Sunday 21 October 2012

Publish-ability. Its a word.

Yes, I am dead sure that thing up there in the title is a word. Hundred percent sure. Hundies.

Well my friends and fiends, I have been busy.

I wish I could apologise for not posting in such a long time, but I can't.

There is only one reason. One word.

EXAMS.

Indeed, I have been writing finals for a few subjects, and even though I didn't study to death, I am naively hoping for a Hundred. A Hundi.

Ok, fine. I admit I have also been busy playing the Mine of Craft. Minceraft. Minerfact?

Something like that.

Anywho, today I am going to talk about publish-ability (ITS A WORD DAMMNIT. TRUST ME. IM BATMAN...)

The Silence is a grim and pretty dark story. I am working (not as much as I would like) at it in a very casual way: I don't think about what should happen, or where I should go.

I. JUST. WRITE.

Thing is, I found out the hard way that thinking too far ahead can kill your enthusiasm. Picture it. You have thought out the begining, the middle, and the end. You know where you want your twists to be. You know the deaths that are coming. You know EVERYTHING.

But now you have to write it all. ALL.

Trust me (IM BATMAN...), it kills any excitement you had for the story in the first place.

Now this didn't happen with The Silence. It happened with a trilogy I am writing. I didn't get far. I have the first book all planned out, every damn detail. And then I lost interest. But don't worry, I am still going to write it. Spent to many years thinking about it. I just need to find my motivation again.

And until then, I will write more of The Silence.

Back to The Silence.

I absolutly HATE copiers. Jackers. Idea thieves. Originality muggers. THOSE guys.

They take your intellectual property and make money. It sucks. For you that is.

So I stay on the safe side (bordering paranoia). I write and post stories that have a solid idea, but need a lot of editing and refining. AND I MEAN A LOT. The Silence is going to require a sh*tload of filtering and cutting and adding to be publishable. (< That is in fact a word. Trust me...)

(IM BATMAN...)

So you see, that is why I don't post all my ingenious work on this blog. I just slip in little tidbits everynow and then. Little easter eggs. For example: Did you know that the title of this blog is in fact the name of the third book in my "secret" trilogy? The same one I was talking about earlier?

Now you do.

Its small stuff like that, that keeps us writers amused...

And Minecraft. Don't forget Minecraft.

Here is Chapter Five:



Chapter Five: Scream, Aim, Fire...

 

Starlight found us back at our camp. Once again we sat around the fire. I assume Shade had made a new one. I don’t remember. I think I had crawled into the first dark corner I had seen, only to come out when Shade started calling my name.

So there we sat. Around a small, dancing fire in silence. The only place in the world I could feel safe anymore.

The heat drew me in, the blue tips mesmerising me. Ever moving. Never any order. My world in a nutshell.

Shade was in the corner, his back against the crumbling wall. His favourite spot. I found myself watching him out of the corner of his eyes. Then back to the fire. Then back to him.

Then I did a double take. I frowned deeply and looked carefully at Shade. Something had changed. My brain chugged slowly, trying push through the thick silt that was my thoughts.

Shade noticed the prolonged look and turned towards me.

“What the hell, Ignis?” He frowned as he noticed my frown. “You look like you want to murder me.”

I shook my head to clear it and closed my eyes. Then I looked hard at him again.

Shade examined himself carefully.

“What do you see? What are you looking at?” He turned his head in all directions possible, looking for what was interesting me so much.

I shook my head again, this time in frustration.

“I have no idea. It... I don’t know. Something seems different somehow.”

Shade settled comfortably again.

“We have had a long and strange day. But it’s one more day down in this hell-hole. Try to rest a bit. You seem a tad worn out.” He smiled and closed his eyes.

Long after he had fallen asleep, I still sat there hunched over. It was a long cold night, my thoughts everywhere and nowhere. I only stirred when I noticed the first rays of light. I stood up. Then froze. The light was coming from completely the wrong direction.

With a loud crash, a gargantuan black machine broke through the building our camp was situated next to. Dust and dirt flew, the power of the machine sending me crashing to the ground.

Shade rolled to his feet, eyes wide, adrenaline shooting through his body. Soldier poured out of the black beast, weapons raised towards us. These had strange, faceted helmets on, beams of light emanating from them. It gave them an unearthly look.

They fanned out, making sure not to come to close. As they slowly circled us, Shade and I inched towards each other, making sure not to make fast movements. The atmosphere felt like a delicate string. Anything could snap it.

Ours backs together, we stood there, fingers twitching with adrenaline. We must have looked like starved wolves: thin, jumpy, and ready to bite someone’s head off.

Finally, a man slowly walked to the front. With no helmet and a face set in stone, he had authority circling around him.

He barked in a foreign language. All foreigners seemed to do that in movies. When we didn’t respond he spoke in English, albeit with a heavy accent.

“You are not of those hellish demons. What are you?! Nothing should be alive here!”

There were bright lights being shone in our direction, so I couldn’t see his face. I tried to figure out his accent, but once again my mind failed to identify the simplest of things.

Shade turned to face him, standing beside me. We glanced at each other. The leader seemed to pick up on the desperation and hunted looks on our faces. He barked an order, and all the soldiers fell to their knees, weapons raised to our heads. He opened his mouth for another order and...

The screech of pure fury rang out. Everyone turned as one to its direction. And then they were upon us all. Three of them, leaping over rooftops and the bare skeletons of other buildings.

There was another simultaneous screech, the leader getting out one last order before they ploughed into his ranks.

Shade and I were already moving, ducking under flying bodies and heading in the opposite direction from the creatures. We didn’t look at each other once, but I knew that terror was carved into both of our features.

Then suddenly I was flying, a moment later slamming back down into the ground. Shade didn’t notice, trapped in his own world of horror. He just kept running, dodging rogue projectiles shooting at him.

I rolled sideways, avoiding a falling corpse. A creature landed nearby, lashing out at anything that moved. I grabbed the fallen soldier’s weapon and ran with desperation to the nearest building. Fear was pulsing thickly through my arteries, my finger tips and chest tingling.

I dived the last few metres, rolling under a chunk of asphalt just as the creature landed where I had been milliseconds ago. I gripped the weapon tightly, pointing the end with the hole towards the screaming thing in front of me. With another screech, its pointed claws gripped the debris and threw to the side.

For the first time ever, I started feeling how the demented thing in front of me felt. A potent mix of fear, anger, and frustration met inside of me. With a roar, I squeezed the first thing I found on the weapon. A burst of fire and molten lead shout out and struck the creature backwards.

I kept screaming and raging, squeezing harder and harder, sending it staggering even more backwards. It tried to match my shout, but something inside me had decided enough was enough.  The weapon stuttered and stopped, but I simply threw it in the creatures face and kept screaming.

It swung its claws at me, catching my arm full on. This time it was me that staggered back, clutching my arm as blood spurted out between my fingers.  My hands immediately started burning, the blood running down my arm sizzling. My mind clouded over as all the other times, but this time I was some sort of spectator to a violent and bloody show.

The figure that was me leapt across the space between us, sending the thing crashing into the dirt. The creature squealed in surprise, its previous prey never having fought back like this.

And then the strangest thing happened.

It started slowly, heat waves rising off of me. Then little bursts of red flame appeared, starting at my fingers and spreading upwards. Flickering flames sprouted out of my shoulders, thick yellow ones starting at my legs. It all swirled together into a great blaze, melting everything in a wide radius around me.

The dying, pain-filled screams of the melting creature was the last thing I heard.

....

I am not going to lie.

Ignis is starting to become kick-ass.

Now I just have to make sure that he doesn't turn into a cliche....

Comment and talk about the topic! And Critisise my writing, please....

IM BATMAN...

Sunday 7 October 2012

MINECRAFT? DAYZ? HALO 4?

Oh my gosh. When will the awesome non-stop spree of games end????

If anyone reads this blog, and if for some reason you perhaps play video games, and on the off-chance that you are a hardcore gamer... DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND CHECK THOSE GAMES OUT. ^

Minecraft. What can I say. It owns. It also likes having you watch your life waste away. But all in good fun.

Dayz. The mod for Arma 2. Buggy, glitchy, and filled with hackers. But it rules. And I can't wait for the actual game to be released.

Halo 4. If you haven't heard of this game, I assume you have been stranded on an island for the last ten years or so. Or perhaps got trapped in a cave. Either way, this game has aliens, guns, aliens, AND WAIT! More guns...

Woah.

Massive unload-age.

Had to share that with someone...

(ARE YOU EVEN THERE?)

Well anyway, back to real life; I have seriously been considering to start my own YouTube channel.

Done right, and you can make some moola. Done wrong... You get trolled?

See the logic?

But its more than that. It actually looks fun!

I am thinking video game tutorials. Maybe some reviews. Hell, I might even do book reviews.

But if that happens, it would only happen next year. Way too busy this year. Studying. Writing (I don't appreciate the dis-believing looks!!!!). Trying to make dough.

ENOUGH OF THIS MINDLESS BLATHER!

CHAPTER FOUR!!!!!!!!


Chapter Four: Good Feeling...

 

Shade and I sat hunched over, quietly observing the “soldiers” marching through the streets. We were on top of what seemed to be a pharmacy. Or what it used to be. Half of it was a pile of rubble, but most of the roof was intact, and that was where we were hiding.

“They split up into groups of four and then they all go off in different directions.” Shade muttered in my direction.

I looked carefully at these “soldiers”. Every day I woke up, my mind seemed to have cleared a bit more. Although I still see flames everywhere in its landscape, I am remembering more and more. And from what I remember, this isn’t how my country’s “soldiers” looked like.

“Look at their faces. See how scared they are? And what kind of new armour are they wearing?” I whispered.

Shade examined them and nodded. “Something isn’t right.”

They were carrying out some sort of drill, repeatedly marching up and down the street. Every now and then, a soldier that seemed to be in charge shouted a command. The group would turn and follow the order.

“Main base?” I questioned.

Shade shook his head. “There aren’t enough soldiers. The day straight after this began, I saw tens of ships flying in. This looks to be an outpost. What they are guarding or looking for... Well I can’t think of anything.”

I nodded. It made sense. What could they guard? The dead?

“What about their armour?” I asked quietly.

Shade shrugged. “I have never seen anything like it. It seems to be made out of multiple protective fibres weaved together. Probably Kevlar. But that would take millions to produce.”

Kevlar. Another name I couldn’t place. But I was getting used to that feeling by now.

A weird question found its way out of my mouth.

“Would it guard them from fire?”

Shade looked at me funnily. In his expression was alarm and... horror?

And that was when it happened again. The second time and certainly not the last time I will hear that sound. The scream of intense agony and rage.

The soldiers turned to its source, stopping their march, and immediately raised their weapons in unison.  A series of loud bangs resounded through the streets, punctuated by even more screams of whatever made that sound. I huddled in fear and held my hands around my head, wishing whatever it was, that it would just die.

And then, once again, I saw... it.

With great swipes, I barrelled into the soldiers, throwing them high in the air with its long, pointed hands.  But that wasn’t its most disturbing part. Like the others I had seen that ni... that one time, its face was... well, melted.

And somehow, it was still screaming its fury.

“The fu...” Shade whispered, his mouth open and his eyes wide.

The screaming was going louder, its vibrations rattling me down to the core. I started shaking, the flames growing bigger and more violent in my mind. Its beauty and danger drew me in, the sparks glowing brightly. My sight grew dim once more, and as I...

I snapped out of it as Shade shook me. In his eyes I saw fear, brightly shining out in comparison to his pale skin. I saw something else in his eyes too, but I just couldn’t place a finger on it...

We both turned back to the soldiers as the screaming slowly died down. With a final burst of their weapons, they came out from their hiding spots. They approached the things body, sprawled among dozens of other bodies.

Everyone froze, as first one cry but then many screamed out their fury from both near and far.

There were more.

And there were many.

Shade and I made eye contact and slowly backed away from the roof’s edge. The last we saw of the soldiers as we ran away, was their weapons raised as they once again fell back into formation and marched into all directions.

Out of breath, Shade turned to me. “You’ve seen those things before?”

I swallowed hard, and picked up the pace. “Yes. The ni... That night this all started.”

“When hell became very real...” Shade whispered to himself.

In the distance there was another scream, and almost immediately a reply of loud bangs.

No words were exchanged.

We just ran faster and faster, as if the hounds of hell were upon us.

And no, it was not a good feeling...

HUH?! HUH! ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED????

Well I hope you are.

I am starting to like this story.

I promised myself that if I reached Chapter 40, I would start considering turning it into a publishable story.

But more on that next time...