http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Treyos&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Treyos en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:11:12 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/27714437/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/27714437/ Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:40:35 PDT [link] ) which is kind of like real world treasure-hunting with more emphasis on the thrill of the hunt than the prize in the box, and well... they found something a little different than expected. They heard some mewing and discovered the pair in some weeds and leaves.

It appears that they'd been abandoned recently, since they were still pretty clean and dry, despite the rain earlier that day. They took them to MSU's vets and had them checked out - healthy, thankfully, but only three or four weeks old, so they should still be with their mother. I'm told that when they asked Stacy if she was going to be giving them up, she almost cried just at the thought of it. It didn't help that she'd read a news article just the day before about the Humane Society being over-crowded right now, but that aside, the girls already had their hooks in her. She was going all maternal and stuff.

Anywho, so for now we are taking care of them, which includes feeding them from syringes every four hours and keeping them cooped up in a plastic storage box (which Rose can damned near climb out of already, the little scamp) and giving them both lots of lovin'. Needless to say, the last one is easy and the feeding is absolutely killing our sleep cycles, but we're managing. Rose is the louder one and reeeeally likes to wander while Kaelin really loves nursing on fingers and cleans herself a lot. They both love to climb around on us! (Tiny little needle claws that hurt and tickle at the same time!)

Rose is slated to be taken by Stacy's sister once they're old enough (and will be named Taz, I guess, unless she changes her mind again) and Kaelin will be staying with us. We'd been talking about getting another cat, but this wasn't the manner we had expected. Life's tricky like that.

The only real bad part about all this (other than constantly interrupted sleep ) is that it does cut into my free time considerably between feeding and entertaining (and trying to keep my cats from feeling ignored), so not much time for writing or anything else remotely artistic. I've got stuff in the works, but it's slow-going right now.

Oh, and btw, Namphie and Izzy are both pretty freaked out by the kittens. Don't really seem to know what to do with them, and won't get close enough to touch them. They just watch from a distance and run if the kittens get too close. Scaredy-cats. Although I did get to watch Izzy sniff at the kittens, then walk over to one of her fur toys and sniff at it like "when did these things start growing legs?" They'll get used to 'em eventually!

We'll have to get some of you locals around to see them sometime. Their cuteness will overwhelm you!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/27090630/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/27090630/ Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:09:12 PDT
That's right! And now you, too, can strut your stuff while sporting one of my fractals on your shirt!

[link]

That link should bring you to my products list, which is just the one right now, though I hope to expand it (if there's any requests, let me know!). I bought sample shirts from both MySoti and Zazzle and I like MySoti's better overall, plus it seems more durable than Zazzle's product. MySoti uses a silk-screening method so there shouldn't be any concerns with the design flaking off. Their backlog should be cleared out now, so shouldn't have any of the delays I had to deal with.

Anyway, I think that's all the info I need to pass out here. Again, if you'd like to own one of my other fractals in wearable form, let me know which one and what kind of shirt you'd like! They've got a tonne to choose from!


Thanks for any and all support, be it buying a shirt or simply taking the time to read my stories!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/26669239/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/26669239/ Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:58:26 PDT Samantha and its script format, both of which should be floating around your inbox by the time you read this (unless you've deleted them already ). It's the first time I've ever done a movie-style script so any input is appreciated, especially given that it's for the Scripts to Flicks contest. As would probably be expected, I wrote the prose story first, then converted it to script format (or the best I could mimic using html on here).

Oh, just a warning for those who are reading this first, Samantha will, if I did it right, rip your heart out before it's done, but leave you feeling good about it when it's finished. It's meant to be a very emotional piece, so... well, you've been warned, I guess.

Any of you writers who've ever dreamed of seeing your work come to life on the screen should be working on entries. It's a contest, so there's no guarantees, of course, but it's certainly worth the shot! Better hurry, though, it ends 08/31 and has to be a new script, or unpublished here, at the least.

I'm hoping to whip up another one for the comic script category as well. That story was already written a long time ago, so part one will be easy (though I'm sure I'll need to update/edit it), but the script itself will be brand spankin' new. And if that goes really well, there's one more I'd like to throw out there for the film category. So... I'm going to be rather busy the rest of August!

Now then, that said, I thought I'd throw out a little support for the comic community around here with some new features and stuff.

First up is one that I actually managed to score a DD for (go me!).

by and his wifely partner
I'm still awaiting my copies of the TPB collections but everything I've seen from these two has been top notch superhero awesomeness, so if their stuff grabs ya, you might want to consider checking out their shop! Oh, and for those of you who are local to me, this wonderful pair hails from the Grand Rapids area, so you're supporting fellow Michiganders to boot.


and by
First was one comic by two artists, this is two comics by one. Emerald City Blues has just gone up for pre-launch orders,
so if you like seeing alternative tellings of classics (ie Wizard of Oz), you'll find this worth picking up. It won't take you long to start wondering just whose side Glinda the "good" witch is on. Personally, while I do enjoy reading ECB, 88 is more my speed. I mean... check out those mechs! Can't wait to see that one roll out in full!


by http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/25370479/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:15:19 PDT
Anyway, just wanted to show off this absolutely awesome painting of Karma (from my Angels Among Us story! [link] ). painted it for me on commission and I have to say that it was worth every penny, plus she's a total sweetheart and a joy to work with. So if you're thinking of commissioning some artwork, check out her stuff! In the meantime, feel free to ogle Karma for a while.

That's all for now!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/24957933/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/24957933/ Tue, 26 May 2009 09:37:12 PDT UPdate. As in the movie Up. Get it? ... yeah, I like puns, so sue me.

Anyway, saw Up this morning and holy-freakin'-hell that movie is pure awesomeness! Funny as hell, which was expected, but the montage of Carl's life at the beginning was absolutely heart-breaking. Izzy cried and anyone who's ever been in love won't be able to help getting drawn in by it. Go see it, you won't be disappointed. Cross my heart.

The short before it was great, too, btw, not that that's much of a surprise. Very cute stuff.

And last thing before getting back to the features... Agent Cypher is coming to a 3D theatre near you! Sorta. There was a promo for a movie (called G-Force, I think) about CIA-trained guinea pigs doing the super-spy thing. It looks entirely hilarious, but it was a shock to see something so similar in concept to my own story.

Now, back to the features!


Just figured I'd update enough to throw some new features up here, at least. I should do this more often... like monthly, at least. Unfortunately, I generally don't have a lot to say in these, so that's not likely to happen. Ah well, just go peruse the lovely artworks I show off here. This go around I'm focusing entirely on comics - be they webcomics, comic book art or splash pages.

Now go ooo and ah!

First comes a brand new webcomic project from a couple of young ladies from my local comic group, ~avadrea and :monicalynnevallejo:. Orc Quest stars Semmek and Iyalndrea and while they've not gone live with the webcomic yet, they've got some great (and funny) artwork for it and an account dedicated to it here on dA at .

Next up is a webcomic called The Meek by . Great story, great characters and great art! Also, quite funny! You can follow it here on dA or just go to his website at [link] (which gets the updates sooner). And, yes, Angora likes running around nekkid, so it's officially considered "mature", although it's not remotely sexual. She just likes it.

This is the first page of 's final (winning) entries to the Law of Talos OC tournament. There's a lot of back story before it, but this set is as great an example of story-telling as ever I've seen.

One Last Chance is a series being worked on by who has a really long name and a pretty cool story going. He does a great job of drawing the rainy weather of his setting and giving the whole opening a somber mood which carries well into the dialogue.

http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/22981009/ Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:24:57 PST Edit: Added one more feature to my list. Just stumbled on her yesterday and wanted to share! (Also, my "edit journal" function is being weird, so I apologize if blank journals end up in your inbox. Hopefully deleting them will stop that from happening.)


So, I figure that it's high-time I updated my journal, even if I don't have a whole helluva lot to say. If nothing else, I'll get some features up.

First, though, there is one very important thing that ALL deviants need to know: Slideshows eat your bandwidth. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the slideshow feature, but do NOT leave your browser open on a page with slideshows running, as they load constantly and feast upon your precious bandwidth. This little factoid was discover by who noticed he used 10GB in one day after leaving his browser open when he went to work. His (brief) journal about it is here: [link]

So yeah, enjoy them, but don't leave them running when you're not around. Could get expensive if we're not careful.


Now then! On to the pretties!

is pretty well known (to understate it) but that doesn't mean I've got a problem showing her off. Beyond a very distinctive and beautiful style, she's got an absolutely gorgeous tarot deck in the works. Artwork's all finished, but she's not expecting it to reach stores until 2010. Hopefully it'll be out a little earlier, like before next Yule.

makes some beautiful leather masks which would be perfect for any masquerade ball, but this piece is what really blew my mind. That's all leather there - 300 pieces worth! And in addition to her skill, she's a total sweetheart with an inspiring personal story. To read about that and also how she goes about creating her masks, follow the links in her journals to her blog.

This piece is a bit of Firefly universe fanart from . She's pretty much an unknown, but if she keeps putting out work like this, she'll find her time in the spotlight. I'm sure any fellow fans will agree that she carries the feel of Firefly remarkably well!

Another sci-fi piece, this one an original creation from . Good guy and phenomenal skills, he's had a few works that have garnered him some seriously deserved attention. What I really love about this one is that it's a sci-fi environment but the scene itself is so totally mundane. I love the expressions on the two aliens!

This one nabbed a DD for http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/20966609/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:26:15 PDT
And now for something completely different.

I don't usually do these "tag" things, but this one was strangely amusing (and amusingly strange) enough that I figure, what the hell! The original comes from ~Amuris and you can find the rules here ([link] ), but it was who gave it to me (it's apparently contagious!). I was considering addressing it to myself (since, technically, I was the last to post on my previous journal) but that would've come out just plain wrong. It's a sort of mad libs thing.


Dear ~causticardor:

I don't really know how to tell you this, but our romance is over. I think I realized it when I threw up in your apartment and I saw you sit on my father. I'm sure you're cowardly enough to understand that Extreme Home Makeover sucks. I'm returning your contact book to you, but I'll keep your collection of butterflies as a memory. You should also know that I always will remember your Oprah Winfrey imitations.

Greetings to your frog Leonard,
Treyos

(And no, I'm not tagging anyone... do it if you want to!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/20452926/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/20452926/ Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:38:53 PDT Actually, knowing me, I’ll screw it all up and post a new journal in a week, but whatever.

Anyway, the point of this journal (yes, there’s actually a point!) is that I’ve been researching this whole process of finding an agent and it’s waaay more complicated and formalized than I would have ever guessed. Turns out that there’s very specific methodology to writing a query letter with, naturally, differing opinions on the smaller details. I’ve been learning what I can and am starting to work on a couple versions of the query letter (and then I need to do a proper synopsis, yay!) but one of the big suggestions that one guy (an agent and author himself) puts out is that I should be comparing my book to something in a similar vein in so far as story, setting, etc.

The trick to this is that you need to find something that if you going with another book, you want to find something that the agent represented; something that he’s definitely familiar with and has already found success with; something that will make the query more personal to him. The problem is... I really don’t do a lot of reading. I’m a slow reader (I write faster than I read ) and don’t find a lot of time for reading... and I can’t think of anything that really parallels Maelstrom’s story.

There’s a couple of movie franchises which I think are in the same spirit (action and adventure with a good dose of humour) but the setting is completely different as they aren’t “high fantasy” genre. I won’t mention them by name so as to avoid locking them into your brains. Why? Because I need help!

Not just the mental variety.

Any of you know a book which holds some comparisons to my work? List ‘em for me so I’ve got something to look at, at least! Movies and such as well; I’ll take anything to get me started. If nothing else, it’ll be interesting to get to know a bit about how you view it.

Of course, I’m taking a big leap of faith that I’ll get more than two responses, but hey... every bit helps.

Okay, and now that I’ve made you read through all that... here’s some quick features!

*OmeN2501 consistently blows my mind with his amazing work and any fantasy fans will be able to appreciate his skills in this piece. Personally, though, I’m cheering for the dragon!

It takes a lot to impress me enough to fave a piece of fanart (just not my usual thing) but ~kerko’s painting of Mononoke is just pure beauty. I especially love that it gives her a more realistic look. Oh, yeah, and I freakin’ love that movie! *ahem* That is all.

~A2wildFox is a great person with a lot of talent but is vastly under-appreciated. She’s also got a story behind pretty much everything she draws (paints or whatever), so there’s some reading material there too. Yay!

And last but far from least, if you aren’t watching *Radojavor then you need your head checked. Of course, I am watching him but still probably need my head checked. Either way, the guy’s frickin’ brilliant.

And once you’re done ga... ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/18208266/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/18208266/ Thu, 08 May 2008 07:56:13 PDT Edit: Hey, should've put this in with this journal in the first place, but please congratulate (or perhaps just give her condolences) as she has officially put up with four years of marriage to yours truly, as of May 8! That's no small feat!

~~~

Since I'm really sick of looking at that old one... here's something new! Not much to report, really, so just going to share some of my recent faves for you all to ooo and aww over. I hope to get back to making my own art soon... work's been bleeding me dry lately. Bleh. Anyway, on with the show!

Any who keep up with the DDs will likely have seen this one, but... DAMN! It's just freakin' awesome, so check it out!

A CG animation that's both funny and great to look at. It's got that same kind of feel as Pixar shorts and is every bit as good.

Take a beautiful model and a whopping amount of talent and the result is guaranteed to be amazing. This guy does a lot of celebrity portraits and fan art, which really aren't my thing, but he's certainly got a gift with a pencil!

Here's a girl after my own heart... she makes a Phoenix (which I love) out of matches (which is brilliant) and I used to go by Chaos (and Eternal Chaos) for years back in the day.

And finally...

Okay, maybe I'm biased, since this piece was inspired by my very own Eyes of an Angel, but... it is the essence of awesomeness! Specifically, Natsuki is awesomeness and the painting is her essence. Or something like that. She rocks.

That's all for now... go forth and enjoy spring weather!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/17809517/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/17809517/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:33:10 PDT EDIT: There's a lot of new in here, but I think it all needs to be kept together.

Okay, so I’ve managed to track down a semi-recent version of the Orphan Works Law itself – from 2006, the last version released, from what I can tell – and waded my way through the legalese bullshit. It made my brain hurt reading the excessively convoluted wording but I think I managed to sort out what was being said. I’ve also read through the most current proposal synopsis (a bit boring, but at least it was in plain English!) and found it quite informative. I’ll post links a little further down. Here’s the short (hah!) explanation for those who don’t want to have a brain seizure from reading through it all. (Though bear in mind that this is just my interpretation of what I read.)

The primary intent of the law – to allow non-profit, educational and museum groups to utilize images even if they’re unable to find the creator – is honestly a good thing. The gist of it is this: Someone who wants to use or display an image (painting, photograph, drawing, whatever) must do a “reasonably diligent search” for the creator. The law does give some definition of what they consider “reasonable” but are trying to leave it flexible so that its definition can change as technology and culture progress. It’s still a little vague for my liking, but I can at least appreciate their reasoning.

Basically, if someone uses an “orphan” and the original artist comes forth, then the “infringer” has to show that he made an acceptable attempt to locate the artist. The artist would have to prove his ownership (makes sense, lest you get scammers pretending they’re the artist) and would then be eligible for repayment for the use (again, that word “reasonable” is used, meaning that you’d get paid whatever the courts decided the market value of the usage would have been). In the case of non-profit users, they would be protected from monetary suits but could be told to cease use of the image and would have to comply immediately.

Good news is that, from what I’ve read, they are not planning to let the commercial community have free reign to jump into the registry pool. What they are saying is that the Copyright Office is simply incapable of doing it themselves – they haven’t the technical capabilities nor the genre-specific knowledge necessary to do the job right and they also don’t have the funding to manage such an enormous undertaking.

So, how do they want to handle it? Basically, they want to leave it up to the experts in each field. If you want to know who took a photo, you go talk to photographic societies which cover that genre (historical, modern, German, weddings, whatever). Not just one, either... that wouldn’t be considered “reasonably diligent” and should they be brought to court on it, they’d get slaughtered.

What might be necessary to make your ownership easier to determined (though not required) would be to join such a guild/society/whatever which would then keep all your work on file for searching. Might have to pay annual membership fees for these, but honestly, I can accept that. Hell, a lot of people do that now in all variety of fields (Screen Actors Guild being a very prominent one). Also, just to note, you can apparently register unpublished works (of your own, naturally) as a “collection” with the Copyright Office for a single fee ([link]), so that could be another route for us small-time people.

So what really needs to be “done” about this law? For one, wait for the new version to come out. From all appearances there will be a new rendition put on the table, very probably this year, but it’s not there yet. When it comes out, read it (or an official summary). If they start talking about having commercial involvement as registries and other such (currently incorrect) insanity that was put forth in Simon’s blog that started this whirlwind, then start sending letters to your Congressman. Right now, it’s not even suggested in that format (though it’s definitely something which is highly undesirable).

Also, technically speaking, deviantArt would serve as a good place to hunt down artwork’s owners – and I owe an apology to *noraneko on that one, though as I told her, there’s plenty of pieces around her which aren’t posted by their true owners. I’ve seen plenty of pretenders and impersonators. Then again, I suppose those are possible most anywhere. It’s as good a starting place as anywhere, I suppose.

Okay... so I’m going to stop here. Want to know more? Read up with these following links and whatever else you can find. There’s definitely a lot of good which can b... ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/17374295/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/17374295/ Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:14:44 PDT
Maelstrom is going through another round of edits, though they’re mostly minor this time through, then I’ll have to go through it once more to get it into the proper format for publishers. Slow going thanks to limited time, but I’m getting there. It’s been accepted by the agency as worth shopping around and they had me get a critique from a professional editor to find out what areas need improvement. If anyone can explain the whole “aggressive” and "passive” description thing, please explain it to me ‘cause I don’t think I’m fully grasping what she was talking about. Apparently my descriptions have a habit of going "passive”, which is bad.... but without some solid examples of each I can’t really figure out what she means by “aggressive”.

Animation project! I’m working on a brand new, all original animation inspired by a stock I found here (might’ve been a DD, can’t remember). It’s going to be pretty massive but I’m getting close to finishing, so hopefully I’ll be showing that off soon. I’ve been bouncing between it and my editing for the past week or so. I should also note that my computer cries every time I start working on it... it lags my system big time.

I’ve also got two chapters written for Phoenix Rising, a new story I’m working on in my spare time at work. Unfortunately, work’s been insanely busy for the past three weeks or more, so haven’t had time to finish editing them for posting. As soon as it’s done, I’ll put it up here so you guys can tell me if it’s got any potential. The two chapters I’ve written are both huge (fifteen pages or so each) so I won’t post them together... I’ll give some time to digest the first one before I add the second.

Personal life is keeping busy too (for those who care). My wife (*PurpleGoddess) has achieved her desire of getting onto day shift so we have weekends together now, but don’t see much of each other during the weekdays (sucks) and we’ve got some great friends that have been sucking up our Saturdays (and I ain’t complaining... they’re all lovably insane). I’ve got weekday mornings basically to myself but my brain can only handle so much so early. I’m working out pretty much daily now that we’ve got some home gym equipment (back in January when they were on sale) and I’m feeling good about getting back into shape. Now if I could only find some local pick-up footballers that don’t mind having old men on the field, I’ll be all set (haven’t played in years! *misses it*). And yes, I mean North American football, not soccer. I want to hit people!

Oh, and I’m still waaaaay behind on my lit deviation list... haven’t found time and drive to read all that stuff at the same time. Maybe once I finish the animation and editing... maybe.

And that’s about it. *looks up* Yeah, that’s more than enough. But! Need to throw out a couple of features, ‘cause they’re just that cool.

~Ilustralia has some awesome pencil drawings and gives the dragons their due in pieces like Jinete caido (whatever that means ) where the lizards get to come out on top. Check out his work!

*nebezial doesn’t exactly need my help getting attention, but holy crap! I am so buying this graphic novel when it comes out! If the story is half as good as the art, it’s gonna be AWESOME!

http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/16713296/ Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:16:08 PST
So last weekend (01/26) a couple friends invited me up to CMU in Mt Pleasant to see Kari and Grant of Mythbuster fame. It wasn’t really long but they showed some outtakes that were deemed “not suitable” for TV which were damned funny, had them talk a bit about the show with the host and then they took quite a few questions from the (sold out) crowd. Only five bucks a ticket, too. Anyway, very entertaining, they’ve both got a great sense of humour. If you’re a fan of the show and you get the chance, definitely go see them.

In other news... I’m starting to get a better feel for the Ultra Fractal, which can hopefully be seen in my more recent submissions. Think I need to go back to Apo for a bit though, then see about combining the results from the two.

Last note: Something that most of you won’t actually notice, but I’ve removed all but the first five chapters of Maelstrom (the sixth chapter is just a note which I’ll put below to save you the trouble of looking for it). This is because I’m working on signing up with an agency which will then be doing its damnedest to get me published. So far they seem pretty cool and if things work out for the best then I’ll definitely put their name out there for you others who might be looking into it.

~~~~~~~~~
Sorry, guys, but as I’m looking to get this into print, I feel that having five chapters online serves as a good lead to get people interested; any more is probably turning towards detrimental. I thank everyone who has read my first five chapters and especially those who supported and aided me during the writing of all the rest. Hopefully I’ll have something published and available for you to read soon!
~~~~~~~~~

And that’s all for today, folks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/16180273/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/16180273/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:15:48 PST

So, yeah, got Ultra Fractal as a gift from my lovely wife (*PurpleGoddess) and... wow, is it ever complicated. I'm only just barely starting to figure that thing out, so if anyone reading this has any tips at all, feel free to fire them my way. I've got no clue what I'm doing at all (the tutorials weren't all that helpful, honestly). Still, managed to make a couple fractals with it, so hope you enjoyed those.

On the writing front, you will soon be seeing the revised version of Maelstrom's second chapter going up, which didn't change nearly as much as the first one did. Still, lots of edits and me wondering how I could've missed the glaring errors, repetitions and other such things the first time. Not spelling errors, just poorly-worded lines, mostly.

And with the new year, so begins my search for an agent to get me published. I've decided that I'm better off finding an agent then just going direct... since I'm really out of my depth in that arena. I sure as hell ain't paying anyone to do a "reading fee" though, since I don't see reading my work as a huge investment of their time. If they can't decide within the first three chapters if they want to rep me then I probably don't want them doing so anyway.

Oh and on the topic of "New Year's Resolutions" which I know many people are talking about, I don't make them. I have, however, kept the last one I made, some ten years ago or more... in which I decided that I wouldn't make any more NYRs (too long to keep typing that ). I don't make promises I'm not going to keep and I see no reason to wait for January first to make efforts to improve myself.

~~~~~~~~

Edit: Milestones revisited

Didn't want to bump this off so soon, so just adding to it instead. So... back in August, I put up a journal listing some milestones I was aiming to achieve by the end of 2007... let's see how I did.

1) Reach chapter twenty of Maelstrom (it's doable, but I need to keep at it!).
Heh... finished it with plenty of time to spare!
2) Win at least one contest (on DA or otherwise).
No such luck here, yet... though haven't been entering any of late.
3) Get at least two of my DD suggestions accepted (at Becca's urging, I shall endeavour to suggest them whenever a piece truly strikes me).
Tried, but failed. Still kind of irritated that the ones I suggest don't get accepted when I see stuff up there that doesn't even come close to as good. Bleh.
4) Reach 8000 views (okay, this one's gonna be pushing it).
Pffffft!
5) Get caught up with reading all the prose submissions in my inbox which I keep putting off.
I did! ... Then I fell way behind again. Bleh.
6) Get back to Trystan's Star, in addition to writing another seven chapters of Maelstrom (‘cause I'm a glutton for punishment).
Never happened... sooner or later, though.
7) Win the lottery (hey, while I'm dreaming, I might as well dream big, right? ).
If I had... you'd all have heard about it by now.
8) Hit 50 faves on a single piece... probably Eyes of an Angel, but I'm flexible (speaking of dreaming...).
Dingdingding! Okay, so it just happened on 01/03/08, but... close enough, dammit!
9) Complete a couple of other projects lurking in my brain and making me wish I didn't need to work eight hours a day... such a waste of my precious time.
Some... but not much with them. Too damn busy.

~~~~~~~

And with that said... on to some features!

http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/15776665/ Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:13:29 PST
Maelstrom, book one, is done.

I've now completed the final two chapters and will be emailing them out to those on my mailing list so you can finally see how it ends. Two chapters makes for a fair bit of reading, I know, but I figure that the last chapter is basically just a wrap up and you might as well get both of them at once. It should be in your inboxes already, so if it's not (or you didn't get chapter twenty) please let me know!

The next step is for me to go right back to the beginning and do an overhaul on the first couple chapters to get them up to snuff (I really do think I've improved a lot in the past year). The plot will remain the same and so will the basic storyline but I want to rewrite parts so that it flows better and is more grammatically correct. Any suggestions y'all wanna throw at me regarding them — especially the opening — let me know, please! I had a couple people suggest that the opening sounded a bit cheesy or too "film noir". I was kind of aiming to make a stark contrast to the feel of Canaer's entrance but opinions are always welcome!

Um... I guess that since I haven't put up a new journal in forever, I should give you something more than just that, so... here's some featurage!

~foxvox ‘Cause I love quality Celtic knotwork. She does photography and paintings as well, so give her gallery a browse!

~Cushart manages to make mundane settings into something absolutely beautiful.

*Onelani is another member of the scalawags team and has some cute little animations all her own too!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/15366753/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/15366753/ Sun, 04 Nov 2007 18:13:07 PST

Waaaaay back on 11/18/06, I submitted the first chapter of Maelstrom. Roughly two months later came chapter two and another chapter a month after that. From there I was able to crank one out every two to four weeks, depending on other projects and real life's intervention, but you may have noticed that all of a sudden they're coming once a week or so. How'd that happen? Well, two main reasons, really, the first being that I've had LOTS of time to plan these chapters and had a good idea of how they'd go months ago. Second is that I've started taking some time at work to do a bit of writing (Sh! Don't tell them! ... I got sick of doing other people's work all the time, so once I'm done mine, I've been sneaking in some quality time with Maelstrom. ).

So, anyway, it looks like my goal of hitting chapter twenty by the end of the year will be easily reachable. In fact, I plan to have the book done by then (there's really only two or three chapters left). Which leads to some bad news/good news.

I want to get this thing published. The earlier chapters definitely need work, but I think I've got a solid, enjoyable story here, so once I get ~Mospineq's blessing (since it was based on her artwork, I'll be seeking to do just that. Now, that down side is that, logically... if the entire story is here, not many are going to buy it. Which means I won't be posting my last few chapters.

Okay, now that I've got a couple of you screaming "How can you do this to me?!! MUST KNOW!!" ... don't worry. Those fans who've been reading and commenting and faving all along will not be forgotten. Without your support I never would've gotten this far, let alone have a prayer of getting it published. Note me your emails and I'll email them directly to you, under the agreement that you don't post them anywhere nor pass them on. Pretty fair, I figure. And don't worry, it'll be driving me nuts not being able to post them... I'm such a dA whore.


Anyway, on a side note, it's currently sitting at 157 pages (301 in "novel size") and nearly 90,000 words. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

Of course, the hard part will be finding someone to publish it. I could self-publish, but then I'd have to market it, which wouldn't exactly be easy. Oi. Should be "interesting". Ah well, no pain no gain... right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/15227222/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/15227222/ Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:37:37 PDT
I was swapping cars with my wife so she could head out today and I noticed a pair of dogs roaming around down at the corner, which is a busy road. They were definitely together so I was hoping that maybe their owner was just an idiot who'd let them off the leash despite being so close to traffic, but turned out to not be the case.

So after Izzy leaves, they start coming down my street and I walked out to see if they'd let me get close and even as I did, a lady drove up and parked on the street nearby them. Turns out that she's NOT the owner, just worried about them because she seen them nearly get hit by a car by her house.

The dogs weren't willing to let us get too close and while they had collars, we couldn't see any tags. They started wandering off so I gave her my phone number and she said she'd follow them while I called animal control. She phoned me so I'd have her cell number to give to animal control. Calling them was easy... getting an answer not so. I let that phone ring more than ten times each of the three attempts I made and never got an answer. Even called the police dispatch to try and contact them that way but was assured that they were there, they just might be busy dealing with animals (that was before my last attempt).

Eventually she called me back and said she'd managed to get a hold of animal control... and they said they were too busy with other calls and that we were too far away. She informed them that the dogs didn't seem very car smart and the guy's response was "They'll learn real fast." and told her that we'd just have to let them get hit by a car. Maybe if we got them contained in a yard they could take care of it. Thanks, asshole. Sorry to inconvenience you by asking you to do your job.

Last I spoke to her (never did get her name), the dogs had wandered into a quieter neighbourhood and were making a habit of checking out people's porches, so would hopefully stay safe. Best scenario, a homeowner whom they visit would call animal control with a specific address and maybe even manage to catch them, but that was looking unlikely.

So in the end, not only are the dogs still roaming free and at risk, but local motorists are too. I don't just mean their cars, either... I know I'd feel terrible if I hit a dog and my wife would be heartbroken if she did. Of course, AC isn't entirely to blame for this... whatever idiot let their dogs wander off has a lot of responsibility in this too... but the AC guy's attitude sure as hell could use an adjustment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14983873/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14983873/ Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:04:47 PDT
And on that note... yes, I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately. Just finally got to see the last two episodes of the most recent season (with Martha Jones) and I have to say, as a LONG time fan of the series (I've seen pretty much every episode, right back to the original B&W), the writing has gotten a lot better. These newest seasons have some really interesting plots without sacrificing the humour and charm that made the show great in the first place. So... if any of you want to get me a TARDIS for Christmas, I'd gladly give you free rides.

On a more personal note, I'm plugging away at the next chapter of Maelstrom, which looks to be another monster. Will be a little longer before I get it done though, thanks to more RL interruptions than I even care to think about. Hoping not to leave you hanging for too long!

I've also got a couple of other contests I'm looking to enter, so need to get my entries in soon. Ergh. Need TARDIS.

Oh, and speaking of contests, I did come in second with my Unburied Treasures stamp, so thanks to all of you who voted for me!

~~~~~~~

And now for some features! First off, an article that everyone needs to read (it's kind of long, but oh so worth it) by `tangledweb. March 14 is a long way off but I think it should be Fuckhead Awareness Day every day!



Learn the signs and how to protect yourself! They're everywhere!

And for the visual arts, first check out this painting by ~An4ous. Just love the emotion captured in it.



Finally, the launch of dA Film has introduced me to some awesome animations by including this collaboration project (under a group account name) called Scalawags! It rocks!



Also, give this a view and make sure you read the text! Very moving piece (and another collaboration of talents).



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14895864/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14895864/ Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:57:13 PDT

So... you remember that Lode Runner stamp I made for UT as an entry into `Aeires's contest? It made it to the final five, which rocks! Now it's up to a poll, so if you'd do me the favour of showing a little support, it'd be appreciated! (Or, if you honestly like one of the other entries better... well, vote for it! *supports honesty*)

Obviously, I don't mind losing (I'm good at it! ) but seeing someone use their popularity as an artist to win kind of annoys the hell out of me. I can't help but wonder how many of the now-leading submission's voters even looked at the other entries. *resists urge to rant, bad-mouth, etc as it's entirely inappropriate*

Anyway! Here's the link to the contest voting!

[link]

Let your voice be heard! (And, btw, the Unburied Treasures articles DO find some pretty cool pics, so check 'em out!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14770756/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14770756/ Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:48:03 PDT If nothing else, I'm over due for a new journal on here anyway.

1. Post these rules
2. each person tagged must post 8 random (hopefully interesting) facts about themselves
3. tags should write a journal of these facts
4. at the end of the post 8 more bloggers are tagged and named
5. go to their page and leave a comment telling them that they're tagged

1. I'm a Canadian immigrant of the land of USA (by marriage, naturally).
2. I've got long hair. Women have expressed jealousy over it. One of these days I might actually put up a picture for an ID on here and prove it.
3. I'm a warehouse supervisor. Yup, that's right... they put me in charge. MWAHAHA!
4. I really suck when it comes to talking about myself. (Case in point.)
5. I've only ever dated American women. Apparently they're more desperate for guys than the Canadian women are.
6. I talk to squirrels. They don't exactly talk back but it seems to calm them. I'm still learning the lingo.
7. I'm constantly creating new stories and worlds in my head. I'll never have time to write them all down but I'll also never have to worry about running out of stuff to write about.
8. I'm mainly carnivorous and barely eat any vegetables at all. Meat, bread and junkfood... what more does a body need? (I do drink a lot of juice and chocolate milk, though.)

Okay, you can wake up now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14485362/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14485362/ Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:27:53 PDT [link]

Just want to make sure any poets, would-be poets, part-time poets and pretty much anyone who's ever submitted a poem to dA. Check out this article and give it a read. It refers to Poetry.com and all its various names (International Society of Poetry and a couple others I've seen). They've apparently discovered that there are thousands of poets on here and have started spamming the hell out of dA. The names they're using generally seem to be women's names, first and last, and they basically tell you how amazing your work is and telling you to enter their contest.

That's all well and good, but then they want you to pay money out just to get in their book, along with hundreds of other poems crammed into as small a space as possible. I know from experience that these books are not worth the money. Fortunately I figured out that something wasn't right about them before I sank any more money into their conventions or other products but it appears that they've gotten even bigger since I first dealt with them.

Rule one: You should never, ever have to pay someone else to publish your work. They should be paying you for the honour of displaying your work in their book, magazine, etc. There are plenty of contests - legitimate contests - out there to enter in. At least when you win those you know you really earned it... rather than having bought it (or bought into it, as the case may be). And yes, there are some contests that are more legitimate that have an entry fee; personally, I say to hell with them, too. Anything more than requiring you to provide a SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) for purposes of responding is more than should be asked of you.

Take pride in your work and tell these people where to shove it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14356795/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/14356795/ Sun, 26 Aug 2007 22:00:44 PDT And for those who're curious, I'm over 61000 words.

What else have I got? Well, I'm over 3500 pageviews, which is pretty damn cool (I never thought I'd get a thousand ), Eyes of an Angel part one is over 600 views (far and away my most viewed), over thirty watchers (when'd that happen?) and I'm closing in on my hundredth deviation. Impressed? I am, but it doesn't take much.

And now for something stolen from *Beccalicious but fitting perfectly with this journal's subject... I present my goals for the year. In my case, these are the things I'm hoping to accomplish by the end of 2007 (she went with by next August).

1) Reach chapter twenty of Maelstrom (it's doable, but I need to keep at it!).
2) Win at least one contest (on DA or otherwise).
3) Get at least two of my DD suggestions accepted (at Becca's urging, I shall endeavour to suggest them whenever a piece truly strikes me).
4) Reach 8000 views (okay, this one's gonna be pushing it).
5) Get caught up with reading all the prose submissions in my inbox which I keep putting off.
6) Get back to Trystan's Star, in addition to writing another seven chapters of Maelstrom (‘cause I'm a glutton for punishment).
7) Win the lottery (hey, while I'm dreaming, I might as well dream big, right? ).
8) Hit 50 faves on a single piece... probably Eyes of an Angel, but I'm flexible (speaking of dreaming...).
9) Complete a couple of other projects lurking in my brain and making me wish I didn't need to work eight hours a day... such a waste of my precious time.

I guess that will do for now, since I can't think of anything else. Guess I better get cracking on chapter fourteen, eh?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feature section! First up, the usual lovely visual type stuff:

has a lot of pretty cool stuff, from Celtic knotwork to retrofuturistic (think the 1960's version of what 2000 would be like) and he does all of it amazingly well. The Celtic stuff is my favourite (I love that sort of thing), so check these two pieces out!



Next up, a literary piece... ‘cause I figure I should be showing a little more support for my fellow authors here!

If you haven't already wandered through my list of friends and checked out the work of , you really should! His Castle Black series is one I've found particularly enjoyable, so here's the link to the first chapter and also to his first Angelica the Barbarian story (which is just damned funny). Give ‘em a go!

http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/13907183/ Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:17:32 PDT

Actually, got a couple things to throw out here, so yeah, this is actually worth reading! (The previous comment is solely based on personal opinion and may not be used for grounds for legal action, including but not limited to fraud, lying or being exceptionally boring.) Moving right along...

It's official! I'm fractically an artist! And yes, I'm been waiting a solid WEEK to put that pun into print. Yay! Anyway, both Izzy and I are having fun with Apophysis and making fractals; I've got a few more to put up but didn't won't to completely flood everyone nor did I want to push off all my writing from my "recent" list. Let's face it, fractals are pretty cool, but I am a writer first and foremost. I do have some interesting ideas on how to photomanip some more of them, though, if I can pull it off. So many ideas, so little time!

Regarding my writing... I'd like to thank for suggesting my work to =DailyDeviants and for featuring me. It was an extremely pleasant (and flattering) early birthday present. Especially since there's no way Tannally could have known it was going to work out like that. Thanks, hon! Made my day.

Now then, speaking of *Beccalicious, she's holding one hell of a contest on her page. I mean, these are some seriously impressive prizes coming from her and other staff members. It's also a pretty interesting concept of "games and darkness". My entry into the prose category is already well under way. You should see that posted this weekend as my weekly sub. It'll be fairly short, limited to a max of 4000 words, but I can swing that. So wish me luck and by all means feel free to join! ... just don't beat me. *shakes fist*

And now... for the feature section, focusing an awesome artist who isn't exactly "unknown", given his 168k hits, but you have GOT to see his most recent submission, the Forest Phoenix. I'm in freakin' love with this painting. And if the thumbnail looks cool, check out the links in her comments. That thing is freakin' 3D! *wants* *wantswantswants*


Seriously... one of the best pieces of art I've ever seen... but then, the Phoenix is my totem animal/whatever, so hey. Her story of how it came to be also reminds me of my story "The Tree". [link]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/13692372/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/13692372/ Wed, 11 Jul 2007 07:24:00 PDT
Basically, I have lots of older writing projects that I could put up as "filler", from full-blown novel-type stories to major posts from my RP forums. So... what would you like to see? Note that this isn't a "what should I write"... the muse and I work that one out on our own.

I'm putting up a poll for the simple answers but feel free to add anything you'd like to here as well. I'm really just using this as an excuse to do a poll. I'll list a basic synopsis of what each of them means, though. And yes, there may be some overlap between the options.

Dragon's Gate — Fantasy story I wrote a long time ago. Got pretty far into it (56k words in the first part alone) but stalled out in the second as I became unhappy with how some of it was coming out. Anyway, it's been so long since I read through it that I'm not even sure how good it was.

Rejects — Sci-fi military-based story that I'd love to revisit someday. Only have a few chapters done, honestly, and most of it is just setting up the characters. Like to think I got some good character interaction though.

RP-based stories — I write some loooooong-ass posts for my forum role-plays and I've usually got big introductory stories for them. Feel like checking them out?

Darker stuff — Don't really care what but would like to see some less comedic and more serious examples of my writing.

Lighter stuff — Don't really care what but prefer sticking with stuff that's good for a laugh or two. If you want dark, you'll go read emo poetry or something.

New stuff only — This option's for those who'd rather me just stick to my active stories (Maelstrom and Trystan's Star). If there's a week with nothing new, just less stuff to read for a week.

The other options in the poll should be pretty self-explanatory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !!
~
I'm a Bobling, he's a Bobling, she's a Bobling! Wouldn't you like to be a Bobling too?
[link] ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/13386444/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/13386444/ Sun, 17 Jun 2007 21:32:38 PDT

First off, a couple of notes about where I'm at on DA. I'm now sitting at over 2300 pageviews - that's 559 last month and already nearly that many this month. That little statistic alone is both mind-boggling and thrilling at the same time. I have every confidence that a big part of that comes from the immense support of and especially (since Eyes of an Angel has gone over phenomenally well), but I'd like to give a huge thank you to all 26 of my watchers because you guys freakin' rock! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the support you guys have given me. If I tried, I'd probably tear up and that'd be embarrassing, so we'll just round it off to "lots and lots".

Unfortunately, been having a hard time finding free time to write this past week and when I have it, my brain's left numb from work and stuff (like Saturday, where I had to work OT from 7am-2:30pm... not good for an afternoon shifter, believe me). Also, I'm working on a short story for a magazine contest, which I won't be able to post here until after the contest is complete... so my writing from today won't be revealed for a while yet. Here's hoping it goes over well... first prize is $500 (which would be nice) and more importantly, getting published. That in itself would mean the world to me (not that I'd turn down the money *coughs*).

Also, for those wondering how the hell I can write these chapters so fast... well... I'm not, honestly. Maelstrom is all new, hot off the press type stuff, but Trystan's mostly just being edited, as I had a lot of it written a long time ago. I've still got a lot more chapters written too, but here's the kink in my plans... most of the rest that I've got actually belong to "part two". I had gotten kind of stuck on part one and jumped ahead to pick it up at a later point. Well... I'm almost out of pre-written part one chapters. Been working on it, but I don't get nearly enough free time to write everything I want to write (Accursed social life! Stealing my precious non-working minutes!). I'm trying, though!

One more thing, as I'm sure you're already getting bored with my long-winded babbling. Little artist feature. Found this guy 'cause he swung by my page (and I like to backtrack my non-invisible visitors). He's pretty new and so far is posting older paintings, but it's always kind of cool to see traditional artwork. Does a lot of acrylic paintings and some beautiful sceneries. So take a peek!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family on DA! My lovely and entirely wonderful wife and my still-young-but-already-brilliantly-talented sister !! ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12918997/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12918997/ Fri, 11 May 2007 06:36:46 PDT
First off, I'll be getting back on track with normal weekly updates this weekend, but I really, REALLY needed to get Eyes of an Angel ([link]) out of my head and posted as soon as humanly possible. When the muse comes knocking, you don't ignore it. When she comes knocking with a sledgehammer, you damned well better get your ass in gear! So yeah, I was a wee bit obsessive. Probably would've had the whole thing written in less than a week if I'd had the time. Damn work, getting in the way of my writing. *shakes fist*

So anyway, I already have the next chapter of Maelstrom largely written, so might even be able to get that finished by the end of the weekend too.


Other news! My anniversary was on Tuesday! Yay! Three years and the honeymoon keeps on rollin'. For those of you who don't already know, my wife (and goddess) would be the lovely and talented And yes, she really, really loves the colour purple.


For my fellow writers (and anyone who just likes to read), I'd like to direct your attention to Since writersda seems completely comatose, you'll find proseplease to be refreshingly active. And if you've got some free time to lend a hand, I know they're looking for a few extra staff members. Me? Time and I are locked in a fierce battle as I try to convince it to let me slip an extra hour into each day.

Regardless, they've got a few things that they're doing to keep the community active, which is good to see. So check ‘em out! They've got some nice CSS work too, so it all looks pretty spiffy.


And lastly (though I swear there was something else I was going to mention), my own little featured artist thing! !!! Of course, any of you that have looked at the comments on my Eyes of an Angel story have probably already seen her icon floating around, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check her out. She's inspiring.

Okay, that oughtta do for the next month or so until I feel like writing another journal. (I don't like writing these things... talking about myself is boring.) Happy writing! (Or whatever.)


EDIT: Knew I was forgetting something, though this is hardly important. Some movie coming out called the Golden Compass... looks cool from what I've seen, but not out 'til December. Anyway, got these "daemon" things that are like animal familiars for everyone. Here's what mine is, according to the questions I answered: [link]

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12701168/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12701168/ Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:44:52 PDT

If any of these links don't work, please let me know!

Maelstrom — Maellory's life just keeps getting more and more complicated. Inspired by the artwork of ~mospineq!

Chapter 1 — [link]
Chapter 2 — [link]
Chapter 3 — [link]
Chapter 4 — [link]
Chapter 5 — [link]
Chapter 6 — [link]

Note: I've completed the entire story of Maelstrom but have deleted all chapters after the fifth in the hopes of getting it published. Thanks for reading, I hope I've peaked your interest enough to inspire you to buy the novel when it comes out!


Trystan's Star — Trystan's life was complicated from the start, no matter how hard he tries to keep it otherwise.

Prelude — [link]
Chapter 1 — [link]
Chapter 2 — [link]
Chapter 3 — [link]
Chapter 4 — [link]
Chapter 5 — [link]
Chapter 6 — [link]
Chapter 7 — [link]
Chapter 8 — [link]

Eyes of an Angel — Only the two parts, but figured I'd add it here anyway. The story of Jessica and Gabriel, as inspired by *Natsuki-3's glorious artwork.

Part 1 — [link]
Part 2 — [link]

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12428827/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12428827/ Mon, 02 Apr 2007 10:01:44 PDT No, you can't leave now. You've gotta read the rest of this!

asked me for advice to increase traffic and, as I was writing my response, I noticed it was getting a wee bit lengthy. Also figured that it was worth telling to others as well. I may not be any dA celebrity with my mighty (at current) 1104 pageviews, but when you consider that more than half of those have come in the past three months, along with half of you who are watching me, I must be going in the right direction at least.

So, to get started, one way is to pay attention to other authors and comment on their work. I've found that those of us who write are largely overlooked by people who are just here for the eye candy (which is fine... I mean, that's why I originally came here). The artists are generally more interested in other artists as well, because that's their focus, but authors seem to be more willing to look at other people's writing.

How to find authors worth reading? Well, there's a lot of crap out there to be sure (and I've got a personal discrimination towards fanfics) but watching the new postings can let you find some gems. It's how I found michaelsblade. Also, check out people watching or being watched by those you watch. If you respect a person's work enough to watch them, then the people that they're watching are worth checking out (although, yeah, I watch a lot of artists).

Generally speaking, quality feedback seems to be a good way to draw people in to check out your own work. Seems a lot of us try to follow the philosophy of reciprocation. Someone comments on my work, I'll at least look at theirs.

Also, new submissions get more views. In the past couple months, since I started posting new material regularly, I've gone up a good thirty or forty views per month. Not a huge number, really, but hey... it's an increase of around 25%, so I ain't bitching.

Really what it comes down to is two steps: First, support yourself by keeping fresh material coming. I know you don't want to give it all away and end up with there being no reason to buy your book in print, but get them started. A few chapters is a good way of getting people hooked as well as getting feedback on how well people are taking to it. And catching those idiotic little mistakes we all make but don't notice (I've found SO many typos in published books... sometimes I wonder if they even have editors ).

Second step is just as vital: Support each other. Let's face it, fellow authors, we're the red- headed step-children around here. We're accepted but largely ignored by the rest of the family. Your average dA person really doesn't even want to look at prose unless it somehow involves Naruto making out with Sasuke or some such nonsense. Best people to help us improve our mad writin' skillz are other authors, so help each other out. Some might not return the favour, some might not be able to, but even so... by examining another person's work you may find out something about your own.

Alright, I'm shutting up now. Hope that helps!

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12187742/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/12187742/ Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:22:18 PDT daily traffic flow in the thousands, but I'm still pretty damned impressed! (I know, I know... just let me wallow in the momentary euphoria.)

A big thank you to my watchers for all the support. Simply having you watch provides me with a big confidence boost. You rock!

Okay, I'ma gonna stop babblin' now.

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11933385/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11933385/ Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:54:46 PST something here every week, be it new or old. Hopefully, that'll encourage me to get my ass in gear with writing new stuff, since I've only got so much older material that's actually worth submitting. Still got a few more "wireworks" laying around and several poems that don't totally suck, but going to try pushing myself to keep at the writing, despite the time constraints of life.

Current writing projects include:

Maelstrom, for which I've already posted the first three chapters (which constitutes the entirety of it thus far). This, for those not in the know, was inspired by one of the artists I watch and will likely include inspiration from some of the others around here. I'm writing it because the story is there and it's a fun plot (with lots of violent action-type stuff). Elves, swords, magic... and more! Whee!

Genetics is a new thing for me, but for which I've had a lot of ideas swirling for a long time now, coming out of a character I created for a X-Men RPG. Basically, I'm creating my own super-hero type world, but rather than being a comic ('cause I can't draw, natch) it's going to be in novel form. I've got the history of the world sorted out and written (though I'm concerned that explaining it comes out a bit dull) and LOTS of plans... just need to figure how to put it all together.

Trystan's Star, which may or may not be the title. Trystan is the star of this story and I've actually got a hell of a lot written for it. It's a sci-fi story with a lot of intrigue and a possibly insane mix of darker themes and comedic elements. I like to think of it as trying to "write anime". ^_^; Anyway, I'm refreshing myself after having allowed it to fall by the wayside because of work and such. Doing some editing and getting the plot and characters back into my head. I'll probably start posting parts of it here soon so as to hopefully get some feedback.

Also have a couple photomanip and/or animation ideas in mind. Too many ideas and too little time, as always. Ah well, I shall do what I can.

Unfortunately, as my fellow authors on dA know all too well, getting people to actually read prose isn't easy. It takes time and you're taking a chance that what you start reading is going to suck, even if it starts off well. I know I have a hard time finding chances to just sit around and read and let's face it, most people on dA are here for the eye-candy, not to make their brains work.

Gotta do something to keep my gallery from stagnating though. Besides, I'd like to get at least a thousand hits sometime this year.

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11806264/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11806264/ Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:36:49 PST

The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "6 weird habits/things/hates about yourself" and people who get tagged MUST write a journal about their 6 weird habits/things/hates as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their devpage comments and tell them to read yours...

1. I'm an alien. No, seriously. I immigrated from Canada. But at least I'm a legal alien. ... but all your base are still belong to us.

2. I make plush toys dance. For my own amusement as much as anything.

3. I'm naturally stealthy. I sneak up on people all the time without even meaning to. I scare lots of people.

4. My brain is convinced that I can breathe underwater. My body's still working on that one. It's a bad combination. Hence I avoid swimming.

5. I commune with squirrels. I can carry on chattery conversations with them. Even had them touch me. I may be the Paradox Chipmunk (see AIM), but I am one with all of rodentia!

6. I'm a natural born smart-ass. I really can't help myself; I just can't take anything THAT seriously. Even when I'm being serious, I'm still sarcastic as hell. Meetings, funerals, weddings (especially my own! ... wedding, that is. Though I'll endeavour to make comments at my funeral too.) anywhere, anytime. No one is safe. Ever. Not even you. In fact, I'm making fun of you right now and you don't even know it. Well, now you do. So take that! Hah!

Okay, I'm sure that was highly educational. Bed time now.

And I ain't tagging anyone. Do it if you wanna.

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11547346/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11547346/ Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:42:19 PST everything a specific artist puts out, even if it's only a doodle or something incomplete they just felt like posting.

... I'm tired. Which is to say "sorry for ranting".

Anyway, take a look at 0-Duredhel-0!

[link]

[link]

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11480653/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/11480653/ Thu, 18 Jan 2007 10:23:48 PST gave this to me. I think she just gives these things to me so I'm forced to update my journal occassionally.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4:
"2. Identify what resources are available and decide how to acquire addi-"

Don't ask me, it's one of my wife's books.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
In which direction? Details, damn it! I need details!

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Mythbusters pirate special! YARRRR!!!

4. Without looking, guess what time it is:
12:35pm? I just looked at it a couple minutes ago.

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
12:37pm Damn I'm good. (Actually, I lose track of time REALLY easily.)

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The sound of silence. *needs to correct this grievous situation* Okay... now I'm groovin' to Korn. Yeah, that's right, groovin'.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Earlier today to move the car so Izzy could go to work. Which I fortunately need not do for another hour or so.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
A2's answers? That's not cheating, is it?

9. What are you wearing?
Clothes. Aren't you extremely glad to know that?

10. Did you dream last night?
Probably, but I never remember them anyway.

11. When did you last laugh?
Earlier this morning? I do it a lot, especially when I'm around my wife.

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Paneling. Oh, more than that? Pictures, speakers, a sword, electrical outlets, heater vents, a smoke alarm and dust. I think that pretty much covers it.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
... I have two cats. I also work with a very spastic bunch of people. I see "weird" every day.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
Did I win?

15. What is the last film you saw?
The plastic film we use at work. Oh... you mean movies? Um... Grave of Fireflies. Good flick from Studio Ghibli. Dramatic piece and more than a little depressing, but funny at times too and definitely worth the watch.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
My house and my car would be a good start. Probably pay off a lot of my family and friend's debts as well. Once those big debts are gone, you'd be amazed at how much free cash you have.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know.
Um... I have really long hair? Hangs to the small of my back, though I need to trim a couple inches off.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Just one thing? I'd make "common courtesy" truly common. I think that would solve half the world's problems.

19. Do you like to dance?
I don't dance.

20. George Bush: How can I top A2's response here? The single dumbest person to EVER be elected to office in ANY country. I could go on, but I think A2's link says it all, so... I'm using it too! (Though I don't know how to get it to show the pic in here.)

[link]

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Wife wants to go with Elizabeth. Assuming we ever have kids.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Anything but Tom. Well, not anything. I ain't gonna torture the kid with some dumb-ass name that he'll hate, but I sure as hell don't want him known as "junior".

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Better than dying abroad, I suppose.

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the Pearly Gates?
"How the hell did you get in here? Security!!" ... well, that's likely what he WOULD say. Either that or "See? I'm really real!" at which point he and I would have words. Many of them.


I'm not going to tag anyone... seems kind of pointless given the number of people who pay even the slightest attention to me.

And for tho... ]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10833506/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10833506/ Fri, 24 Nov 2006 11:03:26 PST
Either way, I'm sure to keep doing these things, I rather enjoy making them. And it's at least relatively artistic, so I can call myself a (thirdratehackassleechofan) artist.

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10608958/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10608958/ Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:02:17 PST was kind enough to actually pick me from her list to be one of the few, the proud... the really bored... so what the hey.

01) First name: Tom. A rare and unusual name, I know.

02) Your nickname: Treyos, Eternal Chaos (in the early days of my online-ness), TJ, "long-haired freak".

03) Birthday: July 27, ‘75 — Yes, I'm old.

04) Horoscope sign: Leo. Or Rabbit if you go by the Chinese.

05) Birth town: Windsor, Ontario

06) Religion: I worship the Purple Goddess (aka my wife )

07) Nationality: Canadian!

08) Parents: Alive and well.

09) Do you love them: Yup.

10) Brothers or sisters: Older brother (by 11 months) and younger sister (by 17 years).

11) Do you like the place where you live: Hell yeah! It's where I keep my Izzy.

13) Colour of your eyes: Blue mostly, but varies with my mood.

14) Height: 5'11" or just shy thereof.

15) Weight: Okay, I'm waiting... waiting... er... oh, the other kind of weight. 150lbs

16) What school/grade are you going to: *blinks* School? A happily distant memory.

17) What marks do you have: This is another school thing, isn't it.

18) Do you work anywhere: Why yes I do.

19) What do you want to be in your life: Published.

20) Your life style: Is pretty damned good.

21) Personal quote: Aim to please, shoot to kill. (And yes, I say it often.)

22) Lucky number: Haven't found them yet. When I win the lottery, I'll update.

23) What are you interested in: Writing, art (though not so much my own), cats, wolves and most importantly... Izzy!

24) Good side of your character: ? Honesty, loyalty and a brain to back it up.

25) Bad side of it: Let's not go there. It's not safe.

26) Is your life happy: Yupyup!

27) Do you think that you are crazy: Completely and totally.

28) What is the time: Time is of the essence.

29) What is the date: Saturday, 11/04/06. Just barely though.

30) What's the weather like: Cold and dark.

31) Favourite day in a week: Days I'm not working?

32) Favourite music: Big variety.

33) Singer: ... is a brand of sewing machine. What of it?

34) Band: Rubber!

35) Song: Is this still the "favourite" thing?

36) Best concert you have been to: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. If you haven't gone... go.

37) Actress: Don't follow specifics that much.

38) Actor: See above.

39) Film: Aliens.

40) TV serial: Sci-fi ones, mostly. And Mythbusters.

41) Theatre play: Not my scene. ... pun not intended. Though I like it.

42) Film director: I dunno.

43) Do you want to be famous: Just rich, thanks.

44) Do you want to be an actor/actress: Nope.

45) Do you want to be a singer: I can't sing. Seriously.

46) Book: Been forever since I've had time to sit down and read one.

47) Color: Black. Which technically isn't a colour, but I don't care.

48) Flower: Uh... the kind that doesn't stop me from breathing?

49) Food: Um... fried chicken? Depends on my mood, really.

50) Drink: Juice.

51) Sweet: Reese's PB cups

52) Fruit: Apple.

53) The worst food: Vegetables. Never trust anything that's green. Except pickles.

54) The worst Drink: I don't drink it.

55) The worst Singer: Besides myself? That hack from System of a Down. Ugh.

56) The worst Band: System, though mostly ‘cause their singer sucks ass.

57) The worst Actor: *shrugs*

58) The worst Actress: *shrugs*

59) The worst Movie: There's a lot of reeeeeally bad ones out there.

60) The worst book: Er?

61) Do you drink alchocol: Not at all.

62) Do you smoke: Hell no.

63) Do you take some drugs (and what): No. But would anyone really list them in a survey? *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10202160/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10202160/ Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:21:46 PDT
The basic idea grew out of my love for Celtic knotwork. In this version, I take a couple "wires" (or three or sometimes even just a single wire) and twist them back and forth around each other. The wires are all continuous loops — no ending and no beginning — which allows them to flow together. Usually I'll start with one basic "framework" wire that forms the basis of the shape I want to create and the other(s) wrap back and forth to create as intricate patterns as I'm able to come up with.

The key to creating these, for me, is to keep them realistically plausible. I envision them as three-dimensional constructs and try my best to make sure that the twists, turns, bends, etc are all done in such a way that if someone who had some talent for making jewelry (or just patient enough to spend a few hours making tiny little bends in a piece of wire) could actually make them. Which, I suppose, makes these a sort of blueprint diagram. I think some of these could actually make for pretty cool brooches or such.

Now a little of the history behind these things and how they were drawn. First off, bear in mind that I'm no artist. These were all sketched at work over the course of several hours. At the time I was working in a hell-hole factory, receiving products along a conveyor belt, separating it into groups of the same product and sending it down another conveyor to be banded together into bundles. Fiberglass insulation, if you're curious. Sound exciting? Not even remotely. I had roughly ten to fifteen seconds between bags and for a hyperactive guy like me, that was brutal. So I started writing some poetry and stuff. And when I didn't have inspiration for poems, I started doodling. Voila, wireworks.

Everyone still awake? Well, don't worry, it'll be here when you wake up. Here's the thing about these sketches... I made them all five seconds at a time. I'd plot how I'd do my next bend while I was tossing product around, then in the gap I'd quick draw it out... then hurry back to grab the next bag before my conveyors got jammed up. Kept me busy, lemme tell ya.

So anyway, they took a long time, though usually only a single shift unless things got ugly there. Not that they were ever pretty. The important thing is that I ask not to judge the straightness of my lines nor the consistency of the wire thickness (‘cause they're neither straight nor consistent in the least and I know it) but rather on the design itself. Do you see what I was creating? Does it look good as a whole? Can you imagine it in a three-dimensional creation? If so, then I'm happy.

Thanks for reading (and looking!),

~Tom

]]> *Treyos http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10058895/ http://Treyos.deviantart.com/journal/10058895/ Wed, 13 Sep 2006 10:29:05 PDT
DO OVER!

Okay, finally getting around to actually posting some stuff here. Don't expect to see any great artistic works here (excepting in my favourites list) because anything more complicated than stickmen is basically out of my range. I prefer to paint my pictures with words.

I do have some nifty little sketch-doodles of what I call "wire-work" that I'll be posting once I get some of them scanned. They're sort of like Celtic knotwork, but drawn as twisted wires. My previous job could get exceedingly boring... and captive boredom breeds creativity in me, which is why my poetry comes in bursts. Nothing for months, then a deluge floods forth and I write something every day. My current job is quite busy, so been in a dry spell recently so far as poetry goes.

I do, however, RP on a few message boards so I write prose on a regular basis. I'll get some of my short stories up here too so that you can have at 'em. Depending on how this goes, I might start putting up some of my novels-in-the-making. For now you'll have to make do with my poetry, which hopefully is enjoyable. I'm obviously starting off with the stuff I'm more personally fond of, a lot of which is related to ex-gfs (what poet doesn't have an ex to bitch about?), spirituality or my view of life, the universe and everything.

Are you still reading this rambling? I'm not sure whether to thank you or pity you.

Anyway, feel free to ramble back, either here or under my submissions. I'm all for intelligent conversation, even if it's nonsensical. And if you're looking for a RPG with some quality writing fire me an IM or something.

I'm going to shut up now. You're welcome. ]]> *Treyos