So I have been a bad boy lately. My first novel I wrote a couple years ago, "Coobo the Superhero", was a great learning experience. I eventually plan on going back to it, fixing it up and giving it the proper launch it deserves. But since then, I have written a second one that is completely different starring a brand new character called Ruby Rogue. I finished it a while ago and it's sitting somewhere on my hard drive just waiting to be edited and released to the people.
Lately, I've kind of stepped away from my writing for various reasons. Now I am ready to jump back in and get back out there and reconnect with the writing world. But there is one problem. I can't get my writing groove back. The typing mojo is gone :(. But I am fighting my way out of it.
To get back into writing shape I am going to write a weekly chapter of the prequel to the Ruby Rogue novel. But the only thing I know right now about the prequel is how it starts and how it will end. Everything else in between is a mystery to me. That is where you come in.
Week to week I am going to be asking for different prompts and ideas from you and will be incorporating my favourite reader generated ideas into each chapter. Also there will be a kind of "Choose Your Own Adventure" element to it where the readers will vote on what the characters should do next or do later or some other aspect that I should be starting in the third chapter. Hopefully, with your help, we will make an amazing prequel to this novel.
Anyways, for any of the go getter artistic types. I am going to be needing a cover page for each chapter. As you can see by the cover of the first chapter, I my artistic abilities are extremely limting. So if this story inspires you artistically in anyway, feel free to let me know and I can post some of your original work for the prequel as the cover page for the week's chapter.
So this blog is all about feedback. Let me know what you think. And visit the blog often as I will be posting about other fantasy news, random ideas, my other writing exploits, and also will have a Game of Thrones review when that show gets going again (can't wait for that!!).
So here is the first installment of the Ruby Rogue Prequel. I hope you enjoy it and come back for more.
***You can also download it in read it on your mobile devices. Just click the download link in the SCRIBD toolbar below the chapter. Pretty sweet stuff eh?*** Ruby Rogue Prequel - Chapter 1
One of my biggest dreams was to be a major villain on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I could have given Buffy a better challenge than the stinking Initiative. Luxor the Soul Drainer would have been my name. I would have carried around a big sword and just terrorized Sunnydale. Oh the possibilities... Anyways back to reality now. Needless to say, I loved that show. Although I think it lost some steam after the fifth season , it holds a special place in my heart as one of my favourite television series of all-time.
So when it was annouced that Warner Bros, was rebooting the series for the big screen, I was excited. But that excitement was cut down like a claymore to the kneecap when I heard that Joss Whedon was not involved with the project. The answer to the title's question is pretty obvious... the new Buffy movie will suck.
But as fans of the show, and as modern day swordsmen and swordswomen, we have the power to make it suck as little as possible. The first order of business is to get the right person to be cast as Buffy.
I know some die hards will demand that they want Sarah Michelle Gellar or nothing, but let's be honest, Sarah is done with the Buffy character. She is probably just enjoying raising a family and living off Buffy royalties.
So let's instead set our sights on casting the best Buffy actress possible and hopefully save this thing.
Criteria
Firstly, let's look at what we need in a Buffy character.
Buffy was energetic, witty, athletic, and cute. Plus very pop culture oriented and a little awkward at times. She also had kick-ass side to her too which apparently is necessary when staking ugly vampires in the heart.
Sarah Michelle Gellar's version of Buffy had that quirky cute ass kicking character down to a T. Can any of the young actresses out today come close? Two come to my mind...
#2 Scarlett Johansson - Action movie Cred (Iron Man)
This is the money pick for the studios. Scarlett Johansson is one of the hottest actresses out and will definitely be a tempting pick for the suits at Warner Bros. Lately she has been establishing her action movie cred in movies like Iron Man and has also signed up for an eerily similar Buffy type role in the movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Well, if she pulls that role off then it should be a no brainer, right? Not quite.
Something tells me that hard core fans would find it hard to see Scarlett in this role. She usually plays the ultra sexy temptress type role in movies of this nature which would make her a better fit to play Cordelia or maybe a villain. But as Buffy? Not so much. She doesn't seem like some one who could pull off that quirky quick witted side of Buffy convincingly.
I definitely don't think Scarlett is bad choice. But I have one other actress that can pull it off a bit better.
#1 Ellen Page - Action movie cred -Inception
This may surprise some but there is something about Ellen's witty sense of deadpan humour that I think can translate into a good quality Buffy character. She can definitely be feisty too. In Inception she showed that she had the confidence and swagger to hold her own in a big action movie. Plus she is a cute little damsel.
Obviously she will have to get to the gym and work on her martial arts, but thats not much of an issue since stunt doubles will do most of the cool, and complicated fight scenes anyways.
So those are my two picks for the next Buffy. Who would you rather have? Let me know. If you have any better suggestions, throw their name into the hat and let's hear why.
Back in the day of the original XBOX (such a wicked console for its time), I was at the local video game store on a typical boring suburban weekend looking for some games to play. I believe I rented 2 that day one was popular game, the other was Kingdom Under Fire. I never heard of the game before. I just picked it up and it happened to have look at the cover and back of it, the graphics looked pretty good, so I decided to give it a shot. Which was rare for me, to just pick a random game like that.
Thank god I did. When I popped the game into the XBOX, and started the first campaign the first thing I noticed was this amazing,rock music. Let's just say I am not a rock music enthusiast, but I know some good stuff when I hear it. And this was good stuff for sure. The heavy metal got me so amped up to fight.
The graphics didn't disappoint either and definitely pushed the Xbox to the limit there. I as the main character, Gerald, a fellow swordsman, lead a small army of men throughout a settlement land just after it was attacked. Suddenly, my army was ambushed by a bunch of orcs. So I lead my group of men, sprinting towards them with my Sword raised screaming at them Braveheart style. As I am charging, the music gets more and more intense until you crash into the orcs and start slashing away at them.
Now I am also not a fan of hack and slash games either. But this was not your everyday hack and slash game. As you got deeper into the game, it introduced more elements of Real Time Strategy, where I had multiple units of warriors, archers, calvary, catapults, and other types of units. I directing them to complete different tasks and kill different enemies. The amount of strategy was a perfect balance for the hack and slash action.
Plus when you finished the campaign with one character, you were able to play the game with another character who was part of the conflict. I was blown away. It was unlike any game I had ever played in my life. A Real Time Strategy, with a mix of action RPG and Action. I was hooked and couldn't wait for the sequel. And when Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes arrived I was relieved to see it was more of the same.
So like those of you who have played the game on the original XBox, my mouth watered at the thought of playing the next version on the 360. How Epic would the battles be? Hundreds of warriors, orcs, and elves, battling on screen with no loss of frame rate. The vast landscapes in beautiful graphics would be amazing. The potential for this series to be continued on the 360 was through the roof.
So imagine the shock that I felt when it was announced that the creators of Kingdom Under Fire were changing the next incarnation of the game (Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom) when it hit the 360. They turned it from an action Real Time Strategy, into a regular old RPG. Horrible idea, horrible horrible horrible. Why mess with something so good and so unique? I never got this answer to this. Regardless I avoided the game like the plague and the mediocre reviews it got confirmed that I made the confirmed that I made the right decision.
As time wore on, I forgot about the KUF. As video games got more repetitive, my video game playing slowly diminished to the point that my lowly 360 is collecting dust under my television right now. It wasn't until I started writing this blog that memories of playing that KUF on the XBOX came rushing back. I started writing this blog expecting to start a petition to get the game made as it should be, in the essence of the original Kingdom Under Fire: Crusaders. But after a quick google search and to my pleasant surprise, BlueSide was bringing Kingdom Under Fire 2 to the 360.
Finally the update this game deserves... or was it? I needed to see it in action to make sure. Check out the trailer below to see why I have nothing to worry about. The day this game comes out will be the day I dust off my 360, pray the red ring of death doesn't show up, and relive those days slashing through orcs and elves, and living the life of a true swordsman.
However, the catch is that this game was supposed to come out years ago, and some business problems seemed to hold the game back from being developed. Although everywhere I have checked states that this game should be released Q4 2010, no official release date has been given. Let's keep the pressure on the game's publisher, BlueSide. To make sure they bring this game out and stop delaying it to oblivion.
Just so you can see where the game has come from, I also added a vid of the old school version.
This Friday, I got a text from my little brother telling me about a show that "You Gotta SEE!!!!" Messages like these I take with a grain of salt because my brother and I have vastly different tastes and opinions. There have been many times that he has hyped up a show to Lost: The Finale type proportions, only for me to question his sanity after watching his awful suggestion But every once in awhile he will show me a gem that I would have otherwise completely ignored. So when I sat down too watch his show Walking Dead, I did so having no idea what to expect.
It started off well enough. Nobody has really pulled off a good horror television show. At least I haven't seen any. So I was intrigued when I saw the creepy zombie kid at the beginning. But when I saw the main character wake up from his coma, alone in a trashed hospital, I immediately thought of the movie 28 Days Later. And as the show went on I got the feeling that I was watching a less grittier, suburban version of the movie. When the characters started talking about Atlanta as the refugee city that all of the survivors were trying to get to (very similar to the destination that the main characters in 28 Days Later were trying to reach), I thought to myself "why would I invest my time in a show and sit down through all those hours when I saw the movie that summed up the whole deal in under 2 hour?" So I said "that's a wrap for me", told my bro that he "struck out again" and went to bed about forty minutes into the show. I was definitely unimpressed and was pretty sure I was done with the show.
But the next night, when I arrived at my place, my roommates were all getting ready for a "Walking Dead Marathon". I was pretty surprised, since I know that they are bigger movie buffs than I am and had definitely seen 28 Days Later. Apparently there is no controversy since the book that the show is based on came out before the movie.
They all sang the praises of the show and were definitely surprised when I told them I was unimpressed. But their enthusiasm for the Walking Dead made me think that maybe I came to judgement too soon (I understand if you wouldn't hire me as executioner). So I need your help. Should I give Walking Dead another look? Or have I made a good call and would just be wasting my time?
Just add your comments below and let me know.
For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, take a look at the intro and trailer below and see if you can catch the similarities.
