Looking ahead

I hadn't told many people that I was in a metal band this year. I wanted to wait until it seemed like more of a sure thing. We finally named ourselves and were about to perform a few songs at an event...when I suddenly parted ways with them last weekend.

That left me eager to start performing again. That was one of two bands I've been working with, so I do have more opportunities. But I'm also thinking about writing and recording some new songs on my own, inspired by classic metal.

Before I get to that, I definitely want to finish the novel I started last year. I plan to start working on my second draft in the next week or so.

I also have thoughts about writing a novel aimed at teenagers, since my twins will be teens soon.

Plenty of fun work ahead!

The elusive type of story I always look for

Usually when I look for something to entertain me, I have a set of criteria I use in my search, no matter the medium. It comes from my days as a youth inspired by G.I. Joe. I'm usually looking for something with military action that has a cohesive team, so the typical war movie often doesn't quite get there for me. And it should not include superpowers, magic, or aliens. Those are my criteria. Seems like it should be simple, but it's really not at all. It's hard to find anything in any medium that fits my simple criteria, especially outside of film. So please don't think I'm boring by always looking for the same kind of thing. Because it's surprisingly hard to find, which makes the search fun.

My favorites that meet this description so far, in each category of entertainment, are as follows:

Novel: One Rough Man, by Brad Taylor

When I found this 2011 novel a few years ago, I knew I'd finally found the series I'd been looking for. So far, I've only read the first two books and a related short story. I got distracted by other things. But I definitely plan to go back. One Rough Man was the first of the series (kind of ironic that my favorite team book has that title), and it introduced a small team that works in secret for the U.S. government, conducting black ops and keeping us safe. A major difference from G.I. Joe is that the Joes were usually fighting domestic terrorism, whereas the Task Force in Taylor's books (such a boring name for an exciting team) does their job in other countries. The second book was good, too, but I was already starting to see a formula, and that's how most series novelists tend to go, sadly.

Runner-up (outside Taylor's series): Combat Ops, by David Michaels

Side note: I'm finally writing my first novel. I'm nearly 100 pages into my first draft. My novel will be closer to G.I. Joe than any novel I've read, apart from the one book from the G.I. Joe "Find Your Fate" series I had as a kid, obviously.

Film: The Expendables 2

When The Expendables came out, I was in heaven. I love stories about mercenaries, and this had a whole team of them. It was brutal and interesting and fun. And I loved the second one even more. The opening scene was everything I'd ever wanted to see in a movie. The third film was a bit disappointing, but I'd definitely watch a fourth one if it came along.

Runner-up (outside The Expendables): The Marksman (more like G.I. Joe from the comics than the live-action G.I. Joe movies were)

[EDIT: How could I forget the Chinese film Operation Red Sea? It's one of my favorite movies! Ranks right up there with The Expendables 2.]

Live-action television: Soldier of Fortune, Inc.

I'll admit I haven't seen this show since the nineties, so it might not hold up well. But I've had trouble finding a TV show that meets my criteria. Granted, I've never watched SEAL Team, which certainly might do it for me. I just don't give much time to TV shows because they're so time-consuming. Anyway, the premise of Soldier of Fortune, Inc. is more interesting to me than a SEAL team show anyway. And I was crazy about this show when it came out. Again, I love mercs. And it had a very Joe quality to it.

Runner-up: Last Resort

Animation: G.I. Joe: Resolute

I only watched this once, but it was pretty great and hit all my buttons as a G.I. Joe animated movie made for adults. It's so much better than the live-action movies, and unlike those films, it stays true to the Joe lore.

Runner-up: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero

American comics: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel Comics)

We're getting into Captain Obvious territory now, but I didn't read these until my mid-thirties. They were everything I'd hoped they'd be and more. It started with a small elite team and grew from there. I read every issue of Larry Hama's run from the early '80s to the mid-'90s. I adored it, even when it got a little silly.

Runner-up: Team 7 (Image Comics)

Manga: Black Lagoon

I adored this series, too. I read it up to the latest book a couple of years ago, and I don't know how much more was published after that. This is a gritty series about a small team working with risky clients in a dangerous part of the world. They're kind of a cross between mercs and pirates. And they ride around in an old military boat, which I love. The dialogue gets pretty deep. There's an anime series based on the manga, but I haven't watched it.

I just this week found out about a manga series I'd somehow missed called Jormungand. It seems to have a similar premise as Black Lagoon. I plan to read it this spring. It also has an anime.

Runner-up: Marginal Operation

Which of these have you read or seen? What are your thoughts? Do you know of other good ones that would meet my criteria?

Creative envy

Blogging? Who does that anymore?

I was inspired by a YouTube video that nailed the '90s nostalgia of chat rooms and blogs, the days when we were more carefree about what we shared with each other and had an easier time connecting with people. So I thought I'd write something in this blog that's been neglected for seven years. Using a tiny keyboard on my tiny phone screen, because firing up my laptop would feel too much like going back to work. Not a pleasant thought.

Today I'm in Atlanta, at a friend's house, waiting for my family to awaken as I often do. They're all night owls. I enjoy my quiet mornings, though. I like the author John le Carre as much as I did seven years ago. I'm currently reading The Mission Song.

Since this was intended to be my creative blog, I suppose I'll lament again about the things I might do if only my career didn't keep me so busy. Whenever I get inspired to write, my inner voice reminds me that I'll never finish anything because I'll only get interrupted by a ton of work and then lose the inspiration. As you can tell, I'm feeling very down on my job, and have for two years, since I switched employers and ended up with a far heavier workload. It's very depressing for me.

So I try to live vicariously through creators I enjoy, with the tiny bit of time I can carve out for them. I enjoy novels, comics, YouTube, and podcasts on the regular. Creators who have the time I won't have until far in the future, to hone their skills and create things I wish I could emulate.

Alright, back to my book. Enjoy your day.

Remote song collab idea

Wonder what would happen if I found a decent drummer anywhere in the world with the ability to make a decent recording and asked him to make some recordings of himself playing what could be a full song in any genre. He'd send me his drumming as an MP3, and then I'd make up the rest. Would doubtless be totally different than what he was thinking. But in the end, we might have a quality recording, and neither of us had to leave home or even talk to each other much. My kind of project.

I know how to find good drummers right here in the area (bandmix.com), not that that would even be necessary, but I guess if we wanted to do an open-mic, that could be cool.

Comics reading update

Finally finished the entire run of Marvel's G.I. Joe comics. It's been interesting. Next I return to my reading of X-Man Havok's entire comics life, starting with the beginning of his leadership of X-Factor with issue #71 of their book. That was one of my favorite comics of the '90s, and I read that one and several others back then. I don't remember a lot. I'll only be reading the pages with Havok on them, so I might cruise through them. Once I get through the '90s I'll probably take another break and read some Tank Girl.

Song thoughts

New discoveries sure to have an influence on my near-future songs:

God's Revolver
Molly Gene One Whoaman Band

The plan hasn't changed a lot. Western acoustic math punk. Math rock meets desert rock meets cowpunk meets death country, all on acoustic guitar. Maybe I'll stomp on a tambourine. Lyrics will be poetic and western and religious, like Wovenhand. I might even get my friend Matt to play bass.

I wish I could say that daily practice is making me a good guitarist, but it's hard to tell sometimes. At least I'm maintaining my skill level. Guess that's how it is for a busy thirty-somethin' that didn't pick up a guitar until age thirty.

Thinkin' about takin' my guitar into Roops Brothers, the only open mic in walkin' distance, and when they ask for my name tell 'em somethin' stupid like Preacher Hank. My opening song will have to say somethin' about comin' from Oklahoma. Wish I had a cowboy hat and boots.

I've been focused on advancing my skills, but the plan for a while now has been to start writing and composing in July. So that's next week. I've been feelin' ready. Time to print some tab paper.

Even the Writer Doesn't Know, Pt. 2

From an interview with Larry Hama, on writing for the Wolverine series:

I just took it page-by-page and issue-by-issue. I never really planned out any arcs until later when all the X-writers had to coordinate on big through-stories. Even then, I had no idea how any given issue was going to end. I really don’t know any other way to write the stories. The editors let me get away with it back then because when I started out on the books nobody cared about them. Then, when they really got popular, it was too late to fire me.

Judging by its effectiveness, could this actually be a viable method of writing a story? I've decided to find out for myself. For the first time in my life, I can truly call myself a writer because I'm writing a paragraph every weekday from now until forever for a Web serial called Bold Traveler. 

If that sounds like a soap opera title, it's supposed to. I decided late last week to just go for it, inspired by Hama's style and multitude of characters in G.I. Joe. I'm also very inspired by the dramatic situations, dialogue, and host of characters in Mad Men and by dramatic newspaper comic strips (drama strips, really) like Mary Worth. I'm writing it piece-by-piece in bed at night, making it up as I go along, and publishing each micro-episode at noon, an appropriate time for a textual soap opera.

To make it as interesting for men as it hopefully will be for women, I've based the story on a travel magazine that specializes in adventure traveling and dangerous places around the world. There are so many possibilities here. And I've already created fourteen character profiles, with room for dozens more should the need arise someday.

Best of all, I have an instant audience on Facebook. The idea was to make the episodes short enough that readers could get through them as quickly as they can read a comic strip. I've published three episodes now, introducing four characters already, and though I've received no feedback, I can safely assume a few of my 426 Facebook friends have read at least one of them. And this is the kind of thing I can keep up whether I get any feedback or not.

And if I ever do have time to get back to work on my novel, it may happen someday. I still like the premise and the ideas and characters I've come up with so far.