"With these stories of ours we can escape almost anything, with these stories we will survive." - Storyteller
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Lost Muse ... Again
Saturday, July 25, 2009
"A piece of me longed for her thoughts, but I knew better than to steal them."
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
TGF Update & Excerpt
Dis looked lonely from where I stood. The top of the highest tower was at least one hundred stories tall. It loomed over everything.
“Do you believe you have made the best decision bringing an Umbra into this?” Dyntai stood on my right with his hands perched on the short, stone wall surrounding us.
I addressed him with my eyes on the black horizon. “Dyntai, tell me. The Consilii has developed feelings, as well as the others. How is that so?”
He began to pace around the platform. The regular guards had been dismissed for the time being. Privacy was an issue at the moment. I couldn’t trust anyone, especially the new additions to my army.
“Diabulus’ hold has weakened, thus punishment has weakened.” His hands were clasped behind his back as if what he was telling me was common knowledge.
“Dyntai, you know as well as I do that Diabulus is a mere pawn.”
He ceased his pacing and stared into my soul. “Exactly.”
I hesitated briefly before standing tall and confident.
So, Hell was falling apart because of me.
“Why was my replacement not informed? He was supposed to rule Hell upon my reincarnation.”
“Devastation learned this knowledge regarding Diabulus and surpassed as leader of Hell.”
“He was named Keeper?”
“No, the one named Keeper was also a pawn, thus the escape of the Conterent.”
My voice remained confident. “That’s impossible.”
“Devastation has many followers, Morealis. Many are loyal to him. Devotedly so.” The tone in Dyntai’s voice warned me of the new danger to my army.
I had claimed Devastation’s loyal followers. There was no telling what they would do to me.
“We need someone on the inside who is loyal to us, but pledges loyalty to Devastation.”
Sunday, July 5, 2009
TGF Excerpt & Update

With the Book still in my hand, I covered it with my other hand and it disappeared back to its rightful place.
As my army stood around me, my entire past life came flooding back to me automatically. I was amazed at how much my human memory had suppressed. Who knew that the human mind was so extremely powerful?
I especially remembered who had wronged me.
“Jester.” After I spoke, one of the demons stalked forward and stopped five feet from me. “Lead me to Diabulus.”
Jester looked up at me slowly as his face went blank. Anger briefly touched his eyes and then he hesitantly nodded in complains.
Satisfied with my command, I looked around to the rest o my command. “Go regain your posts.”
“Morealis,” one of the demons called.
I nodded my head. “Dyntai.”
“Devastation’s men have taken over our posts. They guard Dis.”
“Do not concern yourself with Devastation’s men. Reclaim your rightful place in Dis. All who stand in your way shall answer to me.”
Dyntai nodded once in affirmation and then his head reclaimed its bow in reverence.
“If any of you have further concerns I should know about, seek me out anon.” I paused as my inside shivered with power. “I have returned as your Keeper.”
My army sneered and swayed on their bony, strong feet in satisfaction. Drool made its way down their faces, causing their optical terror to increase.
“Now go!” I yelled.
They stalked off as blood thirsty demons as they went to reclaim their rightful places in the city.
No wonder the city had been almost empty when Devastation had summoned me. Apparently he had been supplied with an army and they had taken over Dis. Hell had suffered greatly with my reincarnation. If Devastation, an earth-bound mercenary, had been given an army, I wondered who had been appointed my position.
“Jester, come.” I walked past the demon and straight toward the south wall of the city.
I didn’t turn around to make sure Jester was following. I could feel him. If he had disobeyed me, well, there was no way that he could. It wasn’t in a demon’s nature to disobey, unless they were a Conterent. In that case, Diabulus and myself were the only ones who could control a Conterent.
When I reached the wall, I placed my left hand on the black stone and my eyes closed briefly and reopened. I stood there, waiting, until Jester stepped through the wall.
It was the same effect as when I had gone through the crushing air with Hannah, except that this time there wasn’t any pain. I couldn’t follow Jester of my own free will because I was being guided, although this time I knew where I would end up.
Coming out of the wall, we entered into Judecca. My feet walked on top of a frozen lake and beneath the surface, sinners lie frozen. These sinners were traitors to their benefactors. Contorted in different positions, these traitors were frozen for all eternity.
Scattered along the ice the entire way through Judecca lie single mounds of frozen lava. They held no purpose, but that of punishment.
In the midst of our path ahead hovered a mist-shrouded shape. Walking through the fog, my human heart leapt in my throat with fear, but my Keeper confidence and strength kept that fear at bay. This was an opportunity in more than one fashion.
Having an audience with Diabulus could allow several things to happen. Most importantly, I could barter for Hannah’s life, as well as Ellie and Bill’s. Then I could figure out how to control the Conterents once more. It shouldn’t be too difficult, but I needed the information only Diabulus held. I was the only one he would give it to.
Stepping into his presence was intoxicating. There was nothing like the experience in all the worlds. Diabulus was enormous. He towered over every other creature in Hell and then some. There was no way to measure him. His size was unexplainable.
He is the ultimate punisher. No one can compare to his methods. This level of Hell holds the most dishonorable men in the history of mankind.
Diabulus has three heads and therefore, three mouths. His left and right mouths eternally eat Brutus and Cassius, the conspirators to Julius Caesar’s assassination. They are stuck in feet first and in constant agony, yet never allowed to die. His middle mouth constantly chews on Judas, Jesus’ betrayer. Judas is placed head first into Diabulus’ mouth with only his legs free to kick the air that will not save him. He is constantly torn to shreds, yet never allowed an end to the suffering.
Agony rips through the lowest level of Hell through the betrayals’ agony and screams, and also through the constant wind by Diabulus’ wings, which keep the Cocytus lake frozen beneath him. Any human who traveled down here would be killed almost instantly if they were not in favor with the gods, although, pure fright might kill them first.
I looked up at Diabulus and then back to Jester. “Thank you for your guidance.”
Agony leapt through his face and seemed to engulf him from within. He tried not to scream, tried to keep his pain at bay, but it soon become too much. There was no use in trying to control it when it was designed to control you.
Jester’s hands caught fire out of nowhere and his tough skin began to melt into burning lava. There was no stopping it now. Diabulus had shown his wrath and there was no going back.
No one was allowed to disrupt Diabulus’ chamber except his right-hand demon and the gods. There were other ways to communicate with Diabulus, but that was impersonal and usually only occurred with an unimportant situation. This was an important situation and Diabulus had been expecting me.
Jester slowly melted to the black soil underfoot along with his screams. It was not befitting a demon to scream, but in this instance it was almost expected. Besides, now he had endured his rightful punishment for the wrong doings he had committed against my command before my reincarnation.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Vlog Failed
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Website
CLICK HERE
Spread it around and hopefully someone will like it and I can find an agent! I'm going to start writing query letters again soon, but for The Great Funnel this time. Hopefully this one will be a hit and I can start living my dream :)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
My Day in Pictures
Driving to class at 7am.
Reading the assignment for today in my car because I got to class early and I'm waiting on my friend to show up with breakfast.
My computer at work. The office is decorated for movie night.
Reading my homework after work with faithful Melissa by my side.
The part of "homework" where I get bored and start taking pictures for this post. So this is my new TV I bought Friday!
Sooo... that was my today. Boring, I know. I also finished half of chapter five of The Great Funnel, so that was good production.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Chapter 4
What's going on with you guys? I am going to be editing this post tonight to take on the "Day through pictures" challenge posted last week. Look for it tomorrow!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
TGF Excerpt & Update
I heard the television turn on downstairs and automatically looked at Hannah.
“Your mom’s home,” she said.
I let out a sigh and decided to go downstairs to see her so that she wouldn’t come up to my room. As I walked down the stairs, the television grew louder with a breaking news report and I stopped halfway down to listen.
“Only a few hours ago, a young boy and his nanny were gunned down across the street from Promise Academy,” the reporter said. “There were several witnesses, but no one was able to catch the gunman. Let’s go to Kristy Geller for an on-scene report.”
The television scene switched from the news studio to a woman with brown hair standing on the sidewalk.
“Thanks Troy,” Kristy Geller said. “I’m here in front of Promise Academy where only hours ago a young boy and his nanny were shot and killed. Now, you can see the police behind me working on the crime scene. They have been out here since several 911 calls were made during the shooting. As far as we know, there have been no leads on catching the gunman, but witnesses have managed to piece together a sketch of the gunman.”
Kristy Geller disappeared from the screen as a black and white police sketch appeared. The sketch was of a man with a goatee and a skinny face. His eyes were round and his left eyebrow was pierced.
The sketch remained on the screen as Kristy Geller described the man. “The gunman was said to have black hair, a black goatee, and numerous tattoos on the back of his neck and arms, along with the facial piercing shown on the screen.” The sketch went away and Kristy Geller reappeared. “The police are asking anyone who can identify this man to call the local tip hotline. Any information will be useful at this point.” A phone number appeared at the bottom of the screen.
At that point in the broadcast, my mom turned around and saw me standing on the stairs.
“Oh, Matthew, did you hear about that awful shooting? It was right across the street from your school.” She seemed troubled and scared for me.
“Yeah, I heard about it,” I said.
Her breath caught in her throat and her hand flew to cover her mouth. “Were you there? Did you see it happen?” She stood and stared at me as I decided how to answer her.
“I just saw a bunch of people running around.” I thought lying was best at this point, seeing as how my mom was really scared for me and nothing actually happened to me. No, nothing happened to me, but the actual victims were in my room.
“Oh goodness,” my mom rushed toward me as I went down the rest of the stairs. She swept me up in a hug and said, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re all right. I bet you were so scared.”
I tried to extract myself from her monstrous grip. “Mom, really, I’m fine.” She released me and I stumbled slightly. “Uh, I just came down to get some water. I have a lot of homework to do so I’ll be in my room all night.”
“Okay.” Tears were welling up in her eyes.
I left her before the flood came and went into the kitchen to get some water and then hurried back upstairs. I felt her gaze on me the whole time.
When I stepped back into my room, Hannah was sitting on my bed and the woman and child were still where I had left them.
“Are you thirsty?” I asked the woman.
She shook her head no.
The boy looked up at me and stopped crying. He nodded his head.
I walked a few steps towards them and set the glass down on the floor. He shuffled forward on his knees and drank slowly from the glass. Then he tilted the glass up to take a big gulp. Water poured out of the glass and onto the floor. The boy started crying again.
“You can’t do that anymore. Everything goes right through you,” Hannah said absentmindedly.
“Why didn’t you say that before?” The woman asked darkly.
“Because he needs to learn for himself. He’s dead now, grow up.”
“He’s still a little boy! You have no right to talk to us this way,” the woman yelled.
“Okay, okay! Can we just move on?” I turned to the woman and boy. “What are your names?”
The woman gave one last long look in Hannah’s direction and then turned to face me. “I’m Ellie and this is Bill.”
Hannah laughed.
“Ellie, I’m Matthew and this is Hannah,” I said. “How did you guys find me?”
“We were drawn here. I don’t know why. Just were,” Ellie answered, stroking Bill’s hair.
“The same as me,” Hannah commented.
I looked around the room, looking for something I knew wasn’t there. I felt like I was melting. Like someone was stirring me in a glass, trying to blend me with other liquids. It was weird, but I had felt that way before.
“Hannah,” I said nervously.
“Oh my god. Matthew, what’s going on?” She said nervously as she stood slowly to her feet.
“I … I don’t know. I feel weird.”
“Matthew, you’re … you’re disappearing!”
“What!”
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I Yearn For You, Creature From Hell
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Great Funnel Excerpt
I really should have worked all day on editing Beautiful Disruption, but I didn't. I did for a few hours, but then I felt like writing, so I did ... duh. The Great Funnel is coming along slowly but surely. I'm actually going to post an excerpt I've written recently. I'm pretty sure I haven't posted it before. If I have, I apologize. This is one of my favorite scenes so far. It's quite comical, I think.
This is the beginning of Chapter 2, the day after Hannah, the dead girl, appears in Matt's room.
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I woke to my alarm clock buzzing too loudly and I hastily reached over the head of my bed to disable it. I sat up in bed and looked around my room, not remembering that I had fallen asleep.
Hannah wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but the thought that maybe it had all been a dream didn’t even tempt me. I knew Hannah hadn’t been a dream, just as I knew my connection with the Underworld wasn’t just a feeling. It was very prominent and real, and not just in my mind.
Further back in my mind I could see it, the river Hannah described yesterday, and the boatman she had spoken to. I could see it all clear as day, but I could also hear the screams and laments from the Vestibule as well, the ones from where she entered into the Underworld. They were terrible and not something easily forgotten, but they were only the beginning of The Great Funnel … of Hell.
But how did I remember these things? How did I even know these things existed? Technically I didn’t, according to reality, but for some reason I didn’t think I belonged in this reality anyway. On the contrary, I knew I belonged in the Underworld, but why was I here instead of there?
I abandoned the stirring, melting feeling inside of me and got up to take a shower as I remembered that today was Monday and I had school. The white tiled floor was cold on my bare feet, so I hastily stepped onto the dark green rug just outside the shower. I turned on the shower water, threw all of my clothes into the dirty hamper, and then brushed my teeth over the pearl counter and sink as I waited for the water to warm up.
“Hey,” said a voice to my left.
I immediately jumped in shock and I swallowed some toothpaste in the process. Then my eyes went wide as I realized Hannah was standing next to me, leaning on the sink’s counter, and I was completely naked.
Toothbrush still in my mouth and toothpaste running down my chin, my hands immediately went between my legs to cover everything from Hannah’s eyes.
She laughed. “Don’t be such a prude. Trust me, you’re not the only guy I’ve seen naked.”
“What are you doing in here?” I asked, but my question was garbled by the toothbrush and white foam in my mouth.
“I knew you would be up by now and thought I would say good morning. After all, you are my only friend now,” She said.
“Can you, like, disappear for a minute or two while I get in the shower?” I asked hastily as even more toothpaste ran down my chin.
She rolled her eyes. “Sure thing.” And then she was gone.
I looked around the bathroom nervously, but she really was gone. Instead of completing the teeth brushing process, I automatically spit into the sink and rinsed my mouth. Then I got into the shower that was now steaming – I turned the Hot knob a little to the left.
“So what are we doing today?” Hannah asked from outside the shower.
I peaked around the white shower curtain and saw her sitting on the bathroom counter with her feet dangling over the front. “You said you knew I would be up. How did you know that? Do you have psychic abilities now too?”
“Yes, I know your every move because I can read your mind. Does that freak you out?” She said darkly.
I retracted my head back under the water and gulped quietly. “Um, no.”
She laughed. “I saw you set your alarm last night.”
I laughed a little nervous laugh. “Oh, well that makes more sense.” I shampooed my hair.
“You didn’t answer my question,” She said.
I racked my brain for the question I was supposed to be answering and eventually remembered. “Oh, uh, I have school.”
“Can I go with you?” She asked.
I heard her finger rubbing on the foggy mirror behind her.
“I don’t think my teachers would really appreciate you sitting in on all of my classes,” I said as I washed my body, including my face, as I let the shampoo soak into my scalp.
“They can’t see me, remember?” She said and then started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I stuck my head around the shower curtain again. On the mirror behind her I saw a terrified face drawn out of the perspiration.
“It’s you,” she laughed again, “when I surprised you earlier.” The face had huge eyes and a gaping mouth.
Suddenly I became very embarrassed for some reason and hid back in the shower, but I had to rinse off anyway. At least, that’s what I told myself.
“Well, I think it’s funny,” She said.
I turned off the water and stood there for a second, freezing. “Uh, can you-“ A towel landed on my head. “Okay, that works too. Thanks.” I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist before I stepped out of the tub-shower.