keivamp's Madness

NaNoWriMo 2011 Chapter 3

2011-11-03T23:43:00.000-06:00

Bacon?

Xionide had done his job well. The hyper-drills had impacted the planet’s surface at half the speed of light. The resulting explosions created a tidal wave of earth and rock that buried everything around Zanna in more than a hundred foot of dirt. The force of the explosions was so great that Jason was knocked unconscious; Zanna covered his machine with hers and activated a force field that protected them. Xionide had done his job and she had done hers by making an artificial cave.

Zanna’s Motokin did not use an internal combustion engine nor did it utilize a reactor which could have dangerous side effects. Long ago her people had learned to use magnetic forces to produce energy and that is what powered their Motokin. The magnetic engines were small, lightweight and produced tremendous amounts of electrical energy, enough so that they could utilize plasma weapon systems.

She had her Motokin power up its lights and heating system to make the environment comfortable for when Jason woke up. Thankfully she had brought along a book that she had wanted to read because Jason had slept so long that she had already read half of it.

An irritating beeping noise woke him. One of his sensors was trying to tell him it was damaged. Without thinking he reached over and flipped it off. Reality smacked him in the forehead when he realized he was alive and he hit the front of the cockpit. The Haffaman had powered down and he could no longer see outside. Pulling himself upright he realized that his VT was facing downward. He bent his neck to the left trying to work out a kink in it while he started to get his bearings as to where the down ladder was placed.

Pushing a button the ladder made a zipping sound as it extended to the ground. Slowly he had begun to descend wondering what was going on. Was he dead? Was he alone? Why did he smell bacon?

Jason still had on his street clothes, he had not had the time or care to put on a flight suit. His body ached as he climbed down. He found he could see and it was warm. Again he smelled bacon cooking and eggs.

“Bacon?”

“Yes, bacon, eggs and toast and I even poured you a glass of orange juice.” The voice was the same as the woman who had talked to him just before everything went dark.

Jason looked up and found that the giant machine he had seen was hovered over his in a protective fashion. It was also producing light and heat. He was amazed.

Looking around Jason saw Zanna. She was relaxing in a lawn chair reading a book and glancing over to a portable grill. The light green of her skin did not distract from her raw beauty and her hair seemed to glisten in the artificial light. She wore a 2 piece bathing suit that showed her form, it excited him. She also had on a pair of flip flops and sunglasses.

He noted that there was an extra chair, a small table set with a plate and silverware and a small cooler.

“That smells like bacon but how can you have bacon?” Jason inquired.

“You’ll find that many worlds share a great many things. Only arrogance will make you believe that everything on your world is unique.” Zanna explained never looking up. “Sit, relax and have some breakfast.”

“How long was I out?”

“About ten of your hours or five galactic standard hours.”

“Wow” Jason responded. “So that is really Bacon?”

“Yes silly it is really bacon.”

Zanna could tell that he was hesitant primarily because he had not come any closer. She reached over to the grill and picked up a piece of bacon with her fork and begun eating. Between bites she said “Yup, it’s really bacon.”

Jason’s stomach rumbled as he watched her eat. He could not contain his hunger and quickly made his way to the grill. He found it full of food, just as she had said.

“Eat your fill.”

Those words were music to his ears as he begun to eat and eat. He ate for a solid twenty five minutes before he slowed down. It was bacon, it tasted like bacon, smelled like bacon, had bacon’s texture. The same was true for the eggs and toast, they tasted like the tastes he had known all of his life. The orange juice was the best he had ever tasted.

“So, like breakfast foods are the same all over the universe?”

“I don’t know about the universe but I know in the twelve galaxies that make up our galactic cluster they are pretty much the same. There a few differences here and there but not enough to make you think about them.” Zanna replied.

“That just blows my mind.” Jason said.

“You’ll really freak when you find out that McDonald has a space station in the center of the galactic cluster and a sign that reads ‘Over 7 Googolplex Served’ or that on most starships you can instant order from Burger King. Pizza Hut guarantees delivery in 3 nanoseconds or less.”

“You’re pulling my leg right?”

“If I am you can buy me a Big Mac.” Zanna said with a grin.

“Obviously there is a lot that I don’t know and obviously you are from a different planet. What is going on?”

“Obviously your right, Jason” Zanna smirked.

“Hey…How’d you know my name.”

“Don’t worry I am not a telepath. I’m more of a stalker. I have been watching you from deep orbit for a while now.” She could see the worry crossing his face.

“Don’t worry. I am not here to probe you or remove your brain or any of the other things your silly world has concocted about alien life forms.” Zanna said as she stood and stretched. After she was sure he had enough of an eyeful she put on a robe and sat down normal. Placing a bookmark in her book she closed and placed it by the grill.

“The Vampire’s Vampire” Jason said aloud as he read the title of the book.

“It’s actually not about vampires. The title let me down. It’s about how big corporations take over little ones and so forth.” Zanna replied before she understood that he had read the title.

“You can read our words?” She asked.

“I guess like bacon the universe shares a lot.”

“Hmpf!” She replied and turned her back to him.

“Why me?” Jason resumed his questions.

She turned back to him and removed her sunglasses. Her face became stern and her voice held a commanding undertone. “I’ll tell you why Jason. It was no accident that my scanners selected you. It was no coincidence that Clan Mersious wanted your planet. Your sun is going to super nova next week and when it does it will create gold and lots of it. Clan Mersious needs the gold in order to improve their Motokin. Motokin are a cool name for what you call a Vertical Tank or a mecha or a battlemech or an astromech. Motokin is more universal and easier for most races to say and remember.”

Jason’s eyes widen and he seemed to hang on every word she said. She positioned her body directly across from him and looked him square in the eyes.

Jason had no reason to doubt her words.

“I am going to tell you a story. This story has a very tragic end and it has an offer which you can take or leave.” Zanna began. She knew it would be a while.

“To begin with my name is Zanna. I have no last name. Selaxions only have first names, no middle name no last name. Also we have all been dead for the last twenty thousand years.”

“Dead…what do you mean dead?” Jason interrupted her.

“Stop interrupting and you’ll find out. When I say dead I mean dead as in non-existent and alive no more as in dead. My world was once arrogant like yours except we had the technology to back it up. Before I get into that there is something you need to know first. The galactic cluster Seka is made up of seven galaxies. Your world and mine are inside of that cluster. The Seka cluster is controlled by Motokin Clans. The weakest of these clans is the one that attacked your planet. There are only five clans left all of which are battling for control of the galactic cluster.” Zanna let out a long sigh. Jason’s eyes were full of wonder and the one thing she sought above all else: Hope.

“Twenty thousand years ago my home worlds, yes it is plural because Selaxia is a binary system. There are two life bearing planets in the same orbit. They are half an orbit away from each other. One planet is dedicated to science and technology while the other planet was dedicated to war.”

“Was?” Jason interrupted again.

“Yes it was. There is no life on that planet now. Mostly thanks to me. It was my arrogance that was our downfall as I had gotten so dependent on our technology to save us I ignored everything else. Selaxia Prime was impregnated with a plague that killed every life form on it. Selaxia minor developed a resurrection technique but had made the mistake of trying it their home world. They resurrected the plague and that world also became void of life.” A small tear formed at the corners of her eyes.

“So how are you here then?” Jason questioned sympathetically.

“We are here because of our technology. It took our computers twenty thousand years to be able to resurrect some of us. Between the two worlds it could only revive less than one thousand. Again we are infected with the plague. It was my arrogance that caused it and because of that we have no cure because we do not know where the genocide plague originated from. It is one thing to die it is a whole another thing to die more than once.”

NaNoWriMo 2011 Chapter 2

2011-11-03T20:00:00.002-06:00

Zwealler

“C’mon, give it us Jason. They are never going let you in. They want big jocks and overcharged testosterone powered beef cakes piloting those things.” Her voice was like music to his ears. Always comforting even when she was nagging.

Jason turned to look at her. She was cute, a bit smaller than him with a round face and comforting eyes. She always wore the lasts fashionable dresses and shoes and yet she clung to their friendship like a monkey to a banana.

“I know Amy, but maybe one day. You never know.”

“Yes you do. They have turned you down twelve times now. How much more begging are you going to do? It is plain and simple. The military doesn’t want you.”

Jason sighed. She was right.

Amy was always right and he knew it. Though she was a year younger than him she was far more intelligent than he and he had to give way to her logic.

“I can’t give up though Amy. Something draws me to the Vertical Tanks. I don’t know what and I don’t know why. I am just drawn to them.” Jason explained.

“I know. It is what is called the “Riddle of Steel” ancient swordsmen couldn’t explain why they were drawn to certain weapons. It is the same with you. I don’t know why I am drawn to you.” She explained while trying to hide her feelings.

“Move it you two!” a soldier barked as confronted the two at the fence. “This is restricted for military only.”

“Hey I was just watching. No harm in that.” Jason protested.

“Your right son. No harm in that. The harm is in my rifle and if you don’t hurry the hell outta here your gonna feel it.”

“There is no reason to threaten us like that. We are going okay.” Jason huffed as he grasped Amy’s right arm.

Violent explosion suddenly rocked the ground and the soldier was thrown to the ground. It seemed like an earthquake until another one happened just moments after the first one.

Jason held Amy close to him and was doing his level best to keep his footing. Half the Vertical Tanks were destroyed in an instant. The army had no warning and no chance. The military personnel barracks were annihilated. Only soldiers left alive after the fatal barrage were inside what was left of the Vertical Tanks and they seemed half confused.

They were training machines with no defense or offensive systems built in yet. Most of the begun to fumble around adding to the chaos as enemy Vertical Tanks suddenly appeared and began to blast things into oblivion.

Amy shed a soft tear as she held he left side. “Jason. You have to help them.” Her whisper was like thunder in his ears.

“But…” he begun to protest.

“Go take the Haffaman Vertical Tank and help them.” Amy said stopping his protest. She knew he had the heart of hero. “You know where they keep.”

“They will probably get mad if I do.” Jason said as he stared at the invasion force coming in. “First I have to get you to safety.”

“No. Jason you may be the only help some of the others have. Look around everything is gone. I’m fine, go help them.”

He pulled her face to his and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back for you.” He said as he ran toward the battle bunkers.

“No. No you won’t.” Amy said as her knees buckled and she fell to them. Her right hand was covered in blood and the piece of shrapnel had dug in deep. The explosions had muffled her screams and the sharp metal had penetrated almost all the way through her. She had protected him and she hoped with her dying breath that by not letting him know that she had protected the rest of her world.

“Keep them safe Jason…” Amy’s words trailed off as her body crashed to the ground.

He huffed as he ran. His legs ached. His lungs burned. His heart raced.

He dodged laser blasts, falling buildings, being stepped on by the vertical tanks. Jason hoped he could remain luckily enough to reach the bunker house. He knew where they kept an experimental tank and if he could reach he hoped his research would be enough to allow him to pilot it.

Normal VT’s were easy. You just basically watched the Gyros and kept them level. The Haffaman VT was a military special with huge upgrades and experimental technologies and computers.

The only reason he knew it existed is because He and Amy would break in at night and sneak around. They had signal jammers so they never detected. They had always only come to watch and never touched anything so the other sensors had no reason to be alarmed.

He ran through the bunker as it began to fall on top of him. He knew the location and he knew is the building completely collapsed that he would be safe. Where they kept the Haffaman VT was in a reinforced bunker under the one he was running through.

As he begun to descend a flight of stairs most of the ceiling caved in. In a desperate attempt he leapt forward down the stairs and into a corridor. Escaping with just a few scratched he dusted himself and begun to run down the corridor. A right and two lefts later he was at the bunker door.

To his surprise he found it open. It seemed as though a trained pilot had begun to walk through when a piece of shrapnel penetrated his back leaving his limp body to hold the bunker door wide open.

He saw the Haffaman VT and his eyes opened wide. It was beautiful, even more so as he approached then it had been from when he snuck into see it.

“Hey…get away from that…” An engineer from across the room painfully shouted.

“I can’t…we need this on the surface.” Jason calmly replied as he kept walking towards it.

“You’re not military…you can’t access it.” The pain in the engineer’s voice was unmistakable.

“No but you can.”

“You ever piloted a VT?” the engineer asked.

“No but I have done a great deal of research on them and their controls.” Jason responded.

“Forget all of that, boy, and climb in. Strap down and let the Haffaman guide you. The machine knows what to do and it will teach you what you need to know.”

“How long will that take…we don’t have time for learning.” Jason questioned.

“Oh…” the engineer smiled wickedly “about one millionth of one second.”

Jason begun to climb the ladder to the cockpit. “How do I activate it?”

“Don’t worry about that…just get in and I will activate it for you. Once activated the roof will blow.”

“You’ll be killed.” Jason responded with worry.

“I’m already dead boy. Only got a couple minute of life left anyway.”

The engineer wiped dust off some control panels and sighed out loud “Wonder if I forgot to tell the boy to take an aspirin or three?”

“Huh? What was that?” Jason yelled as he entered the cockpit.

“Nothin’” the engineer spoke into a microphone.” Just sit back and relax”

Jason was amazed at the controls inside. Nothing like he’d had ever read about. It was not set up the way a VT should have been. Experimental was not the correct phrase to use, this technology was way beyond anything he had even hear of before. The controls looked as if the mounted right to the body of the pilot. Jason was hesitant.

“Strap in.” came the engineers voice inside the cockpit.

“Then what?”

“Hold on and enjoy the ride.”

Jason slowly sat and leaned back into the pilot’s seat. Instantly the controls surrounded him and a heads up display appeared before his eyes. The enclosed cockpit seemed to turn translucent and he could see outside.

“That’s amazing.” Jason said as he looked. He had wondered how the pilot navigated as he had seen no way to look out. It was as if he was floating in mid-air.

Explosions began to happen above him as he felt a slight pinch in his neck. For a nanosecond time stood still as the Haffaman VT implanted its instructions into his brain. A millionth of a second and a flash of searing pain and he knew everything about the machine.

It felt natural as he commanded the machine to rise. It obeyed him and he felt powerful.

The sudden reality of the roof crashing down snapped him back.

“Alright…lets go.” He said with excitement. Servos whined and jump jets thundered as he rose from the ground and jumped upwards through the hole.

Enemy machines swarmed the complex destroying everything in their path. Their machines were bulky and reminded him of stocky football players. His machine was sleek and trimmed. His weapon systems were hidden but he could see theirs.

“Haffaman, identify enemy weapon sys.” Jason commanded out loud hoping it was a correct statement.

The bipedal machine turned slightly and emitted a short squawking sound.

“Air to air missile systems. High intensity laser blasters. Particle acceleration blasters. Ion cannon.” Haffaman anwered.

“Counter measures?” Jason inquired.

“Impact ferrous armor.”

“Offensive measures?”

“Better than them.” Haffaman answered with what seemed to be a grin in its vocal patterns.

Jason looked around. Three of the enemy machines were approaching him.

“Let’s rock Haffaman.” Jason said as he pointed his right arm at the incoming enemy. He made a fist with his right hand and turned it to its side. He noticed the Haffaman had imitated him exactly. “Bam!” he barked as he let loose a barrage of rail cannons that instantly destroyed the incoming machines.

“I like.” Jason sighed.

He stood alone against the incoming invasion force. More than a hundred of those machines were now headed towards him.

“Haffaman…What is our chance of survival?”

“Little to none, the invasion force has disabled all communications planet wide. The assumption is that we are alone.”

“Well if we are going to be wiped out let’s take a few of them with us. Scan for Amy Amigatchi, I must get her to a safe place.

“Scan negative.”

“What?”

“There is no living life form in close proximity with that nomenclature.”

That could only mean one thing. The girl who loved him was dead. That also meant that everything that he knew or loved was dead. His world was gone. They had been taken by surprise and everything wiped out. Jason knew there was no other way. All he could do was take on and destroy as many as he could before their numbers overwhelmed him and he perished with the rest of his world.

“If nothing else Haffaman, they are going to remember the repair bill.”

He took a deep breath. Snapped his arms next to his side revealing the Ion and rail cannons attached to the Haffaman. He rolled each shoulder enabling the Haffaman to present the attached missile systems.

The Haffaman’s feet thundered as Jason raced into battle with a kamikaze style charge. Weapons ready and directed in front of him. No thought to what was behind and no concern as to what would happen.

Explosions erupted on the enemy VT’s and he allowed himself a moment of glory but that was all the enemy would give him. As quickly as it had begun hi moment was over. Explosions blinded him as plasma burst impacted on his VT.

His sight was limited and he was having difficulty with the sensors. He was unsure of what they meant. Jason had never seen battle before. He didn’t watch action or war movies. He didn’t play video games. He didn’t know what it was.

Jason wasn’t alone. The Haffaman, though technologically superior to any machine on the planet, had never seen war and did not know what it was. Even though its computers could handle almost any situation live fire was much different than simulations. The computers were confusing themselves.

The longer Jason fought the more difficult it was to control the Haffaman. He thought it was his inexperience and to some degree it was for he didn’t realize that the machine was being damaged. The more he fought the more the machine was damaged. Somehow, some force of will, he moved the machine and time and time again avoided fatal battles.

After about ten minutes into the fire fight by all rights the Haffaman and Jason should have been torn to pieces. Even with an experienced combat veteran the staggering numbers should have ripped them to shreds and back again. As if a magical force guided him Jason maneuvered the Haffaman in ways that not even the designers knew it could do. He was a very difficult target to hit. The enemy tried to swarm and flank him on all side but somehow he managed to sense where they were and dodged all incoming missile attacks.

His vision blurred and the Hoffaman burning from the intense heat of the fires that surrounded him Jason was sure he was about to die.

Like an angel of mercy the voice came out of nowhere.

“Hey Cowboy…Suicide is not an option.”

“Who?? What??”

“If you’ll look straight ahead I’m that big thing that is stepping on those itty bitty attackers.”

Her voice was like a gift from god and when he looked up he thought that maybe she was God.

Her mech stood five times higher than the largest VT on the field and it was two and a half times wider. Huge guns littered the arms of the giant biped. Missile packs and grenade launchers ran up and down its legs. The chest of the huge machine also held cannons and missile packs, more weapons on one machine than he had ever seen before. She had been correct, the giant machine was stepping on and crushing the lesser machines as if they were ants. Its balance never wavered and the lesser machines became as thin as tin foil when she crushed them.

“What it the hell is that???” He questioned loudly as he examined the cockpit of the giant machine that also held weapons. Two machine guns on both sides and a missile pack on top of its head. The cockpit looked like a giant skull.

“That, my dear, is called an Executioner.”

“No shit.” Jason replied after hearing her response. On further examination he saw the insignia. It was a huge leaping cat with its claws extended and black in color with white stripes. The insignia was on the chest, the outside of both legs as well as on the barrels of the mighty guns.

“What’s with the black cat?”

“It’s a tiger…a black tiger” Zanna replied, “It’s a rare beast on my home world and very dangerous, in fact it is the most dangerous of all land predators.”

“That’s cool” Jason replied as he continued to fire at the enemy that was now trying to swarm her. “Who are you and why are you helping me?”

“Zanna, I am Zanna of Clan Black Tiger.”

“So why are you helping me and who are these guys?”

“They are Clan Mersious and they are destroying your world.”

“Destroyed.” Jason corrected her.

“Mostly yes.” Zanna replied.

“Could have used you like 30 minutes ago.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“What?”

“You didn’t ask.”

Zanna’s reply lit his ears on fire and sent his rage on a wild rampage. He didn’t know that she couldn’t hear is raving, curses and anger. He screamed wildly and angrily until he couldn’t scream anymore. Her giant machine slowly kept crushing the enemy.

In anticipation she had cut the communications to him off and enabled the communications to her starship.

“Xionide, come in.”

“Go ahead Z”

“Clan Mersious sent in its beta team to take over this world. That leads me to believe that they are after something else in this system and don’t want the Zweallers to know what it is. Run a survey check on the star and then launch four hyper-drills sixty meters off my position. I want you to bury him and I and then I want you in the ExeOut getting rid of these little insults.”

NaNoWriMo 2011 Chapter1

2011-11-03T19:57:00.000-06:00

Genocide is not for everyone!

“Are you sure?” The rough voice from her right questioned with sarcasm. “This kid doesn’t have what it takes.”

“Sure? No. Absolutely positive? Yes.” Her reply was soothing and in an instant Xionide knew that she had made up her mind. Once Zanna had made up her mind it was set and he knew it.

“C’mon Z , you know this kid doesn’t know squat. Heck he ain’t even out of school yet on his world.”

“If I recall correctly, you weren’t either the first time you crawled into a Motokin. In fact you were a failure at school.” She replied never loosing the natural sweetness in her voice as she stared at the view screen.

“Actually it wasn’t a Motokin it was a Btank with almost nothing to it. A stripped down, getting ready to recycle, machine with a pea shooter for a gun.” Xionide replied with a relaxed smile as he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back into his seat. “Those were the good days when all a man needed was a gun, a woman, and a good beer.”

He remembered the Btank. An ugly hunk of scrap no bigger than a compact car with a single machine gun attached to its hood. It was rusted badly with pieces of the body falling off and no glass to separate the outside winds. You had to turn the car to aim the gun. They were cheap battle vehicles that had been cheaply made with a very high rate of fatalities tied to them.

“Too bad all you had was a good beer” piped a smaller male from across the bridge.

“ ‘Twas all I needed lad. ‘Twas all I needed.” Xionide smiled ear to ear.

His face showed layers of scares from a great many battles even through his scruffy beard. His eyes were tight and focused and his lips taut. Xionide had one of those looks where he always looked like he was going to rip someone’s face off when the truth was he was a nice guy. The years that had rolled by him had also been kind as he still appeared to be the youthful boy who took control of a junk Btank to change the tide of a battle. He was just past his 40’s and looked no more than 18.

He was a man harden by many years of war and more battles than he dared to count. Only when he looked at Zanna did his face soften. He made no attempts to hide the fact that he had a crush on her and he didn’t lie about it. He hoped that now that they had a short time that she would notice him.

“Z, we have seen these types of kids before. What makes this one different?”

“I don’t know, I guess it is just a feeling. I have a feeling that this is the one to lead us into a glorious future and restore our home worlds.” Zanna replied with a half whisper.

Her pale blue hair trimmed her youthful and vibrant face as it laid its curls upon the tops of her shoulders. Her big, round eyes seemed to illuminate the emerald green color and reflect off her gentle face. Her eyes always seemed as if a great sadness rested upon her shoulders. Her nose was small and her lips were thin while her high cheeks seemed a bit out of place. She was a little taller than the normal Selaxion female, which stood five foot four inches, and she was a bit thinner than normal but not so much to look anorexic. She wore a sleeveless top with a short “V” at the neck and a short skirt that only hung to just above her knees, both pale blue in color to match her hair. On her feet, she wore a moccasin like shoe, also colored to match her hair and offset the greenish hue of her skin. With the exception of differently colored hair and skin tone Selaxion’s were exactly like Earth humans of the Sol system in the Milky Way Galaxy, a mere two thousand year trip at one thousand times the speed of light.

“Those feeling of yours are what I am afraid of.” Xionide said as he sat forward. He was broad and stout for a Selaxion and he was fit. “He’s kind of wimpy looking.”

“Maybe but I think he can handle a Motokin.”

“It’s your call, Z, you are the commander but I’ll tell ya one thing right off the bat. If he can’t handle a Motokin I’m gonna shot him.”

Zanna turned her head slightly to look at him, her solemn protector, and with a smile replied “Deal.”

A long silence followed as Xionide contemplated things in his head. He knew Zanna, he knew her better than anyone else in the universe. He knew her past, all of it. He knew what drove her and he knew what ate at her soul.

“Genocide. The systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.”

That one definition defined her and made her whole. It was her driving force and the only thing that she lived for, to make sure it never it was never to happen again to any race on any world.

It was the entirety of her being and it drove her wholly.

She could not and would not let it happen again. Xionide knew it so completely that he alone knew what had caused both of the Selaxion home worlds to be destroyed and he knew why it would never happen again.

“You realize, Z, that we are one tiny system against those galactic clans right?”

“Once we stood tall and proud. Once we were the pinnacle of our galaxy and once we were alive.” Zanna replied never looking up from the screen. “And soon we shall stand again.”

“As you wish…” Xionide let the conversation tail off as he studied the object of her obsession.

The view screen showed a young man in his late teens. His face was vibrant though not as youthful in looks as the DNA scans suggested. Somehow the young man lacked any particular feature that could be captured by another mind and remembered. His sandy hair was short and ruffled and again nothing special about it. His clothes seemed to be of a latent style with nothing special about them either; it was as if the young man had no identity of his own. No special marks, no scars, no tattoos, no insignias, he didn’t wear any brand names. Xionide was about to argue the point with Zanna again until he noticed the gleam in the young man’s eyes as he watched intently as bipedal war machines practiced nearby.

It was not just any gleam. It was something Xionide had seen hundreds of times over; it was something he knew very well. The gleam in the young man’s eyes was the reason Xionide had lived through many hundreds of battles. It was the one thing, the only thing he respected above all else.

Slowly Xionide stood, straiten his body and cleaned his appearance. The other fifteen members of the bridge crew watched with awe as Xionide sharply saluted the image on the screen.

“Z…Lets go get our general.”

“I take it you finally saw what I did?” Zanna asked with a smirk.

“What are we gonna call our outfit?”

“It already has a name, one it has always had.”

“You can’t be serious?” Xionide retorted.

“Oh I am…We started this and we are going to finish this. The galactic clans are about to realize that we are back. I don’t know why the core computer resurrected our squad but since it did it, we will make them all cower with fear. They will learn the true nature of mechanized battle. They will learn it from the best. They will learn it from us.” Zanna’s words were cold and harsh as she kept looking forward. “Once we pick up this boy then they will learn to hate us because we are not going to make the same mistake twice.”

“You mean?” The smaller male on her left had begun to question.

“Yup lad, it’s time to be tigers.” Xionide answered.

“Not just any tigers.” Zanna added.

In unison the bridge crew shouted as they crashed their knuckle together in front of their chests.

“Clan Black Tiger!!!!”

Zanna waved her left hand in front of her and a small view screen seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Connect: home world 2. Connect: Harkasious Labs.”

A moment later a man’s face came on the screen. He was average looking with large eyebrows and a small nose.

“Good morning commander Zanna, how may we help you?”

“We have located the world were our new general lives. Both home worlds are to imprint the insignia of “Clan Black Tiger” on everything.” Zanna answered with a smile.

“Good, good.” The man replied. “Hyper-Missile system is ready. We can now transport at eighty times the speed of light.”

“Good. Load and send our Motokin. I want an ExeBug added to the standard issue. I also want them with fresh paint and a bucket of apples.”

“Sorry Zanna, the ExeBug has a faulty Fire control system. I would really like to have the time to fix that.”

Zanna looked over at Xionide, gave a half smile and wink with her left eye.

“Okay. Fix the ExeBug problem and send it when it is ready. Add and ExeOut to the list and have them transported to our new cords.”

“An ExeOut!!!!”

“Yes an ExOut. Xionide is going to be using it.”

“Whew…” the man sighed. “As long as it’s for Xionide.”

“You didn’t think I am crazy enough to drive one of those things did you?”

“I was hoping not.” The man replied his voice relieved.

The ExeOut was a dangerous Motokin. Extremely effective in battle, very dangerous to drive. The system sometimes tried to take over the pilot and it could reconfigure the machine as needed. Normally a biped it could became a quad if the situation arisen. It took a certain amount of psychosis to even be able to link with the machine. Once the link was established and the driver survived then the machine was quick, hit hard and difficult to kill.

“Make sure you send my Executioner.” Zanna said with a sigh as she waved her hand and the screen disappeared.

“Really Z?” Xionide questioned. “I get an ExeOut while you are taking your Executioner?”

“No…You get to stay here. I only ordered the ExeOut to get my Motokin. You know as well as I do if I said I was going to go alone they would have found a million reasons to delay the transport.” Zanna said with confidence and strength that Xionide had heard in her voice many times before.

“You can’t go alone.” Xionide replied with some concern in his voice.

“I have to. I have to do this.” Zanna said as her head hung low.

“Commander…” a female voice from behind her said with some excitement “That world you were just looking at has seventeen hours before Clan Mersious invades.”

“Clan Mersious…hmm.” Zanna’s words trailed for a few moments.

“You have an idea don’t you?”

“Yes I do. Set course for the Zwealler System and set it so that we get there thirty minutes after Clan Mersious.” Zanna said.

“Thirty minutes late ma’am?” the female questioned.

“Yes, Gallia, I want to be thirty minutes late.”

“Why?” Xionide asked impatiently “When we can just intercept and wipe out the invasion force.”

“Because, love, the Zwealler system is arrogant like all smaller system and has yet to understand that they are not alone in the universe. They do not as of yet realize that in the scheme of galaxies that their little planet and solar system are just a speck of dust. That and Clan Mersious doesn’t employ great intelligence for their invasion force. The Zwealler’s should be able to hold them off for a little bit and it will give us a chance to evaluate our new general.” Zanna explained sweetly while forming the plot in her head.

“So we let him sweat a little bit and then come save his young butt.”

“That sounds like my plan. Now let’s make it happen.”

“One of the many reasons I love you.” Xionide said with a smile as he turned and punched some numbers into his computer.

“I know.” Zanna said with a slight blush.

“Gallia…let’s get outta here.” Xionide barked.

“Yes Sir.” She responded with a smile.

Protesting Our Dead.

2011-03-05T13:08:00.001-06:00

I have read lately that there is a group of religious fanatics protesting the funeral of American Soldiers.
I don't care about why they are doing it because they do not have a good enough excuse.

Giving your life for your country is the highest honor you can give.

The American military has always paid this honor back with our funeral ceremonies. Our military honors our dead in such a degree that it is unmatched by every other country in the world.

Thousands upon thousands of men and women have given their lives freely so that we can live ours in the way we best choose to live them.

I am not a political sort of person and as general rule I don't keep up with the news. I am, however, two things; I am a Christian and I am an American. My faith in my God is absolute and the God that I worship does not Hate anything. Being American means that I have proudly served with my brother and sisters in the military.

For a group to protest a funeral and hide behind the First Amendment (a right that the people they are protesting gave unto them) is cowardice.

If you want to twist the word of the Lord, that's fine.

If you want to protest the Military than do it to a soldier that is still living - give him the chance to defend himself.

If you want to twist the word of the Lord and protest the greatest military tradition that can be preformed from any given individual and then hide behind the constitution--GET THE HELL OUT OF THE COUNTRY!!!

I have lost many family members and great many friends. All of them have given their lives so that I can live mine.

I am proud to be a Christian!

I am proud to be an American!

I am proud to be a Veteran!

And I will be damned if I will sit idle and let some morons destroy all the we (America) have worked so hard to build.

Beware. Should I see anyone protesting a funeral (especially in the name of God)-You will meet God right then and right there.

Coming Soon

2011-01-25T22:52:00.000-06:00

Very soon I will be publishing a new and shiny keivamp.com after which I will be re-opening this blog and actually using it.

Closing this

2010-11-25T13:54:00.001-06:00

I am closing this blog. I am integrating a blog into my personal website keivamp's home and won't need an external blog no will I have time to keep up with it. Please feel free to come join me at my home site and see all the wonderful things I am cooking up there. Thank You.

Also I will be moving every post here to my new site.

NaNoWriMo 2010 plot

2010-10-31T21:51:00.003-06:00

Begins with Sarcophagus (a vampire god from another dimension) exploring different realms of time and space being board with most of them. Searching across the infinite possibilities he runs across the star slayer matriarch Keisha, finding her manipulating the growth of a small spec of a planet that will become known as Earth. Upon further investigation he discovers the powerful Mass-Star is also manipulating the beings of Earth.

Curiosity leads him to investigate these “human” creatures to find out why those powerful beings are so fascinated with them. He decides to visit a gathering place of humans while staying in his astral form so that he can observe without being observed. He touches several beings on their heads and learns Earth languages and history. It intrigues and appalls him to find out that earth has its own vampires; disgusting little blood suckers. A mockery of his noble avatars, even the so called “True Blood” are not even good enough to be called Vampire. These humans have not even the slightest clue as to what a real vampire is; this causes him to chuckle for a moment.

He watches the ethereal war between heaven and hell and he struggles to understand such a crude concept.

He makes the decision and selects 6 earthlings and gives unto them his power, forever turning them into Vampires. They are his Avatars to this world and it is their mission to study, research, catalog and then destroy the falsehoods.

Being safe in his astral form he is surprised when he notices and 8 year old girl holding a torn teddy bear trying to get his attention. The girl should not be able to see or detect him in anyway and yet he senses that she is looking directly at him-aware that he is there. He responds to her and she responds back, she was looking for a playmate to play a game of checkers with. He agrees but only if she will teach him the game. He learns that she is an orphan and that her parents and little brother were eaten by “The man with horns”.

He creates a corporal duplicate of himself in human disguise and talks to the headmaster at the orphanage about the strange little girl. He learns that the girl rarely speaks (a contradiction to the talkative child that his god form is playing checkers with) and when she does speak it is usually to an invisible friend. The friend is never the same and it worries the orphanage greatly. He parents and little brother were killed in a horrible house fire but she escaped unharmed and unscathed.

He looks deeply into the little girl’s heart and is almost blinded by her purity. He looks into her mind and sees the etchings of angels and demons, he understands that they have been fighting for her pure soul.

With curiosity he asks the girl what she wants to do when she is grown. She answers with words whole and pure as she explains that she wants to make sure that “The man with horns” doesn’t eat anymore children.

The orphanage headmaster calls to the girl to stop talking to her invisible friend and come in for dinner. He bids the girl farewell and hands her a jewel encrusted gold cross on a gold chain laced with silver. When she asks if she will ever see him again he answers “When the time is right.”

For ten years he retreats to his home dimension waiting for the time to be right.

On her 18^th birthday as she plans on leaving the orphanage for good, Victoria Madison senses something that she has not sensed in a very long time. Since that fateful game of checkers she has been a social person-mo longer did she talk to invisible people , no longer did she see angels and demons-though she still held an unearthly fascination for them. The only thing that remained of the quit inverted child was the gold cross that she wore around her neck.

True she was different but she had changed for the better. She had become a strong and confident young woman and a straight “a” student but not so straight laced that she was considered uptight. She was popular and she held her share of the male population. Still she dreamt of having the power to protect others from the demons that had left her an orphan, a dream she kept secret.

Only he knew of the dream and she had yet to realize that he had gifted her the power, all she had to do was make a choice-a choice he was coming to give her.

The orphanage had planned a going away party for her that evening after the sun had set so she could see the rise of the full moon. The headmaster had thought that in this way he could give this angel a halo.

During the party the television suddenly came alive. A flash news report. Police had released some information on a ghastly mass murder and the TV showed some of the gory details of the crime scene. Police could only speculate that it was some cult of wannabe vampires. She felt a slight burning sensation in her eyes, just enough to be irritating and cause her to blink. When she opened her eyes and examined the scene on the TV she could see swirling demonic symbols in the blood splatters. “Demons” she mouthed and it went unheard.

She hurried out the door and to the scene of the crime. There the Police kept her at bay until a reluctant detective, she sensed something wrong with him, came out to ask her what she thought she knew. She tried to no avail to point out the demonic symbols, he did not see them-at least she didn’t think he saw them. Frustrated she had started to leave when she noticed him drawing something on his notepad; she snatched it away from him and saw the symbols. He did not get upset with her as she thought he might have, he simple asked that he talk to her in private as the Police didn’t want to alarm anyone. She agreed.

He lead her to a dark alley way and when they were far enough from the rest of the humans his fangs grew and he leapt at her with blinding speed-he had hoped for the quick kill. This vampire was in the service of a Pit Lord, a large brutal demon. She saw him leap and to her it was as if time had slowed down.

In fact it did in reality slow down. This Pit Lord had twisted his righteous creations into something grotesque and veil. These earth vampires were disgusting abominations to him. He was neither good nor evil but he was just and righteous. His vampire avatars had no need for this savage sanguine thirst nor did the need psychic energies of life force energies. The cosmos itself sustained them and gave unto them immortality-not like these bottom feeders. He knew how to destroy them forever and he knew that vampire against vampire would only make more questions and start more feuds and humans would be the one to pay the price. He would destroy them with their creation if she accepted his offer.

A nearby street modified Hyundai Eclipse presented itself to him and he gave it unto her. The stabilizer wing snapped off and attached to her left forearm forming a shield of sorts. A lug wrench ripped though the trunk and flew into her right hand giving her a weapon.

Time sped back to normal and the vampire soon found that that this defenseless girl now held shield and weapon. Without thinking she smashed the shield into him, deflecting him backwards and struck heavily with the wrench across his head knocking him to the ground. His surprise turned to fear as her eyes began to emit a golden light and his body began to bun and he found himself unable to move.

She knew her old friend had returned. She did not ask questions and she did not wait for him to speak. She told him that she would allow the interface but only if she did not have to forsake her God or her beliefs. He told her that she did not he would give her the power and he would give her access to his knowledge and avatars in return but she would have to become his Paladin, his holy warrior and she would have to absorb that which she destroyed. He knew her pure soul could easily defend itself from the tainted ones.

Her eyeteeth became sharp as she rubbed her tongue across them and the energy of the vampire in front of her exploded into a fiery eruption as its energy came to her. She accepted.

Armed with a spiritual armor resembling that of golden plate mail with matching shield and ethereal sword she would hunt the infestations of vampires and their demon masters that plagued earth. Her Paladin form can only be seen by the monsters that she hunted and only they could see her absorb the energies and feed upon her foes. His avatars supplied her with information and with provisions to do her job. She would hunt until she ran across destiny-the reason the vampire god had come to earth as on her hunt she would see a mutant so powerful that she could literally destroy and entire star system by herself-one whose fate was to save the universe.

After this meeting she requested new powers and new abilities – she would rid the universe of the vampire plague by feeding on all of them. She found she hungered for them. Lust had replaced compassion. She understood that she was still human.

'Cause I am always forgetting

2010-08-26T18:26:00.000-05:00

Because I am always forgetting my follow list for twitter.com
here it is:

My #FF:(1) @ceebee308, @KMWeiland, @AliciaLaraLA, @LukeRomyn, @lights_aurora, @meerasapra, @CHRISVOSS, @angelicshades ,@linc0lnpark

More #FF:(2) @dutchhillgirl,@inshin,@mikebeak,@dansk1,@Zorlone,@kenncrawford,@robertcrull,@jcimpellizzeri,@jay_novelist,@penguinusa

More #FF:(3) @aswinn, @TribeLit, @dbgrady, @Sixtiesguy,@robintnt,@EelKat, @rootnl2k, @LindaStamberger, @kellyshipp, @The_Gift_Tavern

more #FF:(4) @ing3nu, @just_some_lady, @NicolePeeler, @nandao, @kajjajja, @Derek_Haines, @beltonwriter, @werecat1, @pprmint777

More #FF:(5) @debbimack, @mikebeak, @Lou_Riddell, @GoldenAgeofGeek, @odellawilson, @portiaalex, @gayea, @storylet, @rebeccawoodhead

More #FF (6) @sandrawickham, @dbgrady, @MichaelBalkind, @Clipso1, @cjwrightbooks, @echyempties, @CathyLily , @ShireenJ, @Meggland

More #FF (7) @JoLynneValerie, @Vryka, @AllModConz, @Allison_Ellis, @Notebookinhand, @calistataylor, @prettyzombiegrl, @janicenchapman

More #FF (8) @Johnny_Helms, @JoTreggiari, @DorothyDreyer, @mcorvisiero , @welch6331, @raven1967, @jillmiddleton, @jkoyanagi, @VariantVal

More #FF (9) @iamwritermom, @MariamMKobras, @elizabethscraig, @dikeough , @jenku70, @Minervity, @winsloweliot, @Alexx73, @Shannon_Delany

More #FF (10) @LarisaWI, @JordanDrew, @AlishaHayes, @MamaAlfy , @Diverseman2020, @tahillia, @cfaryon, @Fenvy, @eveningfades, @FCTHR

Getting my Gift Tavern set up

2010-05-18T00:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry about not writing on this for a while, been super busy getting my small retail shop setup: The Gift Tavern. Located in Enid Oklahoma we (I, lol, can only afford myself as an employee) will be specializing in unique/hard to find trinkets,curiosities, novelties and such. In essence I will be selling "Dust Collectors", you know those things you place on shelves, counters and what not that are for looks only. Here are some images of what I have been doing to get the store ready.

The rest of the images are posted on my Facebook account. http://facebook.com/travis.mcdougald

Going to open doors to the public Friday May 21st...still got a lot of work to do and a lot of cleaning to do before then, also still need to create a logo for the store and a website.

The Five Cent Triangle | The Five Cent Triangle

2010-04-30T22:18:00.000-05:00

The Five Cent Triangle | The Five Cent Triangle

Finally, I have completed our ranch website :)

Will be updating most of the pictures on it soon :)

A little StarDust

2010-04-21T00:10:00.000-05:00

Howdy,
Today's blog is about a newly acquired 2 year old filly named "StarDust."

We bought her April 18th at the horse sale in Alva Oklahoma. She was just brought off the pasture and never been handled before, we took her to our pasture and let her stay the night there. Yesterday on the 19th we went and brought her home. Please understand that I live in Enid Oklahoma and our pasture is 2 and half miles west of Laverne Oklahoma, this is a 127 mile trip on way...so it takes a full day to go get a horse and bring it back to Waukomis Oklahoma, 7 miles south of Enid to the stables we rent there.

   Normally I would have used the round pen to run her for a little while until she decided to join with me, unfortunately we have had a lot of rain and the round pen in Waukomis is flooded :(
therefor I went with option two....

  keep in mind that all of my training is hands on and do not attempt what I do at home because you will get hurt, animals give me a little lee way because I think and act like them. This is NOT a how to train blog this is just what I have done with this horse today and the way I do things. Again DO NOT attempt to train the way I do.

   Option two was to get into the stall with her and slowly walk around. I do this with my thumbs in my front pockets and I walk slowly and relaxed. I wanted her to get used to the Idea that she was not alone. The biggest trick to training a horse is to make them move their feet, if you can do that you can train them, the question is whether you make them move their feet the way you want them to.

   Horses are social animals and pecking order is very important to them. They either have to be in charge or know who is in charge. To train you have to be the one in charge and to do that you have to build trust and let the animal know you are not going to hurt it, once you do that everything else is gravy.

On the above picture you can see my cotton lunge line around her neck. Since I could not do the round pen way this is the other option, but I do also rope them in the round pen, it is good for the horse to know that the rope is a part of you and is not going to hurt them. Now before I roped her I walked with her for about 30-45 minutes to get her all nice and comfortable, I did not throw the rope until she gave to me. How did she give? Well she stopped and let me walk past her, when she did that she understood that I was not going to hurt her. After I walked past her on both sides (always remember that what you do on one side of a horse you do on the other side as well, a horse's brain is divided) then I just gingerly started to swing the rope around, not near her and not at her. Once she calmed with the swing I tossed the rope at the ground for a little bit until she got comfortable with that on both sides. All of a sudden it went around her neck, she bolted around the stall pen twice and then started to relax with it. She is really a good little mare.

Above: her you can see I have a rope halter on her, loosely. Making a halter too tight at first will make the horse skittish of them. I always start with a rope halter because of the ease of putting them on and I always make them loose at first. The reason for it being loose is because she is going to fight the halter for a bit and I want her to understand it is not going to hurt her.

Above: You can see my web halter and lead rope on the fence, I always put stuff on the fence so that the horse can smell and sniff them during break time. Also her I am approaching her with a now tighten rope halter, she is not sure she wants me to touch her because I just tightened the rope halter a few minutes before this picture. Notice that even though she is nervous and unsure that she is calm at the same time.

Above: Change of halters. My lunge line was placed around her neck while I changed halters. She too the web halter better than I expected, usually because they jingle a little bit horses will shy away from them. Rope halters are quiet because they have no metal parts.

Above: Some halter practice. I always put on and take off the halters 10 times when I get them to stand for them. I will do that every time I mess with her for a week and after that she will want to take the halter with no fussing, also makes them extremely easy to catch out in the pasture because they are not afraid of the halter.

Above: Now we have web halter and lead rope....time to learn what LEAD means.

We start with a slow gentle pull for 15 seconds and then I give her a break for 10 seconds, we do that until she gives her feet and moves. Because this is the first day and she has already been through a lot at this point I am not asking for much, just want her to take 1 step. We do one step at a time for a while and then we do 2 steps and so on.

It's a little bit of loving and I am gone until supper time, today at supper because she has learned a lot and she was so good all I did was feed. The process from untouchable wild pony to halter and lead rope was 5 and half hours. A long day for any 2 year old.

Ever wish?

2010-03-20T23:46:00.000-06:00

Ever wish you could be someone else?

I do all the time. Being a writer I have the distinct ability to become someone else for a short period of time in my stories and to become someone in someone else's stories.

I am just a poor cowboy now with a broken body and a spirit that just won't quit. Re-Building my life and trying to create a future for those that follow me. Once I was the cool kid, the guy every other guy wanted to be. I don't do sports, hunt, fish, watch cars do left turns or any of those other manly man things, but everyone wanted to be me. Once I was on top of the world, had women coming out of my ears.

How?

Easy answer. Will probably get un-followed by a few people for it. I was a DJ in an adult entertainment club. Have the t-shirts to prove it. I had all the women I could want, made tons of money and all the beer I could drink (free). Yet even then I wasn't happy.

Got married in 2004, my wife ran karaoke then, to an intelligent (or so I thought at the time) woman who also loved to write and play the same video games I did. It was great for about eight months until she started using characters and things out of my stories for her own, that got aggravating really quickly but we got over that. We have been separated since 2006, heck I don't even know where she is at to get the divorce, but that is neither here nor there. The point of telling that was to point out that when I got upset and things started to weigh heavily on me I would go write a story or plot out a new novel idea. When I didn't want to be me I could go be some Herculean brute with fantastic abilities and save the world.

To this day I still do that. Not always with the current story I am working on but I have a lot of no plot meaningless stories on my computer that are nothing more than when I don't want to be me. Some days I am The AMAZING: Captain Amazing or other days I am Xanos Barbarian warrior whose only goal is to fight civilization from his lands. I have lots of people I can be when I am typing and having my alone time. I do only do that when I am alone and I am typing, once I am away from my keyboard and the story I am just plain old Travis, redneck and cowboy with a broken back and wrist trying to make another day.

Dream or Omen?

2010-03-18T20:35:00.001-06:00

Last night I had a dream.

keep in mind I don't have dreams, I have nightmares so vile that if I were to describe them you would get sick and vomit, don't say you won't because everyone I have told including horror freaks and morticians have vomited.
  Last night I had a dream...It was weird. Not sure if it was a dream or an omen. You decide. Since I write science fiction this did not come from my wild and uninhibited imagination.:

   I said goodbye to it as I was about to close the thick iron door to its vault. Prepared to lock and wield it shut so that nothing more could get it, it had suffered enough.
   The metal that surrounded it was torn and ripped, scars ran deep into and the savage claw marks were visible as it hung there wrapped in razor wire from the ceiling. The ominous thumbing echoed in the vault chamber and blood still poured from its deep wounds, the worst almost splitting in two. Still it tried to stand proud and beat all of its worth, with flesh pounding on its steel casing, it beat. Wounds so deep that time could not heal bled forth as blood flowed and covered the floor.
   My heart had been through a lot and toughened when others had crumbled. It was time to protect and shut it away from the dangers of the world and other hearts. Only the razor wire held together the broken pieces, no heart should live like that.
   As the vault door began to squeak closed I heard a voice from inside. I should have never looked, should have closed the door.
   Inside the vault suddenly appeared and angel. I could not make out many features outside of it was definitely female and for some strange reason its exact height came to my mind: 5 foot 7.
   I couldn't tell how much it weighed only that she was slender with a slightly athletic build. She floated in the air and in front of my heart. Her right palm was extended to me.  The way she dressed threw me for a loop. She had thigh high black leather boots with a 4 inch spiked heel on them, light green fishnet stockings, a light violet skirt (only hung to her mid thigh) a light blue sleeveless shirt that was v-necked, a light violet corset over that, repeated the light green fishnet on her wrist and light violet fingerless gloves. Her right wrist had and over sized jade bracelet. Her hair shown like the sun and I could not see the color of her eyes or any facial features very clearly at all, if it was not for the figure having breast I wouldn't have assumed it be female until she spoke.
   Her voice was like a cosmic symphony of beautiful melodies. It was the most pleasing thing I have ever heard.
   "Stop" she commanded.
   "Why?" I responded in disbelief of what I was seeing.
   "Because it can not heal if you lock it away," She answered.
   "It can not get hurt anymore if I lock it away, it's been through enough."
   "I will not argue that." Her answer shocked me as I was expecting a fury of cliché's to be rocketed my way.
   "So I can lock the vault with you inside?"
   "If you do then you will not heal."
   "But I don't want to heal." I responded as I once again began to shut the door.
   "You have waited this long, what is the difference if you wait a little longer?" She asked.
   "I....I don't know." I answered, it was as if she knew something I didn't. I looked up at her.

and that is where I woke up. I honestly have no clue to the significance of all of this. "It was just a dream" is what I have been repeating to myself all day long. Maybe I have thought about it too much today and it was just some fanciful part of my imagination taking flight, I'm not sure. I am also not sure why I was compelled to share this in a blog, usually I don't tell anyone about my dreams.
Thanks for reading and seeing my psychosis. Have a great day.

28 March 2010

I have closed the door and welded it shut trapping the angel or whatever inside forever. No one in and no one out.

Scrub last post

2010-03-15T00:32:00.000-06:00

I noticed in my last post that there are still several mistakes in it, that is okay though. It was after actually reading the blog post rather than my MS Word file that I came unto an epiphany about it all.

Two major influences that I will say thank you to are"

Angela Sasser Angelic Shades and K.M. Weiland Wordplay

and while I am thinking about it I must also add some of my Twitter pals that help keep me sane and thinking,
Claude Bouchard http://bigceebee.webs.com/; Jo Lynne Valerie www.JoLynneValerie.com , www.JoLynneValerie.blogspot.com; Megg Only Megg; Alicia Lara http://www.alicialara.com/
and the list goes on and on.
just to name a few of my tweet pals who are always ready for my insanity.

Thank you to everyone that I have forgotten, just way too many folks to list in the blog.

Keep an eye as this will change and reflect a new website.

When dealing with an epic the only way is to be epic.

My love, thanks and gratitude go out to everyone that reads this :)

My Office

2010-03-10T21:29:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my office!

Cowboy Version.

This is where I work, 160 acres of equine bliss.

This is our office Tweeter, she keeps us apprised on all the latest grass and grain news.

Our team of Networking Specialist:

Our Social Specialist:

Corporate C.E.O.'s in a meeting:

Water Fountain:

Back-Up Power Supply Unit:

And now for our cubical space:

See all the gadgets that every office needs. :)

Thanks for looking.

more to be posted at http://fivecenttriangle.com in the next couple of weeks.

My Poison.

2010-03-09T22:35:00.000-06:00

Every person has their own poison.

on June 12 2009 Laura Malissa Hunt was murdered by her boyfriend.

My poison, my addiction stripped away from me.

I am angry because I did not get to even get say goodbye.

It would begin every spring when we would start calling each other. Laughing, teasing, supporting and whining about our respective mates. We were close, closer than most people even dare to be. We had a long and fun friendship.

Laura was the one person that I could always call, not matter what time it was or what she was doing, for anything and vice versa. Our worlds stopped for each other. On so many levels, the strength of our friendship and our need for each other was amazing, we were not compatible. No matter how silly or serious, if we needed anything from each other the world stopped for that.

Not many people you can call at 4 am because you had a good dream and they understood you were scared out of your mind, make coffee and breakfast and then come over. Laura was one of the few people that understood that if I had a good or sweet dream that it was an omen that something bad was going to happen in real life, I dream in nightmares so violent that they make the most hardcore horror movies look like children's Christmas movies. I have always dreamed in such manner-gives reason why I don't watch horror movies, they put me to sleep.

Weird huh?

In 1998 when I needed someone, she was there. She told her boyfriend to drive himself home just so I would have a shoulder to cry on. I cried for three weeks and she was there everyday, never asking for anything. I still wake in tears every morning. Laura helped me to understand that it was okay to do so.

Now that spring is beginning to dawn, I find myself depressed and mopey. For the first time in 16 years I don't have Laura to call. No Laura to argue with, no Laura to laugh with and no Laura to cry with. No more Laura.

Sure there are other people in my life, such as my best friend Jay and my other good friend Billy, both of whom knew her well. It's one thing to talk to your guy friends about stuff but it's a whole other to have a female friend that you can be close to, one who knows your dark secrets, one who knows your soul.

Now I live as a hermit out here in small town America, I don't talk to anybody but my friend Jay (who lives with me right now). I am keeping myself as separated from the physical human world as I can. Might not be fair but it is what I need, I am gonna lose my mind this year when June 12th hits and I know it.

She was my poison and now I have none. She kept me sane and helped me make sense of the world.

That is why I have seemed and will seem distant. Forgive me if you know me.

An excellent question.

2010-03-08T11:48:00.000-06:00

What is your biggest challenge with character development?

Somebody asked me on formspring that last night. That is really an excellent question.

My response was (because I was trying to make a definitive answer)

The placement of the character with in the universe and their influence(s) upon it. I do not think nor contain my characters only within the story, I think of a broader universal aspect that brings them to life within the story. The hardest part is answering "What are they going to do to be remembered?"

*****************************************************************************

In reality when I create a story I start with the characters involved. The biggest question I answer to myself is "Why?" as in why is the characters there, why doe he/she do what they do. Pretty basic and easy starts for any character is answering "Why?" and giving them reason.

The reality of life is that no matter what we do we affect someone else. Unless you are Adam at the time of creation then you affect someone else. It might be just something as insignificant as a smile or being polite but we touch other people and that ripples throughout all eternity.

Everyone wants to be remembered for something, even those that say they don't and those that are manic depressives, we all want to be remembered. The advantage of writing is creating that hero who does something so amazing that people want to remember them, and what do they really want to be remembered for? Does Joe Hero want people to remember him because he save the Solar System or does his alter ego geek persona want the shy girl in the corner to notice him because he is a nice guy?

When you start diving into what the characters might want to be remembered for then they start getting interesting and it becomes fun to make up stuff that they will be remembered for but not might want to be remembered for. Interesting plot twist and comical routines all come out of this. Therefore for me that is the hardest part of character creation, "What do they want to be remembered for?"

Reason of logic

2010-03-02T13:23:00.000-06:00

Reason of logic

"Logic is Chaos marbled through the illusion of control" is one of my sayings.

Why do I say that, because it is true. Logic and reasoning are an illusion that we must understand to be able to see the chaos on the other

side. Balance is an Universal/cosmic law. One thing cannot exist without the other.

As a writer this gives me flexibility to do whatever as long as my stories maintain the balance with correct logic and chaos.

Life with death, mortality with immortality, Good with evil, not so good with not so evil, etc, etc, etc... A balance and checks must always be in

place. Logic cannot exist without chaos, Star Trek is a prime example of that rule. We live in a balance everyday of our lives and our character's

worlds must also have that balance.

Balance at its roots can be fun. Most writers naturally write the balance of things into their works because it is reflected every day, however,

when you dive deep into balance things begin to get twisted.

Good vs. Evil has been done since the beginning of time...a bit of a redundant boar because good always wins.

Evil Vs Evil, a bit more interesting but in the end...good guy always wins.

Evil pitting good vs. other evil or other good.....good guy always wins...more drama.

Hardest to pull off is Good Vs Good.

At least most people think it is hard to pull off. Actually it is easy to set up using varying degrees of goodness. Making it interesting is

what is hard. Good people fight, fuss, and argue all the time.

*******************************************************************

I try to dive as deep into the balance of things as I can when I write by using simple chaos.

Everyone and everything has flaws and ideology as well as cosmic energy, chaos into logic.

There are people who are idealistic, extremist, fanatics, dreamers and them there are people who are nonchalant about what goes on around

them. Emotions also play heavily into everything such as love/hate, compassion/lack of, hope/despair and faithfulness/lack of. Everything in the balance

become a play toy to be shaped and molded. Just because something is good does not mean it is righteous and vice versa because something is evil does not

necessarily mean it is wrong. Evil can be true of heart and compassionate to its cause, righteousness does not always mean true of heart. Belief is

another play toy that I love. Very seldom does good ever doubt its belief but evil almost always does."Am I doing the right thing?" It is a simple

question with hard answers.

I evaluate all of that stuff when I create characters and situations for them. Without the balance then I have no story to tell, no conflict to convey and nothing special to say. Balance gives unto conflict and conflict unto chaos and chaos unto logic. what?

Chaos cannot create logic. I have heard that all of my life. Right. Without chaos logic can not exist and without logic there is no chaos. Only in absolute and perfect perfection is there no chaos or logic and also no story. How do you write a story where the characters do not have the ability to make a mistake and the universe has no drama? Where is the fun when Joe Public wakes up every day to a perfect life of goodness and grandeur and so does his wife and his kids and his neighbors and his friends? Where is the challenge of overcoming or the puzzles to solve or the alternate routes to take. In a perfect universe none of these exist. There is only pure good or pure evil, nothing to do, nobody to fight with, and really no reason to get out of bed because there is nothing that is going to go wrong.

Universal balance gives us the medium in which to create that which we love and cherish. All things in moderation. Too much on either side leads to boredom, too little leads to tears (Such as "Why did i buy that stupid book?" from the consumer...author cries.)

Diving deep into the balance of things and using the tools it gives us allows for the creation of epic tales and fantastic stories.

I ♥ Books ~ Book Reviews: Book Review - Beautiful Creatures

2010-02-27T22:31:00.000-06:00

I ♥ Books ~ Book Reviews: Book Review - Beautiful Creatures

Getting Closer

2010-02-27T02:13:00.001-06:00

After many self debates http://www.eternitys-end.com/ is getting closer to being finished. It is my writing website where as http://keivamp.com/ is my personal website. I have some strange desire to keep them separate in my head. I'm a writer so that should be on my personal site right?
Naw.
I am a writer and my writing should have it's own site.
My personal site is for stuff I do while not writing. Personal site are supposed to let people get to know you better. I have seen a great many of these site that say "well here I am" and nothing more really.
Being drupal sites they have their own blogs and forum which is really helpful but for the writing site I am going to keep this blog as an external blog and not run the internal. There are times when I just want to make a quick blog and go and if I do that on my site I will get distracted and the blog won't come out well.
Some of what is on http://keivamp.com/ will be moved to http://www.eternitys-end.com/
so keep a watch out and I will post it all when it is ready.

My first editing experience.

2010-02-26T07:33:00.000-06:00

   My first editing experience.
   After a bit of conversations on Twitter.com with K. M. Weiland I decided to do a post about my editing experience, Publisher will remain anonymous but the editor I worked with was just fantastic: Angela Sasser.

K. M. Weiland's Blog
http://www.wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/

Angela Sasser's Blog.
http://angelicshades.blogspot.com/

   At first I was apprehensive, scared and nervous. For starters I am 40 and have read the great master's of the written word, not the new ones but the greats. Angela was 26 when we started. My first thought was that she was too young to work on my epic masterpiece (and yes everything I write is an epic masterpiece, just ask me I'll tell you).
   Angela was not what I expected. I had expected great fights and arguments, instead, the only thing I can figure was that she knew I worried about her youth,  it was an enlightening experience and the novel changed from epic to even better epic. The first thing Angela did was find out what Science Fiction writers I read and the ones that inspired my Science Fiction. She researched that and made some excellent reading recommendations. Second she wanted to know what kind of music I listen to and suggested I send her my playlist (Oh my stars and garters--I am ex-D.J. I had to make a playlist of my favorite 1000 songs out of literally millions of them. My computer has terabytes of mp3's ripped from the original CD's and LP's). Since I listen to a wide variety of music with the emphasis being on heavy metal she found my playlist intriguing to say the least.
   Angela got to know me and my influences before she started on the epic edits. She was a breathe of fresh air. She had a clear and cognitive sense of my superiority complex and super genius IQ, she did a wonderful job avoiding both of those.
   At first my story was in present tense, good story wrong tense. Angela pointed out that in the epilogue that the story was a memory and suggested I try to write in the past tense to clarify it. She stated If I didn't like it done that way then we would go back to the present tense. Wow...I can't lose, no harm in trying.

   Know what?

   The story sounded better and felt better in the past tense and things inside the story made more sense.

   Another thing she pointed out was that I grew up old school and read old school where everyone just said everything. She asked me to look up speaking terms and apply them to my characters. I did and found far more creativity in my prose than she said/he said.

   It was Angela's way of suggesting things that made that experience great and we are friends because of it, I have a great deal of respect for her. She would suggest things that did not come as an invasion to what I already knew but came as a way to inspire creativity and help push myself to be better.

   I learned through this experience that I did not know what I should have. I was unaware that my writing was in a rut and my creativity had not been, well, creative. Still my epic masterpiece is now that. It sounds epic and it feels epic. Now it will be epic.

   Angela was one of the reasons I came to get into the social networking systems and I am a much better person because of it. It is so wonderful to read and write and ask question and get answers and find new inspirations almost everyday.

   Thanks again Angela.
************************************************************
   My mother had quite the opposite experience with her editor.

   First of all my mom is 68 and grew up on a farm. She is a poet and she has done a great many things in her life but her poetry revolves around her roots.

   http://janicenchapman.com/

   Her first editor did not know the western way of life and really should not have been assigned to her. There are things that we just grow up knowing out here in the wild west. The only thing her editor knew of the western life was from TV and made a comment on one poem that she hadn't seen that episode yet. TV is for entertainment, doesn't show you want the life is actually about. My Mom writes about the everyday stuff we do, such as saddling a horse or playing with a foal. Animals do funny stuff almost everyday and the inspire my Mother to write poetry. One editor she had did not know what a Latigo was and wanted her to change the poem. Matter of fact several poems because they did not know the terminology of horse tack, wagons, cattle, brands and a whole list of others. Out here we grow up on Gene Autry, John Wayne, Lee VanCleef, and a host of others.
   My mother had to ask for another editor because she was not about to change her writing and poem because the one she had didn't understand them. Cowboy poetry does require someone that knows a little bit about the cowboy life to be able to edit it.
**********************************************************
Thanks for reading.

a bit of playing around

2010-02-21T15:58:00.000-06:00

I kinda think I like this style, Playing a around a bit. Please tell me what you think.

“Death, here I stand for my judgment.”

Like ghost slipping through a spectral wall, those words have echoed through the life forms in the Sol Solar System for the last five years only spoken as half-whispers and reverence. Every sentient being knew the words and they knew who had spoken them and why, save one seventeen year old girl who lived as an outcast in the technologically superior society that was Earth.

Friskily the fires of the flame played with the bottom of her Wok; swiftly she stirred the rice inside. She smiled sweetly as the fruits of her hard work were about to unfold into a correctly made Japanese dinner. She had grown and harvested the rice and her hands had forged the stove and Wok, she was happy to finally being doing this simple act of cooking correctly. Tonight she would not dine on burnt food and that made her heart swell with pride. A sunbeam danced on the luster of her gold hair, reflecting back and forth between the strands, while she cooked.

The up curve of her nose tinged for a moment, a new scent had infiltrated through the perfume of the oak and maple trees that surrounded her small home. Though it really only had two rooms, a separate bathing area and a living area it was big enough for her and she knew it well as she knew the surrounding forest.

She stirred the rice until her nose alerted her again.

Three new scents, two of them were male and one was female. The female was human.

She growled with clinched teeth “The one time I do this right something has to mess it up.”

Quickly she doused the fire with a nearby bucket of water, grasped a pair of chopsticks and disappeared into the forest. Her crystal blue eyes were attentive to every detail. Her ears strained to hear every sound while she followed her nose like a trained bloodhound.

Precise, light and calculated steps of an exotic dancer guided the woman known only as “Maiden” towards her prey. She made no sound as she moved through the wooded area as she carefully balanced each step with a precision that would have made a snake jealous. Though she was not familiar with her surroundings, she was familiar with what might happen if she alerted her prey. Hundreds of years of experience and well-honed mercenary skills allowed her to silently cascade through the trees undetected or at least so she thought.

“Something is not right,” she whispered in a calm tone as her bluish, mechanically enhanced, eyes barely detected the flame extinguishing. Quickly she scanned every light spectrum. There was no sign of her prey.

Re-Work

2010-02-21T01:50:00.000-06:00

Since I am examining my writing and seeing where I can improve I have decided that I am also going to re-work my writing website. http://www.eternitys-end.com/ will be down for about 3 or 4 days as I get some things done to it and things installed into it. Some of http://www.keivamp.com/ will be moved to it as well. http://keivamp.com is my personal website and separate from my writing site. Be patient and soon I will have something with content and dazzling brainstorms (maybe brain mist)

Notes on writing from around the web.

2010-02-20T16:01:00.002-06:00

These are just kinda things that I have jotted down from running around the web and looking.
**************************************************************************
Book

Character stuff-

-Sympathy-Loss/loneliness/in justice-something bad
-Identification-nobility of some sort
-Empathy-Emotional intensity
-Transport-Inner conflicts
-Make character's dynamic
-Need to be good at something
-Need to be wacky with something
-Characters should be contrasted not only with each other, but also
with their setting
-Ruling passions
-Ego States
-make them Duel Characters...ie having dual ego's

Story stuff-
-Begin with story question-an opening paragraph that raises questions and hooks readers
---Story questions=hooks
-Create Anxiety-nervenous about something
-Produce Menace--bad situation/thing for the character--either have the character produce it or be influenced by it
-Menacing your character puts him or her in terrible trouble.
-Premise is a statement of what happens to the characters as a result of the
core conflict of the story.There are three types of premises: (1) chain reaction, (2) opposing
forces, and (3) situational.
-Strong Narration-does not use general words but describes specifics.
-Narrator and Author should be different personalities
-Narrator is a character
--Reworking a story in different voices stregthens the narration.
-A contrivance is the author solving the characters' problems
for them. Avoid contrivances at all cost.
-Don't be timid, don't have timid characters
-Write Passionately
-Create a masterpiece

Proving a Premise:
parts:
-THE PROLOGUE:
-THE OPENING INCIDENT:
-THE INCITING INCIDENT
-FIRST COMPLICATION:
-etc
-THE CLIMAX:
THE RESOLUTION:
******************************
Proof:
• Is the premise proved?
• Are there any superfluous complications?
• Are there ironies and surprises?
• Do the characters grow and develop?
• Is the story worth writing?
**********************************************************************************
http://www.wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/
is always a good source.

Hoped they helped.

Intruding into the personals

2010-02-19T12:54:00.000-06:00

New thoughts and new dimensions have entered my brain causing me to take a fresh new look at my stories.

I am not a blogger so don't expect to be the "OMG...I have got to follow that"

Due to recent problems I am getting all rights to my novel returned to me. I am not going to whine or go into detail about that.

What I am going to talk about is fresh perspective. Sounds like an art blog right? Wrong.

To write one must have a special love for it that comes from deep with in the soul and supersedes any thing else.
A couple of recent blog post have made me do some soul searching.

I was so excited about finally sitting down and writing a novel that I only concentrated on the novel aspects of it. Its a good story and an okay novel in my humble opinion, I would honestly read me but I don't think that I would be addicted to me as an author that I would buy everything I released as soon as I did and I surely wouldn't make me one of those authors that I collect, like Heinlein or Asimov. I really could not put my finger on it until recently, more stories are solid and my style reflect that of authors I grew up on so that part is okay. Through some reading and soul searching I think I know what I am doing that is only mediocre and not reflective of the epics I write.

Yes I write epics...every writer does, just ask them. :P

What am I missing?

Quarks....I missed the mindless quarky stuff we all do. My characters move from scene to scene and have some great dialog but they are only characters. Really and truly I did not do that intentionally. I forgot to add in cute flaws and other stuff that bring them to life, so concentrated on the novel I was that I forgot to make them human.

This Video Game Writing blog by Kimberly Unger
http://www.ungerink.com/?p=296 helped me realize some of my bloat and continuity issues. It's really worth reading for any genre of writing.

This Webcast by K.M. Weiland
http://wordplay-kmweiland.blogspot.com/2010/02/making-your-character-steal-show.html
helped bring to light that my characters are just that. Now I know where my stories lack and what to do about them.

Where do I go from here?
Step 1) Examine my stories
   a)Make sure the continuity and flow are correct.
   b)Make sure the dialog and settings are correct.
Step 2) Rewrite.
   a)If the step 1 check is okay, rewrite for personality.
   b)add what is missing, such as flaws, defects, and other personal stuff the the characters.
Step 3)Review
   a)Make sure it is the story I want to write.
   b)Make sure it is a story I want to read.
Step 4)Write it.

Thanks for reading...Stay Tooned.

keivamp's musings

2010-02-16T12:04:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago when I finally decided to make my personal website, http://keivamp.com, I was really unsure of what I wanted to do. I have owned the domain for the last couple of years but it has been basically left blank...Now i know what I want to do with it so keep tabs on it as it is a work in progress. I will say that it is a Drupal site and I am impressed at the ease of the new Drupal release. I tried to use Drupal a couple of years ago and found myself getting lost on the back end administration, however I can not say that now. The new Drupal system has saved me from having to program my own CMS. http://drupal.org if you want to find out more.

*********************************************************************************
Last night was the first night since I can remember that when I laid down to go to sleep I actually went to sleep.
It was not because of exhaustion or being tired, rather that my mind wasn't lingering on weird or silly stuff. After an amazing and engaging conversation I found that when I laid down I was ready for sleep. It's really awesome to connect with someone that can intellectually stimulate you. I actually enjoyed dreaming, which is a first for me as I am usually plagued by nightmares (hard life and all that good jazz). The only thing I found difficult was saying "Good Night" as our conversations usually have me jazzed up and inspired. Being who I am and how I am it is difficult for me to say that I crave conversation from a Human but I do as I must now digress and admit to my barbaric and animal-ish ways.