Sequels vs. Story Arcs

I've talked about the sequels to Killer of Killers. The second book in the series is the upcoming Killer Eyes. And the third will be The Killers Guild. But those sequels are more than just sequels. They are actually three books that carry the same story line. AKA Story Arcs.

That is different than a plain sequel. For example, the James Bond movies are sequels. Each Bond movie is a separate story unto itself. Sure there is some continuity in them, but they don't carry the same story from one movie (or book) to the next. Meaning they don't pick up where the last one left off. It's a brand new story line.

Lord of the Rings, however, and even the Jason Bourne movies did continue from where the prior story left off. Especially LOR. It's the same story arc.

And so are the three Killer stories. Where book one leaves off, that's where book two picks up, albeit about a year later. And The Killers Guild. That will pick up several years later. But it does tie in with the prior storyline, and can be considered part of the same story arc.

If I write any Killer books after that, I really don't think it will continue that particular story arc. It will have continuity for sure. But it will be a different story arc, and thus be a sequel, not a continuation. It will still qualify as a series, though. After all, even in a series, story arcs end, and new ones begin. We'll see how it happens with the Trent Smith sage. Only time will tell.

Killer of Killers, the Series, starring Dustin Clare?

With the successful completion of the Killer of Killers sequel imminent, and the third installment being planned to be written this summer or soon thereafter, it's turning out to be at least a three volume series. Should I call it the Killer of Killers series? Or the Trent Smith Saga? Or what?

Whatever I call it, it would be a great series on the STARZ channel, which had already made some great series. And seeing as how it had Spartacus with Dustin Clare, I think that would be a perfect venue for the Killer of Killers series, with Dustin Clare playing the lead role, Trent Smith, the world's greatest martial artist. And if Amber Heard is unavailable for the female lead Samantha Jones, then STARZ already had an actress, Ellen Hollman, who played Dustin Clare's love interest in Spartacus. Pairing the two together again in Killer of Killers would be sweet.

And a lot of those actors and actresses from Spartacus could find roles in the Killer of Killers series. Oh, what a dream come true if it were to happen. All authors have dreams like that. Game of Thrones,  after all, was a series of books. And they got made into a TV series, albeit by HBO, another STARZ-like channel. And it turned out great.

So when I submit Killer Eyes, my question is what should the subtitle be? Book Two of the Trent Smith Saga? Volume Two of the Killer of Killers Series? That is the question I'll need to answer and very soon. Because the completion of Killer Eyes is going to be very soon. Any suggestions? Let me know. Thanks.

Killer Eyes--Can't Wait to Finish

Working on Killer Eyes has proven to be very enjoyable. I'm referring to the revisions stage I'm on at the moment. For a long time, I wasn't sure how well that would turn out. I knew that there were plenty of holes to fill, and I thought it would take a lot of work.

Well, it did, but that word "work" is relative. It was a lot of fun, and it still is. I've always thought that the revisions stage was the most enjoyable stage anyway. At least it was for KOK and The Vase. But it's turning out to be true for Killer Eyes, also. I guess another thing that made me wary was fixing all the POV stuff. Making sure that all of the third person limited POV was consistent.

Nowadays it seems people are obsessed with not having any head-hopping in a story line, and I'm making darn sure none of my books do. If there is, it's a typo. I found one in the one book I would figure wouldn't have any. The Vase. And that's the book with the editor who made it a big deal to NOT have any. But there it was. Only one. It got by us both, I guess. Because it was sneaky. And I only caught it the THIRD time I read the book after publication.

As for Killer of Killers. I dare say there are no POV errors. None. Zip. No head-hopping whatsoever. That is, KOK the second edition, I mean. I put out the second edition to correct all of that, and I did. Very nicely, too. And it's all fixed in Killer Eyes, as well.

Next, the John Dunn story. That will be a bigger chore. It's a longer book. 120,000 words. My other three novels clock in at about 90,000 words. That's an average. But an accurate one. I have three books on the back burner. The third installment of KOK I may call The Killers Guild, the new book I've already started, called Second Chance, and the YA book I've talked about called Inside the Outhouse.

But first and foremost, I can't wait to finish Killer Eyes, because I'm loving it more and more every time. The future looks bright.

Blog Name

My blog is named THE VASE. Obviously I named it after my second novel The Vase. I began this blog calling it The Swamp. But I wanted to name it after my first published  book, and for a while my first published book was going to be The Vase.

But things change. The Vase was not published first, Killer of Killers was. And that was fitting, since Killer of Killers was the first book I wrote. I won't rehash the details, but what if my blog did get named Killer of Killers after my first published book?

I would have this as the photo header:

 

And obviously, that would stand, because it's a great photo of the cover of my book.
And I'd have to change all the text that accompanies the title. Instead of introducing the characters in The Vase, like I do above, I'd be listing the characters in KOK.

Starting with the world's greatest martial artist, Trent Smith. And his love interest Samantha Jones. Then there's Shoji and Yoshiko Wada, Susie Quinn, Abraham Soriah, Charles Morgan, and Samantha's brother, Josh Jones. I'd have to put in a couple sentences about each one, like I did for The Vase above.

But for some reason I won't do that. I think leaving this as The Vase is good and the characters above work well. Doesn't mean I won't change my mind in the future. Especially since I have actors pegged already for most of the parts. Just Susie Quinn's actress eludes me. One day I'll figure that out. One day soon.

Tom Cruise's New Movie--Edge of Tomorrow

I've never been a Tom Cruise "fan," but I have still enjoyed some of his movies. I liked the Mission Impossible movies, and I even liked that movie he was in with Cameron Diaz--Knight and Day. Sure there have been other good ones he's been in, and some bad ones. And even though in my mind, he doesn't rank up there with actors like, say, Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, or the great Sean Connery, he has proven to be a capable leading man, and even a capable action hero.

Which brings me to his latest movies. Oblivion and Edge of Tomorrow. Both were good movies, and Cruise, in both movies did a good job. Both movies were good vehicles for him, and he was well cast as the leading character in both. As for Oblivion, even though I said it was a good movie, it wouldn't be one that stands out as one of Cruise's better movies. It had good drama, good acting, and a good romance going for it. But to me it just fell short of something that would be remembered as a stand out movie.

But Edge of Tomorrow, to me, at least, was one that distinguished itself as a stand out movie. It had all of the above traits that I mentioned in Oblivion, but it had one other thing. Intensity. It was an intense movie. Plenty of action, more than Oblivion, and loads of violence, which was necessary since it had to do with a war that was going on. It could even be classified as a war movie, and I always loved sci-fi war movies, ever since I was a kid.

Still, it was the intensity of the story line and in many of the scenes, that stood it out from most other Cruise movies. The concept was pretty original, even though like my brother said to me, it seemed to borrow from three separate shows in the past: Ground Hog Day, Starship Troopers, and an obscure cartoon series that hardly anyone knows about called Exo-Squad.

But I liked it. And I think it's one of Cruise's best movies. His best even. Maybe. He was perfect for the part, and the way it played out, to me, was right on. Any time you have time travel, it could be tricky, but they wrote it well, directed it well, and acted it well.

And it even had a great female war hero. Really? A great female war hero? Anyone who's read my blog for a while will know that I am pretty much turned off by great female war heroes.  Why? Because, to me, females and war, or females and fighting, just don't go together. To me, women are not fighters. They are not warriors, OKAY, there are exceptions. In real life there have been exceptions, and in real life the circumstances allow for exceptions.

But in movies, when you have a female beating up everyone, even every man she goes up against, that turns me off. NO, not because I feel threatened. NO, not because it threatens my masculinity. It's just not realistic to me, and it just goes against the womanly characteristic of femininity. Maybe I'm just a guy who likes a woman to be FEMININE. And fighting, cursing, beating up people, KILLING people...well, that's just NOT feminine.

I don't think anyone can argue with that. But like I said, there are and have been exceptions. Like in a war that encompasses an entire society. I know that Russian women were soldiers during WWII, and I know that Israeli women are soldiers today, and have been for the last several decades. The circumstances called for it. I know that in those circumstances they are forced to put aside their femininity to advance their countries interests, particularly national survival.

And so it is with Edge of Tomorrow. You might ask, so why isn't the war hero in Edge of Tomorrow a MAN. There's an explanation for that. And it's one that I can buy into. It worked. The whole movie worked. And that is refreshing to me, because too many times these movies with a woman hero who's a fighter and a killer, and a physically tough chick in general, just doesn't work. This one did, and the way Tom Cruise's character played into it worked, too. That's all.

Summer Vacation--What to Write?

Summer Vacation is here, and that means more writing. For me, anyway. I got a head start on my newest book, tentatively called Second Chance, and I've been full speed ahead with the revisions to Killer Eyes, the sequel to Killer of Killers. And this is the year that I'm supposed to write The Killers Guild, which is the third and possibly last installment of my Trent Smith saga.

So far I have a good start on Second Chance, mostly due to the inspiration I received from that dream I mentioned on the blog back when I had it. It was in May I think. I dreamed of a new story, and then the following day I wrote the synopsis/outline, which I based on that dream, and for the rest of the week I tweaked that synopsis. But since I was so motivated or inspired by that story, I went ahead and started writing it. I wrote most of what will probably be chapter one, about 3500 words or so, and I really like the way it turned out.

But I'm now back to finishing the revisions to Killer Eyes, and I've put Second Chance aside to do it. And I think I should. Killer Eyes, in its current state, was filled with too many holes, too many inconsistencies, too many loose strings. I had written it over the course of about two and a half months during one of my summer vacations a couple years ago, before Killer of Killers was even published. And I wrapped up the first draft not even knowing if Killer of Killers would ever get published. But now that it is, and Killer Eyes will follow, I'm making sure that it is just as good, just as well written, and just as consistent.

In fact, in many ways, Killer Eyes is proving to be better, which it should be. I'm not saying it IS better, just in many ways it could be considered better. Why? Well, there's more action, more killing, and more blood. In fact it's a much more violent and intense story than the first one, and it's not that way because I wanted it to be. It just turned out that way.

You see, for my Killer books, I just let the stories go where they went, like I was just the observer, like if I was watching a movie in a theater. I didn't even write an outline for the first one. And even though I did for the second one, it still went where it wanted to go. Like I've said before, it's not as violent or as gory as a Quentin Tarrantino movie, or like the STARZ show Spartacus, but it is violent, and it is bloody. At least some parts of it are. And again, I didn't exactly want that. It just happened.

When it's released, and you read it, you'll see what I mean. It should be out by the end of the year. Cant wait. As for what I'm going to write this summer after the revisions to Killer Eyes are done? What I'm hoping is that I'll stay in the Trent Smith mindset and proceed with The Killers Guild. That's the plan, although every writer knows that the best laid plans do go awry. We'll see.

Which Book to Choose?

I asked yesterday for readers of the blog to buy one of my books. Right now there's two. Killer of Killers, my debut novel, and number one favorite. Then there's The Vase, which is still one heck of a great book. The original concept of images recorded in a vase is a premise I don't think has ever been portrayed in a book, TV show, or movie. I think my book, The Vase, is the only story ever to contain a premise like that.

Yeah, it's a great premise, but without the great story, it wouldn't be a great book. It has great characters, a great sub plot, a great main plot, and a great climax. And it has a great resolution. It's just a great book. I'm very aware that having Israelis and Palestinians as the main characters is also a very unique thing to do in a story.

You see, the main character, Muhsin Muhabi and his son, Naji, are Palestinians. And Professor Weiss, Captain Mathias, and Mary Levin are Israelis. They are all main characters. Then you have the Americans, Harvey Holmes, Melvyn Bloomberg, and Lady Lamont who are also instrumental in the story. They may even be regarded as being part of the comedic sub plot. But this story is not a comedy. It has suspense, drama, tragedy, and several scenes of violence.

The only thing The Vase doesn't have is sex. There is some inferred sex, but it is not portrayed. That's why I say that even though it's a story written for adults, minors can read it. They may not understand half of what's going on, but not because of sex.

No, for that you'll have to read Killer of Killers. (And the upcoming sequel, Killer Eyes.) But with titles like that, you'd think there was killing. Um.... there is. A lot of killing and a lot of violence. I don't go over the top, though. It's not like the show Spartacus that was on STARZ recently. That was over-the-top violence. Or a Quentin Tarrantino movie.

But Killer of Killers, and Killer eyes, nonetheless, have violence. And it's because of the nature of the story. If you like exciting stories, read Killer of Killers and The Vase. And the soon to be released Killer Eyes. I can say without a doubt that they're all great stories, and they all have excitement. And much, much more. What are you waiting for? Buy them today!

Buy the Books!

My stats page is telling me that people from all over this world are visiting this blog. That's great. But hey people from all over the world...Buy these books!

I mean my data tells me people from the UK, Canada, Hungary, South Africa, South Korea, Germany, France, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Australia, China, Indonesia, Mexico, and several other countries are visiting the blog. And I welcome you all.

But buy my books! It's not going to make me rich, but if you do, it might make some kind of an impact on the seller's market and draw the interest of Hollywood. That's where the real money is for an author. Just ask J.K. Rowling. And I couldn't even stand her Harry Potter books, or the movies! But someone sure as heck did.

I would like to make a deal. If you don't like the books...tell me. But if you do...tell me that. I'm betting you'll like the books. I can't say I'll pay you back if you don't, but come on...the eBooks are only like three dollars each for The Vase, or five for Killer of Killers. That won't break anyone's bank account. And it will be worth it once you discover how much fun they are to read.

If you like martial arts stories, Killer of Killers is for you. If you like suspense and intrigue, you'll like The Vase. If you like exciting action-packed stories, you won't be disappointed in any of my books. Find out for yourself. That's all.

Tightening Strings

If I don't tie up all the strings in Killer Eyes, I've found it very important to at least tighten them. An interesting new way I've discovered to go about it is to list on a separate paper all of the pages where the subplot occurs with one of the supporting characters. Then, with that paper sharing the screen with the main manuscript, I go over each page, working my way through it, and scrutinize every aspect of what is going on in every scene in that subplot.

I've found doing it that way made it very clear just what it was that needed improving. And last night I did just that. Until about 2 in the morning. It's like, I said to myself, hey wait a minute. Why is he doing this in the first place? So I put in the reason for the subplot in the very first appearance of the character. Then it was like okay, that's why he's doing that, but then, why does he end up doing this other thing? So I made someone else do that other thing, and it's no longer an issue.

Then it was like, okay, but how does he get this? So I put in how he gets it. But then I found myself asking okay, but how does he know how to get that? So I made clear a little later just how he knew how to get that. (Of course, I'm being unclear on purpose. The book is not out yet, and I don't want to give away spoilers.)

But doing it that way almost makes it like reading a short story without all of the main story line distracting you. It's so much clearer, that any discrepancies became plain as day. And fixing them took a lot less time than if I was reading the entire MS from beginning to end. Doing that might have prevented me from finding those discrepancies.

It's like I've been saying all along. The more you do something, the better you get at doing it. It's happened with everything I've done. And now it's happening with writing. Well, for the past five years, it has. And I'm loving every minute of it.

Loose Strings and Tough Chicks

While finishing Killer Eyes, I'm dealing with the loose strings. I ended up tying up one of those loose strings, but in doing so, I untied another. It's the way of a series, I guess. Meaning if you have a series going, you WANT to have loose strings. It gives the reader a reason to read the next book in the series.

In Killer Eyes, Trent Smith is confronted with perhaps his most dangerous enemy. Certainly his most villainous. And it's a woman! Who would believe that? Trent Smith, in Killer of Killers, is the world's greatest martial artist! In the entire book, he never kills a woman. In fact, he never even fights a woman. He never has a reason to, but still it's not something he had ever done in the ten years he dominated the Japanese underground fighting circuits.

But in Killer Eyes, he is up against a very special villain. And yes, it's a female villain. Who would have guessed? I ask because I never believed in the "tough" female character. What I mean is the kind of woman who goes around beating up everyone, even men. Yeah, I know there are women who are tough. And I know SOME women can beat up SOME men. But when you have a female character that goes around beating up and killing everyone, even every single man she goes up against, it's just not realistic.

I have to believe that women do not WANT to beat up everyone. I have to believe that women don't WANT to go around being a "tough guy." I have to believe that women are DIFFERENT than men. At least in THAT regard. Women think differently than men. Being a macho man is a MAN'S thing. Being a macho man is not a WOMAN'S thing. So why would a woman want to be a tough guy beating everyone up? Do women want to see that? Do women get a kick out of seeing other women beating up every man she goes up against? I can't believe that.

I am not saying that all women want to play with dolls, and all women want to be cheerleaders. Take my favorite sport, for example: Football. It's a tough game. You have to be strong. You have to be fast. Am I a male chauvinist when I observe that, generally speaking, men are stronger and faster than women? I don't think I am. It's a physical fact. Generally speaking, of course. And in football, the stronger and faster players are usually the better players.

And in the game of football, there's a brutal element involved, too. You can get hurt. Sometimes, real badly. Why would a woman want to subject herself to that? Usually, they don't. But I always hear about a girl or a woman who does. And the last time I did, guess what happened to that woman...she got hurt! 

When it comes to fighting, you get hurt doing that, too. Killed, sometimes. Why would a woman want to hurt someone or risk getting hurt or killed herself? Why would a woman want to be a macho man? I think that question begs an answer. Because I think I'm right. Normally women don't. But there are exceptions, and that's my point. In Killer Eyes, the female villain is an exception. And a very special exception. I think that exceptions are made by the circumstances surrounding them. Often they are the circumstances that you are born into. And those circumstances shape you.

In Killer Eyes you will see what those circumstances are, and how they affected Ming Sang, the female antagonist to the world's greatest martial artist: Trent Smith. But don't forget, when you're a woman, there's another factor involved in a relationship with a man. Something that another man would not have. At least not with Trent Smith. When Killer Eyes comes out, you'll see what I mean.

Killer Eyes Almost Ready, but...

I'm wrapping up the revisions for the Killer of Killers sequel, Killer Eyes, and in that story some of the things that were left unresolved in Killer of Killers are resolved in Killer Eyes. But a couple other things that crop up in Killer Eyes are left unresolved. So that means that there will have to be another book in the series. I've talked about it before, tentatively giving the third book the title The Killers Guild, but only because I liked the concept of the Killers Guild, and I thought it also made a good title for a book.

I even almost changed the title of Killer Eyes to The Killers Guild, but ultimately I decided to retain the title Killer Eyes. And for the third book I have a good idea just what the story will be about. Yes, it will be the continuing adventures of Trent Smith, but it will also have to deal directly with those issues brought up in Killer Eyes that were left unresolved. Understand I did it on purpose. I fixed those problems I talked about, but in doing so it left a subplot that starts in Killer Eyes, but is not wrapped up. That's where the third story will go. Wrapping that up. And the third book should wrap up the Trent Smith saga.

But that's not final. Who knows? I may keep going. That's what series do, of course. Bottom line, there will be at least three. And then we'll see.

Writing New Books and Revising Old Ones

Authors, I'm sure, get new ideas for books pretty regularly, and when they do, they write novels. Sometimes long ones, sometimes not so long, and sometimes pretty short. I've not been someone who writes short stories. I may one day, but the novel length story seems to be what I do. And every once in a while I get a new idea. I may even dream of an idea. Like my football story, Second Chance.

But writing a novel length story isn't something that can be done at the drop of a hat. You have to plan it out, write the synopsis, maybe even an outline, and then write the whole thing out. But you are not close to being done. You have to revise it over and over and over again. Not to mention the editing process, and then you may have to rewrite several parts, or the whole thing.

I can't count how many times I rewrote Killer of Killers. But that was my first novel, so that's explainable. Even The Vase I rewrote a couple times, and I'm in the process of rewriting Killer Eyes right now, although it may be simply referred to as a strong revision.

I'm sure I'll need to rewrite John Dunn before it gets close to submission-ready, and when I finally write Second Chance I think I will finally be past the need for rewrites. After all I've learned a lot writing my first four books, so I think I'm good enough now that it won't be necessary. I've written over 2,000 words so far, and it reads very well. Of course, Killer Eyes reads very well, too, but that was after a couple rewrites. Killer of Killers and The Vase were the ones where all the learning took place. Particularly The Vase, because the editor over there pulled no punches when it came to what he expected in the writing for a novel, and I was eager to learn. But I applied all of that learning to the second edition of Killer of Killers, and I am still very pleased with how it turned out.

And of course I'm applying all of that to Killer Eyes, too. And I will apply it to the rewrite for John Dunn. And as I write Second Chance, that learning is being applied in the first rendition. That will make any revisions much easier, and I dare say, it will make revising a lot less necessary. I won't go so far as to say it will be right on the first draft, but it will most likely be the best first draft of any book I had written to date. So that bodes well for Second Chance. And every other book I write from now on. The future looks bright.

Killer Eyes--A lot of Swordplay

My debut novel, Killer of Killers features the world's greatest martial artist. If you've ever taken a martial arts class, it's likely that you learned to use more than just your bare hands. Yes, martial arts classes are self-defense classes that train you how to defend yourself without weapons. And that's as it should be. For Trent Smith, empty hands is his preferred method of fighting.

Martial arts classes, however, also teach you how to use the traditional weapons used in Asian fighting. And there's a lot of them. But one of the more popular weapons of that sort, at least in Japan, is the katana, also known as the Samurai sword. And the katana is still popular today. Mostly in movies, I suppose, since people don't go around carrying katanas much.

In Killer of Killers, not once does Trent Smith use a katana or any other weapon, In fact, he refers to guns and knives as "weapons of cowards." But when confronted by dozens of ninja like warriors, and all of them carrying katanas, your empty hands put you at a disadvantage. So Trent is forced to use a katana to defend himself against the sword carrying villains.

And as I continue to revise Killer Eyes, which I was doing a lot over the weekend, I see Trent using a katana quite a bit in that story. Which is a stark contrast to the first story, where he never used a sword or any other kind of weapon at all. I deliberately refrain from calling the swords katanas, however. And that's because the horde of swordsmen using them are not Japanese. They are the Chinese equivalent. My research has divulged the Chinese equivalent to Ninjas are the Ci Ke. In Chinese, that simply means assassins. (That's essentially what ninjas are, so it makes sense.)

But there's a lot more to the story than a bunch of ninja-like warriors out to get Trent Smith. There's that pesky wonder drug that centered the first story, there's the titanic bodyguards who protect the reclusive billionaire who funded its invention, and there's that slippery antagonist Karl Manoukian again. Yep, it's a fast paced thrill ride that picks up right where Killer of Killers left off. Killer Eyes will be published soon. I'll keep you advised.

One Author, Different Genres

Some authors will only write in one genre. Romance authors, from what I've seen, fit that description. They only write romance stories. You know, those novels that feature a naked or shirtless man on the cover, targeting a large female readership. And why not? Women, I hear, make up the majority of book readers and purchasers. So romance authors are cashing in on that fact. And they stick to it.

I know it can be true for other authors and different genres, also. Like detective stories. An author of crime/detective stories may also stick to that genre. Horror authors, too. They only write horror stories. Sci-Fi, too. A sci-fi author will be known as a sci-fi author, and a lot of them come to mind. Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, and Ray Bradbury, as well as H. G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and countless others. That list, like the one for Romance authors is a long one, actually.

But I find myself not being glued to a single genre. Killer of Killers and its sequel Killer Eyes are martial arts thrillers. The Vase is more political suspense with a touch of the paranormal. John Dunn is Historical Fiction. My current WIP is a sports story, possibly YA. I have another MG story on the backburner, that might also qualify as Fantasy, and I began my writing career with Sci-Fi.  I might even get back to that Sci-Fi story that I had worked on in my younger years.

So right there, I've dabbled in how many different genres? Six! And you know what? I'm glad for that. There's probably pros and cons for staying in one genre and pros and cons for being more diverse. If you stay in one genre with all of your books, I think you make yourself into what people call a brand. When the name Asimov or Bradbury are mentioned, you immediately think Sci-Fi. That is a brand. And that will establish the author as an expert in that genre.

But if an author, like me, for instance writes in six different genres, I don't think that will make me into a brand. That's not a bad thing, imo. Because I like to be diverse. And it keeps me interested. If I wrote only one genre, then I believe I'm restricting myself, and I'm more diverse than that. Will it limit my ability to be considered an expert in any single genre? Probably. But that's not my goal. My goal is to write interesting and exciting stories, stories that are entertaining, and maybe even have a message. I want to write stories that can make a difference. How can a story do that? If a reader can learn something from your story, that's how. At least, I think so. And that's why I write. And it's fun, too. At least it is for me.

New Novel Started, but Killer Eyes Still Being Revised

I've already started writing Second Chance, my new novel about a football player who lost his opportunity to play his senior  year in high school, but received a fluke second chance when he was 28. My outline/synopsis reads pretty well, so I thought I'd go ahead and begin writing the first chapter just to see how it turned out. So far so good.

As for Killer Eyes, the book I'm really excited about, it's improving by leaps and bounds. I never thought I'd like a book as much as the first one, Killer of Killers, but Killer Eyes is turning out better than I hoped. For a while, as I've posted here, I was worried about a couple snags in the story line. But those snags have been ironed out, and now that it's fixed, Killer Eyes is turning out great.

There's a lot of action, probably about as much action as in Killer of Killers, and there's a theme, even, which also was present in KOK. But it's not the same thing all over again. It's vastly different in many ways. For one thing, in KOK, the main character, martial arts master Trent Smith never once used any kind of a weapon other than his own bare hands. They call it empty hands. And his opinion of guns and knives? Well, I'll quote him: "Guns and knives...weapons of cowards."

But that's not to say that Trent Smith isn't a master with many types of weapons besides his empty hands. Being a Judan, he's an expert in many of the traditional weapons of the Japanese martial arts, and there's a lot of them. And due to the circumstances in Killer Eyes, Trent is forced to use at least one of them. The katana. That's the famous Samurai sword. You see, Trent is attacked by a lot of 'ninja-like' villains, all wielding katanas and when you're facing twenty plus 'ninjas' with katanas, it's best to have a katana, too. And Trent is an expert with a katana. (He trained for over twenty years at the world's greatest martial arts academy in Tokyo.)

Anyway, with the wrinkles ironed out, all that's necessary now is to keep polishing the prose, and make sure that the typos are fixed. Every once in a while I find a typo, and it only goes to show that no matter how many times you read through a manuscript, you'll keep finding those pesky things. So you fix it and you do it again. And all the while you make the writing better. Which is how you make your writing great. Constant improvement results in a well written story. And what author wouldn't want that?

Finally a Good Comic Book Movie

I used to collect comics. When I was 12. But I still have pretty much every comic I bought in those days. My favorite comic was The X-Men. And that was my favorite comic before it became the number one comic of all comics.

Sure, I liked Spider-man, the FF, and many more. You can say I was a Marvel Comics fan, not DC. I never really got into Superman, Bat Man or the DC universe. It was Marvel all the way. And the X-Men was my favorite.

So you can imagine I was glad to see it made into a movie. And the first movie was okay. But that's all it was. Just okay. Mostly they got the casting wrong. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was a great choice, but that's just about the only one who was a great choice. Patrick Stewart as Professor X was just okay, and the rest, totally wrong. I don't need to get into the why and what-could-have-been, because even though the second X-Men movie was a better movie than the first one, the third X-Men movie totally sucked. In every aspect, too, not just casting.

Again, I won't get into the why and what-could-have- been. I will say the fourth X-Men movie--X-Men First Class--was the worst of all. I mean it was as if the people who made that movie never read any of the comics, and knew absolutely nothing about the X-Men. It was a franchise that at this point was getting worse with every successive movie.

Yeah, the two Wolverine solo movies were good. Or at least good enough, imo. But the third and fourth X-Men movies were so bad, it would have been better if they never got made. That's how bad they were.

Which brings me to the fifth one. The one that just came out. X-Men-Days of Future Past. It was good. Surprisingly good. They used a story from the comics, (albeit liberally changed) but the story still worked. And the casting for a lot of the new characters they introduced was passable. Bishop's role in that story was minimal. He had a greater role in the comics. But understandably, they focused on Wolverine, since Hugh Jackman's enormous success in the role has made the character so popular.

But a pet peeve of mine is the usual bad writing. Mostly that happened in those two latter films, but in the latest one, the writing was a strong point. FINALLY. A very strong screenplay and it was pure joy watching it for the first time. I'm sure I'll see it again, and why not? The X-Men had always been my favorite superhero type comic book, and to see it well made was reassuring.

Can't wait to see how they top that. But now, I'm not so pessimistic. I think they will.

A Good Police Partner Movie

Every once in a while there's a real good police partner story that's worth watching. I remember Busting way back in the seventies which partnered Robert Blake and Elliot Gould. It was a good story, which I still remember. More recently, I thought Jason Statham and Jet Li worked well together, in the movie War. And there's been plenty others to be sure. I never got into the TV versions of police partner stories though. I never watched Starsky and Hutch, or Chips, or Miami Vice.

But I just happened to find another police partner movie on one of those Cable channels while channel surfing, and I recorded it on the DVR to watch one day, which I did. And I thought it was a very well written story. What attracted me to it at first was Chow Yun-Fat, the Chinese actor who's been in quiet a lot of films. I've liked all the movies he's been in, and so I thought I'd check it out. Mark Wahlberg was the other actor in the film, and I've liked most of his movies, too.

It's called The Corruptor, made in 1999, and it turned out to be well written, well produced, and of course, well acted. Like Robert Blake and Elliot Gould in Busting, and like Jason Statham and Jet Li in War, the two actors, Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg worked well together as police partners, and the story was well conceived. It played out with a couple of twists that took even me by surprise. There might have been a part that I disagreed with, but it didn't ruin the story, and it might have even made it more intense. What it did was justified the ending, which I can't divulge, because that would be a spoiler.

If you haven't seen The Corruptor with Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg, check it out. Especially if you like police partner stories. It's a good one.