Ring Ring.... Avon calling

The last week has been anything but productive. It is time to change that and get back to my NaNoWriMo project.  The last post about my upcoming novel was a teaser about the Cerbera and how they relate to vampires who want to be fashionable and use their mystical powers too.

This leads into today's topic about some of those mystical powers. There are some universal powers like strength, dexterity, and empathic know-how. For more distinguishable and specific powers I will be using Calls of _____. These calls can range from mild to major and will help define clans, progenitors, and will allow me to do some pretty heavy "butt kick" when I need to.  Please don't get the wrong idea, even small powers could have big uses. One of my characters may have the ability to barely move tiny things with their mind, but realize that blood vessels in the brain are those same very tiny things. Here are a few of the ones I am working on/with now...

Call of Blood: a defining characteristic of the Dracula Guard and the Vampire Lords that allows them to shape objects from blood. Some Calls of Blood require direct contact with blood while others require only it's presence. An example would be vampire noble coughing up blood and forming it into swords to fight with. The Dracula are masters of the Call of Blood with Selkhet using pools of blood to shoot chains at someone or bind them and Fenrir forming two wolves made from blood to fight at his side.


Call of Tide: a defining characteristic of the Atlantean ruling clans allowing for manipulation of salt water the same way the Call of Blood acts on blood. In addition, the most powerful of the clans will have some degree of manipulation over bodies of fresh water such as a river suddenly rushing or a tidal wave inside a lake.

Call of Flesh: a general charateristic of most high ranking vampire and Atlantean clans that allows them to empathic/telepathically communicate with someone they have tasted the blood/water of.  With this ability a vampire can communicate with humans, other creatures, or their own progeny/clan.

Call of Path: an ability present to a small degree in all canids (werewolves) that allows them to see the paths available to them. Think of this as the instinct of always knowing which way to run or if you can really make that jump to safety.  In the heat of battle you would instantly know the path of least resistance. For a vampire, this ability expands to also allow them to send out their consciousness along a surface and follow it. They would also see the hidden paths within a circulatory system or network of sewer drains. It sounds like a minor power, but I look forward to showing it's potential.

I also have the Call of Travel which will not be for the squemish, the Call of Nightmare which will act much as you can probably imagine, and the Call of Soul which I hope I can do justice to in the future.

There will be other abilities too. Each sub-species of vampire will have unique abilities and I will be using their environments to help define them. A couple of examples are Atlanteans will have abilities associated with sea life and the ocean, while gargoyles will have unique adaptations for life in caves.


To be continued...

Loss leaves a hole that will never heal. Love leaves memories no one can steal.

When I made the decision to blog it was with the understanding that I wasn't going to include personal things. The only things going on my blog would be about my writing, yes sir! It was my own personal preference. Today, I changed my mind. What follows is very personal, but it also has a lot to do with my writing.

What most of you don't know is that I have a writing partner...had a writing partner. Her name was Acorn Kitty and yesterday she lost her battle with cancer.  For fourteen years she was a faithful loving friend and constant companion during long nights at the computer.  No design piece or story was ever completed without her approval. I had planned on taking off work most of November in order to complete NaNoWriMo. One of the things I was most looking forward to was cranking out my first novel with Acorn laying next to the keyboard. She was my "little one" and she was a great one. Acorn won't be knocking around or inspiring ideas with me anymore, but she will nonetheless remain the inspiration for the next step of my journey. You never failed me little girl and I promise I won't fail you.

Acorn Kitty (October 1996-October 2010)

Fourteen years ago a little scrap of a malnourished cat, covered in motor oil, walked inside the back door while groceries were being carried in. She walked right up to a 50lbs dog and pushed it away from its food bowl. After that she pushed the 20lbs cat away from its food bowl too. Once she had her fill she made herself to home and was one of the best friends you could have ever wanted. She was always there for us and today we were there for her. Go in peace Acorn Kitty.  We will miss you always.

Where did his underwear go?

One of the things I hate about the supernatural is that it is a rare case where clothes are explained. How many times have you watched a movie or read something where the fully clothed vampire turns to mist, slides under the door, reforms, and everything is just as it was on the other side including the cheap bat necklace? How about when a werewolf transforms and his clothes magically disappear or find themselves folded neatly on the floor? Now, before you say it, I am perfectly capable of suspending belief.  My complaint isn't about the abilities. If the bloodsuckers want to turn into mist or bats I am all for it, but that comes from their ability to change themselves not their clothes. I guess they are magical clothes right? Pfft, that's just lazy imaginations being bored.

"So what's your solution Mr. Smartypants?"  I will tell you my solution... the Cerbera. I don't want to give away too much about what the Cerbera are, but they will be filling a very important role in my novel.  They are to me what unstable molecules are to the Marvel Universe. If you are a high school chemistry student you know that unstable molecules are what go BOOM! in the night. However, if you are a comic fan, then you already know that Reed Richards (super-genius) of the Fantastic Four created suits made of unstable molecules after his team got their powers. The suits alter themselves at a molecular level when the wearer utilizes their power. That's how the Invisible Woman's uniform disappears along with her, Mr. Fantastic's uniform stretches when he does, and how the Human Torch isn't naked after every "Flame On!"

I know what you are thinking, but yes such a thing could exist fairly soon. It would most likely be made out of carbon with today's technology. Think about where we are at in clothing production. We are able to produce memory foams, adaptive camouflage, and regular clothing items that can be twisted, stretched, reshaped, super-heated, electrified, and then they go back to normal when they are no longer being stimulated into another form. If I take what we can actually make now for military use and sports apparel, add what physics says we could do (thank you Dr. Kakalios) and throw in a dash of vampire magic with a Spawn cape...POOF! I have the Cerbera. I am sure everyone that reads my novel will want one!

Mommy, where do vampires come from?

Let's talk about vampires. First things first, forget everything you think you know about vampires because it doesn't match the original folklore. Stoker took a lot of liberties with his creation, by combining monsters, in order to write a romantically flawed, diversely enabled, angst riddled, romantic leading vampire.  The domesticated result, a century later, is all bloodsuckers feel bad about being vampire and we are left with glittering vampires teaching lessons on, of all things, abstinence.  My goal is to make vampires into vampires again.  I will be throwing in my own set of extras into the folklore, but rest assured even the good guys will still have fangs! 

The foundation of my vampire nation stems from my exploration of the word "dracula" and the leading theories on Atlantis. Dracula translates into "Son of the Dragon" and was the term given to those in an elite order of leaders who fought a Turkish invasion.  Each member added Dracul, dragon, to their name and began using various dragon symbols in crests, currency, and other items of state. Although use of the dragon guard was one of Stoker's liberties, I found it a really good bridge between what people "know" and my particular spin using Atlantis. 

Atlantis, according to current theory, was a highly advanced civilization during the Bronze age. Using that as my starting point I researched the known civilizations of the period, A LOT, and re-discovered the Babylonian creation myth of Tiamat. She was rendered as a powerful dragon/sea serpent and represented the ocean and seas. In the myth her grandchildren turned on the pantheon and Tiamat was forced to create eleven races of monsters with fang, wing, claw, or scale to battle them. Specifically named in the list of Tiamat's creations were sea serpents, mermen, scorpion men, and demons...making them all "Sons of the Dragon."

Are you beginning to see where I am going yet? I will be taking a ride through myth and history by connecting dragon inspired dots and using them to round out the timeline and culture of a civilization. Of course, I won't be beating readers in the face with all this at once and no one will have to know it in order to enjoy what they are reading. I will include the created history where it is needed to flesh things out and in a perfect world it will inspire readers to explore the real history on their own. 

And so it begins...

So now it's time to get down to business and start talking about my NaNoWriMo project. The blurb below will hopefully wet some appetites and start some momentum coming my way before November 1st. 

Dragons of Atlantis (working title)
For thousands of years they have waited, rebuilding their civilization, forging a horde of zombie warriors from humans lost at sea, and now Atlantis stands ready to attack. Before the full onslaught upon the surface world can begin, Atlantis must settle an ancient prophecy where the elite guard of their vampire cousins, the Dracula, will stand against them. Witnessing a recent zombie attack,  what remains of the Dracula recognize the signs of war and are in search of their leader, Draco, who has been hidden and imprisoned since the vampire civil war nearly a millennia ago. To ensure defeat of the surface world, Atlantis will try to exterminate the Dracula at any cost. To stop Atlantis, the Dracula will need to free their leader and unite an unwilling and divided vampire nation without causing another civil war. As Atlantis rises, loves will be lost, battle lines will be drawn, and for the surface world nothing will ever be the same.

What's In A Name?

I should probably explain the title of this blog. Originally, the blog was supposed to be called Zombies Are Crap At Knitting. I even had it posted for a while and all seemed well. Little did I know that someone had already staked their claim on the title of my blog. I did my research before picking the name but in the end Tina Seamonster had dibs.

I pondered, toiled, and often forgot to think about what new name I should choose. Sometimes inspiration is subtle and other times it punches you in the face and calls you names. I got punched.  Years ago, BEFORE the Matrix was released, I came up with a tag line used for a hair and fashion show extravaganza, "True artistry isn't thinking outside the box, it's realizing there is no box."  Now, I am not calling shenanigans on the W. Bros for using that damn spoon line in their movie but their people were there...all I'm sayin'.  

There is also a connection between the title and my childhood. One of my favorite Weekly Reader books was a story about a little girl with red hair who was able to transform a large cardboard box into anything with enough decoration and imagination. As a guy who grew up on a street with very few kids, it was my imagination or nothin' and I related to that character 100%.

So here we are once again realizing There Is No Box. I  am attempting to free myself from the confines I have allowed to form around me.  I made a good name for myself as an artist and designer before I had even graduated college. I was known for blending styles and doing things no one expected. In a time when others were still using Photoshop 1.0 in B/W, I was doing full color digital coloring in 3.0 and getting on the Adobe Design Team.

There is a long story about how the old me got lost down the winding roads of what he had to do, instead of what he wanted to do.  I have often found that what you have to do is a much straighter path than the curving one of what you want to do. Success/fulfillment is getting to your destination no matter the path chosen.

I'm ready for some twists and turns again.

JOE

It's ALIVE!

Today starts the countdown to NaNoWriMo for me. Over the next 30 days I will be filling my blog with all the details, ramblings, disasters, joys, and spotty research as I prepare for what is sure to be a significant religious experience. I have my bet on it being a lot like a rain of frogs.

I should apologize now for any grammatical errors.  One of the tenants going into NaNoWriMo is to let go and stop editing.  I am used to sitting several minutes writing and re-writing short emails so that they are clear and politically correct for my office.  My rule of thumb will be if spell check doesn't catch it, then it didn't happen. I will warn you all that my use of commas and inappropriate punctuation will provide endless distraction.  I am going to do my best to follow my stream of thought and I don't think too properly. As they would say in my native Arkansas, "Dims duh rwules, so ya gotsta stick toodum bestchykin."

Here we go! I can't wait to see where it takes us.

JOE