Kickin it back to Old Skool

I'm in love with "Clearing the Wire", so much so that I'd decided to make it a new project. The New God's chapter seven is being as troublesome as chapter six. But I must keep writing or else I'll never have anything to show.

If you read the Flash Fiction entry for Friday you'd have noticed it's not 100 words at all. Only because I found a rich story waiting to be told, from that one well taken picture. The comments on that entry were astounding. Even the negative feed back was good. And like I said in the comments, it screams project in flashing neon lights.


That cinched it in my mind. So yesterday I went old school and found a notebook. I began writing about "Boy",  her real name is Casey Marjorie Bennet. I can tell you now that I like her and I hope to do the whole thing in first person.


So far my "Boy" is an adult living in Boston, she's got a very rich life in Boston. All that changes with one pre-dawn phone call from home. The story is of the trip back and all that happens there where she doesn't have to hide what she is.


"Clearing the Wire" will be featured there as a flash back to her youth and I'm really hoping that it becomes a great story.


So if I forget the Bean Counter this Thursday, please forgive me. I'm lo-tech on this story and it feels right to be that way. 


Speaking on Flash Fiction, Madison Woods has kindly started putting the photo prompt out on Tuesday's instead of Wednesday's I'm thinking of featuring the picture here. Just in case any of you decided to join in the fun. The rules are over here in her page and it's pretty much the same as what I've been doing. I only ask that if you DO post a shortie that your post the link to her blog, then post it to mine so that I can see it on Friday, like every one else. Plus I'm just really nosey and a little on the lazy side I don't want to chase down your stories if you got the idea from me. I might never see it if you don't.


So I'll be pages deep into my notebook  for a few days/weeks making "Boy" come to life.  Grand Pa's got a name already and "Boy" even has a supporting character: Officer Pleasant, Officer Jericho D. Pleasant. I wonder if giving him a name like that is going to help him or hurt him...

How to build fear

If  the most dangerous person you know slinked up to you and just walked your path with you what would you do? How would you feel?

Malik, the love lorn fool, is at this very moment dealing with this situation. If I was Malik, I'd not worry, because I haven't done anything wrong. I might even engage her in conversation. I might even start with, Hey Camille, killed anyone lately? Camille being a trained assassin since birth, might actually reply with some off color humor. But A I'm not a love lorn fool, B I'm not Malik, C Malik had been a bad boy.

Outside of THE NEW GOD I've actually taken some time and developed Camille in character development, between her and her brother. In this part of her story she's fresh faced and new to the job her family has been training them to be. 

Before you get all, OMG, on me, the whole freaking family are all trained assassins. It's the family business. They are one of the most powerful families in what's left of the organized world. You ned protection, call them. You need someone offed, you call them. You have to understand that for her and her brother Nicky, this is normal.

Back to Malik who was off snooping where he wasn't supposed to. Malik has a few issues with women. Years in the future men will still have a problem with women. I don't believe that is something that will ever go away. One of them being his belief that no woman should be as "dangerous" as Camille. Another being that women should appreciate the value he brings, by just existing. My favorite is that, his love interest should not have ever been higher ranking than he. Malik my friend you got it bad.

All this brings me to how to blend that into two major conflicts within The New God. One how he handles Celine and her new relationship, and how the evil that everyone (Celine, Will, Malik, Camille, Petra, Stoddard, Davis, Verine'e, Logan, Randall, Winston and Harold The Boss) is fighting against, infiltrates the team.

Can you believe I'm stuck? Of course you can. Truly because I'm not sure how involved Camille should be in Malik's business. I'll have to ponder this while I go argue with VA.  

Waiting for the Internet

I was supposed to have my Internet installed on Sunday. Last time I had to deal with the American Cable company they didn't work on Sunday. But I guess times are a changing.

After talking to several flamboyantly gay men on the phone, I was: A)Pretty sure my name was Honey and B) Utterly confused about what day these people were coming to do the install.

Picture Ms. Townes sitting in her sinfully tiny apartment contemplating breakfast, cereal or cereal, when there is a knock on the door. Is it Powdered Toast Man? No, it's Brian from the cable company.

Of course like every closet slob, I'm going to scramble to pick up all my random stuff scattered around the place (IE. the random bra in the kitchen).  I let Brian in and he immediately begins trying to sell me stuff.  Ha Ha I have my own equipment, beat that! After some serious haggling, and a cheerfully bad trade of sea stories (another freakin Sailor), my Internet was installed.

So stoked am I that I completely forget the list of crap I HAD planned for today. Instead I plopped myself in front of Mac and surfed the net. Forget the fact that school starts next week and I still haven't purchased my books. Or the fact that I still need to make my way to the VA. Or the fact that I have to return another modem  back to Radio Shack. No, nope, none of that matters. I have service.

Totally, I have my priorities here.

Not a complete waste of a day though. While I was trolling through all that is the World Wide Web, I got myself off the wait list and into a seat for a second class. Joy, Happy Face!!! I got moved up the list on the other wait listed class from 5 to #3. I'm hoping someone drops the class so I can just get it out the way. Who wants to take Poly Sci anyway. Sounds terribly boring, and not humorous. I mean the only time I need to know about how politics applies to me is during the election year. Oh HAHAHA it is the election year.

*******

Yesterday instead of posting something lengthy and clever I threw up the link to the website I have for the books. I managed to get up The New God's Chapter 4, then six hours later and with even less fanfare, I put up chapter 5.

Would you like to know how I did that? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. Remember Kill Bill Vol. I + II? No? Where are you people coming from? Do you not have TV? Anyway here for your education. You know how Kill Bill was supposed to be one extremely long movie then he cut it in half and made two almost completely different films? Talk about a run on sentence... Yeah well that's what happened to chapters 4 and 5 in The New God. Chapter four was becoming a marathon in my patience, best thing I could have done was either scratch it all together or make another chapter. Plan B won.

In Chapter four, Celine and Will have a late lunch and discuss how the spell in Chapter 3 failed. He tells Celine to meet him out in a field at 8 that night. There they will try the spell again with "provisions" they will need to complete it. She later goes to the team truck to process some updated information about the trip they are going on, when Verine'e (VEER-UH-NEE) drops by.

Someone on eFiction called Verine'e little miss perfect. Sounded a little antagonistic towards her as well. Good I like that I was able to bring out that particular feeling. You're not supposed to trust Verine'e. She is one of those people who fall into the unknown variable category.

Verine'e through a method I will not say disarms Celine to tell her about the cargo, she's transporting. This cargo by the way is like super hush hush, so how Verine'e found out about it is a mystery. Here you get a little back history about the world I'm creating. I'm going to throw a big word out here people: Dystopia, think opposite Utopia. I'm not, at this point in the story, ready to explain how the world came to this but, here I give a boarder view of the whole canvas. If that makes any sense I'm feeling a bit leery on that sentence...

Chapter 5 begins with Celine driving a jeep alone in the desert. She is out looking for Will. She is accosted by a starving mountain lion.  When she barely survives the attack she does manage to find Will, and another member of the team who is then sent off to get help. With the other guy no longer present Will, who knows exactly what to do to help her heal, does exactly that.

When Celine is rejuvenated, she has so much power flowing through her she can't control it. Poor Celine never felt so good in her life, she takes advantage of the moment and seduces Will, whom she'd been secretly (cough* cough* everyone knows*) crushing on for years. Will can't resist. Goremance I'm telling you...

That's the recap of what yesterday brought. Take a look at the website click on The New God Ch.1 the other four chapters are at the bottom of that first sub page.  Happy Reading, I think I might actually go food shopping now.

Like riding a bike

When I was skinny I rode a bike everywhere. There is a bike path along the South West Corridor that leads you pretty much all the way to City Hall. I have rode that path hundreds of times.

After boot camp I got stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. I was not so skinny by then and purchased a bike to keep the weight down. There wasn't something as scenic as the South West Corridor but it was still a nice ride. I even had a bell for it.

When I moved over seas I took my bike with me, intending to keep to my pedaling ways. It's Japan, everyone rides a bike. Did I? No. As my bike came out of it's shipping container, I realized that I lived too far to commute to work. That and I was terrified that I'd bike on the wrong side of the road and get hurt.

Which leads me to the current day where I am once again on a bike happily commuting to and from the daily Musters during my final check out. The only problem, aside from not having working breaks this afternoon, my fat ass. Seriously my badunka-dunk needs it's own zip code.

No make over is complete without some overhaul on the diet. This means no more Chocolate covered cashews. I'm allergic to the caffeine anyway. And lay off the soda.

I know exactly what needs to be done to get my body in shape, smaller meals, regular meal schedules, exercise, and vitamins. Since I don't drink anymore this should be easy.  And of course you guessed it, it's not.

Living Sober, a guide to sobriety says that you're body will demand some kind of supplemental satisfaction. The fat kid in me says YAY! SWEETS! Sweet! The book practically gives you permission to continue treating your body like ass. Lets rejoice in junk food!

Then later that night when I curl up with my lap top and full bag of Fun Sized Snickers. I won't think about the slow climb through the rolling hills of Bremerton Washington. I definitely won't be thinking about my heavy breathing eating that candy. Or that fact that I have to go up a size on jeans.

The next day when I am dying from over exertion on the aforementioned hill I know I WILL be thinking about that bag of Snickers. I have to wonder what possessed me to even buy them? The answer eludes me.

But I shall get up this hill, if only to just get up the dang hill. Maybe I should put a stack of free money in a box at the top. Or I should get something shiny and leave it there. It would be like Roller Derby in this beast yo.

What ever my motivation or your motivation it better continue. Remaking oneself is supposed to be permanent. What would be the point of all this work?

Speaking of work: Sandy-Jade over on wattpad designed this cover for The New God. I love it. What do you think?

 Actually I want to change a few things but other than that it's awesome. I think I want to change the tube to a tank.   Okay maybe I don't love it. But Sandy-Jade captured her face perfect. Now that Celine has a face I think a lot will come together for her as a character, or a real person. The original that she started with had some head gear to it.

I had some other one she sent me that struck my fancy. Below I'll post them as well.

Personally I'm just glad to have another reason to finish this book. My new life DOES depend on it.


If I had to have a back up cover it's be this one to my left. It expresses how Celine hides her true self and how the magic with-in her really is the one in control.

I do however like the simplicity of the one on the bottom. Simply you can't have good without evil type thing.

Work Work Work

Yeah here I am on Christmas Eve, working. Why not, its not like I have any family here in Japan to celebrate with... I digress

Chapter 2 of The New God is posted to Google Docs, my website,  and on Wattpad.  If I dream up any other convenient way to let you all view my work I'll let you know.
Merry Christmas

Let me leave you with a little Christmas humor,

Technology Rocks!!!

The great thing about technology is the ability to have things changed instantly. I only say this because the folks over at eFiction have graciously chopped the two stories I placed on Google Docs. These folks have saved me some serious money and time. Think of how bad this would have been if, I'd waited until the book was done, printed, then mailed it to some editor so they could chop it and send it back at cost to me? How other authors of the past did this over and over, is totally no bueno.

I forget who said it in one of their blogs but, "its a great time to be a writer." And as I learn the ins and outs of this business, I'm finding more and more that it is. Motherfugnwriters got to the heart of my problem mentioned here  and so a change of scenery was all I needed to get my juices flowing again. Now, if it weren't for technology where would I be? Stuck thats what. Isn't it grand? Chapter two of The New God is about to wrapped up thanks to that tidbit. 

It is, don't deny it, you know you love it. 

On the future move, I'm not so lucky. I check the sites often and come up lacking with the search for an affordable place in San Diego. I'm taking it well I'd like to think. I understand, there is a process in these things. Being in the Military for almost six years, trust me I know about processes. My alcoholic (and I'd like to think resourceful) self would look for ways to circumvent this process in order to focus on what needs to happen. IE starting school, getting the book out, maybe get a dog… But if I stay positive and keep reaching out as I have been and maybe a little more, I really think I'll be okay. Don't get me wrong, there is a real possibility that I will be homeless, and accordingly I'm freaking out. I just feel that with the money I have saved I will be okay.

OverMuchly Wonders is about to get a new title. Right now it has title: unfinished. The title doesn't match the story it's turning out to be. Truly the title seems "whimsical" I'm finding I don't do whimsical. Cue the Goremance, such a cool word. Anyhoo, I posted that to Google docs as well and that poor thing got massacred. In a good way, in a good way, I promise.

A Pack of Camels and some Fruity Collon...

So I smoke. Yes I know a terrible habit and I should quit. Blah Blah Blah... But as I was staring at my pack of cigarettes I noticed something. Unless I'm mistaken the package has the Great Pyramids of Giza on them. Camels say they used Turkish and domestic tobacco, so why is there a pyramid and a camel their mascot? I've been to Turkey and Egypt, neither one look anything like a pack of Camels.

That was just a random for you.

Over on Google+ there was this freakishly awesome post about Curly Balls.
Apparently this is a great snack in France. So the comments were all kinds of innuendo filled zingers referring to parts of the human anatomy. Who could resist some yummy Curly Balls???







Not to be topped by the French I had to counter with a snack I found in Japan. Introducing, Fruity Collon:

Also try Chocolate Collon!!!!

You gotta love international quirks...

Today I decided to devote my time to a short story. Not So Picture Perfect. This is about an artist who finds some kind of human/sea creature hybrid knocked out inside a wrecked boat that washed ashore. It promises to be dirty. Lets face folks all my stories are dirty, and gory. I want to make this pretty short. Nothing too elaborate, girl meets thing, girl tries to hide thing, thing tries to change for girl, every one lives happily ever after and has little sea creature babies. There will be gore in this, trust me I can make this happen. 

Why they come up gory I have no idea. I actually talked about this to my therapist last week. Together we invented the new genre: GOREMANCE. I'm sure someone has already made this up. But my stories, when I ever get time to finish, would fit nicely into this category.

If anyone has time to check out other stories by writers you've never heard of, check out efictionmag.com, or gather.com. If you're looking to get you're own stuff out there you can upload submissions there too.

P.S.

If you have tried to make a comment and found that you could not, PLEASE email me awtownes@gmail.com. I've been tinkering with this and I hope I've worked that issue out. If not you know what to do.