I’ve been watching The Following and I have only one thing I would have done differently thus far. The introduction of Kevin (the guy in the Poe mask) was a great scene in the beginning and I was looking forward to a lot of cat-and-mouse with him and the FBI… (highlight for spoilers). They killed him.

I would have done one thing different: I never would have unmasked Kevin, nor given him a name – he would always be called ‘Poe’. Even when he was hanging out with the others, he never would have taken off the mask and never would speak. Even the others in the cult would have been a little creeped out by ‘Poe’.

Agent Hardy

Tell me about this guy.

(Hands Jordy picture of ‘Poe‘)

Jordy

Poe?

Agent Hardy

Is that his name?

Jordy

I dunno. No one knows. He just showed up with a note from Joe.

Never shows up without the mask on. Never says anything.

Agent Hardy

What does he do?

Jordy

Let me put it to you this way: Joe’s Jesus… Poe’s Saint Peter.

I like the idea of there being one of the followers being waaaaay more out there than the others. We get to see the kind of people that Joe attracts. I like the idea of Joe appearing as a messianic figure and not being seen so much in the present. I like the flashbacks seeing him with the followers – seeing the cult progress and grow. Joe should be this mythological figure in the background. We never see him directly in the present day – flashbacks, video interviews, written statements. Joe shouldn’t be a man, but an abstraction. ‘Poe’ should me more like a demigod. Elemental and horrible in his aspect, he is an extension of Joe’s will. We never know how ‘Poe’ gets his orders, but we know that he’s acting as Joe’s agent outside. We should even suspect that there is more than one ‘Poe’, but we never get any certain indication either way. The only time ‘Poe’ is truly revealed is in the end of the season… and that is when we find out whether or not there is more than one ‘Poe’. Personally? Maybe. It all depends on how the first one is handled. It is an idea that needs to handled carefully – we see him too much and he (and by extension Joe) loses his power. See him too little and he’s nothing more than a bogeyman. If we have to have multiple ‘Poe’s figures, then maybe a second one if we keep the death of the first one dubious and only if it can serve to show just how much power Joe has on his followers. The idea is that ‘Poe’ is the Dragon and Agent Hardy’s worst nightmare: a true believer.

Well – I’ve blathered on enough about this. I need to shower and get to work. Hope y’all have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

I’ve been doing some math (yuck) and if I take a hit in the wallet and buy Apple TV ($99.00) and a non-subscription DVR (they exist) for $350.00, I can cut the cable and save myself about $150.00 a month – I’d have to upgrade the IP service to 20 Mb download to handle all the new attention. I checked out iTunes and saw that with the exception of one favorite show, they are all on iTunes to be downloaded. The DVR would be for that one show and various sports events, like the Olympics. I can get a HDMI splitter so I can plug in the DVR, the Apple TV and my Kindle Fire (provided I can find a mini HDMI cord) and after that – get rid of everything. I’m not going to do this until after this season of Game of Thrones. Getting rid of the cable package means getting rid of HBO and that means getting rid of HBO Go unfortunately. Out of everything I am going to lose, I am going to miss HBO Go the most… sure, I hardly used it, but it was nice to know that it was available to me. The $150.00 I would save could go back into my ‘hire-an-artist for I/O Error‘ fund. Also getting all this means that if I quit my job, the only major bill I would have hanging over me is the phone bill… and the mortgage, too – but I can keep going with those for a few months. The responsible thing would be to save up enough money to cover everything for about a year, finish something and get it out there and wait to see what happens. Provided I don’t lose my mind in the meantime. Kids – if you’re going to be strapped to a job, make sure it’s something you can at least tolerate.

I am going to set aside that Hellraiser idea for a while. As I am turning it around in my head, I don’t see where the drama is beyond the guy losing his mind from trying to the Cenobites to take him. It’s a fair-to-middlin’ idea, but it is not really a profitable one. I should concentrate on stuff that should theoretically turn some sort of a profit… which for me would be going back to I/O Error and the first novel. I am going to make myself stay up a little later than usual tonight and work on something. With Scrivener, I can get a lot more organized about what happens when in the chapters where as previously, I have had it all in my head and make it up as I go along. In fact, the way that this is set up, it allows me to see what I am lacking and what I need to do to keep the story moving. One novel I am working on in my head is falling into place, and I see a nice place to bring in a moment of pulling the rug out from under the reader (insert evil cackle).

Well, my coffee grows low and I should replenish. As always, I look forward to hearing from people and I insist that you have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Good morning all. I got some biscuits and gravy for breakfast while getting ready for my private Superbowl party – congrats to the winner. I had fun and I even did some reading while the power was out. Yes – I wanted to read when they weren’t doing anything. I had good reason: she is one of my favorite authors and a good friend of mine. I also apologize for being away from the blog for an extended period of time. This is a depression-rich season for me, so there will be times where I’m not bubbling for with prose. However, I am feeling better with having some good food and coffee in me. Now, if only it would get a little bit warmer.

The Hellraiser idea is sticking with me for now, so I am working on it in my head. I am working on the notion that this going to be a descent into madness for our protagonist. I am doing my research for this – I bought Hellbound
Heart to read first, and there is an anthology to be read as well as to try to work into my series (I also can’t be the only one who has thought of this. If someone beat me to it, then this goes into the ‘re-work for later’ pile in my head… you know – the one that’s about the size of Everest). In the face of all of this, I will say that my re-writes for the first novel continue on and I/O Error totters forward. I am going to have the first novel finished by the end of March and I/O Error finished by the end of June. Valentina’s Feast is to be done by the end of September and Spooksayer: Primum Movens by the end of December. I still have plenty ideas available for the following year (I am trying to get out a tentpole novel out once a year and writing smaller works around it to keep things going) and I am certain that I can keep busy for a while. If not – there’s always dishes to be done.

Speaking of dishes – I have been giving some serious thought to cutting the cable to drop how much money I am going to need to save up before I can quit my job. Right now, I am averaging $200.00 a month for the services. Now, I can drop that down to $58 if I cut everything TV related and up my broadband service to 20 Mb. I’ve been taking a look at Apple TV and if there is just the $99.00 charge – then I am going to cut the cable and use some of the money to buy iTunes cards and get my favorite series to download… providing that I can import my iTunes library. With Apple TV, I can also get access to Netflix – another nail in the coffin. Between that and the digital antenna to get broadcast TV, I am not seeing a need for cable anytime soon.

Well, I must eat my lunch and get ready for work. Bleh.

I hope you have a better day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Remember when I was telling you about the glories of Death Wish Coffee? Yeah… that was a bad idea. You see – while Death Wish Coffee was very, very tasty, but it gives you nasty, nasty headaches. I don’t mean ‘I feel a twinge in the back of my head‘ sort of headache. I mean the ‘I’ll get relief when I saw my own head off‘ kind of headaches. I rarely if ever get this sort of headache. The last one of those I got was at least five years ago. With this set, I spent Monday and Tuesday with a constant headache, so I decided to do a little experiment. No coffee for the past few days. Consequently, I had no headaches. Therefore – I can still recommend it, but understand that if you don’t have the tolerance, you’re going to be miserable. Caveat Emptor, y’all.

With my head being what it is, I’ve slacked a little bit on my projects – but I am trying to move forward on something. I’ve gotten another blank book and I am putting in all my notes for one of my big tent pole series (Unchained, Unbound, Unfettered) as a safeguard against amnesia and/or death (not that I have intentions of death right now, but then again, I have no idea as to Death’s intentions for me). Not to sound morbid even for a Monday, but I want to make sure everything is covered. As far as I/O Error goes – the ending is becoming problematic. I am a hybrid writer, so I have my major scenes planned out and a major outline – the minor stuff comes to me as I write, but I don’t have a good ending and I am getting to the half-way point. Normally, I get to this point and I’ve got the ending already to be slapped down. With this one – the ending I have in my head is more of a “Hollywood ending”. It looks good, but I don’t think it would really translate into prose. So, I am trying another ending in my head while I work on the notes for the tent pole series. I have to admit – my one big weakness is endings.

I’m trying some regular coffee now, so I will keep everyone interested up to date on whether or not my head explodes. Cup number two before I hit the showers… because I know what my fans like. Oh – I am also going to go see the movie Mama this Saturday and I will give everyone a review. I am a fan of del Toro – loved the ‘Hellboy’ movies and I would have loved to see what he would have done with The Hobbit. I’m even going to risk seeing Pacific Rim, even though most mech films end up being a bit of a disappointment for me. I guess playing Battletech and Mech Warrior has spoiled me for that sort of thing.

Well, I must be off. Hope everyone has a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

No post today.  Sorry all.

About a year ago – I heard of a sci-fi show called “Continuum“. I liked the premise (time travel and crime drama are beloved genres) and I scoured iTunes, Amazon Prime and other sources, but came up empty. I figured that at some point it would hit some Internet site, so I could be patient. Now, I don’t have to be patient. Sci-Fi (don’t correct me) has the show in their lineup and I like it. I have finished watching the first episode. Except for the music at the end (a disturbing trend), this is a great series so far. Yes – I have a slight bias for time travel and against Sci-Fi. Thankfully, they are not producing the show – that would be our friends in the Great North. Maybe this will be the time for the channel to turn itself around. Wait – they’re owned by Universal. Well, there is always hope.

Speaking of hope – I am going to get back to finishing the re-writes for the first novel. Last night, I had a headache all day and I just wanted to go to bed. What’s unusual is that I went to bed right when I got home from work… and that today is the release day for the last of the Borderlands DLC (which doesn’t raise the level cap from 50 – boo). So, I went right to bed, had some weird dreams and woke up this morning after ignoring my alarms. Hopefully, there will be no more headaches and I can get back to it after work today. I’m still trying to work on some plots for erotic novels (play for pay, as it were), but so far I have nothing to show for it so far. Maybe today I can get some inspiration… or a nap. It’s still chilly out here, so it’s good hibernation weather as far as I am concerned.

From hibernation to rushing – I gotta shower and get ready for work. Sorry this is so shirt.

Sincerely,
Seething Apathy

OK – I am now a fan of Death Wish coffee. Well… maybe fan is not the exact word. Maybe… addicted is a better word. I can see why they have a subscription service. I can also see myself clicking on the ‘order now’ button and asking why it’s not materializing on my doorstep. However – I’ll order the five pound bag and see how long that will last me. Maybe a couple of weeks or more… or so I hope. I have my Art Bell (broadcast from December 28^th, 2002 – talking about the invasion of Iraq) and I have my coffee. I am content for now.

I am going through the final steps of re-writing the first novel and hope to get a little more done this weekend after the writer’s meeting. Once that’s done, I have a couple of people who are willing to read it (pray for their immortal souls). When I get their feedback, I’ll start to get the cover art together and hopefully, I can get it out there by the end of March along with I/O Error. All in all – I want to have something done by the end of the first quarter. That’s going to be my yardstick – something done every quarter-year and moving forward. After I/O Error I am going to work on Valentina’s Feast to change up things. After that one, I will start to work on Spooksayer and get the tent pole series up and running. This is going to be the year I get off the ground. I may be flapping furiously, but I will not touch the ground for a while – and hopefully not at all.

I watched the movie Dredd Saturday (my reward for re-writing) and I have to say that it’s a good popcorn movie. I wouldn’t go into this movie anticipating any weighty questions about existence or the human condition (unless your question is: ‘how many bullets will it take to obliterate a floor of slum-like apartments?’ The answer: a lot). Karl Urban is the best choice for Dredd – he looks like the comic book character and from what I have read, he is the perfect fit. I hope there will be a sequel at some point. Sure – it was a violent movie, but it was a well put together violent flick. Now I am watching one of my favorite episodes of the new Dr. Who series (the recent series): “The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit”. I love the Lovecraftian references and to be honest – Billie Piper is not all that hard to look at during this period. ;D Art Bell, Dr. Who and Lovecraft – could this little humble shack get any geekier? Only if I wasn’t allergic to cats, then I could claim that this is the geekiest house in Kentucky.

Well – I am off to get more coffee, watch this episode and stay awake. Even now, I can feel the caffeine from my coffee starting to work its way out of my system. Oh, dear. Time for cup number two.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Good Morning, all! While I am not paid to shill products or people (fingers crossed!), I will recommend two things to you:

One – I am a fan of the old Art Bell show (not Coast to Coast – Gawd that show is a far cry from what it was) and I was lucky enough to find some old shows on .mp3 when WinMX was working. I was able to get a streaming audio player (pro version of xiialive for free from Amazon!) and I was just poking about. For a lark, I typed in ‘Art Bell’ and I figured I would get a stream cast of Coast to Coast. Imagine my joy when Fine Art: The Essential Art Bell came up on the list. It jumps about during Art Bell’s tenure on his show. Today, I caught the last part of his show on September 11, 2001 and now I am listening to the show from April 2, 2005 – it does jump around, but hey – it’s Art Bell. If you’re a fan of EVPs, conspiracies and what would be called ‘fringe news’, this is the site to go to and bookmark to burn away the hours at work… y’know… instead of working. Did I mention how much I love my Kindle Fire? I really do love this little thing. I’ll also recommend the Xiia Live Pro for your Android device. It’s very easy to use and set up – come with a timer and even an alarm to wake up to you favorite stream. Note: since I cannot determine what particular episode will play, I don’t want to run the risk of an early morning heart attack because they decided to play one of Art Bell EVP episodes.

Now – on to books. I am currently reading Rule 34
by Charles Stross and this is one of the better cyberpunk books I’ve read so far. This one takes the current mercenary model of the Internet and extrapolates it about one hundred years into the future with some brilliantly funny lines. While I like cyberpunk, I am in love with this particular book. You should have a little bit of knowledge of Internet memes – particularly what Rule 34 is, but you can pick up what’s what by reading in context. This is also in interesting read as it’s written in second person (you
instead of I or he/she/it), so it is a little more immersive than the usual novel. The various characters are well thought out and very dissimilar in their voice. I am about a third of the way through the novel (Thank God for slow hours) and it is very enjoyable. I am going to search out more of Charles Stross and definitely put into my favorite cyberpunk authors (which now numbers 2) list.

If anyone interested – I have had no dream to report of today. Hopefully, this means no more being chased by weird robots, or silly string horrors and spooky women… at least in my sleeping hours. I will not make any such guarantees as to my waking life.

Have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

OK – the dreams are getting weirder and weirder… this one now has me eating tubes that look like hard plastic models of intestines and being concerned what I’m eating. I don’t know what to make of this particular one, but I’m hoping that it’s just another phase of sleeping. I’ll have some intense dreams and they’ll peter off for a few months and I can go back to having just a normal sleep cycle. I also woke up this morning to a headache which was easily taken care of with a couple of aspirin. On the brighter side – I had biscuits and gravy! The best breakfast in the morning is Hawaiian Rolls and sausage gravy – especially in the cold Louisville mornings. Wait – did I just complain about the cold? I must be getting old.

I/O Error has entered into the ‘dribbles and drabs’ phase of the writing relationship, so if I get a thousand words today, it will be a miracle. I used to get frustrated over this part. Now, I just let it go and keep on going. As long as I am putting words on the page, I am moving forward and getting the book done. That’s all that matters in the end. Well – that and getting the Hugo… and the Nebula… and a Stoker and a Poe while we’re thinking about it. As long as I keep my expectations realistic, I should do fine. J

I just watched the premiere of Deception. The deception is that this is a show worth watching. So far, everything in it is predictable: rich, corrupt family, poor little rich girls, and the return of the prodigal friend. Broadcast TV (in my humble opinion) is producing good shows few and far, far between that don’t seem to keep up the quality for very long (Fox – I’m looking at you). I can understand that they are having problems in getting good writers to commit when cable TV (especially the premium channels) can come along and make a more substantial offer. Now, am I saying that cable TV is an oasis of entertainment? Heck, no – SyFy and the other Universal channels continue to take the Aldi’s approach to TV regardless of what the fans say. So far, FX has some of the best shows so far: Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story: Asylum and the upcoming The Americans. If you want to low brow it – there’s Wilfred and Anger Management. What do the big studios need to do in order to get eyes back on them? Short answer? Attract the talent. Longer answer: wave the money under the nose of the writer (… and fellas, I am competitively cheap) and be willing to take some risks. Yes – there are people who are going to have their feathers ruffled, so screw them. There is no such thing as bad publicity. If you get a good product out there, the money will come. Ask HBO and FX.

Well, I am off to scrub off the funk of the night before.
Have a good day.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy