When Characters Come Knocking...

     I think that if you had asked any writer ever, if they’d ever dreamt of seeing a book, a novel, maybe a comic or graphic novel, or a piece of their own music on the big screen that they would probably admit to you that it’s been a day dream. Even if it’s a fleeting dream, or even just a light consideration I would say that we’ve all probably thought about it. But then that begs to question really, what book, comic, music, etc. would you like to see of your own private work? Is there a certain story that you would like to share more than another being portrayed on the big screen? I’m just as guilty maybe day dreaming of which piece of my work I would like to see on the big screen. OceanView, would probably be better as a television show, as it is a continuation of stories about Fire/EMS and law enforcement. But, are there a lot of those shows on now? Would it make it anywhere? Or would shows like Chicago PD and Chicago Fire beat it out? Definitely things to consider when it comes to stories like that. But at the same time, maybe there is more substance that one can add to that particular genre that the creator’s and writers of the other show didn’t add before? But with that said what about the content of your stories?

     What kind of age demographic are you going for? Are you looking at pre-teens which a lot of movies are now-a-days, or are you wanting an adult genre? OceanView is aimed for more of an adult audience because of the content, language, and some of the scenes that the characters find themselves in. What about my Wolves and there Motley Crew of misfits? The content wouldn’t be that bad for any real type of audience. Since the book is getting ready to release I don’t want to include many spoilers about it, or what the book is about. I want my readers to enjoy the full satisfaction of getting to Meet Malakai, and his pack full-on without being told anything about them ahead of time. With this said, we’ve moved on and selected the piece of what we are wanting to use tougher questions are going to arise out of this. Since, I’m closer to the field of writing I’ll be touching more on this subject then I will with the graphic novels, or the music. I think it would be safe to say that several writers can tell you that a character is crystal clear in their heads. That, when the character comes to you and tells you they want discovered you see them for who and what they are. Every characteristic of them, from attitude to mentality, there looks, and all the way to what they really want out of their story being told. Is it as simple on the big screen for something like that to be achieved?
     What does it take for a character to come to life? Is it safe to say that if they somewhat resemble the character it’s ok? Or do you want them to channel the character, to be possessed by the presence and aura of the character? My characters are all very important to me, even the ones that are kind of standbys that are in the story but disappear throughout it and reappear. If you are going to do something dealing with another person’s world then you need to achieve it in such a way that the writer and all involved can walk away without feeling like they’ve been cheated. J.K. Rowling very clearly stated to Warner Bros. upon the making of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows movies that she wanted two separate movies, because if it’d been compacted into one movie than it would have cut a lot of the story out and explanation to the plot. Would you retain such an important role in the making of your movie or production? I think creative writes as a writer would definitely help secure your story from being tampered too much and it would keep the main plots in the movie or whatever the production to be true. I certainly know, that I would retain full creative writes over everything if someone approached me to make either “OceanView” or “In with the pack” to make sure it stayed true to itself and it wasn’t made into a scrappy idea that the production, or director wanted. This has sadly happened to several writers including one that was not allowed to finish his novel before the sequel was made.
     Is it better to find actors/actresses that haven’t been discovered yet to play your characters? Or is it better to go along with the A-list of people that are asked to do a lot of the movies today? Is Tom Cruise a good choice for a romantic heart throb character you have in your romance novel, next to Megan Fox? Is the chemistry right? Can they pull off the true emotions between the characters? Or is it simply better to look through the portfolio of actors/actresses that have applied and have them audition that way? I personally think that if I was put in the situation of casting for the movie, for my characters I would want someone who was true to the character. I would want someone that fit the personality of the voice that I can see in my head talking to me while I write. It would have satisfy me as well as the muse to say “Yes! That is my Marc Kennedy!” or “Yes! That is the voice of Malakai!” they would have to be heart felt about the rolls, and indicate to me that they could capture the essence of my characters in order for us to get this process moving forward.
     Walking through this now, we are at the point of “Are we going to need this to be an animated film? Or are we going to be able to do live action with this particular story. For me, the answer is two different ones. Yes and no. I don’t think you’d be able to pull off Malakai and his pack in a live-action film. Could it happen? Surely. But maybe another style would be better. With OceanView? Absolutely, I think that a live-action movie or show would be better pursued with this particular story. But for other writer’s there worlds may be a lot more complex than mine. Whereas I prefer to write realistic fiction some prefer the supernatural or fantasy realms. Can characters be re-created in all of their glories or again are different avenues to be taken. Maybe events, or fights in the story you’ve written couldn’t be physically possible for the screen. All things to be considered if you ever made the big times and got all the way to Hollywood.
     Now, some of you I can see saying “Grayson, is the only reason why you are writing is to become rich and famous?” Absolutely not, as I’ve mentioned in my blogs before I enjoy telling a good story. I’ve been writing for a lot of years. I started around the age of 12 and continue to be fully involved with my writing today. Even, if they are incomplete ideas I make sure that characters have voices, and events happen. Hell, sometimes you can get characters and scenes to match each other and you may be able to take totally separate ideas and mix them together to make one complete story. The point of this blog was just to ask all of you writers’ out there if you’ve ever just day dreamed and thought “If I had the opportunity would I take it?” Not only that, but not everyone is a reader. Not everyone can sit still long enough to read a book. I would look at this as another avenue for people to meet my characters. Whether it’s my officers from the OVPD, or meet some of the wolves from the plains they just may find joy in them! That is why I love to write, I love to tell stories to entertain people and if I can branch out from just literature to say, Graphic Novels, movies or short films I will! Today’s technology has provided boundless opportunity for both music and literary authors to reach out into unknown space.

Fandoms Today

     I know that it’s been a very long while since I’ve sat down and managed a blog. I felt compelled tonight to write one after having seen ‘Godzilla’ last night. I had managed to get some tickets to a pre-screening event and ended up taking my mother to the showing since she is a HUGE Godzilla fan. She always has been, and I have a feeling that she will always be. But with that said, this is what I’d like to concentrate on tonight for tonight’s blog. I would like to talk about the Fandoms and the huge span of comic books, graphic novels, and television shows that have impacted us today as a society. I think that it is safe to say that back in school (at least when I was in school) that you didn’t really expose to everyone that you had a fascination with comics. Either A) A fascination with comics or B) Television shows that would be considered geeky, nerdy, or outlandish to watch. If the bullies or anyone for that matter anyone in your grade found out that you were watching these shows, or reading these kinds of comics it often resulted in a total blacklist of your friendship and isolation from the rest of the kids in your grade. Always looked at as the nerd and teased about.
     To be honest, I’d never been one of the kids in school that was really into comics. Sure, I knew the difference between Marvel and DC Comics but that was about the extent of my knowledge on either of these groups. We had kids that kind of stuck to themselves with the comics. X-men had been HUGE when I was in school, trading cards, games, etc. It wasn’t until a few years ago that Mrs. Michaels introduced me to DC Comics, and Batman in almost a unreal way. We’d bought the game ‘Arkham Asylum’ for one of our gaming consoles and we started playing through it. Again, I’d never really been on the whole comic book scene so as we played through the game you started learning about these complex characters, and stories that all kind of intertwined with each other. Instantly, I knew that I was hooked. I’d always been huge into stories and good plot. Batman’s world surely didn’t disappoint me as we played through the game. Batman to me was always two people: Adam West or Michael Keaton? But, as we played through this game we became completely immersed in Batman’s world and wanted to learn more. To be honest, I have a couple of friends that I knew I could approach and really talk about this complex world of this one particular Superhero. That there was much more to Gotham’s Universe and the Dark Knight. The complexity of the mental struggle within Bruce Wayne. It was amazing!
     Pretty soon, it was beginning to fan out, and as I got drawn more into the DC universe it became apparent to me on really…how many people out their enjoyed comic books anymore! That, it was ok to express now-a-days that “Hey! I’m an avid Spiderman reader”, or “Hey! I’m an avid Batman reader”. I’ve mentioned time and time again that I’m HUGE into ‘The Walking Dead’ which started out as a Graphic novel. I think that TWD really got me drawn into wanting to explore more worlds, that where drawn rather than written. But this is only my example that I could help relate to this blog and kind of explain where I was coming from. Another great example is the amount of ‘gamers’ that are open about it now. Again, when I was a kid growing up if you were a gamer regardless of the system (Nintendo, Playstation, Genesis, etc.) you were considered a nerd and an outcast. Not as bad as the comic book kids but you were still an outsider to the social groups of the school. Now? Being a gamer is cool and accepted. It’s one of the biggest ways people spend time together now is through over the internet playing games! It’s amazing on how accepting and open our society has become in the means of peoples interests and those being able to express their likes and people being able to find others with similar interests!             

Not Unlike The Pack...

     Rejection. It’s hard to not concentrate on the feeling when every passing day the truth becomes stronger, and things become more and more apparent to you. I’m not here to complain, and be extremely negative. But at the same time, I've been looking for a way to vent. I’m going to try and keep this blog as positive as I can. If it comes across incredibly negative then I am sorry. It’s been a difficult set of years since my brother passed that I’m finally beginning to see a bigger picture in a particular situation that involves me with family. As much as I try to be a part of them and want to spend time with them, it all seems that it’s in vein for the simple fact that often times we are left out on things. Always hearing about events days after? Or moments before something is said to take place. In the dark constantly, with no firm communication between anyone on that side. It’s been difficult for me, and after the history that has scarred my life it still shakes down the foundations of which I used to stand on it. I think that my brother was aware of the situation well before I was. He tried to point it out to me several times, but now that he is gone I can see a clearly defined set of circumstances that he once tried to point out to me over and over again. It seems the more that I deal with these particular set of circumstances my pack becomes more clear to me, and the more I begin to write. Whatever the reason is for being constantly rejected, pushed away, and shunned by these particular people hurts. It hurts like a damned knife. But having been writing and continuing on with my pack and watching them from a far I’ve come to an even more clear revelation.
     Sure, blood is thicker than water, but at the same time. Sometimes family doesn't always come in the form of that. Something I have learned from writing and watching my characters, is that you don’t need blood relations to feel wanted, needed, or for this matter loved. As much as it pains me, and how much it bothers me, to feel like I’m unwanted or am not important enough to share in their lives. I still have what I would consider my own family standing next to me and by my side. The more I have written and the more their story has played out the more I’ve come to realize that really, me and my main character are not that far off. It’s not like I had planned this thing or anything, it’s just what I’ve written with my trusty pen in a blackened room, with a nice cup of tea by my side. Apparently, just not needed at this point and time, and everyone has become very self-sufficient and they don’t feel the need to want to include me with anything at this time. However, with that said MY family, friends, and whom I would consider blood related demonstrate to me everyday exactly, how much I am needed and that gives me a comforting feeling unlike the cold shouldered, mentality of what I had felt. Which, I might I add is almost comparable to the wind that is blowing outside my window currently. Slowly the delightful cooling breeze of the fall is beginning to become tainted, and spoiled by that of the winter that is quickly approaching. I guess, what I have learned overall and sitting down and writing this blog, is that we are never alone. At the darkest times, when you feel you are don’t.
     Though I yearn, for a bit of attention from these particular people, I know now that it might not be a possibility for a week, a month? Maybe longer. But to my family, friends, brothers, etc. I know all I have to do is call them and they will be more than happy to lend an ear and be there for me. If you have made it through the blog, I thank you for taking the time to read my frustrations and let me vent a little. I hadn’t meant for this blog to be too extremely negative but I felt that I needed to vent. Not only that, but it has helped demonstrate to that I have found a way out of this darkness. That, with the power of writing, my imagination, and to those who CHOOSE to surround themselves around me anything is possible. That there is a comfort in knowing I have them when I need them. A quick way to jot down my thoughts, opinions, and my feelings real quick in this short paged blog. I do promise that the next blog WILL BE more positive. Because hopefully by then, I will have two stories to go off to the editor, and I can finally relate and tell you some more information about this upcoming Wolf book that I’ve been writing for almost eight months! For those who have followed me on Facebook and Twitter, I’ve dropped a few hints there but nothing too much. I’d like to talk a bit more about characters, and familiar settings. But until then, everyone be safe and take care! Have a VERY Happy Halloween and thank you again for taking the time to read about my frustrations and feelings and not turning away!

Which Wolf Will You Feed?

Which Wolf Will You Feed?

     It has certainly been a while since I've typed a blog. According to my Blogspot here it’s been since June 30th of this year. I apologize for the lack of blog writing, as it is something to do in between writing sessions and it gives me a chance to clear my head a little bit about what I am currently writing about. For those who have been following me, or maybe you aren't quite in the loop My story about my fictional pack is almost complete. One more major obstacle and the book will be finished. I currently have another book that is waiting to go off to the editor’s. It’s a matter of getting everything put together and as of late my schedule hasn’t really allowed me to do much, and consist much of me being in a car. No worries though! It will be done this year. I’m shooting for the next release to be in the summer time of 2014. My Wolf book, I’d like to be in the winter. But we’ll see how things fall. Life has been very busy as of late. So, those who do follow me on Facebook and Twitter, I thank you for all of your support, your responses, and your conversations. Now? Onto my blog now that I’ve given a bit of an update on where everything kind of stands with book releases, and scheduling.
     What an interesting way to start a blog off right? Which Wolf Will You Feed. I’d like to clarify right up front that this has actually nothing to do with Wolves. For those who have followed me on Facebook they know how much I believe in the conservation of Wolves. But not only the Wolves, but for all of the animals really. Since I have started my writing my book I have found how important conservationism really is to everyone. It has brought on a whole new perspective for me and the world that I live in. The title of the blog is really about a Native American short story. I will have it copy and pasted and the bottom for those who are wanting to read it. But the story deals with life, and some of the challenges that come up in life. Recently, I’d have a huge trial that I was dealing with. It dealt with some personal relationships within my family that carried very deep scars. Some of which, have not completely healed over, and still remain fresh. Without giving a lot of details into the entire situation, I will say that conversation was very difficult and hard with this person. It’d gotten to a point that we had completely quit talking. Nothing was happening on either side, and this continued on for almost a month. Then? Out of the blue I received a text message from this particular person apologizing for the absence on their part and how they really wanted to meet up with me again to do lunch. At first? I didn't quite know what to do. I wanted to completely ignore the text message all together and go about my business like I had been. But, I begin to think further down the road and what the possibilities could be. Unfortunately, I lost my brother December 22, 2010. Almost three years ago, and that scar will never go away. The sudden passing had really left a lot of things unresolved between the two of us. Things that could have been said, things that should have been said, and feelings that could have been expressed. That entire situation came to mind as I stared at the text message debating on whether or not to answer it.
     Being a writer it is so easy to think up moral dilemmas and situations to put your characters into. It is completely the opposite when you are dealing with your own personal dilemmas and how exactly to handle these situations. In your novels, short stories, poems, novelettes, and series you know the outcome. The outcome that you have very specified for your character. It’s always within sight as you right. Sometimes you almost curse yourself because dealing with personal issues it’s not always that easy. I stared at the text message for a very good while, and decided I needed a second opinion. I called a very good friend of mine and told him what the situation was. My very good friend is quite the jokster. This conversation for him was the exact opposite and he brought up some good points. Points, that I had already discussed about with myself as I studied this text message that had been sent to me. Life, I have found out is all about second chances. Sometimes, it’s about three or four chances more. This is true to say not only about personal relationships, but very much about things you encounter. Whether your testing for a promotion, you are attempting to publish a book, the beauty about life is that we don’t always have to leave things at only one or two tries. Often times, it takes much more than that to really get at where we are going or where we want to end up with things. He reminded me of all these things and then brought up the real personal facts about this instance. Life can change so suddenly, and so rapidly that these instances where we get these opportunities to really take charge of our own destinies does not happen often, or in my case doesn’t seem to happen enough.
     Just like the instance with my brother, I realized that it’s important to not let these kinds of small opportunities to pass you up. That, if we continue to hold these kinds of grudges against our own family and friends, and even if it was over something small in the end? You really need to ask yourself ‘Is this problem really worth the de-railing of my friendship or relationship with this particular family member’? In this world, that is all we have is friends and family. That is why I embrace anyone and everyone that talks to me. It’s important to have friends and acquaintances. I knew what my friend was talking was straight truth and after hanging up with him, I ended up calling this family member back and we met for lunch. The result? We had completely worked out the issue that we’d been feuding on for a very long time. So, I felt that I wanted to talk with everyone who followed me on Blogspot about this issue. Opportunities like this come up, are not only a chance to help move on with these problems and get them resolved. These opportunities will also help bring closure in case you never get the chance to speak with the person again so you don’t have the guilt of what could have been said or needed to be said hanging now in limbo. I appreciate everyone who took the time to read this, and let me vent a very personal detail with the world. I hope that if you are in a similar situation like I have been. That there is nothing wrong with being the bigger person even if you are the one who instigated it, or you are the person on the receiving end. If these people matter enough to you, then in the end you will find the closure to the problem that is between you and them. The Native American story about the two wolves came to mind after I thought about it some. I've included it below for all to read. It brings up a good point, and begs to ask. Which side will you feed Light or Dark? In the end, when you leave this life how do you want to exit out. I am still in the process of attempting to write a blog about Fan-Fiction but am trying to be very careful about how I write it.

The Story of Two Wolves

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me,” he told the young boy, “a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil, full of anger, sorrow, regret, greed, self-pity and false pride. The other is good, full of joy, peace, love, humility, kindness and faith.”

“This same fight is going on inside of you, grandson…and inside of every other person on this earth.”

The grandson ponders this for a moment and then asks, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old man smiled and simply said,

“the one you feed.”

Goals On The Ocean Of Imagination

     I have always valued myself as a writer. Whether it be in short stories, novels, opinions, or critiques it’s always came easy for me to be able to write something on a given subject. I have been writing for a very long time. I have been writing since I was about twelve years old, went all the way through Junior High School (Middle School for some) and into High School. I’d won an award my Senior year of High School for a writing contest that I entered into, taking home third place and a cash prize. Believe it or not, I have the check in a frame still on the wall. To me, writing has never been about the money. Nor, the popularity? To me, writing has always been about being able to produce a good story that keeps people interested in with what’s going on with characters. I take critiques and enjoy hearing what others have to say about ideas. I try to keep all of my ideas somewhat within the realms of reality. An idea, that “Yeah this could happen but it hasn’t yet”. Always been about entertaining those around me with what I write. OceanView has been very popular amongst the people that I used to send it out to. OceanView, started as a story concept back in 2006. Over the course of about seven years it has grown and adapted into a collection of short stories. This will also be my first published book on the market. To me, publishing this book has been a dream come true. It’s something that I have always wanted to do, and something I have enjoyed as a hobby. Though as a writer it seems that it’s slipped away from a hobby and keeps me constantly thinking of ideas and characters.
     I had always been intimidated by the prospect of being published. Having seen some of the agents on Twitter, and how they talk about potential writers, and in a way make fun of them because of the way they submit something. To me, I think it’s those writers that keep those agents in business. We are the ones that allow them to keep their jobs! Could you imagine that if EVERY writer in the world decided to self-publish (like me) how quickly they would be looking to sign anyone that was willing to turn in a manuscript. So, again going back to the original topic it was so very intimidating to me to see these kinds of things posted. The amount of rejections that people have gotten saying their work was no good, or crap. But like anything in life, you can’t accept failure you have to prosper and keep on over the top of the negativity. Self publishing OceanView has been a very scary and exciting step for me all in the same process. It’s been exciting for me, because it’s allowed for me to branch out and meet some of my fellow writers out there. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have become outlets for people to get together and exchange ideas, or promote their books. The road hasn’t been easy with having to go back and do the edits, along with having to buy a state business license (For the state that I live in), along with all of the other fun investigable things that I have had to do. But it is so very well worth it in the end. I have several other local Authors here that we’ve been talking and have been attempting to get together for a panel for our books. The stress level of trying to keep things on a deadline, and keeping everything within time constraints has been hard.
     While I want to push through these edits, and get it released to Smashwords, and start getting my books on the print and sent to me, I want to deliver a good product. Yes, I am a writer but at times my English can be a bit off. I have been trying very hard to take things easy, and take them slow. Once OceanView is released, I would rather you concentrate on the story and everything going on in it, rather than the amount of spelling errors, grammatical errors, or things that just don’t make sense because I overlooked it while I was doing my proofing. I want everyone to be happy with my first finished product. I currently have another book that is sitting with it’s copyright papers ready to be sent off to another Beta editor. However, I am going to take some time between the release of that book and OceanView, just to unwind from this huge undertaking of Self-publishing. Now, I’m not trying to convince anyone that going through an actual publisher is a bad idea, but to at least Self-Publish yourself it might work out in advantage. Some writers have been contacted about their books from publishing houses. Below, I am going to be posting a link to a video that Anne Rice posted about publishing books. Her advice, and words on how the best way to pursue things. I am so grateful for everything that has happened with me, my book, and my lovely wife as we are on the verge of this exciting point in my life. You may feel as if it is a burden, and get disheartened as you start through the processes of self-publishing but please, don’t give up! If this is truly what you want, and want to make it happen look that diversity in the face and tromp over the top of it.

Anne’s video: http://youtu.be/bw2KXX7WrOY

Shadowed Contractual Agreements

     I’ve noticed something about the muse, and I’m sure as writers everyone here has one. Sometimes, she’s a roaring lion, other times she as soft as a lamb and just as quiet. Since my injury that I received almost two weeks ago, my muse has been pretty quiet. But, at the same time I think it’s because she knows that I’ve been injured. Not a whole hell of a lot of things you can do while you’re injured especially when it deals with your wrist, as well as dealing with your shoulder. The whole typing thing becomes incredibly hard to do and since I’m left handed and not right handed (Thank God) I found that I think it would have been easier to just write things out. But even then the Muse seems to be sitting in the back of my mind with her hands up holding them up in front of her and going in an up and down motion for me to just quiet down and sit there. This startles me very much. Never, has my muse been this quiet or willing to let me do something other than rest and not work on any of my current projects. It’s been nice though, to sit and find some other things I can work on while my right shoulder is on the mend. It wasn’t till about a week ago that I was cleared to not have to wear the brace. Oh boy, you would have thought that was some kind of flare sent up in the darkness. That, like the loving Gym coach that the Muse had been before the injury had respired to life. I could almost hear her asking me ‘Oh your hands are both free? Guess that means they are good enough to pick up the electronic pen and get back to work’. But at the same time we reached a pretty subtle compromise.
     Even though I was down an arm, with limited mobility to do anything I found that I could use sticky note pads (I know, I know, things of the past right?). I used these and jotted down quite a few different story ideas. Though some of the ideas didn’t really revolve around the Wolves, and my furry friends the other ideas coming to me where just as wonderful and I am looking very forward to getting a chance to let everyone read them. As a writer it never seems like my brain ever takes a break about not exploring different possibilities. The best kind of metaphor I can give is like a bank thief attempting to rob a bank. He decided one day, on a whim to just walk into a random bank and rob it. After getting back to the safe (Using the old pointer finger in the coat routine might I add) he simply stairs at this big metal monster. These metal monsters that is so large, and so in charge that he now realizes that he’s in over his head. Then his best method of trying to crack this safe is to use the old vintage idea, the one thing that never fails, and you can always get the safe cracked! Insert heavy gasp of breath with the finger in the air here folks. Listening to the internal gears of the safe. My mind feels like that all of the time. I’m constantly attempting different combinations of things from ideas that I already have. For instance, I could match up characters fine, setting fine, the plot is the thickest thing to try and weave after that point. Sometimes, I take away from the plot to make it a little less dense, a little less complicated, and overall a little more fun for the reader. But on the other hand, sometimes I find I add plot, I add complication, twists, suspense even when it’s not needed to keep the reader guessing the whole way through. I know the rush I get when I have watched TV shows or movies and a twist and turn in plot is presented I find myself going ‘Whoa! That’s cool’ right along with the folks.
     The one thing that the Muse and I can come to fully agree on, and this is where the title of the blog fits in. We find it mutually wonderful when we go on car trips. It could be thirty minutes from here? It could be six days from here it doesn’t matter. I asked my wife tonight about this, curious if it was because maybe the change of scenery was better? Or if it’s just for the simple fact where we went today was also where I grew up, born and raised. But with that said as well I find that if I go higher up into the mountains, less populated places, lakes, camping, any of that kind of thing the Muse and I get along wonderfully. She breaks out of the Gym teacher mode and instantly wants to become my friend and confidant! Anyone else have this kind of an issue when it comes to writing? Maybe it’s the fresh air and the change of scenery that helps shake off the cobwebs of the same day to day same ole, same ole writing room. I’ve got a lot of family up in the mountains, maybe what I need to do one of these days is just pack it up and spend some time in the mountains for a week and just settle in and do some writing there. It’s worth a shot. What do you do to help enhance the creativity to write? Or, is it one of those things that you have to be in the mood to do so; and does it have to be more centrally located to you as to what the setting in the book is (I.E. Big City, Cattle Ranch, etc.) Please feel free to comment below in the comments and share with the rest!

Writer's That Double As Gamers!

     So, today after I’d posted about Diablo III and that I was an avid gamer, I felt compelled to go ahead and write a blog about it. Now, that I can actually type again. The injury had me cornered for about a week, including doing the edits to my book and writing on the newest venture I’d taken on with my Wolf. It feels good to be back in the saddle again and back at the writer’s desk. I don’t think I could have taken it much longer. I’ve scaled all of the wonderful walls in my house; I was running out of room. If I’m going to be scaling any kind of mountains it’s going to be out in the wilderness with my characters; not within the confines of my own house. While I was down and out, I found myself turning more towards the huge stack of games that I have for the Computer as well as some of what most people call the ‘Next Generation’ consoles (XBOX360, Wii, Etc.) to help pass the slow ticking time. I’ve always been a bit of a gamer but with my busy schedule I’ve always found it very hard to sit down and actually get anywhere in any of the games. But because of my injury I was not allowed to move said limb and to keep it immobilized, hence came fourth my ‘clicking finger’ of destiny. That not only helped with figuring out taxes, building new cities, and keeping the evil Trash monsters away in Sim City that knocked down almost my entire town. But to the more recent of keeping Demons’ at bay and killing there warlords with ease in Diablo III in which, I noticed a little bit of a pattern.
     As writers, are we drawn more towards a particular genre that we either write about? Or we are spellbound by? Personally I’ve always liked Survival Horror, good mysteries, and a paranormal twist on most on modern day twists. This, ironically said is typically the genre that I write. One of the other games that I picked up from my collection that I hadn’t played in several decades (Or at least how it feels) is the game LA NOIRE which takes place in The late nineteen forties of Los Angeles, California. It’s a great Detective game dealing with having to determine on whether or not people are lying to you based on their facial expressions, body movements, and overall statements. Constantly reviewing the evidence you collect at each crime scene and going from there. Those kinds of games enthrall me, I like a good mystery but I also like a game that makes you think, and not just blindly kill your opponents. But with all of that said, a good game can have glitz, it can have glamour, it can have the critics ranting and raving about a ‘Game of the year’ potential but for me, if the story isn’t good, character development sucks, and things aren’t fluid then I’m probably not going to be able to finish it. But, I think that goes back to being a writer, things need to make sense for me and have a good pace going through things. Stories, which go too fast or leave too much out and then reveal it at the end, annoy me. What are your thoughts on today’s’ games? Too much blood? Too much Gore? Not enough story? Not kid friendly enough? All reasons and complaints I’ve heard about why people have shied away from the current systems out there.
     Myself? I have my opinions on the matter and the gaming market, but am very specific on what I say. Again, if a game can present a decent story to me, it can keep my interest, it can make me think, and reward me in the right direction then I’ll give it a thumbs up. However, I’ve never been big on the games where it’s straight through killing. Again, being injured and not being able to physically type, and do edits on a final draft, and work on a rough draft of a new story makes it incredibly hard. I again, found my inner gamer and embraced him fully. Anyone else out there gamers? What types of games do you enjoy? Are they from the old school? (NES, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, etc.?) Or do you prefer the newer modern consoles? Or, are you a computer gamer? I know this blog is a little far off from writing, but it’s a topic that I wanted to cover because I’m sure a few of you were shocked out there. But I feel that we are all writers’ here. We are all friends (I consider you all my friends), and I feel that we should be able to kick our feet up once in a great while and be able to have some fun doing some gaming online. I posted my tags earlier today for my games, but if you are looking to join me on Diablo III, or Sim City and you lost it the first time, I will include them down here at the bottom of the blog. Again, I apologize for the lack of logs the last few weeks. It has been very busy with things as the weather improves, weddings pop up, and friends’ children are being born. In the word of writers’ some days it just pays to not have any kind of a schedule am I right? Heh, Good day everyone!


Sim City ID:
XxRogueWoifXX

Diablo III ID:
RayvenScript#1964