Adam Oster's Blog, page 80

Umm. . . yeah

So, I was just about to take a quick break from the workday to write my blog post for the day when I got a rather cryptic (yet, I think good) call from my boss.  As such, my brain is running wild with ideas for what it all might mean, …

The Social Microcosm of THE BAR

As a man with 2 children, a wife, a real job, and a pretend job, I find myself with very little time available to go out and enjoy the bar scene any longer. And honestly, I don’t generally miss it.  My days of mass consumption of alcohol are mostly behind …

A Brief History of LOL

As a young boy growing up in the southeastern United States, I was, well, quite simply, a nerd.  And not the cool kid of nerd you see walking around today with the hipster glasses talking about Star Wars and old-school this or that.  No, I was that guy who would …

A Return to Normalcy

First, quick side note: Normalcy, although some detractors may state existed before this in some form, was a word that really didn’t exist in the english language until it was coined by Warren G Harding leading up to his bid for the presidency.  Makes me wonder when strategery will finally …

The Hate/Love Relationship with Writing

Traditionally, once I complete a book, I’m fairly hesitant to begin the next one I have planned. . . and believe me, I always have a new book planned (there are currently 27 projects contained in my “future projects” text file).  Part of it is because there’s so many other …

Forgotten Blessings

I often find myself forgetting how blessed I am.  There have been many times, partially due to my battles with depression, in which I catch myself considering how much better my life would be if , instead of remembering how much good stuff I truly do have going on at any given moment.

Sure, I’d love to be a bestselling author, I’d love to be able to tell my day job to shove it, I’d adore the prospect of owning myself a nice house on a large piece of land (preferably with some fish-filled water).  But, honestly, I’m really happy with my life. . . I just forget that fact at times.

Unfortunately, the times that I come to the realization that I really do appreciate all the blessings I have been given in this life are due to finding out how poorly other folks have got it.

Even more disappointing (in myself) is the fact that it’s not hearing stories about the homeless or the unemployed or the dying that typically bring my whininess to light. . . it’s the stories of those who are struggling with the one thing I find myself taking too much for granted.  Love.

There have only seriously been a couple times in my life where I have actually felt the troubling nature of not being loved.  They hit me hard.  In fact, through all of the struggles I’ve had in life, whether they be financial, loss, or failed dreams, the ones that stick with me are the few times in my life where I actually reached a point where I felt as though nobody loved me.

But I have been blessed.  Seriously blessed.  With love.  No matter what else is going on in life. . . which still tend to be the other three mentioned above, I seem to always have love to fall back on.  When I have a rough day in the figurative trenches, all I need do is see my children and they quickly begin melting away.  And, if they somehow don’t work, there’s still a woman in my life who I’ve managed to keep around for ten years that seems to somehow still want me around.

I’m blessed, and I’m incredibly grateful for it.

But, here’s the problem.  The times in which I actually realize I’m blessed almost always come with a price, and that price is seeing other people who are currently in the place I’ve been in so few times in my life. . . feeling unloved.  These revelations always tend to come up so incredibly randomly (although also rather timely) that they hit me like a brick wall.  Suddenly I go from inappropriately feeling sorry for myself for some stupid excuse I give for needing to feel sorry for myself, to feeling despair because I honestly don’t know how to help these people that I truly believe deserve all the love that the world has to give them.  These are people whom I personally believe deserve love much more than I do.  I’ve seriously done nothing to earn the blessings I’ve received, yet these folks are some of the most loving and philanthropic people I know, and the one thing they strive to attain is love.

I still remember the earliest revelation of such a situation.  I had a friend in high school who wanted, more than anything, to get married and start his life.  Sure, he was a little over-eager to move to that stage of his life, considering his age and all, and this eagerness certainly did a lot towards pushing any interested members of his chosen gender away, since, you know, they were also in high school and rather happy with the portion of their life that should be dedicated to gaining a better understanding of one’s self.

But this friend of mine (one whom I’ve unfortunately lost along the way), would get so despondent over the situation.  He felt completely unloved, although he had so much love to give.  And it tore me apart.  I wanted to scream at him to relax and just let love happen, instead of forcing it upon anyone who shows any amount of interest.  There were times where I wanted to do so in a rather violent way even.  I watched this friend whom I had known for years swirl into this period of complete despair, each connection with another human being becoming that much more difficult because of his ever-growing need to be loved.  He was in a cycle that threatened to tear him apart, and quite possibly did so on a number of occasions.

I’m happy to report that he is married now (and I believe has a child either in the works or already in this world, like I said, we’ve unfortunately parted company).  All reports make it sound as though he has finally made it to the place in life he so long strived to reach.  And even though I find myself in a situation where I’m not exactly allowed to see this version of him personally, it warms my heart to know that he’s finally gotten there.

As I’ve become an older man, with older friends, however, I’ve found myself seeing so many more heart-wrenching moments, namely through the difficulty that is ending a marriage (or long-term partnership).  I don’t care how necessary it may have become for the dissolution of the pairing, watching that road unfurl before two people breaks my heart.  I, being the closeted romantic that I am, find myself yearning for them to find a way to patch things up, all the time knowing they have passed the point of no return.  And it happens so damned often.  I know that if I were in the same situation, having that promise of “till death” become a prison sentence would kill me.  The idea that my wife and I could ever be to the point where our differences were irreconcilable would destroy me.

And I think of that whenever I see these situations going on among my friends and family. I think of where I’d be personally, were it me in their shoes.  And I want more than anything to find a way to help them, knowing that any assistance I could offer would be nothing more than a short-term solution to something they have to work through on their own.

I hate it.

I hate knowing that anyone out there feels unloved.  It is, in my opinion, the worst thing that a person could be without.  And I pray that anyone who ever finds themselves in that situation, is able to get to a place where they no longer feel that way.

For what it’s worth, I love you, and, I really don’t care who you are, if you need me, I promise to try my best to be there for you.  It does happen to be one of the few situations where my wife allows me out of the house

Have a good one!

Win This Book (and one of my comic books)!

Today’s your last chance to get entered to win a signed paperback copy of THE LEGEND OF BUDDY HERO!

In my silly ploy to get more reviews on Amazon for my book, I had a lot of fun in developing a little contest to try to convince all of you who have read the book to put up a little note telling other people that they should read it as well.

I’m not much of a beggar, in fact, I’m not really trying to beg right now.  However, I realize how difficult it can be to take the time to put into words how you feel about anything. . . especially considering you know I’m judging every single word to decide whether or not we can continue to be friends in the future

Honestly, anything does help.  I’m not complaining about how the book is doing, by any means.  In fact, I’m pretty darn happy with how well it is being received, as well as how many sales are coming through, even if most authors would describe them as trickling.

Buddy’s slowly making its way up the Amazon ranking scale, and as it does so, the one thing that will help it continue its path is reviews, as it helps build consumer confidence.  In fact, research has proven that even negative reviews are better than no reviews at all.  And. . . I’m really not picky.  If you hated the book, go ahead and tell the world.  It may save others from reading a book they aren’t interested in, or, perhaps, cause them to want to see if it’s anywhere near as bad as you thought it was.

I’m not looking for compliments, just a little assistance in giving people a reason to choose my book over others when they are doing their shopping.  All of you have already done so much to help Buddy get where he is today, and I owe you all way more than I could possibly ever give back.  So, I’m not begging, I’m not pleading, I’m not even guilting.

That’s why the contest exists.  I want to give something (albeit relatively minor) back in return for those who are continually helping Buddy on his rise.  If I had the money, I’d give something to everyone who leaves a review, something much more valuable than a signed copy of the book you’ve already read.

However, in order to up the ante slightly, I will be tossing in a comic book from my very own collection to the prize.  So head on over to the A CALL TO ARMS facebook page and get yourself entered.

And–just because I’m enjoying giving things away, tomorrow I’m considering Super-Saturday where THE LEGEND OF BUDDY HERO will be completely free for 24 hours.

Thanks again for joining me on this fun ride.  I hope we can continue it together!

Gaming the System

image from bunchball.com

The life of an aspiring artist today can be a rather tedious one.  Much like during the days of the Renaissance, it seems that almost everyone is doing something that they want the world to fall in love with.  However, as opposed to the days when you were just trying to get your local community to recognize your talents, artists of today are forced to gain the attention of the entire world, at least if they wish to actually make it their career.

As such, it seems that everyone is looking for a shortcut to the front of the line.  With so much competition out there, and so much of it being completely worthless, the urge to do whatever you can to separate yourself from the crowd is quite overwhelming.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing inherently bad about trying to make a name for yourself.  It is, after all, the only way to gain notoriety as an artist.  The problem is that most of the methods available for people to do so (quickly) today are, well, in effect, cheating.

I’ll admit, I battle (and sometimes lose) the urge to game the system constantly.  Sites like Amazon have definitely created failsafes to try to keep authors from creating multiple fake accounts and posting thousands of grandstanding reviews for their own works.  Many other sites, of course, haven’t.  But even with Amazon, there are many ways around the failsafes.

But there are just so many different ways to cheat the system in order to get your name higher on the list from other (possibly more deserving) folks.  Of course, there are just as many ways to do so that are above board (such as creating something that’s worth international attention), but they just take so much damned effort.

As of this morning, I’m happy to announce that THE LEGEND OF BUDDY HERO is ranked #75 in superhero books on the Amazon Kindle market.  That’s pretty darn cool, since it’s up there with books like the novelization for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.  I’m pretty proud of that fact, and even more proud that it got there mostly on it’s own regard, meaning that although there may have been a few things I did that I’m not entirely proud of, they had very little to do with my book’s current placement on the ranks.

But the urge still remains. . . what can I do to get it higher?  What can I do to make more people aware of my book, even if it means lies or cheats or whatever?  I see this in my fellow authors as well.  So many of them, like myself, find it difficult to not want everyone to instantly fall in love with them and their work, that they will utilize less than moral methods to get there, or at least heavily consider them.

I should add, this is nothing new, of course. Heck, the concept of the casting couch, where actors trade sexual favors for their chance on the big screen, is well known.  In fact, many people believe that such acts are all but necessary to actually make it as an artist in today’s world.

It’s sad, but also, there’s a great deal of truth to it.

That being said, this morning, after recognizing how much success I’ve had with very little to go on, even if it’s no where near the amount of success to consider myself a successful author, or, you know, a bestselling one; I made the official decision to kick myself in the nuts if I ever seriously consider using shortcuts again.  If THE LEGEND OF BUDDY HERO, or any of my other creative outlets, become successful, I want to know that it’s because of the work itself, instead of some form of trickery utilized to confuse the masses.

I’m currently working on a few legitimate methods for promoting the book, including one that I’m quite fond of and hope to get together very soon (hint: the most amazing book trailer of all time).  I’d also appreciate any input anyone has on things they think I should be doing better.  I can’t promise that I’ll use all thoughts (especially since the idea of things like book signings frighten me by images of me sitting behind a table for long periods of time without a single person even looking my way), but I’m always interested in hearing new ideas for marketing strategies.

With that being said, I’m going to get back to working on legitimate artist stuff. . . you know, writing and editing.

 

Have a good one!

What Were They Thinking?

While working on new ideas for The New Defenders series, I do a lot of research on both mainstream comic books/movies as well as some of the more obscure pieces of those parts of our popular culture.

It can be a pretty interesting research subject, especially when looking back at the history of some of our most famous superheroes.  Superman’s gone through so many changes over the years.  He started as someone who could just jump really well to becoming known as the man who could fly.  He’s died, come back  to life, changed his powers completely, and had to battle with a rainbow of colors of kryptonite, each of which can have completely different effects on him. . . well, some only have effects on bizarro versions of him, which is even weirder if you know anything about Bizarro Superman.

Wonder Woman, created by the inventor of the polygraph (magic lasso anyone?), would lose all of her powers if she was ever bound by man (yeah, not surprisingly, the creators had some interesting sexual preferences), could get 10 times as strong if she removed her bracelets, but that, of course, would cause her to go completely insane. . . yeah, the first female superhero was not exactly in line with the feminist movement in many ways.

But some of the most interesting pieces of the superhero culture are the lesser known heroes, and, more specifically, the powers that people come up with in order to attempt to make their characters unique.

One of my favorites is Rainbow Girl.  Her “super-power” is that she wields the powers of the mysterious emotional spectrum. . . according to wikipedia (and everywhere else I’ve looked, which isn’t too many places because she was fairly short-lived) this resulted in unpredictable mood swings.

So. . . yeah, you know, like my wife when she’s pregnant

Seriously, one has to wonder what these folks are thinking when they come up with this stuff.  She did supposedly have the ability to produce a pheromone that would would give her an irresistible personality, but, well. . . Power Girl’s uniform does that as well.

Looking into all of these different types of characters that have cropped up (and instantly disappeared) over the years reminded me of Meg from Family Guy, when they all received super powers, but her’s was that she could grow her nails long.

But the thing is, sometimes these things can work.  I mean, look at Wolverine.  A simple description of his powers may immediately cause one to think of Meg’s abilities, but he’s managed to continue to be one of Marvel’s most popular characters. Daredevil, a blind man who can see better than the rest of us (?) somehow manages to continue to exist, Aquaman, well, he’s Aquaman, right?  It really has to do with implementation.  I haven’t read any of the Rainbow Girl stories, but I am familiar with the stories she was involved in, and they were very similar, in idea, to the start of the movie Mystery Men, where the Legion of Superheroes were looking for new members, of which they allowed Matter-Eating Boy (or something like that) and Bouncing Boy into their ranks. . .

I’ve actually got one character I’m introducing in THE RISE OF THE FAT MOGUL, which would fall under this prospect of seemingly useless superpowers. . .

So, I should probably get back to that.

 

Anyways, have a good one!

Back in the Habit Again

Although I had come to the conclusion that my return to the stage ended for some time after my experiences doing the musical HONK! back in March, I was somehow convinced to return to my theatre roots once again, culminating in two shows this weekend, for a little musical revue called MISCAST 2013: The Power of the Pronoun (or something like that).

I have to admit that it’s rather nice to be involved in yet another show with such an amazingly talented cast, and, of course, one that required so little of my time.  Yet. . . I can’t help but continue to feel that nervous energy as the show dates approach.  My stage presence in this show is much less than that of this past March’s, but it feels like there’s so much more hanging over it, perhaps due to the fact that the majority of the audience will, undoubtedly, be theatre folks from the area.

All the same, the show is shaping up to be quite a lot of fun.  The basic concept is simple, guys sing girls songs, girls sing guys.  The execution, however, shows the true versatility of our area’s local talent.  And then I may sing a song or two as well. . .

Anyways, if you’re into musical theatre (and not too easily offended) I highly recommend coming out to watch me yet again make an ass out of myself in front of the masses.

Seriously, come on out, you’ll even get to see the long-awaited return of my wife to the stage.  That’s how important of a show this is .

 

Anyways, gotta get to writing.  Have a good one!