her character and come up for motives as to WHY she was the way that she was. She acts like a total slob to make herself less appealing to rapists, for instance. In this chapter you find out that she doesn't care if she's seen naked by anyone because that's how she grew up. She lived on the streets. She had no money for clothing until she met Mister Mittens, and so she had to make due with rags that didn't always cover everything that needed covering for modesty's sake. When you don't have access to clothing that covers all of your naughty bits, you either learn not to be affected by people seeing them, or you live in a cave out of the way of other people's eyes your entire life. She is still outraged at invasions into her privacy, but if she's showing it, she doesn't care who sees it.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Path Chapter 6
I've finished the first draft of The Path, Chapter 6 and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
Ok, so, the last chapter left Sam as the only one not affected by the transmission coming from the black tower off in teh distance. In this chapter she sets out for the tower to save her friends and you get a lot of insights into her character along the way. She reflects on how she hates being treated as though she'd incapable of taking care of herself, stops to help a complete stranger, that sort of thing.
In this chapter you also get to see just how evil Stark can be. She isn't just crazy evil, she's also brutal and completely without remorse or pity. She remembers everything that Allie does about having her mind ripped from her body. She remembers the torture that Allison went through to create the AI for the Spires of Infinity even better than Allie does, because she got all of Allison's negativity and hatred at those that did it to her. She holds ALL humans responsible for it, and will go out of her way just to make people suffer. She completely slaughtered entire families just to sate her curiosity over internal human anatomy. And Sam's mental image of a child splashing happily in mud wasn't just a mental image. That's what actually happened. Stark is one scary and utterly disturbed little girl.
Anyway, enjoy, I hope to be able to concentrate more on writing now that my retard neighbor has finally gotten the freaking hint that he can't crank his stereo up so loud and get away with it.
Ok, so, the last chapter left Sam as the only one not affected by the transmission coming from the black tower off in teh distance. In this chapter she sets out for the tower to save her friends and you get a lot of insights into her character along the way. She reflects on how she hates being treated as though she'd incapable of taking care of herself, stops to help a complete stranger, that sort of thing.
In this chapter you also get to see just how evil Stark can be. She isn't just crazy evil, she's also brutal and completely without remorse or pity. She remembers everything that Allie does about having her mind ripped from her body. She remembers the torture that Allison went through to create the AI for the Spires of Infinity even better than Allie does, because she got all of Allison's negativity and hatred at those that did it to her. She holds ALL humans responsible for it, and will go out of her way just to make people suffer. She completely slaughtered entire families just to sate her curiosity over internal human anatomy. And Sam's mental image of a child splashing happily in mud wasn't just a mental image. That's what actually happened. Stark is one scary and utterly disturbed little girl.
Anyway, enjoy, I hope to be able to concentrate more on writing now that my retard neighbor has finally gotten the freaking hint that he can't crank his stereo up so loud and get away with it.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Uhg, I need a house...
I like to think that I'm a good neighbor in that I don't make much noise and am considerate of the fact that I have other people living all around me, sharing my walls, and that none of them want to be reminded of the fact that I'm here. I expect others to do the same. I mean, is it so much to ask that I don't hear the bass of your stereo throbbing through my walls 9 hours a day while I'm trying to concentrate? Is it so much to ask that I can sit down and write for an hour or two without wondering if my dishes are going to rattle right out of my cupboards and shatter on the ground?
I will admit that I am not exactly the most empathetic person on earth, in fact I was diagnosed by a liscenced (though probably not for much longer) therapist as having a dificiency in empathy toward others. But I still have enough consideration toward my fellow human beings not to crank my TV or stereo up as loud as it will go. It's common courtesy. Treat others as you would like to be treated. I may have a problem feeling empathy for others, but I know how I like to be treated, and I treat other people that way.
That being said, I'm also like a cranky old man. I don't like to hear noise that I'm not making. It annoys the crap out of me. If i'm sitting around trying to do generally anything at all, and I hear a bass beat coming through my wall, that I can hear from every single point inside my apartment no matter where I go or what I do, I have to admit, I get a little more than a little annoyed. I also realize that other people are allowed to live their lives. This is their home too. But if it goes on for more than an hour or so, I start to get very angry about it.
Especially if it is a daily occurance. Sure I can put on some headphones and try to ignore it. But you know what, I shouldn't have to. This is my home. This is where I live. This is where I go to get away from the world, and I don't like being reminded by a throbbing bass beat that the world is still out there waiting to sink its jagged teeth into me.
Now, you might be saying, but Eric, why not just go over and ask them to turn it down. I don't like confrontations, but you know what, I'm not afraid of them either. I've had three people lving in the apartment next to mine over the last year with no respect for my Fortress of Solitude. At this point the second I hear bass I'm pounding on the walls, or on their door to tell them to turn it down. You'd think they'd get the picture, but the never seem to. And so I start threatening to call the police, but they think they're doing nothing wrong, when in actualiy they are breaking noise laws if I can hear their stereo in my home, no matter that we share a wall, and am annoyed by it. I've had two people evicted because they can't respect the fact that I enjoy my peace and quiet for a couple hours at night after a usually long and hard day of work.
Someone just moved in on friday, and I hate him already. He's a punk kid, that has no respect for anyone, expecially me. I've asked him nicely to keep it down. I've asked not so nicely to keep it down. I've pounded on the walls and on his front door so much over the weekend that my hand is bruised from it. I've even threatened him with calls to the police, and with what happened to the last two people to live there. What goes through someone's head when they deliberately crank their stereo up, knowing that it's completely enraging the guy sharing your wall, and knowing that if you don't stop right now, he's going to call the police? I don't get that. How can you be both that incredilby retarded, AND inconsiderate. It doesn't make any sense.
So I finally made good on my threats today, and called the police. They came, pounded on his door yelling "Police, open up!!!" What does he do? He starts telling them that I am the one making all the noise and they should come arrest me instead. And this is completely ridiculous becuse you can hear his stereo from the ground level. They give him a ticket, and inform him of noise laws and all of that, and as soon as they leave he's pounding on my door screaming about what a douchebag I am. I've listened to his base pounding through my walls all weekend, I've asked him numerous times to turn it down before resulting to angry threats and then making good on those threats and I am the douchebag here? he sealed his fate with that right there. I told him that I would call the police again every time I heard so much as a mouse sneezing from his apartment ever again and slammed the door in his face. And I plan to too. If he's going to be that inconsiderate after being given as many chances as he was given to be a decent human being, he deserves to see me in full douchebag mode. He's brought it on himself. I know how to hold a grudge. I'm sadistic and evil that way. It stems from my lack of empathy for others, I suppose.
Why can't I get a neighbor that respects the fact that we're in a cheaply built apartment with rather thin walls and keeps the volume down to a reasonable level? I don't like being a jackass. It's not in my character, but if it's the only way I can get some peace and quiet, I'll do it. I really need a house. I'm sick and tired of having retarded 20 year olds whose parents never taught them anything resembling manners sharing my wall. I really need my agent to sell Spires of Infinity so I can aford to buy a house. I am so sick of living in an apartment and having to put up with all this crap.
I will admit that I am not exactly the most empathetic person on earth, in fact I was diagnosed by a liscenced (though probably not for much longer) therapist as having a dificiency in empathy toward others. But I still have enough consideration toward my fellow human beings not to crank my TV or stereo up as loud as it will go. It's common courtesy. Treat others as you would like to be treated. I may have a problem feeling empathy for others, but I know how I like to be treated, and I treat other people that way.
That being said, I'm also like a cranky old man. I don't like to hear noise that I'm not making. It annoys the crap out of me. If i'm sitting around trying to do generally anything at all, and I hear a bass beat coming through my wall, that I can hear from every single point inside my apartment no matter where I go or what I do, I have to admit, I get a little more than a little annoyed. I also realize that other people are allowed to live their lives. This is their home too. But if it goes on for more than an hour or so, I start to get very angry about it.
Especially if it is a daily occurance. Sure I can put on some headphones and try to ignore it. But you know what, I shouldn't have to. This is my home. This is where I live. This is where I go to get away from the world, and I don't like being reminded by a throbbing bass beat that the world is still out there waiting to sink its jagged teeth into me.
Now, you might be saying, but Eric, why not just go over and ask them to turn it down. I don't like confrontations, but you know what, I'm not afraid of them either. I've had three people lving in the apartment next to mine over the last year with no respect for my Fortress of Solitude. At this point the second I hear bass I'm pounding on the walls, or on their door to tell them to turn it down. You'd think they'd get the picture, but the never seem to. And so I start threatening to call the police, but they think they're doing nothing wrong, when in actualiy they are breaking noise laws if I can hear their stereo in my home, no matter that we share a wall, and am annoyed by it. I've had two people evicted because they can't respect the fact that I enjoy my peace and quiet for a couple hours at night after a usually long and hard day of work.
Someone just moved in on friday, and I hate him already. He's a punk kid, that has no respect for anyone, expecially me. I've asked him nicely to keep it down. I've asked not so nicely to keep it down. I've pounded on the walls and on his front door so much over the weekend that my hand is bruised from it. I've even threatened him with calls to the police, and with what happened to the last two people to live there. What goes through someone's head when they deliberately crank their stereo up, knowing that it's completely enraging the guy sharing your wall, and knowing that if you don't stop right now, he's going to call the police? I don't get that. How can you be both that incredilby retarded, AND inconsiderate. It doesn't make any sense.
So I finally made good on my threats today, and called the police. They came, pounded on his door yelling "Police, open up!!!" What does he do? He starts telling them that I am the one making all the noise and they should come arrest me instead. And this is completely ridiculous becuse you can hear his stereo from the ground level. They give him a ticket, and inform him of noise laws and all of that, and as soon as they leave he's pounding on my door screaming about what a douchebag I am. I've listened to his base pounding through my walls all weekend, I've asked him numerous times to turn it down before resulting to angry threats and then making good on those threats and I am the douchebag here? he sealed his fate with that right there. I told him that I would call the police again every time I heard so much as a mouse sneezing from his apartment ever again and slammed the door in his face. And I plan to too. If he's going to be that inconsiderate after being given as many chances as he was given to be a decent human being, he deserves to see me in full douchebag mode. He's brought it on himself. I know how to hold a grudge. I'm sadistic and evil that way. It stems from my lack of empathy for others, I suppose.
Why can't I get a neighbor that respects the fact that we're in a cheaply built apartment with rather thin walls and keeps the volume down to a reasonable level? I don't like being a jackass. It's not in my character, but if it's the only way I can get some peace and quiet, I'll do it. I really need a house. I'm sick and tired of having retarded 20 year olds whose parents never taught them anything resembling manners sharing my wall. I really need my agent to sell Spires of Infinity so I can aford to buy a house. I am so sick of living in an apartment and having to put up with all this crap.
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Path Chapter 5
I've finished chapter 5 of the first draft of The Path and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
Ok, so we've had the villains make their appearances, the heroes of the main storyline of the story, and a bunch of dudes who we don't quite know about yet show up, but where's all the people from the last book? They're finally making their appearance in chapter 5. This chapter is told from Sam's point of view, and there's a few reasons for that, one of which is a plot twist so I won't tell you about it right now, but some others are that Gabriel already had his story told. He's gone through his struggle and come out a better person. So has Kari. Now it's someone else's turn to do so. Also, something was bothering me a bit about Sam's character as I finished up with Spires. She's an extremely capable woman. She's managed to survive in about the harshest world imaginable all alone without being raped or killed all by her own intelligence and abilities. She learned how to survive and has done so alone since she was 10 years old. And what did I have her doing in Spires? She was a guide, sure, I guess that's admirable, but then she does a lot of whining, complaining, and she gets captured and rescued TWICE, though she does come to the rescue for Gabriel once to offset one of them. But he sends her away to face the Apostle alone, which is fine since that was HIS story, but I pretty much wasted a very interesting character on things that are frankly beneath her.
So i've got this capable woman, who knows how to survive in a dangerous, awful world, and all she does is complain and get captured and rescued. So what I wanted to do with her is let her show off some of her skills and intelligence and be the hero of the story now. I've decided that the reason she hasn't shown off her abilities until this time because she's always tried to keep others from noticing her in order to protect herself. In this current storyline her NVM alterations make it so that she is the only one the group not knocked unconscious by a strange trasmission, so she's the only one that is capable of saving the others. She'll be showing her capability more and more after that, as her conidence grows, and she realizes that she doesn't have to hide how smart and skilled she is.
Like Spires of Infinity, half of this book will be made up of rewritten short stories from my large stockpile. This chapter marks the beginning of a story I wrote in eight grade called The Obelisk, Which was inspired, in part, by playing Heroes of Might and Magic with Chris. It was about an outcast wizard in a tower that wanted revenge against hte people in the village below, so he made something that put everyone in a coma, but one man managed to resist and killed him, waking everyone in the village. Sure, it's not the most imaginative story ever, but I was in eigth grade, it's not like i'm going to be writing shakespearean sonnets. There are obvious changes, the Wizard is Stark, the one who resisted is Sam, and the strange transmission affects the entire world.
I'd also like to point out that this chapter takes place chronologically BEFORE chapter one, but chapter one had to come first to introduce the villains and the fact that they're plotting something nefarious. Like Spires of Infinity, I'm taking a bit of liberty in the timeline and rather than putting everything in chronological order, I'm putting the chapters in the order that makes the most sense in flow of the story.
Ok, so we've had the villains make their appearances, the heroes of the main storyline of the story, and a bunch of dudes who we don't quite know about yet show up, but where's all the people from the last book? They're finally making their appearance in chapter 5. This chapter is told from Sam's point of view, and there's a few reasons for that, one of which is a plot twist so I won't tell you about it right now, but some others are that Gabriel already had his story told. He's gone through his struggle and come out a better person. So has Kari. Now it's someone else's turn to do so. Also, something was bothering me a bit about Sam's character as I finished up with Spires. She's an extremely capable woman. She's managed to survive in about the harshest world imaginable all alone without being raped or killed all by her own intelligence and abilities. She learned how to survive and has done so alone since she was 10 years old. And what did I have her doing in Spires? She was a guide, sure, I guess that's admirable, but then she does a lot of whining, complaining, and she gets captured and rescued TWICE, though she does come to the rescue for Gabriel once to offset one of them. But he sends her away to face the Apostle alone, which is fine since that was HIS story, but I pretty much wasted a very interesting character on things that are frankly beneath her.
So i've got this capable woman, who knows how to survive in a dangerous, awful world, and all she does is complain and get captured and rescued. So what I wanted to do with her is let her show off some of her skills and intelligence and be the hero of the story now. I've decided that the reason she hasn't shown off her abilities until this time because she's always tried to keep others from noticing her in order to protect herself. In this current storyline her NVM alterations make it so that she is the only one the group not knocked unconscious by a strange trasmission, so she's the only one that is capable of saving the others. She'll be showing her capability more and more after that, as her conidence grows, and she realizes that she doesn't have to hide how smart and skilled she is.
Like Spires of Infinity, half of this book will be made up of rewritten short stories from my large stockpile. This chapter marks the beginning of a story I wrote in eight grade called The Obelisk, Which was inspired, in part, by playing Heroes of Might and Magic with Chris. It was about an outcast wizard in a tower that wanted revenge against hte people in the village below, so he made something that put everyone in a coma, but one man managed to resist and killed him, waking everyone in the village. Sure, it's not the most imaginative story ever, but I was in eigth grade, it's not like i'm going to be writing shakespearean sonnets. There are obvious changes, the Wizard is Stark, the one who resisted is Sam, and the strange transmission affects the entire world.
I'd also like to point out that this chapter takes place chronologically BEFORE chapter one, but chapter one had to come first to introduce the villains and the fact that they're plotting something nefarious. Like Spires of Infinity, I'm taking a bit of liberty in the timeline and rather than putting everything in chronological order, I'm putting the chapters in the order that makes the most sense in flow of the story.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Booooooo
So the brakes on my truck started grinding super bad this week. It's kinda sucktacular. Lucky me, I get to sit around waiting to pay $400 to fix them. I'm super bored so I'm posting from my phone from the mechanic's place. I kinda wish I'd brought something else to do =(
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Computer Fail!!!
So, aparently while I'm at work all day, my brother is at home looking up porn on my laptop so that his laptop doesn't get infected by all the crap on porn sites. This led to my computer getting some pretty nasty crap on it, and I had to reinstall EVERYTHING. Needless to say I've now put a login password on my computer so only I can use it now, and luckily I back up everything important regularly to an external hard drive which scanned clean once I got my laptop back up and running enough to virus scan it. I'm just really annoyed that i had to waste like 4 hours of my day reinstalling things because someone else is addicted to porn...
I thought about changing the password on my router just to mess with him... but I kinda forgot how to, so oh well, there goes that idea.
I thought about changing the password on my router just to mess with him... but I kinda forgot how to, so oh well, there goes that idea.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Spires of Infinity end of final final draft
I finished editing the end of Spires of Infinity a while ago and forgot to upload the chapters, so I've done that now. You can find them at the bottom of this page.
I've done some further editing to chapter 41 because I wasn't happy with the changes i'd made, because it needed a bit more work to make them work, so I've re-uploaded that chapter with the changes and I have to say that I'm much happier with it now. There have been massive changes to chapter 42 and a few spot edits to the rest of the chapters.
So there it is, Spires of Infinity, completed. I hope you enjoy it. I worked REALLY hard on it. Now to focus on The Path BWAAHAAHAA.
I've done some further editing to chapter 41 because I wasn't happy with the changes i'd made, because it needed a bit more work to make them work, so I've re-uploaded that chapter with the changes and I have to say that I'm much happier with it now. There have been massive changes to chapter 42 and a few spot edits to the rest of the chapters.
So there it is, Spires of Infinity, completed. I hope you enjoy it. I worked REALLY hard on it. Now to focus on The Path BWAAHAAHAA.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
X-Men: First Class - Spoiler Free
Disappointed by X-men 3? Horrified by Wolverine? I know I was. But fear not, fellow comic book movie fans, X-Men: First Class has surpassed X-Men 2 as my favorite movie in the series.
This movie has an actual, coherant plot, characters that are likable and played by good and likable actors, including the dude from Wanted as Xavier. Character developement and growth. It does not rely heavily on bad CG effects. And it has Kevin Bacon, like every other movie ever made.
If you didn't know, First Class is about Magnito and Professor X in their 20s, first learning about their powers and coming together to find others to fight against those who would use their powers for evil. You get to see the origins of a lot of cool things in the series like their relationship, and their disagreement about how mutants should regard humanity. I'll skip adding more details from the plot so I don't ruin it for anyone.
It's a really fun movie to watch, and almost makes up for the last two movies in the series. As comic book movies go, this one is near the top of the list for well done and awesome. I totally recomend it.
This movie has an actual, coherant plot, characters that are likable and played by good and likable actors, including the dude from Wanted as Xavier. Character developement and growth. It does not rely heavily on bad CG effects. And it has Kevin Bacon, like every other movie ever made.
If you didn't know, First Class is about Magnito and Professor X in their 20s, first learning about their powers and coming together to find others to fight against those who would use their powers for evil. You get to see the origins of a lot of cool things in the series like their relationship, and their disagreement about how mutants should regard humanity. I'll skip adding more details from the plot so I don't ruin it for anyone.
It's a really fun movie to watch, and almost makes up for the last two movies in the series. As comic book movies go, this one is near the top of the list for well done and awesome. I totally recomend it.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Star Wars: Deathtroopers
So, it's no secret that I love Star Wars. That's the original rilogy, mind you, as far as I'm concerned it sure is a shame George Lucas never quite got around to making the prequels. Anyway, Starting in the early 90s a series of books about what happened after the original trilogy began, and I, being a fan, started reading them. I used to buy them all as they came out, and I'd usually read them within a day, eagerly awaiting the next.
I've since stopped for several reasons. At first, these were good stories, and normally well written by respected science fiction writers. The quality began to degrade rapidly after the first prequel movie came out, and all of the respected writers went on to new projects while new starwars books started being written by the lowest bidder. It was as if everyone saw The Phantom Menace and said, "well, if even george lucas doesn't care about quality now, why should we break our backs?" They began brining in references from the prequel movies that even contradict the original trilogy as well as the books that came before them. And most annoyingly, they began to make up their own curse words. I always hate it when writers try to make up new curse words. It always sounds stupid no matter what they do. In the original star wars trilogy the characters all said words like damn and hell. so why would they not use these same words to epress themselves a few years later in their lives? it doesn't make sense and I just got sick of it all and stopped spending my money on the star wars books because the quality just wasnt there anymore.
There were some really good books that came out in the beginning that I really enjoyed, but everything was just getting ruined after a certain point. I mean, how many tyrants can overthrow the government in a single man's life anyway? Not only are they badly written, unimaginitve crap, but they strain credulity far beyond what anyone should be expected to take with a straight face.
So I was at the library and I saw on a display shelf this book called Star Wars: Deathtroopers. It had a storm trooper helmet with blood splattered on it hanging on a spike on the cover. I had sworn off Star Wars books, but I was somewhat intrigued. I picked it up and read the flap. Han Solo vs. Zombies... I am not joking.
"Now Eric, that's just plain ridiculous," you say? Why yes it is indeed. But you know what, as a story, it works, and it's one of the most entertaining books I've read of late. This is due to the mathematical principle that Zombies = Win.
Now, I'm not saying that every zombie movie/book/whatever is great. Oh no, there are quite a few downright awful ones out there. But generally, just about anything is better with zombies than it is without. I will give a few examples.
The Pirates of the Carribean movies. Movie 1 had the heroes facing off against zombie pirates. Is there anything in this world that is more epic than that? Look at movies 2, 3, and 4 in the series. No more zombie pirates... AND THEY SUCKED!!!
Pride and prejudice is a horribly boring monstricity that I wouldn't inflict on my worst enemy, but add zombies to it and it's still pretty dang boring, but the parts with the zombies in it are rather entertaining and they somewhat break the soul crushing boredom of pride and prejudice up into more manageable pieces.
Now, think of the worst movie that you have ever seen in your entire life. Let's throw Transformers 2 out there, because, hey, it was no Citizen Cain. The acting was horrible, the special effects were laughably bad, the plot, if you can call it a plot, was convoluted and nonesensical, and there wasn't a single shred of character developement anywhere, but don't worry, michael bay replaced all of those things with bigger, more slow motiony explosions, so it's all good, right? WRONG!!! explosions =/= a well developed story with interesting characters, especially with Shia Lebeuff as the lead. Now, imagine, if you will, Transformers 2 with zombies in it. It's still a pile of crap, but at least there's some entertainment value in it now, and the possibility that Shia Labitch might get his face eaten off by one.
Anyway, Star Wars: Deathtroopers is a little ridiculous, and it does take a story that really shouldn't have been written as a star wars story and shoehorns star wars characters and references into it. However, it's decently written and once you get past the whole WTF starwars vs. zombies thing and sit down to have some fun with it, it can actually be a very entertaining book to read.
I've since stopped for several reasons. At first, these were good stories, and normally well written by respected science fiction writers. The quality began to degrade rapidly after the first prequel movie came out, and all of the respected writers went on to new projects while new starwars books started being written by the lowest bidder. It was as if everyone saw The Phantom Menace and said, "well, if even george lucas doesn't care about quality now, why should we break our backs?" They began brining in references from the prequel movies that even contradict the original trilogy as well as the books that came before them. And most annoyingly, they began to make up their own curse words. I always hate it when writers try to make up new curse words. It always sounds stupid no matter what they do. In the original star wars trilogy the characters all said words like damn and hell. so why would they not use these same words to epress themselves a few years later in their lives? it doesn't make sense and I just got sick of it all and stopped spending my money on the star wars books because the quality just wasnt there anymore.
There were some really good books that came out in the beginning that I really enjoyed, but everything was just getting ruined after a certain point. I mean, how many tyrants can overthrow the government in a single man's life anyway? Not only are they badly written, unimaginitve crap, but they strain credulity far beyond what anyone should be expected to take with a straight face.
So I was at the library and I saw on a display shelf this book called Star Wars: Deathtroopers. It had a storm trooper helmet with blood splattered on it hanging on a spike on the cover. I had sworn off Star Wars books, but I was somewhat intrigued. I picked it up and read the flap. Han Solo vs. Zombies... I am not joking.
"Now Eric, that's just plain ridiculous," you say? Why yes it is indeed. But you know what, as a story, it works, and it's one of the most entertaining books I've read of late. This is due to the mathematical principle that Zombies = Win.
Now, I'm not saying that every zombie movie/book/whatever is great. Oh no, there are quite a few downright awful ones out there. But generally, just about anything is better with zombies than it is without. I will give a few examples.
The Pirates of the Carribean movies. Movie 1 had the heroes facing off against zombie pirates. Is there anything in this world that is more epic than that? Look at movies 2, 3, and 4 in the series. No more zombie pirates... AND THEY SUCKED!!!
Pride and prejudice is a horribly boring monstricity that I wouldn't inflict on my worst enemy, but add zombies to it and it's still pretty dang boring, but the parts with the zombies in it are rather entertaining and they somewhat break the soul crushing boredom of pride and prejudice up into more manageable pieces.
Now, think of the worst movie that you have ever seen in your entire life. Let's throw Transformers 2 out there, because, hey, it was no Citizen Cain. The acting was horrible, the special effects were laughably bad, the plot, if you can call it a plot, was convoluted and nonesensical, and there wasn't a single shred of character developement anywhere, but don't worry, michael bay replaced all of those things with bigger, more slow motiony explosions, so it's all good, right? WRONG!!! explosions =/= a well developed story with interesting characters, especially with Shia Lebeuff as the lead. Now, imagine, if you will, Transformers 2 with zombies in it. It's still a pile of crap, but at least there's some entertainment value in it now, and the possibility that Shia Labitch might get his face eaten off by one.
Anyway, Star Wars: Deathtroopers is a little ridiculous, and it does take a story that really shouldn't have been written as a star wars story and shoehorns star wars characters and references into it. However, it's decently written and once you get past the whole WTF starwars vs. zombies thing and sit down to have some fun with it, it can actually be a very entertaining book to read.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Fedex FAIL!!!!
Soooo, my iPhone was sent by Fedex overnight, which is very strange considering it was offered by Apple to Postal Employees. Why wouldn't they send it by USPS? Whatever...
Anyway, It was supposed to arrive on tuesday before noon. Which was nice because I had Tuesday off and could actually BE HERE at noon to sign for it. I got a call at 2 from Fedex saying that their driver was unable to deliver the package because it was missing an apartment number. I gave them the apartment number and they said that the driver would be there to deliver it within fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, my old phone has conveniantly stopped working right on cue, leaving me with no phone at all, but luckily I have a new one that's suppoed to be here in fifteen minutes, so no biggie. I can recieve calls but I can't send them, or do anything else for that matter.
Four hours later I checked the tracking number on the Fedex website to find that the driver took my phone back to the fedex office rather than deliver it to me, even though he had been given the correct apartment number.
On Wedensday I got yet ANOTHER call from fedex telling me that my package had no apartment number on it, and that the driver left it at the fedex office rather than take it out without an aparment number. Needless to say I was rather angry as they had wasted a great deal of my time yesterday by telling me it would be here within minutes. Not only did I already give them the apartment number, but the delivery driver didn't even bother to take it out with him again and instead told his superviser that it did not have an apartment number on it, and to call and ask for it today for delivery on thursday. This is, by the way, TWO DAYS AFTER THE TIME THAT THEY ORIGINALLY PROMISED IT WOULD BE DELIVERED!!!
So, I asked if I could just come pick it up, because i really NEED a phone for work. It's impossible to do my job without one. Well, not impossible, but it adds quite a few miles and a ton of time to go back to the post office to ask who needs my help, then go back out to whoever needs it rather than just calling in and heading there. It literally adds hours to my day, and wastes a crapton of the post office's gas.
I had to drive clear and the heck from state and 4800 S. to 3400 W. and 2400 S. to pick up my phone, and when I get there what do I find?
This:
This is A picture that I took with the extremely nice digital camera in my new iPhone of the shipping lable for my phone. As you can see the aparment number appears very clearly in not one but TWO places. Leaving me to ask WHAT THE F#@K!!!
I will NEVER ship ANYTHING with Fedex EVER again because of this.
Anyway, It was supposed to arrive on tuesday before noon. Which was nice because I had Tuesday off and could actually BE HERE at noon to sign for it. I got a call at 2 from Fedex saying that their driver was unable to deliver the package because it was missing an apartment number. I gave them the apartment number and they said that the driver would be there to deliver it within fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, my old phone has conveniantly stopped working right on cue, leaving me with no phone at all, but luckily I have a new one that's suppoed to be here in fifteen minutes, so no biggie. I can recieve calls but I can't send them, or do anything else for that matter.
Four hours later I checked the tracking number on the Fedex website to find that the driver took my phone back to the fedex office rather than deliver it to me, even though he had been given the correct apartment number.
On Wedensday I got yet ANOTHER call from fedex telling me that my package had no apartment number on it, and that the driver left it at the fedex office rather than take it out without an aparment number. Needless to say I was rather angry as they had wasted a great deal of my time yesterday by telling me it would be here within minutes. Not only did I already give them the apartment number, but the delivery driver didn't even bother to take it out with him again and instead told his superviser that it did not have an apartment number on it, and to call and ask for it today for delivery on thursday. This is, by the way, TWO DAYS AFTER THE TIME THAT THEY ORIGINALLY PROMISED IT WOULD BE DELIVERED!!!
So, I asked if I could just come pick it up, because i really NEED a phone for work. It's impossible to do my job without one. Well, not impossible, but it adds quite a few miles and a ton of time to go back to the post office to ask who needs my help, then go back out to whoever needs it rather than just calling in and heading there. It literally adds hours to my day, and wastes a crapton of the post office's gas.
I had to drive clear and the heck from state and 4800 S. to 3400 W. and 2400 S. to pick up my phone, and when I get there what do I find?
This:
This is A picture that I took with the extremely nice digital camera in my new iPhone of the shipping lable for my phone. As you can see the aparment number appears very clearly in not one but TWO places. Leaving me to ask WHAT THE F#@K!!!
I will NEVER ship ANYTHING with Fedex EVER again because of this.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
-almost- Free iPhone ^^V
So, as a verizon customer, I get a new phone up to $80 for free every 2 years. And my two years just came to an end, so I was looking for a new phone. Well, on friday Apple decided to be generous to postal employees and offered us each an iPhone 4 32GB for $100. I figured if I ever wanted to buy an iPhone i would never find a better deal than 2/3 of the retail price so I signed up. When I went to renew my contract with verizon I found that they were aware of the offer apple made us, and, not to be outdone by apple in treating postal workers with awesomeness, said that they would apply my $80 new phone allowance to my account as a credit toward future bills, so I got the super good deal on an iPhone AND the $80 credit toward a new phone both, making my brand new iPhone cost me only $20, which is less than a tenth what it would cost out of a store. How's that for awesome?
Anyway, sluffed church to day due to some nasty heartburn. FYI, if you've got a headache, don't take Aleeve for it without eating something first. So, back to work on Spires I go. Sometimes changing the point of view in a chapter doesn't take much work, but in this one it REALLY does, plus there are feelings and realizations I want you to see from both characters so I have to keep switching back and forth between them. Right now it's a confusing mess that i hope to clean up into something readable.
Anyway, sluffed church to day due to some nasty heartburn. FYI, if you've got a headache, don't take Aleeve for it without eating something first. So, back to work on Spires I go. Sometimes changing the point of view in a chapter doesn't take much work, but in this one it REALLY does, plus there are feelings and realizations I want you to see from both characters so I have to keep switching back and forth between them. Right now it's a confusing mess that i hope to clean up into something readable.
Friday, June 3, 2011
More Spires of Infinity Final Draft Posted
So i've put up another 18 chapters of the final final draft of Spires of Infinity and they can be downloaded at the bottom of this page
Again, most of the changes between the second draft and this one are gramatical and really wont be noticed unless you do a side by side comparison. I've continued removing the world "Magic" from the story, and I've reached one of the big changes I had to make. Instead of making an excuse for why Gabriel and the Apostle had to fight, I just had her attack him. It works better that way.
I'll probably be done with the rest by sunday or so.
Again, most of the changes between the second draft and this one are gramatical and really wont be noticed unless you do a side by side comparison. I've continued removing the world "Magic" from the story, and I've reached one of the big changes I had to make. Instead of making an excuse for why Gabriel and the Apostle had to fight, I just had her attack him. It works better that way.
I'll probably be done with the rest by sunday or so.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Spicy Sweet Chicken and Rice
So I've been trying to eat better lately, and I've been inventing a few recipes that haven't got huge amounts of fat, salt and sugar in them and are easy/fast/cheap to make. Spicy sweet chicken and rice is one of hte better ones i've come up with.
Ingredients
1 cup instant rice
4 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
1/2 a bell pepper
1/2 an onion
1 Tablespoon honey
1 cube chicken bullion
salt, pepper, basil, oregano, hot sauce
Since it takes the longest you start the rice first. 1 cup instant rice with 2 cups water, the chickin bullion cube, some basil and oregano. Bring to a boil on the stove, cover and reduce heat to medium. cook until all of the water boils away. Stir occasionally so the rice doesn't stick to the pan.
While hte rice is cooking, you'll want to cut up your chicken and onion into small pieces and the pepper into 1 inch long strips.
Put honey into a pan and add 1/3 cup water. Disolve the honey into the water and bring it to a boil. Add vegetables and chicken, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and some ore basil and oregano. (can skip the hot sauce if you're not big on spicy) Cook on high until all of the honey water boils away. you will need to constantly stir it near the end or it will stick to the pan horribly.
Dish out rice onto a plate and put the chicken and vegetables on top of it. Serve with vegetables and/or salad for a healthy side. Serves 2, but can easily be compounded for more if needed =)
Ingredients
1 cup instant rice
4 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
1/2 a bell pepper
1/2 an onion
1 Tablespoon honey
1 cube chicken bullion
salt, pepper, basil, oregano, hot sauce
Since it takes the longest you start the rice first. 1 cup instant rice with 2 cups water, the chickin bullion cube, some basil and oregano. Bring to a boil on the stove, cover and reduce heat to medium. cook until all of the water boils away. Stir occasionally so the rice doesn't stick to the pan.
While hte rice is cooking, you'll want to cut up your chicken and onion into small pieces and the pepper into 1 inch long strips.
Put honey into a pan and add 1/3 cup water. Disolve the honey into the water and bring it to a boil. Add vegetables and chicken, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and some ore basil and oregano. (can skip the hot sauce if you're not big on spicy) Cook on high until all of the honey water boils away. you will need to constantly stir it near the end or it will stick to the pan horribly.
Dish out rice onto a plate and put the chicken and vegetables on top of it. Serve with vegetables and/or salad for a healthy side. Serves 2, but can easily be compounded for more if needed =)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Spires of Infinity FINAL final draft
I've put up the first half of the final draft of Spires of Infinity and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page
The biggest changes between this draft and the second draft are in the wording of things. Basically the final draft was all about finding any leftover continuity issues and gramatical oopsies that I didn't catch in previous drafts.
Most of the edits that my Agent suggested have to do with the word "Magic" I'm pretty much trying to remove every single mention of magic. Oh, the magic itself still exists, it's just not called magic. Why? Because this is not a fantasy book. It's a sci-fi book and sci-fi fans don't want to see the word "Magic" in their sci-fi books. I did a TON of genre blending in this story, taking elements from a bunch of different genres that don't normally belong together and working them into science fiction. For the most part they all fit pretty well. The only one that really stood out was magic. The fact that magic exists is extremely important for later books that I've yet to write, and so it has to be introduced in teh beginning, but using the actual word "Magic" to describe it is actually taking away from the appeal of the story to the target audience. When you're writing a Post Apochalyptic, Science-Fantasy Western, you kinda have to choose which audience to go with and make all of the genre aspects that don't normally go with that audience seem like they do.
A good example of this is in Star Wars. George Lucas wanted sword fighting wizards in space. And when you say it like that it sounds freaking ridiculous. Rather than calling their swords swords, he called them lightsabers, and mde the blades be lazers. Instead of calling the magic magic he called it the Force. He didn't call wizards wizards, he called them jedi. Everyone knows that they're sword fighting wizards in space, but everyone accepts it in a sci-fi movie because he uses different words to describe them.
I also was trying to be a bit mysterious in not explaining exactly how it works, but that just makes me look lazy, so i've also added a few more detailed descriptions of how it works as well as removing the actual word "Magic" from most parts of the story.
Another change is in my way of explaining what Heretics are. It was a bit vague, and most people won't really get it without reading other stories I've written in the same universe, which is something I don't want them to have to do. So I'm going through and explaining that Heretics are actually the root of most stories about vampires and werewolves, because they basically are vampires and werewolves all rolled up into one. It makes for a tad bit more acceptably believeable race of people than what I had before.
Anyway, working hard on getting this done. I'll get the rest up before the end of the week I think.
The biggest changes between this draft and the second draft are in the wording of things. Basically the final draft was all about finding any leftover continuity issues and gramatical oopsies that I didn't catch in previous drafts.
Most of the edits that my Agent suggested have to do with the word "Magic" I'm pretty much trying to remove every single mention of magic. Oh, the magic itself still exists, it's just not called magic. Why? Because this is not a fantasy book. It's a sci-fi book and sci-fi fans don't want to see the word "Magic" in their sci-fi books. I did a TON of genre blending in this story, taking elements from a bunch of different genres that don't normally belong together and working them into science fiction. For the most part they all fit pretty well. The only one that really stood out was magic. The fact that magic exists is extremely important for later books that I've yet to write, and so it has to be introduced in teh beginning, but using the actual word "Magic" to describe it is actually taking away from the appeal of the story to the target audience. When you're writing a Post Apochalyptic, Science-Fantasy Western, you kinda have to choose which audience to go with and make all of the genre aspects that don't normally go with that audience seem like they do.
A good example of this is in Star Wars. George Lucas wanted sword fighting wizards in space. And when you say it like that it sounds freaking ridiculous. Rather than calling their swords swords, he called them lightsabers, and mde the blades be lazers. Instead of calling the magic magic he called it the Force. He didn't call wizards wizards, he called them jedi. Everyone knows that they're sword fighting wizards in space, but everyone accepts it in a sci-fi movie because he uses different words to describe them.
I also was trying to be a bit mysterious in not explaining exactly how it works, but that just makes me look lazy, so i've also added a few more detailed descriptions of how it works as well as removing the actual word "Magic" from most parts of the story.
Another change is in my way of explaining what Heretics are. It was a bit vague, and most people won't really get it without reading other stories I've written in the same universe, which is something I don't want them to have to do. So I'm going through and explaining that Heretics are actually the root of most stories about vampires and werewolves, because they basically are vampires and werewolves all rolled up into one. It makes for a tad bit more acceptably believeable race of people than what I had before.
Anyway, working hard on getting this done. I'll get the rest up before the end of the week I think.