The comic’s still here, of course,  but for the time being, it’s again taking a  backseat to my writing. Also, I just looked at the comic in progress (which, ironically,would have been fitting to post before the multi-month break. But, whatever). I’m not liking the way it’s drawn and I think I want to redo the whole thing anyway. We’ll see what happens.

Here’s hoping 2010 (of which 1/6 is already over, yes I know) is full of lots of productivity and triumphs for all of us!

Now, I was already looking forward to tonight’s episode of Castle. The first five minutes made my night, and that episode will not be leaving my DVR until the DVD comes out. Thank you, Mr. Fillion. The only thing that would have made it better would be a “Bwah.” In my opinion, anyway.

And then I started thinking of Firefly. And Dollhouse. You know, I am seriously enjoying the second season of Dollhouse. It’s interesting to see the echoes of the imprints in…. Echo. (That was totally unintentional, by the way.) Unless, of course, that is why she is Echo. It would make sense, wouldn’t it? Anyway. I’ve heard a lot that Fox is planning to end Dollhouse after this season. If that’s the case, I will be very sad to see it go. As said before, this is a high-concept show that has so much potential. And I’m getting rather fond of many of the actors (Not to mention, I can’t wait to see Summer Glau in it).

I do have to say I am glad that if that’s the case, at least Whedon and the other writers will have some warning, and the series finale ought to give a bit more closure than we were given with Firefly. Maybe we [the fans] won’t feel so ripped off. (Although I do think Fox could have done better. Friday night is not a good night for TV anymore, and they’re shoving it aside for Friday Night baseball again. I mean, somebody PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the next episode is the beginning of December? Then again, that might be good for me. NaNoWriMo is in November, after all. Still. I’ll stop ranting now.)

Anyway, my point (the original one) is, despite the low ratings this season, Fox is airing ALL of the episodes of Dollhouse, no matter what. And why? Because of the power of voice. The power of the fans. With Firefly, we did the impossible, and it made us mighty. The fans are still mighty. Lookie here: http://airlockalpha.com/news/6788/dollhouse-fans-chalk-up-another-win-against-network.html

What does that mean for Dollhouse? For Firefly, it meant that we got a Big. Damn. Movie (and loved every minute of it!) Dollhouse gets to finish its run, at the very least. I don’t know if it’ll get a media leap. It’s probably a pretty big stretch to think that it’ll get another season. But hey, the fans have accomplished more before. So stand up and tell the networks what you think. It could make a difference. I’ll be curious and looking forward to seeing what happens, no matter what.

And I think we’ll rise again.

First disclaimer: I’ve never reviewed a short story collection before, so bear with me if I miss something.

Ok, so zombies…. are not my thing, really. It kind of goes along with my not liking horror. There’s some exceptions to that rule, of course. Army of Darkness was friggin’ hilarious. And there have been others from time to time that I enjoyed. I guess it kind of goes back and forth, really.  But when you have a chance to read and review an advanced copy with contributions from the fabulous Karina Fabian… who the hell am I to pass up that chance? The Zombie Cookbook contains stories and recipes from Becca Butcher, Carla Girtman, Cinsearae Santiago, Dawn Marshallsay, Karina Fabian, Kate Sender, Lin Neiswender, Lisa Haselton, Scott Virtes, and a forward by The Zombie Cookbook, a metal band from Amsterdam.  Edited by Kim Richards, cover art by Cinsearae Santiago, and inside art by George Silliman.

Wokking Dead by Karina Fabian – This made me giggle. Neeta Lyffe, zombie exterminator extraordinaire and her partner, Ted, answer a 911 and head to a Korean restaurant to take care of the undead crisis. Karina’s story takes a very serious situation and turns it into a fun and lighthearted day on the job. There’s even a hint of romance in there. What I like most are the little details that the humor springs from.

Secret Ingredient by Lisa Haselton – Annie faces old memories and her own hatred of zombies when her husband hires a vegetarian zombie to be her assistant in the kitchen of her restaurant. This story was not quite as lighthearted as the first, but was still a good read.  Quite frankly, I’m always going to be interested in a vegetarian zombie. Isn’t one of the telling details of a zombie the fact that they want to eat brains and human flesh (do they leave the blood for vampires or fight over it)? The story touched me in a way. Annie’s attitude (and that of the human community) reminded me a lot of the US during the Reconstruction era and before the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Clete, the vegetarian zombie is part of a minority, oppressed by the people who think they’re different, segregated from them even as they mingle, and forced to wear controlling equipment. They are different, not to be trusted (and granted, I’d say the humans have a damn good reason not to trust here, but it’s still a bit sad). And I won’t give away the ending, but it was a surprise, to me at least. I wasn’t sure whether to cheer at the end or be sad, really.

The Right Recipe by Lin Neiswender – An editor searches his e-mail for ideas for upcoming issues. Again, not quite sure whether to laugh or not at the ending here. The e-mails are funny, though, and about what I’d expect an editor at a food magazine that features zombie dishes to get. It’s an entertaining read.

Express Cuisine by Dawn Marshallsay – Ruby takes the train home and has to fight off the zombies taking it over. First thing I have to say – the present tense voice took me out of this story somewhat. I found it a little jarring. This story was fast-paced and action packed. I didn’t really get much of a sense of the characters, other than Ruby, but she’s the important one, so I guess that’s all right. The other characters sort of blended together to me into two groups: zombie and not zombie. It was well-written, but overall, this isn’t my kind of story. I did enjoy the twist ending, though. Again, didn’t see that coming.

Brain Food by Carla Girtman – Louis comes home to discover the effects of an experimental medication on his wife. Wow, we’ve got a lot of twist endings here. I should start expecting them, maybe? This is a very short story, but I enjoyed it a lot. It’s garnished with bits of humor, and again, I wasn’t expecting the ending that occurred.

A Zombie’s APB by Cinsearae Santiago – food and life from the POV of a zombie. Oh my! This story made me laugh out loud. And apparently, the way to stop the zombie apocalypse is to keep drugging ourselves up, getting plastic surgery, etc. Who would have thought? Too bad it’ll take forever for me to save up for a boob job… Seriously, though, I liked this zombie…

My Big Fat Zombie Wedding by Karina Fabian – Vida gets set up on a blind and finds true love with a zombie. This is a great ending to The Zombie Cookbook. It’s fun and funny, and while I enjoyed the parallels to the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I think it could stand just as well even if you haven’t seen the movie.

I’m not going to review the recipes here, but give them a read. They made me laugh.

How, how did the zombies treat me this time? I guess my favorites out of the group were the humorous ones, but I think they’re all a good read. If you’re a fan of zombie fiction, I would definitely recommend picking this up. Don’t try the recipes at home, though, unless you’ve got a shambling dead to feed.

Rating: ****~ (4/5)

Well, you’re probably not surprised, but updates are going to be sporadic for the next few months, pretty much guaranteed. I’m making plans for a trip in January, and therefore putting in extra time at work now. In addition to that, there’s the Muse Conference this week, and I do expect to actually make an attempt at NaNoWriMo this year again.

But Muse’s Block will continue. Perhaps not regularly, but it will continue. I’ve already got this storyline fleshed out, plus another couple prepped.

In the meantime, today I’m part of the Zombie Cookbook Virtual Blog Tour! Read below for my review, and stay tuned for updates to Muse’s Block and more zombie fun!

But since I’m still working on the next comic, here’s a sketch I drew during some free time at work.

Oh, I’ve also discovered that this site looks like crap in IE 6. Even if you must use Microsoft, updates can be a good thing, people! Please!

Also…….. I’ve been nominated for the Kreativ Blogger Award by the wonderful Jan Verhoeff! Thank you, Jan!

Kreativ Blogger logo

But. There are a few rules to the nominations.

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

So, without further ado……

7 Things About Me:

1. I seem to be one of the few people I know that really hates the rain. Every once in a while, I can identify it, but it makes me feel cold, tired, and a bit dead inside. Give me my sun any day.
2. I have a tendency to take on way too many tasks. But, it does keep life from being boring.
3. I live with a cat. Her name is Cleopatra (or Patra for short), she’s almost a year and a half old and still very cute and cuddly. Even when she really doesn’t want to be cuddled.
4. I love to read, write, dance, sing, act, watch movies, and play RPGS – pretty much anything to do with fine arts and entertainment (except sports). I’ve recently been sucked into Dungeons and Dragons Online, but I’m trying not to let it affect my work any more than I already have.
5. While I’m not a huge fan of staying in costume for several hours, dressing up as someone/thing else is one of the most fun things to do in life. This makes Halloween the greatest holiday ever (candy doesn’t hurt, either, though.).
6. I have one novel at the editing stage, two more in the writing stage, and one or two more in the not-so-developed-idea-that-I-can-really-write-anything-on-it stage. I also have about 20 pieces of artwork in various similar stages.
7. Last but not least…I am more comfortable sprawled on the ground a lot of the time than sitting in a chair. Go figure.

And now, the other moment you’ve all been waiting for…..I nominate (in no particular order):

1. Libri Touches – book (and sometimes other things) reviews from a dear friend and writer
2. Query Shark – one of the most dreaded processes for writers is the writing and sending of a query letter – you need a good one to get through to most publishers and agents. Well, this blog may either make you dread it more or less, but you’ll learn from it, and have fun reading along the way!
3. Yumsugar – Well, this blog has very little to do with writing, and everything to do with foodie news! Recipes, quizzes, and fun information – and there are lots of other parts to the site, if you’re interested in those!
4. Evil Editor – a lot of the creativity here comes from several different people – EE’s notable minions. But the Evil Editor is in charge – read as his minions go about their tasks, all in the name of becoming better writers
5. Limyaael – If you write fantasy, read this. Limyaael takes gives her opinion on different aspects of fantasy, and even storytelling in general. Not only are her “rants” thought-provoking, but there’s a lot of great information in the comments, too.
6. Artcat’s blog – rather new blog – Artcat shares her art (you can even buy it!),and a bit about life.
7. Sluggy Freelance – well, I don’t know if the comic itself counts as a blog, but there is a blog attached, I believe, so I’ll round out my nominations here. Sluggy Freelance was the first webcomic I ever started reading regularly, and the one that introduced me into the world of webcomics. So, in a way, it’s one of the reasons I’m here. Thanks, Pete!

So… while you’re waiting for me to update, check out some of these other folks! Seriously, go. Have fun. Stay out late or whatever.

THE DETAILS

One if by Heaven Two if by Hell cover

Title: One if by Heaven Two if by Hell

Author: Rick Maydak

Genre: Not really sure, exactly. Dark urban fantasy, paranormal thriller, horror. I’m leaning towards one of the last two. Maybe Christian speculative fiction. I could go along with that.

Synopsis/Blurb: Boston bartender Ethan Reyes has the haunting ability to read minds. He cannot control it. It plagues his daily life as unwanted thoughts assault him on all sides at all times. Absorbing a million lifetimes of pain and joy-none of them his own-has left Ethan confused, alone, and questioning his own past. The only way to numb the pain, to drown it out, is to drink himself into a stupor each night to squeeze in a few hours of sleep. Strange, horrific things begin occurring at the bar, and the patrons are being tormented and slowly killed off. When the source of the suffering makes itself known-a demon of the vilest order-Ethan is thrown into a world of deception and sin, and must overcome his misgivings of using his ‘gift’ if he is to overpower the creature after his very soul. With the help of Father Ryan, whose own faith is wavering, Ethan begins to unravel the demon’s motive of surfacing on earth, as well as secrets to his own hazy past. Time is running out, and Ethan needs to find the demon before the monster’s hellish plan can come to pass, and the world Ethan knows as home is changed forever.

THE REVIEW (Spoilers)

Plot: Well, the blurb definitely caught my attention. I’m curious about the guy who can read minds but can’t shut the damn ability off. Is he going to go insane? Is he going to use his power for good? The chain of events (the murdering of the bar’s patrons, and owner) that forces Ethan to face the creature that used to haunt him at night is fairly horrific, in my opinion. I don’t mind a little horror mixed in with my fantasy, but this was a little too much for me. But hey, I requested the book, and some people like that kind of thing. Just not me.

I have mixed feelings about the messenger, Lars, and his visit with Ethan. One – this is a major info dumping scene. Honestly, I think I would have preferred to read this story rather than what I did read. But I love mythology (and for those of you who want to complain about me calling anything related to the Bible mythology, that is how I refer to ALL stories dealing with religion, including my own), and the idea of a fierce, personal battle between angels and demons is more appealing to me than most things set in our time.

Two – Despite his ability, Ethan has never seemed to have any heroic qualities – he stands by and watches as the love of his life gets gang-raped, not even trying to call the police. In fact, the only time I ever see him have some sort of backbone is when he refuses to kill when Gottfried wants him to. So for him to suddenly become Jacob, one of the powers, and fighting off the demons? This stretches my willingness to believe. Sure, Lars is an angel, with mystical powers we can only guess at. And for that matter, so is Jacob. And sure, I can believe that Jacob’s powers were only leaking out uncontrolled before then, because when Jacob fell into Ethan’s body, his mind was already shattered. But there is no hint of the Jacob we see after this meeting in the Ethan we see beforehand (other than the “maybe I’m an angel, a power” bit from when he’s talking to the priest), and I would have preferred to see either a slower transformation, with Ethan coming to grips with his role, or more evidence that Ethan really was more than he seemed.

I’m almost certain there was a message here that was attempting to bludgeon its way into my head. I’m not entirely certain what that message was, though. I picked up “Sex is for perverts,” and “Humanity just isn’t worth saving,” but I don’t really think that’s what the author was going for. But maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t get the message. I don’t like having messages bludgeoned into my head.

Characterization: Now, I know that there are lots of skinny people in books right now (books, magazines, movies – pretty much any form of media we can use to idealize ourselves). There are quite possibly too many. But does that mean that almost every identifiable character in this book has to be fat? With the exception of two characters I can think of (and the main character isn’t one of them), every description there was of a person included a beer gut, a bulging belly, a stomach spilling over a belt, or clothes that just don’t manage to cover the stomach. This applies to major characters, minor characters, and even characters that are part of the scenery – the ones that don’t really get more than one sentence.

It was hard to find someone likeable in this book. Ethan, the main character, got on my nerves, more often than not. Taylor, his love interest, is in a coma for most of the book, waiting for Ethan to rescue her (though I did like the scenes of her as a little girl in her dreams, and taking control of her dreams). Everyone else…. with the exception of Mary, I can’t think of a single character right now who had any real dignity.

Of course, looking at it another way, you could say that Maydak is writing real, not idealized, people here. To me, it’s more cynical than realistic.

I’m also curious about Mary. She seemed to be perfect, nothing wrong with her. On the one hand, I found it a bit refreshing, in contrast to the other characters that had SO MUCH wrong with them. In any other context, I think I would be screaming “Mary Sue!” at her. As it stands, I’m curious about her background, and her character, and I would have liked to see more of her.

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts. I didn’t actually get a sense of that until near the end, though. I just knew it was in one of those states in the Northeastern part of the US. Granted, for me, that’s enough to make a decent setting – I don’t always care where it takes place, as long as I can visualize what’s going on, and I think the author’s done enough here for me to do that.

Sensory: I kind of like Maydak’s imagery. The metaphors and comparisons he makes in his descriptions are different than what I normally see. My least favorite one was his comparison of the bluish sun to the flames from a gas stove, but it worked, and I could still picture it. Thus, he was successful there.

He was also successful in using senses other than sight and sound, which is what a lot of books limit themselves to. Maydak seems to focus primarily on smell, especially bodily fluids – sex, sweat, urine, feces – it’s all there, multiple times. In fact, I think there was an overabundance of smell, particularly bad ones. Again, I think this just went too far for me to really appreciate it.

Writing: This was a big problem for me. I’m not sure how much time this book spent with an editor, but I wish it had spent more. My fingers spent a good portion of the time I spent reading the book itching for a red pen. I found more typos than I would expect from a published book. I found a paragraph in one chapter that was from a different character’s point-of-view than the rest of the chapter. A character got named two-thirds or so of the way through a scene, without me finding a reason for why we (or the POV character) suddenly knew his name (if I just missed that somehow, forgive me).

Now, I suppose there is a possibility that the publisher somehow sent me an original, unedited copy – if that’s the case, I hope the copy being sold on Amazon right now doesn’t have any of the technical mistakes I found – that will make it a much easier read, and you all can just ignore this paragraph. And if that’s the case, publishers: don’t send out unedited manuscripts for people to review.

But if what I have is what everyone else got – the technical errors distracted me, and made it that much harder for me to get into the book. Maybe I’m a bit spoiled, but I expect better from non-vanity-published material.

Overall: I think this story had potential. I think if I hadn’t had so many problems with the editing, I might have actually enjoyed reading it. The cover was absolutely gorgeous, and the blurb was well written (After all, it did catch my attention, and I did request the book from the ER program). It was definitely darker than I expected, and more so than I normally like, but I think it would be a decent read for the right audience, if the editing is taken care of. There’s also the possibility that I might have missed some interesting things referencing the Bible, mostly because I haven’t gotten around to reading those stories yet, so I’m unfamiliar with Christian mythology (again, if you’re offended by my use of the term “mythology,” you can read my point under “The Plot”). So, this book might also be a better read for someone who’s more familiar with that.

Rating: **~~~ (2/5)

On the one had, this is beneficial, as it keeps me away from more dangerous addictions. On the other, stories are everywhere and easy to get to (Wait. That’s another benefit). And sometimes, they keep me from getting other stuff done, like the comic, for instance (Oh right. There it is). I read, read, and read some more. And when I’m not reading, I’m watching movies and playing video games (and my video games are pretty much all RPGS – majorly time-consuming, interactive stories). And of course, I’ve got to write my own every once in awhile.

Well, I figure the least I can do is share some of them with you. Maybe you’ll get addicted to some of them yourself. I shall be as unspoilery as I can possibly be here.

So what stories have I been so thoroughly engrossed in lately?

The Terminator Series. I can now claim to have watched everything in the Terminator series (including the Sarah Connor Chronicles) with the exception of the new movie. Which I’m not really feeling up to watching now. My favorite of the whole thing was the Sarah Connor Chronicles. I wish I had wanted it while it was actually running on the air. Just one more person, but I like to think it would have helped. I watch a lot of shows on DVD and online. partially because I like watching several episodes at once, partially because I sometimes only have time to watch a bunch of shows every few weeks, and partially because I have crappy TV at the moment (actually, read: NO tv at the moment because of the digital transition. I’m working on the converter box thing). Personally, it works better for me because I’m not left hanging at the end of an episode as often. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help TV shows I like and their Nielsen ratings, which are horribly outdated. I read something recently about the TV system changing over from the Nielsen ratings to something that takes today’s technology into account iTunes, Hulu, DVR, etc. I’m hoping that means that the newer avenues of a show’s visibiltiy will be taken into account (that probably doesn’t account for downloaded TV, though. Then again, I guess it would defeat the purpose of the advertisers, as most pirated copies don’t include the ads), and that good shows will have a better chance of staying on the air. (I’m also hoping in the near future, we’re start seeing more story-oriented shows again, and less reality TV. That’s probably a pipee dream, but it would make me happy, and pull me to the TV more often. Anyway, I haven’t ordered it yet, but I expect to get the Sarah Connor Chronicles on DVD sometime in the near future.

Death Note. My first thoughts. “Damn, I love the opening and ending!” The first opening and ending. The second wasn’t bad, but didn’t compare to the first for me. The anime itself was addictive, and I liked the artwork. (Yay to music, yay to artwork? I’m in!) I found myself going through up to three DVDs a night (followed by two nights of finding something else to watch, as I waited for the DVDs to ship to Netflix and back). I don’t know if this is one I’ll add to my DVD collection. The ending is probably the only thing that could have made sense, and it worked, but it didn’t really work for me. A little too depressing. I might just get it on DVD anyway (I really should cut down on yy DVD collecting. But it’s something I love about being a fiction writer – I can call it research! No, sereiously, my writing still gets seriously influenced by whatever I’m watching/reading at the time).

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. Day-ay-umn. Yes, it did deserve a three-syllable damn. When I finished it, I called Half Price Books to see if they had a copy of the sequel. They didn’t, so I ordered it from Amazon instead. Along with all three books of The Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks, but I ‘m sure I’ll cover those after I read them. i’m actually planning to do a full review of this book, so keep your eyes open for that.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams This was definitely a fun book to read. I am glad I saw the movie before I read the book, as this is one where I think I would have enjoyed the movie less had I read the book already. As it stands, I like them both. There’s not really a whole lot more that I can say about it, save that if you haven’t read it, and are looking for a good SF read you can laugh at, try this out.

One if by Heaven, Two if by Hell One thing I absolutely LOVE – free books! I’m part of the Early Reviewers group on Librarything, and I recently got my hands on a copy of this book, and I’m in the middle of reading it now. Expect a review of that when I’m done, as well.

Mmmmmmmmmm………… suppose that’s all for now, really. Finally watched the second National Treasure movie, and liked it almost as much as the first (it does help to have the original cast), and the Last Mimzy, which was a cute movie. I’m actually finding myself comparing that to ET. Except that ET was a classic – I may be biased, though, it that ET came out when I was really little (and actually, scared the hell out of me. I’ve mentioned that I was a total coward when I was little, right? But still, classic movie). ::shrugs:: The last Mimzy was cute.

Ummm.. that’s really all for now. I think I’ll start doing a regular update feature with short reviews of whatever stories I’ve absorbed int he meantime (also a good way to keep track of them, I think), with full reviews for some of them. Oh, and I’ve watched the first episode of Merlin and will probably be keeping up with that this summer, so might make a mention of that here and there.

See you later!

Ok, 1 – it is going to take me awhile to get used to Comicpress’s new file format, and that it requires me to use it. ::grumble:: Mostly, because I keep having to end up rewriting my posts. At least this one was a bit shorter than the last one.

2 – Whoo!!! There you go! Full color!! Even decided to change up the wallpaper, and Sina’i's outfit a bit. This is probably the longest amount of time I’ve spent working on a single comic. Seriously. But it’s also the best artwork I’ve ever done for the comic, as well, so I’m happy. Coloring-wise, I mean. Artwise, I think my linework could still use a bit of polishing. I don’t know whether or not I’ll keep doing future comics in full color. On the one hand, I like how it looks. On the other, my time is already somewhat limited, and it’s just going to take even longer to post comics.

Granted, I’m not quite certain yet when the next strip will go up. Mostly because while I’ve got a general idea of the storyline, I want to script and plan it out first. I did that for this one, and, in my humble opinion, it came out a lot better than the previous ones. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll blog and give you guys updates on the progress. After all, that’s what social networks are for, right? Right? By the way, I haven’t quite set it up yet, But I’m going to add my communities on Dreamwidth, Insanejournal, and Livejournal into the mix, and post updates there as well (I’ll probably set up the first posts later today. I think.)

Speaking of blogs, I ought to have a regular one up later today, I think (I hope). Throw me a line and say hi beloow! And hopefully, I haven’t missed anything here that I intended to put. Enjoy the comic!

Still working on the comic. It’s almost finished inking – I just have to decide whether to color it or not. You all deserve color, but that takes even more time, and would make it take even longer before I put it up. Anyway, when that goes up, I plan to have a full blog post to go up with it.

Also, I’m trying tut the Publish to Facebook Plugin, so I can have an automatic post there as well to let people know I’ve updated the site.

So here’s a bullet summary of what I said:

• Sorry for leaving everyone hanging for so long. It sucks, I know. I’m gong to attempt to update more often, with blogs and sketches, at least, if not with comics.
• Next strip is in progress. It’s been pencilled and scanned.
• Look, shiny website! Now it doesn’t look like the default Comicpress theme anymore – it looks like something I’d do! But it’s not done yet!

Enjoy a filler sketch for today!