Remember when you were younger and you had that one pet that was a little… over-friendly? I had such a pet – a grey and white cat named Shadow. He was a… simple creature. Very affectionate for a cat – always greeted me in the morning when I walked into the living room with a friendly meow (it could have been a demand for food, but indulge me in my memories). Whenever I sat down to watch TV or read a book, he would hop up in my lap and nuzzle my hand. When I was feeling down, this would be the prefect tonic for me. His gentle purring and the warm weight of him on my lap would help me to shuffle off the woes of the day. He never clawed, bit or scratched at me. He was a very good kitty.

Until I tried to read or do schoolwork, then it was a little different. Reading for pleasure was different – paperbacks can be held with one hand and turned with a minimum of fuss. Schoolbooks? Not so much. Even when I did my schoolwork at the dinner table, I would feel the inevitable pressure of four paws and kitty belly (there was no such thing as feast or famine for our cats, it was either feast or ‘this again?’). When I would eat dinner, I’d have to shoo Shadow out of my lap and scoot my chair in as close I could and still breathe. 85% percent of the time, Shadow was a welcome part of my day, but that 15% got rather irritating.

What does this have to do with my writing? Well, new plots that come up are like Shadow – they immediately hop into my lap and start nuzzling my hand. Sometimes, I can indulge them to their fullest and other times I have to set them down and say later. Sometimes, they go along and quietly wait on the floor to be picked up and petted. Other times, they leave for another room.

Then there are the Shadows. Those plots that hop in my lap regardless of where I am to snuggle down and gently put their paw on my hand. I got one of those right now, so I am going to work on it, since I am only doing the re-writes on the weekends and planning one novel in the morning and writing another one when I get home (for those of you playing at home: The Quietest Heart; Out, Out Brief Candle and I/O Error). This new idea I think would actually work as a script for a series. Given the advent of Netflix and YouTube, this could be a practical project. The idea? A cult deprogrammer goes toe to toe with a cult leader who always seems to be one step ahead of him as far as hiding certain people and making which ever subjects the main character can get to a little harder to crack than others. The deeper the main character does, the further away he seems to drift from his support and family. Is it a battle of wits, or a subtle trap?

Right now, I’m doing the background research about cults, deprogramming and the such. So, I am fairly certain I am appearing on some database. I wonder if they’ll let me have a cat to pet affectionately?

Oh, well – I must shower, shave and plot. Have a good day.

Sincerely

Seething Apathy

Disclaimer: I am a Marvel Fanboy.

Iron Man 3 is definitely the way I would want to end the franchise, if they’re going to end it. Everything is brought together, all the loose threads are brought together and the main character comes away a lot better than when he went into the movie (in fact, the opening takes place before the first Iron Man movie to give us a look at what Tony was before his changes). I even like the idea that they refer to the Avengers movie, showing that there is continuity even in between movies. I am not going to give away plot points for this movie, but I will remark about the one thing I like about the current crop of Marvel films and even the Rami Spider-Man films.

As gifted and as talented as the heroes are – they’re still people at the end of the day. Horribly flawed people that can manage to go past that and do great things. As much as I like this line – he’s also an alcoholic narcissist on borrowed time. Captain America isn’t just The First Avenger – he’s a man out of place in every way possible. Spider-Man? Wow, are his therapy bills going to be enormous. Yet, as much as hubris seems to be a mindset for a lot of these characters, they manage to get their minds right in time to save the day. While this isn’t strictly the purview of Marvel – I am fairly certain if we had our parents gunned down right before our childish eyes the last thing we would do is transform ourselves into this. More than likely, we’d grieve and go on our way with which ever aunt or uncle is going to raise us.

What I like more about the Iron Man series, and particularly the way the series ended (thus far) is that we got to see Tony Stark become transformed into a hero almost unknowingly. Captain America asked for it, but he had to earn it. Spider-Man didn’t want it, but took it because of his uncle. Thor was born into it and it was expected of him. Tony? Didn’t want, didn’t seek it out and her inheritance wasn’t bound up in it, but when the call was made – he took it up with only a couple of hesitations. Unlike all the others, he still had a lot of issues accepting the mantle – which is something we don’t see a lot of other heroes do. We don’t see Batman (in his Dark Knight incarnation) standing in front of the window shivering from a panic attack about how close Bane came to killing him. We don’t see Captain America having a quiet crisis of survivor’s guilt if he watches Saving Private Ryan. While some people would say that stoic fearlessness is the hallmark of a hero, I would disagree. The hallmark of a hero is seeing a situation where one’s death is almost certainly guaranteed… and plunging headlong into it even though that person is scared beyond his wits. That’s what makes Tony Stark a hero in The Avengers and what makes him a bigger hero in Iron Man 3.

Go see the movie, and wait for the after-credit scene. It’s hilarious.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

I got my new phone. I got it just in time for this to come out. No, I am not normally a new adopter of technology. I was surprised to get the Kindle Fire when I did. Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten my current phone but I need to have a mobile phone that can use a mobile credit card program and that program won’t work on the old OS. I’m not mad – I like my new phone, but I don’t like being pushed into adopting something new. I sent my old phone back and got a modest credit (Seriously, just a couple of bucks) on my bill for it. I just need to personalize it with some ring tones and a better wallpaper. Also, the gas company had to come in and replace the meter – to my credit, I had no breakdown and the man was polite enough to come in, check on things and leave; nice of him to do that – even if I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, which means more coffee for me. Win-Win!

I checked the pages on my novel, and I only have 93 pages remaining out of 230. Didn’t really think I was that far ahead. I am definitely in the mind set of ‘going to get this done before I die’. I am still working on the outline of Out, Out Brief Candle. This one is going to be the first novel published under my real name (the current one will be under a pseudonym due to the subjects involved) and I am looking forward to starting it. As I have said earlier, it’s a straight up monomyth that’s rather heavy on the fundamentalists vs. everyone else argument. I’m having more fun crafting the world than anything else. For that, I’ll need to get a little research done from the History channel… y’know, from when they had programs of historical value. The series Life After People gave me an idea as to the look of the novel in my head. I’m working on the ‘casting’ – when I write, it’s like I am watching a movie in my head so I have various actors playing the roles. I don’t know if anyone else does that, but it works for me. I/O Error is vexing me still, so I might let it cool down a little bit longer and switch to another project that’s in the writing stage. As long as I stay busy, I’ll be fine.

I saw the movie Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and it was passable. I like the subversion of the “Psycho Hillbillies” trope, but I really had to make myself get to the half-way point before I got too tired to watch any more. I might sit back down over the weekend and watch it again from beginning to end. Alan Tudyk really shines in this movie, and the college kids are… well, almost forgettable with the exception of the ringleader, who really channels his inner seven-popped collars douchebag brilliantly. I’m sorry that this review is a little half-baked, but I didn’t finish the film. I’ll watch it this weekend and give you a more in depth review. In short: if you like Sean of the Dead and Cabin in the Woods, you will like this movie.

Well, off to nuke something and shower… and get rid of the beard. Y’all have fun now.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

I love this artist. I love her voice even though I can’t understand a single thing she says sometimes. Why is such an odd confession? Because if you were to look though my music library, you’re going to find these guys, and these guys and almost everything that these
two have put out. I guess that I am starting to mellow out in my old age. Well, I did discover her while watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. So whatever I have lost in metal cred, I hope to gain in anime cred… or would that be yen?

Anyways, I am still plugging away at I/O Error and it is transitioning from plug to slog. While I am attracted to the main premise and how to make it work I am getting stuck in a minor scene to the point where I don’t really want to tackle it. So, I think I will just wrap it up as best I can and get on with the rest of it. Maybe something better will come to me in the meantime. I am still in the planning phase for Out, Out Brief Candle (working title), but it’s getting along a lot better than I/O Error is. I’ve got the route that the main character takes thanks to Google maps; I just need to get the outline of the story finished. It’s a simple monomyth – almost sounds like I’m mailing it in as it were. Hopefully this one will pan out a little quicker.

Well, there is little else to report on as far as the homefront goes. My paycheck is a little less now that I am officially working part time, but then again, I’m getting burned out at work. Since they’re not replacing the people that have left (especially the higher ups, which were the first to go when the company got bought out), I have a sneaking suspicion that the department is going to be moved to a brand new location… out of state. The company is only hiring for two positions: neither of them are technical related and this particular company has a history of moving departments around geographically. So you can see why I am a little anxious about getting a novel finished.

Since the dishes and the laundry refuse to do themselves – I guess I should take care of it. Hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

So… yeah. Nothing really earth-shattering or even mildly trivial to report here. I’ve taken to walking to and from the library at night after work in an attempt to get some exercise and for some odd reason, the joint of my nose hurts when I press down on it. See? Absolute boredom.

Out, Out Brief Candle is getting scribbled down on my little graph notebook. I am going to get some things settled down in it before I whip out Scrivener to use on it. I just seem to focus on one project. So, I am going to try to follow some sort of schedule as far as getting one out of the planning phase (Out, Out, Brief Candle), one finished (I/O Error) and one re-written (The Quietest Heart – which is turning into a disaster). I am still trying to get something finished by the end of the month, so my weekend plan may be nothing more than sitting my butt down in front of my laptop and getting the last one done. The re-writes should come a little faster since it’s now just a matter of cutting down unneeded words and tightening the prose. I can do it if I apply myself. See? I said that with a straight face – that means I’m serious. Since today is Thursday, and I got hammered yesterday at work, I am hoping to be able to get a little more done on Out, Out Brief Candle… particularly the faction of ghosts I am calling the Riders for now. I used to call them the Fisher Kings – a name I think I am going back to later on given what the Fisher King is and what that concept represents. Also, I want to use the title the Rider on another project. I really hate using the same sort of title over two different projects, especially if they don’t have the same continuity. So, I might keep the title of Fisher Kings. I’ll need to put that in the notebook.

As for movies – I’ve seen Wreck-it Ralph and it is a funny movie. If you’re a gamer, you’re going to get a lot more out of it than the average person. I saw it with a non-gamer and they were impressed with it. If you have little ones, they’re going to like the animation. I’ll also let you know of this – there’s an unexpected voice actor in the movie. I am not going to say who it is, but when you see who it is when you see the cast list, you’ll flip. If you can’t wait, or can’t get to imdb, highlight the empty space after this sentence: Alan Tudyk is the voice of King Candy

I am also going to finally go see Evil Dead this weekend. I think I am going to bail on the writer’s group this Saturday. I should have enough for movie and lunch and I haven’t been to Clucker’s in a while.

Well, I should get to the notebook and to my other lunch. I hope you all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething with Apathy

Well, I finally finished the biggest part of the re-write for the novel – I finished re-writing the three chapters… well… I got through the most of it, but I am not happy with the ending of the chapter (which I threw together as my laptop said it was going to quit). I am just happy to have gotten through the meat of it and everything else should be fairly straightforward. Chopping sentences here, swapping words there and I should I be finished within the week… I swear. I am limping along to the end of this. Last Saturday I went to the Louisville Science Center to see the Vital Exhibit. $20.00 and you can play ‘Spot the Necrophile’ in about a space a little larger than my house. Not exactly a great value if you came for just that exhibit, but if you wandered about the rest of the center like I did, it was a good day. The Vital exhibit was a very visceral cautionary tale of eating right, exercise and not smoking. Fortunately for me, I had seen some of those things before in medical dictionaries I would read for fun when I was growing up. Yes, I had odd reading habits when I was little.

I’m linking this here, since it looks frightfully helpful. It’s a series of links for writers. I just found it on reddit and I thought that this would be worth passing along to everyone else. I’ve been working on more of another ghost story in my head called (for now) Out, Out Brief Candle. I don’t want to give out more details than that it takes a couple of my favorite things: ghosts and post-apocalypse. This is going to be the next thing after I/O Error and continuing the ghost universe (?) that works through Night of Life, I/O Error and Out, Out Brief Candle. Yeah, there are some things I am carry over from one to another – hopefully this will all work out. Stephen King did this with his Dark Tower series and actually there is a webpage that links all of his works together, unfortunately, I don’t have it handy. It’s something that you could sit down for a few hours to see some of the links between some works that you’d think would have nothing between them. Makes me wonder of he did this on purpose from the very beginning, or this came later on.

Wow, I need some caffeine. I stayed up last night after the game and watched a show called “Ultimate Soldier Challenge”. Yeah, as much as I don’t like reality shows – I do like ones about the military. I pass it off as research (and some of it is), but it’s interesting that I see some of the same people in different shows. Anyways – my love affair with Apple TV grows with every show. I am considering getting a Roku just to see if I can get some shows that I am missing from Apple (‘Person of Interest’, I’m looking at you).

OK – enough commercials. Caffeine time.

Hope you have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Well – how to sum up the events of the past month… this. Yeah – it’s been a hectic month with me quitting and coming back to fewer hours (my choice) and trying to finish the novel (more on that later). Wow. It’s been a time of trials for me – but I don’t have it as bad as some people. I’ve also been out tending to friends in the aforementioned ‘as bad as some people’ department. I’m not sure if what I did helped any, but it was in earnest and in the desire to help – so either I helped like a good friend or I helped like a drug addled baboon.

The novel – it continues along with me hoping finishing the final re-written chapter by Friday and work this Saturday to finish the rest of the proof-reading. Sure, I’m a wee bit over my deadline, but since I have a lot of I/O Error already done, I am hoping that the head start will help me get to the new deadline: end of June to finish the rough draft. I am also looking at various webhosting sites and I’ve seen this one. I’m hoping that it will stay up until I get the novel finished and put there for purchase (point price for a 70K word novel: $5.00 – a fair price, don’t you think?) if you don’t want it on Kindle. Yes, this will keep me from having Amazon doing all the heavy lifting as far as advertising, but I want to have my work out there for everyone – not just the people who have Kindles (yes, I know that’s the majority, but I want to have more than one income stream). Gradually, everything is coming together… gradually in a geologic sense of the world.

I did cut the cable and I have Apple TV. It is somewhat of a godsend. Yes, $100.00 does get me quite a bit (2 seasons and maybe a movie). The downside… there is so much stuff out there that $100.00 is a drop in the bucket. If I could find a way of posting my Apple TV wish list, then you will see what I am looking for as far as films and TV shows, only to realize that I am going to hit $5K easily. Another small downside is that for all the stuff there is out there, there are shows that aren’t appearing or I will be a season behind (‘Person of Interest’ is not there and ‘Game Of Thrones’ is a season behind. HBO – if you had just a web subscription service, I would jump on that in a heartbeat – same for you Showtime). All in all – Apple TV works for me as far keeping up with my favorite shows, but when it comes to finding new ones, it is a bit lacking.

I hope to hear from you soon, and I will do my best to get back to daily updates about things.

I hope your day is well.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Well, this is certainly something that will make me want to re-watch the series (not the prequels for God’s sake). I’m sorry that I have been lax in updating this blog. Things have been getting hairy at work and I am working on the novel to try to get it finished by the end of March. If I get lucky enough, I am going to have the three added chapters finished by the end of this week and send off the second draft to the volunteers (no, really – I politely asked them and they agreed… the fools…). I’ve fallen behind on several of my favorite shows – with Fox, that’s usually the kiss of death. Anyway – I have some biscuits and gravy with a side of coffee in me, so I am feeling a little better.

As I mentioned earlier, the novel is coming along. I am going to work to get the chapters finished and put into the novel with any luck by the end of the week. I like the turn at the end of the chapter I am working on now (‘Paid‘). It does reflect on Rhona’s set of morals – yes, she actually has some and we get an idea on how strong Anya’s sense of honor is. Personally, I will be happy when this is done and gone. I am itching to work on other projects and get other things published. I am working to make this my career, and I’ve been told that the back catalogue will be where most of the money will be made. So I need to work on that back catalogue. On the up side, I’ve got so much stuff in my head I don’t think I’ll be out of work anytime soon.

They tell me that this Wednesday is going to be the first day of Spring. We had snow in my location yesterday:

The perils of being non-migratory

While I love the cold weather, I am ready for Spring. This has been a rather bitter Winter and not that much in terms of snow. Of course, feel free to point this blog out to me when the Summer heat hits me like a hammer. I am not a fan of Summer, but I am hoping this year to have enough money to try to go to a local water park, or at least get to a hotel with a pool. On completely unrelated news… I preordered Bioshock: Infinite and I got a little surprise – Bioshock! I got the original game on my computer. Seriously, as far as scary games goes – Bioshock is one of the better ones, especially with the better graphics than the X-Box version. I knew the Splicers were disfigured, but on the PC… yuck! Wow. This game is one of my favorites – an honest story line, choices that have strong repercussions further down the game and several very cunning lessons in economics, philosophy and politics. I hope that Bioshock: Infinite will be a successor to the franchise.

Well, it’s time for more coffee and a shower.

Hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething With Apathy

I had a good writing session last night and I had a good idea that I can’t wait to develop on – I am a little hesitant about it because it might paint the main character as a bit self-centered. Yeah, I don’t want her to be the white knight since that’s a stretch for her morally, but I also don’t want her to be the other villain. I might expand on it a little bit more – add in a smaller scene and switch POV characters in the following chapter. I think I’m going to get this done by the weekend and get it off to everyone by the beginning of next week – a little ahead of schedule! – and I can get to I/O
Error and get that finished a little ahead of time on that one as well. Just need to try to build on the successes that I am making today. I’m getting a little excited and giggly… no, wait – that’s the coffee.

Today I think I am going to go on ahead and finish up the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon series and do my own little analysis of it next Saturday. This Saturday, I have the writer’s meeting to go to so I’ll have to get up earlier than normal. Loki said it best – it would be nice to sleep in on every Saturday, but this is helping me with the novel. I wish I had net this group a lot sooner… I also wish I had taken this up a lot sooner as well, but only because of Amazon am I able to get stuff out there. I’m doing it now, however and that’s all that matters. Well… that and a payday.

In a couple of weeks, I will have a few days of vacation coming up to play this on Steam and hopefully get in contact with some friends. I’m going to write on Monday, since the game won’t release until midnight; but I have no illusions about Tuesday or Wednesday – few things are going to tear me away from the computer. Which is why I am going to try to get the novel’s re-writes done so I can dedicate some time to writing and some time to the game. Speaking of games – I am almost finished with Halo 4 and my disappointment with and of it grows mightily. I’m saving that for a future blog post.

Well, I must shower and get ready for work… 8 days remain.

Sincerely,

Seething With Apathy