New Look

This week will likely be extremely difficult. There's school, work (catch up and huge projects), side-work, and packing. I've been waiting for this to come and now it's finally here. So let's see how well it progresses.

In writing, I've taken inspiration from my little sister who's been putting down hundreds and thousands of words each day on her novel. Check her progress here: 100 Days to Write a Novel. I actually revamped my story a bit to fit what I've been planning and then kept writing on it and have managed to generate 3,000+ words. That's pretty cool.

My book is going to be a massive undertaking and it's also going to be the first in a series, so 3,000 words might not seem like a whole lot, but I've been dying to get back into writing and just haven't had the time or energy to do it. Well, this goes to show you that even in the hardest times, you can still find windows of time to write. I may be avoiding school work to do it, but at least I'm doing it.

Wish me luck as I continue to chip away at book one of the Atomorpher story. I'm at over 26 thousand words and planning to keep it up as well as I can.

I've also updated the look of my blog and added some features for sharing content here. It needed it. If you happen to stop by, drop a comment and let me know you were here and what you think of the new look.

Writer's Obstacles

I'm currently exploding with creativity. I haven't really written in weeks. As always, I'm constantly churning over ideas concerning my storyline, but at some point I need to pick the story back up. With work, school, side-work, moving, and more, I barely have time to catch my breath.

Notes have been my only defense. I've been writing notes with furious intensity. I've devised a description for an ancient city on Kad'el called Delmenon. It happens to have been a city of Nhabics where Nhabic enchanting spiraled out of control to the point where the city rebuilds itself, buildings shift and move around without rhyme or reason, and the supposedly mindless Nhabic elemental servants seem to manifest and move about the city on unknown missions. Throughout the millennia, the city has obtained a reputation for being haunted, has been equated to hell, and has been blamed for the disappearances of a number of travellers and explorers.

I've also fleshed out combat quite a bit, as well as the accessories used in warfare and fights. Swords that are Nhabically enchanted can, for instance, pass straight through the shielding of an Atomorpher. The Nhabic Sikkorum garments are also more clear to me.

I did actually rewrite the first combat scene in the book as a means of showing the reader a true glimpse of what it's like for two, extremely competent Atomorphers to engage in combat. Now, the reader can see numerous previews of what its to come.

Anyway, I'm just biding my time till things calm a bit and I'm able, finally, to really write.

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Beef Stew

So, I jumped on here a few days ago and was looking at some of my old blog posts and I ran across one that I wrote over a year ago. I was skimming through when I came across the following statement:

Note to self: Maggie made stew tonight and it was DELICIOUS. Don't ever think you didn't like it, cause you did.

Now, prior to reading that, I thought that I wasn't a fan of stew--obviously I told myself to remember because I know myself and I realized that I'd revert to thinking that I wasn't a fan again. So, I told Maggie that we should have Stew to test the statement. I didn't actually believe myself..I figured there must have been an intruder on my blog.

Well, follow-up note to self: Maggie made stew tonight and it was DELICIOUS. Don't ever think you didn't like it, cause you did.

New Chapter

Being a dad is a big deal. I've never felt this kind of love, this elated, and this worried in my life. I'd swear I'm going gray faster than ever right now. I've been telling people that I couldn't have explained what it's like to myself before I had him. What a difference from then till now in who I am.

Baby Caleb Michael McLain was born on October 5, 2009 to two ecstatic parents. He's laid back and cool, hardly cries for longer than a minute or two, and sleeps a lot. When he's awake he'll stare at you. He likes to look at his tree in his bedroom because of the contrast of brown on white. He smiles from time to time and laughs in his sleep. He's got dimples. He's actually a cute baby--as opposed to those babies where you're like, "Oh...it's a baby..."

The next years, I'm sure, will fly by in a second. I'm trying to really treasure every moment I have with him right now. I told Maggs this morning that they grow further away the older they get. Pretty soon he'll be independent enough to crawl around and get into all kinds of mischief. He won't lay on my chest for hours while I work anymore. That makes me sad, but I know that as time passes I'll get to know him more and that, even though our relationship will change, each step will be a new and awesome experience of its own. The specialness won't go away.

It's amazing how much I love this little kid that I didn't even know a few weeks ago. Maggie and I are in a new and exciting chapter with our little family. Now we get to experience a new life.

Another World

It's a rather large task I'm undertaking. You might know that I'm working on an epic book series. The gist of it is the story of a kid who discovers that he can do some pretty extraordinary things and because of it, is whisked away to discover a completely new world.

Though, the new world isn't exactly new. While it was previously unknown to the character in the book, this world still has an enormous history. Likewise, the people who live in it also have histories. So, the amount of background that must be generated for the book series is tremendous. I've read and heard the advice that a writer just needs to start writing to get the story down and then he can go back and work out the details, but that's not so easy. The details largely govern the story. They must be carefully thought out, tuned, and applied to sustain the world the story takes place in. There are rules that must be clearly defined that apply to angels and demons, humans and animals. The background of different peoples makes a difference in who the characters interact with. The placement of the original, gifted Makers of the other world is imperative since they play a role in both the history and the current story.

In total, the planning has taken months of work and effort. The decisions are still not completely made, but I'm close enough now to having it all figured out that I've begun writing the main story. It's pretty exciting to start the actual storyline, but I still fear that the loose ends might eventually force me into a rewrite. Let's hope not.

Even if I do find myself rewriting it, I'm so confident that this book is buildable and genuinely marketable that I won't give up on it. I hope to have at least the first book written by the end of 2010. This should include personal revision and editing along with outside revision and editing. If all goes well Atomorphism's practicioners, Duncan Wallace, Maccabeus MacMillan, Obed Benaiyah, Hadwyn Adams, Taylor Lafayette, and Anna Timber might become common household names.

Just to get your curiosity going, here is a very small portion of my notes (this is not a complete list):

Disciplines

• Refracting light to appear invisible or different.
• Flight
• The language Nahbi.
• Restoration and regeneration of self.
• If an atomorpher is injured he can heal himself. If he loses a limb, he can replace it.
• Deific Studies.
• This is the study of God and his Bible along with the teaching that it is by Him that all things are done. This is a required course of study for all atomorphers.
• Soul Combination.
• This discipline centers around the creation of new creatures. By combining animals there is a mixing of souls and instincts, thus the name soul combination. This discipline requires great care since the wrong combination can result in an improper and sometimes destructive match. The instinctual behaviors must compensate for the new physical structure of the creature. This is related to the study of the Creatures of the Dunamae.
• Dunamae studies.
• The study of the evil sect of atomorphers. These dark and demented practicioners pervert the skills that God has given them in order to further the rebellion and destroy, if possible, the atomorphers.
• Demon Channeling.
• Demons can assist with fortune telling, the manipulation of dark matter, mind reading, tormenting targets, ancient knowledge, greater agility and skill, and control over animals.
• Philosophy.
• The Dunamae philosophy is a dark and mysterious set of half-truths and servitude under Satanic authority. Some are bought by deception while others partake with full knowledge of their rebellion. The belief system is not discriminatory. If a dark atomorpher or Dalmatia (deceitful lamps; vain brightness) is well intentioned and believes in doing the work of God, it is not beneath the Dunamae to accept, through deception, this recruit. Any manipulation of truth--any deception--is admissible to further the rebellion.
• Weaponry creation.
• The art of knowing how to create forged steal, perfectly machined guns, and explosives from sand or whatever is available.
• Mechanical study.
• For the creation of machines. An atomorpher can, for instance, build a respirator in a serious emergency.
• Elemental Manipulation.
• This is the manipulation of weather, water, fire, ice, electrical current, and wind. Weather manipulation, like stopping a storm, requires either a long string of Nahbi, or tremendous concentration by multiple atomorphers. Note that Jesus calmed the storm simply by commanding it to be at peace without using the Nahbi language. That's because he's God.
• Transfigurement.
• Changing the physiology of oneself into some other form.
• Perception.
• The ability to sense when another is capable of atomorphism. This is particularly useful for Seekers who seek out children for the school.
• History.
• The study of atomorphic history. The history of Sethesus. Many Nonatoms become historians.
• Dunamae defense.
• Atomorphers must be prepared for the violent and destructive powers of the dunamae. This study brings the students into a knowledge of the strategies that exploit the gifts for killing, hurting, and manipulating others. The stratagem must be known to counter it. It is a tempting study for some to become Dark and even for some to consider being a dunamae. Simply speaking of the deceptive qualities of the sect can inadvertently draw those that are not careful into it.
  
• Creatures of the Dunamae
• This teaches about the creatures made by the Dunamae and how to defend one's self from attack by them. These creatures, like the Gothrokar, the Tibla, and the Rykon are deadly unless Atomorphers are trained to counteract them. These creatures were made for war and are thus terribly deadly. This discipline is related to Soul Combination.

"What is the matter, James?" Bernard asked. His voice was soft yet sultry, strictness falling off every word.
James stood in the dark monastery, surrounded by candles that led up before him to a door seemingly made from bronze. Bernard stood behind him now. He had been here alone, hesitating and lost, but content to be left alone. This man was not welcome during his final moments.
"James," Bernard rumbled in a low voice. "Why are you waiting?"
With a sigh of irritation for the man James replied to him, "Where will I go?"
"I have told you young man. You will go where you are most needed." Bernard's tone hinted at having said this on a number of occasions before. "Have you not spent your childhood in preparation for this, James? What holds you from it now? You have the knowledge! You have the practice! Though I say you do not, Megolas says you are ready, and I cannot hold to my own words any longer. Though I advised against it, here you stand, and so I will be proved wrong. Now, go lest you cave to your cowardice and make my previous arguments right before Megolas." The words were scathing and heartless, though James had come to expect this from the man. A teacher and a mentor of the young, the man was said to have done his duty as well, though James could hardly believe it.
Bernard spoke again, startling James at how close he had gotten without his noticing. "The ministry has claimed you, God has chosen you, and I have trained you. Now, you mustn't dispair over your calling, it is what you were born to do. Go and do so with God." The words were somehow soft, in complete contradiction to everything James knew of the man. He glanced sideways at him and saw the man's cowl was drawn up over his head and his face was well hidden. James actually wondered for a moment if maybe this wasn't Bernard, but, as though reading his thoughts, the man pulled back his hood and met his eyes with a fierce gaze. "I too was fearful, but it will pass."
James was so stunned that he was speechless. His features must have shown it because Bernard smiled at him, as though amused. "I have let down my guard because you will probably never see me again, nor be able to tell the other students of my kindness. Truly, this is likely the last time you will ever see me or anyone you have ever known." Bernard's smile faded and the man's eyes showed a profound sadness. "Before you go," He began, his eyes searching James's. "You should know that I have always loved you as a son."
For what seemed a long while, James only stared. Startlement mixed with disbelief mixed again with a welling up of emotion rushed through him. Then he found his voice. "Thank you Bernard. I am honored to think of you as my father." In truth, Bernard was the closest he had ever had to a father, though he had been a strict and difficult father at that.
"Go with God, my son. My prayers are, have been, and will be for your safety and success. May you find happiness in your new life as I have found in mine." He placed a solid and reassuring hand on James' shoulder. "Perhaps you will leave me a message or you will find mine someday."
After a moment studying each other for the last time, Bernard pulled him into an embrace. James felt the full weight of his attachment to the man in that span of a few short seconds. And then, Bernard patted him on the back and stepped back. James nodded and turned for the door.
"Do not forget, my son," Bernard called after him, "that iron sharpens iron. Find others when you have found your new place. They will aide you. And friendhsip is something to be highly valued in life."
"I will," James replied, and then added, "father." He felt Bernard's smile on his back as he took hold of the door and went through.

Snow Day

So it seriously snowed today and is still snowing. I worked from home even though the freeway was open this morning. Lucky because it closed midday. Unfortunately, Darion did go down on the promise that his employer (Schwans) would put him up in a hotel if he couldn't get back up. Well, he didn't plan on having to stay down there, but he is.

Cyndi hung out from lunch time today. I went and picked her up, came home, and then we went to the "usual place" (Molly Brown's) where the waitresses know us by name. I had the pepper steak blue plate special and it was pretty dawgon good. The strognoff they served the other day was out of this world. Maggie got it and I proceeded to eat off her plate. I ate the leftovers for dinner tonight. Very delicious.

After that I worked while Maggie and Cyndi entertained themselves. They ended up making a snow man with the carrot nose and everything--a piece of which ended up in Sandie's mouth. When I finished work I went out back with Sandie and she frolicked around through the snow with me. It was downright adorable. Afterwards, though, she had little ice balls worked throughout the hair on her legs. We all took her over to the wood burning stove to keep her warm while we worked the ice out of her hair.

I need to find our police scanner! My dad called and told me that the airwaves were filled with chatter, so I looked all around for it and couldn't find it. Ugh, I'll need to do a more thorough search.

So after that the news became definite that Darion wouldn't be able to find a way home. Every route to get back up was closed. Cyndi wasn't happy and I can understand why. Tonight will be their first night apart since they've been married. Maggie and I played Cyndi and Darion's Wii while Cyndi went on Myspace and updated her status to indicate that she's very very sad. I know it's selfish to be this way, but I hate it when Cyndi gets upset or sad because it affects everyone around her. She's usually very lively and fun, so when she's down, it's not only noticeable, it's a tangible deflation of the mood. I understand that she can't be up all the time, but it still sucks when she gets down.

After looking like a big dork for awhile with Wii Fit I asked Cyndi if she was ready to go home. She didn't want to try to spend the night here, so we loaded up her stuff into my truck and pulled out to get her home. Holy stockings! Driving in the snow is very tricky! We did pretty well until we turned up First off of Nisqualli. First is an incline, so I only made it up so far and then stopped making progress. I tried putting the truck into 4 wheel drive low, but it did us no good, so I had to back down the hill and back out onto Nisqualli. Now, this all seems scary, but it actually worked to put Cyndi back into a better mood. We were laughing by the time we got back onto Nisqualli. After that little fiasco we made it to her apartment just fine and I helped her carry stuff in, hugged her goodbye, and went back out to my truck.

Then I was stuck. It took awhile of rocking back and forth, but I got out and went down the road. So, the falling snow, the eerie haze, the glow of the sky, and the abandoned landscape has a tendency to remind me of Silent Hill. Then, as I was driving down Second to get out the Bear Valley Road, there was a car sitting in the middle of the road and, judging by the amount of snow on it, it had been sitting there for a few hours. I imagine whoever it was got stuck and just left it. Later on I felt bad because I probably should've stopped and knocked on the window to make sure someone wasn't inside. Had there been, they'd be awfully cold. There is a hospital on that very street though... Anyway, that was a little weird, but then there were also a bunch of hoodlum-type guys walking around as well. I don't know what they were up to, but at 9 o'clock at night, I'm not betting it's anything good. It was afterward that Maggie and I made the connection that they might be out because there happen to be abandoned cars in the road where people had to leave them stuck in the snow. Seems like a good opportunity to break in and steal away a stereo or whatever. I'll bet the cops are busy taking care of the crazies that are crashing into to things because they still attempt to do the speed limit on all the roads.

Speaking of which, there are a bunch of crazies on the roads that still attempt to do the speed limit on all the roads. I don't know about you, but it irritates me when I'm driving carefully down the road through intense snow and some moron passes me because I'm not going fast enough. Boy, I wonder why the scanner was chattering so much?

So then, once I got home I was faced with a driveway that is on an incline. I didn't make it, so I got a shovel and started clearing away snow to make a path for the truck to go up. Maggie stood and talked to me while I shoveled. :-) It wasn't too long after I started that James, my neighbor down the street, came over with his own shovel and offered to help. Between the two of us we had the snow cleared away quickly and I was able to get the truck into the garage. I thanked him for his help and Maggie and I decided after that we need to send some fudge his way.

Personally, I rather enjoyed tonight's adventure. It's fun to get out and put down a challenge. Driving through the snow with a bunch of crazy people isn't a good thing, but figuring out how to get unstuck and find ways around terrain that can't be passed is the kind of thing I enjoy.

So tomorrow will likely be icy and dangerous as well, so I'm planning on working from home. Maggie got called by the school district tonight and was notified that the district will be closed for the remainder of the week. That means that school hasn't been in session all week and the end of this week marks the beginning of the Christmas break. So that's three weeks for Christmas vacation. Haha, that's pretty awesome. She'll be sad when May rolls around and they have to make up those days though... :-D

So that was my day in a nutshell. I didn't mention half the things that happened, but this is already getting to be a long post, so I'll wrap right here.

Remembering

Last night Maggs and I went off and looked at Christmas lights. I was telling her about a sermon by Mark Driscol of Marshill Church in Seattle. In the sermon he's talking about what couples do to keep their marriage healthy and one couple's strategy was to write down on cards highlights of their marriage througout the year and then, on their anniversary, sit down at a nice place to eat, pull out the cards, and read them. I was telling Maggie that this is cool and that I tend to forget everything as the days go by. I just never retain stuff and pretty quickly the entire year has blurred and been forgotten. That makes the passage of time seem much more pronounced. Maggie suggested that I blog in order to keep track of things and for some reason that really made sense.

So we had this conversation last night while driving around looking at Christmas lights. It was totally awesome. We drove over the Hesperia in the new developments and looked at lights. We were saying how we like to do that 'cause it gives us ideas for our own Christmas display. One of the best parts was going to Starbucks and getting hot chocolate and peppermint mocha coffee. Mine had peppermint whipped cream, which was awesome. Then we drove off to Hesperia and enjoyed Christmas.

Tonight, Cyndi and Darion came over. In fact, they're playing their Wii right now while Maggie reads and I blog...haha... We don't need to entertain each other all the time. We can pretty much just hang out and do our own things or do stuff together and nobody's bothered.

We gave Darion his birthday presents tonight. We gave him Call of Duty for the Wii, some Magic cards, and a card collector's album. He likes it all a lot. I can always be sure he likes what he gets because I enjoy the same stuff.

Speaking of Magic cards, I've taken a liking to the game. It was always one of those uncool things in highschool where if you were caught playing Magic you were labelled a dork, but now that I'm out of highschool and I don't have to care about being judged anymore I can play(only kidding, I totally would've played in highschool if someone had introduced me to it).

Tonight Darion and I played and the game lasted for a long time. Dinner was ready and we had to just stop playing before we even finished. It was lots of fun.

Anyway, now Darion and Cyndi are leaving, so I'm going to say goodbye. Thanks for reading.

Note to self: Maggie made stew tonight and it was DELICIOUS. Don't ever think you didn't like it, cause you did.