First, off i would like to point you in the direction of Karen Ellis, who does the fantastic web-comic Planet Karen.  Recently there was a fire in Karen's apartment building destroying most everything she owns and leaving her effectively homeless.   There is a place for donations on her website http://planetkaren.girl-wonder.org/ so please help her out if you can.  I understand times are tough right now, but even a small donation of like $5 - $10 can help her get back on her feet, and help her replace things she needs such as clothes, food, utensils, etc.  

In other news, I've been thinking a lot about getting a pet, but unfortunately I do not have the finances or the means to support an animal right now.   Additionally, the house I live in really isn't in any condition for a dog or an additional cat (my roommates have 2 already).  So taking that into consideration,  I have decided I'm going to start volunteering some of my time to the local No-Kill animal shelter to help take care of some of the homeless animals.  Play with them, take them for walks, maybe help them find good homes, things like that.  There are two in my neck of the woods so i'm going to visit them this week and see what I need to do to volunteer.

Lastly, good news everyone. I came up with a new short story idea finally.  I'll tell you more about it sometime, but not today as I am a bit tired. I've also been drawing more, which also makes me happy.  You can see the pictures on my deviantart site if you want too.

Till then,

- Daniel

Kryptonsite.com has a picture of Serinda Swan in full Zatanna garb.  Pretty spot on if you ask me.  Yes, fishnets are included.  They also list the episode as scheduled to air on March 26th so set your Tivos/VCRs/DVRs/Whatevers.    The blurb under the picture makes reference that this will be Zatanna before she has complete control over her powers, so expect magical shenanagins to ensue.   Lets just hope they get her right.

http://www.kryptonsite.com/tvgzatanna.htm

So I joined Twitter.  If you are on there and want to be my friend let me know.  :)

http://twitter.com/electricv01

As many of you know, I am an aspiring writer. I want to be a published author, and I have many short stories, a novella, and couple of novels in the works. Most of these are unfinished or in-progress works that haven't been touched or worked on in a couple of months. And while I do have some finished works, how many stories do you think I have submitted to be published? One. That’s it. Just a five page short story that was... (sigh) rejected.

So what’s holding me back? What's keeping me from writing, finishing, and submitting my work?
Fear of rejection? Maybe…
Self Doubt? Possibly…
Too much damn City of Heroes? No comment…

The fact of the matter is that… I’m just lazy. Too lazy. So lazy that I don’t call it lazy… I call it writers block. But someone once said there is no such thing as writers block. The human mind has hundreds and hundreds of thoughts and ideas flying through your little head every day… hell every hour even. At least one of those thoughts has potential to become something to write about. So really, there are only four reasons people get “writers block:"

1) The aforementioned laziness.
2) Fear
3) Distractions
4) All of the above

So let’s address these issues:
1) Laziness
The fact of the matter is you have to make your own muse, your own inspiration. If you just sit around (watching TV, or surfing the web, or playing City of Heroes, or whatever) waiting for the idea to magically come to you, I got bad news for you. Ain’t gonna happen. If every writer waited for divine inspiration for a story, then Barnes and Noble wouldn’t exist.

Now I’m not saying that there is no such thing as a muse. Far from it. I’m just saying you can’t count on it.

You have to sit in front of the computer (or typewriter for you old-fashioned types) and write. To quote a movie “A writer writes… always” inspired or not. And if you can’t think of what to write or what should happen next… write something else… like a blog.

2) Fear

Fear can be many things. Here are some common ones:

a. Fear of rejection.
b. Fear the story is going to change from what you originally envisioned it to be.
c. Fear of that you aren’t talented enough
d. Fear of spiders (there could be one on your keyboard)

There are many more, but I won’t get into them because these are the important ones (except for maybe the spider thing). And here is the way to overcome them:

a. Get over yourself, and write! The worst that could happen is you are going to get a note mailed to you that says “No thank you.” You know what you do then? You pick up your shattered ego and send the writing somewhere else. Also don’t be afraid to send the story out just because you aren’t sure where to send it. Your stories are never going to be published if they are sitting in your computer waiting for you to decide which magazine you rather get a rejection letter from this time.

b. Get over yourself, and write! You can always change it back to the way it was if you don’t like it.

c. Get over yourself, and write! Sure there are hundreds of aspiring writers, some of which are much better than you are. But, guess what? They most likely suffer from the same anxiety as you do. If you get off your butt and get it done before they do, then you are more likely to be published then the depressed beatnik genius who sulks in the corner all day. Also the more you write the better and more talented you will become. Just like anything else, practice makes perfect.

d. Rolled up newspaper.

3) Distractions

This one is easy. Turn off the damn TV! Stop playing the damn Video Games! Write, dammit write!

4) All of the above.

If you suffer from a combination of these “writers’ blocks” then I have one final opinion to hand out to you (because these are all just the opinions of someone who can’t take his own advice). You control how you write, how frequently you write, and what you write about. No one else. You! Not your Mom or your Aunt Tilly. You!!! And while you can’t control if anyone gives a damn to buy your work, you can increase your odds that it may happen by writing and submitting as much as you can.

So… why are you still reading this?! Write!

P.S. If you are still reading this, I do recommend you read "On Writing" by Stephen King and "How to write Science Fiction/Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card

I'm back from holiday.  It went by way to fast.  Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you are all well. 

Hi Everyone! 

I just wanted to wish you all a belated Happy Thanksgiving.  :)   I trust you didn't eat to much turkey and pass out for the entire weekend. 

Went and saw Zack and Miri Make a Porno on Friday night.  I really haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a very long time.  Sure some parts were awkward, but they were meant to be. 

Ummm... that's about it for now.  Wow, I'm boring huh?

I saw this on Anime News Network and thought it was really cool and I should share.  ^_^
Not-So-Daily Link of the Day: The racing website Crash.net reports that Italian auto maker Fiat is launching a limited-edition run of its new Fiat Nuova 500 cars with an image of Monkey Punch's iconic manga and anime character, the gentleman thief Lupin III. The Nuova 500's predecessor and inspiration, the classic 1957 Fiat 500 "cinquecento," has played a major role in various Lupin III works, such as the Hayao Miyazaki-directed Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and this year's Lupin III: Green vs Red television movie (pictured at right). The cars will be available starting in the second half of 2009.

I want one!!!

You can find the entire article here.

Wow! 5000 pageviews! That is so amazing to me. Thank you everyone for stopping by. It really means a lot to me.

So it seems I have forgotten how to draw again. Arg! I tried a few times last week to meet my goal of 2 pictures by the 13th, but I ended up just kinda doodling. I got a lil' frustrated on Sunday because this picture I was working on wasn't coming out like I wanted. And I ended up erasing another one completely. I guess I really do need to take those art classes. >_<

I'm thinking I need to maybe just doodle more. Sketching poses and such because I have such problems with anatomy and proportions. I need to learn not to press so hard on the paper with my pencil and above all else I think I need to learn to have more patience with what I am doing.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find any basic, basic, basic, drawing tutorials to hold me over till I can take the classes? Also any pointers or suggestions to help me with the above concerns would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I woke up this morning to see so many of my DA friends had posted things like "RIP Michael Turner" and my heart fell into my feet...

I had met Michael a few times in my experiences going to cons, and can say there may not have been a guy in better spirits than him. We in the comic fandom knew he was sick based on news reports but you would never know that by looking at him. The man always looked so happy, a smile never seemed to leave his face.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. He will be sorely missed.

RIP Michael...

The works of Michael Turner - [link]

Don't ask any questions.  Just go see the movie.  Right now.


It's brilliant.

I have trouble sometimes describing things without using the same vocabulary over and over again...

Tonight, I finished Chapter 1 of The Crystal Obelisk.  Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, it really helped me scratch that writing itch I was talking about.   And I plan on keeping it up.  

Tonight, I cut a lot of story out of the original chapter 1 that I had written years ago and I replaced it with more (and I think better)  character development for my protagonist Kevin.  A lot of the things cut were now unnecessary because the book is moving in a new direction with a whole new plot that I'm really excited about.  Before, I just had this string of vague ideas that I wanted to make a novel out of, but no real way to tie them together.   Now those ideas are solidifying and there is a definite plot behind the book that is pulling the action along.  It took a lot of thought and some help of a friend (cough Len cough) to tie the ideas together to form this new plot.  It was worth it because I finally feel now because of this I am ready to write this book.  I put it off for so long because I had no idea where I wanted it to go or how to get there.   Now I know exactly where it is going and what stops need to be made along the way.   And it all spawned from changing the title to The Crystal Obelisk.  

I want to start work on chapter 2 tomorrow, but things are going to start getting crazy here soon because I'm going to be moving into a new place.   I want to get as much done before that so to keep the flow going, but we will see.

Hopefully, you will see another celebratory post sooner rather than later. ^_^

- EV

I call it the itch...  It doesn't strike as often as I would like it too, but it does strike.  I suddenly get the urge to write, to work on my novel or a short story.  The problem with the itch is it doesn't usually strike at the most opportune time.   It usually comes when I’m stuck in traffic or when I’m about to leave my house… and by the time I get home to sit in front of the computer it’s gone.   Where has it gone?  I dunno, but it’s gone.  

I want to be a writer.  I want to have my stories told.  I want to be able to sit at my computer and work.  But even though I want these things, I don’t do them.  I don’t understand this problem I have with motivation.   I understand that writing isn’t easy, but this is the road I want to travel down, and I need to start putting one foot in front of the other and do it. 

My best friend Len finished the first draft of his novel Vitamin F recently.  I’m incredibly proud of him.  He managed it in just under a year of work.  That’s a major accomplishment.  He has started walking down his road, and I believe he is going to make it all the way to the Emerald City.   

But I feel like I’m one of the munchkins waving goodbye to him as he goes, instead of following him down the yellow brick road.  (Wow, lots of Oz references…)

I don’t know.  Maybe things will change when I move, when I’m not going to be stuck in traffic for two hours a night.   Hopefully starting March 2^nd, I will be able to finally get moving down the road.  I have lots of people encouraging me to write, so I need to get writing.  It’s what I want to do.

There are two things I am currently working one.  These are the ones I want to get finished above all others.  One is my fantasy novel The Crystal Obelisk and the other is my sci-fi novella Solar.  I found my old notebook where I was writing ideas for TCO, which I transferred to a newer fresher notebook.  Today I plotted out a few of the characters, races, and geographical landmarks for the book as well.   Chapter one is almost complete and has been since October.   Solar’s first chapter has been finished for about a two years.

I’m going to set a deadline for myself.  I want to have the first draft of TCO finished by January 1^st 2009.  Wish me luck.

Wow, I'm one shy of 1K people coming to look at my Deviantart page...

Though I have to wonder how many of those are me coming back to my page again and again and again.

Thanks everyone for coming to take a look. Sorry I haven't put up much new content, I have just been super busy lately. Hopefully more will be coming soon. ^^

- EV

As the end credits of Cloverfield began, the lady behind me said, "Soooo, did they kill the monster?"  Her husband (I presume) said, "I don't know.  All I know is it took my money."   Upon hearing this statement I promptly fell to the floor laughing my ass off.  It's a fair statement I guess, as I'm sure a lot of people went into Cloverfield expecting some mindless popcorn munching “summer” monster flick like Godzilla, but this is not what the movie is.   This is a movie about people reacting as a crisis of gigantic proportions is unleashed around them.  The monster, more or less, is inconsequential and could easily been removed, replaced by some big terrorist attack, a war, or a natural disaster and the progression of the plot would be mostly the same.  I think the reason they picked a giant monster was simply to make it feel less real and a little bit more fantastical, which did its job nicely.   Some are calling this the “Blair Godzilla Project” for obvious reasons, so if you are averse to “shaky cam” filmmaking you may want to think twice about seeing it, though this movie is a million times better than the Blair Witch Project.  It has something Blair does not, as the characters are very likable and easy to identify with.   Also, while not a scary movie it is very engrossing.   I realized the movie had my undivided attention when I noticed I was shifting in my seat to look into the screen and try and see what the hell was going on at times (which obviously doesn’t work).     

And FYI they don’t really tell you anything about the monster, where it came from, what it is, did it die, etc.  IF you want to know any of that you need to do your own detective work with the viral marketing campaign for the movie, which is actually kind of fun. 

 4 out of 5

UFO's Sighted in Texas, Come to take Bush and Cheney home (Ok I made the last part up)
 http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/251.6/popup/index.php?cl=5951538

I like the part with the deer hunter where it says "He thought about shooting the UFO, but decided not to because he was afraid of starting an interstellar war."

Uh huh...

I got my 24 hour comic book day challenge 2006 pages back and I'm in the process of cleaning them up to be posted on deviantart. The cover is already up and the interior pages are coming soon!

I have gotten word the fire has moved away from my area, and my condo is just fine.  They lifted the evacuation order this morning, so I can go home tonight after work.   So that's the good news.  The bad news is that's about it for the good news.  =/  Fires are still raging all over SoCal, lots of homes destroyed, people with nowhere to go, etc...

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.  They mean a lot to me.

Just so everyone knows, yes I am safe. I did have to evacuate my house yesterday because the fire was literally across the street from me. I have never been that close to a fire in my entire life. It was incredibly frightening.

I noticed it was really windy when I left for the comic shop yesterday. Winnie the Pooh blustery day kind of windy. I didn't think much of it, I didn't even think much of the two huge water dropping planes that flew over me while I drove. I was just doing my normal Sunday routine of judging Heroclix at the shop when we looked out the window to a sky red with smoke. Still, wildfires are pretty common here this time of year so I didn't think much of it. Then I found out where the fire was heading. I drove home as fast as I could, the smoke getting thicker and thicker the closer I got. I was breathing in smoke and ash before I even got close to home. As I got close I could see the fire was right there on the mountain across the street from our condo complex. The wind was blowing so hard it had pushed the fire over the mountain in a matter of 20 minutes. I rushed inside and grabbed everything I could think of that was dear to me or irreplaceable. Packed as much as I could just in case the fire department wasn't able to stop it. I left behind a lot of things. Things I justified to myself I could replace if I had too (my tv, computer, comics, books, dvds, etc) and grabbed the stuff I couldn't bring myself to leave there. I could hear the police outside on the loud speaker saying this is a mandatory evacuation, leave now. So I left... I'm thinking now of things I forgot. Things I'm not sure I could replace if my condo burns down.

I'm praying that everything will be ok.  I keep telling myself the condo is made of stucco and is very fire resistant. I keep telling myself about all the fire hydrants close to my neighborhood that can be used to put out the fire near us. My eyes are red and my throat is burning from all the smoke and ash I inhaled. My belongings all smell like they have been hickory smoked, as does the inside of my car. But I'm safe, that's the important thing.

I think I read there are currently 12 huge fires burning in SoCal.  I don't know when I will be able to move back home, or even when I will find out if I still have a home to go back too. I'm staying with my grandparents at the moment.

Here is a link for those of you that don't know what is going on. Link

You know, I always called this town hell, but I didn't mean so literally...

So I've gone on and on about Neil Gaiman and how much I love Neverwhere. For those of you that don't know, Neverwhere was the book that got me to start reading novels again actively and helped pushed me in the direction of wanting to become a writer. It is recommended reading for each and every one of you.

Anyway, earlier this week a director was announced for the film adaption. David Slade, who directed the upcoming 30 Days of Night adaption, will be at the helm. Like any fan of a property that gets picked up to be a film, I'm torn about what to think of this. Half of me is excited I will finally get to see Neverwhere on the big screen, and the other half of me is praying they do it right. Luckily, 30 Days of Night looks like it's going to be a faithful adaption, so I can only hope they are going to do the same with Neverwhere. Just as long as they cast Richard O'Brien as Mr. Croup I will be happy. ^_^

Speaking of Gaiman films, Stardust came out this week and opened in 4th place. It's only made 9 million dollars, while the number one movie, Rush Hour 3, made 50 million. Sigh. I don't get it. What is wrong with people? Why would people turn out in droves for a movie that gets universally panned versus a movie that is getting mostly good reviews? Also why does Chris Tucker get 25 million dollars for making movies? Is he really that much in demand? He has no film career. The man hasn't made a movie since Rush Hour 2 in 2001. What the hell? I wish I got 25 million dollars for not making movies for 6 years. Actually, I just wish I had 25 million dollars... What? You think I'm just jealous? You bet your ass I am. Anyway, please go see Stardust. Maybe good word of mouth will help.

There is a new comic strip on the deviantart page. I recently acquired a program called Manga Creator which has a way to make comic strips in it. So I took the pictures of Steve and Scott I drew this week, used a little photoshop magic, added text, and poof a new comic strip is born. The first one in about 2 years. Hope you like it.

On the writing front, it's going slowly. Last week I was working on the fantasy novel again and thought I made some good headway on the rewrites of the first chapter. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to work on it since. I keep meaning too, but I've been drawing and getting distracted again.

Professionally, it looks like I might have some reviews I wrote published in an upcoming magazine hitting newsstands next month. More on this later.

Well, that's about it. Till next time!

- EV