Tag: post-apocalyptic

Crashland – Chapter 9: Cybercops or Apocalyptic Soldiers?

 Well, it’s happening again. Once more, we seem to have a bit of a deadlock forming over at Story Timeover which direction the next chapter should take. It seems that between Cybercops and Apocalyptic Soldiers, audiences were a bit torn over which they would like to see more.First of all, let me thank all the people who came by and took the time to vote on Chapter 8. You’re suggestions and ideas made that one of the funnest chaperts thus far, mainly because it gave me the chance to set things up and determine which way they were going.

Unfortunately, that set-up seems to have created a bit of a logjam. When chapter eight ended, Holden was learning exactly who his saviours were. It seemed they knew who he was and wanted his help to end the Crash crisis. This, combined with all their training, weapons and resources led Holden to ask exactly who these men were. Who could they be?

The choices were: 1. Apocalyptic warriors who were waiting for this to happen. 2. Cybercops who are charged with hunting down the terrorists who made it happen, and 3. The terrorists themselves, who are just using them for their own ends. As it stands, only one vote stands between option one and two. Doesn’t really seem like a fair marging for selecting one and rejecting the other. So before I can proceed with chapter 9, I’m going to need more votes to move things forward.

You got time, you like cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic settings? Then please come on by and vote for your favorite outcome. I promise that whichever way it goes, there will be action, twists and lost of intrigue 😉

Crashland – Chapter 8, coming soon!

Things are once again picking up for the people of Crashland! The votes have once again come in and the readers have spoken. And as a result, Chapter 8 is on the way! Which means that the mysteries which have building since the beginning will soon be revealed.

But first, allow me to recap. Last time, the stories protagonist, William Holden, awoke to find himself in an abandoned subway with a group of strange men. His wounds were treated, and they wanted to know who he was. With the city degenerating into chaos, they were understandably reluctant to let just anyone in their camp and give them food, medicine and their trust. Holden knew that depending on what he told them, he might just be allowed to stay, or shot!

After telling them that he was a fictitious employee working for his own company (a lie), the one named Jacobs informed him that the city above them had descended into hell. Whatever hopes Holden had of finging aid and comfort, not to mention his family, were in vain. Holden didn’t take the news too well and began to experience a breakdown. This left Jacobs and his companions with a tough choice to make.

Jacobs boss, a man named Kurzweil, revealed that they knew who Holden really was and needed his help. The chapter ended before their identities could be revealed, but two things were clear: whatever they’ve got planned, it sounds big. And whoever they are, they mean business! In the next chapter, more will be revealed. How the world went to hell, who caused the infopocalypse, and how some plan to rebuild it.

So please, come on by and check it out. And, as usual, stay around to vote on what you want to see happen! It’s all happening over at Story Time!

Crashland – Chapter 7, Now appearing at Story Time!

Well, it was a hard slog, but Chapter 6 has finally concluded with a clear vote from audiences. After finding himself alive and patched up in an abandoned subway station, Holden realized he was in the custody of some rather strange agents. They wanted to know who he was, and intimated that depending on his answers, he might just live to see another day.

He lied and told them he was a simple engineer working for his company. He recounted events as best he could, but ended up realizing they knew more about him than he thought. After a terse conversation, he revealed that he was trying to find his way to the city center to find help and located his wife and family. The man speaking to him, named Jacobs, had bad news…

Yes, it seems audiences have decided that they want to see the story take a dark turn. After some time trying to make his way towards the only lights left on in the city, Holden was told that all he was looking at were some raging fires that were set by the mob. Facing a hopeless situation, Holden must now decide what to do, and its clear that his hosts are more than they appear to be…

Come on by and see what happens. Then, stick around to vote on what happens next! There’s more action, more danger, and more post-apocalyptic adventure to be had over at Story Time! And while you’re there, check out the new cover art for Goran’s Zidar’s serial novels, the YA mystery TJ Thirteen and the paranormal thriller Hunter.

Crashland, Voting Closing Soon!

Hey all. I wanna thank people who’ve been coming by in the last few weeks to read my story chapters and vote on what they wanted to see happen. Overall, I am very impressed with the response and have been enjoying the process immensely. However, Chapter 6 has been experiencing a bit of deadlock. Between the three options I typically offer, there has been no clear winner as of yet.

Since things ended on a cliffhanger note, I am very eager to get Chapter 7 going, but that can’t happen until an outcome is determined. And believe me when I say that the best is yet to come! Action, adventure, and some generally post-apocalyptic coolness that is just waiting to happen!

I’m calling on all Story Time fans (and my personal ones, if there are any ;)) to come on by and vote on their favorite outcome. Things are really coming together now but I need you to give them that added push. Voting shall remain open until the end of the weekend, so there’s still time. Come on by and help make this story unfold 🙂

New Cover for Crashlands!

I’m surprised I waited this long. I loooove making covers! And after the release of the first six chapters over at Story Time, I decided I should finally treat Crashland like a true writing project and give it a cover. Eventually, it’s going to be complete, and I would like to make it available to the public once it is.

To give it a quick recap, Crashland takes place in the not too distant future in the megacity of BosWash. The technological singularity – the point where advances in nanotech, biotech, artificial intelligence, quantum computing will forever change things – is fast approaching. In the midst of this, a group of unknown cyber terrorists have released a virus designed to cripple the world’s information networks.

Way I see it, in this near-future scenario, all things are networked and wireless like never before. People are able to access the future internet (known as the infobahn) remotely or through various interfaces. Just about all commerce, entertainment, social interaction and politics are conducted virtually, and all electronic systems are networked, so once the virus hits, it quickly spreads and brings it all down.

The main character, William Holden, a technological mogul, finds himself lost in the streets after the Crash takes place. Desperate to find his family, he begins combing his way through the dark and is attacked and almost killed. It’s a desperate struggle for him just to go on, but in time he finds help from some unlikely sources. Since they were in a position to witness the Crash directly, they know how and why it happened, secrets they reveal to Holden in time.

And that’s the extent of the story so far. In the coming chapters, I will reveal exactly who these strangers are, how they know what they know, and how they plan to reign in the people who are responsible. Holden, since he helped design the infobahn, is in a unique position to help. However, his intentions haven’t changed since the Crash occurred. Somewhere out there, his family still resides, and he’s determined to find them. Perhaps a trade off can be made…

Who knows? You’ll have to tune in to find out. And did I mention that since it’s a serial novel, you get to vote on what happens next? Yep, so the ending and outcome of all this will depend on what you want to see happen. And of course, there are plenty of other stories to vote on. Check er out!

Crashland – Chapter 6, now appearing at Story Time!

Okay, we’re definitely getting good turnover here! Much like with the last chapter, the votes for Chapter 5 of Crashland were pretty quick and decisive. Audiences got to me right away and let me know with a fair degree of certainty what they wanted to see happen. Naturally, I was obligated to honor these requests and fashion the following chapter accordingly, and I am happy to announce its now done!

Having found his way to what appeared like safety, William Holden woke up to find himself in an abandoned subway tube, his wounds patched up, and facing a group of men who wanted to know who he was. Also, these men let him know, somewhat indirectly, that based on the quality of his answers, they just might let him live. Basically, they wanted to know if he would be of any use to them, or just a waist of resources.

I asked audiences what Holden was to do. Was he to pretend he was just a simple victim of street violence, a thug himself who had been injured in street fight, or the billionaire mogul that he truly is? And the audience replied, he was to lie and pretend to be a simple businessman who got jumped. Come on over to Story Time to see what came of that and what’s going to happen next!

Crashland – Chapter 5, now appearing at Story Time!

Wow. Either Story Time is picking up more traffic, or serial novels are making a big comeback! In any case, Crashland – chapter 4 has come to a quick and tidy conclusion, with readers logging in and voting on what they want to see happen next. As a result, I’m hard at work again, creating the next chapter in accordance with audience’s wishes.

In short, chapter 4 ended with the protagonist – William Holden – leaving a dying man behind in order to save himself. He made it about as far as the end of the street, only to discover that his wounds were more severe than he thought, and that his destination (the lights in the distance) were impossibly far away. He was on the verge of losing all hope, until he noticed some small campfires burning nearby.

Once again, a choice had to be made. Holden needed help if he was going to survive, but feared that whoever was waiting for him below might be just as dangerous as the people who tried to kill him. Given the risk, and the fact that he was slowly dying, he really didn’t have a lot of options open to him. Well, audiences were quite clear on what they wanted to see happen… Come on by and see what comes of it!

Update: And it’s up! Come by and vote on your outcome of choice. Things are once again heating up and decisions need to be made and it looks like the protagonists life may be poised on the razor’s edge!

Crashland – Chapter 4, now appearing at Story Time!

The votes are finally all in! After much ado, Crashland, chapter 4 is now appearing over at Story Time.me! Thus far, the infopocalypse has occurred, the great city of BosWash has fallen into darkness and despair, and the protagonist – William Holden – found himself alone in the streets. At least, until a group of thugs approached him and tried to take him for all he had left.

After trying to shoot his way out, Holden was overwhelmed and blacked out. He awoke sometime later to find that he had been seriously injured. The thugs had fled, except for one whom Holden had mortally wounded. Seeing as how there was no one left around and no EMT’s on hand, Holden was now responsible for the man’s life. A terrible choice was before him: try and help the man, leave him behind, end his suffering (i.e. kill him?), or stay with him until he died.

Well, the voters have decided! Come on by to Story Time to see what happens next! Whichever way it goes, it’s sure to be interesting… And remember, you decide what happens next 😉

Crashland – Chapter 3, now appearing at Story Time!

Well the votes are in again! Last time, in Crashland, William Holden had been attacked and went down shooting. Unfortunately, the confrontation went awry and he was presumably left for dead in the street. But rather than roll over and die, he experienced a rather powerful (and gory) vision. I asked readers to tell me what they thought. Was Holden dreaming? Was he dead? Or was he experiencing something else entirely?

Well, the voters spoke and it seems that option C was the way to go. So in short, Holden was neither dead nor dreaming. Well, you might think this would present a challenge to the author, and in the hands of a lesser man, that’d be true 😉 But in fact, I enjoyed coming up with a third option that explained what happened and I hope readers will agree. Things get quite interesting in chapter three.

And naturally, there will be more choices to make once the end of the chapter rolls around.

http://story-time.me/2012/04/25/crashland-chapter-three/

Crashland – Chapter 2, now appearing at Story Time!

A few days ago, I went looking for pictures which I felt perfectly encapsulated the story I was going for. I wanted something that spoke of desperation, of shock, awe and terror, yet also captured the drive and determination of people who had to continue no matter what. This print is what I found…

Beautiful isn’t it? Not to mention inspiring. It is for this reason that I chose to post it as the chapter header for Crashland – chapter 2, which is appearing now at Story Time.me. For those who don’t know, this is serial website where audiences get to vote on how they want the story to unfold. The first chapter is a set-up for the rest of the story which develops through audience participation.

In the case of Crashlands, the audience was given an apocalyptic scenario where the world of the near future was brought to its knees through infopocalypse. In the opening chapter, the story’s main character, William Holden, found himself along in the streets of the darkened city hoping to find help. It ended with him being confronted by a series of dark shadows, men he suspected meant to do him harm. Audiences were asked what Holden should try to do… Run away, attack the men, or try to reason with them.

After days of letting the votes come in, it seems the audience has spoken. Option C is how things will unfold! Come on by and check out Chapter 2 and see what comes of Holden’s attempts to talk his way out of this mess!