Wesley’s Personal Blog

This just popped into my head the other day so I figured I’d get it out there. It’s a complete story in it’s own right even though it feels like part of a larger story. I don’t expect it to ever go anywhere, mostly because it’s too much like the TV show “Archer” (which you should all be watching)

Agent Jack Taylor had to admit: He’d gotten beat. Somehow, the agents of R.A.G.E. had infiltrated the H.O.M.E. base, and had taken him - and his entire team - by surprise. The RAGE agents had tricked the security system, taken out the guards, infiltrated the building and had a dozen HOME employees at gunpoint.

Bjorn Elkhorn - flanked by his elite guards - grinned with pursed lips. The scar over his right eye wrinkled as he spoke. Jack couldn’t tell if Bjorn was angry or simply gloating. Probably both.

“So, Agent Jack Taylor,” Bjorn said. His nondescript Eastern European accent thick and heavy. “We have beaten every aspect of your pitiful agency, except one thing: The safe combination.”

Jack scowled. “Over my dead body.”

Bjorn pulled a pistol from under his shirt. “That,” he said simply, “can be arranged.”

Jack steeled himself. He was prepared for death. Every HOME agent had to be.

“But that would not work too well, I think,” continued Bjorn. “If you are dead you will not tell me, right? So here’s how we will do this. I will kill your coworkers at random until you tell me. Not one an hour. Not one a minute. Just one by one. You see, I’m in a hurry, no?”

Jack glanced around the room. Luckily it was late in the day and most of the employees had gone home. However, his entire team was here: Sheila, the explosives expert who he’d always had a thing for, met his eye and for a moment he thought - just maybe - she had a thing for him as well. Then there was Will, their tech guy. He was probably already working out how the RAGE agents had broken his custom-made security system, and trying to figure out how to get it back online. Holly, the blackbelt weapons expert, was sitting trapped at her desk - too far from the action to begin an attack. And there was “Haul Ass” Mackenzie, the crazy Canadian ex-con who led their team. He was lying face down on the floor right in front of Bjorn.

In addition to those there were a few clerks, the receptionist, and some others that Jack didn’t even recognize. Innocents, they’re called.

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“So,” said Bjorn, as cool as he could be. “Will you miss her?”

Jack blinked. “I actually don’t know who that was. I think she worked in accounting or something.”

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“You can end this at any time,” said Bjorn.

“I’m not sure who he was either.”

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“Look,” Jack said, “You’re really going to have to do better than this…”

Bjorn scowled. “Fine, how about him?”

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“I think that was a courier. He doesn’t even work here.”

“Jack,” said Sheila. “That was Robbie from H.R.”

“Oh. I hated him.”

Bjorn was getting angry, now. “How about her?”

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“Really!” Jack yelled. “Why are you just shooting ancillary characters? There are only two…”

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“…one of them left. The 5 of us are the main characters. Hell,” he said, pointing at Holly and Will, “those two are sleeping together. Just threaten one of them and the other will probably crack!”

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

“There, are you happy? You wiped out the entire set of extras. Are you done? You know you can’t kill us. We’re the main characters.”

Bjorn screamed, anger and hatred in his eyes. He was desperate. He raised his gun.

BLAM! A body hit the floor.

Jack blinked. He was shocked. Amazed.

“That was one of your own men!”

Bjorn yelled defensively “I wanted you to know I was serious!”

I’m sure something similar to this has been done before - and possibly better. But hey, it was getting in the way of the rest of my creative processes so I had to get it out.

Wesley Stuff, Writing

My friend Jonobie said at the end of her most recent blog post to consider myself tagged on this one. So I am considering myself tagged.

Instead of doing the 5 greatest heroes, I’m going to start with the earliest memory of a “hero” or a good guy or at least a main character, and go up from there. So, these aren’t necessarily the 5 greatest heroes, and they aren’t necessarily the 5 earliest heroes in my life, but I think this list will be a fair combination of the two.

1. Han Solo - I saw Star Wars in the theater, and even though it’ll prove that I’m not actually 30 like I always say I am, I will tell you that I was 6 at the time. I obviously don’t remember that much from the movie, but I remember a bit, and one of the things I remember from that first viewing was that Han Solo had a big, hairy friend. I wanted a big, hairy friend. As I aged, and watched Star Wars again, I realized that Han Solo was the most ass-kicking good guy available to my as-yet limited exposure to fiction. He wasn’t the hero. He wasn’t the farmboy-turned Jedi. He wasn’t the royalty figure who’d lost her… everything. He wasn’t the wizened teacher. He was the guy with the gun and the ship, and the total lack of desire to be included in the action. He was the one who thought not with his big head or his little head, but with his pocketbook. Rescue the princess? Never! For a reward? Now we’re talking. But in the end, our soft-hearted rogue came through, and it changed his life forever. It’s easy to be a hero when your family (or your entire planet) is dead. but when you’re high-tailing it out of the system with a cargo bay full of credits? Yeah. That’s a hero to me.
2. Indiana Jones - I make no apologies for Harrison Ford being on this list not only twice, but as the first two entries. Just feel lucky that Decker’s not on the list too. Indiana Jones oozes hero. He gets punched. He falls down. He gets dragged behind cars, shot, burned, and left for dead in a pit of snakes. But he never, EVER gives up. He doesn’t even consider it. When he’s bloody, burnt, staggering, and has moments before his girlfriend will be consumed by fire, and a big bald guy with treetrunk arms forces him into an unfair fist fight, Indiana Jones merely sighs, resolves himself, and steps into the fray.
3. Groo - Back in my youth, I was mildly addicted to a couple comic book series, and none were more addictive than Groo the Wanderer. Groo was not a smart man. It was just slightly possible that he wasn’t actually a man at all, as he lacked the cranial capacity to survive in the modern world of whatever BC year it was in the comics. But survive he did, mostly at the whim of a veritable smorgasbord of characters who would use Groo’s one skill - his unerring ability with the two Katana swords he always had strapped to his back - for their own ill purposes. In the end, though, Groo would always put it right, or at least destroy everything in the vicinity so nobody profited off of him. Then, usually, he would flee the area as the villagers chased him with torches and pitchforks. But he always meant well.
4. The Doctor - Jonobie put this one on her list, though she’s talking about the newest Doctor, and I want to talk about the older ones. I *loved* the Doctor in high school. He was smart, witty, brave, and never made a mistake. And he knew he wouldn’t. His sheer confidence was a thing to witness. I’m watching the show now as the DVDs come out, putting each one at the top of my Netflix queue as it is released. I have loved every one.
5. Vic Gentry - I won’t feel bad if you don’t know this name. I created this character in high school as kind of a mix of #2 and #3 on my list. He was a super-soldier type adventurer with one crippling flaw: Total lack of coordination and mental acuity. Looking back, I see that he was actually “Sci Fi Groo,” especially because his first appearance was in a comic that I drew instead of paying attention in class in my senior year. I don’t look up to Vic, but his effect on my life is unmeasurable. His story is the direct ancestor of the Crimson Lien, which is for a great part the reason for the existence of the Stargate Cafe. The Universe I built around Vic Gentry is the Universe that I spend my creative time in. It’s where the Crimson Lien flew in the podcast, and it’s where the Crimson Lien flies in the book I’m working on (Or not, but eventually I promise!). And Vic - in some form - is a part of that universe and eventually we’ll meet him. And trust me, this new Vic’s a hero in every sense.

Okay, now it’s my turn to tag people. You! You there, reading this. You’re tagged!

Wesley Films, Memes, Stuff, Writing

Okay, while it was still January, I could pretend that I was just busy and couldn’t quite get around to them, but I was sure that I’d get them posted eventually. Now that it’s February, my New Year’s resolutions are officially LATE.

But here they are, behind a handy-dandy more tag:

Read more…

Wesley Podcasting, Stuff, Writing

The drought is over. I didn’t even know I was in a drought, but the past 2 NaNoWriMos have been disasters, mostly due to a lot of non-NaNoWriMo activities that took up my time during November. However, I tonight made two discoveries about myself that probably won’t shock any of you.

The first discovery is that it is possible to write a novel outside of NaNoWriMo. I know. It’s crazy, but it’s true. It’s totally possible.

The second discovery is that the novel I wanted to write, but felt I couldn’t or shouldn’t or… Something… Is very writable after all. I was sitting with blinders on, staring ahead at the novel I THOUGHT that I had to write, when all this time sitting right next to me the novel that I actually WANT to write, and in fact NEED to write.

So, I’m writing that novel. No, I’m not going to reveal just yet what it is. I hope to do be done with it quite quickly, however. I’ve learned not to promise output quotas but let’s just say that I’m so excited, I hope to blow NaNoWriMo out of the water.

Tonight I wrote 2441 words. They flowed out of my hands like I was watching a movie, not concocting a story.

Stay, as they say, tuned!

Wesley Writing

Well, I got some words written yesterday. 102 of them. That puts me at 4100 words which is pitiful, but between work (which removes me from my house for 12 hours a day) and sleep (which removes me from the world another 8) and getting ready for moving (which, along with things like eating and showering consumes the remainder) I just simply do not have any time.

Once I get moved things should get better. I still plan on hitting 50k by the end of the month and being done with the first draft not too long after.

But I hate being behind.

Wesley Writing