Jersey Boy

I apologize. As it turns out, if I say I’m going to be back and doing things more often I tend to not be back and doing things more often. So maybe I should just say I won’t be on more often? I don’t know. So to fix this up, I’m making a HUGE blog. Like I might get to 1000 words, y’all.

Two excellent things have happened since I last blogged. One is that I got a chance to go to Jersey. The other is that I found VampireFreaks. But let’s speak about Jersey first, basically because it is the more exciting story of the two. I’ll split them up by bold words.

Jersey Boy

I went to Jersey with the intent to go see one of my best female friends of all time and hang out with her at ROTC ball/banquet, as she is still in high school. I definitely did get to do that, although it was super hectic up until that point. We were an hour late, the ball was an hour late, I wasn’t clean shaven, I don’t really dance, no one seemed to know what was going on, etc. Nonetheless, the ball turned out excellently. I learned that it is apparently a thing at fine dining to applaud by whacking a spoon against the table. Maybe it’s just an American thing. I learned that slow dancing is super awesome. I learned that my gaydar is not 100% accurate (no, you do not have to be gay to have a gaydar). More like, 95% accurate. It was only my second time being wrong. And finally, I am glad that I was homeschooled most of my life. I had forgotten how ridiculously drama-filled high school was. Seems like everyone hates everyone but secretly is nice to them.

After the lovely ball and a couple pictures, I headed back to meet up with a friend from college who had also come down to Jersey for the ROTC event. I found out that, although he never speaks of them, he has four cats that roam the house and two more that run around outside. You think someone who is that much of a cat person would have mentioned something about it. But no, I didn’t know a thing until I walked into his parents’ house and found a great fuzzy creature rubbing up against my leg. Then another. Then another. And another just stared at me.

The next day, after a great deal of fun and a board game that’s the halfway mark between “Cards Against Humanity” and “Apples to Apples”, I got dragged to his church. I can’t say dragged, really, as I was interested in what they did, but it was quite the experience. It was the Baptist experience.

We’re a non-traditional church… our pues aren’t even wooden!

For those who know nothing of the baptist experience, let me explain it to you:

1. You walk into the church and everybody just kind of walks around, trying to find their family’s pue (because God forbid they change their bench once in a while), and then without any warning the worship band gets up.
2. Now, they start out with the first song, which is typically just a rawer version of a song that you hear on Christian radio stations. Their version of rawer is putting the same words to a slightly different tune minus the drums. This way if you think
3. you actually know they song, you’ll find out you don’t, because they riffed the one section that you can normally rock all by yourself. But now you’re just like the rest of the old people who’ve never heard the song before.
4. After this, they do announcements. It would take much less time if they simply took out all the “God bless ’em”s every five seconds.
5. After this, they ask for your money, whilst putting up a person who claims they can sing but everyone knows… they can’t. Don’t tell them that, though. You’ll be unholy.
6. Then they return to music by singing a hymn most everyone knows, like, “Amazing Grace” or something.
7. After this, they turn to those dusty little pieces in the way back of the hymn book that not even the guy singing really knows.
8. Then they send up some older guy to talk about a bible story that most everyone knows, like David and Goliath, and you feel really good about what he’s saying. However, you’re questioning throughout the whole sermon if this guy is senile or not, because he’s repeating himself and people keep laughing anyway. Maybe they’re in on it.
9. Then we repeat the last song because it was the easiest for the group to get back into. Typically, if there’s going to be some problem with the soundboard, it’s going to be now. But it’s the end of the service, so you don’t care too much.

And don’t think I’m anti-Christian at all by saying this. I’m a baptist myself and a Christian, so I can make fun of them all I want.

It was a good last day, basically. Jersey is a wonderful place.

Vampire Freaks

Another thing I got a chance to do is find the goth social network. Yes, there is such a thing. I didn’t know what I was expecting when I first got on there, and it has been QUITE a ride since I started, but I can’t say I regret it. Yes, there were creepy first people you meet who are sex-crazy, but afterwards most people are quite nice about it. I met some artistic people, some more writers, some just very kind people and others who are trying (and succeeding) in getting me involved with all the social network stuff. I now have a snapchat due to them, which is sirgabrielpenn is you ever want to find me.

The girl who got me started on snapchat is also teaching me Brazilian Portuguese. What does that mean? The South Americans fans are going to get info in their own language soon!

Speaking of Vampire Freaks, if there are any people on here who are part of it, we are going to make a page for the Soldier Chronicles if we can. The only problem is that it involves html and things, so to any fans who know HTML…

HURRY GEEKS, WE NEED YOUR HEEEELP!!!!

I don’t consider that mean to geeks, as I am one. Oh, am I ever.

Book Stuff

For those interested in more book stuff, we have just started up the map. It’s just a sketch for now, which I have not seen as it’s my illustrator’s stuff, but it’s a big world. It’s a very big world, and by the first book, we haven’t even seen a quarter of what you’ll see by the end.

Also, we are considering bringing fetches into the series. They are the spectral images of the alive, seen soon before the alive become dead. And they may just be working with the protagonists. How? You’ll see. That’s the joy of a second draft. You can change EVERYTHING.

Anyway, that’s the end of my huuuge blog, hope it wasn’t too boring and that you enjoyed it!

I’m Going Insane (And That Just Might Be Ok)

When I first decided to leave two months for giving my novel Dark Soldier to someone else for reading and editing, I did not realize just how long two months is to someone who probably has A.D.D. but hasn’t been checked.
Referring to me.
I’m slowly losing my mind.

Now I’m just left to college life and I realize how boring that is in general. I think perhaps I write to get out of the current world for just a short amount of time. Writing is like a more stressful version of reading, as you’re the one making the story, not just reading it. Only you have to make people exist or not exist. I don’t think many realize this.

So now what is there to life but making friends and studying? Not much it seems. Occasionally, there’s the games of Magic to help, but now I am faced with the facts.

I am nearly alone, but for a few friends to keep me company. That’s enough to drive anyone insane, but I’ve realized something. That’s ok. I’m really and truly becoming more and more all right with that. Because admittedly I know that each and every one of my friends that stick by me will do it through thick and thin. It makes me happy to realize that no matter what I do, they will love me to death. Maybe I misconstrue the facts a little, but that is certainly the case for some. And if they don’t, then that is fine as well, because I know One who will. No religious hate in the comments, please. It turns into spam really quickly.

Until the book is all done editing, I have time to contemplate my favorite things of all time, the things that do make me happy in spite of a chronic depression that threatens to pierce every fiber of existence.

I am happy because of friends who will stick with me through all things.

I am happy because of an upcoming season, namely Christmas, in which the world seems to forget all hate for a while. Even the music is always high-spirited!

I am happy because of dubstep, because whether its good or not it, that bass is going to vibrate into your very soul.

I am happy because… Jesus. Yup. I said it.

I am happy because I have a shower close-by which I can pump to a nearly scalding heat, which apparently bothers most people, although I love it. I realize many people don’t have that, and through charities I get to be involved in occasionally, I work to change that.

I am happy because I have super chill R.A.s in my college who don’t care that I’m basically nocturnal.

I am happy because even when I’m not, I’ve come to know the dark valleys well enough to know that those peaks of happiness are going to be cray.

I am happy because even though we’re not allowed to have pets, I have a small kitty waiting for me when I get home.

I am happy because I have stopped caring what people think of me in general. Haters gonna hate.

I am happy because I realize I actually don’t have to be something amazing to be loved. I’m not a fun person to be around all the time, and I don’t have the world’s greatest or even most non-hypocritical personality, but that’s ok. No one does.

I am happy because although people are pretty while alive, their skeletons look really cool in death. It’s a win-win.

I am happy because even if you don’t appreciate the gothic things as much as I do, we can still be friends!

Share the happiness today, write down what makes YOU happy!

College Weekends

Story Time! You can get the video version of this here.

So it turns out that waking up on the weekends is hard. I’ll admit it, I think most people will. I mean, what’s the point even, it’s an entire weekend of nothing if you let yourself do so! Who would want to wake up at that point, especially when you get to hang out with your best friend? My best friend on earth is probably my bed. I love you, bed! *kisses*

This morning was like all those before a regular weekend – staying up way too late because you know you have nothing to do that next morning, even if you do, but you don’t care because it’s the weekend and you are your own boss!!! So I found myself waking up at the unusually early time of 10:57, and after a few seconds got up in a panic. The reason I was so panicky was because I had church in 3 minutes, and it was a 15 walk. Thank God for buses. Still, I wanted to make it on time, so I quickly spiked my hair (because this is apparently my main concern in the morning other than clothes) and got on fancy clothes and started running out to the bus stop. I didn’t question why the rest of my dormies were staying in bed, I just assumed they were going to skip church, as we’d stayed up till 2 in the morning the previous night playing “Mafia”.

As I got on the bus, I looked around and noticed I was the only one in fancy clothes. I’m not normally one to judge. I used to be the guy who dressed in t-shirts and ripped jeans on my way to church. Come as you are, they say. But the elderly baptist preacher came out of me, and was like:

People. Going to church. In track uniforms. On a Sunday? HEATHENS.

And as we were getting out at the edge of the bus stop, I’m walking away in a panic. You may question that little line there. Nobody else was running, really. They were just kind of at this steady jog that looks like its going a lot faster than it is. It’s really just walking really hard. So I did their hard walking along with them, you know, make them feel good about themselves. And I notice they’re all going along with me to church. Very nice, how devoted that you would go right after running for quite some time probably! Physical and spiritual exercise! What great men and women of God! Then I noticed them going into the track room, before the service.

They’re already late, but they’re going to the track room?! The baptist preacher returned, saying:

People. Going to the track room right next to the church. When they should be going to the church. DOUBLY HEATHEN.

As I’m walking up to the doors, determining the heathenness of the people behind me, judging them silently, I looked to the doors to see no greeters at all! “Wow, I must be late!” I thought. “No one’s here!”

I opened the door.

There was no one there.

It was Saturday, not Sunday.

So as I walked back to the bus stop, head hung in shame *cue sad music and rain* I looked around and saw people in track uniforms at the bus stop, probably silently judging me, just as I had done, thinking:

Wearing fancy clothes. On a Saturday. As if it were a Sunday. Not even knowing what day church is. HEATHEN.

The moral of the story? Don’t judge too quickly. You just might be totally wrong.

 

If you’re all wondering, why isn’t he posting anything about Dark Soldier recently? Well, basically I’ve set a plan in mind to wait until I have a debit card to do any more advertising, which should be soon as it’s literally in my mailbox. Expect to be seeing a worldwide Dark Soldier phenomenon coming soon!!