Jason Halstead's Blog, page 61

Succeeding

I recently finished the rough draft of the third book in a series. Technically the fourth book, since they take place in the Dark Earth universe. And now I ask myself, what's next? I am tempted to do both more Voidhawk and more Wanted, but given the extremely lackluster performance I have seen out of my publisher for those books, I find myself more than a little hesitant.

Shame on me for not promoting them? Absolutely! But wait, the publisher was supposed to do a share of it as well, including sending them out for reviews and such. Every inquiry I have made in that context has gone unanswered.

And so these most recent books are undergoing a slow editing process and then I shall attempt to find a new home for them. Kind of like diversifying my portfolio, only in this case I'm trying to get my stuff out there in as many different channels as possible to generate interest.

The books in question are a trilogy centered around a character I would absolutely despise if I were to meet her, yet I love her as her creator. A twisted concept, to be sure, but that's one of her many faults – a rather caustic nature to hide a very fragile and sensitive person inside. Fortunately for her that caustic mask she wears is backed up with the ability to pound the snot out of the average punk who might take offense to it. I'm pretty sure she could kick my ass, for example.

But that brings me back to what next? Feeling tapped out lately and in need of inspiration. I've got a couple of ideas – ideas I'll even share. The first involves a world where less than 10% of the Earth's population remains. What happened? Why nothing, at least nothing apocalyptic. This 10% is instead those who have perished in a pandemic of some sort. They don't know it though, they just find themselves in the world they thought they knew, yet without 9 out of 10 people they may have known. What's the plot and purpose? No idea, but I thought it was a cool twist on the apocalyptic theme.

The other is a man waking up with no memory of his past. He tries to make his way through the motions trying to figure out who he is, what he does, and even where he's at. Nothing makes sense except for the woman he keeps catching glimpses of. A woman he feels he knows, and a woman who continues to meet his gaze but he has trouble catching her. Intermixed with this are strange flashbacks he has. His memory returning, perhaps, or some other visions. He sees the woman in some of them, in others he sees different events. Slowly he starts piecing things together…

I like that latter idea quite a bit. I'm not sure I'll get around to writing it, but I like it nonetheless. For that reason alone I will reveal no spoilers.

But alas, ere that or anything else happens I really need to revisit my website and make it not suck. Likewise the Dark Earth website is in serious need of completion. Working with my ISP to get anything accomplished or designed is a major pain in the ass. I do all the coding and database work, but getting them to make database changes that are necessary is torturous, at best. C'est la vie, right? Such is the price of getting things done. I hope one day to look back on this and say, "Yeah, I earned my success." Until then I continue to fantasize about succeeding.

The 10% Thing

Which 10% thing is that? Some might even have something in mind already. I can think of only one ofd the top of my head, and that's a 90 / 10 rule. Meaning as long as you adhere to a diet or training regiment 90% of the time, you should still make progress. The other 10%, well, that's called being human.

But that doesn't have anything to do with this post. Or at least not much. This post is about me, after almost four weeks of cutting, breaking the 10% bodyfat barrier. By now America is accustomed to Biggest Loser numbers, so 4 weeks of cutting must mean I shaved off at least 20 – 30 pounds, right? Well…not exactly…

I went from 226.5 to 217.5, as of today. Nine pounds in 26 days, not very impressive. I would agree, except my strength has not only maintained during this phase, but it has even increased just marginally. That's a very hard thing to accomplish. That means those 7 pounds are, in all likelihood, pure fat and not muscle. Hell, maybe I even lost 7.5 or 8 pounds of fat but gained a little muscle. Stranger things have happened.

To do that the diet has to be very careful. Low carb, but not carb free (especially at the right time). Proper workouts without excessive cardio to catabolize the protein (muscle). And properly maintained calorie amounts. The objective is to eat less than what I need to maintain my body mass, but not by much. Some occasional refeeding of carbs to jumpstart the metabolism and anabolic processes, and plenty of water to wash everything through.

Three more days left, counting today, then I transition into a gaining phase. The objective, of course, is to gain muscle and not fat. So again it has to be carefully controlled. A lot of people will treat a bulking phase as an excuse to binge on pizza, fast food, and anything else they can get their hands on. That works, and it adds muscle (provided you work out), but it's far from optimal. When you're done with the phase you're fat and your organs feel abused (because they are). To do it right you eat only a little over your maintenance level, specifically on workout days or the day after your workout, and keep the simple carbs to a minimum (exception: during or after a workout a post workout shake loaded with protein and simple sugars is the best way to go). That will help to still put on muscle, but limit the fat gain.

My goal? Unrealistic, but still a goal. Before my injury in November I was flirting with 235 pounds and being in the 11% – 12% bodyfat region. I'd love to be 230 – 240 and 10% bodyfat (or less, optimally). As a point of reference, I believe Arnold was in the area of 250 pounds during his 1975 (final) Mr. Olympia competition. Granted, he was a hell of a lot leaner and also an inch or two shorter than me. Oh, and they had access to a lot of different supplements back then too.

These days you look at Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman and I wouldn't bat an eye if they were 300 pounds and very lean. The game has changed – but more importantly, I'm not a bodybuilder, I'm a powerlifter. They'll always look prettier than me, but that doesn't mean I can't give some of them a run for their money strength-wise. Well maybe not Ronnie Coleman, that guy makes front loaders and some cranes look like sissies in comparison.

But hey, I'm just a guy with an obsessive hobby (several, probably). If anybody wanted to endorse me and pay me to do it for real then maybe it'd be a different story. Then again, maybe not – my genetics might be nearing the end of their potential. Only time and hard work will tell!

New Stuff

The "stuff" I elude to is both a new blog post (yay me for remember to post) and a new book or two. Well, sort of. Human Nature is a science fiction book set in a near future Earth. Very near future, in fact. Heck, by the time you read this it might even be near past. Anyhow, the point is that it takes place in the American midwest amidst a world devastated by warfare and oppression. What? Near future America? Yeah, well here's the skinny on it…

Many years ago that ridiculously successful Will Smith took place in a movie that was similarly ridiculously successful. No, that's probably not a coincidence. Anyhow, the movie was called Independence Day, and it involved aliens showing up out of the blue and laying waste to the Earth's major cities. Their intent was to eliminate the population then strip mine our entire world for natural resources before moving on. But, as is our way, humans found a way to kick their ass.

I always wondered two things, A> What if humans were the aggressors taking on other worlds? Well, I wrote a book about it. It's not very good though, so it's sitting on a hard drive somewhere probably never to see the light of day. And B> What if the aliens couldn't be stopped?

Human Nature is based on premise B. The aliens aren't after the natural resources of the Earth though, they're after something else. Enter into that my main character, an unlikely nobody named Dawn Vincent. Dawn was a nurse practitioner working in an obstetrics ward before the aliens showed up. After, well, she was like everyone else: running and praying that she'd survive one more day. The only thing more important to her than her own life was the life of her fiance – until he stepped foot in a building full of aliens.

Lost physically, mentally, and emotionally, Dawn manages to hook up with a group of survivors trying to stake out a means of survival for themselves. Survival from the aliens and survival from other humans who are just as interested in being left alone and being able to survive. Thrust into the role of a combat medic the tale officially begins…

Check it out at www.smashwords.com if you're interested. I've even set a very low introductory price of $1.99 for the novel. Later this year it should be released on www.excessica.com. I'm jumping the gun because I own the rights to it and it's ready to rock.

The other book? No, not the abandoned one, but another one I put up on www.smashwords.com is called Voidhawk – The Elder Race. It's a sequel to my original Voidhawk fantasy epic. It's far from the end of the tale for the Voidhawk and crew, I'm already at work on book 3, in fact, amongst many other projects. Voidhawk – The Elder Race has been published on www.fidopublishing.com. Print versions of the book are available at https://www.createspace.com/3450132.

Phew, lots of self-promotion and not much for sales. Clearly I don't know what I'm doing yet but I'm struggling to learn and to try! Someday soon, I hope, I'll even go so far as to put some money in the hands of a  marketing / publishing firm to help promote my books.

Oh, and if anybody is interested in helping a brother out by doing a review or two, let me know – I'll do what I can to return the favor in some way, shape, or form!

Thanks for reading,

Jason Halstead

To Beauty

The saying, "Beauty if in the eye of the beholder," is often maligned by dorks such as myself. You see I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons, back when it was definitely not cool, and even worse, it was done with paper, pencil, and lumps of plastic called dice. Yeah, I'm old AND a dork.

So anyhow, in that game there is a creature called a beholder. It's a large round floating fleshy sack with a massive eyeball and rather considerable teeth. No thought was ever given to its digestive system or means of disposing of whatever unlucky adventurers it happens to eat. On top of this levitating abomination are multiple smaller eye stalks, giving it the means to see anywhere and everywhere at all times. Oh, and each eyeball has a different magical ability, from turning a stalwart warrior into a stone statue to disintegrating a fleeing maiden. They can do other things too, but I think you should get the idea.

So anyhow, that simple statement has been abused many times over the years by myself and my friends. We do it shamelessly, and often take it for granted. Owing to my past abuses, I now consider it my personal duty to take it back – much in the way that Randal attempted to do the same with a different phrase in Clerks II.

My wife, you see, is an amazing woman. Is she the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth? That's arguable. A bold statement when one considers the likes of Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, and other more ageless beauties such as Demi Moore and Goldie Hawn. But to me, the difference is clear and obvious. I know my wife. I know what she's been through over the years. I know the struggles she's endured (and continues to) and I know the victories she has achieved. Those other women? I know nothing about them save what their publicist or stalkers have released to the world. Do they truly have an inner beauty to them, or is a carefully cultivated mask designed to drive men and boys alike into sweaty palm induced fevers?

This isn't a blog post about the weight loss journey my wife has made either, although to date she's logged in over 90 pounds of weight lost. It's about how she takes my breath away when I look at her. It's about how I catch myself staring at her time and again – and yes, many of the thoughts that run through my mind also invoke some sweaty palm induced fevers!

Now for what it's worth, many others have responded with similar, if slightly less amorous, observations about her. Losing that much weight is life changing, and it's been a great experience for me to go through with her as well. Her self-confidence and self-esteem has sky rocketed, she's more outgoing, and just generally enjoying life more than ever. Along with the missing pounds came other makeover items as well such as  platinum blond hair and sexier clothes.

Her journey's not done though. She's still aching to get rid of some excess skin and a little more fat in areas she deems unsightly. Hey, we're all our own toughest critics, so I can't fault her for that. I've been lifting weights for well over six years now to rebuild my own body into the image I want. The irony there is that I don't think I look very big or impressive. I'm as strong as your average ox, but when I look in the mirror I don't see that. I see other guys who look bigger than I think I do and I'm irritated. Experience has taught me in many instances that I am stronger than they are, so wtf? I opined just the other day that if I looked as strong as I feel, I wonder how strong that would really make me. Who knows, but I think it's a hell of a goal to shoot for!

I'm digressing, but only slightly. Back on my gorgeous wife. I've read about, and personally known, a couple of women now who have maintained that the Barbie build is bullshit. No real woman should look like that or should even want to look like that. I nodded my head in appreciation of these viewpoints, especially if the few women who do look thusly earn such animosity from their peers. But these rare selections of women that I do know who have managed to effect such changes in themselves to achieve partial or complete transformation towards that archetype have a considerable change of heart. They find themselves thrilled and looking forward to progressing further. Cute, sexy clothes are only the beginning. Longer time spent at the gym perfecting the image, other assistance as needed in the form of thermogenics or beta blockers to help sculpt the body or, in instances where the gym alone cannot provide the answer, even cosmetic surgery. Is this fake, unreal, or unnecessary? I say no.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My wife's outer beauty matches her inner beauty these days, and she wants to take both to new levels. I often wonder if I'm lucky that I met her before her transformation – a Goddess such as her probably wouldn't give me the time of day if I met her on the street these days! Well, she still would because she's just a caring and nice person, but you get the idea.

Anyhow, for those seeking third party assistance in reaching the level they want themselves to reach, I say more power to you! Humanity has been expressing itself since the beginning of time through our bodies. Sticks shoved through ears, lips, noses, or other areas were only the beginning. These days we have boob jobs, fake glutes, anabolic / androgenic steroids, liposuction, lip injections, botox, vaginoplasty, and a host of other means of making ourselves look, feel, and perform the way we want to. Yes, I said vaginoplasty – it's real and it involves making the mommy parts look, act, and feel like they did prior to, well, whatever happened that made them not look, act, and feel that way!

So, aside from the basket cases who are addicted to plastic surgery or other extreme cases of narcissism, if you've done the work and can make it happen, I say express yourself in the way that makes you the happiest. I've used over the counter supplements on and off over the years in my pursuit of strength and conditioning, and I know plenty of others who have not let a over, under, or around the counter get in their way. I believe that America was based on the beliefs that people should be free to do what they wish to do with themselves, provided it does not endanger or harm anyone else.

And besides, without the extreme cases and the beautiful people of the world, who would we have to talk about?

New stuff

So people ask me from time to time if I'm writing a sequel to or when I'm going to do something about . I respond, of course, and I'm happy to do so. But maybe here's a way to be proactive. At least for a little while.

Voidhawk – yes, I'm working on a third book. It's taken a back seat though, and it's starting the series in a new direction that I'm really enjoying. I'm planning multiple books focused on individual characters, either on or off the Voidhawk (including past, present, or future times in their lives). And yes, they will spin back in to the main Voidhawk crew and time frame, not to worry. First up is Rosh – if there's a more tortured soul with a story to be told I've not yet met them!

Wanted – I catch the most flack here, often from my own family. Yes, there is a sequel in the works and no, it's not anywhere near finished. The working title for it is "Ice Princess". And, to let out a hint of a spoiler, Tanya wants revenge against her father but she and Jessie are having a rough time figuring out how to do it. Whether he deserves it or not is irrelevent to the girls. Add in a few special surprises along the way and a new nemesis for them and you've got enough twists and confusions to keep the girls, and the writer, guessing!

Dark Earth – Dark Earth is a somewhat innocent novel about a young girl coming into a power great enough to join, and potentially destroy, two worlds. A fun story, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized it opened up so much potential for spin offs. I now had a setting in which a modern Earth was linked to another world and magic and technology were combined. I've written one follow up book, which is in editing right now, and I'm working on a second one. Both books ("The Lost Girls," and "Traitor") are directly tied to one another, but neither is linked to Dark Earth aside from taking place in the same universe (some 40 years later or so).

Human Nature – What's this? This is a book that's been accepted by Excessica for publishing. It's science fiction and takes place in a near future Earth after it's been raped by resource hungry aliens. The resources they wanted were humans, not water, minerals, or anything else. They captured over 90% of the Earth's population and moved on, leaving some of their other slave races behind. Now the mission for the survivors is to not only put humanity back on the map, but to also fight off the other escaped alien slaves that show no interest in teaming up with humanity. Everybody has a story of pain and loss, including the heartbroken main character who now serves as a combat medic for her group of vagabonds. Amidst the carnage and bedlam of a devastated Chicago she has the audacity to fall in love again. It's a story not about survival, but about hope and the triumph of the human spirit. Human Nature is also written under a pen name of Phineas Magnus. I keep thinking about changing this back to my name for branding purposes, but so far I haven't had any luck in doing so.

Thanks for reading and I hope you saw something that whets your appetite!

-Jason Halstead

Who's the fool?

It's hard to remember to make posts to this thing. I gave up thinking I had some interesting opinions to share years ago. Everybody has opinions, after all, and everybody is convinced theirs is the best one. Why would they want to hear somebody else's?

Finally got off my lazy ass and decided to order more copies of my books so I can present them to local book stores for stocking. I need to look into some book signing events also. Rather awkward feeling about that, since I've never done one, but who knows.

I've been busy lately with work and family and school too, so I'm not writing as much as I should be. That's a cop out as well, for the record, since there are times and activities I could rearrange to get more in. My current MBA class is nearly over though, thankfully, so I can move on to having a little more time to fill with more productive activities. If you read that as a slight against the class I'm taking…well, good deduction on your part.

The problem, as I randomly select topics in my brain, is that I don't want to use this as a soapbox from which I bitch, complain, or whine about something that is not sitting right with me. If properly laced with humor it could make for humorous reading, but aside from that nobody wants to read about somebody else's selfish woes. So that eliminates me complaining about my temperamental ERP server at work and perhaps a host of other items that I dare not even mention the subject of.

Well, with all that talked about, but nothing really said, I'll push on to close this out. I have an idea for a blog post. A teaser, if you will, of some other things I am writing. Perhaps a foolish notion to post it, but I'm still very much in the foolish stage to presume anything I write has a chance of being published and, even more so, generating interest in the average book buyer.

So then, here's to fools and their hopes and dreams!

Marketing

I liken marketing to being similar to weight training and computer programming. What? Yeah, I know…bear with me. I used to be pretty slick with linear programming. For anybody who doesn't know what that means, it's all about writing instructions that are executed one line at a time. Great for a set process that always happens one step after another but not so great for everything else in life. I had a hell of a time making the jump to object oriented programming, it just didn't make sense.

Then I actually took a class at a community college on it. Within the first couple of classes everything suddenly came into focus. I had just been missing the critical understanding of how it worked. I thought all programs consisted of procedures that started at the first step and had to hit every number up until they ended at (for arguments sake) the 10th step. With OOP you can start at step 1 then do step 5, then step 10…or any combination of other steps. It was amazing, and I'm still not explaining it very well in this post but I have done so successfully with past classmates and friends who needed help making a similar transition.

The same applies to weightlifting.  These days I'm a former competitive powerlifter. That means I used to pick up the heaviest weights possible in direct competition with other men my age and weight class. Whoever picked up the heaviest weight wins. I was moderately successful at it too, and even though I no longer compete I still train with a lot of those principles. It took me years to get there though, years where I had no freaking clue what the hell I was doing. I started off using machines, for Pete's sake! Then progressed to occasional free weights with the canned 3 set s x 10 reps method focusing on the vanity muscles (chest, shoulders, arms). It took me years, literally, to keep going and find other exercises and to learn that I was an idiot. I needed to do more compound exercises (movements that used multiple muscle groups) and had to make my back and legs stronger. It took a long time and it took the help of some genuine people who really wanted to share and to help to make it happen for me. These days I train others and pass it on to those in need.

Seeing a trend? Well perhaps not, but there is one, I assure you. Marketing my books or websites I create or damn near anything is an art I have yet to master. Heck, I can't even say I've learned to walk in that world yet. It's going to be painful but I realize I have to figure out whatever the obstacle in my way is and overcome it, or at least find a way around it. And then, when that happens, I'll be happy to pass that knowledge on to people like me who mean well but are woefully under-informed. Until then I don't even know what I don't know, so writing about it or asking questions seems pointless. Sigh…

But hey, in an attempt to blunder my way into something, my latest book, Dark Earth, has just been published by Fido Publishing. It can be found at http://fidopublishing.com/store/catal....

Dark Earth is also available at Smashwords.com (http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...) along with my other published or soon to be published books (Voidhawk and Wanted). Or, if you just want to stop by my web page (under construction at present), go to http://www.booksbyjason.com.

-Jason Halstead

Voidhawk

Dark Earth

Race Cars

I'll be the first to admit that Nascar doesn't do anything for me. Formula 1 isn't much better. Other racing, motorcycles, trucks, dragsters…you name it, I've never been all the big on caring who got where first. About the only time I reckon it really matters who wins the race is in determining the gender and other genetic factors of a baby. Yes, I'm talking about sperm, now let's move on.

I grew up in lower Michigan. Spent some time in and around Detroit and had the privilege of having a father who spent over 40 years in the automotive industry working for General Motors. I spent a decade in the auto industry myself in fact. With that background, I can say with no regret that I am a staunch supporter of the American Automobile.

When somebody recently claimed that they owned a Honda Civic sports car, I laughed in their face. It was a knee jerk reaction and probably not one that I should have let out. Still, a dinky little 4 cylinder sports car? Come on!

This person insisted it was a sports car, and not just because of the after-market fins, wings, spoilers, racing stripes, and whatever else that is available for them. I smirked and let the subject drop, knowing no good would come of it.

Later though I did some digging online, the Internet knows-all, after all. It turns out there is a niche in the sports / racing segment that caters to the 4 cylinder market. I figured it was made famous by video games mostly, but then again the games wouldn't have the cars in them if someone hadn't wondered just how many amphetamines they could force feed the gerbils under their hood. With that discovery under my belt I returned to that individual and acknowledged that they were correct: their car was indeed technically considered a sports car. I'd never consider it as such, but I deferred to them the right that they head to consider it thusly.

To me a sports car has no fewer than 8 cylinders. Mind you there are some Mustangs and Cameros with only 6 cylinder engines, but those may be exceptions to the rules (and, generally speaking, they can't compete with the 8 cylinder variants). Fuel economy is not a consideration when you are thinking about a sports car. Rather power, speed, comfort, and good looks are what matter. These various factors of performance are what really matter, and I can't help but wonder if saving up on the various peripherals required to make a 4 cylinder look and feel sporty would allow a person to actually buy an entry level sports car.

Now I'm a truck guy through and through. All about function and utility, but a few times back in Michigan when I saw a Dodge Viper with a V-12 streaking down I-94 I couldn't help but stare slack-jawed in awe. After they'd zoomed out of my vision I mopped up the drool on my chin and went about my business, but you can't help but fantasize about owning a car like that.

-Jason Halstead

Voidhawk, at www.fidopublishing.com

Invisible Walls?

I've been reading and hearing that starting a blog is a great thing to do. Not because I feel the burning need to share my thoughts and opinions with the world, nor because I think other people should believe as I do. My purpose is entirely self-serving, I want to help promote my books. By doing this I can help provide links and key phrases to search engines to further optimize my books and / or websites. And all I have to do is spout some random nonsense. Search engine optimization is equal parts science and art, it seems. Amazing, isn't it?

So what does invisible walls mean? Does it have to do with performers who pantomime running into glass panes? Or perhaps it's an allusion to the adage about throwing stones and living in a glass house? Even better, maybe it has to do with eliminating the internal dialogue / censor that prevents people from hearing what a person really wants to say (aka seeing inside your thoughts). Of course maybe invisible skull would be more applicable in that latter case. One final possibility occurs to me: perhaps "Invisible Walls" are just to seemingly random words conjoined together (like Concrete Banana). A great name for a band, but nonsense in any other venue.

Whatever the case, I liked it and thus it stuck. It may not be permanent, but aside from death and taxes, what is?

And now the obligatory signature block:

Jason Halstead

Voidhawk at Fidopublishing.com