Make the Itching Stop!

Hey guys, long time no blog, I know. Last week we had to mow the yard. I was weed-eating the ditch (weed-whacker, whatever) and it turns out, all of the poison ivy in the entire state is located in our ditch. So I've been spending the past several days trying to get the itching to stop. It got so bad I had to go to the doctor to get some medicine that'll get rid of it. Calamine lotion doesn't work, anti-itch cream, herbal remedies, I tried everything. It's starting to go away, and I feel much better. It should be gone pretty soon, maybe by Wednesday. Wish me luck.

Finished!

Finished it at 5! It was fantastic, a great ending, and it wrapped everything up very finely. I really liked it. I've been busy the rest of the day. I'll be back to trying to figure the plot out of its sticky mess tomorrow. It's been a great break, though. It's amazing that a series I've grown up with is ending, though. Now what'll I occupy my time with?

In Hiding!

What's this? Another Thursday's Doodle? No! It's my "Special Edition Celebration of the Release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Doodle!" And then, I'll be in hiding, because I'm super paranoid about getting spoilers before I finish the book. So, I'll be absent until I finish the book. I can't wait to get it and I hope you guys enjoy it, too. This is pretty big for me. I've grown up with this series, so its ending is monumental. I can't imagine what J. K. Rowling is going through, she's spent more time with the cast than I have.

Happy reading everyone!

Free Books! REALLY?!

But not from me. Nope, they're from good buddy S. William Shaw. He's having an awesome give away to promote his novels The Santa Mysteries and Sherman Oak and the Magic Potato. He's giving away free e-book copies of his book to anyone who e-mails him, and! (as if that wasn't enough!) he's giving away ten free paperback copies of one of his books away too. All you have to do to get the free e-book is e-mail him with the subject "free book" or to win the paperback copy, mention the contest on your blog/website, and send an e-mail with "book contest" as the subject and a link to your post. Then he'll draw the names. What are you waitng for??!! Send those e-mails!!!

Exhausted Thursday's Doodles

Okay, so let me fill you in on where I've been. I had a friend come over Tuesday, and I was very excited about that. It won't be long and I'll move away and leave my best friend behind. It's sad when I think about it. Anyway, then after he left yesterday, we had a very rough day. We had family problems that escalated into some very bad stuff. I won't go into details, but my family was called in as a peace keeper. I worked on my storyline, although I hit a snag I'm trying to work around. So between company, peace keeping, and trying to work around my story problems, I had very little time to doodle. I have a couple of drawings, but didn't have time to scan them, so I'm posting a picture that I sketched that's on the main site. I really like this picture. It's Garra from the anime Naruto. He's my favorite character on the show. Anyway, enjoy! Here's hoping things clear up.

Writing Update

I'm still plodding along. I finally got inspired last night, and typed like a mad banshee for several hours. I didn't go to bed until about 2:30 in the morning. I was exhausted, and I wasn't finished with the plotting yet, but I felt like I understood the characters a whole lot more. I gotta give some nice ladies some credit though. The method of plotting I'm trying I've really never heard of before. It's kinda a mash up of what I learned from Rosina Lippi's workshop and Lynn Viehl's workshop. If I finish this thing this time I'll owe them big.

I just finished reading Diplomacy of Wolves, which was fantastic, by the way. I really like the way Holly Lisle designs her worlds. There always so rich and distinct and original. Everytime I read her I get big green goosebumps of envy. I've started on Vengeance of Dragons and I'm enjoying it immensley too. Of course, if I don't finish it before the seventh Harry Potter book comes out, I'll lock myself in my room like I did when book 6 came out and go on a marathon reading spree until it's finished. Ever since I saw a video on the internet where a guy ran down the street shouting the end of Harry Potter 6 while people were still reading it, I've been extremely paranoid. If anyone did that to me, I'd make sure that no one ever found their remains, mwahahahaha!

Anyway, that's all the updates I have for now. Not much going on in my point on the world right now.

Photoshoot

As you all probably remember, I recently suffered the loss of one of my dear friends, my laptop. I think you all remember the story, where I faced terrible odds and went face to face with the deadly gorgon...I mean Vista...in order to subdue the beast and save my family from its evil. Well, I lost, and finally, a few days ago, I got my new laptop. What better excuse to pull out the digital camera and have a photoshoot? It's perfectly normal for a man to want to photograph his new computer...shut up...

Ooh la la. Say there, do you come here often? You know, I'm a photographer, right? Ooh, come on, just strike a pose.

Oh that's just perfect. Yeah. Now lets see you lift up that top.

Bow chicka wow wow! Turn to the side.

Oh, that's sexy.

Okay, I'm all done now. I think I'll go seek some mental help and then get back to my writing.

Sweet Revenge

A little news first: I finally got to quit my job!! I'm so happy! Now I'm free to do what I want for a few more months. In celebration from being out of the job from hell and graduating a few months ago/getting away from the teacher from hell, I'd like to bring to you, this post! Oh, and Happy Friday the 13th!

_____________________________________

Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for America's favorite gameshow!

Crowd: Blast that Bastard!!! Whooo!

Announcer: And now, the host of your show, it's Preppy McTooeager!

Preppy: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, we have a great show for you tonight. All the way from Nowheresville, USA, it's Jason Rayburn. Jason, say hello to the crowd.

Jason [sheepishly]: Hello.

Preppy: Alright, do you know the rules of the game?

Jason: I'm supposed--

Preppy: Whoah there buddy, let's explain it for the folks at home, shall we?

Jason: But if this is "America's Favorite Gameshow", then--

Preppy: Alright! The rules of the game are, you have to guess the identity of each bastard that we bring out from behind video screen. For every one you get right, you get 200 points! Whether you get it right or not, those bastards will be brought out and sat on stools while you get to stand a minutes torture from each of them. If you can survive a full minute, for each minute you survive, you get 300 points.

Jason: Wait, what?! Tort--!

Preppy: After that round, the points will be tallied up and if you win enough points, what does he get Johnny?

Announcer: He gets to blast one of those bastards right outta here!

Preppy: But you can only pick just one.

Jason: No way! I get tortured by all three and I can only hurt one.

Preppy: This game teaches that revenge is a family event, and that lifes not fair. [rubs Jason's head] Alright, it's time to play...

Audience: BLAST THAT BASTARD!

Preppy: And now it's time for round one. Can you guess who this person is?

[A silouhette of a short fat lady with frizzy out of control hair is brought into the video screen]

Jason: That's my old boss--

Preppy: Hey! [rushes over to Jason's chair and begins patting on the face...well more like slapping him] [whispers] Shut up and let them talk. The studio is kind enough to sponsor this show even though we're flopping. Shu'up and play the game right! [to the screen] Hey! Bastard Number One! Go!

Bastard 1: HELLO!? IS THIS THING ON?? IT BETTER BE! I HAD TO LEAVE MY JOB WHERE I MAKE FOUR TIMES AS MUCH AS EVERYBODY ELSE TO COME DOWN HERE! I DON'T MAKE A LOT OF MONEY, SO THIS BETTER WORK! LOOK AT THIS PLACE IT'S A WRECK! DUSTY, COBWEBS! IT'S WONDER YOU GUYS AREN'T SHUT DOWN!

Preppy: Alright, let's here our player's guesses.

Bastard 1: ...WHAT IF THAT WERE TO FALL ON MY HEAD! GET OVER HERE AND PICK THIS UP! I MIGHT SLIP AND FALL!

Preppy: [into his sleeve, quietly] Johnny cut her mike!

[Bastard 1's mouth continues to move as she shouts, but no sound comes out]

Preppy: Do you have any guesses?

Jason: Like I tried to tell you before, that's my old boss Sheila O'Shreekerton. Say, she's a girl, so technically wouldn't she be a--

Preppy: Alright, let's bring out our next bastard!

(40 minutes later)

Preppy: Alright, we're back, and were just about to enter the final round! Jason got some bonus points when his old gym teacher tore through our video screen and began pounding Jason to a pulp. You okay, Jason?!

[Jason wearily raises his hand. He's holding a bloody rag to his nose with his other hand and a bag of ice is propped on his head carefully.]

Preppy: That's great!

Coach Sassy Quatcha (Phys. Ed. Coach): I always hated that little pansy. He never like wrestling or anything like that. Always writing stories in his little notebook.

Mrs. Crani K. Britche (Art Teacher): And he was never reading like he was supposed to. He always spent all his time doodling in his notebooks and writing those stupid stories than reading like he was told to. Maybe if he'd been any good at drawing instead of drawing those ugly little creatures...what do you call 'em? Amine? Animeat? Anyway, everyone knows those aren't real art.

Preppy: Okay, guys, that rounds over, remember?

Jason: I'm getting dizzy. I think I need to go to the hospital.

Preppy: Nonsense! You're a trooper!

Jason: I think I'm dying...

Preppy: And now it's time for the final round! Judges, what's his score!

Announcer: It's 2600 points!

Preppy: Aww, I'm sorry. That's too bad. Looks like you didn't earn enough to blast one of 'em! Until next time folks!

Jason: Wait, what? No way, I'm getting my turn!

[Jason rushes forward, laughing maniacally and grabs one of the laser cannons from the shelf]

[crackle! crack! sputter! flip-flip-flip...]

WE'RE SORRY. THE SHOW YOU ARE WATCHING IS EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO CHANNEL 8--"AMERICA'S NEXT TOP RADIOACTIVE MONSTER" IS NEXT.

Thursday's Doodles!

And because I'm an anime junkie, here's my doodle for the week (more of the post below):

For those of you who don't know, or can't tell from my drawing, this is Goku from Dragon Ball Z. I spent the night at a friends house the other night and drew this in the down time.

You might notice that my blog has been a little quiet. I can blame that on a few things. 1) I'm about to go to college and I'm getting stuff ready to go, 2) I'm spending a lot of time with my friends because I know that I'll be leaving soon, 3) PBW and Rosina Lippi are having awesome workshops this week and I've been participating, and 4) see below post.

The Three D's: Doubt, Depression, and Disgust**

Okay, I'm going through something right now. I may just be blowing this out of proportion, but I'll just rant here. Maybe I'll feel better.

Today I tried to re-plot my novel. You remember Jivtor, and all the trouble I had with that story, right? Well, I'm still having trouble. Maybe I should just kill the story, I dunno, or leave it and come back to it. Let me explain, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Lately, I haven't really been in the mood to write. Everytime I look at the page, I get up and do something else. I try to run through things to get my novel going. I always have a pretty good start, but not long after that, I just fizzle out. I don't know what to put in the middle. All my plots always fizzle out by then. I've tried a thousand different ideas, and I just don't know what to do. It's not just this story either, I'm just learning it on this one sooner than the others.

On all my other stories that I've ever started, I fizzle out about 30-40 pages in. It never fails. I never know what's going to happen to make the story progress. I've got a whole folder full of ideas that I just can't bring myself to throw away because they've got promise, I just don't know where they're going. The difference between those stories, and my current two isn't much. On the current two that I'm writing, I've tried plotting out what happens instead of just writing by the seat of my pants. Apparently, my butt can't write. So anyway, most of the advice I've ever heard says, "If you're fizzling out in the middle, then you should try plotting it out. It's not like it's set in stone, and you can always change something, but it gives you an idea of where to go." The problem? I can't think of anything to put in the middle, even when I'm plotting it out.

At first I thought this problem might be the genre I write in. Maybe fantasy, as much as I love it, just isn't my thing. Maybe I should write something else. But it doesn't matter what genre I write in, the problem is the same. I can never think of what should happen to the person. Maybe I just don't have a theme that's defined enough? Maybe I don't have my story developed enough? Maybe I should just pack up all my writings, all my papers and research and books on writing, and my computer, dig a big hole in the backyard, dump my stuff in there, cover it in gasoline and watch it burn while dancing naked around the blaze chanting Native American war chants...*sigh*.

And it's not just that anymore. Now I'm terrified that if I try to drop these stories, like I did all the others, maybe I'll run out of ideas. So the situation is: I can't work on the stories I have because I hate all the ideas that I come up with--they're too weak, there's not enough of them, they're not interesting, they're just filler scenes, etc; I'm afraid that if I leave these that I'll never end my streak of starting novels and never finishing them; I'm afraid that I just don't have what it takes to be a writer; I'm afraid that I'll eventually just run out of ideas because I can never finish one and I'll use them all up.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Is it normal for writers to go through this sort of thing? Is it normal for them to question giving it up and working as a door-to-door vacuum salesman? Is it normal for a writer to hate every idea they come up with? Is it normal for writers to eventually just think that every idea they have is trash?

*sigh* I'm going to bed.

** -- 2/3/2008 -- I fixed the title. I'm glad that someone searched my archives to find a spelling mistake from almost 7 months ago.

The Plunge

Well, I'm taking the plunge and putting some real writing online. It's kinda nerve wracking. I know it's not my best, I already established that, but the thought that a whole bunch of strangers from all over the world could be looking at and judging me because of what I write is a little jitter-inducing. I can't imagine how I'd feel about a book being published. Even still, I'm glad I'm doing this. As Jaye Patrick said, "We learn by doing."

A while back a wrote a detective-type story that I thought about sending to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, or Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. This is making me think about taking that thing back out and seeing if it's worth sending off, and if it's not, maybe I should try writing another to send off.

Anyway, enough rambling, I'm just stalling because I'm nervous. Here's Battle of the Wastelands. I'll be posting it as a link on my sidebar so anyone who wants to can read it, download it, etc. It's free, and free is my favorite flavor, I'm sure it's other people's too.

(Small update: I've also changed my template because I like this one a lot better. I wasn't very fond of the light blue.)

So I Was Wondering...

Hey everyone. You might notice a new addition to the side over there. That's right, I'm the winner of the Rockin' Girl Boy Blogger award. I was awarded by MerylF and I'm proudly displaying the badge at the top of my site to show I'm a good Girl Boy Blogger.

I'm supposed to pick 5 girls to award this to. Hmm...do I know 5 girls who haven't gotten the award yet?

I'll award this to: Pam, Jaye, Aurelen, Anne, and Misswriter. There, five! Wow, I didn't think I could find anybody.

Pass it on to five more rockin' girls that you know.

On a different note, I was wondering something. I have a short story on my hard drive that takes place in Jerucia, and I was wondering if you guys wanted to read it. See, I've been wanting to put a free e-book on this site for a while so that a little sample of my writing could be out there for people to see. The problem is, I wrote it a long time ago, and it might be kinda rough in spots. I tried to clean it up the best I could, but there might still be some errors. Despite all that, I've always like this short story, and if you guys want to read it, I'd be more than happy to put it on here.

So whaddya say? Yay or nay? (Haha, quite the set of rhymes there, eh?) Post in the comments to let me know.

Thursday's Doodles...a day late...

Yep, the reason I didn't have a doodle yesterday is because we went to go see Transformers. I can sum the movie up in one word: awesome. It was one of the best movies I'd seen all year. The Autobots and Decepitcons were amazing, as a matter of fact, all the effects were amazing. The story was awesome, and Shia LaBeouf gave an awesome performance. He's really come up since I was little and used to watch him on Even Stevens. The movie was great, and if you haven't seen it, you really should.

Happy Birthday America!

Happy July the 4th! Happy Independence Day!