Author - Jon Teetsell

Doctor Who

2012-02-23T08:50:00.000-05:00

In 2005, my friend Lee was so excited. We worked together at a law firm, in their IT Dept and sat next to each other. Lee being from the UK and I, from the USA, we loved to chat about things from the perspective of our native countries. X-Files was pretty much history, and at the time, I would only watch American sports on TV. This was actually quite boring, since sports had started to become unappealling to me. I really miss those days because it felt as though 2005 was a year in which I left my cacoon to be the person I am today. One of the TV shows he had been excited about was the upcoming return of Doctor Who. I had heard of Doctor Who, but only in a passing joke from Rowan Atkinson's skit at a comedy show from years back.

As time marches on, of all of Lee's suggestions, it was the one show that I did not follow up on.

Five years later, while flipping past channels, I came across BBC America and saw an interesting show was on. It was the 2010, Doctor Who Christmas Special. Michael Gambon played a scrooge in what seemed to be a bit of a steampunk world, in which fish could swim through the clouds. To say that I am obsessive, is an understatement. I had five years of catching up to do and I rushed to Best Buy to purchase my latest obsession. Season by season, I was enthralled. I even managed to get my sister into it.

To give a summary, Doctor Who is a Time Lord who uses a time machine to travel through time and space. The time machine takes the form of a 1950's era Police Box from London (see above). The main thing that gives the show longevity (1961 - 1989 & 2005 - Present), is the fact that the Doctor can die. If he dies, he regenerates into a new Doctor with all new personality traits and appearance. A new actor would take over the leading role of the show with an entirely different outlook. It's almost as if he's a different person assuming the identity of a Legendary Character, right? The Doctor is usually accompanied by a young girl and nowadays that the Doctor is played by younger actors, there can sometimes be an attraction between the Doctor and his Companion.

Doctor Who has everything when it comes to entertainment. Deep down to its core, it's a Sci-Fi television show and is good for all ages. This April, we'll begin the seventh season of the latest run of Doctor Who. If you have BBC America, it's worth giving it a look. Enjoy!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

2012-02-16T08:52:00.001-05:00

"I can't deal with Sci-Fi," said anonymous. "It's too wierd."

"Sure you can," I said. "A story is a story. Sci-Fi really is just background. Have you ever seen Star Wars?"

"No."

"Lord of the Rings?" I asked.

"Ha," said anonymous. "No way."

This person actually told me that as a Sci-Fi geek, we can't communicate on that level. It was my turn to laugh. Alternate History has been disguised as Sci-Fi for a while now. Our sixteenth president battling Vampires to me, is the perfect example. Fans of Abe who are looking for something a little different would enjoy this novel. Fans of Jane Austen might enjoy "Pride & Prejudice and Zombies". Perhaps "Sense & Sensibility and Sea Monsters"?

Turtledove has an entire collection of alternate history novels. What if the south won the civil war? Would it have meant that we would have sided with the Nazi's in World War II? How would technology have evolved if such an event occured? Today's Sci-Fi writer will be remembered tomorrow as a Science Pioneer.

The same is true of all life. When we look to the future, we prepare ourselves for what is to come. In the case of this blog, we can sometimes look to the past and wonder what would have happened if luck did not favor the victorious at that moment in time. It is said that the survivors tell the stories of the past. Surely there must be some piece of history which has been fabricated by a really good storyteller, right? If at the end of the book, you found entertainment and possibly learned one or two things, then the job of the storyteller is done.

Ever wonder what would have happened if King George and King Louis saw the writing on the wall with all of these revolutionary types and actually stamped them down before they got out of control? No? Perhaps not....

What scares you?

2012-02-13T11:59:00.000-05:00

Do you have any childhood fears? Before any answer creeps into your head, I want you to dismiss any fears of losing your job, the death of a loved one or even your own death. I want you to start thinking about that shadow over by the dresser when you are trying to go to sleep at night. Well, we all have those shadows, but it's what our brain tells us it is that really defines what we're scared of, right? Is it a witch? Is it an alien? Is it Jack the Ripper? They all take a similar shape, but what we convince ourselves it is what really makes us scared.

I have two basic fears which materialize in two ways. That shadow in the corner? Yeah, that's a witch. That brush of air against the hairs on my neck? That's a spider. I guess, psychologically, I could say I'm afraid of women who are furious with me. That would explain the witch. Everyone who knows me knows that I get violent when I'm tickled. It kind of explains the spiders. It's more than that though. I'm not one of those people who go around telling themselves that they don't give a damn. If a woman is or has been furious with me, I can pretty much turn them off with my mental radar so quick that I barely register what they're even mad at. When I asked, "What's wrong?", it's because I turned down all of the shouting and decided to come back once things got calm. Spiders? Little known fact about me - I used to be an exterminator. I worked for Terminix. To say I have killed a few spiders in my time would be an understatement.

A good storyteller can overcome all of the mental barriers we've put up since our childhood. They can remind you of every night you spent under your blankets as a child believing, against all odds, that if you stay under the blanket and stay quiet, this demonic force of evil will give up and leave you alone. A good storyteller can make you scratch yourself absentmindedly as you read about the colony of fire ants covering the crying child entirely. Even writing that last sentence kicked in my "defender of all children" program.

The true masters of horror found a way to get inside every readers head and plant irrational ideas which scare the daylights out of them. We all have different fears, but the master of horror can get you scared of something you're normally not afraid of for a period of time. I'm not scared of sharks. I'm fascinated by them. I love sharks. A master of horror though, can change my love into fear for a few hours though. After Jaws, I walked away from the movie very angry. I knew that there are now going to be more people who would be fine with the slaughter of these wonderful creatures. I also give a nod to Peter Benchley and Steven Spielberg for being so masterful at their craft. It kind of makes you wonder what would happen if they put their talents towards making your scared of other things you're normally not scared of, right? America loves cars, right? Each household will generally have more than one car, which shows the national devotion.

Ever heard of a book called Christine? What about Maximum Overdrive?

We all know about Southern Hospitality in America right? Ever see Deliverance?

Kindle Fire - A week in the life

2012-02-02T08:32:00.000-05:00

First, please understand that I'm not here to push a product. I do not own any stock in Amazon or Apple. I happen to own a Kindle Fire, which I also happen to really like.

I was at a meeting with fellow writers from Staten Island and the discussion about eReader's became a topic with the most teeth for that day. Taking place in the Huguenot Library, surrounded by books, the Library manager had asked us what we thought of the future of libraries. He was referring to the hurricane of eReader's in the current market. eBooks will be outselling traditional books for eternity, but the question is, will traditional books go extinct?

This past week, my son played hours and hours of Angry Bird's on the Kindle Fire. I watch a TV show from the 90's called Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman). Regina was able to get caught up on Tudors, which is also a TV program. On an eReader!!! I have read a total of 1 book on that eReader and I think Regina has read a couple. In the meantime, I'm also reading Snuff, by Terry Pratchett (Hardcover). That is all I'm able to do with the book, so when I'm done reading it, I'll just put it on the shelf and may re-read it in a few years when my curiosity strikes.

It is because of that scenario that I rest my case. But, I digress...

You can cut down a tree, turn it into a bunch of books and after they are read (hopefully), and then they'll be put on a shelf taking up real estate. Not all eReader's can do everything described above, to be honest. If you were to be lucky enough to have an iPad 2, you'd be able to do that and more. The versatility of the eReader is causing many trees to breathe a sigh of relief.

The nail in the coffin comes down to economics. I have hundreds of hardcover and softcover books in my library. My shelves are no longer organized. Books have filled up the shelf to the point where other books sit on top of those books, as well as in front of them.

At an average of $20 per book, I must have spent around $4,000 dollars.

An eReader can cost about $300 - $500. An eBook can go anywhere from 99 cents to $20. At a greater up front cost, over time the eReader will save you money. And that is just from a book perspective. Try reading your favorite cancelled TV Show on a hardcover. Try playing your most addictive mobile game on a paperback or a magazine. Try ordering a pizza from your telephone book.

Above all, enjoy reading. It's just something to think about.

Author Profile - Terry Pratchett

2012-01-26T08:45:00.000-05:00

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Jingo

By now, many of you know that Terry Pratchett is a major influence on my writing. To take it a step further, he is also my favorite writer. Right now, Americans are saying "Terry who?". It can be said that Americans have a difficult time with British humor. Maybe it's a little dry, I don't know? I love it! My television defaults to BBC America, what can I say?

Terry Pratchett writes with some of the most complex sentence structure I've ever read. At times, I'll have to re-read a sentence just to make sure it said what I thought it said. It wasn't until I tried out a little experiment which really gave me that moment of clarity. I read the sentence aloud. My mind had been trained through the education system to expect sentences to be structured a certain way, but when I read Terry Pratchett aloud, I was surprised. This is how I speak. Granted, the Brits use slang which takes some getting used to for an American, but it really struck me as the easiest way to understand him completely. I took that idea to a Star Wars novel and it was a disaster. Once my mind was prepared for reading a Terry Pratchett novel, he standing as an author, in my mind, shot right to the top. It was amazing!

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”
― Terry Pratchett

I started writing Alorya with a bunch of Terry Pratchett novels under my belt, but continued writing as I had been taught. When I was a fan of John Elway, I emulated him as a quarterback. I watched Clyde Drexler and immediately went outside to see how high I could glide. Why not emulate Terry Pratchett as a writer? In America?!? Are you crazy?!? Yes and Yes. I think he deserves it. I think anyone who takes a "standard" and turns it on it's head is worth a second look. If it comes to them as second nature and they're really good at it, then you are watching a genius of your time at work. It is because humans are so brilliant that we were able to appreciate genius when the genius is still alive, right?

“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
― Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

As you read that passage from Good Omens, your brain is begging and screaming for a period. When you reach the end of the sentence though, it became a worthwhile journey (if you understand the humor). When I read it the first time, I had to read it one more time just to make sure. I did not laugh. I smiled and said, "Very interesting, Mr. Pratchett."

At times, people would come to me and tell me my sentence structure is a bit weird. At first glance, they say it's a run-on sentence. Inside, I smile and say, I know. I admittedly wrote a run-on sentence in a published book against the wishes of my editors. Why? To say 'thank you' to Mr. Pratchett!!!!!

“Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind.”
― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

“It's not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing it.”
― Terry Pratchett

Wizards and Robots - Can they co-exist? (Next on Maury)

2012-01-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

There are those of us who prefer fantasy stories. Give us a wizard, an elf or an orc any day of the week, right? We prefer our supernatural protagonists to live in an exclusively natural world. Others love the Sci-fi realm. We want robots, space shuttles and geeky technology that most everyone will be calling "normal" in 50 years. Finally, there are people like me who like both. I like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Dune and Lord of the Rings almost equally. All of those stories capture the escapism I look for, but they also bring the reader to see the world in another pair of eyes.

My question: Can both Sci-fi and Fantasy exist in the same story? I've heard quite a few "No!" answers and nearly had my head ripped off by a guy calling himself Stormageddon.

The entire story of Lord of the Rings could have been cut down to about 3 pages if Frodo had teleportation technology available. Star Wars would have been painful if Luke and his buddies had to walk to the Death Star, right? All of this pondering brought to mind one question: How do you write a story which can include both Sci-fi and Fantasy without making it ridiculous?

I used the simple element of time, in Alorya. There must have been a time when Captain Kirk's ancestors wore armor and bathe once a week. There also must have been a time when Gandalf would become complacent due to the fact that he's a wizard living in a world of men (and hobbits). After all, that is what Saruman's destiny was to become, right? The dominator of a Middle Earth now that the Elves had run off to the West.

In my Prologue, I created an instance in which the continents of men were separated from the continents of Wizards and Barbarians. They each evolved on their own for the most part, but as the technology advanced, they were in for a bit of conflict. During the days of men wearing armor and bathing once a week, the Wizards dominated them. As time progressed, the men discovered technology which would protect them from the Wizard. In the true tradition of "The best defense is a good offense", there had to be a point where men turned their technological advances toward weapons to be used against the Wizards.

It's probably not a good idea to put the Enterprise in orbit around Middle Earth or have Hogwarts facing off against the Death Star, but you have to think that there must have been a time when both genres were an interesting match. Let me stop before I start thinking about little blue elves in white hats co-existing with robots which transform in modes of transportation.

Book Interview on Staten Island Beacon

2012-01-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, I sat down with Megan McGibney to do an interview for my book Alorya. - Author Jon Teetsell Releases Pain and Book.

It was an absolute pleasure and easier than I thought it would be. As some people know, I'm a notoriously bad interviewer when it comes to job interviews. Amazingly, as soon as I got to chatting with Megan, I just opened up and let everything out. Of course, that evening I was kicking myself for not mentioning one thing or another, but overall I thought it was a good one.

We focused on what led me to writing Alorya and how it got to the place we are today. From there, we jumped from topic to topic with regards to a vampire book Megan is working on as well as the second piece in the Alorya saga.

It was fun and I'd want to do it again!

Good Reviews...

2012-01-10T23:21:00.000-05:00

... and other kinds of reviews.

I had a friend tell me today that Alorya is a bit confusing after the first few chapters. I thanked him for it.

Give it to me straight! I can take it! I'll only use it to get better at my craft. :-)

2012 - The Year of Alorya

2011-12-31T18:36:00.000-05:00

This is not one of my favorite holidays, in fact I think New Years is the most overblown holiday of the year. This doesn't take away from the fact that it's good for all of us to have new beginnings. In 2011, it was a year which brought about many new beginnings for me. As I think back to this same night last year, I thought of Alorya.
I had given up on publishing. The biggest problem I had then, was the same problem I have now. I admit, I get completely tongue tied when people ask me the simplest question: What is it about? It took me roughly 248 pages to tell the story and it would be about half as many pages to explain what it's about. Last year, I set as my resolution to get Alorya published.
On top of every rejection letter I had received, I placed a note which told me what I had done wrong. I learned to do this with job interviews and I found that it really helped. Over the course of the last few years, I had received correspondence from vanity presses which would basically take your money and give you a book. The one thing I knew more than anyone was that I was not a good enough writer to just have my book printed. I wanted to go the independent route, but I needed to go through the same trials that any author would go through to get published. I needed that round of editing, in which a professional would tell me how much they hated the story. The silver lining around that cloud was that they would also tell me how to improve it. I also needed someone to help me take the original problem I spoke of and find a solution. How do I explain what Alorya is about in under 120 pages? With the help of Matthew Ashdown, the task became more simple.

I once heard someone say that if they had a time machine, they'd go back in time and kill Hilter. I thought, if you had a time machine, why not go back in time and make sure Hitler was raised properly?

My little story of the birth of my son was built on the frame of an old Star Wars story I had been writing. Then I tied that question of what to do if you had the knowledge to prevent a disaster.

With the view inside the head of a madman with a laptop over, I thought I'd wrap this up and explain what I want to do next.

My next book has to do with the Sorcerer who holds dominion over Time.

This year, I want to market Alorya to the best of my ability. I want all of the marketing to pave the way for my second book. I'm also going to take part in a contest which has been a nemesis of mine for the last few years. (More to come on that).

I wish all of you a Happy New Year! I hope 2012 gives everyone a chance to make their dreams of 2011 come true.

Nicolas was... (by Neil Gaiman)

2011-12-27T15:29:00.000-05:00

Nicolas was older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter.
He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves' invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen into time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, sisyphus and Judas.
His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.
N. Gaiman
"Smoke and Mirrors"

Author copies have arrived!

2011-12-19T20:15:00.002-05:00

My paperback novels have arrived. They look wonderful!

Milestone - Publishing

2011-12-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

I feel like I should document the publishing of my book, Alorya. It's not up on Amazon or Barnes & Nobles as of yet, but it should be soon. I see the book posted on Amazon (albeit, Out of Stock) when I do an ISBN search.

All I can say is, I am not ready for this. I wanted my site to be better. I wanted to have book trailers ready. I wanted to say to you, the reader, that I think you are worth the time and effort of a good quality product, as well as a good story.

I will have all of these up and ready.

I apologize that I have not gotten these up before the publishing date.

All of that being said, I really do hope you enjoy the story.

Aiden,
We came a long way, didn't we?
Love,
Daddy

Star Wars - Who's in charge today?

2011-12-06T12:46:00.001-05:00

I'm going to leave out the chronological order of the Star Wars movies for the sake of making my point.

While playing Knights of the Old Republic, I was able to see that their were 3 main bodies of power to govern the people. The Republic government, the Jedi and the Sith. It was clear that the Republic would would be the tool which would either be used by the Sith or the Jedi. This lasted for thousands of years.

Once Palpatine is elected Chancellor, the galaxy is thrusted into over one hundred years of political chaos. Secretly a Sith, Palpatine uses bureaucracy, a war with confederate star systems and the Jedi to fashion himself Emperor. We Occupy Wall Street, but the Empire had a Rebel Alliance which destroyed the Death Star. This was definitely not a sustainable government, but I'm not sure Palpatine cared, really.

Luke Skywalker and the Alliance take down the head of the Empirical government creating a power vacuum which last for years. Imperial Remnant forces battled Alliance forces until the Alliance proves victorious, takes control of Coruscant and creates the New Republic. The Empire, with a handful of systems, sit near the edge of the galaxy continuing business as usual.

The New Republic was anything but successful. While the Jedi Order was able to rebuild, the New Republic had to fight internal bickering and a great bureaucracy which was strangely similar to the Old Republic. While they squabbled, their enemies plotted.

Enter the Yuuzhan Vong. From literally, out of nowhere, these aliens to the galaxy came seeking anything but peace. Taking advantage of soft under-belly of the New Republic, the Yuuzhan Vong was able to cut through the galaxy with relative ease. It wasn't until the New Jedi Order was free to act independently of the failed government that the Yuuzhan Vong were defeated. The Galactic Alliance was a fractured government which limped along while the citizens of the galaxy rebuilt.

First Chief of State to the Galactic Alliance - Cal Omas - Removed from power by a Coup.

Second Chief of State - Darth Caedus (a Sith????) and Cha Naithal - To be fair, Jacen Solo was good at keeping it a secret that he was in fact a Sith. Ok, so not really. Darth Caedus and Cha Naithal did bring about the Second Galactic Civil War. Darth Caedus was killed by his sister and Cha Naithal was disgraced.

Third Chief of State - Natasi Daala (former Imperial Admiral) - Enter the Police State. She too left office in hand-cuffs. Her platform of destroying all those who sought power was deemed to risky, although it was a similar platform to many of her predecessors.

The Triumvirate - Grand Master Saba Sabatyne, Senator Treen and Senator Jaxton - When I first read of Saba Sabatyne, I pictured an incompetent alligator in a Jedi robe. The other two were up to no good from the moment they were introduced to the reader. I've not seen the outcome of this stellar Administration, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be pretty.

UPDATE: This just in. The Sith rule the galaxy, once again. And now, to Steve, with the weather.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T09:34:00.000-05:00

I've seen from my blogger stats page that my audience spans the globe, so Thanksgiving might not be celebrated in your corner of the world.

Traditionally, I use Thanksgiving as a time to spend with family over a large meal with some football on the television. I've always taken some time in the day to reflect and be thankful for all that I have. This is a personal and private moment, but since this is a blog post, I need every reader to know that I'm thankful for them.

I like to think of myself as more of a story teller than a writer. Without you, I would be a story teller with an audience of none. I would lose the desire to tell the stories.

Thank you! Thanks to all of you who have read my blog. I really hope you enjoy my book when it's released in a couple weeks. While you read, I'll get back to writing my second book.

Take care!

Top Five - My favorite characters from Sci-Fi / fantasy novels

2011-11-15T09:06:00.001-05:00

I've read a bunch of Sci-Fi / Fantasy novels, but obviously not all of them. There are some characters which are so clearly defined in there stories that they can come alive in our imaginations. Other times, you'll find writers digging into our own psyche to create a character to which we are already familiar, without needing strong character development. Prince Charming and the Big Bad Wolf are examples of those characters. Even without the aid of Disney, we already know who these characters are because they've been in our psyche since the our childhood.

I prefer my favorite characters to have a fatal flaw that they must overcome. Here are my top five:

5 - King Theoden - What do you do when your people show more allegiance to a ranger from the north than to you, their king? As if that wasn't bad enough, you are already known for being the king who fell under the spell of Sauruman the White. On top of that, your son and only heir had been killed in battle.

What he did was ride.... ride now... ride for ruin... death... and the worlds ending.

4 - Boromir son of Denethor - Everybody remembers Aragorn, Legolas and the hobbits, but who remembers Boromir? He was played in the movie by Sean Bean, which is a spoiler in itself as to what will happen to him. Boromir was the oldest and favorite son of Gondor. In Fellowship of the Ring, he was akin to a wet blanket who was constantly bringing everybody down with comments of doom. "One does not simply walk into Mordor..." he said. When the time came, he tried to take the ring from Frodo.

In his darkest hour though, he heroically battled the uruk-hai to help Frodo escape. His story is what I loved most about the first book. His moment of redemption was my favorite part.

3 - Ganner Rhysode - Introduced in the New Jedi Order, Ganner and the Jedi found themselves fighting an enemy that could not be seen in the Force. The Yuuzhan Vong were mighty warriors immune to the Jedi's greatest weapon/gift. Ganner was introduced as a privileged pretty-boy. He accompanied the Solo children on the fateful mission that claimed one Solo's life, while another Solo took his first steps down a dark path. Ganner was given a livid scar on his face which proved to be a life changing event for the vain Jedi.

After over a year of contemplation in the force, Ganner realized that he was not going to be the hero of this war. In a moment of clarity, Ganner saw that it was Jacen Solo who would be the end of the Yuuzhan Vong. He also saw that Jacen Solo would not make it out of a dangerous mission without his help.

While Jacen Solo was occupied with a strategy to defeat the Yuuzhan Vong, Ganner needed to just buy Jacen some time. The worshippers of death saw Ganner in a new light that day. They saw him as the Gate Keeper of Death. "None shall pass."

2 - Sam Vimes - I only read The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett because it was Terry Pratchett. Sometimes, you don't know what a book is about, but because you like the author, you buy it. Up to that point, I had only read about the witches and wizards of discworld. I found it funny, yet utterly confusing. I needed to go back to the beginning and read the Watch books in order. Sam Vimes was Captain of the Night Watch and had progressed all the way up to Duke of Ankh. Sam was a police officer in the midst of a battle against alcoholism, the City of Ankh Morpork and a Dragon. Sarcastic and crude, Sam had ticked off the entire city from the bottom to the top. With all this in mind, the city, the Patrician, the guards and even the dragon knew one thing about Sam Vimes: He had integrity.

Throughout each of the books, it became clear that good things were happening to Sam, but he was always asking "why?". Why were good things happening to him? While he waited for the world to come tumbling down around him, he simply continued to do his duty.

Sam Vimes is a personal favorite of mine. He is not the flashiest, but he reminded me of me once.

1 - Anakin Solo - Oh, I love Star Wars too! Darth Vader! Yeah, I like Darth Vader too. He was once Anakin.... wait, Anakin who?

Yes, this is Anakin Solo. Son of Leia Organa Solo. Grandson of Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a. Darth Vader. Here on earth, that's like naming your baby Adolf.

While still in his mother's womb, he was touched by the dark side of the force. Many times while growing up, he was reminded about the legacy of his grandfather. The youngest of the Solo children, he was also the most tragic. Anakin Solo had the most powerful enemy in the Star Wars universe. George Lucas. Lucas felt that Anakin Solo's trajectory followed too closely to Anakin Skywalkers. This wouldn't have been so bad if Lucas wasn't making the Star Wars prequels at the time. From birth, it seems Anakin Solo was destined for failure.

In the New Jedi Order, Anakin Solo was the first to figure out why the Yuuzhan Vong could not be felt in the force. The Jedi had become soft and relied too heavily on the force. Mara Jade Skywalker taught Anakin to use the force only when necessary. Solo became more self reliant. As a child, he became one of the first to best a Yuzhaan Vong in combat. After many victories, he became the hero his grandfather and famous uncle had become. In Star by Star by Troy Denning, Anakin Solo was killed. Much like Ganner, Boromir and Theoden, Anakin went out in a blaze of glory. Many of us in the Star Wars universe felt robbed, but it was then that I learned the power of the writer. The storyteller is the most powerful person in the story.

Publishing Timeline

2011-11-01T07:49:00.002-04:00

I suspect we are nearly there, so I wanted to share with you a set of tentative dates as to when Alorya will finally be published.

By the way, I just had a couple fortune cookies and had the best fortunes!
1 - The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
2 - All your hard work will soon pay off.

I submitted my first proof revisions yesterday morning, so this is what I think the timeline will look like.
~~11/1 - 11/4 - Finalize Proof. This leads to the book distribution process.~~ (Actually, finalized 11/14)
11/7 - 11/21 - Book Distribution.

I have said I wanted to do a publishing party and I certainly will. It will be in Staten Island and most likely will be in December, but if worse comes to worst, it can be pushed out to January 2012.

Inspiration - Daily Life

2011-10-25T13:09:00.000-04:00

Fantasy vs Reality

Every writer will be inspired by every day events in their life, but to varying degrees. From a writing perspective, I took everything I experienced and skewed it into a Sci-Fi / Fantasy world called Alorya. When I was in my teens, I lived inside my head. People would see me as quiet or shy, but I just hadn't found my outlet for communicating this to other people.

A little over ten years ago, I was on a job interview for a company I can't remember. I was perhaps the worst person for interviews on the planet, at the time, but the focal point was how I perceived it within my creativity. I viewed it as a scene out of Star Wars. The room was ablaze in red and green flashes of light, while I battled the IT Manager for a position with that company. I would later go to my computer at some point and write about this lightsaber battle with a hypacritical Jedi to which I narrowly escaped with my life.

I write in the same way others would keep a diary or a journal, but through my eyes, it's all transformed into an "out of this world" experience. My battles against ogres, romances with elves, and command of the force is my way of journaling life without the mundanity of everyday life. Have you ever thought about a conversation you just had and wished you said something differently? Maybe you miss your bus by a minute and think about the extra time you took taking that "shortcut"? It is in this light that I view writing and creating as a fun experience and not a job.

Inspiration - Brothers Abroad

2011-10-18T10:51:00.002-04:00

I spoke earlier about how the birth of my son was the event that made me pick up the pen to write Alorya, but inspiration comes in so many forms, at so many different times, that I'm going to write a few of the most inspiring things to happen which led to the creation of Alorya. I want to set the tone for this post by saying that I am defining inspiration as an event that took place which made me run to my computer and start writing. Of course my wife, my friends and family all inspire me to be the best that I can, but that's not what I'm talking about in this post. Many of the events that take place in Alorya are taken from moments in my life to which I applied artistic interpretation.

Both of my brothers were serving their country in Iraq during the writing of Alorya. Gabriel was in Iraq for three separate tours and Tim was away for one. They were both stationed over seas when they were not in Iraq, so they were always away, but with different degrees of danger around them. The main backdrop for Alorya was war. I would think that if my brothers were hippies at Berkley during this time, the story would have been much different.

Alorya contains three major characters which come from the warrior caste in a country called Bragar. Whether they are members of an organized military or warriors in their tribe, my brothers were the inspiration behind their creation, as well as the main theme of the story. I've had conversations about the use of bionics with my brother Gabriel so many times, that I thought it was a great idea to bring it into the story. Gabe and I disagree on the use of bionics, so I was inspired to create a scenerio of bionic soldiers with both success and failure which is attributed to our conversation. I also had numerous conversations with my brother Tim about the feeling of loss while you're away. The friends, the family and the romance becomes so difficult to manage that it became tempting to just walk away. I wrote about what I took from my conversations with both of my brothers about ultimate loss versus, something to look forward to when you return home. Inspiration comes in so many forms that my brothers may not even know that the little 15 minute conversation we had on Star Wars - Knights of the Old Republic in turn became an idea for my book.

The next post will be about inspiration which came from work.

Final thoughts as I submit my manuscript

2011-10-05T18:33:00.001-04:00

In 2006, when I asked the nurse for a couple sheets of paper, and a pen, I knew that I should take the time to remember that moment. It was a big moment. Today, I feel the same way. I wanted to get this down so that I may look back at it and either cringe or smile. I seriously expect to cringe though.

First, let me describe my nightmares. I've had dreams all week about searching for my book on the Internet and finding it listed as the worst flop in literature since the most interesting man in the world decided to write his memoirs in invisible ink. (Blackadder moment) For him, I guess Dos Equis would say that it still hit the NY Times Best-Sellers, but I'm obviously not him. Another nightmare was that I got my proof back and found that I left random notes and highlights in the manuscript. Were those people giggling because they saw my book trailer on Tosh.0?

I hope that I come back to this blog in the future and smile though. I've worked hard on Alorya. At this point, I just don't want to be embarrassed by the story I was able to get down on paper. I say that because I know the story is amazing. Somehow, when the story gets from my head to paper, things get a little fuzzy. I've found myself saying, "Why did I write it that way?". After 18 Edits (3 by Editors not personally related to me), I think I have the best possible story that I can get on paper at this time.

I'm also trying to convey my worry as best I can because I want it to be evident when I read this six months from now.

Marketing - What makes sense to me?

2011-09-26T18:10:00.000-04:00

I definitely can't be confused with a marketing expert, but recently when two friends released their first album I thought they might not be reaching their entire audience. I wrote to them a facebook message from my iPhone and I thought my fingers were going to fall off. The following day, I had some things come to mind that I forgot to mention. Keeping in mind that I am a writer and they are musicians, we naturally have different methods for marketing, but I came up with a few ideas which can be useful for most of us.

Know your audience - What do they want to hear, read or watch?
Know your competition - What are they doing to reach their fans?
Know your material - Is there some facet of your work that differs from or is similar to anything?

Whether you're in the stone age or the information age, you need to address these points. The following part has to do with timing, location and current trends.

Don't wait until your book is published, album is released, openning night at your play (whatever) to begin marketing. You want to think about these things at most a year before publication.

I finished the first few edits of my book in 2008 and felt that it was ready for an agent. Before I did that however, I registered the domain Alorya.com. I joined MySpace to get into the social media movement. I even did the unthinkable and became sociable around the office. I expect to be published in the next few months. Get something... anything... on every form of social media and interface you can (afford) and begin talking to people about your work. If you're not proud enough to talk about it, who will be?

Your competion should be the established greats of the current era in your genre. If you're a musician, Mozart is not your competition. If you're a writer, Frank Herbert is not your comptetion. Find out how your competition is reaching their audience and then adopt/improve on it. Do they use the web? Do they use PodCast?

I looked at Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Troy Denning to see how they reached their audience. I obviously don't have the budget to compete with them from a marketing stand-point, but it was a great place to find some ideas. (Hint: Follow them on Twitter).

Try to set yourself apart from everyone else. Find something unique about your work and put a neon sign around it.

"Buy my book", "Check out my book" can really be annoying. Don't turn yourself into a salesman, just try to spread the word that you are a member of the industry and you can contribute. (Kind of like this article, right?). The unique part of my book is that I took real life events and exaggerated the hell out of them. What's unique about that? Well, they're MY life events. That's pretty unique. I never expected to write the first or best of anything. I'm just trying to tell the story I started writing when I borrowed a few sheets of paper from a nurse, when my son was still in the hospital after he was born.

Special Thanks to Matthew Ashdown for helping clear these points up for me.

Eyes - A Poem to my wife Regina

2011-09-20T11:01:00.001-04:00

It has been said that eyes are windows to the soul.
Eyes like yours are beautiful stained glass windows
to the cathedral that is your soul.

The story of our love is played out along that
stained glass pane that compliments your visage.
It is the story of love, happiness, sorrow and triumph.

The cathedral of your soul is home to the breath of heaven.

You held God and the Angels breathless when you were born.

Our story hangs upon the lips of everyone whom has ever
fallen in love at one time or another.

It is the tune everyone hears when they walk home from
their first date with their true love destiny.

It is the first smell of summer jasmine during the lovers
midnight stroll.

Football - American Style

2011-09-13T08:51:00.000-04:00

I can remember days when I couldn't sleep after a Broncos game. Sometimes, they won in such ridiculous fashion I would be up all night with adrenaline pumping. On occasion, they would lose and I would be up all night reliving the moments which would have turned the loss into a victory. One time, in 1997 I had a dream after a Bronco loss to the 49ers. The Broncos lost pretty soundly yet I managed to have a vivid dream of referees being arrested for gambling. This led to John Elway giving an Independence Day-esque type of speech and leading the Broncos back on to the field. In this dream, the Broncos destroyed the 49ers. I actually woke up the next morning sure that the loss was overturned. It wasn't.

Last night, the Broncos lost to their division rivals the Raiders. Not only did I not bother to stay up and watch it, I really didn't care. I woke up this morning and read about the loss and just didn't care. I try to analyze why I don't care about sports anymore, but I can't seem to figure it out. On the other hand, if I had seen the game (if it were on earlier), I would have rooted for the Broncos and been upset at the loss. I just don't think I would have had a problem sleeping. I think I have it figured out and it brings to mind a Bruce Springsteen lyric.

John Elway - "You took my heart when you left."

I wasn't just dreaming about the game the night before. I was actually living the dream. From 1984 to 1999, I followed the Broncos religiously. Actually, that might be a lie. I followed John Elway religiously. After that, I followed the Broncos out of habit. During the John Elway era, I saw it all though. John Elway's never ending battle against the clock. All the Bronco faithful miss you John.

Never Winter

2011-09-08T20:22:00.000-04:00

The Chill falls,
branches rustle in the wind.
Crunching beneath my feet the leaves lie.
It's almost Winter and time for everything to die.

The living run for their homes,
wings flap, paws patter, chimneys lit afire.
Sunlight wanes giving in to darkness, we all pause to consider regret.
The end is near, the cycle of death celebrates, recruiting us all in secret.

In this time of need,
our hour of greatest despair.
We look to the north and see comfort there.

For all of our failings, in all of its subtleties,
we let pass our weakness and welcomed our demons.
The summer sun let us forget, while the fruits of the fall made us grow fat.
We laughed while we aged and slowly watched our life lines grow flat.

In the darkness while everything dies,
nothing to see in the great empty, we question our eyes.
Yet we gaze to the north with longing despair,
the blackness is pierced by a glow in the skies.

We remember he came.
We remember the hope.
We can re-enter a year and try to recycle our hurts and play our own parts,
We feel courage now and know that with him, it's never winter in our hearts.

Final Edit Received

2011-08-31T09:43:00.000-04:00

I have great news!!

During my initial conversations with the publisher, they were asking how I received criticism. What I found to be odd, is that I also had forms to fill out describing my book and incredibly, how I received criticism. It brought me back to the times when I had been handing in creative-writing exercises at school. Such hope which was shattered with a bad grade. I always said the same thing, "Are these people nuts?!? Why can't they understand that I did "this" intentionally and I did "that" because later "this" happens? I don't deserve this grade because the professor doesn't understand me or my writing."

So, yesterday I got the manuscript back from the editors.

It felt like I was just punched in the neck. I literally felt the wind leave me when I saw how badly they beat up my manuscript.

Right now, all I can say is that "I got what I deserved." Something I couldn't say when I was younger, but it's as true then as it is now.

My job is to tell a story to the reader. I'm sure a Sci-fi/Fantasy reader would have understood a bit more with certain aspects to the review, but that's not the point. The book is supposed to be intuitive. At no point should a reader have to say, "Poorly written, but I know what you mean." I feel really good about this now. I was worried that I would publish the book and later have regrets with the fact that readers didn't understand what I was trying to say. With this, I can be pretty sure I'll be delivering a quality product for everyone to enjoy.

I want everyone to enjoy Alorya. I want people who have never read the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre to "get it." It's actually the story of my son's first week of life translated into fiction. When they come to book signings and see Aiden with me, I want them to see how it all turned out.

Perhaps if I just panicked a bit more?

2011-08-29T10:20:00.001-04:00

There were a few facts about the hurricane (Irene) which raised some concern on my part. For one, living in the NYC Metro area, we don't get many hurricane level storms. Our city architecture was not designed to be a source of protection from a storm of that magnitude. This is one of the reasons, I'm assuming, elected officials were telling us we had to evacuate. As the storm progressed up the Atlantic towards us, I was concerned.
This is a little bit of insight into the type of person I am. When something is big enough to get me concerned, I do some research on it to raise my own awareness.

"This looks like it could be big, how will it affect me?"

Of Note:
My house is above sea level.
I have two young children (5 and 1)
I have 2 medium sized trees in front of my house.
My house is about 4 feet above street level.
My roof is on its third layer of tile (maximum amount), and it's already leaked once this year.
My car is parked next to one of said trees.
I have no basement.
My backyard tends to flood on days when it's anything just above a drizzle.

Taking all of this into account, I decided to check the weather forecasts periodically on Friday and into Saturday. I forget what channel I was watching, but this blond reporter in a studio smiled a great big pearly smile as she told us about Armageddon. What the ....?

It was at this point the Facebook messages, the email, the tweets and the phone started screaming for my attention. "Run! Run for your lives," an irate message appeared in my inbox. People who were very concerned for me were giving me advice on how to make it through disaster, should it come to that point. It was great advice for the most part. The only problem was that they were interrupting my own research on how bad this hurricane was going to be. To point something else out about me, I don't go through the normal channels when I'm doing research. I've already seen enough to know the anti-government / anti-media team will tell me the hurricane is just hype. I also know the pro-government team will tell me how great it was that we were prepared this time around and that yes, in fact, everyone should go to their nearest shelter.

"Fill up your tub with water now, so if you find yourself without water for a bath, it will be available to you."

My wife took a trip to the supermarket to stock up on some canned goods, just in case. The shelves were bare. Batteries had become a mere rumor, while some folks were seen stocking up on Klondike Bars and beer. Nice!

"In anticipation of a power outage, set your refrigerators cool setting to maximum to extend food life."

By mid-Saturday, I had my plan. I would go to my mother's with my son, while my wife would go to her aunt's with her mother and our daughter. There weren't going to be enough beds for everyone, I thought. My wife said she wanted us all to stick together, so rather than settle up on what we would do, we just looked outside and used our eyes to see that it wasn't so bad yet.

The Plan:
Watch Doctor Who on BBC America.
If Cable gets knocked out preventing this, we execute our evacuation plan previously stated.
Or, if at the end of Doctor Who, the storm looks like its getting worse, we'll execute our evacuation plan.

The Outcome:
All of the Doctors previous companions make him feel overwhelmed with guilt.
Mel seemed like a plot device.
Alex Kingston became much cooler in my book for her portrayal of River Song.
Oh, and we went straight to bed afterwards.

"Before the storm, take a walk around the block. Are there any dead leaves or debris covering the sewer grate?"

So, the following morning we woke up and wondered if the hurricane had hit yet. It became my innocent question I had asked. "Did Irene hit yet?" I made on all phone calls to my friends/family yesterday, but after a while it became a sarcastic question I would ask. "When is Irene going to get here? I'm fully prepared to panic and cry like a baby, so where is this storm?"

“For those of you in New Jersey, this WILL BE the MOST SEVERE weather you have EVER or most likely WILL ever experience to date.” This is a 3^rd person quote of the Weather Channel. I took this person to task, because it’s overly dramatic and doesn’t offer any advice other than to make the viewer tremble with fear.

Also on FB, hours before the storm hit, someone from Staten Island posted a picture of a tree fallen on top of the telephone poll wires. Declaring this to be a government conspiracy to cripple their neighborhood. I asked, “What did you do after you put the camera down?” On the defensive, they told me it wasn’t their job and even if it was, they wouldn’t know how to fix this. I was only checking to see if they called 411. "Oh."

So, it’s Saturday evening and I’m walking with my five year old son, in the middle of the “hurricane” just jumping in puddles. I asked myself, why don’t I panic? As I watch my son gleefully jumping in the water with his Toy Story rain coat, I already knew why I don’t panic.

If I were to panic, then everyone close to me would see that the guy who doesn’t panic is panicking. If he’s scared, then no one will be gleefully jumping in puddles. No one will be in the house taking a nap. I dare say, no one would think it was a good idea to DJ a party on Saturday night in Queens. Panic is contagious, I think. Another thing to note; if the storm was worse and my house was destroyed, it would NOT be because I didn't panic.