If some of you have a more eagle eye, you’ll noticed that I’ve updated a good chunk of my site’s packaged wings. This is happening alongside a much needed upgrade to the main site, which is not neccessarily a complete overhawl–I’m still using the basic layout and design–as to work on a better navigation and making the book wings more uniform (lostboyfound and scarletpi [dot foxfirestudios dot net] will be getting remade into more basic formats, and the bloodandmetal wing will be set up with a cover bit.) How on earth will I be able to work the forum and this blog into the same standard still elludes me, but that’s a minor glitch.
As for the Scarlet PI Remix comic, I have some news on that. While I may, if everything works out all right, to finish the penciling and inking stages of all those pages by this weekend, the comic might not be available utnil May. That’s because I’ve just ordered the latest version of Draw Plus (X2, to be exact.) Something this important is going to have to be used with what I feel to be the best program out there, and in my book, it’s Serif’s Award Winning Illustration Program. (And what can I say, it’s at $40 with all the loyalty discounts. I can’t complain.)
With the hard part of the comic book out of the way, I’ll be able to get back to the books, which involves the second draft of Blood and Metal, a major revision of Lost Boy Found (and quite possibily a minor one for Mim Su Sa). And it is possible that me and a friend of mine could get to the editing stage of what could be the second book in the Scarlet PI series, something that I was hoping would happen with my projects. 
I’m happy to report that I’ve finished the Closed Door Draft one day ahead of schedule. The file is currently at 77 and 1/4 K in length, and despite having some extra holes that I’ve found along the way, I’ve taken care of all the original cards in the plot deck. I’ll fill in these additional pieces as I work on the text I’ve already got in the second door draft. (or Open Door, where I work the storyline into a coherent and readable story. As many of you know, the first draft of everything is utter crap. It requires at least three to make it look at least presentable) This will come later on this year, but not before I start work on the logo and the web site I’ll have for this book.
As well as deal with a problem that needs to be solved as soon as I can: Blood and Metal began as a fanfiction set in the well-loved Sonic the Hedgehod Saturday Morning cartoon (SatAm, as the Sonic fans call it). While I have done well in replacing most of the Sonic characters with original characters, there are two items that still have the Sonic references that are used as placeholders until I can come up with a new name. For example, the planet SatAM takes place in is called Mobius. In Blood and Metal, I worked on a new name for the planet. I first came up with Malta until I realized that it’s a country on earth, and someone else suggested that I mispell it into Maatla, it’s current name.
The two remaining placeholders have to do with the Kingdom that most of the story takes place in–Knothole–and it’s original monarch that sent Eric there to send a message to Sarah–King Acorn Knothole. In fact, Knothole became a clan name for the rulers of this kingdom, and I don’t know if I’d keep or change that. I’ll be putting up a discription of both town and monarch in later posts and ask for suggestions for better names.
But now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to shut down for a while and rest up a bit. I’m just glad I got to this point in time.
By the end of my visit to Ivalice in December, I found out something that does help me out with ironing out the storyline and getting the writing back on track. By moving the final confrontation between Eric and Nicolas up a bit, in the ice age part while Eric is a robian, I was able to trim just about 40 cards from the deck creating a streamlined story which I feel needed at any stage in writing any book.
Now I’m back from the holidays and that I’m less than 30 days to go, I can put the nose to that grindstone:
79 cards left in the deck, 50.9K Length in the file, and 30 days remaining.
I’m happy to report that I have finally released my first Scarlet PI story on Lulu, a few days early to boot.
This is the first in my Scarlet PI novels that center around Lt. Scarlet FoxFire, a cop in Orange County Police’s Amusement Park Division. It’s a special branch of the local law enforcement that specializes in cases involving the many vacation venues in the Central Florida area, including Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World.
With Scarlet, there is a special reason why she’s there: Scarlet is a living symbiotic–and very realistic–vixen fursuit that her host found one day and was coaxed into wearing her. Her existence has to do with a shadowy corporation that specializes in amusement park technology, which may not be very ethical.
While on the trail of the kind of company that would make Michael Eisner (and even Dick Cheney) look like a Boy Scout, she has to contend with keeping peace and order in the various amusement parks, and that includes crimes that nobody expects to happen but do. In the first book, it involves a homicide in the Main Street Bakery!
Who would want to kill someone in one of the Happiest Places on Earth?
And is it connected in some way to the company Scarlet escaped from?
The book is now available over at LuLu dot com, and is available for both paper and downloaded E-Book formats.
For an additional fee to cover additional postage, you can have the book signed by me. Inquire Within.
I’m happy to report that I’ve finished the Plot Deck for Blood and Metal. Unfortunately, I knew that this deck would be a monster and I wasn’t disappointed: 193 Cards in this deck. If I could make a 35K first draft with a deck of about 45, that means that this first draft might reach . . . 150K Words! That’s one major project. I might have to set this first draft to a 90 day schedule, maybe 100.
Not that I mind that much, tho. That’s a hundred days which I have a reason to live. Doesn’t bother me one bit.
I also have reached a point where I can set this project aside and return to other projects. Such as the return of the Scarlet PI strip. I’ll be making the cover pic for the Second Volume of the strip ready to send tomorrow, Saturday at the latest. This will go alongside my read over of the first draft of Mim Su Sa, which I got everything prepared to do last week.
And I’ve haven’t forgotten Adam and company along the way too. I’m working on some graphic pics for a My Space page on Adam-kun which should give Lost Boy Found some needed publicity.
Ever had the feeling that the last part of something takes longer than the rest of the item in question. Like slowing down at the last ten cents of a $50 fill-up of gas, just so you can get at the exact amount.
It’s the same thing for Mim Su Sa as well. It took me a while for me to get the last plot card worked on, but I managed. I can say now that I have finished the first draft of ‘Murder in Main Street USA,” way before even the unadjusted deadline of July 3rd.
The length of the file is 38.25K in characters, and it took me 41 Days. Not bad for my first major attempt to NaNoWriMo (and my second book.) Yeah, yeah, I know. A NaNoWriMo goal is 50K in 31 days. Let me work toward that, okay?
I’ll be stashing the first draft for a while so I can rest up for a bit. After that I’ll start on the plot cards for my third book. Either Blood and Metal or maybe my next NaNoWriMo attempt, an Adam Packbell book. Probably BaM, since I can squeeze a NaNoWriMo between drafts in BaM.
But anyway, this is a major event. Even with the setback I had, I succeeded in my goal.
It took me a long time for me to get back into gear. It’s hard to get going when
you don’t have a good view of your destination, and for a few weeks I didn’t
have that. Especially when I don’t get much feedback over exasperated sighs
and a “Do. Whatever. You. Want. Damnit.” delivered at top lung. Sometimes
you just need to ask for directions when there’s multiple ways to go.
And now I found a decent goal to strive for: I have gathered all the cards I need
to write the rest of Scarlet’s first novel, “Murder in Main Street USA.” At this
moment, I have about 5.1 K of words typed in, a total of 53 ‘Pieces’ (Remember
with LBF I think of books as a puzzle with pieces that need to fit together,) and
I set a goal of a completed first draft within 45 days, which will last me til Mid-
July. There may be some additional notes to get, but I have enough for me to
NaNoWriMo all the way through. (I use ‘NaNoWriMo’ as a verb to signify
writing a book as fast as I can, with the eventual goal of writing a the first draft
within a month. I need to build my confidence up to that level.)
“Murder in Main Street USA,” which I’ll designate as either MiMSUSA or SPI01,
will be my second novel. It is also the reason why I’ve taken the comic strip to
the back burner. It was getting harder and harder for me to make the strips,
and if you’ve seen the meandering plotline, you’ll understand why. I hope that,
while I NaNoWriMo MiMSUSA . . . Mim Su Sa, at least it rolls off my toungue
right. My apologies for anyone who has that for a name . . . I think up a decent
chapter.
Meanwhile, I’m also happy to report that I’ve been getting some sales in the
book. It’s not much now, but not only is it still young and I’ve haven’t been
promoting it enough, it’s also the encouragement I needed.
And promoting it more is what I’ll be doing when I’m not typing up a storm. I’ll
be planning to make small promotional pieces I can pass around advertizing
the book, and I’ll be adding to the LBF site.
The biggest addition will be Adam’s return to the web site with his own blog.
I’ll put up a header graphic to announce his entries, and his first one will be a
catching up to speed with his readers. He also might tell of how he meets up
with Scarlet, as well as other stories.
I’m happy to report that I’ve got this book set into a presentable form. I do hope that I got all the bugs ironed out. At least that’s what I’m thinking. But then again, for all those stray typo bunnies that the voice in the back of my head still claims is there, that’s what the Creative Commons file is for. That one error is bound to be found and put into a future Edition, (or version as I call them) I know it.I’ll be working on the Blood and Metal revision now, as well as some cover art for LBF, and maybe have Adam come back with his blog entries.
In other news
As you know, I’ve taken down my forum because of the overload of spam bots crowding the place. This form is about to be replaced with a better defense against those abominations of desolation. I’ll still have the strong arm against flamers, though. Remember that I can handle debate, but this ain’t the Portal of Evil or Encyclopedia Dramatica. Act like an asshole, you will get the punt.