Okay So while messing around looking for awesome stuff to add to the site I came across this little module thing that lets people subscribe to your posts. It's looks a bit like this:

What? There's one of those on the side of the page and it's been there the whole time?

Yes, yes there has been... But the difference is now I know what it does.

So with that, I feel a bit more technical savvy...even if I'm not.

And yes that truly was the highlight of my day how sad is that?

So I'm going to get back to writing and/or trying to figure out what some of these other buttons do

Subject Name:  Toby Turner (He has a middle name too!)

Known Alias: Tobuscus (LINKAGE!!!)

The Operation:

The mission, as you're forced to accept it is simple.

Earlier today at 27:00 Military time (SHHHH I'm talking here) Traci and Myself realized that it was payday and at long last could finally go and buy our very own TOBUSCUS shirts!!!

Sadly to say, this was not meant to be...

For those of you who don't know, Toby hosts his own YouTube channel that both Traci and myself watch religiously, watching for new posts with excitement and... Stuff.... For you Facebookers, the downtime between videos is horrible! To put it in terms you would understand it's like that period of time that you're waiting for your crops to be done on Farmville but they just never seem to go past 97% so you give up just to realize that they grew without you. THAT'S how we feel.

Anyhow, I got a bit off topic...

Yeah, So there we were, looking through the many designs for shirts and accessories in his shop. (LINK HERE!)

But one of my favorite of Toby's catchphrases, ROLL THE NEXT CLIP STEVEN!!! was sadly missing. In our disappointment we returned to our everyday lives and tried to forget about it. BUT WE COULDN'T!!!

So My remedy was this,

Watch one of his most recent videos at the time (Happened to be Redneck Baby LINK!!!)

I took a screenshot of his face as he was saying the phrase in question, saved it, opened MS Paint, and wrote ROLL THE NEXT CLIP STEVEN! beside his face.

I then uploaded said picture to Facebook,

And then to Twitter, Tweeting the following:

Sadly, due to his schedule and my impatience, he has yet to respond!!!

SO I AM CALLING FOR YOUR HELP!

To those of you on Twitter Please find this post on my wall and retweet it to toby! Let's put some pressure on him to make this shirt so my selfish powertrip can conclude!

Facebookers, I have something for you as well, Go to my page and "Share" This picture on your walls, your friends walls, public places, park benches, Pretty much anywhere others can see it.

WE WILL HAVE A SHIRT!!!!

Talk to you all soon :)

-Ryan

Okay, I've gotten alot of feedback about Vex and many of you seem really interested in seeing where his story is headed. As for Reia, She has been a much more minor character within the scenes that I have released as with the Chapter draft that I posted up on here.

For those who haven't read the story yet click HERE.

Anyways, Sometime within the next few days I will be releasing the rest of the posted chapter that deals with Reia and reveals some of her backstory as well. The scene will be posted to an unlinked page on this site that can only be accessed by a direct link. The content will also only be available for 48 hours.

I will be posting the link to this scene on my Facebook Writing Page to those who are following my posts.

So in short, Please visit my page HERE and click to "Like" it and stay updated with the story and writing process as it gets closer to completion.

And Once again, A HUGE thank you to everyone who has sent me messages on FB, Twitter, Writing.com, and everywhere else you may run into me. Your feedback has pushed me to keep moving forward means the world to me.

Thank you and hope to see you within the next few days.

-Ryan

Hello all,

Well it's been a little bit since I updated everyone on how the project was going and so I figured while taking a break to go ahead and do so. So, I've been editing alot today and doing some minor tweaks to the story and many of you have stated an interest in Vex and how his story will progress.

Here's the update so far.

First and foremost, a big thank you to all my "Tweeters"...."Twitterers"... Whatever the socially acceptable term for the awesome feedback I have been receiving about the Faedlands as well as Vex. Thanks also to the great friends/family support though FB and the official page.

Vex is certainly central to the story and a majority of the story will revolve around him which I'm sure everyone kind of guessed. But also I wanted to share that there are actually 2 main stories that are going on within this book, And while Vex's story will most likely make up the bulk of things Reia (Vex's Twin sister for new readers) has quite an interesting story of her own going on and that will actually meld together to further the depth of Vex's story in an emotional sense.

Both characters stories were actually done separately for the sake of individuality, They are twins and in such a way some of their base personality is very similar as well as aspects of their physical forms but these are very different people with very different viewpoints. in that I wanted to develop them separately to begin with and now that their stories are finalized in terms of concept the challenge is to blend them together while maintaining a sense of fluidity and not leave a bunch of inconsistencies roaming around.

As well as Reia there are also a few other characters that lend some insight to the story through interaction (But to a much lesser extent) These characters while having smaller roles within the story all have a background concept that is almost equal in detail if not more so in points to Vex and Reia. Every big character you come across in this story has their own story in a sense. I felt that the only way to truly make them feel genuine is to do it this way. Whether they get their own story in the future is up for you (The reader) to decide.

I hope that everyone has been enjoying the site and these posts, I hope to hear from you all soon.

Also, I'm still in the process of looking for a cover artist to help with designs. I have been screening the stuff people have been sending in/recommending and I love it but I want to leave it open for now so that I can really get it right and be able to compare and pick the one best suited for the cover.

If you are or know an artist who is gifted in fantasy art I'd love to hear from you. Please write me a message and if possible a sample cover design at [email protected]


Thanks everyone hope to hear from you all soon :)


-Ryan

So I was messing around last night with a pen and a black marker.

Not unusual I guess as I messed around with different designs and finally came up with a tribal design that somewhat resembled a wing. I figured I'd go ahead and scan it and see how it came out.

Well it was jagged and overly pixelated which kind of bothered me.

Anyhow jump to this morning I got up and put the design through Photoshop and using the eraser brush sharpened the edges by magnifying the image and smoothing them with the brush. I then a piece of text i had made and used the color scheme to add some highlights.

Nothing professional but I found it to be interesting so I thought that I would share.

Okay, Been wanting to do this one for awhile now.

There have been sooo many books that I have read over the years that really have had a huge impact on my life. Too numerous to add them all in fact. But in spite of this I wanted to at least point out some of the ones that really took me to another world and made me want to become a writer myself. Here it goes.


Anne Rice: Memnoch the Devil

Okay for anyone who knows me this is the one that really hooked me into writing. I read the Vampire Chronicles when I was a teen (FACT: I had read the books long before I had ever seen "Interview with the Vampire")

Although I loved the other books in the series Memnoch was so different then any of the others that it caught my attention and didn't let go. Anne Rice has a style of writing that I love. She is gifted in writing from the first person (Something I do not do) and still creates a sense of atmosphere that is so hard to capture in first person and does this effortlessly.

The story is in many ways a retelling of the fall of Lucifer through to the Passion of Christ done in such a way that even questions non believers are generally stated as asking are accounted for. The Devil becomes an antihero in himself and his version of what happens and it is so expertly done that it makes you feel "Sympathy for the Devil" in many ways. It comes to a close that is such a twist that people argue about it's meaning still today.

An amazing piece of literature to say the least.


Sherrilyn Kenyon: Acheron

This was a book that hits real close to home.

A few years back a friend of mine approached me and without any explanation told me I should read this book. As of that point in my life I had little interest in most of the books coming out for the time. Plus, I have never been into the "Romance" book scene. She told me that she wanted me to read it because it reminded her of me. Of everything I have gone through in life.

Months passed by and I was browsing through the Borders (Awww.....) that was across the street from my house and saw a copy of Acheron. I was having some problems in life and thought that I might just check it out.

To anyone who might check into this book be warned, it is brutal.

There were many times that I found myself putting this book down. The writing was amazing and you really felt connected to the characters but at the same time that was what was so bad about it. While no where near the extent of suffering that Acheron goes through, His story had many elements that reflected deep within me of my own life. It was hard to read but I think because of the understanding of the character I was able to fully appreciate the way that he felt and that he ended up the hero in the end.

It was a testament to the philosophy that no matter what you go through in life, That doesn't mean it will always be that way. Or to put it more accurately by quoting from the book:

"The strongest steel must be forged in the fires of hell."





Edgar Allen Poe: The Raven


This one is pretty self explanatory.


Who honestly does not at least know OF this story.

The reason it makes it to my list is not for the content itself but for the style in which it is written. If you really pay attention to it, There is very little direct dialog in this story, instead it is a narrative that creates an atmosphere. This story is one that even in just a few lines you can vividly image and picture what is going on in the scene. Something incredibly hard to do. He wrote in a way that made you think and feel exactly what was going on in equal measure. One of the most brilliant writers ever to grace the Earth.



The Stories and Works of H.P. Lovecraft


H.P. Lovecraft as some of you know has been cited at the origin of modern Horror writing.

I Honestly could not think of a single Lovecraft story to add here as they are all simply amazing. He brought a unique, intelligence driven narrative played out through journal entries, adding a sense of atmosphere as if you were reading directly from a man that had done these things firsthand.

It's a very similar feeling you get when huddled around the fire at night while someone tells a ghost story. (Not a cheesy one but a good one.)





Anyhow, it's getting late here and I should probably get off for now. Look for a PT2 in the future ;)

Okay, this is one of those things where you notice it, talk about it with whoever is there, and then it lies dormant in your mind for a few days before you realize that you just have to tell the world about it... or... something like that.

Point is, A few days ago (Could have been a few weeks though given my memory) I was out and about, shopping like some people do. And I wandered over to the books section to see if there was anything that would catch my interest.

I came across a book entitled "The Wolf Gift" and while I can't be for sure what it is that really got my attention, The bright white cover with eyes that peered outward or the fact that the book was written by Anne Rice.

You see, I first got into reading Rice's work when I was a teen and loved the Vampire Chronicles. Even going so far as to state that her book Memnoch the Devil was one of the biggest influences on me to start writing myself. However, and this is where the name of this post comes from. I tend to wonder about where this book came from.

Most of you are at least somewhat aware of her bigger works like "Interview with the Vampire" or "Queen of the Damned" Some of you may even know of the Mayfair Witches or of Violin. These books represented Rice's peak in the literary world.

Sadly Stan Rice, Her husband, died from brain cancer in 2002,

The very next year Anne had herself many near fatal occurances that ultimately took her work in a new direction.

She returned to the Catholic church, Something I have no problems with from a spiritual perspective, But in this transitional period in her life she decided that the lives and worlds of her beloved characters were fit to bring to a close. But to the readers, there was no conclusion. While asked many times about the fates of her characters (Lestat in particular) she said that she felt the chronicles were "A complete work" but as for myself as a reader and fan, there was no true conclusion to either series which had blended together towards the end. I felt that there was no closure for the characters or for the reader.

In October 2005, while promoting her book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, she announced in Newsweek that she would now use her life and talent of writing to glorify her belief in God       -Taken from Wikipedia

This was a turning point, while she did not come out and renounce her earlier works, she did the next best thing, she simply ended them and refused to write of them anymore.

She began writing Christian fiction beginning with "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt"

She has written many works in this genre, I have not personally read any of them but have decided that with the Vampire Chronicles finished, I would wish her the best and hope that she does the subject matter justice as she had with Lestat and the other Vampires.

So, now to present day, figuring this book to be another of these I still took the time to open the cover and read the synopsis inside. I was pretty surprised, This was a book set in ages past, as is her general theme, about WEREWOLVES!

Okay, so I'm a bit confused. Perhaps 'm a bit biased in this but it seems like there is a conflicting scenario here in my mind. She gave up the Vampire Chronicles and put them behind her to write Christian works (Again, no gripe from me) but without any such fanfare returns to the scene with a book about a werewolf in a setting that could have been right out of the Lestat books. I'm not sure what's going on or what to think of this. Some people may call her a sell out for this, Some may be excited that she's back to writing the scenarios that made her famous in the first place, and some may feel that she is losing hold of her faith.

As for me?

I'm not even going to take a guess.

I wish her all the success in the world and hopefully will be able to bring myself to read the book. I'm sure that it will live up to her high standards and yet it comes across a little bittersweet.

As always, feel free to sound of

Tonight I am officially beginning work on creating the cover for Faedlands.

I am looking for someone who has skill in creating Silhouette Art that would like to have their image added to the cover of the Faedlands when it is released.

Please send me an email at [email protected] with "Cover Art" as the subject.

Please include a sample of your work. Preferably an image that is fantasy related.

I will go through the entries and picked from them in the coming weeks.

I cannot compensate you for your work at this time but the artist of course will be acknowledged in the book and depending on the continuation of the series may be able to have more work displayed.

Thanks and have a great night :)

-Ryan