Monday, December 27, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

(I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Here is my newest story.)

“Kill him!” Anna said, tears streaked down her cheeks. She had reached the end of her rope. This man would have killed her. He didn’t deserve to be spared.

Kyle flinched.

The General’s face dropped. He knew what was coming as death surrounded him on both sides. “Please don’t. It’s murder.”

Kyle wavered for a moment. “You would have done the same to her.” He ripped on the trigger. The sound echoed throughout the area. Blood squirted from the wound in the man’s chest as he collapsed backward.

“Please.” The General said.

Anna jumped out of the jeep, and started to search the General’s chest pocket. The key’s metal cooled her fevered hand and she pulled them free as the General tried to hold her. “You deserved it.”

Kyle kept the gun on the General. The creatures closed in slowly at first, but as the blood hit the dirt they shuffled faster. Fresh meat that wasn’t trying to escape.

“Get us out of here.” Kyle sat back down.

“On it.” Anna stuck the key into the ignition and the jeep awoke. It rumbled as she slipped it into gear. The creatures didn’t even look their way as they were determined to get the General who struggled to get back to his feet. Blood soaked the gravel beneath him. His nice neat uniform stained.

“No, please don’t. I was just trying to protect you.” The General pleaded as he reached for the jeep with his blood soaked hand.

The words fell on deaf ears as Anna sped out and around the shop. The gravel kicking up underneath the jeep as she hit the pedal down as far as it would go.

Once they were back on the road, she looked back at Kyle. The gun rested on the floor and his face had gone pale. He shook his head and she couldn’t hear the mutterings coming from his mouth as the wind whipped around the open cabin.

Kyle did it for her, he shouldn’t feel guilty; she should. She didn’t though. It was a new world, one where people had to do what they needed to do for survival. “It’s not your fault. He would have killed us and taken the girl.” Anna reasoned with Kyle.

He didn’t respond, just flexed his hands and looked at the ground.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

NFL Pick 'em week 16

So the year is almost over and I have something like a record of below .500 for the year. Here are my picks for this week:

Panthers @ Steelers - Steelers
Cowboys @ Cardinals - Cowboys
Patriots @ Bills - Patriots
Jets @ Bears - Bears
Ravens @ Browns - Ravens
Redskins @ Jaguars - Jaguars
Titans @ Chiefs - Chiefs
Lions @ Dolphins - Lions
49ers @ Rams - 49ers
Chargers @ Bengals - Bengals
Texans @ Broncos - Broncos
Colts @ Raiders - Colts
Giants @ Packers - Giants
Seahawks @ Buccaneers - Buccaneers
Vikings @ Eagles - Eagles
Saints @ Falcons - Falcons

Monday, December 20, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

“What are you kids doing out here?” The General said as he grabbed Anna’s arm.

Despite the pain in her arm from his grip, she looked at him with a glare that could kill. They tried to kill them earlier and now he wants to help. What sort of game was he playing? “Looking for medicine.”

“We have plenty at our base.” The General led her outside.

The breeze tickled her skin. Behind them, glass shattered and gunfire erupted. She bolted for the jeep. The General’s grip still held her tight and he took her down to the gravel. It cut her elbow and shoulder as he turned toward the sound.

“Look what you did.” The General said dragging her back up to her knees.

“Private!” The General screamed inside.

More gunfire erupted.

“What do you want with us? We weren’t hurting anyone.” Anna screamed. Trying to fight free proved more difficult than expected as the General cinched his hand into her hair.

“We were looking for the girl. She’s special.” The General said under his breath. He searched the empty area, his eyes wide and his jaw slack. “We need her back at the base.”

This was all about the girl. She was the one they wanted, that meant she and Kyle weren’t worth it.

“Let me go!” She stomped on his foot and tried to elbow him in the chest.

The General threw her to the ground by the hair. She rolled along the gravel. Dirt and dust filling her mouth as she came to a stop. Pain flared throughout her body and she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to break down and cry right then, but her fear kept her from losing it.

“You brat. I’ll save you the hassle.” The General aimed his gun at her. Steady, he moved closer.

“Please leave us alone. We just want to find a safe place to hide.” Anna coughed the dust out of her mouth. Her chest hurt, her mind slowed. Death approached ready to strike her down.

More gunfire erupted followed by a scream. Growls accompanied the sound and the General turned to see a creature. Fresh blood ran down the ghoul’s face, Military green cloth fell out of its mouth as it approached.

The General turned to the decaying man and fired. The side of the creature’s head exploded. Brain matter splashed the wall inside with a sloppy sound.

Anna’s stomach lurched, but she fought through it and crawled toward the jeep. Another creature appeared and the General gunned him down before he made a sound.

Hoping the distraction was enough; Anna pulled herself into the jeep and went for the ignition. No keys. Tears welled up, everything went wrong and she lowered her head against the steering wheel.

“Were you thinking of stealing my vehicle?” Warm metal pressed against her temple.

She didn’t have an answer. She was out of options. He had her and she turned to him. “I just want this over.”

“That’s okay. I’ll take care of that for you.” He pressed the barrel tighter against her temple.

She closed her eyes waiting for it all to end. She never thought what it would be like, but she had reached the point that didn’t care anymore. If life was going to be this hard, she would eventually crack.

“Take the gun away from her head.” Kyle said.

The gun fell to her lap. The heavy metal thudding against her thigh. She opened her eyes, the General had his hands raised as Kyle aimed a gun at him.

Creatures were coming out of the small store. They lumbered toward them. Hunger filled their eyes, dead flesh hung between their teeth.

“You are making a mistake kid.” The General said trying to weasel himself out of the situation.

“Where are the keys?” Kyle said, his eyes narrowing.

The General pointed at his pocket. “You have to take me with you if you want them.”

Kyle flinched as the creatures were closing in. Anna could see the nerves building up in his body. He didn’t want to kill the man, but he also didn’t want to doom them.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

NFL Pick 'em Week 15

So the season is near the end and I just started to get a better feel of who will be who:

49ers @ Chargers - Chargers
Saints @ Ravens - Ravens
Cardinals @ Panthers - Cardinals
Browns @ Bengals - Bengals
Redskins @ Cowboys - Cowboys
Jaguars @ Colts - Colts
Bills @ Dolphins - Bills
Eagles @ Giants - Eagles
Chiefs @ Rams - Rams
Lilons @ Buccaneers - Buccaneers
Texans @ Titans - Texans
Falcons @ Seahawks - Falcons
Broncos @ Raiders - Raiders
Jets @ Steelers - Steelers
Packers @ Patriots - Patriots
Bears @ Vikings - Bears

Monday, December 13, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

Taking in her surroundings, the feeling of cold helplessness traced its grip along her throat. She rubbed her neck and rolled her head along her shoulders. The bones cracked and she stopped for fear of alerting the military to her location.

Peeking around the wood frame of the door, the General remained stationary, his eyes scanning the shadows looking for her. She knew it. They weren’t leaving because they she was being searched for. Was that a good thing, not likely?

Pulling herself away from the door, she needed to find another solution. This was a general store, there had to be more than just regular stuff here. Maybe something could be of use.

Keeping the lights off, she started to look for anything that could help her. Mostly canned goods ran underneath her fingertips. The thought occurred to her to attack them with an armful of canned soup, but shook it off. That would just get her caught, or killed.

At the front of the store she found what she was looking for. An early display of fireworks. Fourth of July was still three weeks away, but this would do.

Now she needed a lighter. She remembered seeing one back by the store room and snuck her way back that way. The musty room had cleared a little bit with the door letting in fresh air, but she needed to be extra quiet or else she would give away her position.

Machine gun fire went off. She ducked and covered her mouth.

A creature growl ended abruptly. Bits of decayed flesh splashed into the doorway.

She kept her wits and pulled herself up and started to search the metal shelves. Coming up empty handed she froze. A beam of yellow light shot across the doorway and someone was approaching. The gravel crunched as the army man closed the distance.

Ducking back into the store, she hurried away from the storeroom as fast as possible without making any noise. Falling at the end of one aisle, her heart raced, her temple throbbed and she still didn’t have a lighter for her fireworks.

The beam of light shot across the store front. It passed overhead, and the person continued searching. Why would they come in now? She crouched and made her way down another aisle. Hoping against the odds that she would be free from the torture.

“I know you’re here.” A soft voice spoke up. “I’m here to take you to a safe place.”

She put her hands over her mouth and crouched up against one the end cap of one aisle. She almost responded. Sweat trickled down her cheek as she watched for the source of light.

The army man approached the aisle she had taken up as a hiding spot and she searched for any sort of weapon to protect herself. These are the same people that tried to kill her and Kyle not too long ago.

“Come on, I hear you breathing.” The man said again.

The leather booted clicks approached. She tensed and at the last moment slipped around the corner of the aisle. The army man stood at the end cap, the light waving back and forth.

Still holding the fireworks, she found her lighter. The army man remained stationary in position so if she made a move he would spot her. She grabbed a box of nails hanging on the shelf behind her and chucked them against the far wall over her head.

The clatter it made drew more than the army man’s attention as growls began to close in. Time was running out.

The moment the army man made a dash for the sound she picked up the lighter and started to light the first firework.

The flame blinded her as she rolled it down the aisle. It started to spark, red, green, smoke clouded her vision.

A high pitched whistle and she darted toward the storeroom as the army man came to check it out. She lit another firework and tossed it over her shoulder. It almost felt unnatural and dreamlike as she darted toward the back room. Her adrenaline pumped.

Creatures were banging on the glass now. It vibrated from their steady blows.

Just as she entered the storeroom, the General came in from outside. His gun in one hand and they both stopped, staring at each other.

“What are you doing? They will follow the sound.” He raised his gun. His white bushy eyebrows knitted together.

Unable to find a way out of this, Anna raised her hands. “I’m sorry.”

The General’s only response was waving her toward him with his gun.

As she approached, the cool air refreshed her blazing skin.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The League of Extraordinary Writers

I have been following this blog for about 3 months, since Elana became a member. Well this week they are mentioning a contest which has been going on all week, however, since I'm a busy father of 3 I haven't been able to blog about this contest yet.

So here it is.

Most of my followers are probably followers already, but if you aren't. Check it out at http://leaguewriters.blogspot.com/. They provide a ton of great writerly information and they have quickly became one of my favorite blogs to follow.

Anyway the details of the contest is that they are going to be giving away copies of all their contributors books. I've read a very early version of Elana's book, I think almost two years ago now, and I like to think that I helped it in some small way get published. :) Only she would know for sure though.

So head on over there and check out the blog and the contest, because, seriously, who wouldn't like more books, especially by such wonderful people.

NFL Pick'em for Week 14

My writing has gone better than my picks lately. Let's hope I can get them back to even level this week:

Colts @ Titans - Colts
Browns @ Bills - Bills
Falcons @ Panthers - Falcons
Packers @ Lions - Packers
Raiders @ Jaguars - Jaguars
Giants @ Vikings - Giants
Bengals @ Steelers - Steelers
Buccaneers @ Redskins - Buccaneers
Rams @ Saints - Saints
Seahawks @ 49ers - Seahawks
Broncos @ Cardinals - Broncos
Patriots @ Bears - Patriots
Dolphins @ Jets - Jets
Chiefs @ Chargers - Chiefs
Eagles @ Cowboys - Eagles
Ravens @ Texans - Ravens

Monday, December 6, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

“With those things out there, we can’t turn on the lights.” A warm sense of dread ran over Anna like she had never felt before. This girl’s life balanced in her hands and she didn’t know if she could take it.

“I’ll stay here with her, you go find something. Tylenol or something like it.” Kyle said. In the faint moonlight, she saw him caressing the girl’s hair.

Her face had a sallow look to it. Her bottom lip quivered and she stared at Anna with glazed eyes. It didn’t look like the run of the mill fever.

Unable to take it any longer, Anna headed back to the front of the store. The shelves were packed with various items. There were many canned jars of various fruits and vegetables. Up and down she went trying to see the labels in the shadows. Thin lines of moonlight streamed in through the blinds, but it wasn’t enough. Everything looked the same.

As the time went on, panic set in and her vision blurred the faster she searched. Growls began to grow outside, a few of the creatures shambled past the store window. Their guttural growls hung in their throats.

One time, one of the creatures stopped and stared in through the window. The dead eyes seemed to remember something about the location. Anna remained crouched down, time ticking away in her head as the creature stood there. After about five minutes, Anna heard the shuffling move on. She let out a shaky sigh and continued her search.

Finally, she found a section of medicines. Running her fingers over the labels she found various generic brands until she found Tylenol. She grabbed three boxes and hurried back to the Kyle.

Pushing open the door, she stopped at the sight of the back door open. A steady cold breeze came in through the opening. Not able to understand why Kyle would ditch her like that, especially with the girl in no condition to be moving. She snuck toward the open door and peeked out.

A single jeep sat idle in the gravel. A soldier stood behind the machine gun in the back. Kyle and the girl were slouched over the back seat and a man dressed in a general’s uniform or something stood next to the jeep.

Clutching the medicine, Anna stared at the scene. Her last run in with the military had been them shooting at her and Kyle. Now they had the only two people she could trust the most.

Not sure what to do, Anna scanned the area. It appeared that the creatures weren’t around, but why was the General standing next to the jeep when he could be driving out of town. Were they waiting for someone else? Her maybe?

What should Anna do?

Thursday, December 2, 2010

NFL Pick 'em Week 13

Here are my picks for this week. I did pretty well the last two weeks.

Texans @ Eagles - Eagles
Saints @ Bengals - Saints
Bears @ Lions - Bears
49ers @ Packers - Packers
Broncos @ Chiefs - Chiefs
Browns @ Dolphins - Dolphins
Bills @ Vikings - Vikings
Redskins @ Giants - Giants
Jaguars @ Titans - Jaguars
Raiders @ Chargers - Chargers
Rams @ Cardinals - Rams
Cowboys @ Colts - Colts
Panthers @ Seahawks - Seahawks
Falcons @ Buccaneers - Falcons
Steelers @ Ravens - Ravens
Jets @ Patriots - Patriots

Monday, November 29, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

“Let’s have a look inside.” Anna said. Her legs twitched with exhaustion. She didn’t have the energy to search for another safe place. The rest of the street seemed clear of buildings, but maybe around the bend in the road a little ways there would have been a small town.

His eyebrows rose in a high arch on his forehead like she just surprised him. The fearful look in his eyes disappointed her, but she smiled. At least one of them needed be brave now.

“We can’t go much further like this. We need to rest.” Touching his hand brought a grin to his lips.

The girl groaned on his shoulder and opened her eyes. “You’re right. Let’s go, but follow me.”

He picked up a nearby softball sized rock from the gravel driveway and headed toward the door with the large glass pane. The sign inside was flipped around to Closed.

Kyle peered inside and then twisted the doorknob. It jiggled, but didn’t open. Shoving it didn’t help matters as the glass quivered from the impact. “I don’t see anyone inside.”

Anna moved forward and peered in one of the side windows. The dark displays were neat and organized, like they hadn’t been touched today. Hope bubbled up within her and she started toward the side of the building. Her feet crunched the gravel as she searched for another way in.

Around back, with the forest hiding the creatures nearby, she found a single wood door. Kyle continued to work on the front door and the curses echoed through the night air. He wasn’t making much progress. She expected to hear the breaking of glass any second now.

A sense of dread washed over her as she tried the knob on the door. The cold metal was a relief against her fried body. She twisted, knowing in her gut that it would be locked, but hoping she was wrong. She was wrong.

The door swung open and a poignant smell of lavender smacked her in the face. Her eyes welled as it brought back memories of her mother’s perfume. She spun at the sound of gravel and found Kyle, sweat running down his face and his eyes filled with rage, staring at her.

“You could have told me where you were going. I didn’t even see you leave.” He seethed. The rock remained in one shaking hand.

“Sorry.” She said and turned back to the gaping darkness from inside. The lavender beckoned safety to her, but still she lingered. What if they were in there waiting for them to enter? What if they would be trapped inside when the creatures came? What if it was safe?

The last thought gave her the motivation to move and she entered the small store.

Kyle followed her without another word. The raggedness’ of his breath revealed how spent he was. He needed the rest as much as she did.

On instinct, she flipped the light switch and almost ducked in fear as the fluorescent light flooded the dark back area.

Kyle killed the lights a moment later and hissed, “It might attract them.”

“Good thinking.” She pushed the door shut, cutting off the small source of light left.

“Now what?” Kyle asked. He knelt on the ground panting. “This girl is heavy.”

“Stay here. I’m going to take a look around.” She patted the wall as she moved. The blindness reinvigorated a long concealed fear as her heart raced, her chest clenched, and her stomach gurgled. Being scared of the dark had new meaning now.

Making her way down the hall, she walked directly into a wall. The hard wood smacked her dead center of the forehead. Bright stars flashed before her vision as she staggered back from the blow. She cursed under her breath and found the door that lead into the front of the store.

Compared to the night of back room, the front was nearly day time. The room was bathed in moonlight, giving normal items a magical hue. She saw many shelves stocked with canned and boxed goods. Her mouth salivated at the thought of a decent meal.

“Kyle. Come out here.” She said in a hushed tone. Her voice traveled through the darkness, and nothing came in response.

She turned back to the door and pulled it open. “Kyle?”

“Yeah?” He responded. “I was just making sure she was okay.”

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s shivering.” Kyle said. Panic clung to his words, stinging her.

“What happened?” She held the door open to get as much moonlight to the back room, but the darkness devoured it all before it got too far.

A growl rose up from somewhere. She couldn’t tell if it was inside the store, or outside, but the hair on the back of Anna’s neck sprung to attention.

“Help me.” The girl said. Her voice weak and quivering. Her teeth chattered as she finished her small sentence.

Anna rushed to their side and immediately pulled the girl into her lap. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m cold. I’m dying.” The girl said with a clarity that chilled Anna.

She felt Kyle stare on her and didn’t know what to do. The girl seemed normal when they left the crazy cabin and throughout the forest, but now she was sick.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

NFL Pick em Week 12

Since I'm working today, I figured I would post my NFL Picks:

Patriots @ Lions - Patriots
Saints @ Cowboys - Saints
Bengals @ Jets - Jets
Packers @ Falcons - Falcons
Steelers @ Bills - Steelers
Panthers @ Browns - Browns
Titans @ Texans - Texans
Jaguars @ Giants - Giants
Vikings @ Redskins - Vikings
Dolphins @ Raiders - Dolphins
Chiefs @ Seahawks - Chiefs
Buccaneers @ Ravens - Ravens
Eagles @ Bears - Eagles
Rams @ Broncos - Broncos
Chargers @ Colts - Colts
49ers @ Cardinals - Cardinals.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

Monday, November 22, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

Panic had set in long before she realized it, but now that they were faced with insurmountable odds, she felt calm. At peace and ready to die if it came to that.

“Anna, come on.” Kyle said looking fearfully into the shadows.

Anna’s legs wavered as she felt the presence of dozens of those creatures leering at her. She couldn’t see them, but the hunger in their eyes picked at her skin like ravens taking to a corpse.

The girl stirred in her arms, her knotted hair tickling Anna’s forearm. “Where are we?”

A surge of energy rushed through her like a bolt and she responded to Kyle’s presence. He stared at her with an intensity that she didn’t expect from him during the crisis and she hurried after him. “Kyle, do you know where you’re going?”

“Anywhere but here.” He shoved lowered tree branches out of the way as he made a path for them to travel. She could only imagine the amount of splinters that were lining his hands as he moved through at an uncanny pace.

“Follow the stars.” The little girl said. Her eyes searching the sky between the tree canopy.

“What the hell is she talking about?” Kyle stopped to catch his breath. “Stars?”

“The bright one.” The girl pointed at the sparkles in the sky. “It will lead us out of here.”

They both looked up at for a moment, but twigs began snapping around them. The growls were moving in fast.

“Kyle took her hand.” It was slick with sweat and she clutched the girl to her hip as they followed the star.

After what seemed forever, Anna couldn’t move her legs, her arms were sore from switching the girl from each side. The girl had fallen asleep again during the trek up through the forest. Her head now lolled from side to side with each painful step Anna took.

“I need to rest.” She dropped to her knees. The soft ground softened the blow, but a sharp pain ran up her spine.

The growls were farther behind now, but they had made it to the edge of the forest. Large buildings loomed in the distance and the sliver of moon illuminated their resting spot well enough.

Kyle crouched next to her, his knees popping as he settled on his heels. His hair clung to his sweaty brow. Small lines of blood and dirt littered his cheeks. He glanced at his palms and she saw for the first time that they were covered in blood. The slivers weren’t even visible as the blood had dried over during the journey. “Pretty bad, but I’m fine.”

“Want the girl to heal you?” Anna asked like the girl was an object she could command.

“No, that’s ok. The throbbing is what’s keeping me awake right now.” He flashed a brave smile, but she could tell he was terrified.

“How much longer till morning?”

“I would guess 3 hours or so.” Kyle said looking up into the horizon.

“You think those things are coming still?”

“You think they would give up?” Kyle asked.

He had a point and just to slam the exclamation point on it, a growl roared somewhere nearby.

It was enough to get her up off her knees and to trudge along.

“Here, let me hold her for a bit.” Kyle reached for the girl.

An unexplained wave of jealousy ran through her for a moment as Kyle took the girl into his arms. The darkness hid the heat rising to her cheeks as she moved onward toward the buildings.

“We should try to hide in one of these places.” Anna suggested.

“They could be hiding inside too.” Kyle said as they stepped out of the forest and in front of a small log building. “General Store” hung above the entrance. The dark windows would hide any sign of creatures or other people inside.

Monday, November 15, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

“Anna?” Kyle said.

A wave of dizziness washed over Anna as she pulled herself back up. The man’s eyes were wide with fear. Drool ran from the left side of his mouth as he mumbled about justice.

“Anna!” Kyle screamed. She didn’t understand the urgency in his voice. She covered her mouth as bile crawled up her throat. It stung, bringing tears to her eyes.

“Anna, wake up. Come on.” Kyle yelled and slammed his feet against the ground.

She let loose, the vomit spilled out of her mouth. It splashed between her hands. The smell made her nose burn. Still shaky she used the chair to stand up and looked at Kyle. The woman was stirring. Her hands twitching and a guttural growl came from her.

Not again. Anna thought as she fought down the urge to vomit again.

“Anna? She’s waking up.” Kyle said. “Come untie me.”

Still weak and uncertain of her balance, she shuffled toward him. Taking extra caution she stepped around the woman and crouched behind Kyle. Her fingers tugged at the knots, but with the mixture of sweat and nerves she made a mess of the rope. Rubbing the tears out of her eyes, she cursed under her breath and started again.

The knots were too tight and she didn’t have time to waste. A slurping sound caused her stomach to clench. A growl rose and Anna peaked around the chair. The woman had stood up. Blood poured from her cheek where the gunshot exited. Most of her teeth were missing before and now she only had two at the top of her mouth. They gleamed pink stained with blood. Her eyes locked on Kyle and she started toward him.

Anna grabbed the nearest item, a bible off the end table and raised it as she stood. “He’s not for you.”

She swung, knocking the woman down. It got her attention off Kyle, but now it was on Anna.

The woman stood again, her dead blank stare on Anna. Blood ran in congealed streams from her cheek across her shirt.

Anna backed away, keeping her attention as she made her way toward the rifle that rested on the floor in front of the man. If she could manage to get that before the woman got her, she would be in good shape.

“Come on.” Anna yelled her nerves still fried and not sure if the woman would follow with two meals not trying to escape, but she did. Her staggered steps shuffled along the wood floor. The growl she let out was met by more outside. Not a good sign that they were nearby.

Inching her way toward the rifle, she held the bible in one hand as she glanced at the gun.

With the woman only three steps away, Anna tossed the bible at her head and dove for the rifle. The cold steel set her adrenaline on fire and she knelt down trying to figure out how to use the gun. The trigger didn’t do anything and the woman closed in on her. Her teeth snapping as she moved in for the first bite.

Giving up on the rifle she used it like a bat and hit the woman in the head. She fell against the man, who groaned as the woman slumped against him.

Anna spotted a knife strapped to the man’s leg and went for it. The woman growled, the man screamed and Anna ripped the knife free. “You two deserve each other.” She said and moved back over next to Kyle.

“Honey, I fed you in life, and I’ll feed you in death.” The man said moments before the woman bit into his uninjured shoulder. He laughed as she tore the flesh from him. “I love you.”

Anna, not wanting to look, focused on the rope. The knife sliced through the rope easily and Kyle stood. “Get the girl. We need to leave.”

Anna slid over next to the girl and sliced her free. The metal pole fell free and she picked up the girl. The fire behind her felt good on her shaky legs. “Where? They are out there.”

Kyle picked up the knife and slowly made his way toward the rifle. The front door swung open as he grabbed the gun. Two more creatures shambled inside and ignored them. They went straight for the laughing man and started to feast.

Kyle waved her toward the door. With a look of his eyes, she knew to remain as quiet as she could. With Kyle behind her, they left the house. Darkness surrounding them and sounds from every direction. The creatures were coming and they were out in the middle of nowhere with very little in weapons and an unconscious girl.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Holiday Schedule

With the holidays right around the corner, I'm going to post less over the rest of the year and probably return to a regular schedule in January. All I know right now is that the Choose your own adventure story will be here every Monday, the rest of them will be as I have time. Hope you enjoy your holidays.

NFL Pick'em for Week 11

Wow my Panthers really suck this year and injuries just aren't helping the cause. Well here are my picks for this week.

Bears @ Dolphins - Bears
Bills @ Bengals - Bengals
Cardinals @ Chiefs - Chiefs
Browns @ Jaguars - Jaguars
Texans @ Jets - Jets
Redskins @ Titans - Titans
Packers @ Vikings - Packers
Ravens @ Panthers - Ravens
Raiders @ Steelers - Steelers
Lions @ Cowboys - Cowboys
Falcons @ Rams - Falcons
Seahawks @ Saints - Saints
Buccaneers @ 49ers - Buccaneers
Colts @ Patriots - Patriots
Giants @ Eagles - Eagles
Broncos @ Chargers - Chargers

Work In Progress

I haven't had a chance to update my word count in NaNo because I've been busy working on my current project, so I think I won't complete NaNo this year. Oh well. It gave me the piece I'm working on now, so it's not that big of a loss.

Currently, I have been focusing on developing deeper characters and letting them take more control of the story instead of how it was before. So far its hard, but it is paying off and I feel that that first 4 chapters are pretty good proof of how far I have come.

What are some of your tips for developing your characters?
Have you ever completely scrapped an opening and rewrote it so it worked better?
Has that backfired?

Scott Pilgrim vs the World Review

I'm a bit of a video game nut and thought that this movie might hit the right notes based on the previews. So I picked it up over the weekend. My initial response to the film was that it was sort of bland to start, but once Ramona came into the picture it picked up pretty well.

I enjoyed the nerdy video game references that were sprinkled throughout the movie. I enjoyed the acting and actually for the first time sat through an entire Michael Cera movie which is an accomplishment on its own. I just turned off Youth in Revolt halfway through the other night.

Now that I didn't like with the film was that pacing was a bit slow in between the fights with the evil exes and the band members were sort of annoying throughout.

I did enjoy the small special effects such as "KO" and the points after each fight. It made me want to play video games after I was done watching it. I also liked the way that it ended.

I would give this film a solid 4/5, and considering that I have heard things about the movie, it lived up to my expectations.

Monday, November 8, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

Waking up, Anna blinked as fear seeped into every fiber of her body. Only a sliver of moonlight slanted across the room from the skylight. Beneath the blankets her body ached. Not having much time to rest had worn her out. “Kyle?”

Her voice drifted through the darkness with no response. Flexing her fingers she gripped the comforter and slide out of bed. The carpet scratched between her toes and she shuffled toward the door. She held her breath and leaned against the wood. Not a sound emanated from beyond and she thought the worse.

The doorknob hung beneath her and her hands refused to reach for it. She couldn’t bring herself to open the door.

Someone moved behind the door. The thudding of boots continued away. That caused her adrenaline to flood her system and she forced herself to open the door. It swung open and she stared at dark hall. Fabric rustled further in the dark and a squeak shot from her mouth before she could stop it.

“You’re awake?” The older man said. He emerged from the darkness, his face half shadowed by darkness. “Come downstairs, the rest of your friends are down there.”

Rest of my friends? Anna followed the man as he hurried out of sight.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down. Candlelight flickered below. She didn’t understand why it didn’t reach up to her room, but started down the stairs.

Each step creaked, but she didn’t remember hearing his footsteps cause the same sound. Reaching the bottom of the steps, her heart froze. Kyle was sitting in a rocking chair near the fire, his eyes glazed over like he was on some sort of medicine. The little girl was tied up in front of the fire. Bound and gagged, a pole was jammed down between her limbs like they were ready to roast a pig, except it was the girl.

The woman sat in the recliner, her beady eyes looking at her. Candle light flickered in her pupils as she stared. “What did you bring here?”

Her mind felt clouded as she stared at the scene before her. The older man remained nearby, his rifle in one hand, but his gaze locked on the woman. His chin quivered as she stood there.

“What do you mean? We came here looking for help.” Anna said. Anger tightened her stomach as she took a fateful step forward. “Why are you doing this?”

Anna dared to challenge the woman and her face changed. A storm washed over the woman’s face, her brow wrinkling and she clutched the arm of the recliner scratching the fabric. “You came here for help? What kind of people you think we are? Helpful people? With those things around there eating all of our animals. We have no food.” The woman’s voice continued to rise and the jowls of her cheeks vibrated with each raised word.

“Food?” Anna looked over at the little girl. “Let my friends go, and we will leave. We didn’t mean to interrupt you guys.”

“No!” The man spoke. “Hungry.”

Anna flinched and looked at the man. His arms quivered, but his stare remained on the woman.

“Yes dear, I won’t let them leave.” The woman said in a soothing voice. It reminded Anna of her grandmother.

Something didn’t make sense. The wound on the woman’s arm had turned a putrid green. “You were bitten?” Anna asked sneaking a couple more steps forward.

The woman looked at the wound. “Yes. A few days ago, but I’ve keep it under control.”

“How?”

“By eating people that have come here for help.” The woman said without any care. She turned her attention to Alex and the girl. “These two alone will last us a few days. I haven’t tried virgin meat yet.” She licked her lips. They glistened in the candle light. Her teeth were brown with decay, bits of flesh clung between them.

Her stomach flipped and Anna stormed the woman. She punched the wound. Her fist sank in briefly with the blow and the woman howled clutching the bandage.

The man raised the rifle and took aim.

Anna, fueled by love of her friends dodged at the last moment and fell stiffly to the ground. The rifle went off taking a chunk of the woman’s face off. The blood shot across the room and sizzled in a few of the candles. The screams died as the woman collapsed out of the chair. Her eyes rolled around in her head for a moment before resting on Anna. Pure evil poured from her eyes.

Anna jumped up; fists clenched and stared at the man as he stared at what he just did. She lunged at him driving him against the wall. An antler of some young buck ran through the man’s shoulder. He groaned and dropped the rifle.

Anna slumped to the ground as her knees buckled beneath her. She needed to get out of here.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Holiday Season

So this time of year is probably the busiest time of the year for most people. My question is, what are you doing? Anything big family wise?

I think I'm working on both Thanksgiving and the day after, but that could change. Other than that I'm pretty much status quo for the month of November. Got to get the Christmas shopping done for the kids.

I think I'm taking ten days off around Christmas due to family coming up.

What about you, are you doing anything fun? How will it impact your writing? I know for a fact that writing time will be almost nill during the Christmas holiday with the family in town, but other than that I plan to keep on with my daily after kids go to bed hour or two a night.

NFL Pick'em for Week 10

So with the introduction of Thursday night football this week, this post is now a bit earlier.


Ravens @ Falcons - Falcons
Titans @ Dolphins - Titans
Jets @ Browns - Browns
Bengals @ Colts - Colts
Texans @ Jaguars - Texans
Vikings @ Bears - Vikings
Panthers @ Buccaneers - Buccaneers
Lions @ Bills - Lions
Chiefs @ Broncos - Chiefs
Cowboys @ Giants - Giants
Seahawks @ Cardinals - Seahawks
Rams @ 49ers - Rams
Patriots @ Steelers - Steelers
Eagles @ Redskins - Eagles

Bye week: Packers, Saints, Raiders, and Chargers.

Current WiP revelations

I have to give a shout out to one of my crit parters, because she pointed out some major flaws with my character. She said I was trying to give them too many dimensions, and to focus more on a couple so that I can really breath life into those traits.

So I want to let everyone know who is struggling with your current project, keep it simple. Get back to what you enjoy with writing. If it's setting, go for it, splurge a bit. If it's characters, enjoy, get into their head and live them. If it's action, kick some butt.

So with the words of my crit partner, "Keep it simple." Don't make your writing more complex than it has to be. Now go out and write.

Enslaved PS3 Review

So this past week, I played a newer game for the PS3 called Enslaved. It's based on the story "Journey to the West."

The graphics were gorgeous. I loved the way the environments remained varied as you made your way through the world. However, some of the environments seemed built that way only for the fact to allow Monkey, the main character to climb up. Now that isn't a bad thing, but it was a bit obvious at times. The facial animations of the characters was also well done and is one of the game developers major strengths.

Now the story is a different story. It was there, but sort that's it. It is based on the story of another work, but in this piece it seemed to sort of there. I wasn't really emotionally invested in the characters, because of this, which with the way they looked and how they portrayed them, I wish I was more invested. Also the ending was sort of a let down, but I won't spoil it.

Overall, I felt that the game was decent for a rental and glad I didn't buy it as it was on the shorter side, even playing on Hard. 3/5.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

NFL Pick'em for Week 9

So I officially suck at picking games, but enjoy doing it. Is that a crime? I would love to have some of my followers that are football fans comment on my picks and maybe give me some picks to compete against.

Jets @ Lions - Lions, this one is risky as the Jets have a great defense, but the Lions have a pretty competent offense.
Dolphins @ Ravens - Ravens
Patriots @ Browns - Patriots
Chargers @ Texans - Texans
Bears @ Bills - Bears
Cardinals @ Vikings - Vikings
Buccaneers @ Falcons - Falcons
Saints @ Panthers - Saints
Giants @ Seahawks - Giants
Colts @ Eagles - Colts
Chiefs @ Raiders - Chiefs, but want to pick the Raiders as they are on a hot streak, but Chiefs are too.
Cowboys @ Packers - Packers
Steelers @ Bengals - Steelers

Bye: Broncos, Jaguars, 49ers, Rams, Titans, Redskins.

The Walking Dead Review

This Halloween we were granted the pleasure of viewing the series premier of "The Walking Dead" on AMC. Now I'm a huge zombie fan as I have mentioned on a few occasions, and a TV first, zombie show was something that I couldn't wait to watch when I heard about it being made earlier in the year.

I am a bit different than some fans as I have never read any of the comics that it is based on, but not because I don't want to, but more for the fact that I can't afford them. Pretty lame reason right?

So I watched it this Sunday, and it ran like 3 times in a row, and I probably could have watched it all 3 times. So as you can tell I really enjoyed it, but wanted to flesh out some of the things that make it so enjoyable for me.
1. Zombies on TV.
2. No lack of gore, it is pretty violent and it has to be based on the subject matter.
3. Characters are interesting so far.
4. Zombies on TV.

Oh yeah, so if you are a fan of graphic television, which not all are, this is a show to check out. Good pacing and I look forward to all six episodes of the first season.

No Choose your own adventure this week

Unfortunately, this weekend was busy with holiday events that I didn't get a chance to write the next part. I will make it up to you guys by having it next week, maybe a longer excerpt. Once again for those of you that vote (usually only 1 person lately :( ).

Halloween Weekend

As many of you know, it was Halloween last weekend. Now I'm not a big fan of the holiday as I'm one that doesn't like to stand out, and dressing up isn't my cup of tea, but I celebrate it for my kids.

This holiday had a couple of firsts I wanted to share.

It was the first Halloween that we went around our neighborhood for treats, usually going to our cousin's neighborhood, I know one of those people. So this year, we decided to stay around the house and have to say that my daughters made out like bandits. It was a very good time and knowing that we can just hang around the house and get the treats makes for a very relaxing Halloween.

It was the first time we went to the Scream at the Beach in Jantzen Beach. I've never been to the mall before and was a bit disappointed in the showing. Now I know the major draw is the Haunted house, which we weren't there for, but despite that, it was supposed to be a place for the kids to trick or treat at the stores, and it was only like 12 stores. To be honest, maybe there were more if we ventured outside, but my kids were dragging near the end of the trip. They did love the carousel though.

And the last first thing was my daughter asking to go home instead of me having to drag her home after treating. Never thought I would hear that, but it was a good night anyway. I hope everyone else had a good night.

WiP Wednesday

So I haven't done one of these in a little while, but decided to update everyone to my current project. It is going well, but in a different direction than I expected.

I think it's going in a slower, character developing direction than the last version, which was a lot more action scenes in the first few chapters. Now I have more character development, but wonder if it's going too slow now. My crit group has been saying that I need to develop my three dimensional characters, which I'm working on.


Monday, October 25, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

Kyle started down the slope toward the cabin. The sun sparkled in the distance. One thing that set Anna’s nerves on edge was the lack of any animal sounds. No birds, no squirrels, nothing.

Dead pine needles crunched with each step that she made down the path. The further they made their way through the darkening forest it grated on her nerves more.

“Kyle?” She lost sight of him for a moment as the darkness became too much.

“I’m right here. We should almost be there.” He grabbed her hand, squeezed it gently, and led her through the forest. Feeling his warmth brought butterflies to her stomach. The small thought of being with him still made things better than if she was alone.

Not wanting to lose the little girl, Anna reached back for her and found her groping around in the dark. With the girl nearby, they made their way through the trees.

An occasional growl stirred up Anna’s pulse, but they kept on through the dim light left of the day.

Just as the darkness settled in, they found the cabin. The windows were streaked with blood. The door remained shut and a few creature remains were strewn about the yard. Most with bullet holes directly through the forehead.

“Good shot.” Kyle said and a click of a trigger filled the silence. He froze and looked around at the dense clump of trees.

The girl dug her body in behind Anna’s knees almost causing her to tumble from her own fright.

“Speak.” The gruff voice said.

“My name is Kyle and this is my girlfriend Anna.” Kyle said raising his arms.

The sudden removal of Kyle’s hand brought about a chill that Anna didn’t expect. She didn’t raise her hands, but instead picked up the girl. “We’re looking for a safe place to stay.”

“We don’t want any trouble.” The man said.

A large figure stood up on the roof. His silhouette stood out against the sliver of moonlight. He had to be a large fellow, because he nearly blotted out the moon.

“We won’t be. We are tired and scared.” Anna said, her body quivering from the chill that ran through her.

“That’s going around isn’t it?” The man said a bit joyful. He banged on the roof and the door swung open. A large overweight woman waved them in.

Not waiting to be formally invited, Kyle led Anna and the girl inside. The warmth of the fire brought out a sheen of sweat the moment Anna entered. She lowered the girl and moved to the comforting fire. Her bones ached with coldness, which faded as she warmed.

She didn’t notice it, but the girl scooted up next to her and rubbed her hands together near the fire. “So warm.” She said. Her teeth chattered.

The woman sat in her recliner and smiled at them. “What brings you out to this part of the woods?”

“We got lost.” Kyle responded his knees cracking as he knelt by the fire.

The woman took a sip from her mug and smiled. “Must be far from home then. We don’t get many visitors.”

“There is no home anymore.” Anna said. The thought of her parents and her home tightened her chest and tears ran down her cheeks. She hadn’t really had time to mourn them and now that she felt safe she let the tears fall.

“You guys are welcome to stay as long as you need.” The woman picked up a book from the side table.

Kyle’s head dropped for a moment and he smiled. “I’m tired.”

“There is a spare room for you guys to bunk up.” She said.

Anna noticed the woman for the first time. Her red hair was tight in curls, a smirk rested on her lips like she knew something that she didn’t want to reveal. Her chubby fingers held the mug tightly around the handle. She reminded Anna of her grandmother.

Anna looked over at the girl and saw that she had curled up on the carpet like a cat and was fast asleep. She didn’t realize how tired she had become until she had a chance to rest.

“Don’t worry your safe here.” The woman’s voice buzzed in Anna’s head.

Exhaustion seeped into her bones and she fought to stay awake. Her mind raced with a weird fear. Something didn’t feel right. Her eyelids weighed a ton and her head bobbed. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the woman’s left hand was in a bandage. It could be from anything she thought as she dozed off.

What should Anna do?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

NFL Pick'em for Week 8

So I made a slight comeback last week finishing 8 - 6 with my picks. Let's see if I can move it even further in the positive this year.

Bills @ Chiefs - Chiefs
Panthers @ Rams - Panthers, but the Rams will probably win.
Jaguars @ Cowboys - Cowboys
Broncos @ 49ers - Broncos
Redskins @ Lions - Lions
Dolphins @ Bengals - Dolphins
Packers @ Jets - Jets
Titans @ Chargers - Titans
Buccaneers @ Cardinals - Buccaneers
Vikings @ Patriots - Patriots
Seahawks @ Raiders - Seahawks
Steelers @ Saints - Steelers
Texans @ Colts - Colts

Bye week: Falcons, Ravens, Bears, Browns, Giants, and Eagles

Disney on Ice

The beginning of the holidays has started and my family and I are going to the Disney on Ice show in Portland tonight.

My 4 year old has been bouncing off the walls since last night and now that its tonight, her sing song voice echoes through the house, "Disney on Ice, Disney on Ice!"

It's a wonderful time of year, isn't it?

Since we can't bring the family down to DisneyLand, my wife and I decided that these events will work in the meantime. Hope to save up for a Disney trip sometime in the near future.

So what are some of your favorite family vacations? Any family holiday traditions?

NaNoWriMo

I participated in this last year and got a decent novel up and running, which I'm still revising now, but am not sure if I should participate this year. I don't know if I have time to work on a new novel, revise my current one and keep up on the holidays going on.
I wonder if I could count my revision for the project. I might do that if its not against the rules as this revision is almost like writing a new book.

What about you guys, are you going to participate?
New or revision?
Do you go to the sit ins and other writer bonding events that are setup for it?
What are some of your most memorable moments dealing with NaNo?

Dead Rising 2 Review

So as you might have guessed, I'm a big fan of all things zombies, so picking up this game for the Playstation 3 was a no brainer. The zombies are let loose in a vegas look a like city and you have to clear your name.

The graphics are pretty good considering you can have up to a couple hundred zombies on screen without any slow down. I enjoyed it except when I was swarmed without a weapon, not so much fun, but that will hark to something a bit later on.

The story was there, motivation to keep you moving, but nothing spectacular. I enjoyed the small stabs at other games and movies that were sprinkled throughout the survivor rescues.

Now the only thing that sort of irks me with this game is the controls. The way that you move is good enough, but when you start facing off against people with guns and other such advanced enemies it becomes a small problem. My main problem is the dodge roll isn't the easiest move to use because you have to press down the control stick that you are moving with so sometimes you roll in undesired locations.

The replay ability is massive because of the many things to do and having to level up your character. I know that I will enjoy going through it to do different things such as some of the trophies, which are a lot of collectibles.

I would give this game a solid 3 out of 5 as I know most people don't enjoy the zombie genre as much as me, but for me its a 4/5 because I love zombie games.

Monday, October 18, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

Kyle forced the buggy faster through the streets, but it began to sputter. Its engine began smoking as it started to burn. It didn’t seem to be going very well, Anna watched as the once zooming surroundings slowed to a crawl. After a few feet, it stopped, black smoke surrounded them, stinging their eyes.

It choked them and made it hard to get out of the tight buggy. The girl coughed and whimpered as Anna helped her out of the seat and rushed with her away from the vehicle.

Kyle wheezed behind them as he waved his way through the thick smoke. The sun had started to set again and they were in the middle of a wooded area. Kyle had thought it would help thin out the creatures, and it did, but it also left them with no idea where civilization was anymore.

Carried on the faint breeze, creatures growls neared, but they were far enough away that the immediate threat didn’t send shivers through Anna’s spine. She had one thing on her mind and that was a place to rest. They had been zipping around without any direction and now that they were back on foot, it probably would have been a good idea to have stayed in town.

A loud pop sound reverberated around them and fire sparked to life on the small buggy engine. The girl took hold of Anna as the sparks caught the small dry brush on fire as well.

“Come on, we can’t stay here.” Kyle grabbed her hand and pulled Anna after him. The fire died slowly as it ran out of fresh fuel, but the smoke trailed into the sky.

“Where are we going?” Anna asked after they had hiked for thirty minutes in complete silence. The girl had taken up residence on Kyle’s back and had fallen asleep, her head lolling back and forth.

Kyle stopped at the crest of a small hill and looked ahead. The trees shadows stretched ahead of them. Anna estimated that they only had ten more minutes of sunlight. The mere thoughts of being out in the dark without any light made her head spin. Those creatures made noise, but some had a tendency to be silent too.

Kyle raised his hand and pointed in the distance. Unable to tell how far it was a small line of smoke rose in the distance. Civilization?

“Our luck with people right now isn’t the best.” Anna reminded him.

“Being in the dark isn’t any better.” Kyle said sharply.

Anna knew that was the truth, but dreaded another incident with some crazy person. She looked out before her and as she did the first star of night popped into the sky. She had to make a choice soon.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

NFL Pick'em for Week 7

So I'm still losing ground here. Any tips?


Bengals @ Falcons - Falcons
Steelers @ Dolphins - Dolphins
Bills @ Ravens - Ravens
Jaguars @ Chiefs - Chiefs
Browns @ Saints - Saints
Redskins @ Bears - Redskins
49ers @ Panthers - Panthers
Rams @ Buccaneers - Buccaneers
Eagles @ Titans - Eagles
Cardinals @ Seahawks - Seahawks
Patriots @ Chargers - Chargers
Raiders @ Broncos - Broncos
Vikings @ Packers - Vikings
Giants @ Cowboys - Giants


Off week: Lions, Teaxans, Colts, Jets.

Questions for you?

So I've done this a bit before when I had fewer followers, but now that I have a few more, I wanted to pose this question again.

What are your favorite posts on my blog? Do you like the Choose your own adventure story? Do you like my review Tuesdays? What about my writing related posts? Etc? Anything that you would like more of? Less of? Topics I should cover?

I'm open for suggestions.

Conflict

Conflict, the core of any book, wouldn't you agree, because without it, what is there to really draw us in. Characters? Developed by conflict. Action? Without conflict there isn't any action. Plot? Driven by the conflict, without it, it is just sitting there.

So what are the keys of conflict? I feel that it is a mixture of all the things above that make for good conflict.

Without fully dimensional characters there can be no conflict to follow. Without action to show the conflict it doesn't move the plot forward. So when you are developing a story, you are drawn to the possible conflict.

For example, my current WiP is an action adventure story and the conflict is many fold, however, the key conflict is internal to the main character. He knows what he has to do to protect the girl, but by doing so he will have to open up about his other side that she doesn't know. So the internal conflict pulls the plot forward.

What are some of you favorite devices for creating conflict in your stories?

Lost Boys: The Thirst Review

So this weekend, my wife and I got on a vampire, no not Twilight, real vampire kick. We rented 30 days of Night's sequel, and I won't review it because I need to save something for a rainy day. But I will review the other movie that I picked up. "The Lost Boys: The Thirst," was a pretty generic movie, which didn't do much for the franchise however, the reason that I am reviewing it is because it was decent.

The vampires were cool looking for the most part, and the premise was semi-interesting, but I think what made it for me were the flashbacks to the first film. Also the nostalgia by going back brought up the memory of Corey Haim's recent death. I found his flashback scenes poignent because of him and Corey Feldmen's relationship off the set.

Other than that I think this film was pretty generic, didn't really try anything fancy and seemed like a decent direct to video sequel. I would give it a rent if you are into the series, but its only a 1.5/5.

Monday, October 11, 2010

You can't call them Zombies!

“I need to rest.” Anna’s body shook with pain. Her shoulder throbbed in its socket and she struggled staying conscious as Kyle zipped around the neighborhood in the buggy. Each jerk sent a jolt of pain to her shoulder that made tears leak out of eyes. A constant taste of vomit rose to the back of her throat with each painful turn. Darkness crept into the corner of her vision, she couldn’t handle it much longer.

“I’ll find a place, give me a minute.” Kyle swerved to avoid an abandoned car. The resulting clipping of the curb didn’t do anything for her shoulder.

“I can’t wait.” She cried out.

Kyle turned to her, slowing the buggy down. Creatures were sparse now, but still a few were shuffling toward them.

The girl remained silent; her wide inquisitive eyes looked up at Anna.

She didn’t know what else to do, but knew that if she didn’t get her shoulder fixed she wouldn’t be any use to Kyle if the creatures overwhelmed the buggy. She needed to get better. “Will you heal me?”

The girl nodded and rested her left hand on Anna’s shoulder. Coolness settled over Anna like she had opened the fridge on a warm evening. The pain subsided momentarily, and beneath the skin her bone shifted. Because of the numbing chill that enveloped her, the shifting within felt like someone was inside her putting her back together. It made her stomach twist and clench like she was about to vomit, but thankfully, she didn’t.

The girl’s hand glowed, the bones within clearly visible, like she was looking through an x-ray. Soon after she removed her hand, the chill vanished and with it all semblance of pain. She shifted in the seat and it didn’t hurt, nor did anything sound like bone scraping against concrete like it did before.

She could have hugged and kissed the girl and would have given her anything she wanted for the way she healed her.

“Amazing feeling isn’t it?” Kyle asked, his eyes searching her carefully.

She nodded. That was one way to put it, but they needed to find a place to rest now. The girl looked exhausted. Her eyes shut and she leaned against Kyle in a daze. Whatever she did must have sapped her energy.

Lots of questions filled Anna’s head, but they had to wait as the creatures were growing thick again. It wouldn’t take much longer before they were out of gas, and they didn’t have any idea where they were anymore. Far from home and surrounded by flesh eating creatures, it didn’t bode well for them if they ran out of gas without a plan.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

NFL Pick'em for Week 5

So I think I did pretty horrible last week, only getting 4 right, but honestly there were some surprises such as the Saints and the Packers losing. I am now 33-43 on the year. I better do better this week or else its going to be hard to get out of the hole. Things are starting to settle between the teams and the good ones are rising to the top, while the weak ones (Panthers) are showing their true colors.


Dolphins @ Packers - Packers
Chargers @ Rams - Chargers
Ravens @ Patriots - Ravens
Browns @ Steelers - Steelers
Chiefs @ Texans - Chiefs
Lions @ Giants - Giants
Falcons @ Eagles - Falcons
Seahawks @ Bears - Bears
Saints @ Buccaneers - Saints
Jets @ Broncos - Jets
Raiders @ 49ers - Raiders
Cowboys @ Vikings - Vikings
Colts @ Redskins - Colts
Titans @ Jaguars - Titans


Week off: Cardinals, Bills, Panthers, Bengals

Where are all my Followers?

So I recently jumped up to 38 followers and thought that it would cause more comments to come in, however, this hasn't been the case. My question is why not?

Am I not posting things that are interesting enough?
I am open to suggestions on what you would like me to post. I do this for myself, but would also love to get to know some of you guys.

I feel that I work hard keeping this up every week, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. What keeps you motivated for you in regards to blogging?

Endings

So last week I mentioned endings of books, and I feel that I do a pretty good job with endings. I like to go out with a big bang, emotional, and ties up a the loose ends in a neat little bow. However, sometimes it doesn't all end up like that, what are some of your favorite strategies for the endings of your books?

Do you like to have happy endings, or conflicted endings?
Do you leave anything still a question for the reader to think about afterwards?
Do you leave it open for sequels, or tie it up for a stand alone book?


Remake Movie Reviews

This past week, I rented both the Karate Kid and A Nightmare on Elm Street remakes of their 80's counterparts.

Karate Kid was pretty good, it started off slow, but what surprised me most was the acting of Jayden Smith (Will Smith's son) who I felt did a good job. He seemed to be following in his father's footsteps pretty well. The one downside of the movie I felt is that it started a bit slowly and is a longish movie at 2 and 1/2 hours. Other than that, I would say this one is as good, if not better than the original movie.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a mixed bag for me. I am a big fan of the original movie and felt that this one didn't live up to it very well. I felt that the makeup of Freddy wasn't as scary, but looked a bit retarded. I know it was supposed to be more realistic, but its a horror movie, it should be scary. Also, I felt that the acting was pretty bare bones. Nothing stood out, but nothing really detracted from the film. The one good thing of this movie, which I liked was the way that Freddy was depicted by the actor. It was pretty creepy. However, Robert Englund is a classic and is well known. Oh yeah, I also thought that the gore was upped for this one, but its a horror film, and expected.

Karate Kid 4/5
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2.5/5