An Update with a treat!

Just an update after somewhat a hiatus.

I'm just finished transferring my notes to Wikidpad. I'm loving it a lot, very easy to link between different subjects! I still highly recommend it.

Currently I'm splitting my time between finishing the outline for Zormir, transferring 10 year old Lords of the Light manuscript from paper to the pc, and beginning the brainstorming of my new project. I've also been addicted to a podcast called "Writing Excuses" (you can find it at www.writingexcuses.com) which I've been catching up on.

Some more about that new project. It doesn't take place in the same world as the other two. It's still a fantasy book, but it will not be a multi-book epic like Zormir or LotL. Just a stand alone book, roughly 200k words or so, and I promise it will be a great read!

I normally spend 20-40 minutes a day waking my brain up to begin the creative work, and the other day I expiramented with writing something in 1st person perspective using present tense; something I've never done before. I'm going to post that for you here, as some that have read it really enjoyed it. So, enjoy ESCAPE...




I can't tell if I'm actually awake. I open my eyes to utter darkness as if my eyes are still closed. I push against the ground and lift my weary body to my knees, wondering where I am. I stretch out my arms and I feel dirt walls surrounding me. It seems that I am in a hole of some sort. I do not remember how I got here, all I know is that I'm sure I deserve it.

I look up in a vain attempt to gain some sort of vision to no avail. If this is, in fact, a hole then I cannot see the top. Either that or the darkness that encompasses this hole has blanketed the surface as well.

My mind explodes from the pain that pulses through my body as I stand, begging me to lay back down but I refuse. I need to try to get out of here and fix what I've broken. Warm liquid begins to run down my face, but I refuse to find it source. If it is blood, I'd rather not know it.

My fingers begin to explore the walls of my prison, trying to find a crack or handhold that I can latch on to. Eternities pass before I find one, and I question the stability against my war-wracked body. I try to command my fingers to latch on, and they groan in reply as pain shoots up my arm. I ignore it as I make my other hand find another, higher this time. The wall seems to be uneven above my head level, so I may have a chance at this. I latch on and, against my own will, I begin pulling.

Instinctively my bare foot finds a small protrusion in the wall, and I begin my search anew. My body feels weak as if I've not eaten in weeks, but I know I will die if I do not escape.

Much to my surprise I make progress. I don't know how long it's been, or if daylight will ever come, but I continue my blind ascent up the wall, in a desperate fight to escape. I know my luck will run out, so I speed up my hands to keep on their search and grasp.

No sooner did I think that thought when one of my footholds gave way, and I tumbled back to reality. As I lose consciousness, I can't help but wonder if this is the end.



I awake from my dreamless sleep with renewed hope. No sooner did I open my eyes did I close them again in pain, there was light! In any normal circumstances I would not be able to see very well, but after being imprisoned for an eternity it was as if I held a flashlight before me. I can see the surface, and for the third time today my hopes were crushed.

As my mind tries to put a distance to climb to the surface, my soul attempts to flee my body, trying to give up. I feel like the cockroach trying to climb up the Sears Tower, only I don't have sticky legs. But, ignoring the ever present pleading of my body to quit, I begin my climb.

I'm making more progress this time, my body starting to retain some muscle-memory from the hours I climb. I don't look down, but continue to look up into the daylight. My body is being more cautious automatically, remembering the tumble I recently took.

I'm almost to the top. My feet ache to feel the soft grass padding them against the violent ground. My hair already reminiscing about blowing in the wind. I gain some energy as my hopes come within my grasp.

As if my body summoned it, a hand appears above me. It is the most glorious thing that I've ever seen. Pale as the moonlight, warmth radiating from it like the morning sun. It gives me hope like nothing ever has before. It beckons me to grab it, reassuring me that it will never let me go.

At first my mind refuses. I climbed all this way on my own, gritting my teeth through the pain, there is no possible way that after all of that I could get a free ride during the home stretch. My mind then folds on itself, succumbing to the pleas of my body and begging me to take it. It will make it so much easier, my mind reassures me as my hands begin to bleed from being stationary too long. At last I make my decision and make a desperate attempt to grab for the hand.

Ecstasy fills my body as my hand closes in on the helper. I begin to imagine the silkiness of the skin on that beautiful hand when my reality is shattered. My hand passes through it as if it were never there. I'm still trying to grasp what happened as I begin my helpless decent back to my prison.

Was it a mirage? Was I imagining it? My brain is working overtime as my body says hello to the dirt, my bones crush as if greeting an old friend after being absent for years. I feel something wet against my back and I begin to feel dizzy. The last thing I see is the sun, arcing over my exit as if I'm fast-forwarding through the dull parts of a movie. When darkness came to greet me, the last thing I think of is how the pain kept me alive for even this long.

Just an introduction

I'm not famous. Not by a long shot. I'm just a normal guy who likes writing. I've been doing it for about 15 years now, and a few people ask me how it's going.

Thus the blog.

This is for my friends (and maybe someday fans) that wonder how things are coming along. So I'll update this from time to time (probably more often than my other blogs).

For those that don't know, here's a synopsis of how my writing "career" took off.

1995. High school. It was my freshman year at Marshalltown High School. I read a lot, A LOT a lot. Most of the people I hung out with read a lot too, or were interested in various things that were similar to writing. I was not a popular kid in school (insert random Geek/Nerd comments here). I wasn't in many clubs or sports in high school (a short baseball stint and a failed basketball tryout), and I worked a full time job, so needless to say I was very stand-offish.

Sometime during this year I was introduced to Magic: The Gathering. I was fascinated not only the mechanics of the game, but the story that surrounded it. I was also an avid Dungeons and Dragons player (go ahead and laugh) along with my long hours of reading. I decided to write a short story developing my own characters using the Magic elements, with some D&D elements mixed in.

Thus, Lords of the Light (known back then as Lords of the Night) was born.

As I kept writing, myself and some close friends noticed that there was nothing resembling either Magic or D&D in the story, so I decided to branch off and just write a book. It became my fascination for a long time, and with some input and help from a couple of good friends (Steven J. Adelmund and Jeremiah Klar) the world became more fleshed out.

I kept on writing all throughout high school, never finishing the book but had many pages of notes and 3 revisions as my writing skill improved. The book was about a third of a way done when I graduated.

After graduation, my life became more and more complicated. Military injury and discharge, my first child, a failed marriage and subsequent divorce, debt and college drop out. New marriage and another child. 2 MORE children and an unhealthy addiction to World of Warcraft. I only worked on it sparingly for about 10 years.

During this time I still played Dungeons and Dragons. While playing, I decided to make an evil character, someone who could become a true villain, thus Zormir was born. Upon the creation of Zormir, I immediately fell in love with his character. His attitude and presence was awesome. So, for a time I abandoned Lords and began working on Zormir.

And that leads us to today. I have begun heavy work on the Zormir novels. I still work on Lords a little here and there, but mostly it sits on the back burner for now. There are a couple of reasons for this, first I feel that while I'm still a new writer, trying to publish a novel following one character, rather than 3 groups of characters, would be easier for me to maintain, and might be easier for me to sell to a publisher. Secondly, events that take place in the Zormir novel directly affect the Lords books, so I feel that it would be better to define the world in this way rather than publishing Lords, then doing a prequel for Zormir.

So what are these books about? Here is a quick description:

Zormir- Once a chosen soldier of the church has fallen to evil. Will the world be able to survive the attack of their former hero?

Lords- In a post apocalyptic world, humankind struggles for survival at the hands of demons, devils, and men who have turned to darkness. Only one hope remains, the Lords of the Light, the Unblemished Army, lies dormant in a cave for hundreds of years. If they could be freed, then mankind can push back the Darkness. Can 4 men defy the odds and free the Army, and ensure victory? Or will the Legions of Hell swallow the last bastion of human civilization?

Unfortunately these are both series. I have too much planned for both to make them stand alone books. I have 6 books planned for the Lords series, and that's pretty definite for what I want to do. I would like to finish the Zormir series in about 4 books, but it could go much longer, as I don't have that series completely planned out yet like I do with Lords.

Ok, I know this is a long post, and I will finish with my current state on things.

Right now I'm in the process of transferring all of my old notes into one file using Wikidpad. If you haven't heard of this, I highly recommend it to anyone that has any sort of collections of thoughts, also makes pretty good to do lists, etc. Basically it's like having your own personal wikipedia, and as a writer I find it extremely useful. I have approximately 400 pages of notes to convert, which should take me about a week maybe two, then I'll start working on new material again.

I devote the majority of my writing time to Zormir, however I'm also transferring old Lords manuscripts to the PC as well, so I haven't forgotten it. I actually have more work done on Lords, but I promise Zormir will be completed first.

I also have a few ideas floating around my head for some stand-alone novels. They are no more than ideas at the moment, and I'm not sure if they will take place in the same world as the other books of something entirely different, but I'll keep you posted.

Well that's all for now. I'll TRY to update often, but I make no promises. I'm a busy guy, and a very forgetful one at that :P