Friday, October 16, 2015

Quick Update: 10-16-2015 / Upcoming Projects

-I am working on a new series called Project 025 (the working title was The 025 Diaries). The series follows the life and trials of teenager Aaron Kirsch, who is inspired by my personality.

Along the way Aaron meets a wacky cast of characters, such as teenagers who are NASCAR fans (two in particular are fans of Jeff Gordon (4x champion) and Tony Stewart (3x champion)), a street dancer from Compton, teenage video game reviewers who mostly review games by SEGA and Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco Bandai Games, then Bandai Namco Games), people who are fans of certain college sports teams, young dancers from Illinois and Indiana who started out in (get this) a night club, and more -- on the way to find the elusive "Midnight Child" -- and defeating the villainous Sterling clan and their evil corporation bent on world domination, as ordered by his parents who trained him for this kind of thing.

-Other projects I am working on are Gearbox Diaries (more on that later), and two YA projects -- one inspired by films such as Bring It On, Mean Girls, Freaky Friday, Clueless and Barely Lethal, and more; the other is inspired by all things Halloween and focuses on a mysterious character and his/her journal.

-Finally, I have switched my default font around as well when using programs such as Microsoft Office Word to write, making a total of 5 fonts I have worked with since 1998. They are Architect (Tekton), Courier New (2000-2014), Times New Roman, Gill Sans MT (2004) and now Calibri (2015-present).

That's all for now. Until next time, WM86 :)

Thursday, August 6, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: Change of plans regarding writing projects / new project announced

Due to unforeseen circumstances and life catching up to me again, I have decided to put Warrior25 on temporary hiatus. It will still happen--it's just that I had this feeling that I didn't want to start with a racing story first.

On the other hand, feeling inspired by back-to-school shopping, I have decided to work on a new project, which is yet to be named. I have decided to bring every character introduced in previous blog posts into the project. Like always, there are new characters planned, and the project is still inspired by a video-game adventure.

Until next time,
WM86

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Quick update: 7/30/15 / 2 new tools arrived

-I am still working on Warrior25; however, more character ideas seem to be coming. Oh, and did I mention I haven't made it past the first chapter because of this?

-This is my first blog post using a Surface RT, a hybrid between a tablet and a laptop. I got it in the mail on 7/2/15, but forgot the charger, which came from the other Surface I had that crashed with the "BitLocker Recovery" screen. This happened as I was stupid enough to leave my previous Surface in sleep mode for too long (and it was charging up), and when I went to turn it back on, the BitLocker bug happened. Microsoft has an update that stops the BitLocker bug from happening.

-I also purchased a new USB flash drive from SanDisk last weekend, which stores up to (get this) 128 GB of space. The last one I've had since 2013 had a cover fall off my keychain, dropping the outgoing drive--which was able to store 16GB of space--to the floor at times, and caused the light to glow, and sometimes the processing unit found in the drive to be exposed. I am in the process of getting a lanyard to place the new flash drive and keys on, as I am constantly getting tired of having to carry everything in my pocket at once.

-Back to Warrior25: Each teacher character working in driver's education (Ashton, Darren, Amanda) has a set of students. However, unfortunate events happen with his two friends, Darren and Amanda, so he has to teach their students. I may have mentioned this before, but Warrior25 takes place between 2012-13 (failed projects Project Dylan (actually 2011-12) and Redline Kid (2012-13)) and 2014-15. There are more teacher and mentor characters planned as well.

-Since the days when I tried to write Insert Coin (2010-11), I have been obsessed with making certain writing projects inspired by a video-game adventure. This explains why, starting with The Story of Aaron, I have placed a "1-1" underlined on the upper right hand corner of my documents, similar to how Louis Sachar--one of my favorite authors and one of my inspirations to write since my days at both Adams and Underwood--did in There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, a book I read when I was younger besides Sideways Stories from Wayside School and Wayside School is Falling Down as well as the 1994 finale, Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. I think Sachar placed the chapter number followed by a period while aligning said text to the right.

-Speaking of inspirations, some of mine in regards to writing are (in no particular order): James Patterson, R.L. Stine, the late Stephen J. Cannell, Survivor host Jeff Probst (he's a writer, too), CSI trilogy and Whodunnit creator Anthony E. Zuiker (like Jeff Probst, he's a writer, too), Nicholas Sparks, One Tree Hill and Royals creator Mark Schwahn, Rocko's Modern Life creator Joe Murray and a bunch of others I don't have enough hours in the day to list--the sky's the limit!

Whew, I think I just said a mouthful.

Until next time,
-WM86 :)

Monday, June 29, 2015

Quick update: 6/29/15

-I know it's a shame, seeing what I've been through in 2014, but I have decided to combine The DFW Diaries and The Story of Aaron into a new final project, Warrior25 (when I mean final, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing). This move means that all the characters I wrote in both stories (except for narrators Aaron and Dusty) are going to be in this writing project I am currently working on since Fathers' Day weekend. (I had life problems sneak up on me again...)

-Like Diaries and Aaron, the story first starts in California with a new narrator, named Ashton Hobbs. His story is inspired by my adventures in life as a babysitter and a 1-time caretaker (in 2009), and--of course--my personality. His story is also inspired by my dad's mentoring at-risk teens, and still, like I said before in an earlier post, his job as a substitute teacher since 2006. I have also brought Darren and Amanda from previous failed projects back as well.

-This Aaron this time around is an automobile enthusiast, a gamer, and a lover of music. When he and his friend, Tyler get their driver's licenses, the adventures start coming in, like, for example, helping a teen in Hemet buy her first car and it was her 16th birthday.

-However, they soon realize that they are in way over their heads when Ashton tells Aaron of a dream he had upon seeing a mysterious teen in blue walk to the DMV just as soon as Aaron and Tyler left.

-That character, however, is still inspired by dreams I had of a character from 1993-2012, and some things I read about Josh Hartnett (The Faculty, O, Pearl Harbor, Hollywood Homicide) and James Lafferty (One Tree Hill, Crisis, etc.), but this time joined by Cameron Bright (Motive, the Twilight series of movies, etc.), backed up by--still, of course--all my research I've done on the state of California (as always) from 1998-99 to now. The dream leads Ashton to believe that the teen in blue is a CIA agent, but Aaron and Tyler don't buy it at first.

-There are characters planned that are inspired by some of my favorite YouTube users, and some of my favorite Wipeout, American Ninja Warrior, and Survivor contestants.

-I am in the process of getting a new Surface RT tablet sometime this weekend. It is where I wrote The DFW Diaries (my first story written on a portable device, saved to a 16GB flash drive) before life caught up to me again. As you may have guessed, I had a feeling my old Surface was either hacked, or crashed because I had installed way too many apps.

-Again, I have got to start updating this blog more often...
Until next time,
WM86

Monday, May 4, 2015

Quick update: 5/4/15

-I turned 29 three days after my last post a month ago.

-I am in the process of working on a racing story. It (yet to be named) will be somewhat inspired by a video game adventure, like The Story of Aaron where I named chapters "Stages". Returning will be some characters from stories I've written in the past 20 years (1995-now), along with new ones exclusive to this series. Idea gathering has just begun for this untitled series as of the week of 5/3/15.

-Speaking of The Story of Aaron, I am putting it on temporary hiatus, as life outside of writing has caught up to me again just like the mid-to-latter half of 2014.

-I welcomed a new item to my family of writing tools (and you may have heard this before): a wireless USB keyboard. To be more specific, it's a Jeff Gordon USB wireless keyboard, with his 2015 3M colors. Sadly, 2015 will be his last season to race full-time in Sprint Cup. When I went to purchase it online, my dad told me to instead get a Jimmie Johnson version of it, but I've been a fan of Gordon the same year I started writing, which is 1995. I may collect other wireless keyboards in the future.

-Speaking of the wireless keyboard, I am in the process of writing my first story using it, and it may very well be the project yet to be named as explained above.

-I may begin writing original stories on this blog.

-I may begin reviewing items I own on this blog as well.

That's all for now.
Until next time,
-WM86

Monday, April 6, 2015

Quick update on what I'm working on (sorry it's been so long!)

Sorry I wasn't able to update in a couple of months, but here's what I have planned/what I've done so far:

-The story series is now (tentatively) known as The Story of Aaron.

-I have added events from a failed story I worked on all throughout 2013-14, The DFW Diaries (I had to stop immediately due to bad luck issues), where Dusty would stop a bullying attempt involving teenage girls and even substitute teach at the bullying victim's school.

-There is a character where 4-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon (big fan of him since 1995) is one of the inspirations.

-Aaron actually has 2 pen pals--not just Michelle. The other pen pal, Brandon, who writes to Aaron mentions the mysterious "Midnight Child", who in a previous post is still inspired by things I read about Josh Hartnett (O, Pearl Harbor, Hollywood Homicide) and (a younger) James Lafferty (One Tree Hill, Oculus, Crisis). (Fun Fact: The idea actually came from a dream character from a dream I had in the 1992-93 year in the state of Maryland after my mom and dad separated. When we returned to North Carolina in summer 1993, they would divorce by 1994.)

-There is another character in the works that could be the person one story revolves around, and is inspired by a weird dream had in either the 1993-94 or 1994-95 year when all I could remember were blue and pink kaleidoscopic patterns, revealing girls. The girl revealed under the pink patterns, named Amanda, is known as the "Carnation Soldier". The "Midnight Child" is looking for her, but everyone is so scared to even come near him. More details on her inspiration later.

-There are two more characters planned from Aaron's hometown of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and one is inspired by a character I drew on a sketchpad and notebook paper in 2006 in college, who is female. More on their stories later.

Well, that's it...I hope to update this blog (as soon as I get past this stupid cold I picked up over the weekend) soon... -WM86

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Pen pals / other main characters besides Aaron in the project that I am working on...

I have been toying with the idea of giving a main character a pen pal since 2005 in the "guest room" when I was working on a story on my dad's laptop that ran (yes, I know) Windows 95 or 98. While I was working on something later that year (more than likely over the summer), the laptop froze and then crashed to the point where nothing would load anymore. (I believe the laptop was given to him when he got a job at Nortel, which unfortunately, laid off its workers. He is now a substitute teacher since 2006, and just had a birthday yesterday.)

Fast forward to 9 years later after finally giving up disks in the fall of 2007 in favor of a flash drive and going wireless with keyboards and mice (between 2010 and now in terms of flash drives, I have gone from 1GB to 8GB to finally 16GB - I hope I can get a 32GB flash drive soon. On the wireless side of things, I want a #24 Jeff Gordon or #14 Tony Stewart wireless keyboard and mouse (yes, I am a NASCAR fan--since 1991 at the age of five).) I am still toying with the idea of giving a main character of a story a pen pal, and I am on the verge of making it happen for sure in the case of Aaron.

(Fun Fact: I have NEVER had a pen pal growing up, but over the summer from 4th-5th grade, one of our assignments assigned by a teacher was to write a letter to her on how we were doing and what we were doing over the summer. She even wrote to me when I had finished 6th grade in the 1997-98 school year. Not sure if this counts as a pen pal, though.)

In regards to pen pal character ideas, I just can't seem to escape the state of North Carolina, OR Sanderson or Southeast Raleigh Magnet High (where I attended)--two of the best high schools in Wake County--for said pen pal to attend since the character is going to be in his/her late-teens (or, in HS terms, a senior). I also cannot seem to escape the idea of making the pen pal female, either. This one is no exception, despite the fact I have to give her a name and initials (yes, I am obsessed with arcade game high score screens, by the way).

One of her dreams is to attend North Carolina State University, or NCSU (both my mom and dad's alma mater) for short, despite one of her childhood friends keeps pressuring her to attend the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (Fun Fact: As a Wolfpack (ACC) fan, I can stand neither the Tar Heels (UNC) nor the Blue Devils (Duke) in terms of men's basketball. I am also a fan of the Stanford Cardinal out in California (PAC-12) as well) against her wishes.

I think I want to make her and Aaron pen pals since childhood. I am also working on how they first meet in person as well, despite the fact Aaron (loosely based off my lifestyle/personality) starts in California from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (his birthplace; also one of my favorite locations I would like to visit someday). (Fun Fact: I forgot this in a previous blog post, but his parents weren't born there. Also, his mother is from North Carolina; his father is from California.) I also got the idea for her from everything I had learned about the state of North Carolina since the 1998-99 year.

Another character in the project I am working on (*spoiler alert*) is someone who flies under everyone (including the main cast--more on them later)'s radar, and Aaron gets to know him, unfortunately, when sometimes he wishes he hadn't. He is inspired by some things I read about The Faculty, Pearl Harbor and Hollywood Homicide star Josh Hartnett and One Tree Hill and Crisis star James Lafferty, as well as Phantom Planet frontman Alex Greenwald--as well as various things I have learned about the state of California since the 1998-99 year (despite the fact I used to live there--the northern part near Monterey). He usually dresses in blue and comes off as mysterious, and basically everyone tells Aaron about him, kind of like the scene from the 2004 film Mean Girls where Lindsay Lohan's character, Cady Heron, asks people about Rachel McAdams' character, Regina George. Aaron's pen pal, unfortunately, knows about him as well. Like the pen pal, I still have to give him a name and initials as well.

I also got the idea for him back in the summer of 2011 after playing Race Drivin' on the SEGA Genesis and finally beating the Phantom Photon ghost car on the Original track a few times, and playing Extreme-G 2: XG2 and Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing as well as Cruis'n USA and the Rush series on the Nintendo 64, and in another project I was supposed to work on, he was supposed to be the younger brother of one of the main characters, his older sister. I also came up with characters in the 2011-12 year after playing various non-Sonic games on the SEGA Genesis as well.

Wow, I think I just said a mouthful, and I hope to get at least the first few chapters of the writing project done. Until next time...WM86 :)

Monday, January 5, 2015

What I am working on right now/about the main character of the project...

Lately, I have been playing retro racing games such as "Ironman" Ivan Stewart's Super Off Road and the Track Pak upgrade (Leland, 1989, 1990 (NES), 1992 (SNES & Genesis) - both regular Super Off-Road), Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat (Leland, 1991), City Connection (Jaleco, 1985 (arcade), 1988 (NES)), Cruis'n World (Midway/Nintendo, 1996 (arcade), 1998 (N64)), the Rush series on N64 - as well as Rally-X, New Rally-X, and the Pole Position series on the Namco Museum PS1 compilations. Why? To come up with character ideas.

I couldn't do this last year due to bad luck plaguing me, all starting with the Rose Bowl, hoping that Stanford would win over Michigan State. Also, life kept getting in the way at times, and my Surface tablet is being fixed after receiving some weird error mid-August (this kinda feels like a scene from a movie), so...

Anyway, back to the main point: I am working on a car novel in which the main character, named Aaron, visits the states of California and North Carolina, which later turns to a trip around the world. After moving to a beach house, he is then haunted by weird dreams, hears wind and stormy conditions, and then a piece of paper--likely coming from a girl's diary--hits his face. Along the way, he runs into an interesting cast of characters, too. More details about a story plot coming later, as I am in the process of writing a rough draft for this project.

About the character of Aaron: Aaron is kind of like me. He's a car enthusiast and a video-game nut who just loves adventure. (Fun Fact: Aaron is also inspired by Canadian actor Jay Baruchel, American actors Jensen Ackles, Jake McDorman and Ben Stiller, as well as the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton.) He has a lot of things he wants done on his to-do list before he retires...and he's only in his late teens-early 20s. And like me, his birthday is April 9.

With all that said, it is now time for me to get to it. Until next time, WM86 :)




Thursday, January 1, 2015

New Year's resolutions / what I hope to achieve in 2015

New Year's resolutions
-to write more
-to find new adventures
-to regain my writing form I lost in 2012
-refrain from typing Internet memes at random while thinking while writing

What I hope to achieve this year:
-get rid of all "bad luck" issues from last year
-writing a young-adult fiction novel
-master the art of screenwriting
-become a better person than I was in 2013 and 2014 - 2014 was BRUTAL for all the wrong reasons for me.

That's all I can think of right now.

-WM86 :)