THE DARK WOLF

At long last, I finally got some time to write up another post on here. My book, The Dark Wolf, recently got published and made available for sale! After many months of rewrites and editing, I am so happy that all the work is finally done!
Currently, I am working on getting the e-book version ready, which I am happy to say has been formatted perfectly and will be up soon in a few days. If you're interested in looking inside the book, just head on over to Amazon. As soon as the e-book is available, I will post the link on here.

THE DARK WOLF

Journey to the land of Elser—a realm of men, elves, and dellfins. Despite the old hostility between men and elves, an uneasy peace has reigned for over a century. But now all that is about to change.

Darvir is a man without a past, family, or friends. Exploited by those who use his strange abilities for their own gain, all Darvir has ever known is a life of slavery and bloodshed. 

Elaine is intelligent, beautiful—a daughter of kings, yet she is an embarrassment and disgrace to her family for going against tradition and wanting to know the truth. Exiled to a remote part of the kingdom, she languishes there in seclusion until a deadly menace forces her to flee. 

When the paths of these two people cross, they are thrust into a web of peril and sorcery against impossible odds. As Darvir and Elaine both struggle to survive the myriad of dangers before them, an ancient evil is stirring and preparing to unleash a power against which neither man, elf, or dellfin can hope to prevail.

Writer's Tag

I have gotten tagged by Trista Vaporblade. To complete this tag, I must come up with four to six signs of being a writer without knowingly copying anyone else, and then tag as many other bloggers as I want. So without any further ado…

1. When you watch a movie and in your head you’re rewriting the plot.

2. When you stay awake past midnight formulating ideas.

3. When you hunt for pics on the internet that might inspire you with a new story.

4. When you walk around the room aimlessly because you’re not able to write.

5. When you listen to music, and inwardly, you’re thinking up of a story that fits the tune.

6. When you practice fighting in your room so you can better describe fight scenes.

And there you have it. :) Now I tag:

Hyperlinkzer

CNGoodhue

Majesty by Hayley Westenra

I happened to be surfing on Youtube one day checking out songs by one of my favorite artists, Hayley Westenra, and I found this one. I thought it was such a beautiful song of worship to God, that I decided I would share it with all of you. When I went on later, I couldn't find the original video I watched, but I did find another that has the same song. So anyway, enjoy and please let me know what you think. :)

Book Cover

Here is the back and front cover. Using a template from CreateSpace, I created the cover and design in GIMP, which is truly an incredible tool to work with. Creating the image was a bit tricky, as I'm not the best at drawing my own pics, and I have a long way to go before I can call myself a computer geek. Still, when you have God involved, everything works out. The image was originally a simple supernova with some flame added to it, but then I took one with just the supernova and opened it in Word where I then used one of Word's art effects to it. I got the image above, and it looked so awesome, both I and my mother were in favor of using this for the cover.
The fancy typeface on the front cover was created in GIMP as well. I had to create each piece of text as a separate image and then drop it onto the main one and try to center it. It was a lot of work and time, but I thank God it came out so well.

Liebster Award!

Well, to my surprise, I was nominated for the Liebster award by Idk323 at World of Panin and many other things!

For this award I have to:
Link back to the blogger who tagged me.
Answer the ten questions she gives me.
Nominate ten others and ask them ten questions.
Let those nominees know they were tagged.

Here are the questions I was asked:

1. What are your top three favorite movies?

That’s a hard one, as I have a lot of favorites. The ones I favor the most are Batman Begins, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Iron Man, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor.

2. What is your least favorite book that you've ever read?

Now that’s an easy one. Auralia’s Colors definitely takes first place in that department. Not only was it totally boring, it was downright depressing.

3. Do you listen to music while you write/read? If so, what do you listen to?

I don’t generally like to listen to music while I read as it’s distracting when you’re trying to immerse yourself in the story and up until a few months ago, not even when I was writing. Now when I write, I like to listen to movie soundtracks like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, and my latest, X-Men First Class.

4. What is your favorite genre to read?

Christian Fantasy. Since I got my first batch of books when I was just a tyke, I’ve had an insatiable love for books in that genre.

5. Reading, or writing? Which one do you prefer more?

Although I love writing, reading will always be my first passion. I love picking up a book and just immersing myself in the world and characters, and relaxing my mind after the stress of the day.

6. What inspires you to write the most?

I would say God. If it wasn’t for Him, I would still be reading stories and not writing them.

7. Which fictional character are you most like?

Wow, that is a tough one. I’ve never really given any thought to what fictional character I’m like. Since I don’t have any ideas, I’ll have to use the one my sister suggested which is Peter Pevensie from Narnia. Not exactly a character I would have thought of, but that’s what my sister thinks I’m like the most.

8. What is your favorite thing to write with? Pen, pencil, sharpie... ect.

A pen used to be my favorite until I got a laptop.

9. What is your favorite type of character, the hero or the villain?

Hero, definitely. While I like a good villain, I always prefer the hero.

10. What is your favorite fictional place?

I actually have several. Solandria from the Codebearer Series, Anthropos from The Archives of Anthopos, and Kirthanin from The Binding of the Blade Series.

Now for my ten questions:
1. If you had the choice to be either a superhero or super villain, which would you choose?
2. What is your favorite genre to write in?
3. If you had the opportunity to travel to either a fictional world of your own creation or someone else’s, which would you choose?
4. Who is your all-time favorite fictional superhero?
5. What is your favorite weapon?
6. Between The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, which one did you prefer the most?
7. Name your top five favorite book series
8. What is your favorite fantasy creature?
9. What is your favorite movie soundtrack?
10. Let’s say you buy a lotto ticket and end up winning a million dollars. What would you do with the money?

Well, that's it! And now, here are the people I’m nominating:

Elethia

Bethany Johnson

CrazyAndyMan

HyperLinkzer

Not ten, but those are all I could think of at the moment. :)

Marvel's Agents of Shield

After several years, we finally get another live action TV series from Marvel. Granted, it’s not exactly one I was very eager about to begin with.
When I first heard about this show, I was initially skeptical. Seriously, a series about a bunch of Shield agents? I’m a huge Marvel fan so I know all about Shield, but they have never been a favorite of mine and certainly not something I would done an entire series on. Still, I decided to look into it and see what the whole thing was about. The series takes place in the same Marvel Cinematic Universe that Iron Man and the Avengers belong in, and has Coulson, back from the dead shockingly, assembling a special team of agents to investigate strange cases and the rise of superhumans emerging in the world.
I had known that the show was supposed to be taking place after the events in the Avengers and that Coulson would be back, which I was happy to hear, but I still had some reservations until I saw the trailer. It not only succeeded in raising my interest, but I’m now actually looking forward to seeing the show. The series premiers tomorrow night on the ABC channel, so if you’re a Marvel fan or just curious about the series in general, tune in and take a peek.

GIMP art

In between working on my novel and all, I created a few images using GIMP, which I decided I would post on here for all of you to see. Bear in mind that they're not perfect as I'm still learning how to use the program properly. These are some of the better ones I created.

This was supposed to be an arrow, but it didn't exactly come out as good as I'd hoped.

Yes, this is supposed to be a bird's head. It's rough, but it's much better than the last three I created.

The "S" came out a little crooked because I tried to paint it instead of using a path. 

The Villainous Villain Tag

I’ve never done tags before, but after Elethia tagged me, I actually ended up enjoying the whole thing and decided to come up with one of my own. It’s a tag for the villain of whatever story you’re writing, so if you got a story you are working on that has villain, feel free to use this tag. And now without any further ado…


(1.) Who is your favorite (or main) villain of the book/series you are writing, and how would you describe his/her character?

For this, I decided to use a villain I created called Ruval from my book, The Dark Wolf. He is a very important and noticeable character, and the protagonist’s chief nemesis.

To describe his character, I would say he is proud and power-hungry, desiring nothing else except magic with which he can control people and destroy whoever gets in his way. People mean nothing to him. He considers others beneath him and will do whatever he must to achieve his goals. One thing he despises is weakness, and wanting to be loved or needing others is considered weak. He believes in trusting one’s self and nothing else. Because of this, he is a very bitter and angry person.


(2.) What special powers (if any) does this villain have?

Ruval actually has a variety of abilities. His natural ones include enhanced strength, speed, reflexes, and a longer lifespan than most. His other ones are due to the years spent delving into the Dark Powers. Part of things he can do is change his form into a wolf, create energy blasts, turn himself into smoke, and create creatures from the Shadow itself.


(3.) What was your inspiration for the character?

Ra’s al Ghul and Bane, from the Dark Knight movies. Those two were like the perfect villains, and they really helped with the development of Ruval, who originally started out as just your everyday sorcerer and then grew into someone more complex and unique.


(4.) Of all the villains in your book/series, what distinguishes this villain from the others?

I suppose what makes this villain different from the others, is that he didn’t start out bad. In the beginning, he was one of the greatest warriors against darkness, but when tragedy befell him, he couldn’t handle it and so turned to the very evil he had once fought, seeking power so that he would never be hurt or helpless again.


(5.) Even though this character is on the side of evil, what trait does this villain posses that you admire?

I would have to say his intelligence. He’s a master of strategy, and quite cunning. He’s got backup plans for his backup plans, and everything is planned and mapped out way ahead of time.


(6.) What lessons can be learnt from the character’s story?

With Ruval, everything is about the choices he made. When tragedy struck, he blamed the One who had created him, instead of seeking His face. As a result of that, he sought for power so that he could be in control. When bad things happen in life, they are the most important times to lean on God the most, for only through Him will we come out victorious and with peace. Ruval didn’t, and because of that, he has no peace and nothing satisfies him. All he has is his hatred and anger.

(7.) If you had the opportunity to meet your villain, would you do so?

Ah…no. Definitely not. Call me a coward, but I’d rather pass if such an opportunity ever did arise. Some villains you just don’t want to meet even if they are in a titanium cell.

Well, hopefully that didn't come out to bad. And now *gives wicked chuckle* I am going to tag a couple people:


Elethia

Leilani Sunblade

Tag Response

Okay, here are my answers to a tag Elethia gave me. While it won’t be as epic as hers, hopefully they aren’t too bad. :)

1. If the main villain of your favorite book/movie/TV series showed up on your front doorstep, what would you do? (Explain who it is first...)

Well, after much deliberation, I decided I would go with Cheimontyr from the Binding of the Blade series. He is a giant called the Bringer of Storms as he can control the weather. He’s like Thor and carries a hammer as well, but attitude wise, he’s not as nice. He is a part of a race of giants called the Vulsutyrim who threw their lot in with the evil Titan Malek to take control of all of Kirthanin.

If he were to show up on my doorstep, I suppose would be frozen for a couple seconds from sheer panic and shock before going to make sure my family was out of the house in case the guy decided to send a lightning bolt. Then I’d grab a sledgehammer and meat cleaver, and tell him to take a hike.

2. Now supposing the heroes opposite this villain showed up just after your exchange. What would you do then?

Alright! Valzaan, Aljeron, Etrigan the Great Bear, and my favorite, Sulmandir, the Father of Dragons! Go sock it to the bugger!
Naturally I would go check on my family and stay out of the way, but I’d keep the gun handy just to be on the safe side.

3. So... moving on, the heroes defeat the villain (with some help from you, of course- whatever it may be. ;) But the next day, you're just walking along, minding your own business, when you suddenly come across the same villain... who is now lying in the dust severely wounded and unconscious. What do you do?

What to do, what to do…. Well, aside from the fact I wouldn’t know how to tend to wounded giant anyway, I certainly wouldn’t bother helping the guy. His main goal is to destroy anyone who doesn’t submit to Malek, so I’m certainly not going to stick around. Who needs the villains creating anymore havoc than there already is in the world?

4. Now his minions show up and kidnap both you and him and take you to their universe (or version of your universe, whatever it happens to be.) Your reaction?

Captured by giants?!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!! Okay, aside from the initial panic, I would try to keep calm, and definitely don’t do anything to tick them off, while keeping alert for the best moment to escape.

5. Your fantastic heroes have arrived to rescue you- but now you're faced with a choice. The villain, out of gratitude for your earlier help, (assuming you actually did help him when he was wounded) has offered you a chance to travel back to your own universe. However, the heroes warn you not to trust him. The only other way for you to get back home is to travel with the heroes on a long and dangerous journey... and there's no guarantee that you'll survive.
What. Do. You. Do.

Well, seeing as how I didn’t, I can’t see Cheimontyr offering to take me back home, nor would I accept if he did. I’d rather take my chances with the heroes. If you got a prophet, a dragon, an enormous bear, and a mighty warrior, the odds on you making it can’t really be that bad.

Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow: My Review

I finally got the time to read the first book in the Codebearer series, and am pleased to say that it exceeded beyond my expectations. The story has a feel slightly similar to the Door Within Trilogy, only amped to the tenth level with a lot more humor and excitement.
We are introduced to Hunter Brown, a high school kid who has developed a reputation as a prankster. After one prank goes wrong, he ends up in the realm of Solandria on the run from the Shadow. There, he meets the Codebearers, warriors devoted to the Resistance of the Shadow, and joins the group but before he can finish his training, he is sent on a mission that could cost him his very soul.
I thoroughly enjoyed the unique world the Miller Brothers created, as well as the character of Hunter Brown, who is sure to make you laugh more than once at some of things he gets into. I have to be honest and say I have never laughed so much with any fantasy book until this one. What I loved most of all is God is not put on the back shelf. His presence is clearly defined as the Author, the creator of all, who is always in control, and the story is very focused on that. Too many times, authors regulate God to little more than a thought, and that is the last we hear about Him. Not so with the Miller Brothers, and I give them two thumbs up for that. There are plenty of lessons to be learnt in this story, a couple of which are trusting that God is in control of things even if it looks otherwise, and that we all have a purpose in life.
Overall, I give the story five out of five stars. If you are looking for humor, thrills, and something that teaches good spiritual values, then this is the book for you.
I have only one complaint, which is a minor one, and that is the lack of commas in places. There are actually a lot of essential commas missing, which I was very surprised about, but again it’s a minor thing unless you’re a very picky reader. Other than that, everything else is good.

Logo Experiments

I got a program recently for manipulating images called GIMP, which is a fascinating tool to work with, which I am still learning how to use. With this program, I was able to create the snazzy logo you see for my blog, and even an image for my book. While trying to find the right logo for my blog, I ended up making quite a few, until I got the one you see now. Here are some of my experiments, which I think you will find interesting.

Introduction

Welcome, all, to my new blog! Here, you will find my thoughts on books and movies, updates on my soon to be published novel, and just random things in general. Hope everyone enjoys the site, and my thanks to everyone who stops by to visit. :)

Oh, and if anyone would care to check out my other blog Heart of Light, here is the link: http://55darkwolf.wordpress.com