Its been a while…

This is quick, but I wanted to let you know that I am still here and still writing. No Christmas story this year. Eventually I will do one about Santa. I finished Heartbeat song. Its out everywhere. I didn’t use the song because well the way I expected the story to go would have allowed the song to appear organically at the end. To get to that end lengthened the book far longer than I liked so, it will be in Passion song.

Passion’s primary story is the three days after the massacre. You understand Lorelei’s sacrifice and the two big secrets that drive Tom. You see what a assembly funeral is and I give you more history.

What is Passion song? I discovered when writing heartbeat song and procrastinating that I needed to fix all the things I could before I leave 2007. Its a foundation for a lot of upcoming things, explanations for how things rolled out in Song of Route 91 and Song of Hope. I introduce Charity Hospital, as well as do Tyrion’s backstory. This way when you get to him is the other half of Song of Betrayal, you won’t dismiss it.

For example, Bill Clinton is not president in the Assembly reality. He never ran. Instead Alexander Graef takes his place. Similar to the Netflix show Graves only without the anger and subtext. Also Nixon knew about the Assembly. Its things like that.

Finally, I am working on a compendium of all the historical changes. I hit a wall on the amount I could remember and notes so I am documenting them. I will publish (so I can have a copy) and I think you might find it interesting. It will have some deeper explanations than the narrative will provide as well. It will only have fictional characters that interact with real people. Also events that were altered and a list of all the gate locations. A origin of the assembly will be added because I created that for another website and never followed up. I liked it.

A list of all the shows I tip the hat or shout out too will be in it, so you can get the jokes. It will be continuously updated via ebook. However, the print bound version (as my publisher does this now) probably won’t be.

Finally, thanks to Bryant street publishing and Scribd.com, I decided to submit my manuscript for the first three books together to them to be published. They offered anyone who won nanowrimo (me) to submit their 50,000 work (mine is a combined total of 86000) to be considered for publication. So I converted the piece of Midnight train song to their format, and sent it in. I will let you all know if they want more or pick it up. I would love it print published as a whole. It would connect everything better.

Cover of Heartbeat song. Hint: the archer, google that. Yes the song is relevant.

Again thanks for you reading this, buying my books and being here. Its a labor of love. I enjoy it. (final hint. that’s the old glee set front. You never saw it on the show. Merry Christmas.

The blood rimmed tide flows

No day shall erase April 12th 2007 from the memory of time

April 12: This is a somber day. A day of reflection. You look within and recount what effects this day wrought and hope you overcame it and grew from it. You stand in vigil and talk of those you knew and how they affect you. You weep and mourn as time heals.

So do you remember what this day represents? Of course not, because here, in our reality, nothing happened. The next closest horrific event is Virginia Tech shooting on April 16th. Yet in the Assembly reality, today is the day of the Taft High Massacre, 12 years ago. 12 people died and 70 were wounded. Two were killed by Coach Delamorte and 10 by John Jay Rinch. He also was blamed for the three IEDs that went off in the school injuring 70 students and exaerbating the panic that had already consumed the school and the city.

Ex Titan John Jay Rinch sentenced to death – CNN

I created this years ago to fill in some missing holes in the narrative when I was writing Song of Betrayal. Its raw, dirty and not well done. I never really cleaned it up because I never planned on publishing it. But some else changed that. More on that a bit later.

The reason for this post today is this would be the final day for the Assembly characters on their birth earth. Its the day the ‘repairer of the breach’ prophecy is fulfilled and the day all those assembly that had fallen rise again, to help build the new world. Its also the end of the story arc and the end of the series.

While I have no issues with doing stories on the new world, I won’t until I am finished with the rest of the series. This world is far more interesting than our own because things continue to move a bit differently. Like Brady-American (watch the last Tycoon on Amazon. Its actually good.) or the Redlanders (also watch Tiderlanders which I have talked about). Having a group that can change the forces of fate makes for an interesting world.

So about that other thing. It turns out that Archive Of Our Own is up for a Hugo award. First, what is a Hugo Award?  The Hugo Awards are a set of literary awards given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. Its the literary equivalent of the Oscar. Not every author gets nominated and its a very prestegious thing to get. It means all your hard work and vision is noticed and honors by peers.

Like those celebrities who say when they walk the red carpet that ‘Its enough to be nominated.’ Its that level of OMG.

So 2019 Hugo award nominees: http://www.thehugoawards.org/2019/04/2019-hugo-award-1944-retro-hugo-award-finalists/#more-3388

Best Related Work

• Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
• Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, by Alec Nevala-Lee (Dey Street Books)
• The Hobbit Duology (documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan (YouTube)
• An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000, by Jo Walton (Tor)
• http://www.mexicanxinitiative.com: The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 (Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, John Picacio)
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon (Tin House Books)

So what does this have to do with me and the Assembly storyline? Well, I am apart of Archive of Our Own.  This is explains how. Archive of Our Own is a nonprofit open source repository for fanfiction and other fanworks contributed by users. The site was created in 2008 by the Organization for Transformative Works and went into open beta in 2009. As of 2019, Archive of Our Own hosted 4.7 million works in over 32,000 fandoms.

So my love for FakingIt! and the choice to create Amy’s Journal entries along with the written finale added me to the list. Since I incorporated them into my reality this tangentally means that my works are being recognized. This is spectatular.

Thunderclap’s works on Archive of Our Own

So for me this when from a somber day that I posted on my calender to remind myself to stop collecting news reports for novel use to a minicelebration that I never expected would happen. So as for Faking It! I did what I promised. I included Karma and Amy into Song of Hope. Amy has the larger part being that she happens to be a near twin of Lorelei. They both will have a greater part in the final novel of the series

When I post the list of novels, I called the most recent one ‘the widening breach’ I wasn’t aware that this is a name of a current scholarly work on race relations and genetics so I changed the title to ‘Song of Hope’. Gwen sings in it so yes, it qualifies.

The story wraps up the events of the Las Vegas Night in Song of Route 91 and explains in more detail about Lorelei’s ressurection, about what a Circlemaker can do and what the ‘repairer of the breach’ is. It also gives more input into who Emmet is and who he was. I even explain how its possible for Lorelei and Amy to be mirrors. I published a couple of days ago so its available at Barnes & Noble right now for $1

Song Of Hope

With that published, I am now back to finishing Heartbeat Song. This brings me to the final topic of the night, Big Charity.

Apparently the problems with Charity Hospital were worse than I knew. Katrina simply gave LSU and the state an excuse to permanently close the hospital. The hospital had been preennially underfunded because of its age and massive bulk. LSU wasn’t interested in the hospital. It wanted something new that it could charge for, among other reasons. So a short story about how Tyrion and Emmett save Charity the night of the hurricane wouldn’t reallys ave the hospital unless the Hospital belonged to one of them.

So the simple solution is Tyrion owns it. The short story would be a burst of scenes from the twentieth century revealing how Tyrion meets the head of the Sisters of Charity and how he gets involved in Charity hospital though his purchasing the 3rd incarnation (Big Charity, the current empty building) in 1991 from Louisana DHH rather than have it go to LHCA and slowly die. LSU could continue to use the hospital to teach and study but it would have to pay for the privilege. Also, with the size of the building with proper upkeep would lock LSU out from creating another one. Especially if Charity remained free.

I never talked about where Tyrion invested and spent his wealth. This would also explain why he has such a negative attitude about the surface.

I don’t plan on doing that now because I have delayed Heartbeat song enough.

Finally I have settled on a path for Gwen’s career. It will be similar to Jem from Jem and the holograms. Song of Route 91 and Song of Hope gave me the idea that the only way Gwen could rival Taylor is if she appealed to similar audiences. That hook would similar songs and holographic shows. Ie Jem. Basically Gwen takes Katy Perry’s place only much better at writing and singing. Aria shares some of Ariana Grande’s spotlight (she does exist) and I cannonized the fact that Justin Beiber is in fact Michael Cote when I formally published Christmas circle as an ebook.

So as of right now, these celebs have changed paths.

Kanye West: died in 2002 in auto accident before career took off.

Katy Perry: Never got out of Christian Contract, continued to make christian music, never meet those who made her doubt.

Madonna: Chose to not leave Paris after first break and therefore never became the person she is here. Is famouse under real name in Europe and was killed in the attack last year (yes there are muslims attacks there too)

Justin Beiber: Revealed to Michael Cote a pedophile, using this fake identity to attract and molest pubescent girls. Was arrested, tried and sentanced to 70 yrs in federal pen. Was transfered to United States Penitentiary, Pollock (USP Pollock) minimum satellite so he could write Aria’s songs for her.

Dr. Dre: Killed in a drive by on the way home from Vanguard Junior High School in Compton, in 1976 due to gang violence. He was 11 at the time. Yes this means there are no Beats headphones in the Assembly reality. They aren’t that good anyway.

So what happens to rap and Hip-hop? they remain niche music like EDM.

Eazy-E: Eric Wright dropped out of high school in the tenth grade. Wright supported himself primarily by selling drugs, introduced to the occupation by his cousin. He was killed in a drug sale gone south in 1985. (all of this is true expect it was his cousin who died here)

Antoine Carraby: Know to us as DJ Yella, He survived his high school in Compton. However, without Dr. Dre or Jerry Heller he never entered music. Instead, he became a prolific Porn producer. (its what he actually does today. He produced over 300 films)

Lorenzo Jerald Patterson: Known as MC Ren, Patterson joined the Kelly Park Compton Crips, but left shortly after he realized there was no money in the gang. He meet Wright in the gang though so Patterson began selling dope after watching people getting paid. He died in the same drug sale Wright did. His father continues to run a barber shop.

Gerald Elliot “Jerry” Heller: Heller, who had a history of heart problems and diabetes, was driving on September 2, 1984 when he blacked out, crashed his car, and later died at a hospital in Thousand Oaks, California.  He still worked at Coast Artists, Associated Booking and the Chartwell, and opened the Heller-Fischel Agency in Beverly Hills, California which grossed $1.9 million during its first year, $3.7 million the second, $5.8 the third, and over $7 million its fourth year of operation representing rock stars the Who, Grand Funk Railroad, Black Sabbath, Humble Pie, and Black Oak Arkansas as well as writers at the time Carly Simon, Van Morrison, and Cat Stevens. He later bought out partner Don Fischel who went on to package independent TV productions.  However, without him, hiphop was ignored by mainstream music with was still in hair-band rock and roll era and so allowed for bands like Stanton House Band, (go watch Roadies, its really good.) and Eddie Duran to catch breaks instead.

In fact, Station House will cross paths with Gwen at the 2010 grammys. I will probably incorporate this into a Roadies Fanfic and post it on AOC3, but then again this is after finishing Heartbeat Song.

O’Shea Jackson Sr.: Also known as Ice Cube. However, even though he wrote and performed Rap in High school, this got him no fame or anything else because of Eazy E not being alive. He enrolled at the Phoenix Institute of Technology in the fall of 1987 in Arizona. Being passionate about architecture, he studied architectural drafting. So without rap being anything other than street preformance art. (without Heller or Dr. Dre Music wasn’t interested in it, seeing no money to be made from it. Heller was the one who convinced them) He became an architect. He will be in Song of Vengeance as the person who designs New Taft High and other buildings. However, he balances this with an acting career he gained starting in 1991.

Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor: Also known as Lorde. Thanks to the events in Homecoming Song it is revealed that Aria took the mixtape that would have lead to O’connor’s discovery. This pushes her discovery back to November 2011 when Lorde performed her original songs for the first time at the Victoria Theatre. UMG picked her up and her history continues as normal.

Harvey Weinstein: Weinstein, his brother Bob, and Corky Burger independently produced rock concerts as Harvey & Corky Productions in Buffalo through most of the 1970s. in reality. In the Assembly reality, they quickly run afoul of Emmett due their style and the fact they are in upper New York. By 1972, Emmett cuts them out and black balls them. Without the money from their concert promotion business, the brothers can’t create a small independent film distribution company named Miramax,  Instead, Brady distributes them. So any film distributed by Miramax is distributed by Brady which is owned by Siren Song. (ie Emmet across his incarnations)

In fact, Brady merges with Twentieth century Fox, becoming Brady Pictures and later Brady in 1938, so Weinstein would never had been successful regardless. He and his brother live out a life of obscurity scraping by as a Jeweler in NYC.

Finally, While Miley Cyrus does have her career (i changed my mind) certain songs arent hers any more.

Same with Selena Gomez etc. One final point to make. Donald trump is not president.

Neither is Hillary Clinton. Why? Because To help her better understand her changing political views, Professor Alan Schechter assigned Rodham to intern at the House Republican Conference and she attended the “Wellesley in Washington” summer program.^[32] Rodham was invited by moderate New York Republican Representative Charles Goodell to help Governor Nelson Rockefeller‘s late-entry campaign for the Republican nomination. Rodham attended the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. In the Assembly reality, Nixon knew the Assembly as was specifically asked to not to protray Rockefeller negatively and nor make racist messages. He agreed and with it Rodham didn’t leave the Republican party, didnt write a thesis on Alisky and decided to accept the invitation to work with Nelson Rockefeller when he missed being nominated. Staying on when he was tapped as Vice President, she worked with his staff.

However without a law degree, she returned to school in 1976. Also without the hatred of Nixon, she was never involved in his impeachment or viewed a bright star. So she got a degree and clerked but because of the time in Washington she missed the window with Bill. Therefore, she never returned to power or prominence. She is simply an unmarried lawyer who works in NYC.

So who is president? I havent decided. Its not going to be a common person.

Anyway, this has rambled long.  Thanks for reading. (and I do have to post the Brady American wikipedia. )

 

 

 

 

 

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Happy International Mermaid Day!

Quick update!

The order of the series is as follows:

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

This is the first trilogy, the beginnings trilogy. It explains how the orgins of the main characters and the current story arc of Song of the Assembly. It is set in late 2006 to late 2007.

1. Song of Betrayal
2. Song of Vengeance
3. Homecoming song

This is the elevation trilogy. This explains how Gwen got into the royal linage and her fight with Aria. It also fleshes out Tom more. It is set in 2009 to 2010.

1. Song of Route 91
2. The widening breach
3. Song of Miracles

This is the final trilogy. This explains the breach prophecy. It is set in late 2017 to April 12, 2019.

I just finished the widening breach and with complete Heartbeat song by the end of the year.

Also, I incorporated Amy and Karma (of Faking It!) into the Widening breach making the fanfiction of the series canonical.

Thanks for all you all out there.

The magic of that moment on a glory night

Each time I finish and publish a story its like placing a puzzle piece down. I am slowly revelaing the remarkable picture of how the Assembly saved itself and the Earth. Of course this process is slow going and I haven’t put enough pictures to make true sense of everything. Nevertheless the stories should be able to stand on there own.

Having said that preamble, I want to announce that ‘Song of Route 91’ is now available on all digital platforms. Expect Amazon. I opted out of publishing the ebook on them. Yet, Scribd, Barnes & Noble, Apple Ibooks, Google and others now have it. It’s longer that the one I submitted for Nanowrimo coming in at roughly 30,000 words.  Also, to show that I am trying to have mermaids being in the ocean, (heh) the last 2 chapters are completely underwater. You see inside House Cetus 2018 and I reveal a dueling area so you get songs underwater.

This brings me to the reason for the title. In the story the decision is made about how to handle the burgening tech society of today in relation to the Assembly’s need for secrecy. How those consquences play out is revealed in a later story. That story as I mentioned earier could be the final one in this series. I dont know. I do know that its named ‘Song of the Children of Tommorrow’

That line and the title both come from the Scorpian song ‘Winds of Change’. That sound referenced the fall of soviet union and the impending freedom everyone thought was coming. For the Assembly, that night was the night before the Taft High Massacre. It will also be the night of the concert that will effectively save the assembly, Which was April 13 2018.

This brings me to another point. I decided to not subtitle them book ? of the Song of the Assembly series because I am writing them out of order and don’t know what actual number it will be until I write all of them. If I still do three groups of three books each, Song of Route 91 is the first of the last series.  However, this is the fifth book I wrote. Midnight Train song, Song of the Gyre and the unfinished Heartbeat Song are the first group of three. Song of Betrayal and Song of Transition (also unfinished. [its the third edit of the orginally much larger last six chapters of Song of Betrayal when it was called Collide]) are the first two of the second. Then there is Homecoming song and Christmas circle.

So rather that say book 5, I am going to give a timeline and then assign numbers when its actually complete.  The song of the Assembly series begins in early 2006 when Lorelei starts talking to Tom over the internet. Six months later puts you with the first meeting with Gwen in Midnight train song.  Song of the Gyre takes place during the 2006-2007 school year prior to the Taft High Massacre. HeartBeat song covers the night before, the Massacre and the days following. One of the final scenes is placing fallen Lorelei in Antarctica.

Song Of Betrayal, Song Of Transition and Homecoming song take place in 2009.  The first two take place in that 2009 part of the 2008-2009 school year while the other takes place in beginning part of the 2009-2010 school year.  Homecoming Song will be the last one that I believe at this moment will have Gwen in Forest Hills.  Her career takes off in 2010.

Christmas Circle took place near christmas 2016. There is a gap of 6 years that I need to fill in events like the fall of the Taiji, Tom becoming an olympian and Gwen getting her grammys etc. Plus a lot of bad changes as well.

The series will end on April 13 2018 unless I write a group of post ‘restorer of the breach’ prophecy books. It will end with the same character it began with: Lorelei. Rather that communicating with one man. She will be communicating with the world. So I am thinking 12 books. This other 3 will be around 2012.

On the topic of Siren, it got better. Its still not quite where I wanted it to be but it got better.  On this note, thanks to all who read this, clicked this link etc. I appreciate it.

finally

somewhere evenescence my immortal and Passenger Let her go will be in heartbeat song along with the title song.

Danny Gokey – Tell Your Heart to Beat Again

I am finishing it now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!

What about Cleveland?

So what about Cleveland. Really there is nothing about in the series, to be mentioned. I used this title because its topical and fits with the theme of this post. Its about updates on the series.

So why Cleveland? Well as I am writing this, there is a serial killer roaming its streets this Easter evening seeking a fifteenth person to kill on facebook live. Kinda horrible right? Well, in the book ‘Heartbeat Song’ that kinda where I am at. Right up to the point where I have to create the Taft Massacre that you all saw pieces of in Song of Betrayal and Homecoming Song. Each over these you saw from Tom and Gwen’s prespectives respectively. However, you never saw Lorelei’s because at that point, she is dead.

That’s the first reveal. She isn’t actually dead. She’s in the same statis they put all the corspes they place is the Hall of Memories in Antarctica. The difference is, she didn’t die before the statis field was applied. She went into hiberation. That happened because Tom would let her die. He loved her too much. So she had to tell him the truth about the vision she saw about the repairer of the breach.

Its heady stuff, dark drama that happens on the day of the attack. This story finishes out the first trilogy (Midnight Train song, Song of the Gyre and Heatbeat Song) which also finishes Shae and Kent’s story line, finishes the introduction of Tom and Gwen as well as the major players of the second trilogy.

Sorry about the wierd way I am writing it, its just this is the way its coming. At least when this story is finished there will be at least some cohesion in the storyline.

So right now I am writing a scene where the King meeting with a group of surface people of influence to determine how to handle the upcoming massacre. It serves to explain some of the opinions of everyone on the surface people, reveals where the Natal house is (as far as I am aware I didnt reveal that in Homecoming song) [ Technically I did in the second draft of Song fo Betrayal before I broke the book in half and added Pyhrric Victory song to it. However, since that will be edited once I finish this, I could still change it so I did.], gives you a glimpse of things I hinted at in Song of Betrayal and gives the most thorough walk through of the connection between NYC/Lafayette yet.

This story is hard, not because of the what it is or how it ends but because I know who Lorelei now. When I first wrote the first draft of Song of Betrayal (back when it was Run to You), I didn’t think anything about it. Yet as I kept and developed the school and Coach Sylvan and Coach Grace and Gwen, I learned more and more. Now I find it difficult to say good bye even temporarily.

That’s is exactly what Tom feels. He’s never found someone who loves him for who is: a street wise Detriot punk who got lucky enough that his dad was roadie for a major band and his mom Police secretary. Suddenly for a year the world opens for him. 90 days he’s connected with this magical lady who ‘gets’ him and pushes him to be better.

He’s not about to let her go and that alters everything. Even her prophecy of her own death. You all have seen him take down Coach Delamort. Yet there is so much more syrrounding it, like why she decides to go into statis, who does it (Chelsey) and how this ties into the prophecy itself.

When I am done, this will be it for the time from 2006-2008. Song of Restoration, which deals with Aria’s golden ticket theft and Gwen becoming the princess, is in mid 2009. Really, all I have to do is pull out the Jenn scenes now and finish the edit. It will be ready too.

This wraps up this update, thanks for reading everyone.

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.

 

The hard truth

Hello, everyone. First of all thanks everyone for coming and seeing this page even if its for Faking it and not neccessarily for my stories. My hope is after you see the Faking it items you stay and read the stories and buy them. That’s what we all want, not just me.

This brings me to to Faking it. There is something everyone, including myself has ignored. We all love great stories. We all love our favorite actors and actresses, showwriters and authors. However, they have the need to be paid too. This isn’t going to be a screed about copyright, IP etc. Nope. My beliefs on that subject don’t belong here. Nor do anyone elses.

Over the course of time since I proposed the kickstarter I have done research on it. I discovered several details I will share. Before I do, I need to make something clear that I didn’t before. I can’t lead the charge. Kickstarter needs a person or company to have a bank account on file for the money.You aren’t paying them, you are paying the person who launched in exchange for access, gifts, perks etc.

I don’t want you to pay me.  I honestly don’t want that responsibilty. Plus, I don’t have the time to shepard this. I have very personal life issues that take presedence over this show, over my writing and other things I value. These have to be addressed. So I apologize if I gave the presumption that I would do the kickstarter. The I, ‘I’ meant was the faking family as a whole. Not me.

I wanted you to know it could be done and what to do. So here is what I learned:

1. If Netflix etc doesn’t take on Faking it as a orginal, the only course left is that of self production. This isn’t simply hard. Its monumentally hard for someone who isn’t in the industry. There is SAG to deal with, contracts, sets, cinematography, makeup, wardrobe, lighting and scripts. Above all else we would need production rights. Those belong solely to Viacom. A contract would have to be signed. One that involves purchasing those rights.
2. Without anyone else, the kickstarter would have to either go the route of Anaxar (do it as a fan film production with the possiblity of seriously angering Viacom) or going the route of actually buying the catalog from Viacom (parent of MTV). Doing this means effectlvely removing all 38 episodes  from them to where? A website someone would have to run 24/7. It would eat serious bandwhich with is also lots of money. this website would have to handle the streaming of the videos in multiples. I have a background in computers. This alone costs $1000s.
3. I believe the catalog would be worth 3 million if I am correct. I have tried to get a straight answer, no one either actually knows or simply wont answer. However, based what I know from friends who do make stuff and what I have seen, Its would cost about $50 grand per episode.That breaks down to $2500 a minute. Why do you think that most online only items like Verizon’s sposnsored ‘Relationship Status’ was on 7 minutes long. (If you love Rita watch them)
4. This isn’t impossible. I just lack the skill or resources to do it myself. Thats why I posted it on my wordpress blog. In hopes people like you and others who do have the resources, live in Hollywood or have contacts can help. I live in Houston, trying to get a job in the aviation or computer industry. Right now I work for a big box chain.

This is where you all come in. Of the people I have talked too about this, most are upset that show is gone and that they want a finish. Few want a book, they want at least a movie or another season. Ok, I agree. How much DO YOU want that movie?  Many have asked what can they do to help? Here you go:

1. If you have a netflix account, go to their customer care and tell them you think they need to have Faking it as a part of their lineup. They are listening intently about this. If they see an audience and believe it will help their bottom line, they will take it. Even if its just to rub MTVs nose in failure. People need to keep pressure on them and they will agree. The thunderclap was a success. However, pressure needs to be maintained. Otherwise, it fades away.
2. Search for faking it on netflix. This is a trackable metric to them and it counts.
3. If you know someone who works in the movie industry, ask them about shows, collect information. Faking it is cheap to produce because its basically just five peoples lives. The wardrobe was from Forever 21 and other mall based stores. The hardest part is getting Bailey, Michael, Gregg, Rita (who apparently hates social media) and Katie in one place. If you know someone who has a SAG-AFTRA account that would be a plus because that would be needed to contract Rita and Gregg’s agents. (the rest are on social media and love the community and support this. This is not to say Rita and Gregg don’t they are just silent about it)
4. Kickstarters need concrete details. http://ift.tt/WQMZvj shows what can be done and how expensive it was. Thats without rights. The show will be impossible to do with Rita and Katie. So both have to be on board or its all for naught.
5. http://ift.tt/1U5rCk8 This article also shows what a kickstarter can do. “The 30-day campaign to raise the funds launched May 17. It had raised $255,853 from 3,273 backers as of 1 p.m. on Saturday, its 17th day.” Note that: 3,273 people raised $255,853 dollars for  Kickstarter Lullaby 
6. Go to that link above, it is the best example of what is being done. Exmaple and ask yourself how much can you afford?  The largest backing group pledged $50.
7. This brings this back to me. I have nothing to offer Faking it related.All of it belongs to MTV.

This is my last post on Faking it. I completed my short story ‘We saw the dream’ and its on Wattpad and Fanfiction.net I might after everything in my life has settled add on. I set it so if I want to or need to I can. However, it works as a much better ending that the one given. No cliffhangers. Why can’t I right more about Karma and Amy now? Outside of rights issues, there are in 2016. My stories are in 2007-2010. I might in the future, just not now.

I turn this over to all of you to make the dream real. Push hard. Be prepared to give up time, effort and money. Use those connections you have. To save Faking it you need a team. However, I can’t be a part of that team anymore. I will be there in spirit though.

However, if you want to help me, here are some links:

 

1.  This is my first novel of the series ‘Midnight train Song’ It reveals the origin of Tom. The book is also on Amazon in paperback.
2. The second novel “Song of Betrayal” from Barnes and Noble, Amazon in paperback (yes, it is THAT much and I still make nothing off it) and Ibooks.
3. The third novel (which is technically the fourth but Song of Restoration is held up) Homecoming Song also on Barnes and Noble.

I actually make royalities off the 99c ebooks. Amazon I dont. For the record because of My deals with them, that is the real price of books not the deeply discounted one everyone pays.

Thanks everyone for reading. This blog will now return to informational posts about mermaids trying to take over the world with their beauty, music and talents. Just now that two of them are girls going to Clement who have a unique bond of love.

 

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.

Jem was truly outrageous once but not today…part 2

#TheStorybookKiller  Ok so we established in the previous post, that a horror production company and a agent/record label exec hired a well known action director who grabbed his buddy the unknown screen writer to do Jem and the holograms and they did it badly. Sad thing is even the poster lies. The studio that brought you pitch perfect is Universal. Thats the ONLY thing the two movies have in common.

Moving back to 1985, you have Jerrica in her gap year. You have Starlight Music. Here is the interesting thing. Starlight music was founded in 1965 by Emmett Benton as an independent label. This is the age of the Beatles, rolling stones, righteous brothers, Four Tops and Beach Boys. Naturally any label would focus on rock or pop. Obviously they had to land a famous group (someone we would call famous now) to survive 20 years untouched in LA. The Byrds would qualify. Lets toss the McCoys. Finally, lets say that since Emmett was a brilliant visionary engineer but wasn’t that good of a music guy. However, he was friends with BoB Keane. He was more than happy to help.

Lets also say that in 1979 as starlight music was slowly failing, two things happened. Keane hired Eric Raymond from business school as he had a passion for both music and business. Second, Steve Wozniak approached Benton about his idea for the holographic computer he had commented on during the Apple ii launch two years prior. Together they design it and the full prototype is finished and operational on January 29, 1981.

After Woz’s accident, Emmett is left to teach synergy alone. He finishes one year later. That month February 1982, his wife and Jerrica and Kimber’s mother Jacqui dies of as brain hemorrhage. Jerrica is 17 and is a senior is high school. She ends her garage band dreams with her sister and her friends aja and Shana who are both 15 like she is.

1985 is midway through King Vann Natal reign. His only daughter is fifteen at the time. However, Emmett Cetus is very much aware of Starlight music. He is beginning his quest to absorb all the small players so his future grand niece will be able to have a place to sing. He’s a politico so he can see the future (kinda like minority report’s Agatha)

Of course Emmett has no interest in selling even though he hasn’t had a major band in 10 yrs. He believes Synergy will revolutionize music.  He hints at it to Cetus who is curious. However, Emmetts death prevents the grand reveal and thats where Jem begins.

1985 was the MTV era; Madonna ‘like a Virgin’ Reo Speedwagon, Phil Collins, Foreigner, duran duran, Heuy lewis, Back to the future etc. It was also ‘WE are the world’ this is the year Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits appeared. Misfits competed with Vixen. jem dominated a scene that was just beginning. In fact they would blaze the trail that Kesha, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez and even Gwen Breton would travel. In truth, Jerrica Benton was 1985 taylor Swift.

1988 the feud ends between the Misfits and Jem as Misfits move to stinger sound. Stinger sound was bought at the same time Pamplin was, December 2001 and was folded in.  This was the same year Raymond died of a heart attack as he was 60.

Because of Jem’s fame, numerous awards (American music, People’s choice and MTV VMA and EMA) the group continued to make money into the 90s. Eventually, the industry turned and jem disbanded in 2001 as well.  Jerrica sold the company to Emmett Cetus retaining all rights to her music and Jem’s.

So what does this have to do with the Assembly? Well if Jerrica was 20 in 1985 that makes her 50 today. She runs the foundation her father created with her money and occasionally writes music in LA. Aria’s mother spent a lot of time in starlight house helping out and looking for lost assembly members. Jerrica and her friends have always supported the assembly and continue to do today.

Sorry this is ponderous and long. I didn’t intend on this being a history lesson. Yet, thanks to the fact that the movie is bad, it will fail. When it fails the copyright is still locked so I still can’t use it in fiction. That’s sad because I would love to create an actual story.

Finally I want to say that the music is good and you will see it used in the current stories. It wont be attributed to Jem though it will be attributed to Loren Tate.

As for Song of Betrayal, I am in chapter 6 so things are moving swiftly. Nanorimo is coming and I am involved again. Look for good things!

Thanks for reading

Its not Ariel’s world but then again it’s not your world either

I decided that as I continue to edit ‘Song of Betrayal’ I would share a few insights into the world at large that the Assembly exist in.

1. Its similar to deep impact only without the impact scenario. Basically, the presidents congressmen and news anchors aren’t like ours. This is sadly more because of safely (anyone real can sue if I disparage them) but it allows more freedom. I always loved that movie anyway.
2. The ocean is 4 times more oxygenated than ours is.  The one reality I can’t get around is that there simply isn’t enough oxygen in the ocean for a mermaid to breath via gills. So i had to alter that. I opted to go with the firmament concept that is in KJV Bible. http://ift.tt/1KURVRo. This solves that problem and actually makes it easier to breathe at sea level.
3. Certain other movies and shows are apart of the Song of the Assembly reality. I can’t tell you which ones but if you read all the stories you can guess. Some hints are obvious. Others not so much.
4. Finally for now, Hitler didn’t die. He still shot himself in the head, but managed to live on (Yes, that is actually possible ). However, he suffered brain damage, impairing his memory and causing agonizing pain whenever he tried to access those memories, somewhat similar to the case of Clive Wearing .

The pain subsided, the confusion abated. I could see. I tried to move. I could do so but only in small steps as rusted cuffs tied my wrists together. The bore a symbol that flashed in my mind and excruciating wave of throbbing followed.
I was clean shaved There was something over my right eye, and the right side of my head was very warm. All I could do was look forward at a white wall. Cloth as I brushed the right side. No hair, just soft cloth.

I tried to remember where I was, what I was doing. Then, I tried to remember my own name.

The side of my head burned. I screamed curses in German before they faded to moans.

Six armed men stormed into the room, weapons raised. A doctor came and looked me in the eyes. The pain abated. The doctor put a light directly in front of my eyes. He smiled and nodded.

I was ordered to rise, and pushed forward. When I stopped to catch my breath, I was dragged out of the grey room.

All I could see were the armed men in front of me, and the wooden ceiling. I could still hear yelling. Such noise, I hadn’t heard it since…

Trench.

Gas.

Mask.

Bunker

Pistol click.

My head was on fire. I screamed, screamed for mercy, screamed for release, screamed for death. Screamed for anything to make the pain stop. I was punched and it all went black.

Something poked my arm.

The side of my head grew numb. As things cleared, I was facing two tables, one raised behind the other, with a dozen men glaring down at me. One of them spoke, reading off from a long list. It was spoken in English, I could barely understand a word. Someone to my right was repeating what was said in German, Something about Belsen, death, Jews, and an American bunker raid. They kept repeating a name, a name that sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite place.

They stopped talking and turned to me. The person infront of me said something, the German repeated it as clearly as he could, “Adolf Hitler, how do you plead?”

The memories returned. I knew who I was. Then, the fire in my head returned, and all I knew was scorching agony.

I said as clear I could. “I do not deny it. I, for my part, acknowledge another precept which says that man must deal the final blow to those whose downfall is destined by God. If this is my fate so be it.”

Silence reigned until the judge spoke. The man on my repeated it in German and I nodded. Let the pain be my cross to bear. I was walked out of the room and the pain dimmed until I saw what was left of the Fatherland. Again, scorching agony consumed me.

Hitler would live past the October 1, 1946 execution date of his comrades because of his hospital incarceration. In fact he lived until Sept 17, 1949 when he died alone of a cerebral hemorrhage. The Assembly claims that a effegy of Hitler was hung in his place but the Piscine in Taiji have his remains in their mausoleum

As for ‘Song of Betrayal’ itself, I am inside of the chapters that I wrote as fanfic. I have solved most of the problems that cropped up from the removal of Jen, having replaced her in the early scenes with Reagan. Still shooting for 70 k words.

Reagan and Malcolm ‘Before the coronation’

I know I promised some though but life always seems to happen right after I promise things, so here is a short. (the Taft High News blurb is coming)

As Malcolm came too, he saw the familiar figure of his friend over him. He saw sweat glimmer on Reagan’s face in the dim light of the closet. He blinked slowly to chase away the blurry vision and he slowly sat up. His head was throbbing and he tasted the metallic ting of blood in his mouth. He groaned and closed his eyes again, the world spinning.

“What happened…?” He asked in a weak and wavering voice. She sat on her knees and bit her bottom lip, tears dripping down her cheeks slowly.

“Jordan was. . .” she gulped, eyes wide. “I-I don’t even know what happened! The room went dark and then there was something with us,” She took a shaky breath and her hands curled into fists. She wiped away a tear and tried to compose herself.

“There was this THING that oozed in through the walls. Small with sharp teeth and claws. It was like looking at a shadow, every time you moved the thing distorted and seemed to change shape. The only light was their eyes, they were glowing but there was no light…” She swallowed past a lump in her throat and her hands seemed to be trembling now.

“Everybody ran out, but I saw what happened. The thing climbed on top of her and just bit down. She screamed, and I felt something on my face. Like walking in mist at night. I didn’t know what it was, but the sound . . . It sounded like blowing bubbles in milk through a straw. Gurgling! It was like gurgling. I think it was her. It sounded like she was drowning . .”

“So where is she now?” He asked, leaning in to comfort her.

“Gone. After the horrible sound, it just melted away into the night. Do you think Dagon has such…” she gasped, covering her mouth in horror as she saw all the blood splattered on the ground.

“We have to leave.” He turned his face to her kneeling as she stared downward. “Reagan, we can tell Princess Gwen when we see her.”

“When we see her she will be minutes from being ‘Queen Gwendolyn of the house Istan.’ I can’t interrupt it for that, even if its from Dagon.” She wiped the tears from her eyes as she turned the knob, opening the doorway to the Regal Colonnade. Malcolm glanced around the empty bedroom one last time, grim and shaking his head.

Meanderings in darkness then sudden light

Well, I have to honest, I love my mermaids and the assembly as a whole. I guess that stems from the failure of my last project and its over broad ideas. This is simplistic and easy in comparison. So that means I am working still on Song of Betrayal.
I have just entered the main novel itself and so have kept to my plan of cutting away large chunks that aren’t needed. A good example is the old fourth chapter contains story point involving Jen and Tyrion, Tyrion and the king and Jen and Tom. It also introduced the gate and the fact it is on islands.

Since Jen is being removed, those scenes are gone. I have a solution for everything Jen did so I have no plot holes now. My goal is the end of this year. However, I will post a preliminary draft the week of Rosh Hashanah, ie September 13th. Things are afoot and I want to make sure you see all the work if something should happen to impact my ability to finish the editing on time.

That brings me the actual purpose of this blog post. I saw the sad, evilness that was Dylan roof. His crazy murderous spree that denied 9 people their lives made me mourn those people I never met. However the can always be light brought to even the darkest places and good can always be gained even from the darkest evil. (although usually that good is overshadowed by the evil deeds themselves).

In that vein, I took Dylan Roof’s manifesto of black hatred and turned it into a manifesto of Mermaid hatred.

The Piscine have always hated the assembly because of their abilities and skills. However, the discovery in the 9th century that assembly members could walk as normal humans struck a chord, and then the true fight began. It and other stories are a way to keep this fresh and functional while I get the largest chunk of the story finished.
Here is the Scribd page. I posted it here too but its hard to read.

That brings us to Big brother. Its coming on soon so shout out to those who choose to come here to read my stuff. Thanks.

And finally there is a small joy about using various characters in the public domain in my stories. This link here illuminates the life of Susan Pevensie, who you all might know.. At the time of my stories, she would be in her late 70s so I have introduced her as a brief aside minor character in the fan fic I did for glee. If that transfers over (meaning I didn’t catch it) she’ll be a part of my world too.

Best hope, I get everything I am working on out. Goal: finish final edit Song of Betrayal before Sept. 13.
Nevertheless, you will get to read everything I have written.
Thanks again.