Volume Four Status Update: Ahead Of Schedule?

About six months ago, I told you that the first draft of Volume Four was done.

Volume Four??

Then, about three-and-a-half months ago, I told you that I had just received the draft back from my editor, and that I would be starting the revision process.

Now, I'm happy to announce that the revision process is more-or-less complete. I incorporated as much of my editor's feedback as I could, and I also did a couple of read-throughs to make sure that everything is working smoothly.

On top of that, I also have a cover! Well, mostly, anyway. Jill Colbert, the talented artist who designed and illustrated the covers for the first three Joel Suzuki volumes, has already finished her part (see the sneak peek above) - now it's up to me to finalize the back cover blurb, of which I already have a pretty solid draft.

So, at this point, I'm just waiting for some feedback from a few other sources, and then I can ship the manuscript back to my editor for a final line edit (okay, maybe after one more read-through).

Needless to say, this is all very exciting. The original release date for Volume Four was April 2019, but now I'm contemplating pushing that up a bit, possibly in time for this year's holiday season. But we shall see. There's always a chance that the line edit (and my ensuing revisions) will take longer than expected, but in any case, right now everything is comfortably on or ahead of schedule.

If you want to get an exclusive sneak preview of the text of Volume Four, all you have to do is sign up for the Joel Suzuki fan club, aka The Wavemaker Order, here - once you've done that, the file is easily found in the archives. And if you haven't read Volumes One through Three yet, you can pick them up at any one of the sources listed here, here, and here.

If you've already done all of that, you are super awesome and I thank you. Stay tuned for more updates!

Felicity and Fireflower React To Avengers: Infinity War

WARNING: this post contains major spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War. If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for?

Scene: Felicity, Fireflower, Joel, and Keeper of the Light are walking out of the theater, having just watched Avengers: Infinity War.

Felicity: Wow. Okay, yeah, that's my new favorite MCU movie. Like, by far.
Fireflower: To be honest, I am still a bit shocked by all of the deaths. Especially Gamora's.
Felicity: You had to have known it was coming, though. You read all the comics.
Fireflower: I know, but you told me before that the people who produce these films often change the events contained within the paper versions of these stories.
Felicity: Don't worry, most of those characters - if not all of them - are going to come back to life.
Fireflower: How do you know this?
Felicity: They already have movies on the future schedule. And the actors are still under contract. So don't get too worked up about it.
Keeper: That is easy for you to say. You are the only one of us who is not dressed up like a character who died.
Felicity: Hey, if anything, Black Widow and the rest of the original Avengers are probably in more trouble than Mantis, Gamora, Spider-Man, or any of those guys.
Keeper: Why do you believe that?
Felicity: They've been around longer, and some of those actors' contracts are done. So in Avengers 4, or whatever they end up calling it, my guess is that the older characters are gonna sacrifice themselves to bring back the newer ones.
Joel: Although they have been talking about maybe doing a Black Widow movie.
Felicity: True. And they'd better. I was more talking about Iron Man and Captain America, anyway.
Keeper: I have a question.
Felicity: Yeah?
Keeper: If the character known as Doctor Strange could see into the future, why did he not inform the other characters of the particular actions they needed to perform in order to ensure the one most favorable outcome?
Felicity: I think it's one of those "if-you-tell-them-about-it-then-it-won't-work" kind of deals. Like, if he said "Hey, Star-Lord, Thanos killed Gamora so you're going to get really mad and then hit him before Stark and Parker get the gauntlet off" then I think that would've messed things up.
Keeper: I see.
Fireflower: Excuse me, but I, too, have a question.
Felicity: You know, you guys can just ask away without prefacing it. We're not in a classroom here.
Fireflower: Very well. Once Thanos collected all six Infinity Stones, thereby becoming more-or-less omnipotent, could he have not simply created enough resources for the entire universe, rather than killing off half of its population?
Felicity: I'll bet you this question is gonna pop up a lot on the Internet over the next few days.
Joel: There are a number of possible explanations for that. One is that the stones are only able to destroy, not create. Another is that Thanos was already committed to that particular course of action before he started collecting the stones, so he didn't want to deviate from it.
Felicity: Or maybe you guys are just thinking about it too much.
Keeper: So what was that symbol on the device at the very end?
Joel: It's for Captain Marvel.
Fireflower: I actually knew that one!
Felicity: Thanks to all the research you've been doing.
Keeper: Who is Captain Marvel?
Joel: She's another character. Probably one of the more powerful ones, depending on how they portray her.
Felicity: She has her own movie lined up for next March.
Keeper: And is she going to be the one who defeats Thanos?
Joel: Probably not by herself.
Felicity: Although she totally could.
Keeper: So if they are going to resurrect most or all of the characters who perished in this film, and a majority of viewers are aware of this, then what was the purpose of killing them off in the first place?
Felicity: To make one completely awesome movie.
Joel: Let's see it again.
Felicity: Good idea. I still have Brian's credit card.

~ THE END ~

May The Fourth Be Book Fair Day

Some of you may remember when I participated in Shahala Middle School's READCON book fair a couple of years ago. Some of you may also remember when Joel, Felicity, Fireflower and I celebrated Star Wars Day last year. Well, this year the two events have merged into one, forming a single awesome hybrid experience!

That's right, this year READCON will take place on Friday, May the 4th - that's tomorrow! It'll be from 5:30pm-8pm (30 minutes longer this time!) and it is FREE to attend. There will be all kinds of cool stuff, like:

- Activities, crafts, games, prizes
- Costume & trivia contests
- Real life-size working Star Wars droids!
- Photo ops with Star Wars characters
- Book and poster sales
- Collectibles and displays
- Some author guy named Brian Tashima

As I said, it's free to attend, but donations will be accepted to support both the Shahala Middle School library as well as Autism Empowerment. And if you eat at the neighboring Firehouse Subs between 5 and 8:30pm and/or the nearby Menchie's Frozen Yogurt (do both, you know you want to) between 5:30 and 10pm, just tell them you're there for Shahala Middle School and each establishment will make an additional donation to the school and to Autism Empowerment.

Here are the addresses in case you need them:

Shahala Middle School
601 SE 192nd Ave
Vancouver, WA

Firehouse Subs
19151 SE Mill Plain Blvd
Vancouver, WA

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt
19171 SE Mill Plain Blvd #107
Vancouver, WA

See you there, and May the Force Be With You, Always.

Felicity and Fireflower Get Ready To See Avengers: Infinity War

Hey, Felicity here. A little over four months ago I introduced the first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War to my friend Fireflower, who, as you know, is from Spectraland. Anyway, since then - and especially after she saw Gamora - she's been really interested in not only this upcoming movie but in the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe. So in anticipation of this week's release of Infinity War, we caught up with all the other MCU movies to date. I think she even bought and read a few of the actual comics after I showed her how to use Brian's credit card online. Now we're all properly stoked and ready to go see this movie.

Fireflower (modeling her Gamora costume): How do I look?
Felicity: Awesome.
Fireflower: Thank you. As do you. That Black Widow outfit really suits you.
Felicity: I didn't even have to dye my hair this time.
Fireflower: So you are sure it is acceptable to view the film in public while dressed like this?
Felicity: Oh yeah, of course. It's cosplay, man. There'll be lots of people dressed up. Plus this way we won't have to explain your naturally green skin.
Joel (walking into the room wearing a Spider-Man costume): Hey, everyone.
Fireflower: That is the line from Captain America: Civil War!
Joel: Wow, you got that reference! I'm impressed.
Felicity: She's really been doing her homework.
Fireflower: It has been my pleasure. Your Earth stories are so very interesting. And now I know why that line about "made-up names" in the second trailer is so humorous.
Felicity: Speaking of which, we should watch that one again. Joel, fire it up.
Joel: Okay. (presses play)
Fireflower (saying Gamora's lines): "The entire time I knew him...he only ever had one goal: to wipe out half the universe. If he gets all the Infinity Stones, he can do it with a snap of his fingers." (snaps) "Just like that."
Felicity (in fake-Tony Stark voice): "Tell me his name again."
Fireflower (dramatically): "Thanos."
(Everyone breaks out laughing, Felicity and Fireflower exchange high-fives)
Joel: Nice.
Fireflower: I cannot wait to view this.
Joel: Hopefully it's good.
Felicity: Dude, how can it not be? I mean, even in a worst-case scenario, you've got all these characters stuffed into the same film, so that alone will be amazing.
Joel: You're right.
Felicity: I know.
Keeper of the Light (walking into the room, dressed as Mantis): I am not sure about this.
Joel: Whoa, you look great!
Felicity: Yeah, what he said.
Fireflower: Do not fret. Thanks to your antennae and your naturally large eyes, your appearance is remarkably faithful to the original.
Keeper: I suppose, but these sleeves are rather uncomfortable. How long did you say this movie was?
Felicity: Two hours and forty minutes. Plus there'll be about fifteen minutes of previews.
Keeper: Oh my.
Felicity: You'll be fine. Once everything starts you'll forget about your sleeves or whatever.
Joel: All right, I think we'd better get going.
Felicity: Dude, relax. We still have half an hour to get to the theater.
Joel: Twenty-eight minutes, actually. And there's going to be a long line.
Felicity: I already bought tickets online. We have reserved seats. So chill.
Joel: You already bought tickets?
Felicity: That's what I just said.
Joel: No, I mean, how did you do that? You don't have a credit card.
Felicity: The details aren't important. Now we should watch the trailer one more time before we -
Brian (walking into room, not in costume): Hey, do you guys know why I have all these strange charges on my credit card statement? There's, like, hundreds of dollars for some comic book store, movie rentals, the theater, and -
Felicity: All right, we gotta go. Don't want to be late. See ya!
Brian: What? Hey, wait!
Felicity (on her way out the door): We'll talk about that stuff later!
Brian: Okay, but don't forget this Saturday we have the Autism Empowerment Game-O-Rama Fundraiser from 4pm-8pm at Northwest Gospel Church, 305 NE 192nd Avenue, Vancouver WA!
(Car zooms away)
Brian (sighing): Oh, those kids.

Best Cat Songs

Taken from an August 24, 2017 Facebook post:

Cat Moon Rising
Cat in Black
You Cat Always Get What You Want
Cathole Sun
Suffragette Kitty
I Cat Drive 55
(I Cat Get No) Satisfaction
Caturday in the Park
I Cat Go for That
Cat Medicine
CatClap
Paradise Kitty
I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do Cat)
Fade to Cat
Where It's Cat
Hey Cat, Nice Shot
Papercat
We Built This Kitty
Don't Look Cat In Anger
Who Can It Be Meow
More Than A Feline
Love is a Cat-tlefield
Just Cat Get Enough
Cat Resort

There were literally hundreds more.

My Musical History, Episode 17: Dan Grows Out His Hair

This is a continuation of a series of posts that left off back in - gasp - October 2014? Has it really been that long? How does that even happen? I'm telling ya, there has to be some sort of weird time travel thing going on here.

Anyway, since that time, the band that I talked about in that 2014 post has been, well, rather busy. We released our first album, recorded and released our second album, and played a whole bunch of shows along the way. We also put out our first official video (for a song off of our upcoming third album) and even had an adult beverage based on one of our songs brewed up and served on tap.

Then, last Friday, we played our biggest show to date - opening for Jonathan Davis of Korn at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland.

Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. We did a short set that included songs from all three albums as well as our now-signature cover of Dramarama's "Anything, Anything".

We were followed by Palisades, a really cool post-hardcore band from New Jersey, and then, of course, the mighty Jonathan Davis, who absolutely killed it with his new solo material.

The venue staff and the crowd were amazing and awesome. Hoping we get to do something like it again soon!

So that's the latest chapter in my musical history. Stay tuned for Episode 18, which I'm thinking will not take another 3.5 years to come out...?

P.S. If you're in or near the Salem, Oregon area, check us out tomorrow night at The Space! It's an all-ages show, and we'll be joined by our good friends The Toads and Hot Sheets. $5 cover - a bargain, if you ask me - and it starts at 9pm. See you there!

A Post That Is Sort Of About Baseball

As some of you may already know, I'm a fan of certain spectator sports; namely golf, American football (I've tried to get into the Rest-of-the-World version, but so far, not much luck), basketball, and - probably most of all - baseball.

As I've said multiple times before, I know that sports fandom is, at its core, pretty silly - to paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, we're all basically just rooting for laundry - but it serves as a fun distraction, and I think that, when done right, it also helps to bring communities together by giving people a common experience to rally around. And like with any other performance-based form of entertainment, it's also exciting and inspiring to watch individuals with extraordinary talent doing their thing on a large stage.

But anyway, I'm writing this now because the 2018 Major League Baseball season has begun, and for fans of the Seattle Mariners, there's a bit of nostalgia in the air as Ichiro Suzuki is back! If you've read this previous post, you know that Joel Suzuki is partially named after Ichiro, who at the time had recently been traded to some East Coast team that shall remain nameless.

So far, Ichiro has added a couple of hits to his prodigious career total and has also made an incredible home run-stealing catch out in his new perch in left field. I'm not sure I'll be able to get out to Safeco Field any time soon to see him play one more time (I've seen him plenty in the past), but hopefully he'll be productive enough to stick around for at least a little while longer.

And also hopefully this will finally be the year that the Mariners break what is now the longest playoff drought among the four major professional sports leagues in North America, rather than breaking their own assorted limbs and other body parts (which is already happening at an alarming rate - I'm telling you guys, PLEASE stop with the upside-down trident logo already).

In years past, during spring training (which, for those of you who aren't familiar, is the baseball equivalent of the preseason), while the players were building up arm strength and getting their swing timing down, my preparation for the season would usually consist of practicing two things for when the inevitable meltdowns and other gut-punch losses would occur: (1) my Kif-style sighs, and - something that annoys my kids greatly - (2) saying "And that's the game!" as soon as the team falls 4+ runs behind (a phrase that I borrowed from Mario Super Sluggers).

This year, though, despite the use of the upside-down trident logos AGAIN during spring training, I've decided to try to keep a continuous positive attitude. So far it's been working to the tune of a 3-2 record, but it's a long season, so we shall see. Maybe if all of us Mariners fans wish hard enough, Felix Hernandez will continue pitching to contact and getting quick outs (whoops - I wrote that line before yesterday's game), James Paxton won't spontaneously combust and leave a little green globule on the mound, and the team will actually win enough games to sneak into the second wild card berth. One can only hope. Right?

Go M's!*

* Note for fellow grammar geeks: this is a contraction apostrophe, not a possessive