Less than 3 weeks now before my contract with AmeriCorps ends and I experience that dreaded fall into the abyss of that dark void that America’s economy has pitched so many of its countrymen into; the no man’s land that we can only call “unemployment”.  And I have no ideas quite yet how I plan to stay out of the void.

In my life I’ve been told that I would do great things.  People have said that they believed I would be a leader, a doctor, a successful business man and even a minister.  Honestly though I never fully decided what I wanted to be other than successful.  In my measurement of success, I never really thought how it would apply in my endeavors as a creative writer.  I enjoy writing and I’ve always wanted to just share my stories, regardless of whether or not I became a running success like J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.

                As a writer I feel as if I have the greatest influence and reach that any individual can possess.  Whereas engineers design the newest technologies, writers imagine what could be.  Where teachers educate their students in new theories, writers create the concepts that broaden the scope of human thinking.  Where scientists make great new discoveries, writers inspire others to explore new places and ideas.                 As far as what has been expected of me in the past, I can consider myself all of those things and more.  Leaders of all kinds, whether political, corporate, religious or whatever, rely on the spoken word to convey their ideas to their followers, while I can still reach people through the written word.  A medical doctor may be able to heal the physical wounds of a body, but it often takes words of encouragement and fantastic stories to heal a wounded heart or mind.  Businesspeople sell their products and services, but a writer has to sell their ideas to their audience (and their books, but that’s a topic for another time).  Ministers guide their congregations to the righteous path and uplift the spirits, whereas a writer can also speak to a person’s heart (which I plan to speak more on in the near future from my own experience).

The greatest and most influential writing can be shared in myriad ways: as a movie, a comic, a novel, a short story, a poem, a song, a television series, a presidential speech, and other ways I don’t really care to name, but you get the idea.  Even if people don’t care to read (or can’t read) there are plenty of ways to convey a writer’s ideas and depending on the presentation, the message of a good story my last with a person longer than the words of their closest and most trusted friend or family member.  So in closing my thoughts for today, I guess I can say that I have some ideas as to what I want to do from here.  And as far as measuring my success, maybe it’s just a matter of how many people I can reach and influence by my pen/keyboard.

Job opportunities are still scarce but writing opportunities are endless!  I'm still preparing to make a big transition jobwise, but I have kept my promise to myself (and anyone who cares enough to pay attention to the blog) to continue with my writing.  I've been working off and on with the introductory anthology for "Missing Links" which will be composed of a comic and some short stories to give people a chance to explore the Missing Links universe.  I am also working on a few other writing projects here and there, and "Illicit Liberties" is still in its coloring phase, but will hopefully be done soon enough so we can take it to publishers.  I'm still projecting it's release for the late fall to early winter.  The colorist on the project, Tiago Gales, is an accomplished artist in the comic industry, as is our letterer, Franzisca.  I'm honored to have such a great team, Cem Iroz included, working with me on my very first project.  I couldn't pay but they were all willing to make this happen on their own time and effort, and I greatly appreciate that. 

In the meantime, while everyone, including myself, waits to see how my anthology and my first comic turn out, I have posted a new story that I am particularly proud of called "Ambrosia" on the "Clutter" page.  It's probably one of my darkest tales but it's humorous too, and anyone who has read my stuff before knows that they can expect to see the fantasy/sci-fi elements with some action thrown in for good measure.  I try not to write "superhero" stories, and I intend to definitely refrain from doing so with my comic series, but "Ambrosia" is a story that I think could actually live up to a superhero-esque adventure.  So check it out and I will be bringing more to the table as new opportunities and new inspiration arise!

Today, all eyes will be turned to one of my oldest friends from way back in the day, Christian Boles.  He’s a 23-year-old musician residing in Dillwyn, Va. and he’s a member of an up-and-coming hardcore/deathcore band called Juggernaut. 

Q: What instruments do you play and how do you feel about being a performer?

A: I play guitar and bass, but for Juggernaut I play guitar. I feel like it is pretty satisfying being a performer and being able to express myself in that manner, after all, music is the biggest form of influence.

Q: What were your original intentions when you became a musician? Have your goals changed since you first began?

A: Well, I’m not really sure what my intentions were, I really just started to learn on my own because I was bored and had a lot of extra time on my hands, I had always had an interest in music, especially the heavy kind, and I just kind of met the right people over time.

Q: Do you have any other talents? And how do they correlate with your musical work
(did they influence how you play, could they aid you in the future if you decide to make a career in music)?

A: Well, I draw and edit photos or whatever for fun on the side if I don’t have anything else to do. Neither of these directly influence how I play or anything like that. Matt, our bassist, has more control of the art aspect of the band because he does more graphics and designs as a job.

Q: So, since you’ve joined Juggernaut, have you seen any personal growth for yourself as a musician? Also how has the band grown since your time with them?

A: I would say I have grown personally from playing guitar with Joe. We both have the same style of playing, but at the same time it’s very different, him being the more technical writer, and it took some getting used to playing with him tightly. I think as a band we grow a little bit each time we practice or play a show, we set short term goals for ourselves on what we want our next song to sound like or what show and where we want to play. We hold ourselves to high standards and once we meet a goal the standard just gets a little higher so we’re constantly striving to be better.

Q: Do you already have an album or any recorded music already put out for your fans?

A: We are currently working on that along with a merch order.

Q: What do you think that your band brings to the table that makes you unique, makes
you stand out from every other signed group already out there?

A: I believe that we have a sound for this area that no one else really has. For instance,
Legend sounds like Legend, Emmure sounds like Emmure, The Ghost Inside sounds like The Ghost Inside. All these bands sound different from each other drastically, and we kind of take the best of these bands’ sounds and mesh them together to make our own unique sound, in my opinion at least. A few people would say it sucks, but that’s okay, we don’t do it for them; we make this music because it’s what WE want to do and not what everyone wants to hear.

People can follow Juggernaut on their page at www.facebook.com/juggernautrva.  Their contact info is also available on Facebook for fans and professionals interested in reaching out.  The group has been around for a few years now and they have already performed across the state of Virginia, in the District of Columbia, and they’ve even done house parties!  You can also check them out on YouTube, MySpace, and Twitter.  Just look for juggernautrva or follow the in