The Writing Career Begins!

Recently, I landed a freelance writing gig with comicbooked.com - I am so excited about this opportunity. I started on the 6th.

It all started when I had saw an ad on Comic Booked twitter account. They were looking for writer's and I immediately responded. About an hour later - Will Sokolowski replied back wanting an E-Mail interview. My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. We talked for an hour or so and I got the job right there!!! I couldn't believe how well I had did in the interview process. When Will stated he hadn't formally introduced himself.....I realized I had just interviewed with the CEO & PRESIDENT OF COMIC BOOKED!!!!

Once again, my eyes lit up as if the sun was shining through my eyes! It was so amazing! *enter thought of happy dance here*

The job is like a 3-Month Internship with the added benefit that if you get 5,000 hits or more then you get paid in the meantime. If Comic Booked likes me in the next three months, a contract is drawn up to keep me on. I'm very excited!

Goals: Writing & Fitness

I have been thinking about some goals for my life lately. Two of them have been quite challenging recently.

My first goal is to write at least 2-3 comic book pages per day. This time I really want to be able to take it slow and make sure I'm able to present the best work possible. I think this will also help sharpen my skills as a writer because one day I want to submit scripts to Dark Horse and Image Comics for consideration.

My second goal starting today is to work out at the gym every single day for two hours or. Starting December 4th, 2012 is my start to meet my goal of 50lbs lost by March 1st, 2013.

Wish me luck.

What A Shame

Last night my Wife and I were walking around our Apartment Complex to enjoy the cool weather and we were passing by the main pool area and Elyssa suddenly stopped me and asked me "Who's that man over there?" - This caught me off guard and I looked where she was telling me to look at and I didn't see anyone inside the pool area. She said "You don't see him, he's clear as day!" Of course this had me worried, Elyssa always had these kind of moments and with accurate precision of what she saw and felt which was always kind of scary. Sometimes it was enlightening.

She began to describe him to me and I couldn't help but notice she was describing my Uncle Wayne who passed away several years ago. Despite how others in my family and extended family saw him, I always had felt that I could "see" into him, "understand" him. He was a heavy chain smoker and heavy drinker. The best way to sum it all up about how I saw him against how others saw him, would be to watch the video below.

A Literary Hero To Superhero

When I got back into comic books after a near 15 year hiatus - I began to discover titles like Aquaman, The Green Arrow, Grifter, New X-Men, Avengers Titles, etc.... However, there was one title that seemed to stick out from the rest for me and that was The New 52 Aquaman series written by Geoff Johns who has now become my favorite writer - for the comic book industry at least. When it comes to the Novel world - it'll have to be James Patterson but I have been focusing much of my time with the Comic Book industry than I have with the Novel world.

Geoff Johns has been known to collaborate some of his pieces of work for television shows and some big time movies which makes me feel even better as a writer because it definitely inspires me to want to try my hand at writing a screenplay using pieces of work that I have written. Geoff Johns has inspired me to now own my own Comic Book Company titled, "3rd Level Comics".

Geoff Johns has helped me to write several pieces of work, to include:

"Danny Dire: Detective Of The Dead" Issues 1-4
"Sleepwalkers" Issues 1-6
"Munch" Issues 1 & 2
"Black Fang" Series
"To Be Or Not To Be...Eaten" Series

I am looking to branch out into superhero comics as well. That venture should be really fun. I found three artists that are simply amazing and very eager to work on the current and future projects. So we shall see how things go from now on.

From Writing To Odd Jobs

Recently I have been writing so so so so so so much and don't get me wrong I love writing and I even had a publishing company contact me yesterday, however, I also need to focus on finding a regular job as well. For awhile, I considered doing odd-jobs until I got to that point in time. Today, I posted flyers for house-cleaning to help ease the load on my Wife's shoulders for paying bills and what not.

Today I am going to finish up a script for a comic book titled, "To Be Or Not To Be...Eaten". At first, a long time ago, I wrote it in a novel-ish format and now I am trying to write it as a script so it's more readable and understandable for my artists.

Now that I think about it - it would sure be nice to have some followers for this blog of mine, especially commenting on my posts.

The Smoothie Challenge

Today, after I got home from the gym at my apartment complex..................................it's a nice gym.

I decided I wanted to attempt to make an apple smoothie. I realized I had three apples. I took two of those apples, 4 oz of water, 4 oz of almond soy milk, 2 ice cubes and 1 tbl spoon of sugar.

It didn't turn out too bad but I think I should have peeled the apples first before doing anything lol.

Next time I think I'm going to try apples and carrots together and see how it tastes.

A Challenge To Seek......And Destroy

Recently, I quit my Home Goods job because it was getting so bad on my knee - Walking 5 miles everyday. Considering my knee injury - this just doesn't work. I know that this puts my Wife and I in a tight financial bind but I am optimistic for the future though. I am looking at new jobs and what have you.

As some of you know by now - I opted out of BloodWork Comics due to varying reasons between the now former business partner and I. However, I will never go to the length to discredit an individual due to varying reasons either. He is also a talented writer and I'm sure he'll make it on his own someday too.

In light of leaving BloodWork Comics though, I started a new company called 3rd Level Comics™, "Comics Taken To A New Level". Also in the light of leaving BloodWork Comics, not only did I create the new business, I also managed to receive 50 applications from Artists around the world willing to work on my new projects. How about that huh? lol. So tomorrow, 11/28, I'm making my final decision on who it is exactly I want as my artist(s). Wish me luck on that one.

I still am going to continue on with the good fight for a new job anywhere. My mother recently just dropped off a bicycle that my grandfather in Texas fixed up and decided to give away. So I am very grateful for that. I am also getting a car soon so that's definitely going to help with getting around for work and what not.

So again, wish me luck folks.

Update

So some bad things happened recently but I am taking it with a grain of salt because of the fact that it will only open new doors for me.

1) My now former business partner decided he wanted full control of the company. That said, I wont go into further details but I will say this. I voluntarily opted out and now I am about to have my own personal business once again very soon and am already on the fast track towards getting my other goals completed that I wanted to accomplish with the previous company.

2) My mother was in a bad accident before Thanksgiving, however, thankfully she is doing 100% better. She still made the road trip with my father out to Texas for Thanksgiving and today safely arrived back home.

3) I lost my job but no matter because I will be getting another job here quite soon with my Wife's work.

So as you can see even though these strange and unfortunate events have taken place, these allowed me to open new doors for better opportunities. And trust me, I am definitely going to be taking advantage of these new opportunities.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

BloodWork Comics Is Official!

As of 11/08/2012 - BloodWork Comics has become a full-fledged business. I'm very excited about this.

Thankfully it didn't cost too much to start up the business. Mind you it being a web business.

To view more about the company, visit:
BloodWork Comics

Flash Fiction "Dead and Breakfast"

Submitted my Novembers Flash Fiction contest today.

Story is called "Dead and Breakfast"

Dead and Breakfast

The air grew colder as the night progressed. My clothes had been stripped away. I was thrown out into the cold after I had disobeyed my master, Mr. Hawthorne. As I laid there on the frozen courtyard grounds, I had only scarce thoughts, deep thoughts. I knew that I was going to pass away from this relentless night bearing down on my pale, milky skin. However, I knew my death wasn't going to be in vain. I was no longer going to be tormented by a tyrant that treated me more like a sex slave than a simple servant girl. My mistress was murdered after witnessing my former master’s attempt to seduce me. Since that day, I feared for my life – always giving in to my former master’s orders. That was until the night I decided enough was enough.

“Susan!” Mr. Hawthorne called out to me.

I was alone in my own sleeping quarters, away from all the other servants.

“Susan! Come here now!” he demanded.

“Coming master!” I yelled in reply.

I quickly donned my silky white gown and bonnet and proceeded down the winding stairs into the white-washed family room. Mr. Hawthorne always had a taste for the finest leathers he can get his hands on. A round glass coffee table rested between the two couches that faced each other. I stood there on the cold wooden floors that made my feet quickly ache, shivers traveled quickly up my body into the back of my neck making every hair on my neck stand up.

My head hanged low and my hands clasped together in front of me as I was taught to do. I didn't have to look up at my master to see just how his state of well-being was. The stench of the alcohol on his clothes and in his breath grew stronger. He was stepping closer to me.

Suddenly I began to feel a dull ache run through my bones as I heard an unfamiliar sound echoing from his deep raspy voice. He was crying.

“I….have never meant to hurt you my dear…” he began as he ran his thick callused hands through my bangs.

He then slowly ran his hands down to my shoulder softly caressing it.

“M…master,” I began to whimper and shake.

“Master, you’re drunk,” I pleaded.

He then slapped me in the face with the back of his thick hand sending me sliding across the wooden floor. Everything went completely black. I then woke to find myself laying out in the freezing winter cold in the courtyard.  I was alone….and naked.

I was no longer going to be tormented by a tyrant that treated me more like a sex slave than a simple servant girl.

Many years had passed and I still roamed the halls of the manor that once knew my mere faint existence.  I had watched idly by as my former master took in new servant girls and treated them as I was treated. The case was always the same…..silence or death.

However, my once mere faint existence was about to become well known for a man that accepted my existence in the cruelest of ways and frenzy shall follow.

“Aunt Julie, check out this house,” the little blonde girl yelled out to her petite build brown haired aunt.

Amy was a 16 year old slender, blonde teenager out on summer break with her Aunt Julie in Augusta, Maine.

“Slow down Amy,” her aunt replied as she struggled to pull the luggage out of the beat up tan Volkswagen.

Amy rushed down the dirt path leading to the front steps of the pasty white Hawthorne Manor. The pillars looked as though they were worn with several cracks spiraling down them. She rushed up the steps to the large brown arch like door and rang the doorbell. The doorbell rang an ominous deep tone indicating its wariness.

A large hulking man in a 19^th century outfit answered the door. His face indicated grimace and his eyes seemed as black as night. She soaked in every bit of this man that was standing before her.

“Um…Is this…Hawthorne Manor?” Amy asked as she fumbled with the brochure in her hands.

Julie was still by the car fumbling with the luggage.

The tall overbearing man gazed down upon the teenager before him and gave a sly half-smile response to her innocent question.

“Come on in my dear…” he replied with his deep raspy voice as he stepped back and gave a gentlemen’s like bow indicating her to enter the home.

“I hope you enjoy your stay here at my lovely bed & breakfast,” he stated to Julie as she entered the Manor still continuing to struggle with the luggage.

Mr. Hawthorne gave the two a tour of the Manor before disappearing into the study.

“What a lovely Manor. I could just absolutely die in this place!” exaggerated Amy.

“Didn't Mr. Hawthorne seem….a little strange to you?” asked Amy’s Aunt Julie.

“Nah, you’re just paranoid Aunt Julie. Take a load off,” she reassured her aunt.

The two began to settle in for the night as they got ready for bed and take on the beach the next day.

Amy knew this was going to be her best summer yet. However, strange creaking noises filled the hallway just outside the room her and her aunt Julie slept in. The sounds grew closer in the form of heavy footsteps coming closer to the bedroom. Amy began to shake in fear at this creeping sound hoping they would stop.

The sound had stopped….

....outside her room.

“Amy!” a female voice called out to her.

She quickly turned around, frightened to realize that it was not her aunt calling her name but that of the servant girl that passed away on the grounds of the courtyard outside the manor.

“Do not open the door!” the ghost whispered.

Amy stood there in silence with a drooping jaw, fiercely keeping herself from screaming.

Copyright ©2012

An Update And An Adventure

I haven't done much writing with the NaNoWriMo lately. I'm not sure if I'm going to complete it or not but I will definitely try - starting tomorrow. I'm definitely loving my new job by the way - despite having to work two jobs but all is well.

Low hours, better pay, getting better with my finances, the wife finally got a new job that'll definitely help pay the bills and soon BloodWork Comics will become a full-fledged business so stick around for those updates.

I'm Back With P.A.S.

Castle Of Glass

Some things have got me really thinking when I had first heard this new song, well at least, somewhat new song, from Linkin Park called "Castle Of Glass".

This song really choked me up for two reasons.

1). I was in the US Army National Guard
2). I have been diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

I have often thought about re-joining the Army once I got my knee and lower back taken care of - due to injuries suffered during my time in the Army but I have also thought about today's politics and how the current Wars are being fought. Sometimes I think that it's not even worth it. Other times I think about if my fellow brethren are staying safe over-seas especially a friend whom I consider a brother to me. His name is Jordan Kosby. Needless to say, I got him into the Army. He was so dedicated. He tried to apply for all the other services he could apply for but they all turned him down. After three years with his National Guard contract he decided to go Active Army and was deployed to Germany for a while, he was then transferred to Afghanistan for several months before being transferred back to Germany where he currently resides married to a local German girl named, "Angie", and now has a beautiful baby boy as well.

I always think of him and wonder if he is safe. He is wanting to make his time in the Army a career and eventually join the Special Forces.

Sometimes I am so envious of him though. Sometimes I wish I was able to fill his shoes instead. I know I should only be happy for him. For him being able to get married to a local and have a family there as well. I sometimes feel like I should be by his side as well. When that thought crosses my mind though, it always reverts to the type of thought that he has his shit figured out and doesn't need me there. It can all be so confusing sometimes.

If you ever get to read this Jordan....I hope you are safe and Elyssa and I love you very much.

National November Writing Month Challenge

So I decided to take on the National November Writing Month Challenge.

I gotta say that it's pretty interesting doing such a thing. I thought it would be kind of stressful considering the circumstances of me trying to work two jobs, writing a short story for a Flash Fiction Contest and start up a business but I found it to be the quite opposite. It has been quite fun actually. As I am typing this, it is Day 3 of the 30 days of writing a novel at 50,000 words or more.

Currently I am at 6,279 words. The goal is to, if you choose to, write the minimum of 1,667 words per day to meet 50,010 words by the 30th. However, I understand that everyone's structure is different than the next persons, but I found some good writing tips that have been helping me push through the writing process. The way that I am structuring it is I would write 2,000+ words a day for each chapter. So 2,000 words per chapter per day. Right now, I just completed Chapter 3 of my novel.

Try it out, it's a good structure to follow.

So have fun if you choose to do NaNoWriMo. It's quite a fun process.

Out! :)
Check Out My Recent Winnings:

Winner Of September 2012 Flash Fiction Short Story Challenge:

First Post!

Making my first post on this Blog.

This Blog will be my personal Blog. I do have other Blogs set aside for two other purposes though.

So a lot will be connected with this Blog however. Twitter account and such. Maybe even my facebook page. We'll see how it goes.

I haven't quite grasped the concept of Blogs yet but I will soon and soon hope to customize this blog exactly the way I want it to be. :)

So stick around and have fun my friends! :D