New Chapters

I am still working on Ballington booth's Legacy. Just when I thought it was getting close to to done i decided to add a bunch of new stuff to it to make stuff that happens later make more sense.

Today I have been working on several new chapters that have to do with the Yukawa Family. the father is in the earlier series so I figure I need him some more in this one to add some continuity. Also it give him some time to interact with his son.

One thing that this has been keeping me away from is knitting. I have had very little time to knit between this and everything else that is happening. I am thinking of doing a sweater or perhapse some socks.

Well I am just checking in. I have to get back to editing stuff and adding and cutting and all the other goofyness involved with what I am doing.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice

There are days

Long time readers will know that i have been working on a book for some time. The book is part of several story arcs that will be dealt with in several books. I( am sure that professional writers accomplish this with complex tables and plot outlines. Me I am writing six books at once. At least I think it is six books. heck by the time I am done it might be nine or ten.

Anyway if I have an important plot element i write the chapter for this plot element through several books so that I am sure that it works out. There is some kind of device that i using in the Chapter title that I hope will make all of this work out. We will see how it goes.

Well I was working on the chapters for the schisim in the church for the third or fourth book. It made me realize that this was a more important plot element than I have been giving it credit for. So that mean that I has to work it's way into the first book. the first book that was already jammed packed with all kind of stuff. So that mean there are going to be several more chapters to the first book.

Well we will see how it goes. Just checking. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Three Thirty

It is three thirty in the morning and I am in my Temple of Solitude. Which of course is an over dramatic way to refer to my basement office where many offenses have been launched against he English Language. And here is the latest one.

Oliver has been working overtime on this the sixth edit of the first Book in The Salvation NAvy series. Well after two years of working on it I finally do not hate it with every fiber of my being. I am not sure why I cannot get this thing to a place that I life. Several of the other stories are somewhere that I like them. For some reason I cannot get this one n a good place. The sad thing is that the series should probably start with this one. So I have to get it right.

Well wish me luck on the sixth edit. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Meatloaf Does Funk

I just heard this meatloaf track from the early seventies. He apparently did Who is the Leader of the People. If is awesome. It was released ten years after he recorded it because he had some kind of argument with mo town records. Meatloaf and mo town records wow those words in the same sentence. I suppose there has always been something just a bit funky about Meatloaf.


Well this is another song that i owe to Craig Charles and his Funk show on BBC 6. It just does not get better than this. If you have not listened to this show is is better than a bucket of cotton candy with a cherry cola. That is good by the way.

I do think my tastes are beging to shift again. Once upon a time I would listen to BBC 2 almost all the time. The BBC 1 started creeping in there. Then there was the jpop thing. Now I am onto BBC 1 and BBC 6 this is crazy stuff folks. I imagine the Brits that read this might understand why that is strange. Still it is a shift none the less.

Something that i have always thought about is a soundtrack for various things. My own personal sound track is messed up to say the least.

With the Brigade now on it's own I have been thinking about what kind of soundtrack they should have. We are going to have to retool the show. I must say my time at second Baptist has given me a new love of Gospel. Even so I am not sure Gospel is quite right for the way that things are with the show. I am thinking about writing a new show. That would leave it open for what ever kind of music we want to do. Still it is something that we really need to think about. With the Army there was a certain type of music. It felt right and it was always there. If anyone has some ideas I am open to them.

Something else that I am wondering about is the soundtrack of the various character in my books. Various Character already have a soundtrack.

Brigadier Mason is mix Speed Metal and British Rock. Even thogh she is one of the good guys you get the feeling that she is capible of unspeakable evil if the situation requires it.

The newer Character Yamato Yukawa is easy she is jpop and jrock. She is a Versailles and Gackt fan with some Morning Musume and Namie Amuro thrown in there. She is adorable but also you get the feeling that she does not understand the necessity for morality.

This has led me to ponder some characters that I had not thought about.

There is Evangeline Jefferson. Now she is a time traveler who is a baseball fan. She is a huge Roberto Clemente Fan. the time that she specialised in was the late 20th century. So she is an eighties pop fan. There is a point in the story when she is listening to Curel Summer from bannanaramma.

There is her father James Booth. I am all over the place on him. I have his character wlell defined. I am just having some trouble where he should be. At the moment I have him listening to Jazz. He is also a time traveler that one used hi abilities to see BB King in a crummy hole in the wall club before he was BB King. So I know there is Jazz.

He is an uncomprimising man that has unblemished character. he and Mason are often going round and round about tactics. He is the jimminy cricket of the book on occasion. So there is that one that end. I would like to fill out his musical background. Also being a Salvation Army Officer he must play and instrument. I have established that he cannot sing. i am not sure what he should play,

The takes me to John Jefferson. I have not a clue on him. He is a black man that was raised in the US Navy by a father that was into mo town. i do have him liking Ray Charles. Still there is something wrong with you if you do not like at leaste three Ray Charles Songs. i am serious if you do not like that many Ray Charles Songs you have a character defect. By the way Mason only like two Ray Charles Songs.

He has lost his faith in the church but not God. I am thinking that he likes funk and maybe some rock and roll. I am not sure about him. In most of the stories I have been working on he is a background character. In the current story he is a young man of nineteen and and older man.

Well if you have any ideas I am up for them. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Random Things

Something very interesting has been happening with my books. Long time readers will recall me rambling on about this and that. Most recently I have been rampling on about the first series of books. Currently there are four outlined series of books in the same fictional universe.

The first series is The Salvation Navy. This is about the war to try and liberate a group of slaves and the skisim in The Salvation Army brought about by ethnic intolerance.

The Second Series is the Ignored Calling. This deals with the destruction of the slave network and the near destruction of The Salvation Army.

The third series centers on the Solar Fleet of The Salvation Army. This series happens hundred of years after the first two. It deal with the fall out of those wars. It also shows a strong Salvation Army. Humanity is a super power in the war against the Taterin Empire.

The Fourth Series deal with the religious intolerance in the Taterin Empire.

Before all of these is a series of short stories. These short stories are fragments of plot outline, a chapter here and there and actual complete short stories. These fragments are the thing that the rest of the series are based on. In trying to get the first Series together I have revisited these stories.

I am thirty pages into the rewrite on the chronologically first story in this series. It cover the childhood of John and Evangeline Jefferson who are two of the main character in the first and second series of stories.

These strange thing is that this short story may be the first thing of this mass of stuff to get in some kind of print. A young artist in our Clown Brigade is rather good at drawing stuff. One of the things that she is interested in doing is do a magna series. The thing that she is missing is a story line. So it is odd that this has come together in this way.

As soon as I have more on this I am sure I will ramble on about it. Thank for tuning in.

It is Seven in the Morning and I have not slept yet

It is seven in the morning and I have not slep yet. I don't suppose I needed to type that bit again.

I am working on the second and third books in the series. there are some relationship things that I need to work out so that i know how things should be in the first book. For some reason this has been weighing heavily on me. there really is not rush for any of this.

By the way this is a random Toto video



Well I am not sure what to do. I think I have too many people getting married in the first couple books. I( do think they all need to get together. Still, there is such a thing as wedding overload.

I will have to consider ways around this. I do think that the name of the Second book is going to be The DRagon People Rising. Well it make sence in the context of the book. I still do not have a title for the third book. I think it might be the Eleven Doctrine.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

The Book

The book continues to plug along at a painfully slow pace. Most issues revolved around the decision to add the Japanese to the book. When I looked at the future stories there was simply no way that they were not involved with things at this stage. So the only way to deal with those continuity issues was to add them to the book. This will probably add a couple hundred pages to the first book. I figure that it has already added over a hundred.

the main issue is that the character are not where they are supposed to be in the future book. They need to be at a certainplace in the future books. These books have to tell how they got to that place. That is annoying because I never really though about how they got to those places. For most of the Japanese Characters this was simply not an issue. So it is now one.

Well that is what I have been up to. Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Can't Keep Away

I simply cannot keep away from writing in the book. I know that I need to give it time so that it can be edited properly. Never the less I have the constant urge to write stuff in. Today I wrote two chapter both of which may not go into the current book.. Still, it is clear to me that this will be the hardest book of the series. It is the one that I will have to do all alone. If no one buy the rest of the series will remain as scraps and out lines that do not have to dealt with. If someone buys it than I will have help with next one.

I suppose that is a strange way to look at it. Still, I am not one that will put the effort into it is no one cares. It is after all an attempt to tell a story. If no one wants to read the story there is no point to writing it.

Still Working on the Book

Still working on the book. The thing continues to do well. I just wish I had thought of everything that had to go into the first book. There is a a possibility that I would have made it into two separate books.

I have bee writing the thing in these red composition books. Yesterday I finished off composition book number 9 and am moving onto book ten. I am not sure why I started writing the book like this. Even so when i type from the note books into the computer I get a great deal of editing done at that stage. So all and all it may be inefficient, still, it works for me.

I am not sure why anyone would care about this, it was something to post.

BE safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Two New Chapter

I have written three more chapters for the book even though I didn't want to t write anything new. I was supposed to be letting the book alone. i just could not do it.

The new Chapter have to do with Admiral McRandal who is a more important character in the later books in the series. I suppose I have to put him in. He needs to be introduced early on so that he just does not appear out of nowhere.

that is the only problem with writing such a complicated book. Everything has to al least be alluded to up front.

Well I suppose in the grand scheme of thing this is not so bad.

Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice.

Missing Character

Today I realized there is an entire character missing. This mean there will have to be another couple chapters. The character is not really important in the first couple books. Still I cannot just have them show up out of no where.

On the up side I have settled on the title for the second book in The Salvation Navy Series. It will be The Eleven Doctrine. This is referring to the Eleven Doctrine of The Salvation Army. If you are in The Salvation Army that is a cool thing. The title of the third book in the series will have something to do with The President of The United States. The other four books in the series are still rough outlines.

While I am working on the book I have been listening to the music on Jpopasia.com and the yahoo radio. It has been interesting switching between the two.

On the down side of all this stuff I have missed the last two South Hills Knitting Cult meetings. WE have had Army happening on both evenings. JC Thurman has really wanted to go. Well sadly it could not be helped.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Random Stuff

Well the last few weeks have been strange. Every couple days I reread the book and decide it needs a new chapter here or there. Sometimes this is to fix a plot hole. Other times it is to support something in one of the other books in the series. For some reason it feels as if I will never finish this book.

To be honest until recently I have not felt very comfortable with this book. Around four hundred pages though I was beginning to get the feeling that it might turn out to be something that was not an entire waste of time. Now at over five hundred it almost is coherent to me. I suppose it should probably make seance. If no one can understand it no one will buy it.

On the up side I feel that with ever passing read I find more of gramatical and puntation flaws. I am sure there are spelling problems. Still the computer is fairly good at dealing with those.

Anyway Just checking in to vent about some of the random annoying stuff with the book. On the up side I will have it finished soon. Or it will sneak up on me and kill me in my sleep. So if you stop hearing from me you know the book won.

Just Checking IN

Over the last couple weeks I have added another hundred pages to the Book. So the gizmo is now around five hundred pages. Well I suppose no one can accuse me of writing a short story.

I have also join Jpopasia.com which is a great little site if you are into Jpop Music. I am also fairly certain I want to start a Jrock band name Purple Panda. That is another story though.

Here is a viedo from Greeeen I think they are a Jrap group. Anyway it is a neat vid.



Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

I had to Kill Prince Rue

The thing I am doing most on the book these days is trying to close up the plot hole and making sure that everything is set up for the rest of the series.

To that end there was one nagging problem, Prince Rue. Prince Rue is a royal that was saved in the first book of the third series. This series actually begins after the first book in the third series for Mason and the crew of the Tojo Maru. Most of the rest of the character in the book this is the beginning of their part in the over all story arch of all the series.

It really does not make much sense to talk about it out of context. Still, in order for the first series to work out the focus has to be only the interaction between Mason, Yuin and their relationship with General Damon Booth {He is a future ficticous General of The Savlation Army}. If Prince Rue is there is make everything much to messy. In reality the story between these three character is not the main story in the first series. So I killed him today.

It was the easist way to deal with the issue that arise from him being aorund. Of course being sci fi you can always bring dead people bcak wehn you need them with some phoney balony story.

On the up side I did find the Jpop song Dr. my Nani Amuro. It is a song that Mason is listening to int he first book somewhere. At one point I wanted her to use the name from the Dr in the song as an assumed identity. The song is about a Dr. that is fixing the future by sending a super warrior into the past. It is not really like my story. Still there are people going into the past trying to fix the future. And really how many song are about that sort of thing.

As far as I can tell there are only three. And of the three I have found it is the only one with a mefale time lord type character. As far as I can tell the super warrior's main power is turning evil into clowers. So it is not a direct corelation. Still, it is closer than anyone else.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Still Typing

I am still typing stuff in the book. It is amazing that I keep finding plot holes that need. At this rate I should be finished some time right before I drop dead.

We are also looking to do some some more decorating in the clown cave. we would like to get it ready for our seminar in may. We have letter to put our name on the wall that should be fun. I will put up some pictures when i have them.

In brigade news we made Apprentice Wilson a Sergeant on the Brigaede Council. We also made JC Stewart and assistance ballon sergeant. That is interesting and impressive if you are into clowning. And if you are not well that is the third subject of this entry.

The Young Salvos website continued to do well. They are improving the layout and items that they have on the site. They have several things that I have no idea what they do. That means that they are popular and hip. I find that the less I understand something the more popular it is. That explains Hillary Duff and Larry the cable guy.

Well be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

The Marley and other stuff

For those that just started following the blog we are still working on The Marley. the Marley will be a vitually indestructable one hundred foot long scarf. The only draw back as that we will have to turn hundred of skeins of yarn into icord.

Pictured is Apprentice Wilson who is making icord on an icord machine. As you can tell this is the most exciting thing that she has to do today. As I think about it this is the second or third picture that I have put up of her standing on a chair. Maybe I should not encourage children to stange on furniture. It is a very old chair. Still, it is not terribly respectful.

Well what can you do. It is the only way to make it. Apprentice Wilson has turned several skeins of yarn into icod thus far, She say that it the most entertaining thing about knitting.

On other knitting front my wife and I took Apprentie Wilson to her first knitting group outside the Clown Briagde. We took her to the cult meeting in the South Hills. By the way the Cult is a knittin cult ot a religous one. Altough there are somethat would say that knitting is in some ways ti's own religion. Come to think of it if the Knitting cult was a church I would probably join it. I have seen picture of Jesus' mother knitting. It only makes sence if you think about it. Or perhapse it only makes sence in my head.

The Book continued to plug along. For a good long while I have been debating where there first book should end and the second book beging. I have moved around the chapters I have a nd tweeked the story line. I am fairly sure I have figured out how thing should go.

On the up side that means that I have a good sence of where thing should be going with the book. For the last couple months I have had no clue what should go where and how everything should fall into place.

The editing is the killer thing. I am not a person who is any good at finding errors in a text. It is just narly difficult work. I figure if I work at for six hours a day it will take me a month to put the manuscript into something reletively readable. So we will see how that goes.

Well just wanted to check in Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Busy Writing

I have been working on the book with every spare moment for the last couple weeks.
At this point I am reading the book over and over looking for plot holes and things that need filled in. Every time I read through the book I find a dozen new thing that need tweeked and delt with. On the last read through i figured that i should write four more chapters and I changed the ending.

In the original idea of the book the last chapter was te first chapter. Most of the event shtat were supposed to take place in this book have been put off the the third or second book in the series.

I did get a chance to go to the Cult Knitting group in the South Hills this week end. My wife and I have not been there since before Christmas. It was fun as always to see what people were working on.

We took Apprentice Wilson with us. She said she a good time.

There is also a new social networking site called youngsalvos.com . It is not an official Army site. Still, it is good to see something like it begining. It should have happened a long time ago.

More Clown Practice

pictured here are three of our brave clown reading through a script for an upcoming skit. All of the kid here are Brimages.

This was fun and we will see how it goes together.

On other fronts we had a session of monday knitting. tis Monday we went trough the Brigade's Yarn Stash. This was not as much fun as knitting, still, it was something that needed to be done.

On the book front the book continues to hover around 400 pages. I am going to go from here and work on the book some more as i do in all my spave time.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.

Still Experimenting

Taking a break from the book I am posting to the old blog. BBL continues to grow as I try and explain the plot elements. Also there is the rest of the series to consider. If people are going to time travel then the events in the series have to make sense. Fortunately they do not have to be sequential.

The only problem with a story that does not happen in order is keeping the readers up with the story. Thus far the solution has been by working on the most important chapter in the story. In theory the bad guys are traveling through time to keep a specific event from happening. Thus at the top of every chapter it will say how long until the even or since the event happened.

The only problem is that I am not sure of the specific times between each event. It is the only way that I can figure to do it to make the book easy to read. So I have spent the last couple days switching chapters back and fourth and trying to figure out at what time and date the events happened.

On another front I have figured out how to get a tag cloud to link in with the blog’s tags. I also took a but of time to put tags on twenty or so tagless entries. If I do 20 entries a week I might have tags on all the old entries by sometime next year.

I did see these rotating flying cloud things. I may play around with one of those. I will have to dust off the experimental blog and see if I can get one of those working. Maybe I should have Oliver look at it.

Well back to the book. Be safe out there everyone and keep your stick on the ice.

Still No Knitting

The only problem with working on the book so much is that there are no good pictures with it. Being that I type with two hands I rarely have the extra hand to take pictures of myself while writing. I suppose I could take pictures while I am writing the rough draft int he note books. Still, that would be incredibly boring. No one wants to see pictures of me sitting at a computer. And if you would then there is a pill out there for you.

On other writing Fronts The Writing Committee of the Clown Brigade is going swimmingly. We have started looking at other sections that need to be written. A great deal of what we have been doing has been going on my memory of what we did in other places. This as you can imagine, is not the greatest way to go about things. One of our goals is to create a body of work that another group of people can take and create a Clown Brigade.

We figure that we will need at least ten of the Proficiencies written out before this can happen. After that there are around forty or so that will have to be written out. So this is an incredibly complex task. We figure that it will take a several years to do this.

Walt and I have been the core of the Writing Committe for the better part of the last years. More recently my wife has been working on the spiritual Prf.

The Brigade just started working on the Prayer Prf. This is neat one that Carol wrote. The first level of this one is a great little primmer for starting off some one in prayer. With in the Brigade we find that the things we talk about most of discipleship. This is an interesting subject with the kids.

In many ways the kids are further along in this than the adults in the Corps.

Well along opn other random stuff I saw this reletively new Dido vid on the yahoo music type thing.



I knew an old timer that always said leave them with a song in your heart. He was also a firm beleived that you keep crackers in your pocket to keep the pigeons happy. So you can take or leave his advice. Still, he was popular with the pigeons.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.