Build-Your-Own Apocalypse!

Well, it’s December 23rd, and most of us are still here, so I guess the guys who thought the Mayans were predicting the end of the world were wrong.

Or were they?

I saw something online on the 21st that caught my attention. It said that the Mayans weren’t saying that the physical world was going to end. Instead, it said that it was more of a spiritual ending. It said that the world was going to change from viewing things from a selfish perspective, and start focusing more on love and harmony. So more like the end of an age than the end of everything.

I don’t know about you, but from everything that has been happening in the last couple of years, that is the sort of apocalypse I can support!

So that’s why I am writing this post today. It fits right in with the whole New Year’s Resolutions thing, too. I have a question for all of you, and I want you to be brutally honest with yourself (and with me if you feel like sharing) when you answer it.

The world you grew up in is gone.

What kind of world are YOU going to build to replace it?

There are so many opportunities for change in this world. There is a political upheaval going on RIGHT NOW in this country, and we have the chance to show the world what kind of people we are. I would like the chance to show them that the citizens of America are still good and decent people, and not brainless corporate zombies the way the Tea Party Republicans would have us be. It’s up to us to make a difference and be the change that will shape this nation for the next hundred years. I hope you are with me.

I am going to go to church more often. I am going to do more to help my fellow man. I am going to think more about others than of myself. And I am going to share everything that is meaningful to me with anyone who will listen.

Peace, harmony, and all of my love to each and every one of you in this new year.

“Be excellent to each other!” – Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Are You Ready for the Apocalypse?

The word on the street is that nine days from now, on December 21st, the world is going to end. They say this because the Mayan calendar ends on that day. This seems a little bit extreme, considering that our calendar ends every year on December 31 and people don’t consider that a portent of doom.

However you feel about the Mayans, I have to admit that there are plenty of signs of bad things to come for all of us. The political upheavals of the last few years have got me thinking that our society is on the brink, and despite the re-election of Barack Obama, they don’t seem to be getting any better.

Most generations think that things have gotten worse over the course of their years, and I am no exception. I look back fondly on many of the years of my youth. But even though I am an adult now, and have a fairly decent job, I am still living in a rough neighborhood for the simple reason that I can’t afford a better place. I am still paying rent because I can’t manage to save enough for even a down payment on a house. I am driving a sixteen year old car that is literally falling apart because even though I have no outstanding debts, my credit score is still too low for me to get a decent loan.

And everywhere on the news, I see politicians helping the richest people in the country get richer, while the majority of their constituents end up homeless and unemployed, living off what is left of the government’s social programs.

This isn’t the America I grew up in. This is certainly not the America I thought my kids would inherit.

When did America stop being a democracy and start being a fascist regime? When did the people stop caring and let the corporations take over?

I’m sorry that this post has turned into something so depressing. But if nobody does anything about the problem, then I can only see one outcome. America will either have another civil war, with the 1% on one side and the 99% on the other. Those may seem like good odds, but you have to remember that they are the only ones that will be able to afford the weapons in this war. Take a look back at history to see what happens when the downtrodden workers go up against the wealthy elite. It never ends well.

So stock up on your emergency rations and make your plans for defending your home. Either rioters or zombies, one of them will be knocking down your door before you know it.

Check in again on Sunday. I’ll be starting my vacation and I’m planning on seeing the new Hobbit movie while I still can. I’ll post a review in an attempt to lighten things up around here. See you then!

August 22 – Another Story Down

This weekend I finally finished my short story. I had an epiphany on Friday. I remembered that the story was set in the world of my NaNoWriMo story from last year, where a man learns magic from dragons to save the world from a demon invasion. That meant that I had a way for my character to escape from the demon. I could use some of the work that I had done developing my world in my first story to help me with my new one. Once I figured that out, all I had to do was figure out what part of my earlier story applied in my new one.

Another thing I realized is that my character needed to be more affected by what had happened. She had caused the death of her partner. Even though they were always fighting, they had been together so long that they might as well have been friends. The problem was that she needed to admit that to herself. She needed to let herself feel all the pain that the events in the story had caused. I needed to work more on character development. I needed to let her open up to the reader and show how she felt.

So I started with another revision (of course). I opened with her falling apart with the demon pounding on the door. Then I flashed back to the hunt. I made her directly responsible for the death of her friend. Then I started working on bringing out the magic.

In my dragon story the idea was that when a dragon breathed fire on a person that had magical ability, they burned away all the dross that kept them from being able to use their magic. I decided that the terrible events that had happened to my character in this short story had the same effect. They stripped away everything that mattered to her, leaving nothing left to block the magic from coming out. She was left with one thought in the midst of her depression: that she was NOT going to let this happen to the rest of her people.

The magic came out, she destroyed the demon, and she went home. The end.

It reads a bit better than that, but you get the idea. I focused on character, and used what I had learned about the world in my other story to finish this one.

I like it, and I know where I am going to submit it. It’s a little anthology being done by FableCroft, a company out of Australia. The project is called Apocalypse Hope, and submissions close September 30. They pay AUD$50 (anyone know how much that is in US$?) and a copy of the book. There may also be further royalties for e-book sales.

And if they don’t want it, I’ll send it out to someone else. Like I said, I like the story, and I think it is worth publishing somewhere. I can always put it out myself as a 99¢ e-book if I want to. It’s just under 4000 words.

My plan is to run it past my critique group one more time tomorrow night, make some final revisions, and send it out. If the editor likes it I will post the news here first. Wish me luck and I’ll see you on Thursday!

July 28 – Major Revisions

I have been working on my short story this week. As promised, I took it to my critique group on Tuesday and they had some good comments. Unfortunately, one of the comments require me to start over from the beginning and add another character. This will take the story in a different direction, but in the end it should be a better tale.

The original idea was this: Demons have invaded and destroyed most of civilization. Most of them are gone now, but then, so are most of the people. A young woman is out bow hunting, using an old building as a vantage point to take her shot. She takes down a deer, but then a demon appears and chases her, so she goes from being the hunter to being the hunted.

The new plan will be that there are two hunters, both women. They have been rivals for years, but are forced to work together for the good of the tribe. They set up on opposite sides of the parking lot to take their shots, each on top of an old SUV. The younger one brings down a deer, but the demon appears and they run for the cover of the building. The demon eats the kill before chasing after them. The older one was slightly farther away from the building and is caught as they climb the stairs. This allows the younger hunter to get to the roof, where she takes cover in the maintenance penthouse. Now she is trapped, alone, and the demon is trying to break down the door for dessert. Even though they were rivals, she feels guilty about the death of the other hunter and is terrified that she will be killed as well. I haven’t figured out yet how she is going to escape.

So I had to start from the beginning and try to figure out what I could keep and how to rework the story to make it fit the new plan. I had to make the hunting part start in the parking lot because I learned that the distance from the building would be too far for a bow. There are also several themes dealing with fear of the dark and concern about tetanus from the rusty vehicles that I will have to minimize due to these revisions.

I had about 4000 words before I started these changes, and I’m still around that level now but I have a lot of work yet to do. I’m hoping to be at least back to where I was (with the hunter holed up in the penthouse) by next Monday. This weekend is going to be busy!