New Job

I forgot to mention it here. I got a job! I start next Monday.
Finally! I can pay my bills!

Indy is back!

Harrison Ford is dressed up and filming the next one!




Here’s the site, discribing it.

More Chad Vaders

I'm way behind in my postings of Blame Society's 'Chad Vader'.

Here is parts 7 and 8.

Batman Dead End

An old favorite. Keep watching, Willard!

Cool fan made trailer, Grayson

"The Mysterious Ticking Noise" (the fan version)

Cool Secret Wars fan made trailer

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: After Hours #2

Star Trek Bloopers

Star Trek Parody

Explanation of Amazing Boy

Below is a story I posted on the Parodyverse. I've been writing story little stories for the board, trying to tie up old plot threads, or in this case, create new stories.

I posted it here because unlike my usual PV stuff, I'm trying to write this series better.

Anyway, I thought I'd add it here.

Amazing Boy #1, Beginnings

Bonnyville, Utah had always been a quiet community. It was November 2003, and practically the entire town had come out for the Winter Festival. Various rides were set up for the townspeople’s enjoyment.
Eight year old Adam Taylor had just finished riding the Spinning Tops for the fifth time. His best friend, Tommy Dewstorm, was starting to turn green.
“No more, Adam. Let’s try something else.”
Adam laughed. “Alright. You never could do a sixer.”
“It’s not my fault I have a weak stomach. Let’s try some of the carnival games. My dad gave me some money. Let’s see if we can win something.”
“Alright.”
The boys walked over to the darts booth. A brutish looking seventeen-year-old boy was put in charge of the booth. His bored girlfriend was leaning against the booth. She seemed really upset at him.
“Hey, can we have some darts?” Tommy asked.
“B ut Jill, you’re wrong. I can change. Just give me a chance.”
“I’ve had it with you, Barney. You go around, bullying kids and laughing at it. I caught you flirting with Mary Fiffertree this morning. Enough is enough!”
“Aw, Mary just wanted to pop some balloons!”
“You kept staring at her ‘balloons’!”
Barney handed the boys three darts each and then continued to plea for his relationship. “I was not! Look, there’s something special about me. I can show you!”
Adam felt his stomach turn slightly upside-down.
“Are you ok?” His friend asked
“Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve never felt this way before. Let’s just play.” He threw his first dart but it seemed to hit the clear air and then fall to the ground.
“You gotta throw it harder, kid.” Barney turned to Mary and said, “Watch the space in front of the balloons. Watch!”
Adam tried his other two darts but each one did the same as the last.
“Haw! Next time throw ‘em harder.”
“I did throw them hard!”
“Here, it’s my turn.” Tommy pulled back his arm and tried but his first dart also seemed to bounce off thin air.
“See? It’s a trick, huh?”
“Naw. You’re just a couple of weaklings.”
Mary sniffed and turned to walk away. Barney called to her. “No! Wait! Didn’t you see?”
“All I saw was you teasing those boys!”
“No. I . . . well, ok. I was teasing them, but look!”
She continued to walk a step further. Then she stopped abruptly as her face hit an unseen wall. “What is this?” she asked as she felt the solid air. When she turned around her eyes flew open with horror.
Barney was concentrating on the invisible wall. His face turned up to an evil smile. “See? I’m doing it! See how cool I am? I can create force fields! Now you’ll keep going out with me.”
Mary screamed. Several people looked over. “You’re a freak! Stay away! HELP! HE’S A FREAK AND HE’S GOING TO KILL ME!”
“No! Mary, I just wanted to . . .”
Adam grabbed Tommy’s hand and started to pull him away. He pulled them towards the Fun House.
Enraged, Barney started to point at various things. His invisible force fields pushed things around while at the same time, he held the screaming Mary in a tight invisible grip. “No! You will love me! I’ll show you! I’ll take apart the whole festival with my abilities!”
Wind whipped up the fairgrounds. Adam and Tommy had continued to make a bee-line for the fun house when something started to push them down.
“Look! It’s the Lair Legion!” The wind had been caused by a Lair Jet. The archer Trickshot hopped out and started to fire a volley of arrows.
“Come on, kid. Stand down.”
“No!” Each arrow was blocked.
When two more Legionaries hopped out of the Jet, Adam felt excited to see more of his heroes coming to the rescue. At the same time he felt a little sick.
“Lucky we were flying over.” Goldeneyed said to his teammates.
Tommy announced them to Adam. “Ziles! Goldeneyed! Now you’re in trouble! Adam? What?”
Adam had begun to pull Tommy into the fun house. “We’ve got to get cover!”
When Adam looked into the fun house (and away from Tommy whom was looking back even as he was getting pulled), Adam’s eyes glowed yellow. He was not even aware of it. All he knew was that they were a foot or so closer to the fun house entrance.
As soon as they had gotten inside, Adam turned around. Goldeneyed has teleported a roller coaster car above Barney, but the boy pushed it randomly away. It was heading towards the entrance of the fun house. Instinctively Adam held up his arms. An invisible force field blocked the car.
“Whoa! We’re lucky it fell short!” Tommy said. Adam was not so sure.
“Come on. Let’s go deeper in.”
As Adam led his best friend inside he looked at the crazy mirrors. He concentrated hard and an invisible force field pushed the mirror over. It shattered, causing both boys to jump.
“Maybe it’s contagious?”
“What?” Tommy asked.
“Oh, nothing. I was talking about the mirror. Maybe the battle outside caused it to top over?”
Suddenly, several mirrors joined the other one as the fun house shook. It lifted up into the air. The boys fell to the wooded floor. Barney’s voice could be heard outside. “LEVE ME ALONE OR I’LL DROP IT ON THE CROWD!”
“Jeeze! Calm down, kid!”
“Ziles, anyone inside the fun house?”
“I’ll check, Bry.”
Adam moaned. A headache filled his brain as the sound of stereo feedback filled his thoughts. Outside, Ziles could be heard giving off a soft moan.
“Everything all right?”
“Yes. There are two boys inside. Here. I’ll get them.” Adam could see it in his mind. Ziles had run to the Ferris wheel, leapt onto the seats and continued to make her way up. She then leapt to the hovering fun house and went inside. He was shocked when she had entered the curtain flap. Adam wondered how he could have seen it in his mind.
Stereo feedback filled his mind, but he could hear Ziles in his head. She was looking at him as she knelt down to where the boys were hiding. Her lips were not moving. “I’m a telepath, child. So are you. You can hear people’s thoughts if you concentrate on them.”
She said aloud, “Come, boys. Follow me and Goldeneyed will teleport us safely to the ground.”
As the boys followed her, Adam thought to Ziles, “Please don’t tell anyone the things I can do.”
She looked deep into his eyes. “Alright. It’ll be our secret.”
When she held the boys at the edge of the fun house opening, Goldeneyed looked up. His eyes flashed yellow and then they found that they where safe on the ground.
“Oh sweet earth!” Tommy knelt down and started to kiss the ground.
Barney collapsed as a arrow zipped around him. It was giving out a strange gas.
“Sleep-Gas Arrow does it every time.”

---

That night found Adam in the bathroom, brushing his teeth. He was lost in thought as he looked in the mirror.
“I created a see-through thing, just like that kid they took away. It knocked over that mirror. I also read that hero lady’s thoughts. I don’t know how I did either but somehow I did.”
Something brought Adam out of his thoughts. His reflection started to disappear. Before he realized what had happened, his reflection was gone. All that remained was his toothbrush, hanging in the air. He looked down to see that his own body was invisible.
“GAHH!”
He fell backwards onto the floor.
“Adam?” called his mother from downstairs. “Are you all right?”
His body was visible again. “Yeah, mom. I’m ok.”
As thoughts of what he had just done passed through his mind, he remembered Barney and Mary. He pictured how scared she was of him.
“Whatever I just did, I hope it doesn’t happen again. I don’t want everyone thinking I’m a freak, too.”

---

Welcome to my newest character, Adam Taylor. We’re going to cover his story slowly. I’ve got lots of other stories to get finished, too.
For this story, I’m going to try and write it better than the usual PV story. The parts will be short, but I’ll work harder on them. There still won’t be a lot of editing. What I mean is, the first draft is what you’ll see, so it’s not perfect.
But it’s fresh.
Anyway, more to come as we see Adam’s story unfold through the years until we see him nowadays.



Footnotes:


This story takes place sometime around #129: Untold Tales of the Lair Legion: Aftermath, or Sixteen Sub-Plots Looking For a Home

BWAHAHAHAHA!

Willard, make him stop!

Ben Stiller does Bono doing "Lucky Clovers".

I remember this when it first aired. Ben Stiller does Bono doing "Lucky Clovers". It's pretty funny.


Here it is.
"jasonroxdammit" doesn't want it shared, so you'll have to go to the link.

Steam Trek

Caption the Pic… Fantastic Four II Tribute

Well, I saw FF II. I liked it better than Pirates 3 but not as much as Spidey III. I won't go into why becuase this is a spoiler free zone.

I DID like it, though.

Anyway, on to CTP. Last week's were captioned by; Visionary, Dan W, Gernot, japester, gonzo, HH, Wheelchair Rocker, BumblebeeZ3, j, Manga Shoggoth, Soul, Matty, Spackling Compound, Avian, Dr. Octagon, Greg the Bunny, Emerje, omike015, Red and Brainlock.

Thanks guys!

Here’s the caption site.

Don't forget to check out the RAVING TOY MANIAC Board to see the other captions posted for today's pic.

And don't forget to check out the TALES OF THE PARODYVERSE Board to see more captions posted for today's pic. Here's the link...

No obscene captions please, kids are reading. :)
Here's this one, have fun.

TORN by Johann Lippowitz

This starts out a little dirty, but it gets funnier. I got an email back when I worked at Envirocare with this in it. Now, every time I hear this song, I think of this.

How it should have ended

These are great. The guys at how it should have ended.com have done a number of fun ones. Here are my favorites.


Superman



Lord of the Rings



Willy Wonka



Star Wars Episode IV



Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Man's Chest



Braveheart



It's a Wonderful Life



And my favorite of their bits,

How to Survive an Alien Attack

My late thoughts on Ghost Rider.

I really liked it. So did Janeen and the kids. Very good movie. I need to own it. Good story, good acting and good special effects.

Give us a sequel.

Normal days

Nothing to report.

I'm writing again. I've been getting some of the Parodyverse stories out of my brain and online. I just posted one yesterday. I hope to continue BIC (butt in chair) and write more. While I'm home there is a lot of writing to be had.

That request is still out. I'm hopefull and realistic at the same time. I am not depressed. Who knows, right?

I got another job option today. Hopefully one of these will work out. The bills or wolves are at the door.

My in-laws are still in Disneyland. It pisses off my wife and I don't blame her. They never paid us back for taking them years ago but they can pay for my scatterbrained sister-inlaw to go now.
I think what makes it worse is that becuase of my sudden job loss in May, we couldn't get the house loan. This not only means lots of dept goes unpaid and house repairs go undone, but we hoped to go to Disney as well.

My cold/flu thing is finally leaving. Janeen has it now, though. We'll be seeing the doctor today so hopefully this will get better.

So that's it. More later.

Potter Puppet Pals !

I love these!
By Neil Cicierega.

Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart

Lord of The Rings / Harry Potter - Return to Innocence

Nice tribute to Harry Potter and Frodo by "remembarrdeath" .

Back to the Future Theme Song

And of course, my favorette time travel movie.

A guy singing along with movie themes

Because I like to torture my one blog watcher (and the mystery watchers out there), here's a guy singing to theme songs.

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC. (Mac/PC Parody): FF Quickie

Another request for a partial!

So unemployed, STILL sick and enjoying my family, I haven't really worked a lot on my novel lately. The first is still finished, with revisions complete (again).

So anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find a request for a partial in my inbox!

YES!

I'm going to stay realistic and expect a rejection, but still . . . YES!

Superfriends meets Friends

LOL!

Superman & Batman mock trailer

Saw this some time ago.

Wish it were real.

Hehehehe!

Legends of the Superheroes

Wow! I saw this when it first aired YEARS ago!

Beware! Corney meter on overload!

My new wish list.

Now I just need a job to pay for them.

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC: Villains Edition

More Potter previews...

Enjoy...

Time for some FF 2 trailers...

I want to add the one where Sue is on fire but I can't find it, yet.

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC. #7

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

"ItsJustSomeRandomGuy" is killing me! It's so good!

Hi, I'm a Mutant...and I'm a DC.

More from "ItsJustSomeRandomGuy"

My kids have a rock band, too!

Presenting... Kirby & the Fur Paws!

Well, I feel some what better...

The rare, elusive Hasbro Marvel Legends figures (She-Hulk, Yellow Jacket and Quicksilver) arrived this morning. Then the Mephesto figure arrived this afternoon.

So that's gets me feeling really good.

I'm going to stay positive.

Crap.

Well, not only am I sick, but I just got laid off. Didn't see it coming. I was told I'm too slow at learning Archetecture.

I guess it doesn't matter that it takes me a bit to catch on. After only two months, too.

Sigh.

Sick & Tired

Thursday night Katie went to the Emergency Room. Her leg is acting up again. They re wrapped it and sent her home.

Friday we saw a doctor. He re wrapped it and sent her home. "Go see a special foot doctor next week."

Friday night she was in terrible pain, despite the meds, so we took her into Primary Children (a leading hospital). All night. "Go see a special foot doctor next week."

Saturday night her stomach was killing her. Took her back to the local Emergency Room. They gave her an IV, waited for half a bag of fluids and then sent her home.


We slept Mother's Day.

Now, today, I'm sick with the flu. I'm taking some meds and going to sleep.

Another Harry Preview!

Getting closer!

Lupin!

ET Brief look.

Novel update

I finished the rewrite of Chapter 2. It combines Chapter's 2,3 and 4, bringing the action and real story to Chapter 3 with the Mysterious Cabin.

I put the new Chapter 2 on AW and had it cut to pieces. I fixed the things others noticed and now I've sent it along with chapters 1, 3 and 4 (for story continuity) to four friends.

After I get their comments and make the desired changes, then I'll reprint and resume submissions.

I got another rejection, this one from Christopher Little's secretary. He's JKR and Darren Shan's agent.
That's OK. I feel somehow that he's not the right agent for me.

Hi, I'm a Marvel...and I'm Batman. (Marvel/DC Parody) Part 2

LOL

Ooooh boy.

Marvel/ DC (Mac/PC parody) #5.

The best one yet!

Spidey 3, I liked it. SPOILERS

Willard, don't read cause I'm spoiling it. Please forgive the misspelling.







Some people complain about the crying, some about Harry's death. Some compare it to the 90's Batman sequels. I'm sure a lot whine about the CGI.

I don't see that. I saw a great movie that was fun, resolved some plot lines effectively and at the same time was able to bring in new characters and give us time with each of them.

Last night I was caught up in the usual "new movie" euphoria and told Willard on the phone that it was the best of the three. On second thought, the first is still the best because it set the stage. This one, however, was still very fun.

Back in the 80's I read this great Marvel Two In One comic. The Thing and Sandman. In it they don't fight but instead just talk. Flint was sick of the villain bizz and the Thing talks him into giving it up. For the next several years Flint is a good guy. He was even an Avenger (for far to short a time). He gained some depth.
Then John Byrne came in and wrote Flint with the "I was just faking it" crap. Now he's a villain again. He's back to a 2D character with no strength of being.

In the movie we see that Flint has a sick daughter and that has been his motivation. In the end Spidey lets him leave after the two have a heart-to-heart. I liked that. I would hope that this turns him around in the comics, but I'm not really reading them much so I guess it wouldn't really matter to me. Would I like to see him in the sequels? Yes. Would I like to see him as a "villain"? I'd like to see another villain use Flint's daughter as a bargaining chip to get him to be part of a movie Sinister Six.
When I saw the Mummy (we're big fans here. Can't wait for next year's Mummy 3) I said "Now we're ready for Sandman". Last night as he pulled himself together I said "THIS is what I meant." The sand effects where perfect. I so want more!

I found myself going "Peter, you dope!" several times, which is what they wanted me to do. I think his relationship with Mary Jane resolved too quickly. He hit her, people! He should sit down and explain the costume to her. She's easily believe it because she loves him, deep down still trusts him and she knows Venom. Then she would understand why he did those things at her club. But then she'd chew him out about being a clueless moron and too into his press. Then things would be stronger in their relationship.
Personally, I wanted her to leave for California and for him to go it alone into the next film. Then they could fix things with Gwen and kill her (but they did the bridge thing in #1 so they would have to think of something different) or bring in the Black Cat (a must in the future). I'd want Mary Jane gone for #4 and 5 then come back in #6 to get married to Pete.

I think the black costume was introduced very well. I don't read Ultimates but I heard somewhere that a stray meteor was the explanation in those books. We couldn't have the Secret Wars so it works for the film. Conners talking Reed Richards part and explaining the symbiont's properties was well done. I'm glad Conners is getting so much screen time in these films. We HAVE to have Lizard in #4.
Venom was perfect. Topher Grace was perfect as Brock. I want more Venom and everyone knows the rule. If you don't see a body, he isn't dead. Yes, his time was too short. He needed an entire movie for his subplot, but when the symbiont / Brock / Venom was on screen, it was perfect.

OK, Harry died. Yes, that sucks, but in a "good movie making me feel for the characters" suck. It was the best resolution to the Harry plot. Here's where the "no body" rule gets waved. Mary Jane mentioned he didn't even have a scar, so that Goblin serum have him slow healing abilities. He could crawl out of his grave for good or bad if they wanted to keep Franco on in the films. BUT the Spidey comics gave us Hobgoblin. We could just introduce both Ned Leads and that Macintire bad guy, put other mysteries in there then make the audience guess (maybe not even tell them in #4)as to who the Hobgoblin is.

It would be so easy. Sony pictures said there would be three more films. This is what I want to see...
In #4 we see mystery person find the Goblin stuff and steal it. Conners becomes Lizard. Maybe even just stay with only Lizard (bring in Black Cat and lose MJ for a bit, there's enough story for 1 film). Conners gets "cured" at the end of film.
In #5 we get Electro. Meanwhile in the background Hobby blackmails Sandman. We never saw a body so both Doc Ock and Venom are brought back and "cared for" by Hobby.
In #6 Hobby brings Doc Ock, Venom, Electro, Sandman and Lizard down on Spidey. Imagine the CGI. Yum!

OK, that's my thoughts. Yours?

I'm a Marvel...and I'm a DC.

Willard showed me this great "I'm a Mac, I'm I PC" satire. Take a look.

Spidey 3 tonight!

We're going for David's birthday! Can't wait! I'll post more later.

EDIT


It was postponed till Sat night.

Revised Chapter 2

It came to me out of nowhere a few nights ago. I figured out how to take the following...

Chapter 2, intro to the setting and two major characters plus intro to three other characters

Chapter 3, intro to three more characters plus the mystery of the town.

Chapter 4, more info on main character

I discovered how to take these three boring chapters that do a lot of telling and merge them into one chapter. I hope I'm showing more than telling.

Anyway, this means stuff starts really happening in chapter 3. I put the new chapter 2 on AW for review.

Gulp!

A real Super Hero?

A real super hero? Here's the news article.

In some ways I think he might me nuts, but on the other hand at least he's doing something.

Here's his Myspace site.

There seems to be a whole lot of them.

I'm Visionary!

Adam created a quiz with his characters. I would do the same except I'm pretty busy.

Which member of Visionary's cast are you? Your Result: Visionary   You are most like Visionary: A little slow on the uptake, but a good guy and not at all fake. You might not have the flashy powers, skills or wardrobe of your peers, but you have friends, family, and the respect of.... Well, you have friends and family, at least.
Hallie
Magweed and Griffin
Kerry
Fleabot
Quoth
Mary Prankstar
Roni Y. Avis
Which member of Visionary's cast are you? Take More Quizzes

Man, I can't get enough of this show!

Rejection

Remember that request for a partial? Well I got the form rejection letter today.
Guess I need to get back in the game.
Maybe I should rewrite chapter 2-4 like I planned. Or maybe I'll just send some more queries out.

In the rejection she says she could not connect with Annabelle or Roland.
What still frustrates me is kids can connect with them, but agents are blocking/ denying them the chance.

Ah well.

UPDATE

This just occurred to me. She wanted "50 or so pages" and I emailed her, requesting I send 66 pages (cuase page 50 is in the middle of a chapter. She never replied. I bet I left a sour taste in her mouth, so to speak.

This is more reason to rewrite chapter 2 so that it covers info from chapters 2,3,4 and 5. Then chapter three will be the Mysterious Cabin. Things get better paced there.

Why did Rowling get to do two boring first chapters? I'm talking about back when she first tried.

I know, I'm whining, but I just want a chance.

Whoohoo! I'm original!

I did it for both Annabelle and Roland.

Annabelle got 18,102

Roland got 108,615.

Foresight got 0

Yes! Original!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

As for "Jack Roberts", my pen name...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 729 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

My name

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 198 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I knew it was popular.

Bobby "Boris" Pickett, RIP

Dang.
I actually thought he already was dead.
Well, RIP to a funny legend.

Shame they don't have Annabelle...

You scored as Dracula. You are the smooth sexy cool Dracula. Patient and lustful. If you were any cooler youd be ice. Great style with a way of seducing those around you. And three brides who wouldn't want to be him. Dracula 100% Marius 92% Armand 83% Blade 67% Louis 50% Deacon Frost 50% Spike 42% Lestat 33% Angel 33% Akasha 0% Whose your Vampire personality? (images) created with QuizFarm.com

The guy who did the quiz could learn how to spell.

I'm a wizard, Harry!

You scored as Wizard. You are a wizard. Through reading books and leanring the histoy of the mistakes in the world, you figure out a way to revamp them and figure out the answer on your own. You search for the unknown and thus is why you know how to use sparkly magic thingies! Wizard 92% Ranger 88% Cleric 58% Fighter 54% Monk 38% Bard 33% Rogue 17% Barbarian 13% What D&D class are you? created with QuizFarm.com

My Hook review on Fangs, Fur and Fey is up...

It wasn't good. I don't care about the contest because the prize was for pages to be sent to Rachael Vater, and she's already rejected my book twice.

I entered to get feed back and that's just what I got. One of the published authors who frequent the site judged my hook on whether it could grab him or her. Some things held it back.
I really do appreciate the chance so don't think I'm whining. I'm just concerned because . . . well take a look.

Hook 61

What happens when you take two happy, optimistic kids, and turn them into vampires? Ten year old Annabelle loves animals and has a strong desire to learn. She would much rather read her favorite books than explore. Her brother Roland is twelve and thinks reading is boring. He’d be happier exploring. It is the late 1600s and their family had just moved from England to the New World . Annabelle and Roland’s lives are shattered when the evil vampire Dominic kills their parents and leaves the children to die. His wife does not agree with his actions but has always been too afraid to rebel. Seeing the children’s plight, she acts on impulse and rescues them the only way she knows how, by transforming them into what she is and teaching them how to become children of the night.

Annabelle and Roland learn how to turn into bats and wolves. They struggle to control their cravings while mastering their vampiric abilities. Annabelle and her brother befriend the Mohegan Indians, free a witch from the Salem jail, hide from a ruthless vampire hunter and struggle to keep their existence as vampires a secret in their colonial town. They grow from inexperienced young children to confident teenagers while facing Dominic’s wicked servants. Each vampire, witch and werewolf that tries to kill them is tougher than the last until finally, after years of apprehension mixed with fear, they confront the master vampire who slaughtered their parents. Future uncertain, the teen vampires must try and stop Dominic before he destroys everything they hold dear.

Notes—My first thought to your opening question was “Happy vampires?” This could be fun, though—you’ve put young adult vampires into a time we don’t read too much about. I was a little concerned Dominic turned the kids at such a young age, and wondered if it couldn't’t have happened to them when they older? Older kids might be better able to survive/blend in—just a thought. As for the description of the two kids—can you dig a little deeper than simply giving them the opposite interests? Also, their interests don’t come into play in your synopsis—perhaps they do in the text, but since you make a point of telling me Annabelle likes to read, I thought that might come up later on.
I also wondered about the available books in this time—not light reading for a ten year old. As for the rest, it seems episodic—attack after attack—each stronger than the last. Why is Dominic sending creatures to kill them? And I don’t get a sense of what they “hold dear”. Are their friends in peril? Again, my first thoughts were that this could be fun—the setting is unique, but I need to see a story arc.

---

OK, me again. I noticed that she/he didn't see that it was Eliza who turned the kids. At first I thought I didn't clarify that well, but there it is in the first paragraph.
I'm concerned though. She/he mentions that the kids should be older. Aprilynne said the same thing. Do I loose the happy little bats and children learning to be young vamps? The kids at the school loved those things. I really believe in my gut it should stay that way.
Also, in my query/hook I mentioned the ageing of the children at the middle of the book. The guys at Absolute Write told me that detracted from the hook. Now I see where it would help. It's a major part of the book, watching these young kids change into teens overnight. It relates with the same growing pain problems pre-teens go through all over the world. I want to mention it but how?

In the book I cover how Annabelle could have gotten a hold of books
during those days. Her father was a bookbinder. Maybe I should mention that?

Episodic. That's what Adam said after reading the book. Maybe it is. Maybe it wont sell because of that. How can I fix this? Should I throw the book away and rewrite?

Here's what someone else said in the responses...

lnhammer on April 25th, 2007 12:10 am (UTC)
I'm very intrigued by #61, but with reservations. It's that each opponent is tougher than the last thing -- like a sorting algorithm of evil. Rather than training them up, why wasn't a tough enough minion sent to take care of things first time through? It makes the plot sound very by-the-numbers.


Ouch! Very true.
Man, it feels like I almost have it. It's like my goal is just outside of my reach.

This, combined with my fear for Janeen's present physical health and mental welfare, has made my mood deeply concerned and very unrested.

Krypton?

This is cool.

Wish it was posible for scientists to go there.

Another new trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

Oh man!

YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!

Newest Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix preview!

Oh man! I'm going insane here!

Here is the Leaky Caulron page...

Great site for Harry News!

And now, BUNNIES!

Thanks for the idea Adam!

WWII Robot battle!

Here's a site where these guys did some great computer animations.

My favorite is a WWII Giant Robot battle.

Here’s their site.

And now, thanks to Chris Karath, here it is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!

My eldest turned 14 today! Happy B-Day!

She has a friend over and family came down and cake was had by all.

Contest update

I now have a number for the Fangs Fur Fey contest!

I got this email...

Hello. You are hook #61 in the Fangs, Fur and Fey contest. Please look for that number on Monday, April 23rd at Fangs Fur Fey when we post the hooks.

Your hook has not been assigned to a judge for critiquing yet. Hooks will be randomly assigned this weekend. Good luck and thanks for entering!

Fangs, Fur and Fey

...

Cool, huh?

Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione

While I'm showing YouTube videos,

Here's a great tribute to Harry and Ginny, as well as Ron and Hermione.



They mispelled July, but it's still sweet.

Doctor Who Tribute

And here is a cool tribute to the Doctor.

Two greats together . . . sort of.

So cool. Doctor Who mentions Harry Potter.

Man, I can't wait till both book 7 and the airing of Season 3 of the Doctor here in the states.

FAN-FRICKEN-TASTIC! GREAT NEWS!

I received a request for my partial and I'm in the contest!

I entered a Hook contest at Fangs Fur and Fey. Now published authors will look at the first two paragraphs of my query and post it online, with serious thoughts that can help me improve it. I got in! Can't wait to get my email stating what number I'll be.

Here’s the recent post on the Fangs Fur and Fey site.

Now, for even better news! I got a request for a partial! YES!

Now I'm going to be practical about this. It could end up being a rejection still. I must expect the rejection.

But still, getting my foot in the door is the first battle!
I hope those first four chapters hook her. I feel greatly confident about the first chapter, but the second one (Family entering the New World), second and third ones (there's a mystery in town.) and the forth one (AAIIE! There's a spooky cabin on our land at the mysterious 'witch' rumors are true!) worry me greatly.

Actually, only chapters 2-3 worry me. If I get a ton of rejections this time I'm going to condense them and rework them.

So, today is a very good day. :)

Busy

Work is so darn busy. It used to be that I could write a PV story in one setting. Now my lunch never lasts.
Sigh.

Guess I'd better evolve with the times and adjust my schedule.

Tired, little sore, but happy

There is an amusement park called Lagoon here in Northern Utah. We bought season passes and Saturday was the first day it opened. We've been looking forward to it all winter.

We had a good time, but man are we tired.
Whew.

Happy Easter '07

It was a good one. Pretty simple. We decorated eggs last night. My wife was too sleepy (because of our first day at Lagoon) and missed out on the Easter Bunny coming and hiding eggs.

This morn.Dave woke Janeen and I up with a cold he's got. He crawled back into our bed but It was too late. The damage was done. The girls woke and that's all she wrote for sleeping in.

Everyone had fun finding their baskets and the eggs and now we're taking the day off and relaxing.

So, all in all, a good Easter.

Update, we went to a family picnic and had a good time. Then we bathed the dogs and kids.

Better

I'm feeling better guys. Thanks to my wife, Willard and Dani, plus some of the guys on AW (especially Triceratops, poster/published writer), I feel 100% again.

I submitted two electronic quires and prepared two snail mail ones to mail tomorrow. I feel that I should write some Parodyverse stories and let the book go out to agents. Maybe some non-New York ones, and smaller press ones. Maybe I'll try an editor too.

Anyway, I'm back in the saddle. My real problem is proper time management. I only have lunch, before and after work to write or query. That's not enough time.

I'll get it though.

British covers (clues?)

What's with the shiny castle? The snake in the ball, why? What are the trio in? Gold? Is that Harry's money?

Cover to Harry Potter 7!

As I'm sure you already know, the cover to book 7 has been released.

Can't wait till this one! I'll be sad when it's over. If only there was a book out there that could grab people and keep them entertained.

Hmm.

New JibJab!

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

Painful rejection

I just received a rejection from a certain agent. This is the same agent who wrote a note on my query last October, stating that she held onto it for awhile but ultimately didn’t go with it because of all the editing.
After a great deal of editing I resubmitted to her.

Here is what she said…

“This is going to be frustrating to hear, but last fall a lot of YA & middle grade editors were looking for vampire & werewolf type novels. Now they aren’t. Trends come & go quickly. It will probably come back around again, but probably not until fall again. Or even later if the publishers don’t feel these books sold as well as they hoped.”

So what does this mean? Should I just give up and wait? Last fall? You mean last fall as in the season that she got my query the first time? It was last fall that every one rejected it. Should I have skipped the agents and went straight to the editors last fall? Is it too late now? Is she for real? Should I just quit and take her word for it? DAMN!

Ok, let’s count the facts.

1.Getting started at a published writer means getting an agent and agents are fickle with what they want. The one thing that you can count on is that they expect everything to be unworthy and unmarketable.

2. Editors feel the same way as agents and even if you do by some miracle convince one that you’ve got the stuff, that your story has the stuff, they have to convince a group of editors who expect failure.

3. While you may have tried your novel with the age bracket, and they liked it and honestly wanted more, the opinions of the age bracket means squat to the professionals. You’re not supposed to tell them that readers liked it. They don’t care. If they don’t think it will sell, who cares if a bunch of kids think otherwise? Even if it’s the kids who would buy it in the first place.

4. The fiction I originally set out to do is no longer desired by editors or agents. I didn’t sit down one day and say “Hey, how about vampires?” No, the idea came to me in a powerful, overwhelming passion. I never cared about vampires, yet I had to write it. This character had to get out to schools, libraries and any where else. She had to teach and entertain children. She had to make their lives better. I feel in my bones that this is right and the thirty kids who read it feel the same way. I’m told “Write something else.” Well I have other stories in me, tons of them. But the passion is with Annabelle. The passion is with this story.

I don’t know what to do. I could, in one gust of fury, take the passion and rewrite the first two chapters, but why? Why do anything?

A small voice filled with passion, one that feels “right”, tells me she was just one agent. She’s just one opinion. The voice says to keep trying. She’s not the voice of every agent or editor. Don’t let her get you down.

On the other hand, she is a professional. Her ear is set to the industry. How could she be wrong? I’m just a clueless little wannabe writer. I know nothing. She’s clearly right and I’m clueless optimistic. I’m stupid, living in a fantasy world of wish fulfillment. I’ve lost a lot of faith in this dream. This was the straw. Final straw? I have no clue. I have little clue about anything these days.

Star Trek Vs. Battlestar Galactica

Some guys did this great job of editing.

Take a look.

Long Time No Post

Sorry guys!

I've been very busy working. I have evenings and lunches to do stuff, but I've been pretty tired.

I submitted ten quires last Friday. We'll see when the rejections come forth.

My Disney Channel rant

Hey, long time no post! Sorry!

I liked how this came out on the RTM so I posted it here to, so I could keep it.
Danni, Willard, if you feel like replying, go for it!

---

It would be nice if there was a Vault Disney channel that showed all the stuff from decades ago. Disney has such a strong, rich history but all they cram down people's throats are stupid teen sitcoms and lame cartoons. "Give the kid a couple years, then a TV movie, then throw them out and get a new kid."

Where is Escape from Witch Mountain? Where is The Cat From Outer Space? They have enough programming to fill several channels, but we get rehashed teen movies and reheated stale sitcoms.

ENOUGH with Raven, Zack & Cody and Cory! Give us Apple Dumpling Gang, Herbie and Swiss Family Robinson!

Disney, you want to flush your channel down the toilet? Fine! But create a Vault Disney channel so us parents can teach our children what wholesome programming is!

Queries

I received my first new rejection.

This is my new push for the novel. After the extensive 3rd edits I sent out one electronic query and prepared nine snail mail ones. I'm still waiting to send the nine (between checks right now).

Today I got a rejection back from the electronic. I know I should laugh it off but after all those edits, I'm worried that maybe the edits were not enough.
What if no one wants it?

It's very frustrating, because those kids in Jeff's class really liked it and they are the demographic, but the agents are supposed to represent the demographic and they keep rejecting it.
GAHH!

I sent another electronic one today and sent a request to a prior queried agent to see if he would like to look at the new version.

I just feel so far away from my goals.

How was my birthday?

It was good.

At work, the PC I've got is a slower model. Today I entered work to discover they gave me the newer one that they promised me. It's not the newest and I don't care. It's fast, it has Windows XP and I can do my work while listening to my tunes, and that's all I care about.

At lunch I made my goal. I updated my synopsis, typed up a letter for Rachel Vater and emailed her. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up but all I truly want is for this story, these characters to reach children. To entertain and maybe inspire.
Tomorrow I'll organize a group to send queries to.

I received well wishes from friends online and on the phone. My parents sent a nice card, too.

My wife made me chocolate brownies (I wanted that instead of cake) and the kids made me cards. Two new figures (Green Arrow and Red Tornado) arrived today, too.

All in all, not a bad day.

Happy Birthday

Well, today I turn 40. Weee. Yeah, right.

Nice part of having a blog no one reads? No one knows it's your birthday. ;)

New Potter figures, good and bad.

Here’s the Leaky Cauldron picture site.

The good is that these figures are coming out.
The bad is that they are only released in the US.
Aw well.

Finished with the edits!

Finally!
Now to update the synopsis and query letter, compose a letter to Rachel Vater and then it's resubmission time!

Facts:

Fact #1, new job is going great. There is a learning curve and I'm working more than at the last job, but it's fun and I'm enjoying it.

Fact #2, The new car we bought a few weeks ago (new as in 2002) is doing great. This week I (with the help of my wife) turned some mp3s to wavs and burned some cds for the van. Finally we're driving with real tunes!

Fact #3, Stranger Than Fiction is a good movie. Go rent it. Of course I'm partial because I'm a wanna be writer.

Fact #4, Five more chapters to edit and it's done! Then it's time to revisit the synopsis, the query and write a letter to Rachel Vater.

Fact #5, I'm in a good mood tonight!

Fact #6, Monday is my birthday. Gah. I'm too young to be 40. Gah.

Fact #7, No one reads this blog so my birthday is still a secret. Well, Willard and Dani read this blog, but who are they gonna tell? 40? GAH!

Fact #8, The dogs want to go for a walk.

Fact #9, This email is finished! Bye!

(40, yuck)

Message to Willard

Hey bud, I still can't get on your blog.
I can get to Dani's and other blogger blogs, but not yours.
You might want to look into it.

New Job

Well, it's not so bad. The benefits are good and the pay is great. The commute is OK, too.

I'll be working harder and I hope I can do the work.
I guess we'll see.

First Day

It's my first day at the new drafting job.

Wish me luck!

Things

Things didn't work out for the move so we'll be staying here in Utah. Ah well. At least we have a house and I've got a new job to get to on Monday.
We'll look forward to things here, and fix up the house a bit.

Btw, we bought a new car a few weeks ago. It's another Windstar. It's newer and has all the bells and whistles.

I'm still going through the novel one last time. I'm starting Chapter 15 today. So much to do and so little time to do it.

JLA the Movie! FOR REAL!

I saw this on Raving Toy Maniac!

I'm so excited!

Here it is, as posted by fellow Utahn, LilMissVixen.

----

Justice prevails for Warner Bros.
Studio eyeing DC superhero team feature
By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK
DC Comics super-team Justice League is heading for the bigscreen.


Michele and Kieran Mulroney

Batman may meet up with Superman on the bigscreen after all -- along with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash and all the rest of DC Comics' biggest names.
Warner Bros., with its major appetite for fresh franchises, is looking to make a feature based on super team the Justice League of America, hiring writing duo Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to pen the script.

It's the first major action the studio has taken on the project.

Feature film is bound to include some combination of DC's most iconic superheroes, although the studio wouldn't confirm which ones they might be. It's unlikely that the studio and DC Comics, a division of Warner, would opt to feature second-tier characters.

Since its inception in 1960, JLA has featured almost every major hero in the DC Comics universe, although the core team has largely remained the same: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter.

The heroes typically band together to fight alien menaces or groups of supervillains.

"The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves," Warner prexy of production Jeff Robinov said in announcing the hiring of the Mulroneys.

In taking on the ambitious project, Warner faces several conundrums.

Now that the Batman and Superman film franchises have been revived, does the studio go after Christian Bale ("Batman Begins") and Brandon Routh ("Superman Returns") to star in a Justice League pic? Studio is also trying hard to bring Wonder Woman to the bigscreen.

To a large degree, casting will depend upon the story arc for the JLA feature and at what point in the superheroes' lives the plot takes place.

Warner also must deal with myriad producers working on the Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman franchises.

Studio dropped its efforts to make "Batman vs. Superman" in order to focus on relaunching "Batman" and "Superman" as individual properties, which it has done.

Filmmakers Chris Nolan ("Batman Begins") and Bryan Singer ("Superman Returns") are each on board to helm the next installments in the two respective franchises. Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is eyeing a 2008 release and the next "Superman," 2009.

The potential payoff of bringing JLA to theaters can't be ignored by Warner, which turns out more tentpoles than any other studio.

Comicbook fans have long clamored for a movie version of JLA, and word of the Warner project is certain to be a hot topic at New York Comic Con, which unspools today in Gotham.

JLA has spawned several cartoon TV series, including 1960s and '70s show "Super Friends" and current Cartoon Network skein "Justice League Unlimited" from Warner Bros. Animation.

The Mulroneys -- Kieran is the brother of thesp Dermot Mulroney -- caught the attention of studios around town with their rewrite of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" for Fox.

Other screenplay projects include "On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction," "Paper Man" and "Worst Case."

Kieran and Michele Mulroney are repped by Creative Artists Agency and Management 360.

(Ben Fritz contributed to this report.)

Locked out!

RASSEN FRASSEN!

The stupid dead bolt on my front door is a bit loose. Sometimes it locks on it's own.
This morn' after returning from dropping off the kids at school, I went inside, dropped my keys on a night stand type piece of furniture, set the dogs free from their kennels and promptly closed the door to keep the cats inside while the dogs went pee outside.
After the dogs were done I discovered that I was locked out. Oh I had made sure that the main lock was unlocked, but forgot to grab my keys in case the dead bolt tricked.
Outside in a coat, pajamas and tennis shoes, I walked around trying windows. My in laws don't have a key to that lock (they will!) and my cell was inside.
I had to try a window that needs fixing and it broke. I got in and then let the dogs in through the front door.
I made copies of the dead bolt key and called the window guy to come estimate the window.
So much for two hours of novel fixing.
Ah well.

Chad Vader # 6!

Here's the newest from Blame Society Films and YouTube.

Funny look at job hunting.

Thoughts

We went to church today! YYAAAY!
See, I've got a rep for being this staunch Mormon guy, but the truth is we are inactive due only to laziness. Heck, I want another Saturday.
Well, we went today. I took the kids because I promised my wife I would while she was in Cali with my parents.
It worked out OK. I need to do that more often.

Meanwhile, she's doing great with them. I haven't heard from her much today, but she's happy because she can breathe better there. I hope she gets the job and we can move.

Got my MS (manuscript) back! Not much editing left to do! I'm excited! I'm planning on working on it this week to polish it up. After that I can resubmit to Rachael Vater and a few others.

Tonight the kids get to have a slumber party with me. We'll be watching Abbot and Costello movies until we fall asleep. No school tomorrow.

More on my life tomorrow for the two people reading this blog. ;)

The Wilhelm Scream Compilation

This sound effect scream was used in a lot of movies. I'm surprised at some of them.

Here it is, by way of Youtube.

My wife left me!

HA!
Made you look!
We just dropped her off at the airport.
We made a decision to try to move to California. This was decided last month. My wife is tired of working at home and would like to try the office life. I'm tired of the office life and would love to try the home dad thing.
So she started looking for work while I remained at my last job. We realized that we both should try, because the cost of living there is more expensive, so I put my resume on Monster.com.

Turns out Northern Utah is desperate for drafters. I wound up getting an interview for an SL architectural company and got the job. I start on the 26th.
Unless my sweetie gets her job.

See, I miss my family very much. They all live in central California while my wife's family live here in northern Utah. I've lived here since '83 but for the last 19 years I've lives far from my family.
Meanwhile, we live 30 miles away from a Charter school and the entire Utah school system sucks. They pass my learning disabled children by instead of teaching them on their level. If we remain, my kids will be left behind in their education.
My wife might still be able to progress but she's fighting a bad rep that her family have caused.
These are all reasons why we feel it's time to move.

She got three options in central California. One's with a Charter school, doing accounting. Two others are with the city of Merced. One as a County clerk assistant and the other is an accounting job. She is set to appear in Merced, California on Tuesday at 10 am for a job interview. If she gets one of those jobs, we're moving.

So we just bid her goodbye and now we get a week without her while she spends time with my parents and goes to the interviews.

*Crosses fingers*