Amelia's Blog

        Wow. That does it for Chapter One of the story I’m tentatively calling “Adventure”. Yeah, I know, not very original, but it’ll do for a place holder for now. Monday, there will be another story, but I’m not sure if it’s going to be from this one, or another I’ve been working on that’s been lying kind of fallow since I started this experiment. I’m proud of how that one started out, and I’ve got a nice chunk of it written, so there is a built in buffer.         As far as this whole thing goes, I’m pleased with how it’s been working. It’s been keeping my writing on a (mostly) daily basis, and that’s always a good thing. I think I’m sticking with it. Saving the weekends for situation updates, normal-like (mostly) blog type fodder. I’m not gonna say that I won’t miss a day occasionally, but one of my goals is to work a buffer into things, which is why I’m considering posting on the other story as well. Not sure, you’ll know on Monday, I guess :)         Believe it or not, this is ex

        "That is a name I have not heard in many years."         The four of them were crowded in Buck's workshop, watching the older man's brow knit in confusion. "Last time I heard of this Beloved cult was before your parents died, C.J." He looked at her with an expression of regret and sorrow, and a lot of apology.         Siege stiffened at the mention of her parents, but didn't say anything. Hitomi put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Why would they surface now? And why would they need to know you were still out there?"         "Hmm. Most likely because last time I saw them, they were fleeing from their burning temple."         Siege smiled a bit, "Did their leader have a jackal mask?"         Buck shook his head, "No. Back then they all wore Egyptian robes, despite not one of them actually being Egyptian. They certainly didn't wear military garb and attack places." He rub

        The team squished through the tunnel, the thick mud on the floor telling the story of flooding in recent times. Even as they walked, they could hear the drip-drop of water in the background. Hitomi did not like this at all. The squishing mud made too good a cover for an ambush. She had a bad feeling about this. Usually, she listened to her gut. Last time she didn’t, she was captured at this very dock. She shook her head, “Hell with it,” she muttered.         Hitomi pulled the heads-up eye piece from her gauntlet and slipped it on. Tapping the side of the head piece, she engaged the scanners she built into her gauntlet. With a soft chirp in her ear, several dots appeared behind them. “Damn,” she clicked her radio and softly notified Siege.         “How many?”         “Ah, five or six. They’re hanging back.” She hit the ignition on the gauntlet’s weapon system. A short, sharp whine faded into a deep hum. “I doubt they’ll stay that way.”         Siege cracked her knuckles, “We’ll

        Hello, hello! This post brought to you by Sleep Deprivation! For when you absolutely cannot sleep overnight! -_-’ Yeah, sorry to cliffhanger you, but my brain not worky so good on no no sleep. But instead do leaving you with nothing, dear reader, here is the original character sheet I wrote out for Siege McCormick. Enjoy! * * * Cynthia Jane McCormick - (C.J.) C.J. or "Siege" to her friends, is known for her toughness, strength and patients, of of which border on the superhuman. Anyone who underestimates her for her size rarely does it twice. A hair under five feet and a shade over 100 pounds, she often would be the brunt of jokes or referred to as 'pint size'. One of the reasons for her tremendous patients is the amount of teasing and abuse she she endured growing up. She learned to shrug it off, or continually get in trouble for fighting. With that came a serenity that everyone who knows her envies.

        Siege grabbed her radio immediately, “Buck, come in. We’ve got a problem.”         She quickly filled him in. “By thunder! Good work, child, I’ll send some reinforcements, just in case. Blow the console.”         “You sure?”         “Yes. I’ll send someone to the next sites on the list. They’ve already got some of the plans, we can’t let them get anymore.”         “On it!” She clicked off and called to Hitomi, “Need your C4! Buck says blow it.”         “You got it.” With methodical quickness, they wired the console and the entrances, and made for the door, and wired that one too. They sprinted back to the ladder and climbed out. Just is case, they wired up some of the tunnel with the last of their explosives. They got the store owner out of the building just in case and blew the room and tunnel when they were outside. The muffled thunder was heard for miles and shook the ground like an earthquake. The building erupted with dust, and the women winced as the owner stood with his

Hey everyone, happy Memorial Day for those of you in the U.S. This is later than I would have liked it to be, but still I wanted to make sure I got this up. Sorry about that, tomorrow's will be on schedule, and this one is roughly twice normal size :) I wanted to get to a beat, and I'm afraid I got a bit carried away with description! Anyway, I hope you enjoy! * * * Siege kicked through the floorboards, her steel-belted boots adding extra force to her already impressive strength. Two calculated kicks, and the floor opened to reveal a shaft with a ladder bolted to the side. “Man... I thought the whole point of a trap door was to conceal an entrance, not seal it with a whole box of nails.” Siege just arched a brow at her friend, before picking up cracked plank. “You’re right, ‘Omi. Someone put a lot of effort into sealing this up,” she gestured at the piles of carpet they pulled up, much to the chagrin of the shop’s owner. After leaving Buck, they

Okay, I think that went well. Not stopping, just pausing for the long weekend, get a buffer up and such. I look forward to bringing you more. Please, please, leave comments. I want to know your thoughts and opinions. Yes, I know comment validation is a pain, but I don’t want things to devolve into the spammy so quickly. Thanks, and I’ll see you on Monday!

        “Come in.”         The two young women smiled at Buck’s booming voice, feeling at ease after hearing it as they always did, despite the seriousness of the problem. They walked into his crowded workshop, stopping for a moment to listen to the soft sounds of Buck’s clockwork creations. The man looked up as they came around the corner of his workbench, being careful not to disturb the piles of gears and mechanical doo-dads that gave the room an almost steam-punk feel.         “Well. My favorite duo. What can I do for you?”         As usual, Siege went right into it, preferring not to waste time if she could help it. “I think I found the pattern. It took a couple hours of digging, but I think,” she paused, “I’m sure I found it.”         “Well, go on child, go on!”         She colored briefly, at being called a child, but she knew he meant no harm. If anyone else would call her that, however... “All of the places hit are connected by an old series of tunnels. They date back to Worl

While Jeremy was trying his home made mech, Hitomi was puttering around in her workshop. Losing herself in her work was something she always did after a mission, regardless of how it went. It was her way of processing a mission. She was so deep in concentration that she missed Jeremy scuttling into her shop. “Hey, ‘Omi?” Jeremy stood there waiting. “Hmm? Hey, Jer. That the mecha you were talking about?” Jeremy beamed proudly, “Yup! It works pretty well, too. Almost quiet enough for the field with the rubberized tips. Still need to better soundproof the chassis though.” He scratched his head thoughtfully. “I want to be careful. Don’t want her to overheat.” Hitomi smiled at his enthusiasm. He was younger than her by five years and seemed younger than that even, with all his energy. It seemed boundless. “Try asking Buck for some of his breathable sealant. It’s got bacteria that move oxygen around. I bet that’ll help.” Jeremy nodded. “I’ll do that. T

Closing the door behind him, Buck left C.J. to her meditations. He knew she would come away from it with a clearer head, and most likely some clear insight into the problem. Buck roamed the hallways of his team’s complex, as he usually did when he wanted to think. For as many years as he has been doing this sort of thing, you could always find him roaming the halls during tough cases. Back when he started, it was just him and one or two close friends. In the grand tradition of other of the so-called “pulp heroes” him and his friends would travel the globe on grand adventures righting wrongs and generally saving the world. Then the villains started getting serious. Then it became a responsibility to stop them. The stakes rose, and he lost them. One by one. Then, eventually, it was just him. Then he met young Siege’s father, Brian. It was true he was no longer as young as he once was, but the gallant and adventurous Brian brought out the best of him. A larger surprise was B

Siege waved to Hitomi as they left Buck’s workshop, feeling frustrated and annoyed. Though she rarely let these things get to her these unidentified goons were really getting under her skin. They had made several seemingly unrelated raids over the past several weeks, and most of the raids were unsuccessful thanks to Siege and Hitomi. Quite a team, they were. Siege headed to her quarters and closed her door, wanting some quiet time to meditate. She did not like to be annoyed. Anything other than serene, really. Making sure she didn’t hurt someone or something she didn’t mean to took a lot of control and focus. She went to her meditation pillow and gracefully settled into the familiar lotus position. Breathing deeply, she cleared her mind went through the exorcises to let go of her frustration. Today was difficult, as she was not only worried about who these goons were, but also that Hitomi got caught today. It just didn’t happen. Hitomi was most likely just as worried

        Hitomi swore viciously in Japanese. She clicked her com and whispered urgently, “C.J.! Siege, are you there?”         No answer.         She swore again and checked the power level on her gauntlet’s readout. Almost empty. Another patter of blaster fire hit the cargo container she was hiding behind. If she didn’t get some backup soon, she’d be both pinned down and out of ammo.         Hitomi peered cautiously around the container, not seeing her assailants. She grabbed a rock from the small pile she’d been gathering and tossed it against a container across the aisle. As it clanked loudly, the container was hit with a hail of bullets. Must be low on energy too, Hitomi thought.         She tried the com again, this time she was rewarded with a broken transmission. “Hey! It’s ‘Omi! Come in!”         “...ay! I re... I’m okay. Omi, are y... ...ere?”         Siege.         “Oh thank whoever!” she whispered to herself. “Siege, it’s Omi! I’m pinned down and almost out of blaster charge!

Oddly, I think it’s going to work. Thanks to the great support over at the Mariner Software Forums , I can schedule auto posts via Mac-Journal. They gave me such a quick response, I can’t help but toss a plug their way! :) Here’s how I’m planning on doing it. Monday the 19th will have the first story. Each will be roughly 500 words or so and centered around the POV of one character. Nothing fancy, but I want to give you a feel for each character and who they are. Please feel free to give me feedback! It’s the only way I’ll get better!

As you may have noticed, y’know, assuming anyone is actually reading this :), I’m one of those wannabe writers. As an experiment, I’ve been taking an hour after work to write. I average somewhere close to 600 words a day, which... isn’t great, isn’t crap either. As an experiment now, I want to try and do a small story every day here. This may or may not actually work, but it’s one of those things I was thinking about on the drive to my writing spot. I WANT to say that I’ll have something every day, but until I get moving, I’m not sure I can guarantee that. Crappy attitude? Maybe. But it sure as hell is more realistic. Especially considering that I was planning on writing an entry a day here to begin with. Look how well that worked :P But, there it is. I’m trying really hard to get my writing to a level where I can at least have people like to read it, and I figure this might be a big help. Wish me luck.

So, I’ve been using my Mac for just about everything except games for almost two months now. It’s not exactly a transformative experience, but it’s nice. It’s faster, certainly prettier, than any of my Windows boxes. Hell, it makes my work computer run like a 486 trying to run XP. And it’s not exactly a snappy machine to begin with. But it’s certainly a pleasant laptop to use. I’ve found two new apps, For pay sadly called Story Mill and Mac Journal both from Mariner Software . Story Mill has actually been a boon for my writing, which I’ve been doing for an hour a day, mostly. A couple of days were missed because of family or exhaustion. Now, I fully admit, my word count should be much longer, but considering the definite lack of words previously, I’m not going to be too hard on myself.