Zwarves

Hi! It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything on this glorious blog. And since I’m pretty damn sure that no one has missed me, I’m not apologizing for neglecting the wonderful world of writing.

I remember being very ambitious when I started this blog – like you couldn’t tell from the blog’s title, eh?- to the point where I was reluctant to share any stories, or draft of stories, that I wrote. Because I didn’t want to spoil my precious ideas when the time comes to publish them and make loads of money.

 

Well, this is no longer the case. It’s not that I’ve given up on ever publishing a novel someday. But I just don’t feel overprotective as I used to be. I just want to write, and share my writings.

When I signed in the dashboard today, I found several drafts that I didn’t want to publish. Bellow you’ll find one of these drafts. I’ll continue to publish other drafts, continue writing other stories that I didn’t complete, and hopefully continue to write new stories.

 

 

 

A story about a guy who gets transported to a fantasy world through reading a book. And it turns out later that other people form the real world have been transported as well. Maybe even some historical figures (Like Napoleon) . And we read about our hero’s adventures in this strange land. The story has action, comedy, and adventure.

 

I  was walking down the merchant’s road, which cuts through Blindman’s Forest. It has been almost a week since I’ve seen another person. That was a relief, actually, since every encounter I’ve had in the last month has ended violently. Bandits, bounty hunters, and Zwarves populated the roads now.

I didn’t mind the bandits, nor the bounty hunters. Actually,  I enjoyed my little skirmishes with them, good sport. But I prayed that I never encounter another zwarf in my lifetime, although I knew this was not possible; those tiny-flesh-eating, earth-digging bastards are a nightmare to fight, or run from. You almost never face a zwarf who’s not accompanied by at least five of his kin. And if you do find one standing alone, you better turn around and start running, for you are surely being ambushed.

I’ve learned along time ago not to test my various skills on these tiny devils, since every time I try something new, they surprise me with how they react to it. One time I tried a fire spell. It didn’t affect zwarf, only made it more agile, and really, really pissed. Another time I tried an illusionary spell. I made myself look like a giant Orc with devilish eyes. The zwarf screamed. I thought my spell had worked. Turns out, he was calling more zwarves to attack the giant beast. I had a lot of running to do that day.

To me, they are technically zombies, dwarves risen from the dead. But these short monsters differed from the traditional zombies in many aspects. For one, they could talk, and they talked a lot. In fact, I didn’t fear any sneak attack from them. Even if, by any chance, a zwarf was alone, he would talk or sing to himself. One time, I witnessed a dwarven corpse as it rose into zwarfhood. The first thing it said as soon as it stood on its feet was, “Damn you Vidrum, you filthy whore!” And then it spat, and three of its teeth dropped onto the dirt, “Balls!” it cursed. Then it saw me. And I had to run. The rest is still blurry to me.

After following the road up and down a small hill, I was able to see the lights of Grintonshire through the thinning forest. And it wasn’t long before I was passing some of the small houses and workshops that were scattered on its outskirts. The night was quite in this town, but I could hear voices and sounds of movements emanating from some of the houses. And as I strolled deeper into town, I could hear the loud cheers and laughter of drunk men and dwarves, the clinking sounds of glassy mugs, and the occasional, and admittedly arousing, moanings of elvish whores. Yup, I was closing in on a fantastic bar, or tavern.

I braced myself when I read “Mania’s Bottom” on the withered sign; I didn’t know if Mania was dude or a chick. I wondered if he, or she, was actually inside the tavern, and if the word “Bottom” had any literal presentation inside the pup. I grabbed the door knob, took a deep breath, and barged inside.

It should have been bottoms

Random Diary: Sandstorms and Laptops

Today started like a normal day. I woke up in the morning, washed, dressed, went down the elevator, jumped into the car, drove to work, got stuck in the traffic at the gate, parked the car near my office building, and finally punched in. What broke this routine, was a call from one of my colleagues, who had changed his car’s windshield, and lost his entry sticker in the process. Thus, he was not able to enter through the security gate, and had asked me to go and get him. I got out of my office, went back to my car, got out of the gate, let my friend hop in, went back through the gate, parked the car again, although in a different parking slot, and finally got back into my office, again.

The wind blew strong, and was only getting stronger each minute. I was supposed to issue work permits to various contractors who were doing construction works at different locations throughout the complex. As I signed each permit, it was my responsibility as an issuer to caution the permit receiver, who was usually the contractor team’s foreman, about the unstable weather, and that he should stop the work immediately if the conditions got worse.

That, as it turned out, was a mistake.

After I signed the last permit and returned to my building, the weather got really bad. I heard the roar of the wind as soon as I sat in my office. So I jumped to window, and couldn’t see anything, yikes!

I ran to my car, and slowly went from location to location, taking away my signed permits, and stopping the contractors, who seemed to be oblivious to the blinding sandstorm, and were going nonchalantly through their task. Luckily, I was able to get all the permits before any accidents could happen.

The rest of the work day was quieter than usual, thanks to the flying army of dirt particles outside. This meant that I had some free time to work on my novel. And after a couple hundred words, it was time to head back home.

I had planned to make a trip to the next city with my wife for a doctor appointment, but it was also cancelled for the same reason that made me collect all those damned permits earlier. And you know what that means, right? Yup, unscheduled free time, the best kind of free time (or the worst depending on how cool you are.)

I have been searching the internet for a cheap and light laptop that I wanted to use as a writing machine exclusively. But since today was the day of spontaneity, I decided to fix an old-small laptop that I used to write on, but had fell down the stairs one time, and broke its screen.

I got the small devil from a dusty drawer, and went to the computer store. Not only was replacing the screen cheap, it was really fast, I don’t know why I’ve waited this long to fix it.

So here I am now, writing this post from the tiny laptop, looking at my words through a brand new screen, baby. That’s right!

Well, this is awkward. I’ve run out of the past, and am writing in the present right now. How do you write a diary entry when you’ve reached the present time? I’m writing. I’m writing. I am writing.

Still writing… Need to go to bed… have to work tomorrow…

Ok, enough of that, or this. Anyway, now that I have this tiny devil, I hope it will allow me to squeeze more writing hours into my day, which would bring me closer to dominating the world of novels.

Peace.

Loving The Assassin’s Apprentice

I was going to write “So far” at the end of the post’s title. But I know that I’ll like this book all the way to the end. Robin Hobb rocks, man!

By the way, I’ve just ordered a Kindle Paperwhite to speed up my reading. Always wanted to buy one. And this seems like a good time to finally do it.

I thought, having read the book already, that it was going to be a tedious task. But I couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve read the Farseer Trilogy a long time ago, and my English was way bellow the level of such book, it still is. Add to that the fact that I was too lazy to look up the words that I didn’t understand at the time, which were a lot, and you would see how I’m experiencing the book in a whole new light.

One thing I didn’t forget about Ms. Hobb’s writing, and I still appreciate it now, is how she uses her words to describe a scene. Whenever I thought about her books, during the past ten or so years, I’ve always remembered how she used to describe the smells or odors of her scenes. More than often, Fitz, the main character and narrator of the story, would write about how a certain place “smelled” to him. I found that it always made me “feel” like I was there with him. Of course, if I didn’t understand the word that she associated the scent of the place with, the effect didn’t work for me. But still, most of the time, it really worked, and added another dimension to my visualization of here scenes.

I have a lot to say when it comes to Ms. Hobb’s books. But I’m in no hurry to blurt it all out now; I have a long journey ahead of me, till I reach the Fool’s Assassin.

Peace.

Dear Ms. Robin Hobb, Thank You!

Imagine being a Star Wars fan…

You’ve watched all the movies, maybe read some novels and comic books. And then it all just faded away into your mind as a lovely memory of a fantastic universe that supplements your daydreams and musings.

Now imagine yourself standing in line to buy a ticket to a movie. You haven’t planned on watching anything in particular. It just happens that you were passing by the local theater and, having nothing else to do, decided to go see a movie.

You’re standing in line, waiting, until the guy in front of you walks away, and you’re facing the lovely lady behind the counter. She asks which movie you want to buy a ticket for. So you raise your head to look at the screens behind her, and your jaw drops to the ground.

Somehow, you haven’t heard anything about it. I know it’s impossible for someone living in this day and age, who has the slightest interest in American entertainment, not to have heard or read about the new Star Wars movie. But for the sake of the analogy, imagine that you’ve never heard of it until the moment you saw it at your local theater, and you could buy the ticket to go in and see it right there, almost minutes after your knowledge of its existence.

If you can imagine how you would feel at that moment, then you have an idea about how I felt when I stumbled on the Fools’ Assassin while I was aimlessly browsing a book store in a foreign country.

I was on vacation, travelling with my lovely wife and daughter, good times. And it has been always my habit, as I walked beside a book store, to slow down, and browse the books inside, my eyes all dreamy and mystical. I was like a child who cries to his parents whenever they passed by a toy store, even though they’ve just bought an expensive toy for him, and he was holding the box in his hands.

Anyway, This time I did enter the bookstore, and while I was browsing through the Fantasy section, there I found it. I had recognized Robin Hobb’s name at first, and that was enough for me to pick up the book. But then I read the title, The Fool’s Assassin?

I kept staring at the book, not believing what my own eyes and sense of touch were telling me. How is it that I’ve never heard of this. She’s going back to Fitz and the Fool? I thought the story was over when I finished the Tawny Man trilogy. And now there is this book that I’m holding in my hands. I can go home and start reading immediately.

And that’s when I lost some of the ecstatic energy that I’ve just acquired. You see, I’ve read the Farseer trilogy and the rest of the books a long time ago. So I have only a vague recollection of the story. And for a story that I’m deeply in love with, I can’t go into a new chapter with such a cloudy memory of what happened before.

And so my journey begins. I have gone through my dusty book collection, and picked up the Assassin’s Apprentice. It’s time to visit some old friends.

I’ll try to marathon my way through these books since I can’t wait to read the new one. First it will be the Farseer trilogy, then the Liveship Traders Trilogy, and finally the Tawny Man trilogy.

Now, answer this question for me, do I have to read the Rain Wild Chronicles as well? I haven’t read them at all, actually.

Man! That’s almost 13 books. Well, now that I think about it, my analogy at the beginning of the post is simply a pile of bullshit. I have a long waiting ahead of me before I can read the Fool’s Assassin, sniff, sniff.

But I haven’t been reading much these last couple of years. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a full novel. But now, with a new chapter of Fitz’s life in my hands, I’ve got all the motivation I need to read more books in a couple of months than I have ever read in a full year.

And for that, I say to Ms. Hobb, Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

P.S. Enjoy your success while you can, until my novel comes out and renders all other fantasy books obsolete. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And don’t let this knowledge stop you from writing your beautiful books. You still have a long future ahead of you before I publish my novel. Peace.

Back to Them Words

Dear Blog,

I am so freakin’ sorry. I’ve been gone for a long, long time.

I wish I can promise you that I’ll be staying for good this time. But we both know that I don’t have the right to give such promises. All I can do is hope that I surprise myself and actually stay committed for a year, at least.

And guess what, my dear and neglected blog, I have some changes to make regarding my posts. I will not post portions of the stories that I’m working on any more. I found that doing this in the past was wrong. First drafts need to be done behind closed doors. They are too ugly and weird to be shown to the world. And they need to be. So I’ll keep them to myself, until it’s time for them to be revealed to the masses, making me ridiculously rich and famous in the process.

So if I’m not going to write stories here, what else?

I guess I’ll be writing about the books I’m reading, and my thoughts about them. I might also blog about stories in other medias, like video games, movies, and TV shows.

The important thing is that I’m back. And I hope that I stay this time.

M. Gate out.

Rant: If only life had a “pause” button

You know, like video games!

I asked a dear friend at work to send me some information by email. And he did. But he copied my boss..

Why did you do that, my ####ing friend?

I wanted to do some work under the radar, and then present it to my boss. But now he knows! He’s watching me, following every step I take, listening to every word I say, peaking into my very soul…

Deep breath…deeeeep breath…

Now I can’t write because a telephone won’t stop ringing! Why do people keep calling when you don’t answer? Don’t they know how creepy they look when they do that? F###ING creepy people!

Ok, the creep has given up.. So where was I? Oh yes! My boss is an evil wizard! And I hate evil wizards, they are supposed to be hated, nothing wrong with that. Now if only I can find an evidence and expose his sorcery… that would really REALLY make my day!

But another thing that would really REALLY make my day, is a real-life PAUSE button, that I can use at work… That would be AWESOME!! Imagine the things I’d do… I’m smiling now.

“Marc! I’m expecting the report to be on my desk before…” PAUSE BUTTON!! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, SARUMAN!!

“Good Morning! Mr. Marc? I was told that you can…” PAUSE BUTTON!! No, I can’t! And I’m not sorry!

“Heeeeey…” PAUSE BUTTON!! I don’t like this guy!

Ok, no more time to vent; have to get back to work. You know, since I don’t have a PAUSE button and all… Really wish I had one though. But I don’t. So I have to go and kiss the evil wizard’s ass.

I hope he doesn’t cast a spell on me when I do… That would be an embarrassing story to tell!

Epic Tales: John of the Desert

John was thirsty…

And judging from the sea of sand around him, his thirst wasn’t going to be quenched soon. So he killed himself.

The End..

Still Alive, And Kicking… Myself!

Hello World!!

Today, my boss asked me to find out what he wants from himself…

Don’t ask…

Aaaah, life, life, life… Why do you require so much effort to give up the good stuff?

I can’t find the strength to write a full paragraph, hence the disconnected sentences..

Ok, now let me dream for a bit: I’m setting comfortably in a first-class cabin on my way to the Maldives. The plane is taking off, it’s 09:00pm, and just as the seat built lights are turned off, I dose off into blissful sleep. The lovely “BING” sound is the last thing I hear…

But now I’m at work… and I’m sleepy… And I have a report to finish… Because… I don’t really care… But I have to…

Ok, enough sulking! I have good news! I’m finally moving to my own place. It will be good to settle down and start organizing my life. Renting a house drains your wallet and also your life force!

I can finally have my private office, where I can read, write, and do whatever I want without any distractions. Just a couple more weeks… gotta have patience..

See ya!

Bloggers, I Take my Hat off to You

Persistent bloggers, that is.

It has been a long time since I opened WordPress. And when I viewed my reader, I saw recent posts by people that I’ve followed when I started this blog. I’m proud of them, and ashamed of myself.

If you call me a quitter, I will not argue with you. Because I am, DUH! And this blog is not the only victim of my quitting talents; I have been quitting stuff for a long, long time.

Software development.. Voice acting(Yes!).. 3d design.. Web design.. Writing.. I have started countless projects with a burst of energy that could send a rocket to Gliese 581 c, only to bury them into the dirt after a month or so.

It always goes like this, I get fed up with my current position in life, and then run around looking for a way out. After a short while, I lose all my energy, the dream starts to sound stupid, and I’m back to square one.

But you know what I’m good at? What I’m really, really good at? I can daydream about success for months without getting bored of it. Yeah baby! I can envision the fame, the glory, the mountains of cash, and don’t forget that private jet that flies on auto-pilot.

This is who I am, who I’ve always been, and pretty much who I’ll always be.

I could, you know, put extreme efforts into fulfilling my dream. I could find the time between work and family to achieve my goals, to do what I love, and pursue my passion. Yes, I could, but I don’t! That’s a typical loser for you right there!

So keep on persisting, persistent people! I’ll just go chase after some fairies; I heard they grant wishes and stuff.

Rejoice! I’m Still Alive!

And Kicking ass while I’m at it!

Marc! Where have you been hiding all these years?

I have been on a pilgrimage, searching for the meaning of life, away from the corruption of technology. Or should I say, the corruption of technology got away from me, by falling down the stairs, and smashing into pieces.

I mean, how clumsy can someone get? What is the limit of clumsiness? Because I’m pretty damn sure that I have raised the bar on that!

First it was my phone, flying from my pocket–don’t ask me how—and into the ground, turning its screen into a forbidding-purple wall. Then I let my laptop slip from my hand while I was climbing the stairs, which didn’t cause me any stress, or put me in a state of depression! Nooo, sirrr!

Are you still writing stories?

Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I? Did the great Shmarf Awesmeton stop writing when his laptop exploded in his face? Did the late Bill Nevergiveupsicle stop writing when his hands were chopped by his insane brother? Or did the legendary Sam Mythicaldoesntexist stop writing when he lost his eyesight? Of course not!

So why should I stop? Having no form of access to my blog–except for the PC at work–is not an excuse to stop writing… like, at all.

Is there anything else you want to say to the world before you have to log off the PC and go home?

Yeah I do! I want to announce the publication of my first short story…. Naaaaaah! not happening anytime soon!

Gibberish this, gibberish that, and I’m done for today.

See you all tomorrow. |-__-|