FFF Part VI --- Digging Deeper

WHERE WE LEFT OFF:  Staci and crew checked out the site where Lisa's house once stood and found very little except for an odd little rag doll. They're yelled at by the sheriff and they interview the mayor. Now it's time to hunker down in the library and do some research.

WHERE WE PICK UP:

The gang arrives at the library. They try to enter with the camera running, but the head librarian stops them and orders Leon and his camera to stay out. Staci seems perturbed by this, but she comes up with a plan: Ray and Bethany will go into the library and do some digging. In the meantime, Staci and Leon will go out into the town and shoot more footage, maybe conduct some interviews with the locals. Ray and Bethany agree to this. When Ray seems particularly eager to get Bethany alone, Staci has to remind her that they're here to work. Bethany agrees, but she giggles and Ray pulls her into the library.

Staci looks at Leon (or the camera, as it were) and apologizes. "I'll work on her, I promise."

The footage cuts to the small park and playground that Veronica was at. Staci and Leon interview several of the local citizens, mostly young mothers at the park with their kids, about life in Garretsburg. Almost all of them have glowing things to say about the town, about how friendly it is, how they all pull together when they have to. When Staci presses them about the mayor, the interviewees seem to get a bit more nervous. They're still all smiles, but they don't appear happy to talk to them anymore.

Eventually, they return to the hotel to see what Ray and Bethany have found.

It turns out that Ray actually did some of the work himself and found some items of interest. He dug through the old newspapers and found out that over the last fifteen years or so, Garretsburg has had a string of odd disappearances. Every three years or so, someone goes missing in town.

"Why do you suppose no one outside of Garretsburg has noticed?" Staci asks.

"Because they're not all the same," Ray says. "In one case, it was a teenage girl and the sheriff claimed that she ran away from home. Before that, a local farmer was supposedly murdered by a man passing through town. Before that, a little boy went walking through the woods and never came back."

"So why do you think they're connected?" Leon asks from behind the camera (and it's obvious he's not happy).

"Because like I said, there's a pattern. These happen every three years or so. More specifically, there's a period of 1,008 days between each disappearance."

There's a long pause. "1,008 days? You figured that out?" Leon asks.

Bethany ruffs Ray's hair. "What can I say? My baby has a head for numbers."

Ray looks ready to pounce on Bethany right there, but Staci stops them. "Did you guys find anything else?"

"One thing. After the little boy disappeared, the local Catholic priest resigned from his parish. He claimed that there was some sort of cult that meets in the nearby woods and they're the ones responsible for the disappearance. Later on, the diocese claimed he had to leave due to 'mental exhaustion,' and since then, it looks like people have decided it was his fault the boy disappeared. But I don't know. Think it's worth going over to the church to check it out?"

Staci smiles. "I think that's our next step."

And that's where we're going to break for this week, folks. Come back next time. Trust me, you won't want to miss it.

Darth Plagueis

I'm a sucker for Star Wars books, especially when they branch out into the ancillary characters and plots. For example, tonight I spotted a book called Into the Void, a book about the first Jedi and I immediately sat up and decided I had to read it someday. So when I saw a book called Darth Plagueis, which tells the story of Darth Sidious's master. I figured there'd be a good chance that we'd finally learn the story of Palpatine himself., something that I've been curious about for a while. I actually had an idea about that a few years back. So how did James Luceno do?

Well, it was okay.

The story picks up as Darth Plagueis kills his master, Darth Tenebrous. By doing so, he becomes the Sith Master in need of an apprentice. After all, a thousand years before the original Star Wars trilogy, the Sith Lord Darth Bane crafted his Rule of Two: there will only be two Sith, one to embody the power, the other to crave it. Plagueis finally settles on a young noble from Naboo named Palpatine. He is surprised at how powerful Palpatine is in the Force.

Plagueis realizes that Palpatine can help him achieve his fondest wish: Palpatine will be the one to control the Galactic Republic, and he will be the power behind the throne once he has figured out how to achieve immortality through the dark side. And so we go on a journey through darkness as Plagueis and Sidious position themselves and their forces to topple the Jedi and bring about the rule of the Sith.

On paper, this should be a fun story. And, in some ways, it is. Luceno dangles some interesting tidbits about what the Sith have done to prepare for their revenge. And it was interesting to watch as Plagueis teaches Sidious the secrets of the dark side. But in the end, this book dragged a bit. Plagueis is a little too fond of long speeches. And what seems to be the most important event in the story is glossed over in its entirety. Kind of disappointing.

The one positive I'll say is that this book does help unpack some of the dense and strange backstory of Episode I. I can honestly say I understand it a little better now. And that's not too bad.

FFF Part V --- Exploring Garretsburg

WHERE WE LEFT OFF: Staci and Leon have been joined by Bethany and her jerk of a boyfriend, Ray. They've driven from their college to Garretsburg and checked into a motel.

WHERE WE PICK UP:

The next morning, the crew goes back to the vacant lot where Lisa's house once stood. Bethany whines about why they're there, filming an empty lot for no apparent reason. Leon replies that they're getting B-roll footage for Lisa's interview. He pans the camera across the field. There isn't much to see, mostly just dying grass. We see Staci and Bethany kicking through the grass. Then Ray shouts that he's found something. Tucked into some scraggly bushes is a strange ragdoll, looking like it was made out of a black towel and tied together to make arms and legs. Ray wonders out loud if it's a clue. Leon snorts and says it's unlikely.

"What are you kids doing?" a voice shouts.

The camera turns to reveal a sheriff's car parked next to the lot. An older gentleman, maybe in his late fifties, is leaning out of the window.

"We're filming a documentary," Staci said.

"You got a permit for that, right?" It's clear that the sheriff knows that they don't. "You go down to City Hall and get one, got it?"

The camera shuts off, only to turn on again in City Hall. Staci motions for Leon to keep quiet and they wait outside a door. We can hear snippets of an argument through the door, someone saying something about how "they won't find anything, don't worry."

Then the Mayor exits the room. He too is an older gentleman in his late 50s and almost appears to be "everyone's grandpa." He seems a bit surprised to see the students and the camera, but he plasters on a smile and thanks them for coming. He says he's already started the work on drawing up the permits and if they have any questions, they can come by and talk to him.

Staci brings up what happened to Lisa's house. The Mayor is still all smiles and replies that it was clearly an unfortunate accident, one that caused Lisa's dad to overreact. They go down to the clerk's window and get the permits. The Mayor agrees to meet with Staci and Leon the next day for an interview.

The footage cuts to that interview. The Mayor is seated behind his desk. Pictures of Garretsburg hang on the wall behind him. Staci asks questions about the property outside of town, the election, and the fire. The Mayor explains that the property is owned by the city and the person who donated it stipulated that the city had to hold on to it. That's why they couldn't sell it to Lisa's dad. As for the rumors of a rigged election, the Mayor denied any wrongdoing. He suggested that Lisa's dad was simply paranoid and jumping at everything. The fire was a tragic event but coincidental to it all.

Once the interview is over, he ushers Staci and Leon out of his office. Leon asks what they'll do next. Staci looks upset. She stares at the Mayor's office door and says, "He's lying. I know he is. C'mon, let's get the others and head to the library for some research."

So what will they find? Tune in next week to find out!

Sin and Grace in Boston

So last night, as I was thinking about going to bed, my younger son woke up and started crying for Mama. Well, Mama was sound asleep and I wanted her to stay that way, so I got my son and snuggled him by the computer. That meant that I had to poke around and find something quiet to do. I checked some of the blogs I read for new content (and, at midnight, I didn't find any; go figure). I tried to play Plants vs. Zombies with the sound off, but that woke him up and he excitedly said, "Zombies!" And finally I clicked over to Twitter.

And I saw a slew of tweets about a dead police officer and an explosive chase in Massachusetts.

Seeing as it was midnight, I wasn't about to turn on the TV. For one thing, I knew it'd wake up my son. For another, I knew that in the chaos of the moment, there'd be a lot of speculation and very few facts. So I kept rocking and snuggling until he went to sleep.

I had to get up early this morning to shovel my driveway thanks to the mid-April snowstorm Minnesota experienced. Before I could get outside, my wife told me that the news was reporting that the people involved in the shootout and the car chase were suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, that one of them was in custody (we didn't know that he had died at the time) and the other one was still at large. I nodded and went to get my boots on.

As I did, I started thinking about that bombing suspect and what I wanted for him. And I knew what I wanted. Pain. Death. Retribution. He had attacked our people, and he should experience some of the hell that he put his victims, their families, and our whole nation through.

But then, as I started clearing away the new fallen snow, a different thought invaded my mind. One that made me uncomfortable. One that made me rethink my initial, visceral reaction.

Is that really what a Christian should want?

I kept shoveling but, as I did, I wrestled with this idea. These men, whoever they were (at the time, I didn't know that they were brothers, I didn't know that they were Chechen,  I knew very little), were evil, wicked men. Why else would they have planted those bombs? If anyone deserves "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" treatment, it's these despicable vermin.

And yet, I couldn't get away from that thought.

Is this really what I should want as a Christian?

It's hard for me to admit and even harder for me to say. I fully expect people to disagree vehemently with me. But didn't Christ say that eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, is the opposite of the way we should be living? Didn't He say something about turning the other cheek? About praying for our enemies and forgiving them?

I know it's hard to do. I love bearing a grudge and I'm particularly fond of seeing people I don't like getting what they deserve. But if I am a Christ-follower, if I am a Christ-imitator, then my reaction to Boston is not to revel in the death and destruction of sinful human beings. Instead, it should be to offer forgiveness and hope that the grace of God can turn two lost and fallen men into children of God.

Does that mean that I think that they should get off the hook? Not at all. While the cross of Christ may erase our eternal punishment, we still have to face the consequences of our sins in the here and now. And as St. Paul says in Romans 13, the government does bear the sword for the punishment of evildoers. But I'm not the one holding the sword.

Instead, I think I'll do the following instead and I invite you to join me:

• To continue to pray for and support the victims and families of these men
• To pray for the families of the bombers as well. I suspect that they're hurting and confused as well. If they're not, I'll pray that they come to see the error of their ways.
• To pray for the bomber who has yet to be caught. Not only will I pray for him to be found before he can hurt anyone else, but I also plan to pray for him to see the error of his ways and repent as well.
• To make sure that I don't fall for "guilt by association," that I won't treat anyone who might share these brothers' worldview any differently than I would want to be treated.
• To pray for peace in our fractured world, to join with the groaning creation in the ancient cry, "Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly."

Organ Trail

Every now and then, I find an interesting video game on Steam. Usually it's an indie game and I love buying those games, if for no other reason than to encourage the indies to keep working.

Well, the other day, I got excited, because I thought that I spotted an old favorite on Steam: Oregon Trail. Who here remembers Oregon Trail? When I was in elementary school, I remember how excited I got plopping down in front of the Apple II and trying to get my little band of pioneers from Independence, MO, to the promised land of Oregon. Yeah, I usually wound up wiping out due to dysentery or the final trek down the river, but it was a lot of fun!

You can imagine my surprise when I thought I spotted Oregon Trail on Steam. It even looked the same as the Oregon Trail I used to play. So I clicked on over and then stopped.

Organ Trail? What on Earth?

As it turns out, I had stumbled on a silly little indie game in which a group of survivors have to travel from Washington, D.C., to a promised land on the west coast. Load up a station wagon, gather your provisions, and head on out. Just hope that nobody gets bit by a zombie or you might have to put them down.

So let's talk about what the game gets right. First of all, it's got the feel of the original 8-bit version of Oregon Trail, down to the awful graphics. You have to buy your original supplies, like food, ammo, med kits, and spare tires and mufflers and batteries for your car. You can set your pace and your rationing and hope for the best.

Just like in the original game, you can stop from time to time to scavenge for more supplies, just like how you had to hunt for game in the original. Only this time, you're scooping up magically appearing wallets and grocery bags and using your trusty rifle to shoot the shuffling zombies that come after you. Plus there's plenty of silly humor in the game, some nods to the original that had me smiling.

But not everything is kosher in this game. The combat system is a major disappointment.

Look, I get it. The game developers didn't want this one to get too easy. But using the mouse to aim the gun is too much of a hit-or-miss proposition, and usually, it's a miss. Instead of putting the cursor between the zombie and myself, to aim, I have to put the cursor behind my avatar. The only way I could reasonably aim my gun was to draw a line from the zombie target to myself, but there were still times when my hand would twitch and suddenly, my character would turn 270-degrees and I'd be facing the wrong way, unable to turn around quick enough to shoot the zombie. Because of this glitch, I haven't even come close to reaching the end of the game. And all of this is on easy! I shudder to think what would happen on the harder difficulties.

So do I regret getting this game? Not at all. It is fun. I just wish I had a better shot at beating it.

Rapture

If you've been around my blog long enough, you've discovered that I have a thing for video games. That's especially true for games that come with a good story. And if you're looking for some great stories in video games, you don't have to look any further than Bioshock (and in this case, I'm referring to the first two in the franchise; I haven't finished playing Biohosck: Infinite just yet, but I think I might be close).

Part of what makes the Bioshock franchise so engaging is the setting and the larger-than-life characters the player encounters throughout the games. I still remember the first moment I saw the underwater city of Rapture looming up on the bottom of the ocean floor in the first game. I still remember the shock I felt at The Twist in the middle of the first game (and no, I'm not dropping any spoilers here). I still remember how excited I was to go back for the second game.

So when I saw that a man named John Shirley was tasked in creating a book about Rapture and its denizens, I wanted to see what he put together. I got a copy of BioShock: Rapture and finally got around to reading it.

The book is pretty much what it advertises. We get to go along as industrialist Andrew Ryan envisions his objectivist utopia and builds it on the floor of the North Atlantic. We get to watch as all the characters we meet in the games come to live in Rapture. And then we get to watch as it all falls apart: as war breaks out between Ryan's forces and an upstart who wants to rip it all away, as Dr. Sofia Lamb tries her best to create a collective out of what should have been competition, as so many little girls are turned into Little Sisters, paired with the hulking Big Daddies.

I really wanted to like this book. I mean, I really loved the games. The first one, especially, kept me up late one night wrestling with philosophical questions of how much free will a person really has (and really, isn't that what a good story is supposed to do?). I guess those high expectations translated over to the book.

Don't get me wrong. Shirley does an admirable job weaving a very convoluted timeline into a whole (I've often gotten confused about how all the events of the two games fit together). And I think he does a pretty good job capturing the personalities of the games.

But after reading it all, I think I know what it was missing: a true through-line. We needed a main character to follow and care about. There are a lot of people that I felt sorry for while reading the book. But we pop around Rapture so much throughout the book that it was hard to really care about any of them. Shirley almost does that with Bill McDonagh, but we don't spend nearly enough time with him to really come to care.

So this was an admirable try, but it fell short of the greatness of the games.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find out what happens in the flying city of Columbia. Ah, Bioshock, you're so much fun!

FFF Intermission

Sadly, there won't be a Freaky Fun Friday post today. Unfortunately, it got bumped to the low priority list and I don't have anything to share. But it will be back next week!

I hope.

Until then, I leave you with a question: what's your favorite found footage movie?

Wordcount Wednesday

Remember that goal I set for myself last week? Where I said I hoped (as impossible as it might seem) to have Failstate #3 done by the end of April.

Yeah, I have a feeling that's not going to happen.

This past week, I did my best, I really did! But I was kind of stuck. I only was able to write 7,948 words this week. Granted, that is a little more than last week, but it's not going to be enough. My grand total is now at 36,665 words. Again, not too bad, but not good enough, especially since I finally introduced a character that should have been in the book 10,000 words ago.

Ah, well. That's what editing is for. All I can do is say, "Onward and upward!"

Captives

Back a few weeks ago, at the release party for Failstate: Legends, I was asked who my favorite authors were. And I said that one of them was Jill Williamson. Granted, Jill is a friend of mine, so I might be a little biased, but when I read books like her latest, Captives, I am forced to conclude that no, I'm not being biased in the slightest.

In the not-too-distant future, society has broken down due to a plague. A lot of folks have grouped together in what was once known as Colorado, in a major city called "The Safe Lands." In the Safe Lands, everyone is permitted to pursue pleasure. As a matter of fact, that's what's expected of everyone. Live for today, focus only on yourself and what you want, and hope that it all works out.

Only it's not working out too well. Everyone is infected with something called the "thin plague." Worse, it's a disease that is passed on to any children born in the Safe Land. Thanks to the plague, that isn't many. The Safe Lands desperately needs an infusion of new citizens, uninfected citizens, who might be able to produce a new generation of citizens.

Enter Glenrock, a tiny village not too far from the Safe Lands itself. A few dozen people live a relatively simple life there, having rejected the Safe Lands and their decadent lifestyle. That's not to say that it's perfect. A young man named Mason, for example, is being forced into a loveless marriage by his father. Mason's younger brother Omar is constantly bullied by their father and the others of the village for being artistic rather than a hunter. So it's little wonder when Omar strikes a deal with the Safe Lands: he's willing to voluntarily join their society and he'll try to convince the others to come with.

Only the Safe Landers don't want to risk it. Enforcers enter Glenrock and kidnap most of the women and bring them into the city, along with Mason and Omar. Soon the people of Glenrock find themselves trapped inside the walls of the Safe Lands, unable to leave.

Will they be able to survive and escape? Or will the seductive call of the Safe Lands condemn them all?

This was a great book. In the interest of fairness, I did see an early copy of the manuscript, so I kind of knew where the story was going. But it was great to come back to the story now and see how Jill put it all together. I absolutely loved Mason. He's by far my favorite character and I'm rooting for him in future books. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the good news is, that's easy to do.

But what was really fascinating was the Safe Lands and the way Jill described it. She created a vibrant if crumbling culture, one that leaps off the page and gets stuck in your mind. It's easy to see why it would be so appealing, but it's also easy to see why it would also be dangerous for a person of faith.

All in all, this is an excellent YA book and should definitely be picked up by everyone. Simply put, Jill did it again.

Let's talk Etzal'el!

That's Etzal'el in the back

One of my favorite new characters from Failstate: Legendswas Etzal'el. I had been looking forward to introducing him after dropping his name a few times in Failstate. It was a lot of fun including this character in a book finally. And I say "finally" because Etzal'el has been rattling around in the back of my head for a long time now.  As in, at least since about 2004.

And the reason? An old MMORPG called City of Heroes.

Back in 2004, Cryptic Studios released a game that allowed its players to create superheroes and then go into a massive city to fight crime. There were all sorts of different powers a person could have and myriad villains to defeat. It was a lot of fun.

I made at least half a dozen different heroes during the months that I played. A few were jokes (a gigantic purple man with a Vikings helmet called the Purple People Eater), one was intended for role playing (a hero called Tolkien who was based on a group of villains called the Trollkin), but three of them kind of stuck with me. First was a red-headed superhero girl named Jensina, who used fire attacks. Then there was Evangel (I think), a blond-haired bruiser who wore a white shirt with a bright red cross on it.

But my favorite of the bunch was Etzal'el, a creepy man who dressed in a black suit, wide-brimmed hat, and had glowing red eyes. He was a controller, designed to deal with large crowds of bad-guys. He wasn't the best in a straight up fight. Instead, he fought by creating illusions in people's minds. And he could also control the weather.

Yeah, don't ask.

So where did the name come from?  Well, when I was creating the character, I needed a name. I couldn't think of one, so I pulled out my copy of Character Naming Sourcebook and flipped to the Hebrew section.One name stood out: Betzalel, which means "In God's shadow." Well, I know enough Hebrew to know that the letter B in that name means "in." So I dropped it to make the character's name to roughly mean "God's shadow." I liked it.

Eventually, Etz became my primary character. I don't remember how far I managed to level him to, but I do remember earning him a cape at one point.

This past week, I went looking for my screenshots of Etz and the gang. Sadly, they've disappeared.

But here's the interesting thing. While I don't have the pics anymore, I remembered something about Etz, Evangel, and Jensina. Even though it wasn't necessary, I came up with a backstory for those three. Etz and Evangel were brothers. And they were both in love with Jensina.

Wait. A superhero with seemingly weak mental powers, his superstrong brother, who are both in love with the same girl? Where have I heard that before?

I guess maybe Failstate's been with me for a while too.

Don't forget to sign up for the Legends giveaway on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Failstate

by John W. Otte

Giveaway ends April 10, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Across the Universe

So I've had an interesting time with this book.

A few months back, I had this great idea for a book. At least, I thought it was a great idea. Granted, it wasn't much of an idea right now. Just a few snippets of character ideas, an idea about the setting, and that's about it. I've started with less in the past. I figured it might be worth pursuing.

Then I saw a copy of Across the Universe on the shelf of a Barnes and Noble. For some reason, I felt compelled to pick it up and read the back cover copy. And almost immediately, my heart fell into my shoes.

It was my idea. Published a year earlier than I had it.

Okay, maybe I didn't have a reason to panic. There are lots of instances where multiple books are published with similar plots. But the back cover copy for this one was so similar to my initial glimmerings of an idea, I had to check it out. I bought it but then left it on my to-be-read pile, mostly because I didn't want to see if it was the same.

I finally screwed on my courage and pulled it down this week to read it. And, for the most part, I'm glad I did.

This book is the story of a girl named Amy. She and her parents have signed on to be cryo frozen and then put on a generation ship, one that will travel through space to a new planet, one that they will colonize.

Fast forward to several centuries later. A young man known as Elder is studying under a man called Eldest. Eldest is the leader of Godspeed, the generation ship. Elder is supposed to be learning how to someday take up the mantle of leadership from Eldest, but it isn't easy. Eldest doesn't seem to like him that much.

But then, a surprising thing happens. Amy thaws out early. That wasn't part of the plan, especially not Eldest's plans. Amy is an intrusion into his carefully ordered world and he's worried that Amy could destabilize everything.

Elder isn't so sure. Amy is unlike any girl he's ever seen. For one thing, she's his age. He's the youngest person on Godspeed by design. And she has some unusual ideas about how life is supposed to work.

But that's not the only problem on Godspeed. Someone is killing the frozen passengers. And Elder is beginning to realize how much of his home is founded and run on lies.

Okay, so now that I've read the book, let's see what I think:

For the most part, the book is fascinating. In many ways, what Beth Revis has written is a dystopian novel, one with a science fiction veneer to it. The whole relationship between Elder and Eldest is interesting, even though Eldest seems more of a caricature than a real person. The society in Godspeed is interesting as well.

But here are the problems:

1) I saw the ending coming. It's telegraphed pretty badly.

2) There was a lot of graphic content in here. Now, I get why. I do. The way the society is engineered, it makes sense. But I'm not sure that Revis had to be as graphic as she was. It's a personal thing, though.

But there's one big thing that has me upset about this book. And before I explain why, I need to bring back an old friend to my blog.

Godzilla, take it away:

I'll try to keep them to a minimum, but be forewarned.

3) Like I said in my little recap, Godspeed is a ship of lies, a lot of which unravel as Elder and Amy work together. Eventually, Eldest reveals part of the truth to Elder. When he did, I wound up groaning.

It's clear to me that Beth Revis doesn't have a working knowledge of physics. At least, not to how it might apply to interstellar travel aboard a generation ship. There's this little thing called momentum that would play a big part of that journey. That's all I'm going to say. If you've read the book, hopefully you know what I'm talking about.

The thing is, what she did could have worked in a slightly different way. But sadly, there's an oops here and it's pretty significant.

That said, I came to the following conclusion:

1) I'd like to read the rest of these books. I'm curious to see where Revis goes from here and what will eventually happen to the people on Godspeed.

2) My idea might work after all. We'll see.

FFF Part IV --- Meet the Crew

If you're not sure what's going on, you can catch up on what's been happening in this found footage horror film I'm writing by reading the previous entries. Just a warning: they are in reverse order. Sorry.

WHERE WE LEFT OFF: Staci, a journalism student, has convinced her friend Leon to shoot a documentary about apparent political corruption in a small town called Garretsburg. They interviewed a girl named Lisa who lived in this town. Her dad ran for mayor and, when he started asking too many questions, their house caught on fire and burned to the ground.

WHERE WE PICK UP:

Leon has already turned on his camera and is filming Staci packing their stuff in the back of the van. He makes some comments about them going off on their grand adventure that causes Staci to smile and roll her eyes. Leon then looks around the parking lot.

"So where's Bethany? She is coming, right?" he asks.

"Don't worry about it. She said she needed some time away from campus, and she seemed really excited when I talked to her about it last night. I'm sure she'll be here any minute. Relax!" Staci says.

Sure enough, Bethany arrives. Bethany is a cute girl, dressed nicely, and has a bag slung over her shoulder. She smiles at Staci but then scowls at the camera. "Is that thing going to be going the whole time we're gone?"

"Well, not always, but we are filming a documentary," Leon says.

Bethany interrupts him. "Because I"m really hoping for some privacy while we're gone."

Staci frowns. "Why?"

Bethany looks over her shoulder and a guy walks up to her and puts his arm around her waist. "I asked Ray to come with us."

The camera droops in Leon's hand. It shifts as he turns to face Staci. "Staci, a word."

They go off to one side. "I thought you said that Bethany broke up with Ray," Leon says.

"I thought she did too!" Staci replies. "Last I heard, anyway. They must have gotten back together yesterday or something."

Someone walks up to them. Leon angles the camera to reveal that it's Bethany. She fixes Leon with a toxic look and turns to Staci. "Look, Ray and I need this time away from campus. I want to rekindle the romance, y'know?"

"This isn't a vacation, Bethany," Staci says. "We're going to be doing some serious work while we're gone."

"Oh, I get that, but we're not going to be working the whole time, right? There will be some time for fun. That's what I'm hoping for. Ray won't get in the way of your little film thing, don't worry."

"We going or not?" Ray shouts.

Leon turns to see Ray toss his bag into the back of the van, along with Bethany's bag.

"I guess so," Leon says, his voice bitter.

Bethany scoots over to Ray and throws her arms around him.

"Look, I know this isn't what I promised," Staci said. "But look at it this way: Ray's a complete tool. Now Bethany can get to know you better and see what a great guy you are. Then you'll be there for her when things go south again."

"Great, so I can reserve my spot in the friend zone, huh?"

"C'mon, let's go."

The camera cuts to shots of the van driving along the highway, past farm fields and clumps of trees. Then it jump cuts to footage of Garretsburg, little snippets of sites we've already seen: the park, city hall. At one point, the van slows to a crawl next to a vacant lot. Staci reveals that this was where Lisa's house stood before the fire. There's no evidence that it was ever there. Leon wonders if they should go check out the property Lisa's dad wanted to buy. Staci decides not to because it's getting late.

Instead, they pull into the motel parking lot and Staci goes in to get their rooms. Leon and Ray have one, Staci and Bethany another. Leon puts his stuff in his room, only to hear a knock at the door. It's Staci. She's apparently been chased out of her room and needs a place to crash. Leon offers the other bed. Staci suggests they shut off the camera for the night, because their investigation starts in the morning.


So there we go. We have our four intrepid (and ultimately doomed) college kids. I'm trying to be a bit better about describing how I visualized a lot of this. As always, let me know what you think.

Wordcount Wednesday

Well, back at it then.

Last week, I finished up my edit pass through Numb, trying to find and eliminate some of my common "writing tells," the over- or poorly used phrases that pepper my works. Once that was done, I decided to take a little break. It was Holy Week, after all, and as a pastor, I had enough on my mind as it was.

But Easter is now done and past. I'm back on the Coke . . . er, the drink, that is. I hope that was obvious. And I'm feeling the itch. The itch to write about superheroes again. So I'm back onto Failstate #3. The last time I reported in three weeks ago, the new manuscript was at 22,248 words. After working on it for the past couple of days, it's up to 28,717 words, an addition of 6,469 words. Not too shabby for only two or three days' work.

So what's my plan from here on out? Well, I'd like to finish this monster in the next month. That leaves me about 27 days. I honestly don't think I'll be able to make it. I'd be surprised if I can. But I still might be able to. I'd have to write about 2,750 words a day, which is a bit high. I'll do my best to try, but I'm not going to be too disappointed if I can't do it.

In the meantime, have you entered my Goodreads giveaway?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Failstate

by John W. Otte

Giveaway ends April 10, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Only 104 people have entered right now. That's still pretty good odds, and you've got a week left to enter. So get on it!