Hey all of you Star Wars traditionalists...get a load of THIS

the AOL poll...

Was the publisher right to end Viswanathan's contract?
Yes 92%
No 8%
Total Votes: 11,673

I want to know who those 8% are?

The plot sickens...

At first I thought, wow, I feel kind of bad for this kid...but then when it was revealed that she had lifted lines from an author she 'greatly admired' or some such thing, I kind of thought, what a little thief...but then I thought, well, she was 17-19 when she wrote the story so cut her some slack...now, after reading THIS I have no sympathy for her...at all...period...or even three periods in a row!

third in the series...click on the image to get a larger version. These are actually a lot smaller than the originals.

second image in the series...

this is for a series of images that will appear on the new web site when it's done...

This girl is either extremely naive or not too bright...read more about the plagiarism here.

NEW IMAGE FOR THE SITE...

the controversy continues...what makes me scratch my head is the fact that this girl didn't think she'd get caught...

click here for more info...

I was reading about a young woman who had her first book published at 19. I was thinking, 'how does that happen?'...then I read further and it turns out that one of her profs was a published author and he showed the manuscript to his agent. The young author made a six figure deal and sold the rights to Dreamworks...click HERE to read about the trouble that has caught up with her. Makes me wonder if anyone can think of anything original anymore...

Now that Entropy Gate Journey is done, I'm really looking forward to editing the follow up, Beyond. In the mean time...I'm finishing teaching my four classes at IPFW, about half way through writing next year's musical production "Come in out of the Rain" (a musical comedy that takes place in a club in the 1940s...all of the characters are named after characters in Humphrey Bogart films), halfway through two classes at ITT, and currently reading Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac".

VENUS INFO

Click here for some cool information on Venus.

Made one last run through Entropy Gate - Journey...

final word count...104,384


we start sending out packages this weekend!

I'm re-re-redesigning the web page...this is what it should look like soon...

My son, Zack (7), entered the YOUNG AUTHOR'S contest at his school and won! He wrote and illustrated a story about a Lion named Jack who escapes to Scottland to build bagpipes.

Haven't done much this week on the book due to the big show coming up on Sunday at the Scottish Rite. As some of you know, I am director of the Jesters, a theater and art orginization for people with special needs. This year's show is HELLO NOON. It's a western. Last year was THE PIRATES OF CHARITY ISLAND. For some cool images of last year's show, check out BRAD's site by clicking here. Then go to galleries then commision work and the then go to JESTERS.

(smi) final count...finished editing...Mom asked to review it for any mistakes and that gives me the chance to read it on paper as well...I didn't hit the 100,000 mark...

here's the final count before my last read.

words - 107,306
pages - 446

ROCKIN'!

word count - 109,621
page count 395 out of 454

word count - 111,512
page 375 - 461

word count - 112,665
page 352 of 464

it's my birthday...so I'm going slow today...more speed tomorrow

word count - 113, 566

page 341 - 466

I didn't have much time for editing as of late due to family illness...back on track today. First time since 2-05.

word count - 113, 949
Pages - 331 of 467

136 pages to go...I don't know if I'll get the book down to 100,000...but I do know that it is far better than it was.

I should be able to get a lot done today... currently the word count is 114,608

page 318 of 469

count - 114,984

page - 318 of 470

I'm hosed...good night...

Just pluggin' away!

word count - 115,313

page count - 307 of 471

Word count - 115,715

Page 294 out of 472

Yesterday as I sat in the hospital waiting room, I came to the conclusion that the part of the story involving the asteroid did not need to be in the story...that's at least 5 more pages gone. Those of you who have read the book will know what I mean.

Word count - 119, 339

page - 287 of 486

Mike asked about book two...it is available...but not yet in book form. Email me at asetter304@aol.com and I can hook you up with one.

Frustration...sometimes it's difficult to be a writer/artist...sometimes the idea of having a real job seems so tempting and you wonder why you spent 6.5 years at colleges that gave you a degree to teach at colleges...I'm teaching art, but is that enough? I should have been a history teacher...or, at 6 ft 7 in and 285lbs a construction worker (or body guard/bouncer)...hmmm...well, editing is going okay...I picked up my own copy of Entropy Gate - Journey and it feels good to know that there are 200 copies out there (some across the ocean). But it needs to be a primary source of income...it has to become the bread winner. I know it can become that...but it's just going to take time...I wish I wasn't so impatient...sigh (cue sad music)...enough (cue triumphant music) of this pity party crap!!!! Time to get back at it!!! YEAH!

Slowin' down a bit, but still chuggin' away...word count: 127,172 page 193 of 513

Really getting back into it...128,714 words...page 182 of 519.

I'm on page 177 out of 523 pages...I'm down to 129,708 words...it's really a much better story now. It moves a lot quicker. Looks like I'll hit my 100,000 word goal before Christmas.

130,700 words down from over 155,000...editing has been slow, but it's making for a tighter, much more readable story. I'm very excited about resubmitting to some of the agencies!

Jake's graphic novel is on line now...click HERE.

My muse...Kristi.

Here's the new den...

Finally getting back to work on the book. I’ve been busy with back-to-school stuff, but it looks like I’m going to get back into an editing routine.

Here was another meal that almost killed me...this time it's my wife's fault...past shells with spinache, beef, sauce and cheese!

You should have gone to the other blog...thy clocking HERE.

I know that it's only August...but the November write-a-thon is just around the corner...

There is some really cool art at this guy's blog...

I have some stuff going on at the Darkness Aftermath Report blog...link to it here.

editing has been slow going this weekend...had to replace an 80 year old toilet in the house before it could come crashingthrough the floor into the dining room...thanks for the help, bro...

We site? I've got to read my posts better before posting them...in the previous one I refered to my we site...meant web site...

Also...I've been thinking about posting bits of the HOPE manuscript on a blog...

Editing is an interesting process…what I hate is the time consumption…time I could spend telling new stories instead of rehashing old ones…however, as I was editing today, I recalled a frequent comment…most people said (regarding my book) "once you get into it, it really moves and is hard to put down…" (or some such thing.) I always focused on the latter part…but I’m realizing that there is a lot of excess in the first part of the book that really DOES slow the reader down…I’m cutting out anything that seems to slow down the story…the manuscript was 154,500 words…I’m a little over half way through part one and it’s down to 135, 655…I actually can’t wait to go back and read it once it’s done…

A little web page update…the guy who is helping me with the we page has had a series of family problems and I don’t want to bug him to help me get it finished…hopefully we’ll be able to tackle it this weekend.
Also, occasionally I’ll post something here or at the other blog and it won’t have a picture along side…but then, viola, a few days later there is a picture…this is due to the fact that my home computer is dial up and my ITT (work) computer is not. I can’t seem to get blogger to accept my images from the home computer no matter how long I wait.
And one final thing…this post is also on the other blog…the only time I’ll "double post" is in situations like this…

Someone asked what HOPE was about...I thought I'd give a brief description (without spoilers) of each story. JOURNEY, BEYOND, REPERCUSSIONS and RETURN are all stories about Michael Connelly and his "Journey". A more descriptive...Description, will soon be posted at the site...ICONS is actually the first in the entire EG saga...right now it is merely five pages long and most likely destined to be a graphic novel...it sets up events that take place in BEYOND...but it actually takes place during the Italian renaissance...I have a drawing of the characters and will post it soon...FIRST GATES was written during a one month period of coffee induce speed writing two years ago. There is a site that encourages one month of writing (November) and there is a challenge to bang out a novel with a certain, insane word count. I was ahead of schedule most of the way, but then, with only five days left, I awoke one morning with a cold that trashed me until Christmas break...the story (horribly written) involves a young girl in High School who discovers that there is a portal in her closet...early Entropy gate stuff...the book actually takes place in the 80's and 90's as it tracks her from New Haven High School to the University of Saint Francis to Bowling Green...I went to all of those places and even make a cameo...man was I drinking WAAAAAYY too much coffee...I don't know if it will ever get edited...it's that bad...I might just rewrite the entire thing from scratch...DARKNESS AFTERMATH is best described here...and finally, the HOPE...It's hard to explain really because what it does is answer all of the questions that are raised and hinted at in the entire series...it's sort of the background, subtext, hints and allegations, secrets, truths and yadda, yadda of the series...if you have had the opportunity to read JOURNEY or BEYOND, then you know that the HOPE is the name of the doomed ship that...well...is responsible for many of the problems that Michael encounters...there...vague enough for you?
P.S. The sandwich...has nothing to do with Entropy Gate...I just made it for lunch the other day, ate the whole thing and was unable to do any writing or editing because I was about to explode...

I've been editing Journey and I've actually got about ten pages of The HOPE written...

Anyone interested in reading Entropy Gate - Beyond (the sequal to the Journey) can email me and I'll gladly send them a text file...provided you reply with comments and suggestions afterward.

The daily grind...I hate editing...it's so unlike writing for me...I decided that while I'm editing Journey, I'd also work on HOPE. Problem is, HOPE is kind of dark...so I've been tempted to work outside of the Entropy Gate universe on a romantic comedy that I promised my wife I would eventually do for her...it's called Artist Knight...but, like I said, it's not EG so I'll probably not have any updates here...might need to have yet another blog for that...

Someone asked about the four books in the trilogy...er, quadrilogy...Why four...why not three or why not go the route of the left behind series and have a 147 books, or how ever many they have now...

Well, to be honest, when the book sells and if it really takes off (giving me time to write more) I do have other stories to tell. Here is the full list in chronological order of events...

(asterix implies the original 4)

ICONS
HOPE
Entropy Gate - First Gates (I wrote this two years ago during the Nov. write-athon)
Entropy Gate - Journey*
Entropy Gate - Beyond*
Entropy Gate - Repercussions*
Darkness Aftermath
Entropy Gate - Return*

Just got another rejection slip for the Entropy Gate manuscript. It was humorous in the fact that the first line of the letter was "I am sorry that this is a form letter...I hate getting them and hate sending them..." They all ready had their maximum manuscripts for the year and were no longer accepting any.

No sweat...there,s more out there...

I just realized that this site states that the entropy Gate web site is down...I'll need to change that...it's up and running now...I just submitted to 4 more publishers today. Feels good to get the book out there.

I have another blog going...if you've been to the web site, you might be aware of DARKNESS AFTERMATH...this is the Darkness Aftermath Report.

hello? (there is a long, drawn out echo...)

Finally Entropy Gate is back on track...the web site is up and running, thanks to JOHN LYONS!!! Kudo to my brother as well for all he has done...the book has been going through a severe editing thanks in part to the Scribe, Mary Lou and Anne, and thanks to Steve Laub...more on him later...

There are several new additions to the EG web site...the second half of Vow of the Sword is going to be available early next week...FINALLY! It's been done for over a year, I've just not been able to get the site going to show all of the really fantastic artwork that went into it!

Also new is the expanded page on the web site...there are still some pages that need to be worked on, but the DARKNESS AFTERMATH page is worth the look...

And speaking of D.A., there will be a blog for that as well...hopefully as soon as Saturday...

sorry it's been so long...

So where have I been?

Busy, for one, but everyone is busy. I've just been trying to prioritize my life...three jobs, two kids, a wife, two cats a dog, book covers, writing, fixing up the house, (all of the DVDs I got at Christmas), reading (two books right now, William F. Buckley's the Right Word and David Gallertner's Drawing Life - a D.G. was one of the Unibomber's victims), digging cars out of the snow, chipping away at ice...well, you get the picture...blogging hasn't been at the top of the list. Neither has the revamped web site, but that, unfortunately, is due to finances. Who knows when it'll be ready...it was supposed to be done many moons ago. When the money is there, it'll be up and running.

more later...

Happy New Year!

THIS SHOULD BE GOOD

Many months ago I had posted info about BATTLE ANGEL ALITA and said that she seemed to be like Silla from Entropy Gate. Now I read this from Darworlds.com

NEXT CAMERON PROJECT: The DARK HORIZONS website reports that James Cameron’s next project is entitled BATTLE ANGEL ALITA. “He's been scripting it for several years, the lead character will be a total CGI-character and that he's implementing some new 3D cameras that he's used on his ALIENS OF THE DEEP (documentary). It's estimated to take a year and a half to complete but no time-tables or casting has yet happened.”

BOOK COVER IS DONE

The first comissioned book cover is done and sent off to the publisher. Every time I design a new cover for someone else it gives me ideas for my own cover. Obviously when my book gets published there will be a new design. The chances that I would be asked to design my own cover is slim...it would be really interesting to see what some other artist would do with my book cover.

BOOK COVER

The first book cover is almost finished. I sent it off to the publisher and she sent it to the author. Both loved it and it was only about 80% finished. The title of the book is MINDLING - Encounters within Inner Space. Hopefully I'll have permission to post these various book covers on the web site...

Special thanks to my brother (ken) for redoing my blog! You can finally leave comments again. Its been a while since last I blogged so lets get caught up.

BOOK INFO
The book is edited, the querry letter written, the outline finished and the synopsis is almost ready to be sent out. Kristi has been finding literary agents that will accept first time authors. She has found quite a few and we are psyched.

WEB SITE INFO
The Entropy Gate Web Site redux will go up next week because we will be including it in the packet that we'll be sending out. Look for it next friday!

ART INFO
I have been commissioned to create some book covers for a publishing company and a few weeks ago I was at a party where I did about 50 caricatures in a little over four hours. Other than that I've just been sketching a lot.

MOVIES
Saw the teaser for STAR WARS. PSYCHED!!! Saw The Incredibles...a 10 if there ever was one. What a fantastic ride. It was nice taking the boys to a 'family' film that was truely a FAMILY film. The sly little winks and inuendo of the Shrek films has always bothered me. The Incredibles was clean and entertaining!

STAR WARS revisited part 2

I have talked to so many people that say the "new" Star Wars movies don't live up to the classics. Usually these are 'kids' who weren't even born during the release of "A New Hope". When you look at the first SW film it seems amazing because it had never really been done before. I remember thinking that it was the fastest moving movie I had ever seen. But then Raiders of the Lost Ark came out and that seemed even faster. But if you look at either film now, they both move rather slowly compared to any current fast paced movie. So George is now competing with current movies as well as the classic Star Wars movies and the preconceived notion of how wonderful the originals were...(and they were wonderful). Sure the dialog in the current films might seem a bit cheesy at times, but remember, a certain future Jedi once whined, "But I was going to go into Toshi Station to pick up some power converters."

What George has managed to do is create a series of fun movies (and he even admits himself that some of the fans try to make these films deeper than they are) that I can watch with my kids. Little, if no cursing. Comic book-like action/violence (come on the Road Runner and Tom and Jerry were far more violent than any Star Wars movie). And no sex...though every so often George likes to flash skin...ST 2 had a deleted scene with Amadalia showing more torso than she did in the 'gladiator' fight. ST 6 (redo) had more skin (blue green and white) showing in Jabba's entertainment hall than Princess Leah showed in her slave garb...

My only concern about episode 3 is that it could be quite dark and violent...not that I mind, but my boys might have to wait a few years.

STAR WARS...revisited part 1

When I was ten, my father took me to see Star Wars at the local theater. It had been playing for some time and the hype was explosive! I recall waiting in line (something I had not done, ever, while waiting to see a movie) outside of the theater. The opening scene fulfilled my excitement...

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS

then the opening crawl...the rebel blockade runner, the star destroyer, all of it...it all changed my life...

I decided right then and there that I would make something creative and cool with my life!

Star Wars changed me...

flash forward to present...

I bought the box set...or I should say, my fantastic wife, KRISTI, bought it for me, and I felt a youthful excitement all over again.


all of those dreams and ideas have come back in a flood of creative excitement! It is unlike anything I have ever experienced...
I am ready to plunge into my childhood dreams!


Thank you George...

part 2 coming soon...

I got sick last week...

What a week. I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat...it continued down hill from there.

Needless to say I got very little editing done. Good news is, I have less than 30 pages to go.

Re: the web site...as some have asked...the money just isn't there in the budget yet. I know it's not that much, but anyone with kids will understand how a budget can be tight. Hopefully soon it will be up.

Less than 50!

I have less than fifty pages of corrections to complete and EG - Journey will be ready to send to the final editor! Next week I start sending out letters to publishing houses. I was getting discouraged for a while there, but what was interesting was hearing that Robert Ludlum didn't write his first novel until he was forty. I'm only 37...there is still time.

What a weird day...

I woke up this morning to the sound of my wife calling me from downstairs. She was frantic and when I finally made it to the living room she was crying. Seems the local boys who have been skulking about our neighborhood vandalizing cars and stealing radios and CD players got my wife's car.

This has very little to do with Entropy Gate...in fact...it has nothing to do with it except for the fact that I would really like to toss the BOZOS through the "Gate" and see them rot on the other side...

I know, not very Christian of me, but come on, they actually stole my 6 year olds' "Veggie Tales Rocks" CD...

I tell ya, someone is going to pay...big time!

1. Star Trek influences
2. Star Wars worries
3. Two Samurai
4. and a prayer request.

1. M. L. Rigdon (friend and fellow author) gave me some great advice. For those of you who have read EG - Journey, you may have noticed that Chen seems to be competing with Captain Kirk for dangerous stunts...M pointed out to me that most commanders would not be doing that. They would send out their underlings to dispatch the bad guys and so forth. I always knew that Chen was doing these dangerous things to compete with her "legendary father", but no one else on board the ORCA seemed that worried about her actions. I have inserted two new sections where Derek Shelby confronts Chen on her actions and she tries to defend herself.
(spoiler alert)
It makes far more sense, then, that Derek would insist he go to the mystery QUANTUS ship that has been following them.

2. I've been bouncing around on the net reading various reports re: Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith. I found some interesting photos of a badly burned Anakin that were rather graphic...this, however, was not my worry. There seems to be an awful lot of chatter about the Wookies in this movie. My biggest complaint about Return of the Jedi (which originally was titled Revenge of the Jedi) was the fact that teddy bears helped wipe out the Empire. I really hope that G.L. has abandonded the "cute-factor" for this movie. If we have wookies swinging through trees, howling like Tarzan as they dispatch the bad guys, well, that would be about as dumb as "Greedo shooting first"...oh wait...that did happen...

3. Saw THE LAST SAMURAI. Loved it! Top notch. Read THE SAMURAI by Shusaku Endo. Loved it! Read also SILENCE, by Endo. Fantastic books!

4. Say a prayer for my Uncle Jerry and his family in Florida. U. J. has left comments on my blog many times so some of you may know who I'm talking about.

WOW!!!!

We were driving through the country on our way to drop off the boys last Saturday in Decatur when Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" - "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" (performed by the OPERA BABES) blared out of the CD player in the car. What followed was an inspiring 3 minutes of fantastic mental images that played out like previews for a movie...the movie? ENTROPY GATE - BEYOND. It was so cool...I closed my eyes and listened to the music (for those of you who have no idea what music I'm talking about, it's the music they used in Exaliber and and almost every sword movie since. But what was amazing was that I saw scenes unfolding in my mind as if I were sitting in a theater watching the previews.

I am going to be published! Failure is not an option!

Found some bizzare and yet styrangely interesting images here...http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/journal.asp...

Also, Entropy Gate - Journey is almost finished (with the re-re-re-re-re-editing). Probably about a week and a half away. I'm looking for five volunteers to read (or if you've already read it) re-read it. I can't send hard copy, but I will email the manuscript to you if you promise feed back.

Rain and entropy and other stuff...

This whole rain thing has become rather interesting for me...several people have left comments re. their enjoyment of rain. Perhaps there is a group of people out there that truly are happiest when clouds blot out the sun and rain falls. It is interesting to think about. The news people always refer to bad weather as the sort that includes rain...maybe some of us think of "six days of sun" as too much...maybe that's okay to call six days of sun, "bad weather"...regardless, my first "novel" LIGHTS IN THE SHADOWS had rain every day (okay, I stole the idea from SE7EN-though not intentionally) until the last day - the climax - when the bad guys get their just deserts and suddenly the sun is out. Okay...I'm rambling.

Tomorrow I'll have something better...more interesting to say...promise.

hey, sorry about the AOL, site with the SCREAM thiefs...here's what's up...someone stole the scream and the Madona (both by Edvard Munch) from a gallery in Oslo...crazy, man!

Now, with regards to Entropy Gate stuff...I've actually got a painting in the studio that I'm proud of (as of late I have been painting pets, lighthouses and landscapes...for cash...) This, however, is actually art. It is really coming together and I'll have a set of images when the EG website is up and running...stay tuned...

And then there's this...

Some stole the SCREAM!

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040822073209990016

okay...the new stupid banner is covering the top of my blog site title...any clues as to how to remedy this?

Rain and more...

I recieved a lot of private (aka annon) feedback from people regarding my obsession with rain. I'm curious to know if people are sending annon. posts or if there is once again trouble at blogspot central...anyway, I'm working like crazy to get EG - Journey edited, but what amazes me is how one person can just suck the creativity out of you...

prayers and encouragement accepted here!

RAIN MAN?

Okay, what's going on with me? Ever since I can remember I've always liked storms. As a child I use to watch storms with my dog Mindy. I enjoyed rowing our small boat on my paren't pond during high winds and thunderous cloud bursts. I even bought a CD of rain storms anout eight years ago. When I didn't have a TV after college, my most entertaining evenings were those spent in my small, one room apartment watching thurderstorms. So...it seems I have this thing for storms...One of my favorite scenes in Babylon 5 is when Sheridan is telling Dellen that as a young man in the academy he couldn't sleep until his father sprayed water on the roof from a hose so that it sounded like rain...my Entropy Gate stories have a great deal of rain in them as well, especially Entropy Gate - Beyond...

During my last year at work I found that I was depressed most of the time...on those rare ocassions when it rained I actually was able to come up out of my depression...now, strangely, it seems like extended periods of sunshine depress me.

Yeah, I know, weirdo! Or maybe not. Thoughts? Input? Suggestions?

Redesign almost done...

The redesign of my web site (you'll recall I lost the original redesign when my brief case was stolen from the University) is almsot complete. Just a few areas to tweek and it's good to go. I'm still looking for a less expensive way to get it going, however. I guess $30.00 / a month isn't horrible, but I think there should be a better way...ideas? suggestions?

STAR WARS EP. III photos...

YIKES! This could really rock! Check it out at

http://internapse.proboards6.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&num=1086899556

MASTERS SMASHTERS...

It is amazing how little a masters in art matters...I just got hired to teach some classes and my masters degree keeps me only slightly above McDonalds wages. Should have been an engineer!!!

Ps. Yo, Peter Parker...when you post such eloquence, don't make it private...I agreed with your assessment.

Delays, delays, delays...

Several things are keeping me from getting the EG web site up...number one is cash...which could be here soon...number two is the theft of my briefcase from the University of Saint Francis. Someone walked off with it and my disks that had the EG web site. NICE! I'm reworking it and hope to be able to get it going soon. Editing is delayed! Art work is delayed! But God has a plan...just wondering what it is...

CASTING CALL...

Okay...some time ago I had a casting call for Entropy Gate if it were to be made into a movie...I just saw an image of Jane Balder (you who are of my age might recall her as the alien lizard DIANE in the mini series V). She would be perfect as Senator Grace Monical.

Also, for Michael...(I've always struggled with who could play him)...but how about the actor who played Wesley in the ANGEL series...

hmmm...for some odd reason I can't seem to create a link...I really don't like the "new and improved" blogger...

so, if you have no idea who Wesley is, check out a few of the episodes from Angel, season 2 and 3 or for a look see go to http://marysue.altervista.org/wesleywhindamprice.htm


gonna work on that link thingy...

UPDATE...

Still editing...
Jake has finished Vow of the Sword part three and it is great! What started out as a one and a half page idea has turned into over 100 pages of black and white graphic novel coolness. As soon as the web site is up again, it will be there.

Now, about the web site...I'm not to pleased with the idea of spending 30 bucks a month for my site...any better deals out there?

Also, I have two models lined up for digital posters of Darkness Aftermath...should be exciting...more on that later.

Entropy in society...

I heard Entropy described to me once like this...if you throw a deck of cards into the air, they scatter and fly about and land in random areas, not in any systematic order. Michael Mooron is such a case. In his movies he has thrown a deck of cards in the air and they are landing. As they land, the masses (both intellectual and cow-like who desperately wish that all conservatives, Christians and gun owners would simply dissolve) see where the falling cards land as some sort of ordered, planned, factual event (chaos perceived as order...lie perceived as truth). Since his movies and books are comprised of exaggerations, falsehoods, outright lies and immature whining, and yet are presented and viewed as fact, the public is being fed a sort of chaos that they perceive as order. They so desperately want to believe that everything Moore says is true that they dismiss even the most obvious errors and lies and thus are engaged in what I believe is social entropy.

For a great article debunking Moore's Bowling mockumentary, go here.

A few quick updates...

Job - Looks like I'm still working with the JESTERS theater program...a few other jobs are slowly creeping my way as well...

Writing - Behind schedule...way behind!

Art - I'm happy with a lot of what I've been working on, however, I have recently come across a deal that is rather easy, though time consuling, and will pay well...drawing people's pets! I will NOT be posting images of those.

more soon...

so...where is the new and improved web site?

Several things have happened that have kept me from getting the new site up and running...though technically I did say it would launch in July...not July 1...first off is money...it's tight right now! Second, the University cleaned out my office and my files! Fortunately they backed everything up and I now have my images for the web site...third, is money...fourth is time and fith is money...but fear not...I believe that the job situation will improve by tuesday!

As far as my writing goes, I am editing (still) Entropy Gate - Journey (what a long freakin' book) and I'm working on Darkness Aftermath. Got lots of new artwork too...which, btw, I sold two paintings recently!Also, I have designed a book cover for M. L. Rigdon's new novel "Beyond the Dark Moutains"...hopefully I'll get that image up soon.

TIME LINE

I decided (for the fans) and for my own sanity, to create a time line of the Entropy Gate stories and spinoffs...

ENTROPY GATE ICONS - 1510
ENTROPY GATE FIRST GATE - 1985-2003
ENTROPY GATE VOW OF THE SWORD - 2120
ENTROPY GATE HOPE - 217?
ENTROPY GATE JOURNEY - 2185
ENTROPY GATE LAB BORN - 2185
ENTROPY GATE BEYOND - 2186 (march)
ENTROPY GATE REPERCUSSIONS 2186 (October)
ENTROPY GATE Sisterhood of the Techno Tango 2187
ENTROPY GATE RETURN - 2210
ENTROPY GATE DARKNESS AFTERMATH - 2367


ps. the web site is almost ready...

INSPIRED!

Yes, after quitting my job, I have been so inspire to create art work and write, it makes me realize how unhealthy my job really was. Entropy Gate - Darkness Aftermath is rockin'! I have about ten new drawings that will be posted on the relaunched website in July...they are all based on characters and settings in the D.A. universe. For the first time in my writing-life I am creating a stroy based entirely on the drawings that I am producing. Usually I produce drawings and paintings of characters and locations in the story to help me understand the 'look' of the person or scene. Now, however, I am writing totally on the drawings that I am producing...it is a fantastic feeling and I'm totally pumped. That on top of the fact that I am about five days from copmpleting the final edit of Entropy Gate - Journey! Just about ready to hit the real world with it and start looking for an agent! WHOO HOO!

Teaser...

ENTROPY GATE - DARKNESS AFTERMATH

prolog

Entropy Gate
Darkness Aftermath

Chapter one

Rain falls. It falls and falls and crashes through the rafters. It eats away at the streets and sidewalks. It gouges the ground with an unrelenting fervor.
Rain falls every day. Each and every day the thunder crashes and the clouds spew out their innards. It just never stops. No. That isn’t true. I’m twenty-nine years old. In my entire life I have experienced two days without rain. Now granted, it wasn’t two full days. It was three hours the first day. Strangely enough, it was on my eleventh birthday. And then it stopped for an hour on my sixteenth birthday.
Rain falls. And those two days of respite, I could not enjoy the sun. I felt a strange warmth on my skin, but there was nothing to see. I am blind. We all are. Marrick, Delt, Father, all of us. Every single one of us on this world is without sight. Delt says that the radiation caused our blindness. Father says its God’s wrath because of who we are.
Rain falls and we can’t even see it. I have never seen color or light or rain. I am told, by the elders, that rain falls from clouds. Clouds are in the sky, which is somewhere above me. But how high, I can only guess. Seven generations have lived here. Here, of course, is Home.
I’m going to miss Delt.
And Marrick.
And Father.
And the rest. I’ll miss them all.
As I walked through the deep mud of the central street today, I came across a body. I felt his face, his hands, his clothes. It was Delt. I am certain.
They’re dead. All of them. I hope to be able to explain why they died. Why so many died at my hands. Why it all had to happen. And I hope and pray that God will find it in his heart to forgive me. I tried to do what was right, but in the end, it came down to the sword. It came down to the blades. I tried to save them, but I failed.
Rain falls. It falls and washes the blood from my hands.
My name, as it was given, is Sister Gwyn. I am told that the title of Sister was given to holy women on Earth. I have no knowledge of Earth or of true holiness. What I did was not an act of God, but an act of survival.
Rain falls and I realize that I have rarely known the feeling of dryness. Except in my heart. My heart is dry. Dry now that it has all ended.
Rain falls, but it can not wash away my guilt.
This is the darkness aftermath and I am the survivor…

I did it...turned in my resignation...I already have three possibilities and an interview tomorrow...GOD ROCKS! However, that doesn't mean you should stop praying.

And in Entropy Gate news...

The Website IS getting relaunched in July! Hopefully Jake will be done with part 3 of Vow...

Also, I have a lot of new paintings from Darkness Aftermath chapter on of ICON!

Update...'bout time...

Here's what's been going on in the Entropy Gate world...I've been re-editing, as you no-doubt know...but I've also been in my studio every night for the past gazillion evenings (starting at 10:00 pm after the last of the family crashes) working on two shows...show number one is at the Firefly (a small coffee shop with a few good areas to show some smaller works) and the Mocha Room (my fave haunt in Decatur...my fifth show there). Firefly (coffee shop, not the Joss Wheadon show) has four landscape paintings and six Entropy Gate images (plus a drawing of my wife). The EG stuff is from two spin-off stories...Asylum and Sisterhood of the Technotango...

WHAT? You might ask...well, as of July, the Entropy Gate web site should be up and running and all should be made clear...

Mocha room hosts (gasp) flowers...freakin' irises! Yes, I sold out. The lovely and wonderful Kristi seduced me into painting irises...I only pray that they sell...

And now...the good stuff...

I hope to launch new things in July when the web site comes back on line...

1. Jake's third chapter in the Vow of the Sword series
2. More EG artwork
3. Entropy Gate - Icons (more about that later)
4. Entropy Gate - DARKNESS AFTERMATH...now this I am pumped about...I have a lot of new artwork based on this spin off...I can't wait til July to reveal it...but I must...anyone requesting info or images might just be lucky enough to get a special delivery!

Later!

I think that T must return to the classics and read more Asimov...I'd like to see how far the movie I ROBOT deviates from the book...the movie looks great and I recall reading part of the book back in high school...

Tonight I'll post some edits!

Some one stop him...Solo shot first!

Just got this from the Dark Worlds web site re: Lucas and the no-longer "original" Star Wars trilogy...

The new release will not include the three films as they were originally released in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but will instead feature the revised versions Lucas released to theaters in the ‘90s, featuring substantially altered effects shots as well as a certain amount of narrative tinkering. These versions were met with mixed response by the fan community (scenes that had been in the original features for decades were now gone), but they proved an enormous success at the box office. In fact, there are rumors that the DVDs will feature further revisions of the revisions from the ’97 release.

let's hope the rumors prove false...

Also, in EG news...I've been getting a lot of editing done and am very happy with the new feel of the story. It reads better, faster and seems a lot tighter. Should be posting a before and after soon.

Last words on the Passion...for now at least...

I really do need to get back to the purpose of this blog which is to update people on the status of all things Entropy Gate(ish)...but first, one last comment about the movies and then the update. First off, thanks Uncle Jerry for the input! Second, let me print a quote from our news paper last week..."Mel Gibson isn't the only one with a religious film this season. Mickey Mouse has one, too. Touchstone Picture's long-awaited "The Alamo" hits neighborhood theaters today." Isn't anyone concerned about the anti-Hispanic riots that are sure to be spawned by this violent film? The newspaper article alone shows the brave (Billy Bob Thorton) Davy Crocket fighting a faceless, no doubt, stereotypical Mexican soldier.

Okay...that feels better.

ps. I do plan to see Alamo and have heard it's quite good.

Now, on to EG stuff. We got hit hard tax wise from the book! So, any chance of EG 2 being self-published is slim to none. But, fear not, those of you who have been begging to read the second installment. Plans are in the works to aid you!

Re-re-re-(whatever)-re-editing of EG-Journey is going well and it really seems like it should be a much tighter book. I am quite excited about the way it's progressing and am thinking about posting two sections (one pre-re-re-re-re-editing and one post re-re...well, you get the idea).

The seven-chapter-short story Entropy Gate ICONS will be completed soon as will the sound track. If all goes as planned we hope to have the web site back up in a few months.

The Passion...part two...or, it's about time I blogged.

No excuses...let's get into it.

Violence. Yes, it was very violent. Should it have been? I think so. From an artists point of view I have seen so many paintings of Jesus on the Cross where he looks so unhurt as to be comfortable. Was it too much though? No. Did I flinch? YES! (the only scene I couldn't watch was the nailing of the feet) Yet, what was amazing was that at the point where I felt it was almost too much, the scene would change and we'd see Christ washing the deciples feet or his sermon on the mount. The scene changes came at just the right moment.

(interestingly enough, it is the first R rated movie my mother has ever seen...)

Several people have complained that it was too violent, yet Kill Bill and a number of other films are drenched in blood and guts and violence...what stood out to me was the fact that all of this violence was directed at one man...and everyone was guilty.

I think that had the violence been toned down, there would have been less impact...which, uh, is sort of stating the obvious.

I think the real problem I had with the violence in the film was how certain people reacted to it.

Case in point, one of the talk radio guys was griping about the R rating and said that since he had seen "Silence of the Lambs" he swore off R rated movies...yet, he said that he made an exception when it came to "Schindler's List" because that was "an important movie".

I think that "the Passion" is important, yet I still have a hard time refering to it as a movie. I see movies to be entertained...even if it is an informative movie, I still sit there and watch for interesting camera moves, special effects, sound tracks, etc... Not so with Passion... it felt like an event, a meditation. Perhaps upon second viewing or when I see it on DVD my opinions will change...

Passion and such...

So...I've been away from blogging for a while and I've hardly visited any other blogs...

The Jesters have performed their two shows at the university and we're getting ready for the big show at the Embassy...I'll blog about that later. What I really want to talk about is something I have been excited about and mentioning and defending for a year now...

The Passion!

I finally saw it last week...last Wed. actually and there are several issues that I want address...1) the Mel Gibson hates Jews charge 2) the violence 3) the criticism and 4) the movie as a meditation

1)
First off (and I pointed this out many times) most of the charges that the movie would promote hatred of Jews came from people who had not yet seen the movie. When I left the theater I felt no anger towards Jews...in fact, the only ones I felt anger towards were the Roman soldiers who flogged and tortured Jesus. I actually came away from the movie with the feeling that the priests who were demanding the death of Jesus were feeling that he was truly a threat to their belief in God and and their way of worship. I felt a sympathy for them (spoiler alert...though a very small one). At the end, when the curtain in the temple was ripped, one of the high priests broke down and cried...now, was that because of the curtain ripping and the temple being damaged...or...was it because he realized what had truly happened...

To say that the movie should not be seen because it would create hatred of Jews would be like saying that "Saving Private Ryan" should not be shown because it would generate hatred of Germans or that "Last of the Mohicans" should not be shown because it would generate hatred of French and Indians (native Americans for the PC crowd). Recently at our local Art House Movie Theater, there was a movie called "The Sisters of..." well, the name escapes me, but here's the run down. It was a "true-story" movie about nuns in Ireland abusing young girls. Perhaps this film, which was praised by local college profs and critics, should not be seen due to the fact that it might generate hatred towards nuns.

When you break it down, I believe it comes to this...1. Mel Gibson made an incredible film that depicts the final events in Jesus' life prior to his crucifixion from a christian standpoint...unlike "Last Temptation of Christ". 2. The movie has ticked off a lot of non-Christians (and regrettably some Christians as well) and they do not want to see it become a hit (sorry...too late). 3. People don't want the movie seen because there is TRUTH to learned, discussed or meditated on. 4. If you hate Jews, this movie won't incite you to kill any because you probably won't waste your time watching it in the first place.

next blog...Violence and Blood...Should Christians see an R rated movie?

Maybe some good Star Wars news here...

Just found this regarding the next installment...

So why haven't I blogged lately?

Life has been rather chaotic lately and probably will be until the end of March. I'll be shutting down the ENTROPY GATE web site at the end of Feb. due to my chaotic schedule and the cost of keeping it up. I'll probably revamp it all and re-launch the site this summer. I will maintain the blog and try to blog more regularly.

FINALLY A SALE

I am displaying art in two locations this month...the MOCHA ROOM in DECATUR, IN. and ARTLINK in down town FORT WAYNE, IN. The landscapes are at the Mocha Room (where I had a sale 3 days into the show) while two of my Entropy Gate peices are at the Art Link Gallery. Much to my surprise, I recived a check in the mail this morning. One of the EG works sold! Wahoo!

So whatever happened to Entropy Gate - Beyond?

It's still there...or here...or whereever...but it is alive and kicking...I know, I know, I had said that it would be ready in Dec. 2003...well, that was before my job description EXPANDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Regardless, I am working towards re-editing EG-Journey and that will be quite the task. But what about all of us who are dying to know what happened to Michael, Silla, Mitchum and Derek? Hold fast...I'm working on a way you can get BEYOND without buying the book...be calm, wait...check out the recent artwork on the main web page...

MATRIX REVOLUTIONS DVD specs

Warner Home Video has announced the specs for the upcoming release of THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS DVD. The concluding film in the MATRIX trilogy will arrive in stores on April 6 as a two-disc set retailing for $29.95. It will be available in both fullscreen and widescreen anamorphic versions.

Among the bonus features:

* An English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There will also be English, Spanish and French subtitles.

* Seven feaurettes ranging from looks at the film’s CGI work to its fight scenes.

* A look at upcoming THE MATRIX ONLINE video game.

* 3D timeline for the entire MATRIX saga, including the films, THE ANIMATRIX and the ENTER THE MATRIX video game.

* Stills, trailers and DVD-ROM features.

(from DarkWorlds)

Looks good!

Vacation is over...

And though it was theoretically four weeks long, the contract stated that we were to return on the 2nd. However, I was already back and had spent the first week of the vacation painting backdrops for someone else's musical...Smokey Joe's Cafe.

Consequently, due to the backdrops and some last minute student registration I had to do, I did not get my drawing to the level I wanted it to be at. We had to have the work into the gallery by 5:00 on Thursday...I got there right at 10 till. Needless to say, some people (who shall remain nameless) were given extensions and were allowed to bring their art work in at a much later date...hmmm...

Anyway, there is a beginning sketch called ICON on the sketchbook page of the gallery. I'll post an image of the finished piece along with an explanation later this week.