Lead And Pomegranate Are Good For A Healthy Lifestyle

~ Created by Tom Banwell

First, credit for the title belongs to Ubisoft and the team behind Assassin’s Creed 2.

The reason for the title is because after I returned from my residency at Seton Hill University, I came down with one of the worst colds I’ve had in a while. I’m still recovering, but I’m no longer feel like Clive Barker wrote the latest Hellraiser story in my throat or coughing so hard I could type with my forehead.

But that means I’m behind on everything. There are new things I want to tell you about and update things that were already planned.

New Stuff

• I will be starting a new feature on my Facebook Fan Page: Real Scrolls V: Skyrim. I will be writing weekly entries about a Skyrim character, but it won’t be in the typical high fantasy voice. I’m going to have some fun with the character’s voice, but it will depend on what kind of character I’ll be playing. All this week on my Page, I’ll have polls so You can decide the character. So come by, Like my Page, and join in something that I’m sure will be a fun time.
• I know I will be at three events this year: In Your Write Mind (June), Necon 33 (July), and Anthology 2013 (November). I will be updating my Appearances page with all the details as I get them. I may be presenting at IYWM and I may be on panels at Anthology again. So make sure you keep an eye out on any news. Who knows, I might be part of a signing or book release too. The year is still young.

Updates

• Many things have delayed the start Doctor Who Anniversary posts on my Screen Burn™ column at Inveterate Media Junkies. I wanted to have the First Doctor post up by the end of the January, unfortunately the cold put the kibosh on that. But it is coming and starting next Monday (February 4th) I will be my tweeting of the Second Doctor’s episodes on my Screen Burn™ Twitter account (@ScreenBurnIMJ). If you are a Doctor Who fan, make sure to follow me there for a fun time and to know first any news about the first post.

That’s it for now. But before you go, enjoy this awesome song and incredibly goofy video.

Bicentennial Man

 

Well, I had this great idea for my 200th post, but between the technical difficulty in my present surroundings and the vain, self-image (I’m too fat right now to video tape consciously) concerns, I had to put that on hold.

But it has been a few months since there has been much substance on here, which I hope to change and wanted to get started on that.

1. My Screen Burn column over at InveterateMediaJunkies.com is doing well. I have been working on a massive one recently that will be split up into weekly installments. I also started a Twitter account for it so that my instant reactions and opinions on TV and related news is separate from my regular Twitter feed. Please follow if you are enjoying the column.
2. I’m getting geared up to go back to Seton Hill in June. I’ve been working on notes for the three projects I talked about before. I stayed up Thursday night trying to get a draft of “Witches’ Brooms” ready to send out for the critique session during the Residency. I went backed an looked at all the notes people have given me during its life time. It was hard since there have been three versions of it. I’m not expecting this to be the last one. This is the first story I’ve written that has a female protagonist. I’ve always been hesitant to write women, but that is also why I want this story scrutinized as much as I can.
3. In that last post, I talked about doing a Mass Effect storyline post. I had planned on it, but was asked to write something for IMJ. But since that hasn’t gone up, I’m going to post it here later in the month. Granted, it’s been out a while and most people have talked about it. but with the “ending explanation” DLC coming out this summer, I’m sure the discussion will pick back up. In fact, I might wait till that comes out before I post.
4. Recently, I have returned to art. I really haven’t had a lot of time for it since high school, but I finally have time to play around with Procreate for traditional art and Bryce 7 for 3D abstract art. I’ll start posting my creations here and on my new Pinterest account. Now, these are not masterpieces, just some fun I that is different from writing or music. Here are two examples:

   

   

   
   
   

And there will be more returning features coming back over the months including: Monthly Music, Book Journey, and Vulgar Argot. Also, I have changed the background and header here, these are just temporary. I want freshen up the site, but haven’t had the time to sit down and make new designs. That is on my plate as well. It may even feature some the art work I’ll be posting here.

It’s kinda crazy that I’m at 200 posts in just under 4 years. Thank you all for coming by! And feel free to send suggestions of what you want to see. Who knows, a good one may result in a prize!

A Massive Effect On Things

While I will be talking about the video game, that isn’t what the whole post is about. But if that is all you want to read about, skip to the last paragraph.

Since the transplant, it seems like every few months I do one of these posts where I’m all “Hey, here is what I’m doing now–my big plan for myself–and disregard that other one I wrote, or the ones before that.” It’s a crappy feeling, because I’m not one to stop on a goal. But things have been harder since the operation. And a lot of it is from a feeling of just drifting. Most of that is cause I’ve never been able to really start a new living pattern.

Doctors aren’t helping with the mysterious problems with my legs, because of that I don’t feel comfortable driving the car and know that I couldn’t even handle even a desk job. Simple things that everyone takes for granted, but are the crux of living, socializing, and figuring out how you will go about your day. I’ve been filling my time with Eldritch Thoughts and The Non-Horror Reader Survey. But I’m not getting much out of it. It is just a form of productive time wasting. I’ve tried to get back to my writing, but I think I can understand how any writer has something traumatic happen and then they can’t write afterwards.

The best way to think of it is that before the event, you are driving along a flat road, then the engine fails. After that you have to shift into neutral and push till you get to the nearest mechanic or leave it on the side of the road and walk to get a tow. I tried pushing for a while, but the past two years there have been so many things, mostly medically related, that have made that road harder to navigate. So I’ve decided to pull over to the shoulder and walk my way to the mechanic.

By mechanic, I’m talking about going back to Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program and, as they most of us M.A. alums are calling it, get the “F.” What I’m hoping is that an imposed structure will kickstart my writing again. When I was in the program before, it did that for me. I never thought I would write a novel and I did. Granted, it is not a great one, but half the battle is getting to that end point in a rough draft, most people never make it that far. This time, since I already have the M.A., it will be only a short time in the program, so I’ll be working on either a collection of stories or a novella. I really want to use the time to work on Lucin City and build it up more before I finish Scavenger. If I go with the story collection, it will also be an experiment related to my “Project 10″ idea. If I do the novella, it will most likely be the story I started back at Simon’s Rock that is set before Scavenger. But I have a back up, if that doesn’t fly, of returning to Nostrildamus. I had wanted something ready to capitalize on 2012, but when you think about it, either the doomsayers are right and it would be pointless to publish it now or they are wrong and they will find some other obscure prophesy I can make fun of them for.

But I will have time on my walk to the mechanic–I’m going to beat this metaphor to death, just so you know–but Eldritch Thoughts and Non-Horror Reader Survey aren’t major parts of what I have planned. I’m not going to put them on hold, but at the end of the month they will be more things I do if the inspiration hits. I’m doing this now because I know by the time  I start back at Seton Hill, they just can’t get the same attention I would need to give them. Also, because I have another project that I was asked to participate in that will be less time consuming, but equally fun, coming up. If you have been watching my Twitter feed lately, there has been a lot more talk of TV there. I’m not going to give out too much now except that it will involve television. So keep an eye out here. Most of the details are set, a few things are still being discussed, but hopefully it will start in early March.

March is also the month that Mass Effect 3 is released. For those that either know me of have followed my site for a while know, I’m a huge Star Wars fan. Mass Effect is possible one of the best examples of multi-media storytelling that Star Wars really pioneered over they years. Mass Effect in not just the video games, but books and comics and who knows what the future will hold. But more importantly, it is an amazing story. And since it is a great story, I’ve decided that as soon as my Women In Horror Month posts over at NHRS are finished, I’m going to go through the whole story–books, comics, and games–before I start on Mass Effect 3 when it releases. I haven’t decided if there will be posts related to it on here. But I wanted to forewarn of a potential massive geek-plosion soon here.

Scavenger Revision Photo Blog

Updated every Wednesday. Come by and check it out!

You Can Always Go Home Again – Anthocon 2011

I know this is late in coming. I had started trying to write a post for each day: what went on, who I saw, and any silly anecdotes that were created–which there was a good number of, especially Sunday night–a typical writer’s recounting of a con. But this one was different me in a number of ways, so those posts just didn’t get to  what was great about it. For me it was about going home.

It’s been 10 years since my family moved to NJ as I went off to college. Since then, I’ve only made the trip back to NH a few times, fewer to the around the area I grew up in. For me, everything I am all starts in NH. My love of music and stories, my passion to learn everything, my personal outlook on life, all of it shaped from the granite I lived on for my formative years. But they always say, “You can never go home.” It’s a funny saying, since you do it all the time; everyday if you have a full-time job. I know, I know, that’s not what they mean by “home.” They are saying you can never go back to the way things were. But I contest that notion. If you think that “home” will never change and be there for you to retreat or escape to, yes, you can’t go back home. But, if you realize that “home” is constantly changing, but it’s history, and the aspects of life and living tied to that history, are still there and have not changed, then you can go home again.

Since my transplant, I’ve never gotten back into the headspace I was in even the night before I went into the coma. My going to Anthocon was not just to see writer friends and begin to re-introduce myself after a 2 year absence in the business, but it was to try and get that spark you can only get with having a bunch of creative people together. That happened and more. The whole weekend was kind of like a refresher of my last 23 years of life.

Thursday night and friday morning to afternoon, not much happened. I went out with Danny Evarts, Scott Christian Carr, Thom and Michelle Erb, Dan and Jackie Gamber, and Salena Bargsly for dinner. We had a good time, though in a pub, only so much conversation can be had. We took the group back to Danny’s suite to chill and relax since all of us got in that day. Someone thought we should try out the jacuzzi tub, though it being a bathtub and nearly all of us had nothing to “swim” in, it just ended up us sitting around the edge and getting dumbly hot. I felt bad for those that drank, cause I have seen what drink plus moist heat can do to a person the next day. It’s not a pretty sight and always makes me glad I don’t drink. After a thorough foot soaking, people started to filter out to crash in their own beds.

When I woke up Friday, the con was the furthest thing from my mind. That night I was going to spend as much time as I could with my best friend, who I can’t remember the last time I saw in person, but could have been long as 7 years. I helped out where I could to get things set for when registration opened and many of the other writers came in. Then I said my “hi’s” to those I knew for a bit, picked up my missing issues of Shock Totem and the last Hiram Grange novella. Then I rested till until my friend and his fiance picked me up. I’ve known this guy since we were in first grade, a lot of the big things in our lives happened with the other not to far away. And like I said, it’s been around 7 years that I’ve seen him. Now, other than the long man hug in the hotel lobby, it was like I had just seen him yesterday. A lot of stuff has happened to both of us in those intervening years. A lot. Enough to significantly change us as people. And here we are just taking it back as if we were never separated. We spent most of the night going over stories from our younger days. Also, me assuring his fiance that yes, in fact he has always been like his is and that, no, I can’t make him stop cause I’m just as bad as him. I tried Start a conversation about Dawson’s Creek early on, cause I didn’t want his fiance to feel left out. Apparently, that was a bad move on my part. Unbeknownst to my friend–unless he reads this–the next time we meet up, there will be a Dawson’s Creek talk to even the night out.

Saturday was like my whole college career in a day. Working on the two panels was a lot like being in class again: debating issues and ideas, learning from others experience and point of view. Spending a lot of time just walking around a talking to people. I lucked out that a number of Necon people were there and I got to catch up with them and tell them I will be doing everything to be there in July. I also started to get back in and learning what was the current state of publishing on all levels. I a lot of ways there was an information overload. It needs to filter back into my head over time. But most important was that spark I’ve been waiting for for so long finally hit. I wanted to write again, not just write cause I knew I should. Writing, and I think any art, is a hard thing to do alone. And while places like Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and other places and tools, may connect us better, there is nothing like that feeding of the physical energy and presence of other writers or artists to stoke the flames creativity. No high-def web cam can help you that, or a Like button.

Which brings us to Sunday. The day that was like that year between graduating and the liver failure. It was the year that I got “The Tethering” published and got word of “January” being accepted for the later dropped anthology, Dead Bells. The year that I started to start learning the business and start my career as a writer. Sunday, bolstered by the inspiration of Saturday, went a spent time in the dealer room talking to publishers and writers. I didn’t get to talk to everyone I wanted to. But I did get to meet some great guys: John Edward Lawson of Raw Dog Screaming Press and Charles Day of Evil Jester Press. Both really great guys. Great conversations about horror, publishing, writing, and somethings they got going on that I can’t say to much about.

But the great thing that came out of Sunday’s dealer room stroll was that someone asked for the first three chapters of Scavenger.

Yeah, that novel I wrote at Seton Hill that I kept putting off doing something with, that Scavenger.

So, I will now spend all my time devoted to not only getting a polished three chapters, but a whole book, as soon as possible. Now we just have to wait and see if it’s fate will be that of “The Tethering” or of “January” to see where I shall start the rest of this journey post-transplant, post-con, post-rebirth.