Hiatus Done?

I've been re-reading my novel, trying to get back into writing at it. It's been a few weeks away from it. While I was re-reading I began to feel really down on myself because my writing could only be described as "merely mediocre." I've reassured myself and had some encouraging words from friends so I'm just going to keep going.

Well, I must say that epiphanies come in the least expected ways and places. I woke up, stumbled into the shower this morning, and, amidst the steam and hot water I had a jolt of an idea. So I'm taking this to mean that my hiatus is over with.

Write on! (ha! Notice the little play on words...I'm a dork...)

Dream into Novel

So...

I've taken time off Shepherd of the Damned...

to...

Chip away at another novel...

I'm crazy.

I actually wasn't going to do this at all. Wasn't even going to touch writing for a few weeks. Let things percolate.

But this idea has been bugging me for awhile. Maybe that's why I've been so stagnant with SotD.

This project is currently untitled and I'm okay with that which is odd for me. I'm getting closer to figuring out a title...I think...but for now...we'll just call it Jake's Untitiled Dream Book.

Background on the conception of this idea:

I had a dream.

Wrote it down in my little notebook. Quickly scribbled down some scenes in my computer.

Had another dream featuring the same characters.

That has never happened to me before. Weird.

Brief plot synopsis so far:

It's a post-apocalyptic world in which mankind has rebuilt a society that has reverted to a civil barbarism like that of the gladiators. High school-aged teens are either Scholars or Athletes. The Athletes are put in a series of games in which they are supposed to play to the death. If they win, they go on to the next match. If they lose, they are executed.

The story follows three Athletes: Zephyr, Skye, and Cobalt.

As of yet I'm still not sure about specifics in the plot. I'm still working on that.

A brief intro to the characters:

ZEPHYR REVENANT

This is Burak Ozcivit: the face for Zephyr. Thus far, he is a kid trying to live up to the name of his ancestor, John 'Revenant' Bullock who saved the world from utter destruction. No pressure.

COBALT NIGHTFALL

Penn Badgley is a good face for Cobalt. He is the son of the principal at his school. The principal is basically like the mayor of a city in this world. As star athlete he has pressure but eventually he is supposed to prepare to take over as principal in his dad's shoes.



SKYE TRYSTAN

Skye is team captain and must lead his team to victory every game or else they will all be sentenced to death. This is Chris Pine who would be a good Skye.



PERIDOT NIGHTFALL

This is Lea Michele from Glee. Peridot is Cobalt's sister who is left at the School as a Scholar. She is at the top of her game and may or may not be in love with Skye, her older brother's boorish friend.



LARK GERMAINE

Lark Germaine is Peridot's BFF. They soon find that the possibility of death is just as probable at the School as it is for the Athletes.


PELIAS HARPER

Sam Worthington, of Avatar, is a good face for Pelias Harper, the coach who has his own dark past as an Athlete.

KINGFREAK

Johnny Depp as the main villain. Could it get any better than that? Kingfreak is an unofficial name. I like it, but I may have to change it.

ZAYZA LAMARI

Yes, that's Nicole Kidman with black hair. Looks great. And it's the perfect look for Zayza who is another villain in the story.

There are a few more characters but I should probably just leave it at that. That's a good enough little teaser for you. It's been nice to focus on something else. No worries, though, SotD is still going to happen. I've just put it on hold for awhile so I can return to it with a fresh perspective. For now, I am going to let this other project have its time to shine.

Working Title & Updates

I have a working title for the sequel to The Shepherd of the Damned....


THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER!


I even have a premise in my head. I'm planning on at least three books in the series to make it a cute little trio.

Just thought I would share.

Oh, just fyi (for the half-dozen that I know of that read this blog) I am going to collaborate with a friend of mine on making a site for my book because A) It's more profesh (as my friend called it) than a blog which was my other option, B) I'm excited to get the ball rolling on it, and C) I want to give my work some more exposure. I will keep ya'all posted on it. Once it is up and running this blog will be mainly for my rants and all the updates about my book(s) will be on there.

For those of you that have read my rough draft* you will probably be disappointed, but I'm going to tell you anyway...Eli McCarthy, the hunter, is not going to be in the first book.** There's just too much going on right now for me to add him in. And his story is far too complex for me to just throw him in just for the heck of it. So...he will be in the sequel for sure.

Update on the rewrite: I'm currently on Chapter Seven, sitting at approximately 21,000 words which translates into roughly 85 pages in a mass-market novel. I'm bound and determined to push through and get this thing done.

My goal for the completion of the rewrite is June 1, 2010. After that I'm going to do some polishing up, have some helpers edit the thing, and then I will work on sending it to publishers.

The end is near! Keep your fingers crossed, my friends!

*For those of you who have not read the rough draft, none of this paragraph will really make sense but that's ok. Right?

**Kelli, I know you wanted Eli and Waitress Kelli to run away together but that isn't going to happen...at least not in this book. However, it is still a possibility.

SotD Soundtrack

Here I am waving my freak flag again.

The playlist at the bottom of the blog is the soundtrack to my book. Nerdy, I know. But it was fun for me to think of songs that go along with it. Some of them don't go really well but they are songs that have inspired me during the writing of it or they convey a feeling that I want in the book. There are several other songs that I could not put on the playlist because I could not find them on the playlist site. So...these are the ones that made the cut.

1. Eyesore by Janus......Janus is a new discovery I made and I love their sound.
2. I'm Not in Love by Tori Amos......Gotta have Tori somewhere on there.
3. Letter from a Thief by Chevelle......Absolutely love Chevelle.
4. So What I Lied by Sick Puppies......Can't get enough of these guys either.
5. Playing God by Paramore......Not a favorite song of theirs but the message in it seems to be something Dylan would say to Sebastian.
6. Snuff by Slipknot......Very powerful song.
7. Scream with Me by Mudvayne......Not my usual band of choice but this song is great.
8. Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin......A song from this album has to be on the soundtrack because BB has been a very influential part of my creative process during this project.
9. Feel Good Drag by Anberlin......This conveys more of a feeling rather than anything in the song that goes directly with the book.
10. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga......LOVE this song. It speaks volumes and can also be Sebastian and Dylan's theme song.
11. Blind by Ke$ha......Kesha is pretty rockin'. This song makes me think of Rachel.
12. Break the Ice by Britney Spears......Just cuz I like the song.
13. Chasm by Flyleaf......Also conveys a feeling but Flyleaf would definitely have to be on the SotD soundtrack in some aspect. They rock.

Let me know what you think!

Rachel?

This is a continuation of the casting post.

I saw a picture of Amanda Seyfried today and thought "Woah! She is totally Rachel!"

Forget the fact that I'm a nerd, but I totally think she fits the part better than Hayden Panettiere.

So there ya go.



She's even got green eyes. Huh. Who'd'a thought?

Casting Call

I was thinking about how authors visualize their characters. I'm sure each author is different when they think about what their characters look like, what kind of clothes they wear, how they sound when they talk, all that jazz. I used to be able to visualize characters, fully, in my head without visual aid. With my current book I've had to rely more on pictures of actors to get a better picture. I have a vague picture in my head of each character but, in order to solidify it for me, I cast my book with real actors.*

So you get the joy of seeing the new cast list. I say "New" because the casting has changed quite a bit as my idea of each character has progressed. That being said, these are subject to change. And some of them I'm not exactly pleased with yet but they work for the time being. If you have no clue about the characters or whatever this post is just going to be a nice, ho-hum little list for you.

Here goes.



RILEY: Adam Gregory

I know he's on the new 90210 which isn't exactly a positive thing for me but I think he fits the look I picture for the main character.



RACHEL: Hayden Panettiere

Not exactly my first pick but, for some reason, she comes to mind when I think of Rachel. This character has been one of the harder ones to cast.




DYLAN: Evangeline Lilly

The latest face for Dylan is Lost's Evangeline Lilly. I think she's the closest I've found to what I picture in my head. I remember thinking "Why haven't I thought of her before?"




LYDIA: AJ Cook

I have been an AJ Cook fan ever since she played a supporting role in the short-lived series Tru Calling (interesting show, btw, wish it wouldn't have been cancelled). She might be too old to play Lydia for real but her look is exactly what I picture.



KENDRICK: Taylor Kitsch

He's most known for playing Gambit in the Wolverine movie. He would have to lighten his hair but he's got the look and I'm sure he could do the smart aleck thing real well. There is a picture of him with blond hair and it's totally Kendrick but this one shows the attitude better.



ALEX: Zooey Deschanel

Zooey has always been the face of Alex. Even when I was writing the rough draft. She's quirky and pretty enough to play the quirky and pretty witch.



ELI: Henry Cavill

The vampire hunter's face has changed a few times. Henry Cavill works and is possibly my favorite so far.




OLIVER: Zac Efron

He's come a long way from High School Musical which bodes well for him in my book. I think he showed his ability to act in 17 Again. I definitely think he could pull off Oliver and he definitely has the look I picture for him.



SEBASTIAN: Aaron Eckhart

From The Dark Knight it is apparent that Eckhart can play a tortured soul. He has also played many a leading man. It helps, too, that he is blond and very manly looking. It works.



ISIS: Eva Mendes

For those of you who have read the rough draft Isis is Regina. I have changed the name for several reasons (the biggest one being that I'm the author. ha!). I keep going back to Eva when I think of who could play Isis. She has to be a gorgeous, sexy, seductive woman and Eva fits the bill.



HENRY: Wes Bentley

He's already played a creep in Ghostrider. I'm sure he can do it again. ha!



VINCENT: Karl Urban

He's a great actor and is able to change his look in extreme ways which could come in handy were he to play the shady Vincent.



MAMA RAE: Dianne Wiest

She's such a sweet, softspoken lady. I have yet to find a more perfect face for Riley's grandma.




SERENA: Kim Raver

She would have to darken her hair but that's easy. Her face is perfect for Riley's mom. I thought she was great on 24 a few years back.

Wow. I did not realize how many characters I had. Well, I did. I just didn't mean to make you go through ALL that. That's not even all the characters either. Funny, instead of narrowing down to a handful of characters in the rewrite I have created more characters. I'm a mess. I think it's because I changed from first person perspective to third person so it gave me more freedom. So there you go. Let me know what you think of my casting.

*SIDENOTE: I recently had a dream that I am going to turn into a book. In this dream I not only got character descriptions and parts of their backgrounds but I also got a name for one of the characters! That has never happened to me! So maybe it's just this current project that has been harder for me to nail down the characters in my brain. It's still fun to do the casting just for my own entertainment.

(Images found on Google Image Search)

How Jake Got His Groove Back

Just a quick post.

I have just recently been through another big road block with my book. The last time this happened was near the beginning of the rough draft, and the way I broke through the block was to just force myself to write. It worked wonderfully and a very crucial scene came out of that. Sadly, though, that scene will probably not be in the final product.

This latest bout of writer's block has been going for about three solid weeks now. I was determined to do like I did last time and just force myself to write. Every time, however, that I tried to do such a thing my mind just would not let me even go there. I could not focus. The words on the page were slippery and my mind just would not let my eyes look at the screen for more than a few seconds. You could call it a strange case of sudden ADD.

I am convinced, now, that it was just that my mind needed to recuperate and refocus. I had worked really hard to get the rough draft done and I think I was pushing my creativity too hard by jumping right into the rewrite.

It has helped to have a little notebook with me. My friend Matt gave me a Moleskine notebook for Christmas and it has been used extensively already. I love it. I have written down ideas as they come to me and just by re-reading those ideas I have been able to pick my way through this constipation of creativity.

Here's to hoping there is more smooth sailing ahead. I'm not going to wish that these blockages never happen again because it is during these times that I can prove my worth as a writer.

Update on the Novel

I am currently undergoing a major rewrite of the rough draft of my novel. The current working title is "The Shepherd of the Damned." I wish I could take full credit for the title but I can't. It comes from a song by Breaking Benjamin.

As of right now, I am on Chapter Four and the story is taking a completely different direction than the original. I am becoming a firm believer in rewriting and revising because the story has only gotten better. A friend of mine said that this rewrite is of a "higher caliber" than the rough draft. I am very excited for this change. This rewrite will be the last as far as major revamping. After this I am going to go back and fix the errors and then send it off to publishers. This has been a long and arduous process but one that will pay off in the end. Hopefully.

Above is the latest mock cover I made. A big part of the rewrite has been the change of setting. Instead of taking place mostly in Middlebury, Vermont it now takes place in Bradenton, Florida. This is a move that makes sense in several ways. 1) I've never been to Middlebury, VT. 2) I lived in Bradenton for six months so I am more familiar with the area. 3) Middlebury College, I found, will not work because they require their students to live on campus. That just won't work with my story. It will be interesting to have a vampire story in the Sunshine state. The irony!

2010: A Year of Goals

New Year's Resolutions for 2010:

1. Finish second draft of the novel, do rewrites and revisions as needed, and have it ready to be sent to publishers. (I am currently working on setting an actual date for when I want to have this done.)

2. Travel like crazy! I currently have the option to go to either Hawaii or Europe (I will most likely choose Europe) and I am planning on going to several other places within the US.

3. Get a new job. I need to get out of retail and Deseret Book fast because this situation is not good for me right now.

4. Stay in shape, keep working out, lose at least 5 more lbs. I actually want to focus on getting a little more ripped now, possibly bulk up a little but have a nice toned shape.

5. Be unafraid to try new things.

6. Do more service. Random acts of kindness are the best.

7. Pay off my car loan! Yes! It should be all paid for by July but I want to get it paid for earlier than that.

8. Find someone to love, but not rely on that to give me happiness.

9. Do Jacob-Gigi dates like Brittany wanted me to do. I've been slacking on it. Britt always mentioned that I should take Gigi out once a month.

10. Organize my life!

That is all I can think of at this juncture. I will add more as time goes by I'm sure.

Hope this year is one of happiness, blessings, and growth for everyone. Love you all!

Soul Burner Update Pt. 2

Yeah so you know how I was trying to finish the rough draft of my novel by Halloween? That's not going to happen obviously. I have now set my goal to have the rough draft done by New Year's Eve so I can start the revision process in January. Whew! Who knew writing a novel would be such an arduous task? Seriously. If you knew and didn't tell me, I will hunt you down. ;)

The book is going great actually. I've had some epiphanies about how to rework the whole thing which I am actually really excited for. I've had some really great feedback and help from some friends of mine, especially Kelli.

I also had an awesome idea for a cover to the book that I am going to try to create. It might be too complicated for the software I have. I will keep you posted on that.

So there you go. I will share the latest mock cover. Oh by the way...I am probably changing the title to The Shepherd of the Damned. It fits better than Soul Burner.