Updates/Freelancing

This past week, I've been counting down the days until the newest "Alone in the Dark" game. The 5th in the series, but the bajillionth game to follow the lame and confusing "trend" of naming a new game in a series the name of the original game. You know, so new people don't feel left out! So you end up with multiple games called "Sonic the Hedgehog" (one was great and I grew up playing it. One sucks and I hated playing it!), multiple games called "Bionic Commando", and multiple games called "Alone in the Dark".

But while I'm stoked to play a new survival adventure game in the acclaimed series that essentially started that genre (even the horrible Uwe Boll movie can't tarnish that), reviews (all two of them) are only average, with some European players (the game is out over there, apparently) really disappointed with it (granted, this is the internet we're talking about). Still, these haven't diminished my desire to play the game... Not at all! But discussions about the length did... There has been made mention that the game lasts 6-10 hours, ish... Not horrible, but maybe not something I want to spend $60 on. I mean, if I did beat it in 6 hours (additional playthroughs for Achievement Points not withstanding), then that's like $10 an hour. So I'm going to wait for more reviews and/or see if there's any sweet deals for the game on it's release date next week. Maybe $10 off or something could entice me... Again.

See, ideally Atari would send ME a copy of the game for review, and I could be telling YOU whether or not it's worth the money. But alas, the folks at Atari (and several other companies) are still trying to figure out whether I'm actually a member of the press, and not just some kid wanting free games for the sake of free game.

Nintendo, on the other hand, has been super helpful so far, and the folks at Capcom are already saying, "Hey, uhhh... You want a download code for Commando 3 so you can review it for us?" Granted, I still haven't recieved said download code, but maybe they just don't want anymore less-than-stellar reviews on the net?

So anyway, since I probably won't be buying Alone in the Dark immediately, I took advantage of a sweet GameFly deal and ordered used copies of Devil May Cry 4, Burnout Paradise, and Clive Barker's Jericho for super cheap! Shhhh! Don't tell my parents I'm still spending money on games regularly! They won't understand that all three of these were cheaper than one new game, and that's totally why I bought them!

Anyways...

- In addition to the stuff I already do for the Daily Toreador, I'm going to try my hand at some freelance video game journalism. This would hopefully mean getting paid to write stuff for magazines and websites, like GameSpot.com if they're interested. Wish me luck, give me prayers, all that stuff. This is gonna have to be in God's hands, 'cuz while I can write, and I certainly know video games I don't know what I'm doing as far as the business end of it all goes.

- "The Awakening" will be shipped out to the Writers of the Future contest probably on Saturday. I'm... Iffy about it. I love the story, but really think it needs more time... Like 12 months, and an additional 60,000+ words, making it a novel and not a short story. But alas, I must force it out of the nest and see if it flies...

- "Time Shop" will also be shipped out on the same day (most likely), to who knows where. I haven't decided on which market I want my next rejection letter from yet. It might come down to posting all the publishers' names on a dart board and throwing knives at them, blindfolded.

- "Tobias" is back in production... Or will be once I stop being a lazy idiot and write the darn thing. Seriously, I have no one to blame but myself here... Myself and work, but that's kinda making excuses, isn't it?

- I'm about halfway through Ted Dekker's "Adam", and will probably finish it tomorrow. So far, it's absolutely INCREDIBLE. Very, very highly recommended.

I think that's all. I'm going to bed.

Waking Up

I have sent off the second draft of "The Awakening" to both a professor a several chosen/voluntary readers. So there's that... Hopefully they'll give me enough good comments and critisism to build on so my next draft is a winner for Writer's of the Future (*hint hint*).

I've already started another short story project, though it's pretty bizzare, and very likely won't be seen by more than, say... Six pairs of eyes. So that may not matter a ton.

The beginning of "Tobias" needs to be revised pretty desperately, but as more and more time goes on I'm more and more sure of how to fix it... And make it really, really awesome. I may write more (if not all) of the second half of the novel before rewriting the first, though.

In other news, GTA IV comes out tomorrow, and the fact that I'm so excited about it probably means that the world has turned upside town. Quick! Somebody flip it back over before Michael Jackson is black again!

Of course, the fact that it's currently tied with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for best game of all time (as OoT surely is) on Metacritic certainly helps things make sense... Sort of. Apparently the story is really, really good? Really? Then I shall play it!

In other other news: Go Stars!

The Cast of the Talebearer Trilogy

**NOTE: Obviously these aren't real cast members. The book hasn't been published yet, so it'd be absolutely insane to assume that there's a movie in the works.

Also, these aren't even real suggestions for who I'd like to play certain characters should Talebearer movies be made. The exception to this is the actress you'll see listed for Cassandra. She can have the job as far as I'm concerned... She'd be perfect for it, I think. Unless she's too old by the time my dreams of a "Tobias" motion picture come true.

This is just to give you guys some sort of visual idea of the people I've been "living with" for the past few years... sort of. Some are pretty solid representations (again, see: Cassandra), while some, like Tobias, are rather iffy.

But it's a fun and interesting excercise for me nonetheless. For those lucky few of you who have read the first half of "Tobias", let me know what you think of my choices.

Also: The formatting is kinda funky. Dang.

Tobias:

Freddie Highmore

Reasonably tall, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He’s not extremely bulky, but he’s no wimp either. He’s fast, but his main strength is his ability to plan and command.

Cassandra:

AnnaSophia Robb

Tall, blonde, beautiful, and more than capable of taking care of herself. Green eyes. She has combat skills that easily rival Tobias and Matthias, but she doesn’t originally seek an army life. After war breaks out and Tobias leaves, however, she starts training. She joins the Legion lot long after Matthias, and is put under Tobias’ command for the ‘Hell’ mission. She also dislikes being called by her nickname, “Cass”. Tobias is the only one who can call her that without being pounded. Others have tried, but only once.

Matthias:

Josh Hutcherson

He may look bulky, strong, and somewhat gruff, but he’s more willing to crack jokes than to take lives.

Heich:

Jeremy Irons

A Commander in the Legion. Knows his way around a battlefield.

Mia:

Miley Cyrus

A lone mercenary. Long, dark hair. A few years older than Tobias, but that doesn’t stop her from becoming quite infatuated with him. She has a normally peppy and bubbly personality, but she’s tough in battle.

Victor:

Jonathan Jackson

“Leading them was a man dressed entirely in black, with an assortment of blades at his side. He was clean-shaven aside from a black goatee that matched his hair, and he looked to be about twenty-five summers old. From what he could tell, Tobias took him to be a higher ranking Loki officer. Perhaps equal to Tobias’ Commander rank from a Loki standpoint.”

I Have Odds, You Bring the Ends

- Earlier today I came up with a new short story idea that I kinda got excited about in a short amount of time. It may or may not be my first attempt at the "Horror" genre, depending on whether or not "The Witch of Sheridan Peak" counts or not. Regardless, I'll probably try to write that up in the near future (I need to write a short story for a class anyway. Perhaps that will suffice) and send it out to publishers. I've been on a real "get stories bought!" kick lately...

- ...which is why I picked up the 2007 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market at the library last week. I'm gonna find a home for Time Shop, dang it! Idealy, I'd like to have at least three short stories picked up this year. The book ("Tobias") may be a long shot, but I hope for that too.

- My DT review for this week is Professor Layton and the Curious Village. That will likely appear Friday, but if you want an early impression:











- I'm really sick of school, at which I learn little... I also need a new laptop really badly, and still kinda hate poetry, though I do have an odd sensation of fondness for the four poems I was forced to write this semester.

Those are my complaints for today.

- Yes, I bought the guitar pictured below. No, I don't know how to play. I'll start learning later this week when I have the time. I will devote my time to learning Johnny Cash songs for three reasons: 1) Johnny Cash is awesome. 2) The guitar is black, so... You know. 3) It will annoy my buddy Tim. For this reason (as well as reason #1, without the Johnny Cash part) Billy Ray Cyrus songs will also be learned.

- How much would you pay to download Bionic Commando Rearmed? The developers want to know! I personally told them $10, even though they may deserve $15, because this remake will likely be pretty radd (get it?!? Radd! Ha!), even if it doesn't have the exploding head of Adolf Hitler.

Bombs Away

Readers' copies of the first half of "Tobias" have been sent. Huge thanks to all the people who volunteered to read it.

Last night was mostly spent finishing that. Chapter 12 ended up being more mammoth than I had originally intended, making finishing it a 3,000 word task. It's been some time before I've written that much on one story in a short time span. But I have to say, it felt REALLY good.

Today has thus far been spent tweaking some stuff (Cassandra dialogue, mostly) before sending it out. I've also been reorganizing my notes for the trilogy... See, there are 41 pages of them (almost 20,000 words), so finding stuff was getting a little tricky. Reorganizing them by book/subject is proving a fair task.

Still to do today is to write my Daily Toreador column for this week, and I have NO idea what to do it over. While it's been a fair year for early calendar releases, it's still pretty slow for news and columns to talk about. I'll have to think of something.

And then... I don't know. Isn't there some football game or something on tonight? Some big thing? I don't know. The Cowboys aren't playing, thus I can't really say I care. Go Stars.

Back to Verana I go, I guess...

Readers Wanted

Some time today, I vow to finish chapter 12 of "Tobias", putting me somewhere around the halfway point of the (first draft of the) novel.

As such, I think it's time to get constructive critisism again, perhaps for the final time before the novel is finished entirely.

I can't just send it to anybody and everybody though. I need people I can trust in two main areas:

1) People that won't steal anything, because I'm sure you know that plagerism of fantasy novels by young, inexperienced and unproven writers who may or may not suck is a big thing right now.

2) People that can give me their honest, brutal opinion. This is EXTREMELY crucial. No one ever learned how to improve if everybody just said, "This is great! You rock!" Don't get me wrong, I love hearing you guys say you love my stuff, but if there's something, ANYTHING that doesn't agree with you. Point it out. Tell me it sucks. Tell me it needs to be scrapped. Not only can I take it, I need to hear it.

The manuscript will be around 40,000 words, which is admitedly a lot to ask people to read. Thus, you can take your time with it (though if you're going to read two chapters than stop for a few months, I'd at least like input on those chapters), or even request to wait until summer if you want. I'm hoping the whole book will be done by then, but I could still use the critique.

Of course, my goal is that the book is enjoyable enough that you want to read it, even if you're kinda busy. But I realize that this might not be the case.

So if you're interested in putting your name down for consideration as one of my esteemed "test readers", leave a comment or shoot me a message/e-mail. Be sure to give me your e-mail address if I don't have it.

Also, I'm pretty positive that this isn't an issue with any of the people reading this, but the novel - written in a very secular style and tone despite "hidden" Christian themes - has small amounts of mild language as well as intense scenes (hopefully) that deal with both violence and rather dark subject matter. So read at your own discretion.

Thanks, guys. The gates of Hell are opening, but this is the way it was meant to be.

- Britton