BLOGS

             If one was bored with how one's life was going, it was found that to interrupt Willy Creech from his enjoyment of listening to Miss Freda Payne, would bring a jolt of excitement to satisfy two lifetimes! At Renell's, a pool hall on Dillard, or as it had been known to several generations of Cool Folk,Hot Dill Drag. It had an atmosphere thick enough to repel a howitzer shell fired point blank. That particular summer Saturday night,  Willy, his running "podnuhs",  'Savage' Sam Magnum, James Lee, and Sidney Cortly, were engaged in playing pool and eating the best damn fried gizzards in the nation.    On the jukebox, Miss Payne sang to the lucky fool " I Get Carried Away" and Willy felt it was for him that she had cut that tune.  Measuring his shot, providing " his" Freda backup hums, he was about to take it, when a Bored One got loud.  " Naw, fool! I'm tellin' you straight up, Mickey Kent dunit!  I wuz there!"  James Lee about to put another hot sauce drenched delicacy into his mouth, shook his head at the loudmouth's self-important blabbing.  " Mo muthafukkas wind up dead or in lockdown, cuz somebody said somethin' they shouldn't have," James' Grandfather Henry said, while drinking his favorite beer, in his favorite recliner.    

James eyes went to Willy. He was slowly thawing from the shock of someone loud talking over Freda!   Sam, who had been winning, looked over at the Bored One, trying to register if he was anyone he knew. Sidney, short, heavyset, yet not yet fat, a maple syrup colored teen, the youngest of the group, mouthed "Uh Oh!"  James looked to see what style San Remos Willy was wearing.   Slip ons: meant a beat down was coming. laceups: a shooting.   Willy had on his dried mustard tan slip ons , matching his outfit that night.   The Bored One continued unaware. Louder in fact.   "Mickey,he came up on tha muthafukka,  and bust the bottle upside the nigga's head!" He pantomimed the action.   The one being shouted- told the information received his gizzards with onions, and two bottles of cold beer Renell's didn't have the license any longer to sell.

"Why he do it?" he asked the shouter, putting hot sauce on his gizzards. He spoke lower.   Bored didn't get the hint.  " Cuz him and Mickey wuz afta  Carlotta Tyson's big azz!"  He gestured with his hands as if explaining to a slow child.  Willy took off his shoes, and with poolstick in hand, gunfighter walked over to the pair. Sam smiled and placed his stick back in the rack then leaned over the table.    Sam had a .32.   Sidney rocked back on his stool to get a better view. Sidney wasn't carrying a gun.  He had a sawed off 12 gauge in the trunk of the car they rode up in.  The hall's regulars acted as if things were normal, but went through the motions slowly.   Duck and cover originated in a poolhall.

Hey there folks! I'll be honest. I need a little bit of help from all of my friends and watchers out there. My husband was quite sick most of last month (he's okay now) and while he was out of work I had to use the money for my artist's alley table for AWA to pay for bills. So with that in mind, I'm taking some sketch commissions. Simple, portraits for $5 each. Could you lend a hand?

Examples:

Here are the details:

1) The $5 is for one sketch bust portrait of one character. Any additional sketches or characters will be an additional $5.

2) The character can be either copyrighted or original. If it is original, please include: a)Character name and b) a brief description or a link to a visual reference.

3)Completed sketches will be emailed as a high resolution scan to the commissioner.

4)Please email me your requests with the following information:
Name or DeviantART name
# of portraits wanted
character descriptions/ visual aid links
your email

5) I'm only accepting PAYPAL. I'm sorry. No exceptions.

And that's it! My e-mail is sarah_a_bowman(at)yahoo.com. Just replace the (at) with the proper symbol. I'll email you back with your total and the proper payment info and then all will be go! I'll get them done ASAP!!

Thanks in advance for everyone who's kind enough to help out! I'm telling you. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Peace and love,
Sarah

Well, part III of the Priestess Saga, "All Things Present, Past and Future" is up and an epic journey begins! On Monday, the second phase of the Saga will begin and that is, "All Things Sown Before Harvest". The Valley Knight, Chief of the Aesir and the boy Little Fish must travel to a distant place by unconventional means. Will they successfully complete their journey and what will they find if they do? These and many more questions will be answered next week. So for you old and new fans of the Priestess, get ready!

The Inagural story story saga for The Priestess Fanpage, "All Things Present, Past and Future" has been launched! Part I is now up on the fan page ready for waiting eyes. Serious events loom large over some of your favorite characters living in the Valley. Events which will ultimately affect all who live there in unexpected ways, including the mighty Priestess! So take a look at this latest work written on a cellphone!

All hail The Priestess!

Whoo boy! After months of keeping this under wraps and getting everything ready, the short story inspired by the Sword and Soul Challenge: 'Stop This!' now has its own group page. The Priestess online series of adult/fantasy short stories is currently exclusive to the BSFS. Not only intended as a fan page, this is also intended to be an experiment with an interactive experience. Artwork both standard and motion graphic are coming in addition to more stories.

All the original stories from my blog posts will be available along with the new material. Biggest news is the upcoming 5 story saga, "All Things Present, Past and Future". This will be bring revelations concerning the major characters and flesh out the 'hows' and 'whys' of the Valley and those who live within it. Most important is the entire saga will have been written on my smartphone!

So for the Priestess' current and future fans, there are big things coming and I hope you'll come along for the run!

There are a host of films where something didn't totally click; the stars were too old for their parts, it's the sixth damn sequel, the villain(ness) had more zest than the erstwhile hero/heroine, Racism!   Sitting around in one happily organic smog and malt liquored den in the late 2oth Century, several of us had opinions on what would have made the flicks we had seen Right.  It was easy. Tarzan getting his ass whupped by an angry tribesman. Buckwheat pulling Dora and kicking off in Spanky's and Alfalfa's butts.   The soldoff husband of Mammy from Gone with the Wind, coming down the stairs in Union Army uniform and pimp slapping Scarlett, with Melanie behind him having had his baby.  The Mexicans have an easy time of it at the Alamo, putting the scum down hard.  Stagolee boards the "Showboat" and sings " It Ain't Necessarily So" and blows Julie's mind.    Charlton Heston and the cinematic Jews being deported from Egypt by Pharaoh James Edwards very pissed off elite regiment of Nubian infantry, who thought they had leave.  The original Imitation of Life has the daughter Fredi Washington telling her slave minded mother, " Go for a 35-65% split of profits, ya dumb cow!"  And in the second, Dianne Sand tells her "mother" " I love you Mamma, but gotdamnit you're a dumb bitch!"  Then driving off with Brock Peters.  Stuff like that.

Just messing around, Im practicing new techniques of drawing characters. Let me know what yall think.

-Rob

"What are you trying to do?" the creature asked peevishly. "Wake the dead? We're already awake and we're very, very angry with you!" She narrowed her eyes. "You've allied yourself with a terrible evil. You should be ashamed!"

So reads a bit of dialog in Valjeanne Jeffers' Immortal II: The Time of Legend.  You can't beat writing and an attitude like that!This is an incredibly complex and well thought out novel.  It's a fast and furious read, too.  Werewolves and demons, time travel and mythological creatures, drug addiction and rehab, saints and sinners, streets gangs, mucho sex and action, and oh yeah, some Immortal beings, too. This is such a unique blend of fantasy, horror, and science fiction that it's hard to nail down. So I won't try. It's a fantastic world to get lost in.  It has humor and drama, a touch of the street and the 'hood, and is wrapped  in what I think is a very cool 1960s flavor.  Think the Equal Rights Movement, the woes and sorrows of places like Alabama and Watts, student demonstrations and the Viet Nam War protests all sort of joined together and set in a future -- or futures, if you will -- that is both beautiful and terrible at the same time.  I look forward to reading Immortal III: Stealer of Souls.  Valjeanne has definitely topped book one!!

It depends on how you ask the question, I never learned to draw people. I have a buried desire but no skills.

You take a photo of a person, you steal a part of their soul, I kind of believe that. You can read the imprint of light captured by the camera, it does not lie. What did you capture, just an image or a part of that person, the light that is/was that person.

It is so compelling to draw faces, bodies in poses. The artist trying to put a soul into a likeness to give it a life of its own. Attribute after layered attribute the person designers hard at work. Who is playing god now? Even writers talk of characters taking on a life of their own.

I don't draw people, never developed the skill. I do imagine people standing in front of my art, all kinds of people of a specific mentality, artist, poets, dancers, quantum mechanics, star gazers. These are archetypes, beyond personalities. Filling in the soul with lower vibes, coarser harmonies makes them real people we can comprehend, our friends and what not. So complex and subtle the gradations, god would craft each one and we persist to dress up or mess up what he has done. We drift from plain to different to just weird but that's from our vantage point. We too are looking at light like a camera with a complex eye and even more complex neural-net, yes we are light aware beings.

My 93 year old mom-n-law, former art teacher, always tries to press me into art the way she learned it. I resist because even though I am 34 years younger than her, a youngster to her, I am not starting from scratch setting aside my non-art training to learn something else. I've been drawing on the computer since the 70's, it is so different. The tactile experience is different, even if you draw like you do on paper, the whole thing is different. The only thing not changed is composition and color.

I am an artist I say, they always ask me to do their portrait. I should say I am a graphic designer, they would ask "am I a commercial artist?" I think folks are stuck with job descriptions. Don't google, the first description of an artist is a musician or a singer.

I think labels have been used widely, I can't even say I do abstract art because most think you take something known and abstract it. I know, "I do sci-fi art!" Now there's a can of other worldly worms.

So as I watch the parade of people pass by my eyeballs I imagine what I can draw behind them, a stage, a view, an environment. I let others draw the people.

Why don’t you like science fiction? Is it because you think only Geeks enjoy science fiction. Or is it because you think it will turn you into a Nerd. Or is it simply because you think it is not cool and only the lonely, social outcasts follow science fiction. It is a common misconception that people who like science fiction are Geeks or Nerds.

This is not so. Science fiction is a misunderstood genre. Science Fiction is a complicated genre made up of many genres that tell love stories, adventures, mysteries, spy thrillers, and even comedies with imagination, innovation, technology and science. Science fiction stimulates the imagination with eye popping, jaw dropping scenes and plots that move a story along while dealing with the future, alternative timelines, space travel, aliens, time travel, dreams, wars, and even comic book superheroes.

Think of James Bond movies, Jason Bourne movies, Harry Potter, Avatar, Iron Man movies, Inception, X-Men movies, Transformers movies, I Am Number Four, Tron, Priest, Star Trek movies, Paul, Green Lantern, Thor, Cowboy vs. Aliens, Alien movies, Predator movies, The Adjustment Bureau, Hitchcock, Megamind, Superman movies, Batman movies, Species, Monsters vs. Aliens, Time Travelers Wife. The list is too exhausting to write, but you get my point. You’ve probably seen a science fiction movie and didn’t realize it. Now think of your favorite T.V. Shows, Lost, 24, V, Walking Dead, The Event, Undercovers, Charmed, and Supernatural just to name a few.

Hopefully, you can see, science fiction is where man first dreamt of computers, flight, rocket ships, moon landings, cell phones, laptops, iPads, smart phones, Velcro, GPS, Radar, calculators, HDTV, microwaves. Face it, without science fiction or at least the imagination that science fiction stimulates, we would still be riding horses, sailing in wooden ships and hunting for our food.

So no…liking science fiction doesn’t make you a Geek or a Nerd, it makes you exciting, stimulating and insightful. It fuels you as a soldier of the future.

Do you still think science fiction is only for the Geek or Nerd? Sound off; let me hear your voice.

Malcolm D. Petteway, Rage Books LLC

Eun Mi and her brother Jorge were in last place and gaining on the other contestants. This was the third year and a row that they competed in the cave races and Eun did not want to lose again. Jorge was scared and barely helped guard their box cart, but Eun kept pushing at full speed. As they came closer to the next turn.....

a drabbler is a story with exactly 100 words here is my first go at it hope enjoy. leave comments.

It was just a handshake, that’s it. But it turns out that’s how Glarcarians reproduce. Galactic Space Exploration Incorporated`s mission specialist didn’t bother telling us that though. So as soon as I jump of the ship on Glarcon, the first thing I see when I jump off the ship is a Glarcarian female with an out stretched hand, and you can guess what I did next, yep that’s right.
We`re headed home now, with my slimy light blue Glarcarian- Human hybrid son in the cradle. I`m going to keep him, I just have to explain that handshake to my wife.

I guess I admire all the cosmic beings cooked up in the pages of comic books and such, but what rattles my cage is the kind of science fiction where technology crosses over. Technology is always an extension to man's natural talents and abilities. What happened to me is I dream and struggle to get my art in print, even print in a larger size or context. I get a wide format printer and my perception of things changes. In sci-fi I think of that movie 'Contact' where the woman has an other dimension experience for a good while but in her native dimension only a heart beat of time passed. The amazing technology that supported that opened window, did it open outside of her and she was immersed or was it opened in her mind, her spirit?

My new printer sits there waiting for me to give data and spit out words, 2d forms, vistas. What happens if it records pictures from the ether, since my PC is connected to the 'ethernet? Or I can print out a device, like the portable stargate I found in the back of a sci-fi paperback. I could print an array of them, go anywhere. Doorways, it prints doorways. Simultaneously it prints both sides, in two worlds.

If I met myself in another universe would I recognise me, like me, hate me. Would we be the same or a mirror image (why does he shake with his left hand?) or polar opposites. Would we struggle, trade places unknowingly (what I knew is somehow different sun sets in the east, toilets whirl in the other direction).

Why is it when I print the same doorway again, it goes elsewhere? Or when I find an old doorway print, go through, I am tattered and worn? Maybe it's not the printer but the ink. When I was a child, there was a story about a boy with a purple crayon who drew his world. Maybe he grew up, went digital and I stumbled upon his melted crayon in my ink cartridge.