Phil Partington's Writer's Block

Deshay of the Woods available online

2010-07-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

Deshay of the Woods is available online: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html

At the site, you'll find an excerpt. Here's another one. It's part of the prologue. Click the link above for the full read.

* * * *

Dahlia Brim’s leather boots made a racket as she dashed through the dense, dark forest, kicking mud from her heels. She silently scolded herself for not wearing her quieter moccasins instead, though she supposed it wouldn’t have mattered. The beast had marked her and could follow easily. The shrill screams of her infant daughter seemed to awaken the entire forest. Blinking, glowing eyes of forest creatures decorated the trees around them. She held her daughter close to her chest, making no attempt to calm her. There was no time for that anyway, and she thought Alexandra might be wise to be afraid.

The beast—or at least that was its current form, it had assumed others—wasn’t far behind. Although not yet in view, its foot stomps grew louder and more rhythmic, tearing through bushes like a rolling boulder as it grunted with a fierce energy. Adrenaline fueled Dahlia’s cramped legs, and she blazed new trails to slow the monster. It was a futile effort, of course. She knew this would not end well. The creature wasn’t used to being refused—few would have such power in them to do so. Besides that, she’d taken something precious from him, a necklace that was now draped around her baby’s small neck.

There was only one thing left to do. Her eyes were adjusted to the darkness just enough to notice a hollowed out oak tree ahead. She ran toward it, ripping free thick, insulating leaves from a cluster of nearby Panoplia ferns. At the tree, she reached into a wide hole, presumably carved out by some small animal. As luck would have it, the cove felt empty. Her hand pressed against warm, moist wood, as well as the occasional worm. She quickly and carefully pulled the blankets off her daughter, lowered her into the hole and covered her with the leaves of the fern. The pendant around the baby’s neck emitted a subtle vibration and then went still again. They weren’t too far from town, and she muttered a quick prayer to the Great Guardian for someone to find her child.

She certainly couldn’t leave Alexandra for the monster to find. They had already been missing for a day, and among her husband’s many talents was the ability to track. If he couldn’t find her, she would starve to death, but Dahlia thought that better than leaving her for the beast.

Dahlia whispered an ‚I love you‛—she hadn’t the time for much more than that—and spoke a spell that sent Alexandra into a deep, silent sleep. Not only would the ferns keep her warm, but their pungent aroma would hopefully mask the baby’s smell from the creature.

The beast was closing in. Dahlia draped the baby’s blankets over her own shoulders, hoping to draw the creature to her. She looked back at the tree where she’d hidden her baby and set off in a new direction.

She didn’t get more than a hundred steps before a brooding creature, draped in thick, black fur, leapt into sight. The dark mass moved with alarming speed, gaining rapidly on Dahlia until she could feel his hot breath on her back. He was massive, and every one of his giant steps seemed to send small shockwaves through the earth. She darted left, then to the right, frantically trying to throw him off balance.
Its jaws finally closed around her torso, crunching bone, and crushing her lungs. It was swift and effective, and punctured whatever bone and muscle would have allowed her to cry out.

Dahlia Brim was dead.

Deshay of the Woods to be published soon

2010-07-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

My co-authored novella, "Deshay of the Woods," should be out very soon. It was tentatively scheduled to be published today by Purple Sword Publications. Haven't seen it yet, but I'll keep you posted. Here are the details:

THE DEMON PENDANT
BOOK I: DESHAY OF THE WOODS
By Phil Partington and Anastasia Rabiyah
July 7, 2010

Synopsis:

Love comes in many shades of darkness…and light.

Rumor has it that a woman in white waits for the unsuspecting men of Lott’s Vale and ensnares them in a web of lust and control. Matthew isn’t sure if he believes it or not, but when he encounters the beauty and falls prey to her whims, his simple life is soon turned upside down, his perceptions twisted into a sensual reality of pain and pleasure. Will he free Deshay of the woods from her curse, or will he be another of her slaves, forever bound to her cruel will?

While PSP typically publishes erotica and romance stories, this one seems to fall more in line under the dark fantasy genre, with aspects of romance. That might be my fault, as dark fantasy is more of my interest. It was fun to write. We'll see how it does.

This is the first of a series, though I'm not quite sure yet how many books (novellas) will be in the series. I've already started writing the second book, and Ana has agreed to help me with it. After that, we'll see how things go. Ultimately, it would be fun to piece them together as a novel.

Will keep you posted.

Project Ramen

2010-06-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most interesting phenomenon of a typical college student's daily routine is his or her eating habits. College students have shown the amazing ability to survive on a diet consisting of merely two-day-old pizza crust, chili and/or macaroni and cheese (the boxed kind) and Top Ramen.

Budgeting is a significant challenge for most college students. Often, college students do not work—or if they do work, they usually have too many expenses to be able to live reasonably. By reasonably, I of course mean not having to consider stripping or selling more blood than what's in their bodies.

The solution to improving a college student's ability to budget, while apparent, often goes unnoticed. Converting monetary values a college student's purchases into terms more understandable and more applicable to that student makes it easier for him or her to budget. Top Ramen works perfectly in this situation, since it is universally known to college students.

Top Ramen typically runs for about 10 cents a package. If a college student wants to buy a cellular phone, for instance, that they will never use, because, despite whatever delusions they may have (a possible side effect from "Fish Friday" at the school cafeteria) they, in fact, have no friends. One might try to explain to the college student that such a purchase is completely moronic and pointless, but this naturally amounts to nothing.

Take the same situation, and apply it in terms of Top Ramen, however, and you have a completely different scenario. The college student will realize that $50 comes out to about 500 Top Ramen packages, which is the equivalent to an entire week's worth of meals. Suddenly, the student will begin to spasm uncontrollably. This process is called "stirring," and by the time the student has reached a completely vertical position—rising fully from the couch, spilling torrents of cheese nips from his or her lap—he or she will finally realize his or her idiocy. This is what Project Ramen is all about.

This currency exchange method can be applied to any buyable item. I recently attended a Seattle Mariner's home game. The one thing I learned by going to a Seattle Mariner's home game is that the stadium overcharges whenever possible. For example, I bought a small hot dog and a medium sized soda pop for $9! That's 90 Top Ramen!!! And did you know that Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariner's) sells cooked Top Ramen for $3, which equates to 30 Top Ramen packets in the store.

Top Ramen is perhaps the most intriguing of all food groups (to a college student, Top Ramen is its own food group). There really shouldn't be any excuse for hunger in the United States, especially when a Ramen packet can be bought for a dime. Granted, more than two weeks of a diet consisting strictly of Top Ramen would probably kill a person--but it's apparent that the company has been working hard to remedy this problem by developing more and more flavors of its concentrated starch substance. These flavors will help make Top Ramen more of a balanced meal for consumers. Assorted flavors include, chicken, beef, and shrimp.

The way I see it, Ramen is going to feed the world,...

...for about two weeks, then we're all going to die from it.

Why do we rub dog's noses in poo?

2010-06-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

There are a few things I wonder about:

1. When dogs have an accident on the carpet before they're potty trained, why do we rub their noses in it? Just think about how absurd that is. I mean, these beasts lick their own private parts without hesitation, as well as other dogs' private parts like it was the same as shaking hands. It seems that we're either rewarding them for their misdeed, or actually training them to lick their own privates more often. This just doesn't make sense to me.

2. Why is underwear referred to as a "pair"? There's only one piece of underwear. My wife actually pointed this out to me. I mean, girls don't wear a "pair of bras." Yet, we wear a pair of pants and a pair of underwear. Why? I'm guessing it's because underwear and pants are perhaps made in two pieces and sewn together. But, who knows?

3. Why is American football called "football" when players rarely use their feet. In fact, there's only one position that is allowed to use his feet and it's not a very significant position at all...not in comparison to, say, the quarterback. It really should be called "Touch Ball" or "Nike Shoe Deal Ball."

I dunno. Those are just things that sometimes keep me up at night. The world does not always make sense I guess.

Original Music

2010-06-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Aside from writing and running beer pong tournaments, I dabble with recording music. Bear in mind that I'm no Eric Clapton, nor am I a sensational sound tech, but if you're interested in hearing a few of my songs, check out the links below:

Wedding Proposal (this is the song I wrote and sung to propose to my wife)

Rubik's Cube

Romantic Music (Basically, my wife was coming home on Valentine's Day. I was preparing a romantic meal with candlelight, only I forgot to make a mix of romantic music to play in the background. So, in about two minutes, I came up with this diddy).

Rum and Egg Nog (My Christmas song)

The Worst Song in the World

Barefoot in the Yard

Wake Up

Slow (The first song I ever recorded)

Turtles can breathe through their butts!!!

2010-06-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if you’ve read the e-mail forward going around, but there’s an e-mail forward going around that says all these weird facts, like the first bar code was on a Wrigley’s bubble gum wrapper. Well, the very last fact it lists is that turtles can breathe out their butts. I didn’t believe it, so I did some looking of things up on the internet to see if this was true...and guess what! It IS!!!

My friend asked me if I ever tried to resuscitate one, but I’m pretty sure the weird fact list also would say that my friend is an ass.

"Although basically air-breathing, many aquatic species have developed ways to pick up oxygen even when submerged. Of these the most remarkable, which
some turtles share with dragonfly nymphs, sea cucumbers, and certain televangelists, is the ability to breathe through one’s butt. You’ve heard
the expression ’Blow it out your after regions?’ It’s no mere figure of speech. Many species have a pair of sacs (bursae) opening off the cloaca (combined digestive and urogenital chamber). These are heavily vascularized to facilitate the uptake of oxygen..."

(source: http://tinker-thoughts.blogspot.com/2004/11/did-you-know-that-turtles-breathe.html)

I did also read that though turtles can breathe out their butts, they can’t eat through their butts. They might be the closest thing to a true butt-head.

Beer Pong Tournament

2010-06-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

One thing you should know about me is that I'm a dork. Some might call me a nerd, but I don't think that's entirely accurate since I never did well in math.

Now that you know that about you, you won't find this blog so unusual.

My birthday was June 5th. I just turned 30. Some people sky dive for their 30th birthday; some go on an adventure of sorts; some live it up and party all night. For my 30th, I'm throwing a beer pong tournament party, and it's not the first one I've thrown. In fact, this will be the fifth BIT Tournament (Beirut Invitational Tournament). Anybody who thinks this sounds like a good idea is welcome to steal it.

First, I get 16-24 friends (depending on how many teams you want) to commit.

Next, I have each team select on a first-come, first-serve basis a team color that's different than all other teams. Second, I have each team submit a team name. Using my slight experience in graphic design, I create a quick little logo for each team based on its color and team name. I use this logo to create a rally flag for each team, so they can bring it with them to each match. The flag is created by attached the small piece of paper to a stick (kabob stick, chopsticks, whatever). The stick is placed through a punched out hole on the bottom of a keg cup, and the keg cup is filled with rocks for weight, and the inverted top is ducktaped shut. This serves as a stand.

Next, I ensure everyone comes in some kind of uniform, whether it simply be the color of their team, or in something more creative and elaborate. You would be amazed at how creative people can get with this. When I started pushing people to dress in 'uniforms,' everybody scoffed at the idea and looked at me like I was nuts. However, everyone always thinks it's a fantastic idea, especially after drinks one, two and nine.

Next, I decide how the tournament is to be set up. Typically, I divide the teams in half, creating two divisions. We spend the first part of the tournament playing a round robin regular season. Then we barbecue and hang out (and try to sober up just a little). After this, we start the playoffs. Playoff brackets are determined by a team's record during the season. Moreover, teams are mixed and matched so that teams aren't playing against teams from the same division. In other words, the first place team from one division plays against the last place team of the other division in round one.

In all, we have four tables running simultaneously, and inscribed trophies for first, second and third place finishers. I've refined the 5 page rule book (I keep the rules pretty simple to avoid arguments and confusion as much as possible) over the years, and have even recorded a beer pong tournament anthem, which you can listen to on the BIT MySpace page (click on the play button just under the BIT logo).

For those considering mimicking this idea, one thing I need to stress is that if you're planning on hosting more in the future, make sure to keep track of records and finishes. As you do a few, maintaining a history of how well folks did really helps getting participants into the games.

Let me know if you have questions, comments or judgmenets. :)

More DotW Details

2010-05-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

For those who are interested in learning about the world of Deshay of the Woods (Book One of The Demon Pendantseries), I thought I'd share a brief synopsis.

DotW is about a demoness who was cursed centuries ago. Her curse restricts her to a section of the forest, where she feeds upon her constant lust and uses magic to force men of the nearby town, Lott's Vale, to do her evil bidding. The tale follows the POV of Matthew Gale, his love, Alexandra Brim, and the demoness, Deshay. The conflict comes when Deshay struggles to lure Matthew, presumably because of his deep love for Alexandra.

This triangle parallels an impending catastrophe, where giant monsters called Diggers, or Teratalpa, emerge after hiding in underground for 40-some years. They catch the townsfolk ill-prepared to deal with their attacks.

The story to follow (Book Two of the series) will focus on the POV of Daniel - a guard at the Black Gate, which leads to the passage through the Glass Mountains near Lott's Vale, and Sari - his lover and a store clerk for the town's farmlands. This story delves more into the mysteries of the Brotherhood of the Rose, which is alluded to in DotW. The story will also tell more about the demon, Biehl - the Urchin King, who is responsible for cursing Deshay.

A third story will likely focus on the details of the war for the crown of Alder's Legion (the parent country of Lott's Vale) between the mad king named Aemon and his twin brother, Jeffrey.

All of 'in the works' plotlines connect to the demon pendant in various ways. In the meantime, be on the lookout for Deshay of the Woods.

Introduction; Deshay of the Woods

2010-05-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Good morning folks,

Welcome to my author blog. I've moved from MySpace since it seems nobody is on MySpace these days. To introduce myself, I'm 30-years-old and have been writing both professionally and as a hobby for most of my life. Granted, I haven't pursued getting my fiction works published until recently, so I'm learning the business of how that all works on the fly.

I've recently completely a novella with a co-author who goes by the name Anastasia Rabiyah. She's authored many novels and e-books, primarly focusing on fantasty and erotica. I am not much for erotica or romance. Not that I mind it, and not that I can't appreciate the skill involved, it just has never been a great interest of mine to write, and I'm not sure romance is my biggest strength.

The novella we've written is a dark fantasy titled, Deshay of the Woods. DoW is the first book of a series, called The Demon Pendant. I dreamed up and developed the world and plot of this series over some time, but it took co-authoring the first book with Ana to really bring extra color and life to it. It is going through the editing process right now after about a year long writing process, and will hopefully be published soon as an e-novella.