About an hour ago, while packing up for my trip back to Lubbock, I felt something. Something ancient and mystical, calling me.
"Child," it said to me. "Grown one, wisened one, keeper of stories and teller of tales." It used many names and titles.
I turned toward the call, my eyes resting on a small cabinet beside my bed.
"Open me, find me, release me," it implored. Who am I to disobey such a call?
Inside, admist several folders, binders, notebooks and GameBoy game manuals, a thin, manilla envelope shone brightly in the darkness.
Inside that envelope, I found a single page... of the worst piece of fiction ever created.
(Yes, Young Inklings, that's counting certain stories about talking snakes and detective stories that take place in the future.)
I know not when this page was created - it had to have been 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade - or the full extent on the evils it could unleash on the world, but regardless, I submit it to you now for your personal enjoyment. It is raw, unedited, and unfinished. The beginning to what I just KNEW was going to be an epic.
Even then, I apparently dreamed big. Foolish young writer.
What I may find funniest is that for some reason I gave this story an ESRB rating (you know, the folks that rate video games with stuff like, "M for Mature") of "Kids To Adults," which came before the now-standard "E for Everyone." Why a book would have been rated by the ESRB I have no idea, but I felt it important to specify what age this story was appropriate for, I guess.
So without further ado, I present to you the unedited Page 1 of "The Game."
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Worst Story Never Told
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Soldier, the Lady, and the Ally
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've realized lately that I've gotten WAY off track with my fiction writing. I could blame a lot of thigs for this, not the least of which being school, but the truth is that you should make time for the things you care about... I should have been making more time for this.
So to start getting back on track, I've been "exercising," as it were. Flexing my writing muscles by writing completely random scenes and such. I'd rather make sure I'm warmed up and back in full form before I start back into heavy "Tobias" writing, or pump out a short story idea that I've been pretty excited about lately.
So this is kinda the first bit of random writing I've been doing. More may come, depending on whether or not I end up happy with the results. I have a lot of scenes bouncing around in my head that simply dont belong to any known narrative (this is why much of my random crap doesn't have things such as names for the characters), so I may just type them up and see what happens.
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The soldier sat as still and silent as he could, not daring to make a sound. He risked a glance behind him and saw her chest moving rhythmically up and down as she breathed deep.
He smiled. She was asleep. Finally.
A sleep too deep for dreams. Or nightmares.
He sighed and turned back to the task at hand. It had been some time since the magic had fully shown itself to him. Fully allowed him to take control. But he had felt something now, he was sure of it.
Something had nudged him. Letting him know it was still there, wanting to help.
He closed his eyes, concentrating. Find the strand… He let his mind flow over the room, picking, probing, searching… Not even entirely sure what he was looking for, only that it was calling him.
He jumped when he felt his mind brush against something in the air in front of him. In that instant, his concentration was broken and he lost… whatever it was. He nearly cursed, but didn’t want to risk waking the girl
He took a few deep breaths before trying again. It was easier this time, knowing where to look. He sent his mind out like fingers, their tips delicately examining every molecule in front of his face. Frisking the very fabric of the universe to find the magic that called to him.
The fingers caught again. Something rough, out of place.
He was excited – it had been so long – but he stayed focused. He sent the fingers of his mind forward just a little, pushing against the invisible wall they had found.
It wouldn’t budge. He couldn’t feel even the slightest give to his force.
He narrowed his eyes and concentrated again. This used to be so much easier.
Find the strand… he told himself.
Ever so slowly, he felt along the invisible wall. He could tell that it wasn’t one solid piece, but rather more like something was woven. Woven into the air itself. Not physical, but magical. Supernatural. The kind of thing angels are made of.
He grasped at the fabric.
Found the strand.
And pulled.
A sudden burst of light nearly blinded his eyes, but it lasted no more than a second. He quickly turned to the girl behind him, but she still slept soundly. Beautifully oblivious to the world as her body healed itself.
He breathed a sigh of relief before grinning to himself. Though somewhat neglected in recent weeks, his power was still there. He could still light up the darkness, at least, and his other skills were surely still accessible as well. It was harder than it used to be, but he would improve again.
It would just take time.
He quickly jotted down a message to the girl, letting her know of the breakthrough. He didn’t want to wake her now, and couldn’t stay until morning.
There was too much to do.
Satisfied, he rose slowly and walked over to her sleeping figure. He brushed a single hair out of her face before gently kissing her forehead. She moved ever so slightly toward him, but didn’t wake.
He left her room silently – thankful he wasn’t wearing noisy, heavy armor – and shut her door slowly behind him.
Outside, the soldier was unsurprised to see his ally keeping watch over the area, his back to the lady’s room as he stood at the balcony, gazing thoughtfully up at the stars.
“Still awake?” the soldier asked.
“Aye,” the ally replied simply, not yet looking at him. “As always.”
“Why aren’t you home?”
“I get lonely.”
The soldier nodded to himself. He understood. “Any news?”
The ally finally looked down as he sighed. “My front of the war fares poorly. We’re losing a lot of good men.”
The soldier frowned. “But you’ll break through.”
“Of course we will. We have to. But it’s hard to be happy about the situation.”
Again, the soldier understood.
The ally glanced at the girl’s door, then back to the soldier. “How is she?”
“She’ll be fine. She just needs to rest.”
The ally nodded and looked back toward the moonlit horizon. “I’m glad.”
The soldier sighed. “I know I haven’t been there for the others as much as I used to, and for that I--”
The ally cut him off. “Do you still serve our Lord?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And can you still use magic?”
That, of course, had just been reconfirmed. “Yes.”
“And will you still devote time to this war, knowing your role and playing it to the best of your ability?”
“For as long as I’m able.”
The ally looked at the soldier and gave a soft smile. “Then you’ve done nothing wrong, and have no need to apologize.”
“But I’ve been so focused on my own problems,” the soldier started. “Everything seems to be falling apart, more and more as each day passes. And sometimes I feel like my mistakes are just making it worse.”
“A hero isn’t someone who doesn’t fall… It’s someone who’s able to get back up again. In defeat, they don’t look down, but up.” The ally walked toward the soldier and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ve all stumbled lately, my friend. The world wants to break us more and more, and it feels like our world is falling apart as a result. But you and I? We keep getting up again.” He lowered his hand back down to his side. “And as long as you vow to continue doing that, you’re still a hero in my book.”
The soldier smiled. “And you in mine.”
They stood together on the balcony, enjoying the peaceful night sky.
As they stood, another warrior, beaten and bloody, came riding up to the city gates. He sat straight and proud on his mount, stronger having been through battle.
“Our bard returns,” the soldier commented, cheerful to see another comrade again.
His ally nodded, but still wore a somber expression. “Yes, but there are still so many that are drifting, and many more still that could serve so well, if only they would enlist! In these days I wonder… Can we really succeed? Are we really strong enough?”
“We have to be,” the soldier replied. “The dark is rising, yes. What will come will come. But this is the way it was meant to be.”
The ally chuckled. “That old creed…”
“It’s true.”
“I know.”
The soldier looked back toward the girl’s door, as if staring at it would let him see that she was still alright.
The ally followed his gaze and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll protect her if she needs it.” Then he grinned. “This is the way it was meant to be.”
“Touché.”
“We’ll make it, my friend. We’ll win in the end.”
The soldier nodded. “We’ll go together.”
They looked back toward the horizon as a new day dawned, ready and waiting for the things that would come.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
War of the World - Part 1
Author's Note: I say "Part 1" in the title of this blog because this story hardly has an ending. However, that doesn't mean it will ever continue.
It's a story that told itself to me during a class today, but what you see is the entirety of what was told. As the story has stopped telling itself, I refuse to force it out, calling it forth from whatever depths it came. Whether or not it will continue and/or conclude is up to the story itself, as well as the One who tells these tales to me.
So you probably don't want to expect any more parts to this narrative. It is what it is, and that's all that it is.
- Britton Peele
I sat quiet in the darkness, the cold steel of the weapon pressing hard into my palm. My body was shaking ever so slightly, but I controlled it. I had become accustomed to controlling certain motions and expressions.
They wouldn’t know. They couldn’t know. No one would ever understand. I would only see the immense disappointment on their faces as their hearts sank, so ashamed they would be at what I had become.
So I hid it.
Maybe they’ll award me a posthumous Oscar.
This was it, then. No more pain, misery, confusion, doubt, or struggle. The millions upon millions of stray thoughts bounding incessantly on the inside of my head would finally stop. No more voices, no more manic laughter, no more uncontrollable desires… No more worries or obligations. I could finally get some rest. This would be the way my world ends.
Not with a whimper, but a bang.
Safety off. Finger on the trigger. Now or never. Time to bore the thoughts out.
Couldn’t control the shaking this time. So easy in theory, but so hard in practice.
Time to die. Pull the trigger.
Click.
Damn.
No bullet in the chamber. Just another thing for me to screw up.
I had originally intended to just wait until I died of other causes, but that was taking too long. Chaos was taking over far too quickly. Funny how most people don’t even see how quickly the world around them is falling apart.
But I do.
One more try. Nothing left to lose, nothing left to gain. There would just be…
Nothing.
I was sure I had pulled the trigger. Is this what death felt like? Was I dead before my brain had time to tell my body it should be writhing in agony?
That’s almost a disappointment. I really deserved the pain.
I opened my eyes slowly, not entirely sure what to expect. My apartment, probably. Damn gun probably didn’t fire.
All I could see was barren plain in every direction. It might have been purgatory, because it sure as hell wasn’t heaven.
Not that they’d want me in the pearly gates anyway. I’d only muddy up the streets of gold.
No, wherever this place was, it wasn’t heaven, and it wasn’t my apartment unless a nuke had gone off and someone forgot to warn me.
It was in this desert that I met Dennis.
“Nah, you’re not dead,” Dennis told me when I stumbled upon him. “Least not yet. You gotta learn a lot about yourself before you decide whether or not you really wanted to pull that trigger.”
The gun in my hand had been long gone. Vanished when I arrived wherever it was that I was. “Then where am I?”
“The war between the worlds,” he answered simply. “Or the war of the world, you might say. You’re not here, you’re not there… You don’t know what or where you are, which in your case might not be that different from the world you’re used to.”
“Then why am I here?”
“You tell me,” Dennis said, resting his foot up on a large rock in the middle of the expansive nothing. “Why are you here? What are you looking for?”
I didn’t answer. Dennis prodded me further.
“You got a job?”
“Not really.”
“A home?”
“Lonely.”
“A woman?”
This struck a nerve.
“Ah. Lost her, huh? That’s a common one.”
“Look, I,” I started, trying to defend myself.
Dennis raised his hands. “Hey, hey, it’s not really my place to know. Maybe you’re like most of the male population and screwed things up. Maybe you don’t really know what went wrong. Maybe this girl was just a bitch. There’s a whole host of possibilities. But what’s done is done. No use killing yourself over it.”
I clenched my fist. “I’m not killing myself over her. Even though she was…”
“What, your life? Your everything? That’s what they all say, brother, and it’s only true a bit of the time. To be honest, usually when it doesn’t work out like this, it wasn’t really meant to be. Especially for you. You’re young. The younger ones typically find someone that’s more suitable for them in a shorter amount of time than they expected. Or sometimes they give up the opposite sex all together.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ask what this meant, but Dennis caught himself. “No! No! They aren’t gay, man. I mean single. Celibate. Unmarried and abstaining. Do try to keep up. That life isn’t for everyone anyway.”
He was silent for a minute before speaking again. “Ah, but the girl was just the catalyst, wasn’t she? This had been building for quite some time. Something up there,” he bounced over to me and tapped me hard on the head, “has gone wrong. Has been for awhile, building and building and building until BAM!” he slapped his hands together with force, “You burst.”
He knew a lot. More than any other random stranger who casually decides to strike up conversation about potential mental abnormalities.
“So,” he said lightly. “Did you come here to fix it?”
I blinked. He made it sound so simple. Like my only problem was that I just hadn’t tried. But I decided to bite. “Can I?”
Dennis shrugged. “Depends on whether or not you’re actually seeking.”
“Seeking what?”
“The truth, of course. How do you expect to fix your life if you don’t have basic knowledge of how life itself works? You need to seek truth, light, salvation… God.”
I scoffed. “God’s voice is faint at best.”
Dennis stroked his bare chin. “Well, now. How do you expect to find God if you don’t know what he sounds like?”
He lost me.
“Looks like you’ve got a lot to learn, man,” Dennis said to me. “But are you willing to try?”
There weren’t a lot of options. On one hand, if I just ignored him, there was the good chance that I would eventually just die. For real this time. Could I still die from starvation in this place?
On the other hand… If there was any hope…
“Yes,” I said. “I’m willing.”
Dennis grinned. With his left hand, he held out a sword in a sheath that I didn’t see him carrying before now. In his right hand, he offered to shake mine.
“Well then, brother,” he said. “Welcome to the war.”
Friday, June 20, 2008
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.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Encouragement
So... The prayers have been working, I think. God has been using not only friends and family, but complete strangers to tell me, "Hey, you're on the right path. Keep going."
Today at work (for those that don't know, I watch over a community pool [read: sit and read/write all day]) I had a guy who started talking to me about my life and what I intended to do as a career. When I told him, "I'm a writer," he kinda gave me a look and said, "What, like, for film?"
I said, "Yeah, a bit. I want to focus on Fantasy novels, but film and video games are definitely on the 'to do' list."
He said, "That's really awesome! I've worked in the film industry for about 20 years now... Done a bit of everything. Acting, art direction..." Before I could say, "Wow, that's awesome," and ask for advice/tips/anything, he said, "Well, keep working. It will happen for you." And before I could even thank him, he just swam away. This man whom I'd never met told me - with a bizzare sort of confidence - to keep doing what I was doing, and that if I did, it would pay off. And then, with his message delivered, he just left.
So this kinda excited me, and I got to thinking about how to revise the plot for "Tobias", changing the parts that certain people didn't really like in order to hopefully make it more marketable.
That's when the mystery guy returned, passing me as he was getting ready to leave. Unprovoked, he said, "Keep up the writing. And hey, just write what you love, and don't worry about what anybody else thinks. That's the best way to go."
This time I was able to get a somewhat shocked, "Thank you," in before he vanished, never to be seen again... At least until some other day that I might see him.
And this isn't the only instance of this happening in the past few days. Heck, the day after I posted my prayer request, I was telling another guy that I write Fantasy, and he got SUPER excited, saying that that's mainly what he reads. Talking to him was pretty awesome.
I got in my car after work that day at 9, and on the Christian radio station I keep it on they were having a discussion about success - mostly in relation to jobs and stuff - , and made a point to mention that if you're following God, he'll put what you're supposed to do with you're life, and he'll make it happen. I was just able to catch this stuff at the end of the program as they were saying it.
So God has definitely been saying, "Yeah, I'm here, don't worry," and He's been using a lot of different people for that, and I'm EXTREMELY grateful to each and every one of them.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Call for Prayer - The Plot Needs to Thicken
Hey, guys. I know I do this a fair amount, but bear with me... I do think that it's extremely important, as well as exceedingly helpful.
A sane person might wait until morning to type up a post like this, but I feel an extreme pull to do it now, at 2AM. Take that as you will.
I really need prayer in regards to my writing. Specifically, I need help with:
1) Drive. While this is what I want to do with my life more than anything, more often than not it's really, REALLY hard to push myself to write every day, which leaves absolutely nothing done and helps nobody.
2) Creativity. God has given me the skills I need to make my goals happen... And they improve with each passing day. However, there are still a lot of times where I look at something I've written and said, "No, this sucks." Almost to my relief, a few of my test readers have agreed with me (without saying those words) and reaffirmed my belief that bits and pieces of "Tobias" really need work. This thing can't just be good, it has to be great if it's to stand ANY chance of doing what I want it to do. At the moment, it could be better. I need help getting where I'm going.
3) Luck/Being in the right place at the right time. Authors - even the skilled ones - in this industry can't just walk into Random House and say, "Hey, I've got a book trilogy. How many copies can you get into Barnes & Noble?" It's a lot tougher than that. And while I (somehow) have no doubt in my mind that it'll happen for me at some point...
3) Time/Speed. ...I'm having this voice in the back of my head lately telling me that sooner is going to be rather than later for this stuff. I don't exactly know the specifics - I'm no psychic or god - but I think that God is trying to tell me something... And I really feel like there are people out there that need my help, and that this whole bestselling-fantasy-novels-then-speeches-and-Christian-books-akin-to-Lewis plan is the best (if not only) way for me to get to them.
Now, I know that God isn't a fool... He'll get me where I need to be, without breaking a sweat. But I'm only human, and I could use some help. I have no doubt at all that prayer works - if it didn't, heck, I might not even be here now. And in the past when I've asked people to pray for me about this - be them family, friends, pastors, etc. - I've been MUCH more productive.
So I could use some of that now.
I know, somehow, that this is what I'm supposed to do. And I have no doubt at all that God has been starting to position and prepare me for it over my first year of college. For example:
- Meeting Stephen Graham Jones. Getting to sit down and talk to an author - one nominated for the Bram Stoker award no less - and having him give me tips (as well as lots of encouragement) was a pretty awesome thing for me.
- Getting the job at the Daily Toreador. I hadn't seeked out the position too much (much to my mother's grief), so God was forced to shove the "Help Wanted" ad down my throat. I had never written for a paper or anything really like it before, so I didn't have a clue what I was doing. The thought of writing a column (for which I knew none of the details. Heck, I'd barely read the DT) actually scared me a bit. So I just said, "God, if you want me to do this, give me the job, and I'll trust you. If not, just have them turn me down."
After a literal 5 minute meeting in which editor-in-chief Michelle Cassidy talked to me and glanced and the writing sample I'd brought, she offered me a job on the spot.
That would've been enough for most, but God had to be all like, "Nu-uh, dude! You 'aint done yet!" and so after only one semester of writing for the DT, departing opinions editor Britney Drumm offered me the job as her replacement. Something that terrified me (and still does, a bit), but I didn't see it entirely as a coincidence. So after some prayer, I accepted. God, I hope I don't screw that one up.
- Having an English teacher that was actually competent. That was pretty nice. What's more, she seems to have a graciously large amount of faith in my chances of making it in the literary world (she's a published poet, so she has at least some experience). As with Dr. Jones, Michelle, and Britney, that confidence really help me.
So yeah, if you guys could keep me in your thoughts and prayers for awhile, that'd be HUGE. I'm of course willing to return the favor (though I hope most of you know that I'd do it anyway), and would be extremely grateful... I've got a lot of projects planned and in progress: "Tobias", plus the rest of the Talebearer Trilogy, several short stories, and another project I'll talk about later (if things go well), all while working a lot this summer and then working at the DT when school starts again.
At least in my opinion, this kinda stuff beats partying and lollygagging any day of the week.
So thanks, guys. I hope I'll be able to share the fruits of all this labor with each and every one of you very soon. More importantly, though, I hope to be sharing the idea that it was God that put me on Letterman to talk about my book and the overall power of storytelling. There are a lot of things that I think far too few people hear, and this is my contribution to try to change that. Help wanted, as it's far from an easy task.
God bless you, every one.
- Britton
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Atlanta Nights
When I was looking up information on joining Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. I stumbled upon this masterpiece of a tale, in which a team of talented science fiction and fantasy authors get together to pen the worst novel they possibly can, and then get it accepted for publication by a seemingly shady publishing house.
Mission accomplished. The book was picked up. Even though chapter 34 was written by a text generator. Even though some characters die, then mysteriously show up again later without explination or thought. Even though characters idly change race, gender, and motivation.
We "Young Inklings" (that is, my buddies and me who pretend to be C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien) have read many a bad short story and "novel"... Atlanta Nights sounds like a unique piece that I should totally buy for our collection.
My favorite bit from this guys' review:
"But the book’s moment of true genius comes, not when one of the characters wakes up and realizes that all of the foregoing chapters were a dream, but when that happens AND THEN THE BOOK CONTINUES ANYWAY."
Now that's a plot twist...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Story Done + GTA IV First Impressions
For whatever reason, I was up until around 3:30AM finishing up that short story I mentioned... So it's done, and if I recall correctly it's around 4,000 words... I haven't looked at it since completion, though, so it probably sucks.
I woke up relatively early (it was like... 10:00AM) to go pick up Grand Theft Auto IV, and since I only had one class - and it was my last class of the semester, not counting finals - I spent the better part of the day playing it.
It's amazing. 7 hours of stealing cars and I don't wanna go out and jack people in real life! Man, who'd have thought that?
But anyways, I'm actually extremely impressed. I think a lot of this is due to the storyline, which is really quite good. Fantastic dialogue, great voice acting... And most importantly, really likable characters. You just couldn't relate to previous GTA protagonists, IMO, but Niko is an extremely interesting character. New to America and Liberty City, he's conflicted... He wants a new start, wants to not live a life of crime, but ever since the war (whichever war he was in... I'm not sure), he finds himself doing nothing but bad things.
The story really has me wondering what comes next. By the end, it might actually rank up there with some of the great crime/gangster movies.
Gameplay is great too... It's weird, on the surface, it feels EXACTLY like a GTA game, which have typically bored me in the past after an hour or two. But I dunno, everything here is just so refined and so polished... It's a great and addicting formula that most certainly goes beyond running around a city causing mayhem.
I also played a fair amount of multiplayer, which is a whole lot more entertaining than I thought. It's chaoctic, but in a very good way. I've only done team stuff so far, but I really enjoy the modes I tried... Which wasn't even half of them.
So yeah. I'm not altogether positive that it deserves the bajillion perfect scores it's been getting from just about every review source in the nation right now, but my first impressions are VERY positive.
Note, however, that it's still very much a Grand Theft Auto game. While the story shows an existance of moral dilemas and an actual concern for doing the right thing (at least sometimes), there's extremely strong language, inappropriate dialogue, strong sexual content (a lot/most of which is avoidable, as per series standard), violence, etc.
'aint for the kiddies, though I really, REALLY hope there aren't still parents out there that think it would be.
But for those of you who are 17 and up? I'm really enjoying it so far. I kind of want to play it more right now, but I'm exhausted, and thus should get some sleep. I'll have more stuff to say later.
Monday, April 28, 2008
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!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Oh, Little Town of Sheridan...
I just realized... It's 3:20 AM on Easter morning, and I just now finished a short story revolving around witchcraft. How's that for weird timing?
The Witch of Sheridan Peak is finally (semi-)done. Now I've gotta type it up, send it to a select few readers, wake up in the morning, spend time with family, hope I have comments on how to fix the surely awful ending, revise it, and hopefully get a copy worthy of submission for publication done by tomorrow night.
I don't know if I'll ever write an entire short story by hand again... Though I'm kinda glad that I can now say I did.
Next? Get ready for an Awakening.
Happy Easter, everybody! Go out and hunt eggs, eat candy, and marvel at the fact that a guy rose himself from the dead... I mean, have you tried that? I'm sure it's tough. Probably a trick that will only be seen that once. Good thing we can still read about it.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
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.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
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...
Saturday, February 02, 2008
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
