The second, slightly more intense viral teaser trailer for THE DARKENER. Check it out!!!
Music Credit: Save Me by Avenged Sevenfold
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Character Bio: Director Bloom
The third entry in our Character Bio feature focuses on the man in charge of AVARAD and all its operations: Director Harrison Bloom.
Director Bloom is a government executive with a background in military research and development. Before stepping into his leadership role with the AVA, he served as a strategic consultant, advising the infant agency on the most effective and efficient methods for exploring the existence of the variants. He stressed the importance of surveillance and information gathering, while at the same time reinforcing the agency's original stance that genetic evolution had the potential to be a serious threat to the country.
When the AVA began to expand its reach, Director Bloom was appointed to the Research and Development division as a full-fledged employee. He quickly rose to a leadership position, garnering more and more influence as AVARAD's station within the AVA strengthened. With increasing levels of freedom and an expanding budget, Bloom was able to position AVARAD to become the militaristic arm of the AVA, complementing its R&D directives with an array of para-military operations and special projects. Chief among these were efforts to police variants deemed potentially dangerous to society.
In terms of personality, Director Bloom is a very private man, who prefers to focus his attention on work rather than social endeavors. He is not particularly liked by his employees, due to his intensity and questionable methods, and on more than one occasion he's been accused of being prejudice and/or morally astray. Still, the influence he's had on the agency and variant policy is undeniable, and thus at the very least he's positioned himself as a man not to be trifled with.
Director Bloom's most trusted operatives are a pair of men named Commander Timothy Englewood and Lieutenant Seth Jenkovich, the subjects of our next Character Bio.
Director Bloom is a government executive with a background in military research and development. Before stepping into his leadership role with the AVA, he served as a strategic consultant, advising the infant agency on the most effective and efficient methods for exploring the existence of the variants. He stressed the importance of surveillance and information gathering, while at the same time reinforcing the agency's original stance that genetic evolution had the potential to be a serious threat to the country.
When the AVA began to expand its reach, Director Bloom was appointed to the Research and Development division as a full-fledged employee. He quickly rose to a leadership position, garnering more and more influence as AVARAD's station within the AVA strengthened. With increasing levels of freedom and an expanding budget, Bloom was able to position AVARAD to become the militaristic arm of the AVA, complementing its R&D directives with an array of para-military operations and special projects. Chief among these were efforts to police variants deemed potentially dangerous to society.
In terms of personality, Director Bloom is a very private man, who prefers to focus his attention on work rather than social endeavors. He is not particularly liked by his employees, due to his intensity and questionable methods, and on more than one occasion he's been accused of being prejudice and/or morally astray. Still, the influence he's had on the agency and variant policy is undeniable, and thus at the very least he's positioned himself as a man not to be trifled with.
Director Bloom's most trusted operatives are a pair of men named Commander Timothy Englewood and Lieutenant Seth Jenkovich, the subjects of our next Character Bio.
Full Length Trailer 1
Never posted the first full length trailer on the blog, so check it out below!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Character Bio: The AVA
The second entry in our Character Bio feature focuses again not on an individual character, but on a group of people that have tremendous influence on the structure and direction of the story. They are a major driving influence on the narrative that leads up to the events of the book, serving as an antagonistic presence in several characters' back stories, while also playing an integral role in what plays out on the pages themselves. This group is called the AVA.
The AVA, or Anti-Variant Agency, began as a government-mandated task force designed to investigate the existence of genetic variants in society. At the time, the idea of genetic evolution or mutation was seen as a serious threat, as research suggested that a human mind mutated to the point of true genetic variance would be incredibly unstable. Abilities and mental illness would go hand-in-hand, and the United States would have a serious problem in its midst...or at least that's what the geneticists believed. This theory was quickly debunked as the variant's existence was confirmed and several subjects were brought in under examination. At the same time, the AVA was promoted to a full-fledged government agency and tasked with a new challenge: regulating the variants and keeping their existence out of the eye of the public.
To accomplish this, and to extend it's influence, the AVA split into branches, the most notable of which was AVARAD: the Anti-Variant Agency's Research and Development wing. This particular branch grew into the militaristic arm of the AVA, tasked with policing the variants as well as developing tools and software aimed at keeping their existence a secret. While many variants felt oppressed by AVARAD, others joined the agency as civilian liaisons, hoping their contributions would show the government that the variants were of no threat to the country.
AVARAD was headed up by the next entry in our Character Bio feature: Director Harrison Bloom.
The AVA, or Anti-Variant Agency, began as a government-mandated task force designed to investigate the existence of genetic variants in society. At the time, the idea of genetic evolution or mutation was seen as a serious threat, as research suggested that a human mind mutated to the point of true genetic variance would be incredibly unstable. Abilities and mental illness would go hand-in-hand, and the United States would have a serious problem in its midst...or at least that's what the geneticists believed. This theory was quickly debunked as the variant's existence was confirmed and several subjects were brought in under examination. At the same time, the AVA was promoted to a full-fledged government agency and tasked with a new challenge: regulating the variants and keeping their existence out of the eye of the public.
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AVARAD was headed up by the next entry in our Character Bio feature: Director Harrison Bloom.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Character Bio: The Variants
Our first Character Bio will focus not on a specific character, but an entire group that forms the basis for the fantasy elements of the story. This group is, of course, the variants.
The variants are a race of genetically-evolved humans born with all sorts of incredible abilities, not unlike the superheroes or super-humans you often see in today's media. Some of them can fly, some of them can move things around with their minds; it's the typical "person born with a superpower" type of deal. What makes them a little different, however, is how their abilities work. Often there's no attempt at explanation for how a character's gift actually functions, or how and why it's able to be so perfectly efficient all the time. People with abilities on TV or in the movies never seem to get tired from using their ability, nor do they ever really seem to have to expend much effort to use it. I never quite understood that. Where were they getting the energy to do these incredible things? How were they able to sustain them for so long?
With the variants, I wanted to shake up the archetype a bit. I wanted to put a more "realistic" spin on the concept of having a superpower. The variants have incredible abilities, yes, but their abilities take energy to use, just like any other activity. Flying makes them tired. Constantly moving things with their minds wears them out, just like constantly moving things with your arms would. Despite their gifts, they are biologically still human, and thus are limited in their power.
At the same time, the condition of genetic variance is incredibly rare in society, to the point where the variants' existence is not public knowledge at the onset of the book. They are myths, stories, and nothing more as far as the world knows. The only people aware of their existence is a small sect of the United States government, which will be covered in the next Character Bio focusing on the AVA.
The variants are a race of genetically-evolved humans born with all sorts of incredible abilities, not unlike the superheroes or super-humans you often see in today's media. Some of them can fly, some of them can move things around with their minds; it's the typical "person born with a superpower" type of deal. What makes them a little different, however, is how their abilities work. Often there's no attempt at explanation for how a character's gift actually functions, or how and why it's able to be so perfectly efficient all the time. People with abilities on TV or in the movies never seem to get tired from using their ability, nor do they ever really seem to have to expend much effort to use it. I never quite understood that. Where were they getting the energy to do these incredible things? How were they able to sustain them for so long?
With the variants, I wanted to shake up the archetype a bit. I wanted to put a more "realistic" spin on the concept of having a superpower. The variants have incredible abilities, yes, but their abilities take energy to use, just like any other activity. Flying makes them tired. Constantly moving things with their minds wears them out, just like constantly moving things with your arms would. Despite their gifts, they are biologically still human, and thus are limited in their power.At the same time, the condition of genetic variance is incredibly rare in society, to the point where the variants' existence is not public knowledge at the onset of the book. They are myths, stories, and nothing more as far as the world knows. The only people aware of their existence is a small sect of the United States government, which will be covered in the next Character Bio focusing on the AVA.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Viral Teaser 1
I've been working on putting some new content together in addition to the standard pictures and blog posts, and landed on the idea of doing a series of book trailers. I'm going to be starting off with a couple of teaser trailers before releasing a full length trailer in a couple weeks. The first of the teasers is below. Enjoy!
Music credit: This Is A Warning (Intro) by Thousand Foot Krutch.
Music credit: This Is A Warning (Intro) by Thousand Foot Krutch.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
On Complexity and Fragility
Another of the major themes of the books, the one I believe makes itself present in virtually every character, revolves around the idea that human beings are incredibly complex creatures, with a level of thought and emotion unparalleled by any other in our world. Every man, woman, and child on the planet is in reality two people: the one they choose to show and the one they keep to themselves. At any given moment a beaming smile can hide a broken heart, a vengeful gaze can mask the touch of mercy, and an icy facade can encase a fiery passion. No one can ever really know for sure what's going on in the mind of another. Trying to read someone, to truly understand them, no matter how well you know them, is still probabilistic in nature; even if you're 99.99% there, nothing is ever certain.
I tried to bring this idea to my characters to keep it as true to life as possible. Even the "bad guys" can have a justifiable reason for what they've done/they're doing, just as the "good guys" can be motivated by a less than "good" force. Very rarely are people so black and white as you see in the movies. Villains don't do villainous things just for the sake of being "bad". Even a character as bad as The Joker in the Batman movies was doing what he was doing to try and prove a point (or at least that was my interpretation, not trying to stir up a debate, lol).
This applies doubly to the main character of the book, as his mind has evolved beyond that of an ordinary human being. This makes him powerful, yes, but it also makes him extremely complex, which in turns makes him more fragile than you'd expect. Where a break in a regular human's mind can result in changes to personality, thought process, rational, etc., a break in a more advanced mind can result in even larger ripples (or at least in the universe I've created it can). I bring this up only so people can keep it in mind while they're reading the book. At times, I've made an effort to add complexity to the writing itself to parallel the complexity of a particular character's mind or a particular situation. At times, actions or reactions are intentionally blurred or contradictory...because that's what humans really are. We are unpredictable, fragile creatures. We react on instinct almost as much as we react on preconceived notion. We follow both our hearts and our head, two forces often pulling us in two very different directions. Hopefully, I was able to get that across with my writing.
This applies doubly to the main character of the book, as his mind has evolved beyond that of an ordinary human being. This makes him powerful, yes, but it also makes him extremely complex, which in turns makes him more fragile than you'd expect. Where a break in a regular human's mind can result in changes to personality, thought process, rational, etc., a break in a more advanced mind can result in even larger ripples (or at least in the universe I've created it can). I bring this up only so people can keep it in mind while they're reading the book. At times, I've made an effort to add complexity to the writing itself to parallel the complexity of a particular character's mind or a particular situation. At times, actions or reactions are intentionally blurred or contradictory...because that's what humans really are. We are unpredictable, fragile creatures. We react on instinct almost as much as we react on preconceived notion. We follow both our hearts and our head, two forces often pulling us in two very different directions. Hopefully, I was able to get that across with my writing.
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