"Welcome to the Party, Pal!"

Okay, let’s try this again…

I’d actually completed a pretty sizeable “Gimme an F”. The problem is, I did it all in one sitting. Without saving. I didn’t think of the old “save often” rule because, these days, that’s not as big of a concern, thanks to the autosave functions in most software. If I’m writing something in Word and something goes wrong, no problem. It pulls up the recovered version upon reboot. When I’m writing on my blog, it’s autosaving the whole time. Unfortunately, it appears Dreamweaver does NOT have this function.

So I was writing the whole thing in Dreamweaver, got it all complete, re-read and proofread it, and had just finished running spellcheck on it. I was literally just about to click the save button. And then? Sudden power failure. Not a long one. Just a “poof” one, and everything was back on. Not even long enough to screw up my digital clocks. But just long enough to reboot my computer, and cause me to lose the file I’d been writing.

So not feeling like writing all that again—let me do you the favor of summarizing.

I’d talked about some freelance writing work I’m about to start, for a web company. Press releases and some blog stuff for them and their clients (who appear to be mostly tort attorneys). Sounds like pretty regular work (like, maybe daily work). More details to come, and we’ll see what kind of payment we’re talking about, but that’s worth it just for the resume-building, if nothing else. Paid freelance writer!

I’d given a detailed review of my PS3. To sum up—it’s awesome, it’s a great Blu-ray player, Blu-ray is amazing, the system also works as an upscaling regular DVD player and makes DVDs look lots better, the access to Netflix streaming content is a huge selling point (watch any Netflix movies or TV shows you’d otherwise be able to stream on your computer right through your TV instead), and it’s also a kick-ass game system, which I’m enjoying most through downloading game demos (like “Batman: Arkham Asylum”, “Watchmen” and “Uncharted 2”), which you can do right through the system from PS3’s web site. It’s an amazing entertainment system for a great price. Glad I have one.

This Time Around

Got one new piece of Forte art in the Gallery, and I stole that one! Okay, I stole it in the sense that it was K.C.’s Christmas gift to Aaron. It’s a Dyna Girl shot from Mike Powell. And as you already saw on the cover of this issue of the ‘Times, K.C. got me a Mike Powell Windjammer, which is awesome! Thanks again, K.C. Already got it up on the Windjammer Gallery on his web page.

One story in the Forte 2000 Adventures area, and it’s a Christmas one called “Many Times, Many Ways”. Wanted to talk about it for a sec, but I think it’d be better if you read the story before reading this. So, I’d do so.

I’ll wait.

‘Cause this is kind of spoilery.

Kind of.

This’ll still be here when you get back. Honest.

I feel a need to apologize for this story, only because it should have been longer! I was sitting around trying to think up a Christmas tale to do with one of the Forte heroes, and it hit me…why not mix it up a little? Why not let the costumed guys have their own Christmas, while we, instead, take a look in on some of the Forte 2000 NPCs around Seattle, and see what’s up with them on the Night Before Christmas™? I liked the thought, looked over some of the NPCs, chose a few, and came up with some stories for each of them. I had four to start with, but then a fifth story came to me after I started writing, and it seemed like the perfect ending, so I planned to get that one in as well. Instead of writing several stories, I thought I’d make it one big story broken up into individual parts, all under the “Many Times, Many Ways” banner, but each part with its own title.

Well, writers block struck pretty bad. That’s about the long and short of it. Time finally ran out on me, and I only managed to get two of the tales done. In retrospect, that’s probably a better thing for you, the reader—this thing would have been pretty long. I’m sad I couldn’t get to all the ones I wanted, but I think this is actually a more manageable reading size, and gets the idea across. So we’ve got two Forte NPCs covered, as I hope you already know (because you read the story before this, right?). If your memory on them isn’t great because it’s been so long, that’s understandable. Commander Edward Castillo, head of UNCLE Seattle in the Forte 2000 era, has appeared in a number of the “issues” and some of the fiction. You may remember him best from last year’s Christmas story starring him and Twostep. Misery Love might be a little more vague in your memory. I think she’s only shown up in one story (“The Storm”). She’s a DNPC of Seahawk’s, and I’ve been meaning to find some way to sneak her into a story and flesh her out a little more. This seemed like a good time.

So hope you enjoyed the story, and I hope to continue it—I got to thinking that this might be a nice Christmas tradition, adding a couple more “Many Times, Many Ways” stories each holiday ‘Times issue. So those other stories I want to write will be around eventually.

Next Time...On "The 'F' Word"...

…it’ll be 2010! Who knows what the new year will bring? Stay tuned and we’ll find out together. In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all, have a fantastical New Year’s!

Michael O’Connell
Who Has Himself a Forte Little Christmas