Staying In Character

I've been thinking of doing this for a while, so I guess now is a good a time as any. A brief character sketch.....emphasis on "sketch"....for one of the protagonists of my ongoing project, Last Chance. It's sort of a mixture of The Avengers and The Wild, Wild, West.

Nothing really to do with the character (besides the Steampunk angle), but just thought it was a cool pic
Source

Alistair (Albert Muldoon, in the States) Moore: A British expatriate on the run from the law for a crime he didn't commit. Deciding to use his knowledge of steam technology to fight crime, he poses as a 'Yankee' sheriff by day and a masked vigilante by night.

Born and raised in London, Alistair's father was an up and coming stage magician and his mother, a very capable escape artist and magician's assistant. He was raised in the wings of the stage and picked up various tricks of the trades from not only his father, but from visiting magicians, as well. By the age of 17, he was almost as good a magician as his father, though lacking the flair for the dramatic. His lack of dramatic flair was due, partly, in his grounding in scientific endeavors. A prodigy from a young age, he began working with the odd technology known as "Steam Tek" as soon as he was able.  

One night, while walking home from one of his father's performances, Alistair heard struggling in a nearby alleyway. Always one to do what was right, he investigated and found an abnormally large, brutish man mauling a young lady. Approaching the man from behind, Alistair hit him with a lead pipe he found lying against a building. The shock of the impact ran up his arms as he struck hard, waiting for the man to fall flat on his face. Instead, the man slowly turned to confront Alistair....a smile on his face. He quickly backhanded the young lady, caving her skull in before knocking Alistair across the length of the alley. Before the haze of unconsciousness took him, he saw the large man take the lead pipe and dip the tip of it into the oozing ichor of the girl's skull, then throwing it next to Alistair's, now limp, form. 

The next thing he knew he awoke in a jail cell, having been charged with the murder of a young prostitute. What was worse, they had an eye witness.....a frail, thin, and respected, doctor....a Dr. Jekyll...who had seen the whole thing. Not knowing what had really happened, he knew one thing for certain. He didn't want to be around when English law played this scenario out. Using skills he picked up from his parents, Alistair escaped and managed to grab some money he had been saving to open his own steam tek shop. Hopping a freighter to a "land of opportunity", Alistair made his way to the "colonies", then to Wyoming where he stumbled upon "Last Chance".

Ole' Alistair still needs a lot of work as well as a lot of fleshing out, but it's a start.

It's Alive.....Alive!!

In our last episode....er, I mean, in my last post...I mentioned the fact that my writing pace has slowed and I needed more rigidity in my schedule, where writing is concerned.

Since then, I've been wondering if I haven't really, subliminally, been holding back so I can unleash a flurry of 'literary abandon' during November and National Novel Writing Month?

Nah, I'm not buying it either.

Regardless, I'm going to be spending the next three weeks roughing out an outline as well as tidying up a few of my character backgrounds. My plan is to bring Last Chance fully to life during November.

I managed to "win" my very first Nano, back in 2011, but fell short (by quite a bit) last year. I "pantsed" it those two years and would like to see 'how the other half lives', so I've decided to put some planning into my pantsing.

Not sure if that makes me a "planster", or what.

Anyway, I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo this year....how about you?

Oh, by the way, if you need a buddy over on the NaNo site, my handle is Mmeans68. It looks like you can, now, update some of your novel information, as well, so look me up while you're over there. :)

Quick Update/Music Monday

Thing have been a little quiet around this here blog......too quiet, as they cliche-ly say in the movies.

But still, I haven't been posting much and that's mainly been due to working a lot....both at the new job as well as on my Last Chance project. I'm still around and still trying to visit others, I'm just not as consistent as I used to be, so I apologize for that.

I just wanted to update you all with a few, quick, tidbits about the goings on, here at the Means Ranch:

The Ninja Captain, himself, Mr. Alex J. Cavanaugh interviewed me for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge site, which can be found here. Just wanted to thank Alex for thinking of me and for the fun questions regarding my A to Z Challenge theme choice.

Woke up this morning to a hit and run on my old car. We know which neighbor did it, just not sure as to all the details. On the bright side, though, the car hasn't ran for a few years (so we're not really out anything) and no one was hurt. And, no, the car wasn't parked crooked...it was just whacked. Really hard.

I'll, more than likely, be skipping this month's IWSG post, but will be visiting as many as possible. If something changes, you all will be the first to know :)

Oh, almost forgot, for you Whovians out there....did you see who is going to be the twelfth Doctor? It's veteran actor Peter Capaldi.

If you're like me, and not very familiar with his work, check out his IMDB entry HERE. I wasn't a Matt Smith fan, at first, but he grew on me and will be missed. I liked how they went for an older incarnation, this time around, and I'm hoping Capaldi is up for the challenge.

We shall see!

So, for today's Music Monday, let's snatch Mr. Capaldi's TARDIS (before he snags the keys) and head back to the 1970s and the era of.....Disco. (Oh, stop rolling your eyes!)

Here's The Trammps with one of my favorite songs from the Disco Era.....Disco Inferno!

Hope you all have a great week....keep writing, or whatever endeavors you're working on,.....and take care.

A Bit of Crowdsourcing

That is the term the kids are using these days, right?

Crowd-sourcing?

Back in my day we called it "brainstorming" or "asking around".

Either way, that's what I'd like to do in regards to my new project, Last Chance. I've been working on some character profiles and have hit an interesting snag. And, since I know I have the creme' de la creme' of the writing blogosphere to draw from, I figured this would be a great place to ask the burning question....


What do I call these people?

I'm not talking about real names....I think I have a pretty good handle on that. No, what I'm talking about is naming conventions where people in the 1850s would use to describe, basically, a super human.

I mean, if they saw a guy lift a horse or a stagecoach...and their identity was hidden...how would they describe him?

Samson?

Hercules?

Would they fall to biblical or mythological conventions to describe the guy who flies like a bird and is strong as an ox?

Yep, that big fella what flies around threw that there boulder clean inta the sky. You know who I'm talkin' about.....that Herk You Lees, fella....

Anyway, I'm just looking for a little feedback on some potential names that might work well within the context of 1850s Wyoming.

Main Character: Daniel Chance-- Possess extraordinary powers he doesn't quite understand. An ex 'gun for hire', killing was second nature to Daniel. He sees his gifts as being from the great beyond and as a sign to change his ways. Basically, his powers manifest as he needs them. He's very versatile and still learning what his limits, if any, are.

Naming ideas-- Gabriel, Archangel, Apollo, The Stranger, Avenging Angel, Turbine, Johnny Nitro, Providence, Paragon.

William Ironhorse-- A Lakota Indian and shapeshifter who can communicate with animals and is sensitive to weather patterns.

Naming ideas-- Avatar, Totem, Renegade.

Alistair Russell-- A British expatriate on the run from the law for a crime he may (or may not) have committed. Deciding to use his knowledge of brand new "steam technology" to fight crime, he's the town sheriff by day and masked vigilante by night.

Naming ideas-- The Yankee, The Dandy, Jim Dandy

Rebecca Carter-- Owner of Carter's General Store by day, super speed induced, masked gunslinger, by night.

Naming ideas-- Lady Lightning, Miss Rysk (actually, I kind of like this one)

Elias Reynolds-- The Mayor of Last Chance who uses his mystic abilities to hide a big secret as well as protecting the citizenry.

Naming ideas-- The Stranger. Obviously, I need more than a bit of help with this one.

So, what do you think.....any thoughts or ideas?

Are there any 'must see' resources I should check?

Let me know and thanks in advance.

Have a great weekend!

Miscellaneous/Music Monday

Howdy folks, just wanted to poke my head out of the sand and see how everyone is doing. This is going to be on of those 'hodge podge' posts, so pick what you like and ignore the rest. :)

--I hope everyone had a nice Father's Day. We've been so busy with work/business around here that we totally forgot to send a card to my dad. Not that he cares, but that's not the point. I did manage to give him a call, though, so I'm not a totally terrible son. (haha!)

--Anyone else watching Mad Men? I think I've mentioned before how I got sucked into this show, catching up on five season in two weeks time on Netflix. I'm a sucker for "period" shows/movies...especially anything set in the 60s or 70s. As much as I've enjoyed the show in the past, I'm having a hard time continuing to watch it and I think it's because of the main character.

Don Draper has proven, time and again, that he's not a very likable protagonist. I mean, he cheats on his wife, yet berates her for kissing another man in the line of duty. She's an actress on a successful soap opera. I realize that they tell you why, exactly, Draper is the kind of man he is via flashbacks to his youth, but still...he's not a character I can sympathize with in any respect. I'm pretty sure that's intentional on the writer's part.

Regardless, Jon Hamm is great in the role and the entire cast is equally impressive. I'll stick with it, but I'm hoping they wrap things up, soon.


--We saw Man of Steel this past Friday (along with everyone else in the country, it seems) and I had some quite a few reservations going in but, thank goodness, they were unfounded. Just goes to show you that you can't trust the reviewers. Most are movie snobs, anyway.

Regardless of what you may have read, this flick is pretty darn good (in my opinion) and stands head and shoulders above Superman Returns.....even though I thought Kevin Spacey made a great Lex Luthor. Well worth the time if you're looking for a well done action movie.


--I've been looking for a local writing group, down here in Vero Beach, Florida so, if anyone in the area knows of any....

--Also, on the writing front I've been working pretty diligently on my new project. It's tentatively titled Last Chance and will involve super-heroics in the old west town of.....Last Chance, Wyoming. It's circa 1850s, which will mean a bit of research as to how life was lived (generally speaking) back then. Things are coming along and ideas are forming, so I think it's all heading in a very positive direction.

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For today's Music Monday offering, it's back to the Surf Music craze (stop rolling your eyes!!! ) with one of the great groups of the era....The Ventures (with special guest, Peter Frampton).

To go along with my old west project, here's on their huge hits... Apache.

Have a great week!