Ally of the light, not of the darkness

Sometimes, you have step back and wonder where we are heading. The same is true for the novel universe. Only, I know the end. The end of this narrative arc at least. Its going to be wild ride that will fit our times at least. The trick is making sure you are all there at the end understanding how everything came together.

Back when I first finished Song of Betrayal, when it still called Collide, I had these basic ideas: Gwen the cheerleader siren, the loss of her sister, and Tom the boy she knew who became a merman. As the story grew these things grew with it. So did the cast of characters around it. Everything got so much bigger as I fleshed out the world of the Assembly.

Tom changed first. From the basic surface teen who bribed his uncle to stay and got caught into the world of the assembly, to this son of a famous musician who met a girl online who turned out to be famous in her own right: grandniece of the biggest names in the music industry as well as a member of the assembly. He fell hard enough for her that he got shot saving her life.

Now 20 he is shepherding her sister in this massive scheme to save the assembly from destruction. Not something I expected.

Gwen changed as well. I always expected her to be light and kind. Her and Tom’s love story to be beautiful. Sadly, all this migrated to Lorelei. Gwen became who she really was: a smarter but darker person, who understands people but will still put her own wants and needs above them.

What does this have to do with the current book? Well, its where the narrative is at. As I edit ‘Song of Reconciliation’ (its final name) those pieces of Collide are indeed slamming into the new story. A lot are collapsing into a pile of rocks. The police pool scene where Tom transfigures the first time; gone. He did that in Melbourne, 3 years before.

This also brings several other things into force. I finally removed Jen the traveler from the novel. Of the four scenes she was in, the first Reagan replaced her. The final three she is replaced with Valiere the cat person. Yes, cat people.

This book I explain how the assembly came about, how the Archive came into existence and elaborate on the Hall of Remembrance scene. You see Atlan society with a little taste to why all the Assembly seems to be christian. Along with it is a more elaborate linking of the cat people, Gellicles, to the Assembly.

Here is the fun thing about copyright: Jellicle cats are a fictional^[1] type of feline from T. S. Eliot‘s 1939 light poetry book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Jellicle cats were first mentioned in Eliot’s 1933 poem “Five-Finger Exercises” and later developed in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. They were given further characterization in Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s 1981 stage musical Cats, which was based on Eliot’s book. The large cast of diverse cats is an important part of the worldbuilding of Cats. Many of these characters originated from Eliot’s book, while others are named after characters from other works by Eliot or were invented for the musical.

To be clear, the Eliot estate owns the rights to Jellicle cats, the names and the Cats broadway musical imagry. It doesn’t own the idea of anthropomorphic cats having their own society, singing or dancing to achieve a better life. There is even a prevailing theory that jellicles are dead and the place they live is their purgatory.

So I grabbed the idea and ran with it. My cats are outcast members of Atlan society genetically engineered for a purpose that got freed when the assembly did. They escaped the wrath the assembly did and spent the last 6000 years exploring and growing in anticipating of the return of the assembly to live with them.

Then there is Taylor the character. I have a solution in the event there is an issue. However, I would perfer there isn’t. She fits better as herself. This will be the only book where you will see her tail thought. There is a lot of work in the discretion as well as fitting it into the available time.

Lastly, there is the focus of editing history. In addition to the removal of the UN which I explained, I also inverted the CDC, renaming it, Red Hash. I’ll explain more in a different post. Its not detrimental, as the NIH has always done most heavy lifting.

There is no real way to remove Mao without functionally changing the entire course of the twentieth century beyond what I wanted. So as much as it saddens me, he continues to do what he did. However, I can mitigate certain events. The Rape of Nanjing is one of those. Also, Reagan is deeply involved in those changes. She became much more than the girl who simply was a cheerleader in Homecoming Song.

In fact, the editing changes lead to the point that the only young people are Gwen, Lorelei, Tom and Chelsey. Everyone else looks young. Reagan, whose real first name is Aja, is almost 200.

Following the finish of Song of Reconciliation, I still plan on a book addressing the MTV video music awards 2009 which will reveal the career transition of Gwen. It will also establish Reagan as a warrior in her own right, explaining why 20th century history is as different as it is. Once I finish that, all that is left is the final series book where the concert that moves the world, described in Song of Hope, takes place.

Eventually, I will publish the archive of everything I am compiling about the assembly reality. I named it Mythic Notes. It will have detailed timelines of the main characters, historical figures and several altered events as well as maps of the areas in question. Hopefully, you all will discover there is more than the climb.

So with all that, I leave you with this: “It’s just a dream until you believe.“

CW’s Siren, Parkland and the darkness

Well, its been a few months since my last post. There are some things I wanted to address and update where things are.

First thing is the Parkland shooting.  I didn’t address this until now because I was waiting until everything played out. Unfortunately, this turned into a very avoidable situation that looks filled with bad actors, an ignored mentally ill individual with known violent tendancies, goverment interference among other things.  I am loathe to remove events as I said previously.  However, I am even more unwilling to keep things that need not existed because people want to evil for misguided reasons. So in the Assembly reason, Parkland doesn’t happen. Here is why.

As I was writing Route 91, I got to a point where I needed to show how much Chelsey and Tom were different than Lorelei remembers. At the time of the story, she’s only been ressurected six months most of which she spent in their old castle on Kerguelen. There would be no human contact there (the french base is on the other side of the island and the mountain is considered restricted to them because of its danger and the fact their isnt enough of them to effect a rescue) so she is still out of contact while reintegrating into society.

So when Gwen challenges an Atlantic News Reporter about the dome seeming to stop the bullets and her time on the stage, the reporter goes off to get permission. Gwen assumes he will fail and brushes it off without a thought. She is powerful now. Respected and not challenged. When Jacob comes to do exactly that, challenge her by not according her any honorifics, she leaves for Ondine without a second thought.

The reporter returns Chelsey expecting the interview of the year. It is to be broadcasted live on the final news hour of the night. Lorelei covers for Gwen and when the reporter returns with crew, she has masked herself as Gwen, acting like her when she was a teen Yet, its imposible to explain why bullets didnt penetrate the concert area if there was only light there. So to make this act believable, she changes the subject to the future Parkland shooting informing the reporter and the millions listening about Nicolas Cruz and why he isn’t currently in jail or institutionalized. Using the information publically availabe the night of the LV shooting, she insists this is part of the problem rather than ‘a 3d printer problem’

After the interview, Tom informs Loerlei that Gwen is now the face of Gun control and will not only have prevented Cruz from carrying out the shooting but others as well.

To be clear, I support the second amendment right to bear arms. I support the NRA and believe that additional laws solve nothing but keeping guns out of the hands of non criminals.

Yet, Lorelei wouldn’t know any of this and was deeking to prevent another shooting like she lived through. Tie this into the fact that Song of Route 91 is most likely now the 8th book in the series (I always seem to write out of order).

This leads to a problem I though I cured but didn’t. Like with ‘Summon the heroes’ I have too much story. STM should have been 3 books not 1 652 page tome (this is 9’x 6′) If STH were paperback it would be 1153, which is as large as a Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series novel or a George RR Martin Song of Ice and Fire novel.

I honestly don’t know when I quit until I do. Right now there isn’t much more forward after the fulfillment of the ‘restorer of the breach’ prophecy. Raising the fallen assembly isn’t it. Ressurrecting Lorelei isn’t it. Its much bigger than that. That WILL be the final book right now.  Song of Route 91 I am hoping to end with these scenes between Tom, Lorelei and Jacob but I might have one more with Reagan and Gwen.

This brings me to Siren, the CW show I looked forward too. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. When the season premiere came out, I watched it and accepted it was a more violent version of H2O just add water. You have Merfolk with only instinct and no real intellect (they are a human subspecies who can learn rapidly but dont in the deep blue). They simply swim, hunt and reproduce. That’s it. No society outside of primitate warrior bands. No speech. Yes, Ryn (the main mermaid character) exudes a balance of innocence and naivety with dangerous animalistic instinct.

On the flip side, in the first book, I introduce Lorelei as a Human teen who is smart, cute and just so happens to a mermaid. Not a dangerous beast who could captured, speared like a shark but fully human and fully in tune with her home enviorment of the ocean.

Then we have the government coverup of a mermaid capture. A washington town thats founded on mermaid lore and the Main character caught up in discovering another mermaid coming ashore to find the captured one.  We get violent Splash and H2O analogies. There is little story and little character development for the mermaid.

The story is really centered around MC and his life as the aquatic center etc. Tampabay.com complements the show on its diversity. “There are numerous people of color in leading roles, and characters with disabilities are defined by other traits beyond their disability.” Seriously, its about mermaids. Why does the race or ability of character matter.

I could do the same. In all the stories so far I have numerous people of color in leading roles. The King of the Assembly is dark skinned. Tom is half latino. Shae is mixed. The villians are asian but not limited to asian. This matters? No. Story does.  Then,  “As the series progresses, there are more hints that mermaid sexuality doesn’t adhere to any human-created gender norm.”

They aren’t human. They are a human sub species who obviously can’t reproduce in the same matter that human women can because those organs arent available underwater. That is very obvious. Yes, we draw this conclusion because Ryn’s sister is African skinned and they hold hands?

Finally, the “There’s also underlying commentary on the environmental impacts of overfishing on our place in the natural world.”

This is utterly meaningless if you dont explain how they breath underwater or survive at a depth that applies a quarter ton per square inch. The fact they surfaced for food means nothing if they can go down that far. Also the fact they can tear the head of off a shark also means that enviromental impacts are meaningless.

Why am I being this critical? Because I am just as guilty. When I started and somewhat still do, I focus on the land because thats easier to write and constant water scenes.  However, the heart of the Assembly IS the underwater ancient civilization that controls the surface. So I spent time reading about how to make compelling and believable merfolk.

From figuring out how to breath underwater realistically, to how ocean pressure works to supercavitation to wormhole travel and crystal power, I did my best to make it as real as possible. Certain things require bending of current physics, like the fact there simply isnt enough oxygen in the water to support humans always under water like the myth shows. Or using wormholes to travel rapidly across the planet because even at the fastest swim it takes weeks to cross.

Siren didnt do anything. No explanation of how they can breath in low oxygen enviroment or handle the quarter ton pressure of 150 fathoms. The CGI is beautiful and helpful but thats it.

I am on the fence about it. I want it to survive simply so I can get coverage about my own work. However, I have no interest in the son of the founding family of a town know for mermaids and how he lives his life or what happens when he and his mixed race gf (she’s aa and indian mix, Her father is indian) discover the mermaids are real.

Finally, this takes me to the darkness. Have you noticed this world is getting darker and more evil as we move forward. Its a syptom of a greater event brewing. I dont want to preach here so I wont but you beleive in Christianity, its time to get ready.

If you dont, then don’t worry nothing will happen to you that you don’t want. The world isnt ending. Society has changed and continues to do so. The change is already here People need to embrace it if you dont believe. My fiction will be here for you. At least until I vanish. At that point all bets are off.

Finally, I would like to say good-bye to Harry Anderson and R Lee Ermy who both left the mortal plane this week. I enjoying watching both of you as actors and will miss you. You both taught me lots. Thanks.

 

I am still here! Dilly! Dilly!

Well, I think this is the longest I have ever went without posting. Sorry about that.

Alot has happened since the last post. I posted Song of Route 91 on the Nanowrimo site. I then reedited it, so remove the junk and continue the story. (Sometimes I mash things together to meet the word count and cull it). In the process of reediting it, I guess I decided I would use it (as it is a now [ie Oct 2017] story) to fill in the gasps in Heartbeat song ( like why did Lorelei have to go, what happened to hers and Tom’s relationship, the prophecy etc). So suddenly, we now have a gate in the Luxor, and all this romantic baggage fit for an episode of ‘The Bachelor’.

I am going to wrap this story up shortly because if I don’t it will become a novel. It basically is now about the Tom, Lorelei, Gwen triangle and the fulfillment of the prophecy of the restorer of the breach. (its bigger than you thought). Also I get to use Jacob the Mighty who is doing the heavy lifting (because he started all this), questions will be answered and there will be more underwater actions (unlike Christmas circle).

After I finish it will appear here as well as on the book seller sites. Following that I will continue on with Heartbeat song which will deal with Taft High massacre, wrap up the story lines for everyone there (expect those who follow forward).

One thing I don’t think I will do is the actual scene where Tom goes to his uncle (Graverobber) to get the white onyx for Gwen. Why? because that can become a short story on it own.  Also, I kinda want to use some of the Repo songs in Heartbeat song.

Then again, I didn’t expect the story to take this turn while I was writing it either. I am only a few chapters in, but I figure it should top out at 50K. Its hard to write because its so sad. Still it needs to be filled in so there is a sense of where everything is so when the dramatic events happen they have the appropriate context.

Yes, I will have celebrities in this with their real name. There is no way around this, so I am putting a similar warning like I did in Christmas circle.  Also, I am confirming many more of my choices so I can have active paths for them. I have posted the current list of people who aren’t apart of the assembly reality so but I will update it in the future.

Also one final thing. When I started this version, it was 2011 and the person who I chose for Gwen, was still in high school (a sophomore). This year, 2018, she is a college senior. Time flies but it also helps put things in perspective. Hopefully, your 2018 will be good too.

You, sir, are a true friend to the crown! Dilly! Dilly!

Thoughts on the Bowling Green Massacre…

Well, I must first thank Kellyanne Connelly for the fictional massacre to motivate me to be creative. I needed a small push because things got away from me. This happened to be that push. Truth is you enver know what it takes to get you over the hump. Nevertheless, this will actually be an update on the stories and background.

So what is happening? Alot actually. First, I will actually have a ‘Bowling Green Massacre in 2011 just like she said but also with Fredrick Douglass (not the historical figure one though) . It fits the direction I am going and considering its a college town, there is ample opportunity. I however will use the mining pits outside the town for the brutal horror. Its better imagery.

Second, I have adjusted another location in Lafayette. While never actually revealing the physical location of Gwen and Aria’s houses yet in published works, I do have a Google earth map of the city that did have their actual locations on it. When I went to actually use this for a scene in Heartbeat song I realized that the area Aria was in was River Ranch, a newer subdivision.

This is fine for Gwen and the Bretons as they moved from Australia in the 1990s. Its not good for the Natals as the gate is supposed to be in a fixed location since 1780. There are no buildings in that area from that period and no reason for such as its the same Vermillion river just down stream. So I moved the Natal House to across the street from Cafe Vermillion which has been in existance since at least 1812.

The quick and dirty is that both buildings were built at the same time by Vann’s Grandfather who was a Laurents. In all the stories I have included Shelly, Aria’s mother in, I have never revealed her actual last name only her house name. Laurents is a french name and blends into the fabric of the city better. Also a quick explanation of the house etc is in the story as well.

This brings me to the fact that as I am working on Heartbeat song I ran headlong into another issue. If there is an school shooting that envolves IEDs and massive causalities the hospitals in Lafayette can’t handle it. Without Charity and the other LSU hospitals ion New Orleans, the Primary trauma 1 hospital was in Sherveport or Houston. (Yes I am aware they did assign one post Katrina but it was ill-equiped to actually handle the load)

So I was left with solving that problem. First I figured I would upgrade the hospital, Lafayette general. Yet it would not be capable as the population wouldnt justify it. (I squeaked by with Forest Hills because of LSU and the CajunDome and making Booker Field old. This would be handwaving the solution away)

That left New Orleans. While Baton Rouge is closer. New Orleans is larger and up until Katrina had one of the Best hospitals in the country there: Charity Hospital. When I discovered why Charity was permanently closed (I won’t elaborate here other than to say LSU greed, however that overlooks alot of side issues) I decided to save the hospital. Doing so allows you all to actually meet Tyrion Cetus so when he dies in Song of Redemption, it will have meaning (like how Lorelei’s does now). Haven’t worked out all the plans yet but it envolves preventing the hospital from flooding during the MR-GO, Industrial canal, and London Avenue canal breechs. Something involving hard light constructs.

Most people were unaware (outside of the residents who were very much aware) that almost the entire city flooded from the canal breachs except the French quarter. Charity was in the CBD near the Superdome. Yet its basement and some of the first floor flooded.

Keeping the hospital fully operational (by revealing exactly how the Assembly handles Natural disasters) will allow it to remain into 2007 and on into my 2017. I will use the upgraded plans for the Hospital for my now timeline. It also means I will have a crap load of lifeflights from the attack as the criticals will be handled there. Thats the idea.

Finally, the Faking It! connection is gone as it will take too long to fully integrate into my world. I am keeping what I worked on in Heartbeat song but the fan fiction will be just that. Amy’s existential crisis of looking like Lorelei when she feels the exact opposite was in a fun challenge yet it detracted from where I am going with the story.So no Amy or Karma in my world anymore. Sorry.

I view Heartbeat Song be the connection to Song of Betrayal without actually tying into it. It will end the first series (which had Lorelei as the main character and Gwen as a minor character) yet open the path for Gwen to become the woman she is in Song of Betrayal.

Finally after this and finishing the editing of Song of Redemption, I will beack to open creation as that will finish the second series. (Song of Betrayal, Song of Redemption, Homecoming Song). Christmas circle is a follow up on A view from the street and not tied to the main story even though it has Tom in it.

The final 3 books (or next three depending on if I have more story) will take place in 2016 with the ressurrection of Lorelei, Gwen being queen and a musician like Becky, who at the time of this post, just finished singing at Club Nomatic in Houston.

That’s all for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spirit day and dark night

Happy #spiritday. Thats Hester High the fictional nearly Bully high school that alot of us miss. Nevertheless, Its been a while since I posted last. Sorry about that. Things got away from me. So an update on where everything is.

So in order with a nice numbered list:

1. Center cannot hold became Song of the Gyre. It now directly connects to Midnight Train Song. Only a month has past in time so its October 2006.
2. Other than leaving the orginal football play opening, the rest of the story is new. You get a deeper explanation on who the Warriors of Dagon are. You get a taste who Dagon was. You get a scene of Posideon Celano and how the assembly began.
3. You learn who Coach Sylvan is and why she is important. Also why the resurrection vial would be in her desk drawer.
4. You met those who actually cause the Taft High massacre and some victims.
5. You get cute scenes with Lorelei and Tom at Coupe de monde.

Its almost done. its 24000 words and I will post it here. I will also post Song of Betrayal as well. The problem with it is I can only do that in pdf. Sorry but amazon charges too much for bound books not backed by the big five. Its annoying.

1. After I post Song of the Gyre, I will finish Heartbeat song. Hopefully I can actually publish and market the three books so everyone can see them not just the smattering her that do. If I can, I can. if not then meh.
2. There will be a Christmas story. Its going to be Faking it and will involve them at college and Tom and Gwen. It should be short like Christmas circle.
3. As for Faking it! unless Netflix picks it up its gone. The actors have moved on and the sets etc are gone. One of my goals is still rights for it so I will know about that 2017
4. The Assembly reality does not have the chaos we have for a presidental election because even House of Cards is better that what we got. So if i feel a need to mention the sitting president it will be neither of the four running.
5. I might use Jack & Bobby history (cw show dealing with a president in 2050 when he was a teen. It was when cw was WB) I might not.
6. After those and my life settles then I will get Song of Restotation. I have it setting on my hard drive waiting but it still has the old plot, jen and the old way tom and gwne handle each other. It would not make sense with the new info.

That’s all there is now.

A quick peek:  the founding island of the Assembly was Kerguelen Island in the Southern Ocean. At the time of the assembly, they had figured out Gate travel and massed in the thousands exploring in viking like long boats that were large enough to sail across oceans.

So remember yesterday (because I am posting this on Friday at midnight cst) was #spiritday and go vote. Vote for Frank underwood if you have to (and can write in someone) or veyron supreme or that guy John oliver mentions on his show recently.

The path forward and behind

As I have worked on this series,  I have discovered several things I have wanted to integrate in. From changing Lorelei from a passive character to the incorporation of Reagan Dawn to the development of Taft high, I have strived to make a better story.

Each story has been better I feel than the last. Holes have been filled. Gaps in the narrative that have been filled with stories that illuminate paths. I feel that each has been a journey that is a destination leading to another.

Yet, as I continue I discovered the is no established order you all know. If you go to Barnes and Noble or Amazon (Sorry, that print bound is so high that’s them not me.)  I have 3 books for sale that are in a specific order. That’s not really the order I wanted, I discovered today.

So here is the order I have settled on. This won’t change. I will make a total of nine books/slash stories. Some won’t be for sale in bound form, others will. The current order is for bound form. So to begin:

First set of three is: Songs of the fall

1. Midnight train song
2. Song of the Gyre
3. Heartbeat Song

These songs revolve around Lorelei. How she mets Tom, her life at Taft High, her opposition and ultimately her sacrifice which is fulfills part of the ‘Restorer of the breach’ prophecy.   Midnight train song is available now. I am currently working on Song of the Gyre. Its a version of the glee fan fic ‘Center cannot hold’ however it doesn’t follow the same plot. Center Cannot hold is a wrapper for episode 2 of glee. This isn’t.

Song of the Gyre deals with Shae Nyx and her opposition of Lorelei because she is jealous of her. She has Kent but treats with contempt. She sees her a queen bitch who has everything and doesn’t care about anyone. Shae figures that if she topples her and steals Kent she will get want she wants.

Lorelie on the other hand, sees Kent as a small minded person polluted by the lies of the warriors of Dagon and needs to separate from him. Its hard because she wants a boyfriend to lean on. When Shae challenges her, she uses that to her own advantage and lets her take Kent. During all this she gets the first sides of the coming attack on the school however she has no clue what part she will play.

HeartBeat Song deals with the actual attack on Taft High. In later books like Song of Betrayal and Homecoming song this is refernced at the Taft High massacre. (which happened 4 days before Virigina Tech making it the worst week for school deaths in US history.) This story starts with Lorelei in first person POV but finishes with Tom’s POV. You see how he meets people he associates with in later novels including Brad from Faking It.

It will be the darkest book I will write. It will detail how truly bad the warriors of Dagon are and how they came to be. It will have some lovecraftian elements in them but I decided that there is no Cthulu in my reality at leats not in the sense of a sentient deity. A sentient being yes. Even the dolphin are sentient in my reality so why not octopi?

I have several pages of it done, but put it on pause to do song of the gyre which I though would simply be an edit of Center cannot hold. It took a life of its own which ultimately is a good thing.

The second set of three: Siren songs

1. Song of Betrayal
2. Song of Restoration
3. Homecoming Song

These set of stories revolve around Gwen who hasn’t been a main character in the first group. In fact, what you see of Gwen is her pre-massacre personality which as mix of grace and raw force. She’s much more aggressive and harsh because she feels everything can be solved with a song.  She has yet to see the error of this path as her mirror, Aria, isn’t in her life yet.

All three of these books have been written. Song of Betrayal and Homecoming Song are available to read now. As for Song Of Restoration, it is awaiting the final edit which I will do once I finish writing HeartBeat Song.

The third set of three: Songs of Hope

I actually haven’t settled on the titles for these yet so I am not going to pull up titles that eventually won’t be used. Nevetheless, these stories will revolve around the fulfillment of the ‘restorer of the breach’ as well as the final end to the warriors of Dagon. You will see Gwen as a successful musician on par with Taylor Swift & Ella Fitgerald. These are also the stories that will reveal the differences between this world and ours.

There are significant differences outside of Gwen’s path and the fact mermaids exist. I have elaborated on several. There are more I haven’t. Once I publish Song of Restoration, I will have a better idea exact what changes are doable without making the general stream hard.

Sadly, ceratin individuals I would like to remove would alter the timeline too much for my taste so I have to leave them be. Others aren’t so lucky. As I have said before, There is no Kayne West, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Justin Beiber or Miley Cyrus in my 2016 for various reasons I have established. All have had opportunies that have led them to success or survival. Flip the coin (rescue the label or apply a little more impact in the car crash) and they aren’t there.

Another example is NWA. Without Gerald E. “Jerry” Heller, they wouldn’t have formed. He served in the U.S. Army during Vietnam meaning he was drafted in 1958 when he turned 18. If he was killed while serving, there you go. Eazy-E would have founded Ruthless records alone and it wouldn’t have survived. Eventually him and dr. Dre would end up in jail.

As of this point, I haven’t settled on NWA. They don’t interfer with Gwen’s path. I perfer to not deviate if I dont have too. Besides Heller early death doesn’t just affect Eazy-E, it effects  Elton John and Pink Floyd too.

Also, there are several other stories that are outside this group of 9. Like the stories involing Aria’s mother, the ones involving Amy and Karma and those in previous eras. These build the background and bring lit to other areas.

I hope you are looking forward to these stories as much as I am. Thanks for all of you who are stopping by, whether to support ‘Faking it’ read other items or simply support Mermaid fiction. Enjoy.

 

Song of Betrayal can be heard

This is a quick note to let everyone know that Song of Betrayal, that book I am been going on about since I started this blog is finally out. Click the title for the barnes and noble location. I am on Itunes , Kobo , Scribd (where the free documents are stored), Inktera , and 24 symbols as a $1 ebook. (1.99 on itunes as the extra 99 cents is their markup). I get half of this $ as royality.

Its on amazon as well through a diffrent publisher who handles paperbacks. Unfortunately its 269 pages and without all those discounts that big name publishers put on novels, it costs Blurb $32 so it sells for $59. (which is insane as I make NOTHING off it). If you don’t have a amazon visa card and sign up for it they will shave that $50 and give it to you for $9.

New stories in the pipeline. If you are interested in Fan fiction, I reactivated my fanfiction story account and am posting Amy’s journal pages after each episode. (although their won’t be another one until after Faking it! S3E10.

Also more maps. If I make enough I might publish an ebook of maps.

Next stories are Song of Restoration and Heatbeat Song (which will have Lorelei right up to her collaspe the week of the Taft High Massacre). Heartbeat song is first person and I am toying with the idea of making Song of restoration that too. However, Its doubtful because it would delay it for 6 months where as I could get it out by August if I do the final edit.

Until the morrow. Mike

I feel like Frodo: The journey so far

Sometimes things just happen. Like you are working on a project and the wheels come off or truma happens unexpectedly. You get delayed, things get lost or worse. Well, as I was setting up this post I noticed its been two years since I announced the novel, ‘Song of Betrayal’

Its been through twists and turns, changes and rests. I have kept moving foward. Even abandoning the dream of pro publishing, I haven’t given up the hope that you all will see it and enjoy. Well as of two days ago, content is fixed. I finished the final draft. All that is left is spell and grammar checks which happen in the final read through. Barring anything spectacular (I have the final draft on several cloud servers and my personal drive), all it needs is a cover and I have pushed my personal gollum into the fires of Mount Doom. He carries with him the ‘ring of editing prefection’.

Nevertheless, there is a caveat. When I did the draft that fused Pyhhric Victory song into the story as the first three chapters it push the word count into the 100k range. Removing that much back out became impossible unlike I orginally believed. In fact, I ended up adding 5000 words to connect that story to the ocean scene at the beginning. So ‘Song of Betrayal is really Pyhhric Victory song and the first four orginal chapters. You see Forest Hills finally, a gate and how the system works.

Song of Restoration will be the rest of the orginal novel; volume 2.5. It will be the heaviest mermaid novel yet. I do need to apologize for that. It seems that in my writing I have shied away for doing the typical underwater mermaid scenes. Gwen is almost always above surface being  a ‘normal’ teen. In truth, most of the assembly upper class is above water 50% time. Having the capital off the coast of Australia while the main town in Lousiana does create issues.  That’s what storytelling is, resolving issues. You will see more underwater as I move forward.

Song of Restoration is how Gwen handles getting Christina’s golden ticket back and her becoming princess because Aria lost it due to that activity and her procrastination. You will get to see the vault of memories, how they manage the dead there, the underwater library, Nascent Island and Tom’s transformation.

That leads to the a few more decisions. When I was doing research for my Faking it story (more on that in a moment), I discovered something quite problematic that I glossed over when I made and corrected the map of Lafayette. As I established it, Booker Field was built first. However, assuming its location is true its a mile from Downtown and a mile from LSU- Lafayette. That means that when the school ceased being a college, the college would have simply bought the stadium et al and used it. Booker field would have been Cajun field. or The Cajun dome would have never been built. These are not things I want either.

So, I moved Forest Hills. Rather than having it on top of Lafayette Middle school and numerous housing plots, I moved it to over Arcadian High School. It blends in to the outskirts better, doesn’t disrupt Congress street and places it far enough away from Taft to make the change viable. (for the record, Lafayette High is Taft in my reality). This time, I took the Kroger and 7-11 that were at the north east corner as well and the housing south and west too. Its about a mile and 1/2 which displaced a school and not much else.

It actually would make sense, because it would develop away from the rest of the city is almost Scott, Louisana and then it would be come the west most high school in the Lafayette Parish school system. Its near a medical center and still north of Acadiana mall.

Finally, I am writing a Faking It! story. As I said before, If I do Karma and Amy now, it would be as if they are meeting Taylor swift. Its not really far to them or my characters. So instead, I am using Bruce’s comment ‘When you were 5 was the worst year’ as the jumping in point. Bruce Cooper is a minor character and Lauren’s father, little is known about him.

I devise that he got a divorce from his wife because of him and his wife couldn’t decide how to handle Lauren’s intersex. He insisted that she be allowed to remain a girl etc (hense the pagents etc). She wanted her to go her own way unbound. However, its unusual for the father to be granted primary custody until the mother is unfit or deceased.

So, when Lauren was five, 2005, Bruce and her got divorced. She got custody and Lauren remained with her in Lafayette where she was a teacher at Taft. Bruce moved to Austin as he was a oil man, (he doesn’t seem to be a coder and the actors previous characters lend to that oil man persona).

The massacre happens and the mother gets killed in an IED blast while Lauren is there. Lauren is injured. Bruce meets Tom in the hospital. This is how Tom gets to Austin.

This story will have #karmy in it. It will have them painting unicorns etc. I will save the surprise for the story.

Thanks for reading. Map will be in the next post.

 

Brief update

Ok, sorry for the delay. The move took time and that delayed other things, like this.
However, I am still creating. I have a new story set now that involves everyone. Its an update of ‘View of the street’ and its Christmas themed.

Also, I made some more Wikipedia entries. These involve the Grammys. Specifically the 52md on up to now. Song of Betrayal and Song of Reformation (yes I finally named the last half)are set in May 2009 to September 2009. However, Gwen’s first song doesn’t drop until November. That puts her into the 2011 Grammy award period. Nevertheless, I digress.

I hope these Grammy Wikipedia pages (and actual Grammy pages) serve as info tidbits while I finish the story.

Finally, I want to establish a list of all the artists who have been removed from the Assembly reality so there is no confusion when the material is read. This will help me edit and you understand.

1. Katy Perry. As I have said before, her original contract with Pamplin stands as Pamplin was saved from default in 2000. Therefore no pop music from her in 2008, as she would be actively making christian music.
2. Justin Beiber. Codified in the new story what I always wanted. I used the Michael Cote is a pedo and masquerading as Justin Beiber. In fact him and Aria are friends and he writes music for her. If you say the most recent Grammys, then you saw him win for the first time (technically it was in the preshow but there you go). That would be Aria here.
3. Kanye West. He’s been an embarrassment for a while to Taylor Swift and others. However, he wasn’t a problem until the business of dissing her in his new album. So while looking for a way to remove him cleanly, I was handed the most interesting trivia. On Oct. 22nd 2002, he was in a near fatal car accident.I decided that it should have been fatal so in Assembly reality it was. So rather that the 21 Grammys he got a simple 5 second picture flash during the ‘in Memoriam’ of the 45th annual Grammy Awards as a record producer.

There are others that I haven’t finalized, So I will share those when I make the definite list. Its small, for my sake. Every change makes things harder.

Finished chapter 7 so I am now into water scenes again. Close to finishing the first half (ie song of Betrayal) and will have it up and available by midyear.
That’s all for now.

Mirrors of life reflected back

As we all know there was a shooting in Lafayette last night done by John Russell “Rusty” Houser who methodically shot 11 people in a Lafayette, Louisiana, movie theater on Thursday night using a handgun he legally purchased from an Alabama pawn shop.
Normally, I don’t use this blog as a commentary on the news unless it relates to my novel so this, considering where and when sadly fits.
While I am deeply saddened by the events and am reminded that certain people should never have access to firearms, I find myself in the unusual position of being able to use this tragedy to help define my world.
So there will be various news reports about the Taft High school Massacre using the source material provided.
Don’t know what the Taft High school Massacre is or when?
Its one of 2 fictional events that is the underpinning of the Song of the assembly series. More about it specifically is in the Gwen Breton Wikipedia entry.
Gwen and Aria would both be horrified and angry. Each would invest money into the situation. However, this event would have happened really close to Gwen’s coronation day. This is Gwen’s 25th year and a princess is made queen at age 25.
You see where I am going? So Mr Houser will be folded into the history of my story universe as another Warrior of Dagon.
While the media will chew on this for a while, this is the only post I will make regarding the reality of the situation.
As for the Novel, nothing new. I am a quarter way through. Reagan who you met in Homecoming song is now a full character and her story will connect from the novel to there.

So until the morrow, may your waters be warm and full of life.