Jake Jeffries's Blog: Dark Watchman, page 7

Math as a language

Greetings everyone,

One of my prior blog entries mentioned the psychology class that I was taking at IUPUC. In addition to that class, I am also taking Intermediate Algebra which is the next step in the course of mathematics that I need to pass for the math heavy Mechanical Engineering degree. I have a love/hate relationship with math. I enjoy the challenges that it presents but there have been times when I was younger when I questioned what the point of learning it all was. In my writing and in my life I try to be as mathematically and grammatically accurate as I humanly can. During the writing and editing phase for Bad Blood Rising I found myself counting bullets to make sure Vangetsu didn’t fire more bullets without reloading than the type of guns he was wielding could carry.

Throughout the course of my life thus far I have noticed that a lot of times as a society we tend to think of math and writing as two distinctly different things. Lately, I find myself finding more and more similarities between the two. If we take the time to examine different languages we can often times find similarities or at least correlations between what particular languages are based upon. I have always found myself faring better with writing than I have math. I never took the time to consider that math is just another form of language using numbers in place of words. Working a math problem is much like forming or editing a sentence. The lines between math and writing are more blurred when using letters and working word problems. I believe that art can be created using methods inspired by mathematics, writing, and any other number of separate or cumulative things.

Examples of mathematics can be found practically anywhere if you know what to look for:

Logarithmic spirals are plentiful in nature. Image Credit: M101 – NASA, ESA, CFHT, NOAO; Typhoon Rammasun – MODIS, NASA Comparison: Lawrence Anderson-Huang (Ritter Astrophysical Obs., Univ. Toledo)

An Archimedean spiral forms the shape of this treat.

The Sierpinski Triangle is composed of equilateral triangles that resemble a beefed up Triforce symbol from the Zelda franchise.

And in case you need a sappy math related t-shirt for Valentine’s Day next week.

The link to a new short story is below:

Contraception

Odin reading about his adventures in Bad Blood Rising.

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

They’re here!

Greetings everyone,

Hallelujah I have frickin’ hardcover books! Due to forces beyond my control the production of them kept being delayed. However, they are now in my possession. There are twenty of these in existence and only 12 left.

Here is proof of their arrival:

Some other exciting news is that I have commissioned a drawing of Vangetsu to be drawn by one of the legends in the comic book industry. I am ecstatic about this. Once it is complete I plan on scanning it to share with the world through my art gallery and social media. After that, it is being framed and going on my wall. It should be done just in time to be a part of my Valentine’s Day weekend blog post.

Recently I have been working on obtaining permission to use certain things in my writing. One of the places I contacted was Death Wish Coffee Co. in regards to using their brand of coffee for certain characters to drink. They said that they would be honored! Any company that produces coffee is amazing and a coffee company that utilizes a skull in their logo and has a flavor called Valhalla Java is amazing on an epic level.

The link to the new short story is below!

Fear of the Dark

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Updates and Short Story

Greetings everyone,

There are some new changes to the website! Please take a moment to look around. I’ve moved the special acknowledgements to my book tab and moved the social media tab to my resources tab. In addition, I have added blogs I follow and recommended writing advice links to my resources tab as well. You may also notice the new unpublished works tab, more on that in a minute. Some of you may have noticed the currently reading, watching, and listening items on the sidebar. My plan is to keep everyone updated on what I am researching and or enjoying for entertainment. The character card art on the art gallery page now has a mini-bio of each character and I was able to tweak the image settings a bit. I wanted to provide a little bit more information about the characters for those interested in checking out the full novel. My inspiration behind the cards is some old Mortal Kombat biography cards I have for a game I used to own.

Odin has been popping up on my twitter feed and Facebook profile. Camera’s everywhere can’t help but take pictures of his adorableness. Odin’s adventures will be an ongoing thing where I take pictures of Odin in random places and post to social media. So far he has been seen hanging out with Goku and Vegeta from Dragonball Z and chilling in the Tardis from Doctor Who.

Recently, I uncovered a stash of short stories with some of them dating back to 2010. These will pop up in upcoming blog posts and ultimately find a home on my unpublished works page.

Alphonse Davies

I stood at the front of the first class of the semester. The list of students was before me in braille. I called out their names and received a response for each name. All thirty students were in attendance ready to absorb all the information I had to give them. My hands were shaking. I gripped the podium for strength. I ran my right hand along the wood grain. It was rough even through my thin gloves. I adjusted my sunglasses and cleared my throat.

“Welcome everyone, to Criminology 101. I am Dr. Davies. Before we get started, does anyone have any questions about the class?”

The room grew silent.

“So there are no questions?” I asked again.

“Are you blind?” A male voice asked loudly.

“As a matter of fact, yes I am.”

“How does a blind person teach?” This time a female voice quipped.

“I speak and you listen.”

“So you can’t see anything at all?” The male from before asked.

“That is the working definition of blind isn’t it?”

“You’re the teacher.”

“Actually, I’m the Doctor. I have a PhD in Criminology. Which reminds me; that is the actual topic of this class. The next time anyone speaks, please state your name first. I will be able to pick up on your voice and begin to recognize it. Now to start with, what makes someone a criminal?”

“My name is Patricia. A criminal is someone who commits a crime and is guilty of breaking the law.”

“Good, that’s what a criminal is. However, that is not necessarily what makes someone a criminal.”

“Patricia again, would a person’s upbringing factor in?”

“Yes and no. Most people are influenced by their environment or how much they were loved as children. But, I have known criminals that came from perfectly fine non-broken homes that still commit quite heinous crimes. What is the factor here?”

“Andrew here, maybe they just like it?”

“Bingo. You got the gist of it anyway. Sometimes, just sometimes there is no motive for what people do. This is where what I like to call the bat-shit crazy factor comes into play. Textbooks usually don’t cover this. Sometimes the only logical explanation is an illogical one.”

The door to the classroom creaked open. The sound of heavy footsteps followed. They must have been boots. A hint of perfume wafted through the air.

“Dr. Alphonse Davies?” A commanding voice asked with a hint of question.

“That’s me.”

“I am Officer Brown. The Evansville Police Department requires your assistance in a case. Please come with me, you will be debriefed in the car.”

“Pardon me, but this is the first day of class. Besides, I’m not going anywhere with a man that wears perfume.”

“Alphonse, what if I asked for your help?” A familiar female voice entered the conversation.

“Kate, is that you? I thought I recognized the perfume. Who will teach my class?”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve already contacted someone. As for today, I didn’t think the class would mind getting out early.”

The class erupted into cheers.

“Calm down! Read chapter one for the next class. No homework. You can go.”

The class cheered again and was followed by the sound of a stampede. I wondered how many of them were rushing out of class to knowingly go commit some kind of crime thus becoming one of the criminals that they were studying to protect against. The world is full of irony after all.

“Kate, who did you say was teaching my class?”

“You know her, Mallory O’Brien.”

“My niece, are you serious?”

“Dead, she’s a good candidate. She’s far enough along in her studies. It will give her good credit towards her doctorate.”

“Whatever. Are we going for a car ride or what?”

I grabbed my folder of notes from the podium. Officer Brown’s heavy boots stomped off toward the door. Kate grabbed my arm and led me out of the classroom and through the hallways. When we got closer to the entrance I could hear phones ringing and typing on keyboards. A gust of wind hit me in the face from outside. Kate was still leading me. The smell of fresh air mixed with Kate’s perfume was intoxicating.

“That is a lovely perfume you are wearing.”

“It’s not even perfume; it’s just the shampoo I use. Why is it I get the feeling you’re undressing me with your eyes even though you can’t even see me?”

“If I can’t see you, then how am I to know if you are actually dressed or not?” I smiled.

“Shut up!” She chuckled. “Damn comedian. We’re at the car.”

I reached out my hand and felt the metal outline of the door. It was open already. I knelt down and felt for the seat. Kate helped make sure my head didn’t hit the doorframe as I sat down. Once I was all the way inside someone shut the door. The other door opened.

“I’ll be riding next to you filling you in on the situation. Officer Brown is our escort.” Kate said.

She shut her door and another door opened and closed. Officer Brown started the car and shifted into drive. The car jerked into motion.

“Ok, I’ll just come out and say it. You’re father has information we need for a case.”

“Stop the car.”

“Alphonse…”

“Is that why they sent you Kate?”

“Just do it for me, Ok? I know it’s hard and you and your father don’t get along. But he has become like a Godfather to some of the inmates.”

“Great, as if dealing with my father isn’t bad enough now I have to deal with Don Davies. You’re not helping the case Kate.”

“One of your father’s men just got released from prison. He was a convicted child molester. He got let out on good behavior. New information has surfaced that he may be trying to startup a drug smuggling business for your father. A little girl came up missing in the area where he was released and he hasn’t been seen since around the time of the disappearance so he is the prime suspect. We need to know your father’s plans and if he knows where the suspect might be.”

“Damnit Kate. If I have to deal with my father for the sake of a little girl then it’s a fair trade.”

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Let’s Get Serious

Greetings everyone,

Happy New Year! I know it is a little late. This week also marked the start of my second semester of college at IUPUC. I’m going for a degree in Mechanical Engineering. One cool thing about it is that there are some non-engineering related classes I get to take as well as some electives. I am trying to gear the non-engineering classes towards helping me with my writing, for example this semester I am taking a class called: Ethics and Diversity in Psychology. I hope that with the class I gain a better understanding of the diverse nature of humanity. The course description is very interesting and I should be able to apply what I learn to my day to day interactions with my fellow humans and also apply what I learn to make my writing that much better. We all have the capacity to learn and create a better life for ourselves, I encourage everyone to take a moment to think about something they can do or learn to help themselves.

Personally, I struggle with anxiety and take prescription medication for it. It is something that at one time I would try to hide and be ashamed about because I feel it is something that hinders me from conforming to a social norm. As I have gotten older I have realized the futility in trying to force myself to be something I am not. During my teenage years I didn’t understand or grasp that my underlying problem was an anxiety disorder. There were times when the anxiety turned into depression and as a result I got in the habit of being in a pessimistic state of mind. As a teenager sometimes we feel like our problems are only our problems and no one else has struggles. These days I realize that there are more people out there with the same struggles. There are still days that I get depressed or find myself with a pessimistic view but I feel accomplished that those days are not as prevalent as they used to be. I find myself being more optimistic at times. There is nothing wrong with being who you are. You can’t use a shoehorn to try to fit yourself into a normal fitting shoe, if it doesn’t fit then it doesn’t fit. You may have to do a little bit of searching but once you find the size that does fit you will be much more comfortable. Sometimes you just have to say, “Fuck normal.” And really, are any of us ‘normal’ anyways? Not only should you feel comfortable with who you are, but you should hopefully feel safe with being who you are.

When I am feeling pessimistic I always like to think about a quote from The Crow, “It can’t rain all the time.”

My father before he passed also struggled with anxiety. He read the book Anxiety & Panic Attacks: Their Cause and Cure and then gave it to me. In my opinion it is one of the best books on the subject. It got to the point that whenever we heard of someone else struggling with anxiety issues that we would give them a copy of this book. We tried to always have an extra on hand just in case.

One of my goals as a writer even though not all of my characters are human is to attempt to reach out and get in touch with the human condition through the process of my writing.

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Enter the Dark Watchman

Greetings everyone,

Enter the Dark Watchman has officially begun.

My promotion for Bad Blood Rising will also continue. I plan on having some more signings and remaining active via social media. Recently, I had some postcards made up that I plan on using for promotional purposes as well. Another part of my continued promotion and support of artists helping artists is my pledges to Ray Dillon’s creator owned comics via Patreon. Ray Dillon is an epic renowned artist in the comic world. In exchange for my patronage Ray created me some awesome artwork depicting Vangetsu kicking some major vampire ass.

I just finished reading Amanda Palmer’s book The Art of Asking. This book is an amazing memoir written by Amanda Palmer. Before reading this book, I knew her as the woman who gave the awesome TED talk with the milk crate and flowers. After reading this book I know much more about her. I have become a fan of her music as well. There is love, heartbreak, tales of woe, tales of hate, and tales of triumph which act as petals surrounding a delicate middle message that composes The Art of Asking. In my opinion the point of this memoir is to encourage others to not be afraid to show your true self. Do not be afraid to take the flower, give a flower, and for God’s sake take a donut when offered one. When you stare into the soul of Amanda Palmer, the soul of Amanda Palmer stares back into you.

Here is one of my unpublished poems:

Pieces

I tried to fix you

But you were broken beyond repair

Fragments scattered throughout time itself

You are a puzzle not meant to be solved

If ever the pieces once fit together

That time has long since come and gone

Maybe you won’t be like this forever

I hope you find where you belong

I know at one time the pieces fit

Pulled apart by Pinhead’s chains

What was the catalyst of your struggling strife?

Why incessantly immerse yourself in pain?

All in all I know that I didn’t fail

To be honest there is no such thing

Your emotions were just too fragile and frail

You couldn’t cope with all the trials life brings

The lament configuration has become your heart

One twist can open the door to Hell

Uncontrollably your teardrops silently start

You disappear as you withdraw into yourself

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Merry Christmas

Greetings everyone,

Merry Christmas! Starting tomorrow, An Attempt to Fill the Void… will be free for the Kindle December 25th-26th. Consider it a gift from me to you!

I’m also excited because this weekend I turn 28.

Through the process of combing through my writing files I uncovered an old document for a comic book idea that I had. I’m not sure how far I will take the idea, but I found it hilarious. It is called The Founding Force and consist of clones of America’s founding fathers that are imbued with super powers that try to go about fixing a corrupt government.

I also uncovered some poems that weren’t in An Attempt to Fill the Void… I plan on releasing them through the website once I find all of the ones that didn’t make it in the book.

My last item for today’s blog is to leave you with a tentative unpolished beginning thought monologue from the protagonist of Enter the Dark Watchman. His name is Jack Crimson.

“The dirt sifted through my hand like sand in an hourglass. Many of us don’t realize that time is a finite resource. We use it and abuse it like any other resource we humans think we are entitled to. It seems like no one stops to take a breath and cherish a moment anymore. Busy lives breed sad goodbyes. Before we know it the ones closest to us may pass on and leave us behind. If we’re lucky we won’t be left behind with feelings of regret and thoughts of what if? things were different. The last piece of grist fell from my hand and the millstone in my mind stopped turning for a moment. My tears were held back briefly by the slight consolation that my mother is no longer a slave to her cancer. Her suffering has passed. At least we did get to say our sad goodbyes, a moment my family never got with my father. Tears started to flow from my eyes. Fuck it, my mother died I’m entitled to cry.”

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Bad Blood Rising Free Sample

Greetings everyone,

Enter the Dark Watchman has been heavy on my mind and heart lately. Luckily, soon I will have a break from my school and work responsibilities. My notes are currently scattered about in a conglomerate of word documents, post it notes, notebooks, and e-mail documents. Yes, I am one of those people that e-mails themselves. Most of the time it is from my mobile device so I can take notes and then convert them to a word document later. My goal, my responsibility…no duty…and dare I say compulsion as an author is screaming at me to get my shit organized. If all goes well, Enter the Dark Watchman will be officially started by the end of the current holiday season. Along with the official start of the new novel I plan on diving headfirst into a large pile of research that will strengthen the character and give me invaluable insight into areas of study that will in turn also strengthen the story.

For those who didn’t know, my books page has a four chapter sample of Bad Blood Rising. Here it is again: Bad Blood Rising Sample

I leave you with a link to a really cool reading and writing enthusiast. I love her dissections on Trigun and her writing lessons from Fullmetal Alchemist and Dragonball Z. I can’t wait until her book is released. Her name is Kami McArthur.

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Book Signing Fallout and New Artwork!

Greetings everyone,

I’ve always heard that people watching is a valuable tool for writing, but never in my life has it been more apparent than after the book signing that I did last week. Not only did I have a nice secure spot to people watch from, but I also had the joy of being an interactive object that people had the choice of buying books from. I decided to setup for five hours at the Half Price Books in Greenwood. They were very accommodating, I cannot say enough great things about them to repay them for how accommodating they were. I still need to send thank you cards to them. They had a big red table setup for me upon arrival and even made announcements about the book signing a few different times.

There were some experiences from the book signing that I would like to share. There will be no actual names used during the experiences. The first lady that bought a book was priceless.

As my fiancée and I were setting up the lady walks up, gives the table a once over, and asks, “What’s this?”

I told her that it was book signing for my first full length novel. She picks up the book and reads the back blurb. She then starts to laugh her ass off almost to the extent of rolling on the floor. I just stand there smiling. She then tells me that she has to buy it because of how crazy it sounds. We then discuss how awesome home libraries are. Another one of my favorite reactions was when an older lady asked what the book was about.

I just mention the word vampire and her eyes bugged out and she started backing away after saying, “Vampires scare me.”

One guy talked his wife into getting it for him as a Christmas present. He even walked away and pretended to look at another art book while she was buying it.

Another guy was walking by with his kid and the kid stops and exclaims, “Oooh guitar picks! Oooh candy!”

The guy visibly sighs like the world just did a belly flop on his shoulders. He allows the kid a guitar pick and denies the candy.

Later, the kid before leaving the store made sure to stop on the way out and told me thanks for the guitar pick.

One reaction was a combination of me and the person buying a book. We got so excited about the transaction that we forgot to do the whole cash exchange part. That everyone, is part of why I make sure my fiancée is with me for these things.

I wish I had made a book sale for each time someone thought we were the information desk for Half Price Books. I couldn’t believe it. There was all of this stuff about one particular book, a podium on the table that detailed the book signing, and we still got asked where to find things. Lucky for some of them, I have been to the store enough that I know my way around very well. My favorite question about where to find something was about where to find Christmas cards. The Christmas cards were directly adjacent to the table. Literally all the person had to do was turn around.

I am thankful for all of the friends and family that took the time to show up and support me as well. Also, a special thank you to my fiancée for everything.

My message to those that bought the book is this: I hope you enjoy it, please leave reviews, and I couldn’t ask for a better audience.

Also, for those that haven’t heard there some new Bad Blood Rising art by Sean Yager! It is for a postcard to use for physical mailing promotion and to use for online promotion.

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Book Signing Tomorrow!

Greetings everyone,

Hopefully you all had an excellent Thanksgiving holiday!

Mine was great. It is always nice seeing family and getting time off of work. However, a writer’s mind is always at work isn’t it? I do have to admit that even during family time, ideas were churning about in my head and at one point I turned to my mobile device to input some notes to use later.

At the time of this writing, the book signing is officially tomorrow! The only major issue so far has been with the poor timing of the hardcover edition. However, the show must go on and this hiccup will not damper the awesomeness of the event itself. After all, there is chocolate inside of a Tardis! I fixed the brakes so that they make the noise and replaced the light bulb on top so that it is in perfect working order. It is awesome to see my name up on the Half Price Books website! If you haven’t already, make sure to join the event on Facebook.

I’d like to give a brief mention about a few items I picked up during the holiday sales.

The Korean movie Snowpiercer is currently $9.99 on Amazon. I urge you to pick it up! I’m not sure why it seems to be getting so much hate in the reviews. It is one of my favorite movies of 2014 and Chris Evans is at his best since Captain America.

What kind of writer would I be if I didn’t pick up some items for research and inspiration? Below are some books I picked up and highly recommend.

Easton Press Mythology: The Greek Myths Volume I and II, Myths of the Norsemen, Celtic Myths and Legends, and Myths and Legends of Japan. E-bay is the only place I have been able to reasonably find these.

Also, I am a huge fan of Guillermo Del Toro. Finally, I was able to get the funds together to purchase his book Cabinet of Curiosities. It is amazing.

I leave you with this quote, “Writing well is not always about knowing what to write, sometimes it is about knowing what to cut.”

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries

Happy Thanksgiving! Free E-Books!

Hello everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m telling you today, because tomorrow I will be having multiple family get-togethers. Also, this will be my only post this week. Please take my best wishes to you and yours. Enjoy the time with your families. If you are one of the unlucky people that have to work the retail stores for the epidemic that is Black Friday then I wish you the best of luck. If one of your family members has to work it, then make sure that the time they do get to spend outside of work is enjoyable. Be excellent to each other!

As a holiday special I am making both of my books available on the Kindle for free during the days of November 27th – November 29th. If you have a Kindle, the Kindle app, or are planning on getting a Kindle on Black Friday then my books will be available to you for no charge! I wanted to give a range of days around Thanksgiving as my way of giving a gift to you and so that it wasn’t just on Thanksgiving day because that day should be shared with family. However, if your family is driving you crazy and you just want to run off into the other room and read then by all means download away and enjoy! I am thankful for all of your support.

Thank you,

Jake Jeffries