HENNEDIY.COM

The Minutes in the Grave

Brookicus — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:33:00 GMT

I had three eggs for dinner last night. Went to IHOP with the boy (the current version. should I stop saying "the boy" because there are multiple people who have had this name and it no longer seems appropriate. Except that maybe it is - for whatever phase of life I'm currently entrenched in). At any rate. So I just got the eggs and I think I'm going to do this from now on. Three eggs and some toast, please. Should be cheap and low calorie.

I slept like I was dead this morning. The outside world made a few attempts to pass in, but I wouldn't wake and now only have the vague recollection of outside things existing while I slumbered.
I only remember shreds of my dreams - the scrap of someone who cheated in one, plastic surgery in another - a new face for my sleeping world.

And pizza. I ordered pizza and I'm trying to think of other things while I wait... but the only thing that comes to mind is pizza. I took PTO today to write - to get everything that's been bottled up out, but now the only thing on my mind is pizza. Lovely.

These are the things I think about on a day to day basis.

Sins of the Father

I have three small, 30 page moleskine notebooks and I've made each into a diary of the three main characters. One is Jauni's. One is Cody's. The last is Lexalin's.
In these, I can explore each of their thoughts, writing styles, fears, process of decision making, speech and humor seperately and in depth.
I'm pleased with myself for coming up with this.

Baha'i'dism

If I were religious, which I might be, this is what I would follow.

Is it difficult to publish new religious texts?

I Can Stop Anytime I Want

Brookicus — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:57:00 GMT

On Sunday

I realized that I had negative dollars in my bank account. Pay day is this Friday. So I decided I'd sell a bunch of things on eBay. Problem is: nobody is bidding. :( I forgot that just because you say, "I'm selling this!" doesn't mean anybody wants it.

I'm also out of smokes. Last time I had a smoke was about 1:30 am yesterday... so about 27 hours ago. Not that long, really. But I think I'm going out of my mind. I want one so bad. I've gone this long without one before, but I could have had one if I wanted. Now I can't. I think that's what's driving me crazy. It's all I've been able to think about for hours.

If I leave my house now, there's a security guard at eBay who I know will give me a cigarette. Do I jump in my car and rush over, or do I fight it out a few more days?

It's pretty bad that if someone bought my eBay items right now, the first thing I'd do is buy cigarettes. Now I know why they're like currency in prison.

At any rate, I'm still pretty excited about the selling on eBay part - listed my first items ever! None of them are selling, but, you know, they're out there.

deviouscomics.com

Finally up! Getting updated semi-regularly now. I still need to go back and fix a few things here and there, but looking pretty sharp so far I think.

I need to just draw a whole bunch of them out then upload them all and wait until they're needed. I don't like drawing them. That's the hardest part for me. They're just stick figures yet I dread having to draw them! I used to do stipple art for chrissakes and now I can't draw stick figures??

Meh. I should just suck it up. It's not that hard and I like the reward so far. I'm not sure there are many people who can be like, "I have a comic." Or maybe there are. I'm going delirious at this point so it's hard to tell.

In other news:

My tattoo itches like mad and I don't think the color is staying very well. Not happy about this.

Also, I started talking to Tyler again. Talked to him almost all day today which was nice and interesting. Very nostalgic. I found this old notebook I used to write notes to him in. Found some notes I wrote him 5 years ago. He says he still remembers what it said.
It's funny how we sometimes don't realize the way we infiltrate the world of other people.

Nazi Liberals

Brookicus — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 10:05:00 GMT

Everyone needs to read this and put a stop to Nazi liberal policies before all our rights are taken away for good!

I don't know WHO first got it in their heads that we should reform healthcare and it should be made available to everyone, even those WITHOUT JOBS was, but he obviously was a retarded liberal who somehow time travelled from the Nazi era because I'll be damned if MY tax dollars are going to go to SOMEONE ELSE'S healthcare!

Did I give you epilepsy, leukemia or childhood diabetes? NO I DID NOT. So why should I have to help pay for your misfortune? You brought that on yourself!

Especially in this economy when EVERYONE can find a job there's no reason for anyone to not have a job and healthcare in the first place unless you're just a lazy head.
If you don't have a job, it's because you don't WANT one. And, newsflash if you got laid off, it's because you were a sucky employee.
Have you ever met a hard working man who put all his effort into resumes and job hunting and spent weeks, or even months looking for work and couldn't find a full time job with complete healthcare coverage? NO!!!! Every person who is looking for a job gets one within no more than 2 weeks - tops. Unless you just don't want to have a job because you know that the government will pay for your healthcare.
ADDITIONALLY, there is NO reason for ANY of us to get jobs if the other taxpayers are just going to pay for our healthcare. EVERYONE WILL STOP WORKING AND HAVING JOBS. We won't need cars or food because ambulances will drive us everywhere and we'll get IV fluids from the hospital!

Moreover, have you ever met a father or a mother who had a hard time looking for a job with benefits for their children? Have you ever known of a parent who didn't make it a priority for their child to get healthcare? I DON'T THINK SO. Every parent CAN and DOES have full healthcare coverage for their children. Plain and simple. Every child in this country who is too young to work for themselves is already fully covered!
And if they aren't, they probably don't deserve it and can get a job themselves to pay for it. They do it in other countries.

And this is just the breaking point for me. I'm sick of paying taxes for everyone else's unexpected needs!

If you want a road going to your house, pave your own road.

Oh, and I don't recall ever having been stupid enough for MY house to catch on fire, so why do MY taxes go to firefighters who put out OTHER PEOPLE'S FIRES!!!
And for people who get caught under rubble when natural disasters happen, DIG YOUR OWN FUCKING WAY OUT! I don't want any more of my tax money going to your stupid mishaps. Or get a job and RE-PRIVATIZE FIRE BRIGADES! They did it in pre-Principate times, they can do it again. Then, if you're going to get your house burned down, you can pay for a private firefighting company to come take care of you like you should anyways. One less stupid thing I have to get taxed on.

Also, I DON'T GO WALKING IN THE DESERT AND GET MYSELF LOST WITHOUT WATER.
Search and Rescue? I'm sick of paying for it! Don't get lost in the desert, or anywhere else, for that matter, and we won't have to worry about this.

So, please. Save this country from the Nazi liberals who are taking away our right to not be taxed and to not have healthcare coverage unless everything else worked out exactly right. Afterall, it was the Nazi's who first wanted everybody to have the same rights.

The backgound to me writing this was that I was at work today and some douche bag kept saying that they will not sell to democrats. And obviously it was discriminatory (you can't refuse to sell to any particular group of people) and he's just been fighting it tooth and nail, saying it's not discriminatory and he doesn't have to sell to Nazi liberals if he doesn't want, etc, etc. And it's just getting way too heated. I mean, people are threatening to shoot the children of these lagislaters. It's out of control. There's no reason for people to be behaving the way they are.
I guess they got under my skin a little.

The Mayan Code

Brookicus — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:33:00 GMT

Sins of the Father - Research

I lied in my last post.

In other news: the underlying themes I want to apply to my story require a lot of research. Currently, I'm focusing on Mayan mythology
given the concept of their Long Count which has always fascinated me. From there, I'll focus on more general principles found across a larger base of world mythologies.

The book I'm currently using as research is The Mayan Code. Not quite what I was expecting. At first, I was dismayed with the lack of impartiality, but then I realized it'd be good to get in the mindset of someone who truly believes - for my purposes.

Organization

Part of what I'm struggling with on my project is the constantly evolving themes and characters. I need a good way to organize it all and see the big picture - and each element in each scene.

I haven't found a good way to get everything together and displayed back to me in exactly the way I want it, yet.

Notes

Some notes worth noting from The Mayan Code so far:

Humanity has seen the end of a Long Count before. This Long Count is supposed to end either on December 21 2012 (popular belief) or October 28, 2011 (according to this book). After the last Long Count ended, complex city-states started popping up around the world.
Basically, this would mean that the world isn't ending in 2012 (or 2011) but that this era of thinking is ending and the next Long Count will see an evolution in our thought processes. This is the basic theme in my particular story.

I also found a very interesting calendar in this book very nicely laid out about the 13 heavens in Mayan mythology.

Can I just say - I love writing fiction because it means I can do whatever I want with mythology and it doesn't have to be true or accurate.

Life

Brookicus — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 07:52:00 GMT

Life

It starts out like, "well, I'll take a break from this project just this one day, but I'm starting back up tomorrow." Then it's been a year or more and your head is filled with the ever-present phrase, "where the fuck did all that time go?"
And all of a sudden, you're 22 years old and you're like... crap. I got old. And your mom is like, "you're not old."

But I feel Old Age creeping ever closer. 'Course... I've felt that way since I was 12.

I wonder what the average age of a debut novelist is.
I suppose this is inconsequential...

Some things I have Wikipedia'ed recently (About 85% either pertaining to work or inspired by something I heard at work):

5-Hydroxytryptophan
Albert Einstein
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Ancient Technology in Stargate
Archipelago
Bayesian poisoning
Carbon Tetrachloride
Carnivorous Plant
Chibiusa
Countess Dracula
Daisy Chain
Dissociation
Dominaria
Ed Gein
Eugenics
Euphorbia
Higgs Boson
Hyperalgesia
Hyperuricemia
Japan
Logorrhea
Mad Hatter
Minoan Civilization
Montezuma's Castle
Niacin
Norepinephrine
Open Relationship
Ori
Pneumothorax
Rhineland
Seal
Sensory Deprivation
Sinti
Skeletor
Tiger Salamander
Trepenation
Vermeil
Ving Rhames
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
xkcd
Yggdrasil

Woke Up Drunk

Woke Up Drunk has a new name (again). But I'm not saying what it is.
I need a tracing paper pad to finish the outline. I'm going to put each character and each theme on a separate sheet with the events pertaining to them starting at the top and progressing to the bottom in sequential order as they happen in the story. Then when you put all the pieces together, you can literally see how they overlap.
I'm currently researching Mayan mythology as a back layer.

Comic

I have an idea for a comic and registered the domain today (I spend way too much money on domains I think up on a whim. Waaaaaaay too much).... especially since I now need someone to draw the comic for me.

Fashion - Business Venture

I have an idea for a fashion line that hasn't really been done before. I can possibly get Hayli involved, but she's not nearly so interested. Oh well. Seedy measures are like.... 40% effective.

School

If I can get my transcripts from Pima soon (they gave me some bogus reason for holding them. It's not like I owe them money or anything), I can hopefully go to the U of U in the fall. But, as previously mentioned, Pima's being a big, fat butt.

Tattoo

I have a tattoo consultation tomorrow and might get my first tattoo ever! :D

The end.

Steps

Brookicus — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 05:54:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Rewrote the first 150 words 8 times so far. Getting ready to send it to an agent. Asked a contact of mine if she knew of any agents I could send something to tonight.

Now we wait.

And edit.

Road Block

Brookicus — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:53:00 GMT

Personal

I haven't been able to write lately. It's not writer's block. I can think of plenty of things to write about. I just don't feel like putting the effort into it lately. I've lost all motivation. I'm going to go to sleep now.

General Laziness

Brookicus — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Started Chapter 13 today. I can't motivate myself to work on Chapter Guides anymore.

Changes

Realized today how I can make the first chapter less cliche.
Made a major change to a character who appears much later in the story.

IRL

Rumors continuing to circulate regarding my department being obliterated, run out, laid off, useless... I want to kick the FullBrights in the head.

Things I have read about this morning instead of working on my novel:
- Decompression Illness (ie: the bends)
- Spotted hyenas
- Breast Cancer (and inflammatory breast cancer)
- Champagne bubbles
- Giraffes
- Siberian huskies
- Akita Inu
- The ingredients in Raid

Goals for this week (7 day period):
- Clear my throat and sniff less
- Stop licking my fingers to clean them
- Clean Brandon's bathtub (and possibly my own while I'm at it)
- Do laundry

Vacation

Brookicus — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:39:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finally finished Segment 1 - the first 12 chapters - on either Tuesday or Wednesday of last week... and then I got lazy and have only written two pages since then.

I also had a crazy dream about what Chapter 14 would be about (because I've been thinking of re-doing that part)... Cody robs a bank. o.O Obviously not happening.

Musings

This is a non-writing related musing.
We got to talking about abortion and being pro-life/pro-choice the other day. I was thinking that while, in my opinion, there has to be something wrong with you to want to kill your own child, making it illegal won't solve anything.
People will still find a way to use a wire hanger or set up secret, make-shift abortion clinics in their homes. This will cause more problems for the products of failed abortions and of course health problems for the mother.
What's even worse is the idea to pass a law that you can't get an abortion except in cases of rape. I don't think this is a good idea for a number of reasons:
- It's contradictory to the pro-life concept of the fetus deserves a chance to live. Saying that abortion is wrong except in the case of rape is like saying - all children deserve the chance to live except those whose fathers were rapists. Either give women the right to decide whether they will endure pregnancy OR give the fetus a chance to live, one or the other.
- There are women out there who will claim rape just so that they can legally abort the child. This is not only bad for a father who did not rape the mother as he will now be wrongly accused of it, but also for women who really were raped. A rape trial is hard enough, with our court systems being geared toward the defendant, not towards the plaintiff, with the woman who was raped having her entire sexual history, motives, etc questioned in front of a jury, and with the defense's job being to make it look like she is lying - if you add the fact that she *could* be lying to get an abortion, that just makes it even harder for actual rape victims to come forward and seek justice.
If the laws are pro-choice in general then we won't have these fake rape accusations or defense attorneys claiming that rape victims are faking it to get an abortion.
There's also the fact that some women are simply in a desperate situation - there could be countless scenerios where the mother is just not in a place where she should be bringing a child into this world, such as if she is mentally ill and may abuse the child or kill it after it's born.

IRL

Spent the last week in Tucson hanging with my old high school friends.
On Sunday night, I went to IHOP with Helena, Ashley and Hayli. I had an omelette. Deliciousness.
Monday through Wednesday, I spent most my time at Helena and Jeremy's place, running errands here and there with Ashley and Helena.
We found an abandoned building! We went to look for this cake supply place, and found a building that was just sitting there all boarded up, except the door was open! There were children's desks, books, a ping pong table, a refrigerator, lockers, flourescent letters, traffic cones, a child's play kitchen, headsets, a TV, anti-tobacco educational materials, office chairs, water coolers, and all sorts of signs.
Thursday night, we had a sleepover at Ashley's - watched Charlie Bartlett (good) and TransSiberian (not so good). We also hung out with Hayli for a bit.
Friday I went and saw my old friend Jackie and picked Brandon up from the airport! We picked up some drinks then went to Ashley's party. Elise was there which was very exciting. Brandon got drunk and was actually talking quite a bit. :D Helena and I sword fought with styrofoam swords. Helena also made me a s'more because I couldn't figure out how to do it. Brandon and I tried to stay the night but Ashley's brother was too obnoxious to let us sleep so we went back to Liz's house (where I was staying).
On Saturday, Brandon and I met Helena and Ashley for bagels, then went to the mall to get him a new phone, and then went to Main Street with Jeremy, Gabe, Helena and Tyler. We played pool and I think I got one ball in the whole time. BUT, after that, we played fusball. The first two games, me and Jeremy whooped Brandon and Tyler's asses and the third game it was just Brandon and me. I whooped his ass and took his balls. :P
Then we went to IHOP which was the first time I went to a restaurant with a 'big party' that wasn't my family.
Sunday was my last day there. Brandon and I met Helena and Jeremy for bagels and hung out for a couple hours until we had to head to the airport.
The plane was supposed to leave at 4:00, but when we got there, it said it was delayed until 4:15... then 4:24... then 4:45... they kept pushing back the time by 10 minute intervals until 6:00. Brandon had 3 beers while we were waiting. I tried tequilla which didn't turn out to be any good. At least I know what not to order next time.
We missed our connecting flight because it left Phoenix before we left Tucson. Brandon got us tickets for the next flight to SLC and got some drinks while we were waiting. I had a Bloody Mary (good) and Brandon had another beer. We didn't get home until midnight.
When I woke up this morning, I thought I was still in Tucson and then had to realize that I wasn't. Sad. :(
The end.

Marketability

Brookicus — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:07:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 8. I was supposed to be done with Segment 1 (12 chapters) yesterday. :(

Musings

There are three basic parts to writing a good story (not all are necessary for a novel to sell, however):

- Interesting and original story-line
- Full-bodied characters
- Beautiful writing

Beautiful Writing
If you've ever been to a writing workshop, you'll notice that they critique the hell out of the way you wrote the story. They'll move words around, replace sentences and educate you on "style." 80% of all the critiques I've ever received from a workshop or from other writers was simply on how I used my words and structured my sentences - rarely on the storyline itself.
If you want to be held in high regard among your fellow writers, this is the most important part of your work. However, the average reader couldn't care less about your pretty words or well-phrased sentence. If you look at any of the Phineas Poe books by Will Christopher Baer, you'll find that the writing is perfect and imperfect, it's mesmerizing, a work of genius - holy, even. But the Phineas Poe series is far from a best seller, it is known primarily by other writers - who worship every single word. While writers, particularly literary or film noire writers, always keep a copy with them as if it were a bible, most normal people have never heard of it.

Full-Bodied Characters
The best way to get loyal readers is through characters that are larger than life, yet human and understandable. If you have a character that your reader falls in love with, they will follow him anywhere. They will watch him as he saves the world from absolute destruction, or while he's making breakfast. A good character is a character that is captivating no matter what he does.
Most writers focus on ways to describe their characters.
An amateur writer who can tell a half decent story can describe their characters' hair, eyes, weight and favorite color.
A good writer will give their characters a past, fears, and imperfections.
An expert writer has difficulty describing their character - the way they would with a good friend. They simple know their characters, they get into their skin and understand the way they tick, the way they think and let the imperfections, fears, weight and eye color come to them as the character reveals himself to the writer.

Interesting and Original Story-Line
The main difference between literary fiction and main-stream (or genre fiction) is that while literary fiction is character-driven and focuses primarily on the first two characteristics of a good story, main-stream fiction features really great plots.
Most writers consider Dan Brown's writing style horrific, plain and sloppy - but his story is epic. 40 million copies of the DaVinci Code have been sold worldwide.
Star Wars has flat, even irritating characters and cheesy, cliche dialogue, but it is easily the most popular series ever created - because the story line is, again, epic.
Creating a good story line is nearly impossible to teach and so is a pain to writing teachers. How do you teach someone to be original? How do you teach plot twists?

The number of successful, professional writers is pitifully small, even among the best, but the main-stream writer is, sadly far advantaged when it comes to sales. A literary writer can hope to be the most respected among his peers with relatable characters and fancy words, but would be foolish to quit his day job.

And, if you want your books to be read in classrooms as part of the curriculum 30 years from now, none of the above applies, just make sure to include lots of symbolism.

World of Warcraft Day

Brookicus — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:47:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 7. Two chapters behind for today.

IRL

I've spent the entire day agonizing over whether my mom and step dad's computers will be WoW-ready for when Brandon and I come over.

Reading

Brookicus — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 18:53:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Chapters 3 and 4 are terrible. They need to be completely redone.

Laundry Day

Brookicus — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

3 Chapters behind. :(

IRL

Got hella sick yesterday. Left work early. Wasted time watching Bones instead of writing.

Going to my mom's house tonight to show her how to play WoW.

More Caffeine, Please

Brookicus — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:43:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 6. Two chapters behind. Need to finish those tonight.

IRL

Boy got his tickets for Tucson yesterday. :D

Dark and Silent and Complete

Brookicus — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:17:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 5, started on Chapter 6. I'm a chapter behind schedule so far today. I've been spending too much time trying to revise Chapter 2.
I'm lucky that Chapter 6 is already mostly written because of the Chapter Guides.

Administration

I want a book, or some sort of reference for facial features and ways to describe them, it's incredibly hard to find on the internet.

My nose is running

Brookicus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:50:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Started chapter 5. I'm half a chapter behind today.

Black Ninja Motorcycles are HOT

Brookicus — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:01:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 4. I'm on schedule for today.

IRL

The boys fixed Brandon's car today so that it was less stealable. I watched and got to sit on Brandon's bike. It is uber sexy. I want to ride it.

Car Watching

Brookicus — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:17:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 3.

IRL

Watching the parking lot in case some jackhole tries to steal from the boy's car again. Fucking bastards.

Final Deadlines

Brookicus — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 02:17:00 GMT

Deadlines

So, I detailed out when every single chapter needs to be written and came up with new deadlines for when everything should be finished by. Writing novels takes a long time - especially when factoring in time for holidays, planning, and the like.
Below is the deadline for every segment, as noted by the segment name.

Devils Draw the Carriage

October 28, 2008

All the Pretty Lies

December 12, 2008

Woke Up Drunk

January 11, 2009

Souls Lost at Sea

February 6, 2009

A Million Skies are Blue

February 22, 2009

Bloody Mary

March 8, 2009

Re-edit first 100 pages and write summary/letter to send out to agents

March 16, 2009

ReWrite and FINISH

April 30, 2009

Progress

Brookicus — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:13:00 GMT

Woke Up Drunk

Finished Chapter 2.

I'm really hungry today for some reason.