Political Decisions are ACTIONS

Political decisions ARE actions.  People who voted for a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, narcissist liar and con man have demonstrated by their actions where their priorities lie.  They have demonstrated, by the action of voting, they consider that racism, xenophobia, homophobia, ignorance and blatant denial of facts are perfectly acceptable, as long as they're personally okay (not that they will be, in reality - as some of them may now be starting to realize).  They've said, with their vote, that they don't care about facts, they don't care about anyone who isn't just like them, and that everyone else can just go fuck off and die.  To me, that's more than sufficient basis for judging that even if their concerns are worth considering when debating public policy, they're not people I want as friends.

Facebook and how to use it in the coming months...

Something I've been mulling over...

Take a look at your friends list. Who's on it? Is it diverse? I'm not talking politics, I'm taking human beings?

Originally, my list was pretty writer friendly because I used to write professionally. Then I stopped. When I did that, I whittled my list down to mostly people I knew personally and/or admired.

Since my list was no longer contingent on my writing persona, I got very insular and private and screened new request very strictly. This was my private page with pictures of my son and private moments. Chances were if you were a writer I didn't know and you requested, I deleted it. If you weren't and I didn't know who you were, I deleted it.

Then Donald Trump happened. And interacting with those "people" made me value my privacy even more. I locked my profile down, and someone not friends with me couldn't glean much about who I was. Before I locked down my profile, they'd take a look at what was public and then try to use it. When I locked everything down it was amusing to see these trolls flounder when they couldn't see my profile and gain any ammunition.

Then November 8 happened, and our world changed significantly.

I've never done much with twitter, but I've found it to by my way of dealing and it's helping. And I plan on using the fuck out of it for the next 1380 days (or whenever he gets impeached) and doing what I can to listen, hear, and amplify voices that need our help in being louder.

Now, I realize insulating myself was the wrong move to make. I need to hear voices, I need to hear ideas, I need to connect with my fellow Americans who are fighting now. The marches, the protest. We all need to hear them, help as we can, including marching, if able, contributing financially. We all have a role to play.

I will work on my Facebook becoming more diverse, but it's still going to be locked down. At this time, I feel twitter is more conducive to being heard, I'm just preaching to the choir here.

We need to listen and hear...

Take a look at your friends list, are those voices there? Are they being heard?

New direction of the Blog

Hi there,

I used to be a writer. I wrote and published a few books. In 2014, a few things happened, both in my professional and private life, that made me realize I was wasting my energy and needed to step away for a few minutes and catch my breath.

That few minutes has turned into two years (as of this writing). I walked away from publishing and didn't look back. I concentrated on myself, left a 13 year career with the military and started a new career from scratch. Put simply, I took a huge gamble on the unknown. I concentrated on the new career path and put all my energy and drive into doing that. Writing, as a career, was over for me at that point. I had been working up to it, in hindsight, but I didn't realize it until I made the decision.

To be honest, it was refreshing not having to obsess over where to place my next piece of short fiction or novel. Not to beat myself up for having not written anything of substance that day. Not to constantly be thinking about a certain story plot or feeling guilty because I wasn't jotting down notes.

The new job has had its bumps and detours, but it was the best decision I've made in a long time. I love my new job, I don't cringe anymore like I did in my last career about having to go to work. Looking back, I realize the enormous amount of unhappiness I was going through between that old career and trying to juggle a writing career at the same time.

I needed the break, and the distance, to concentrate on myself. Figure out what I was doing wrong and take steps to fix it. I suddenly enjoyed reading books again. I was no longer reading to research or figure out my next story. I was reading for the pure enjoyment and pleasure of it. I read a lot. I read some more. I caught up on TV shows and movies. And watched them for enjoyment.

My writing partners John Grover and Roy C. Booth understood what I was doing, I think. Roy, especially. He didn't prod (too much) and he managed to keep my writing persona active by helping submit unpublished collaborations in anthologies. Probably from the outside it looked like I was still active, when I actually wasn't, and I will always be highly appreciative of his doing that for me. John has continued writing and publishing and he's never once given me grief for stepping away.

This isn't my fiction writing comeback. At least, not yet.

This blog has been dormant since 2014, but I think I'm ready to write again. This time it'll be non-fiction and political. We all know what happened November 8, and it's been eating at me since it happened. I need to deal with the ramifications of all this and that's through writing. I realize that now.

I can't promise this blog will be consistent, but I need to get my thoughts down, if only for my own mental well being. There's going to be a lot of people over the next four years that are going to be counting on those of us to stand up for them, ensure certain things don't happen and fight to make sure we're all not left behind.

I'm a liberal, I'm a Democrat, I'm ready to be even more active than I've ever been.

Twitter is where I'm starting and this blog for longer thoughts.

Let's make sure we don't forget what happened on November 8. Let's make sure we're ready for what happens January 20, 2017.

More to come...

Permuted Press changes tactics and says deal with it or walk

UPDATED: For better or worse, I took a stand tonight, here are my thoughts on the whole Permuted Press debacle and how to try and move forward, if possible. I'm about 

http://bit.ly/1rjzHis

UPDATED: Brian Keene weighs in

#1- A New Age of Fuckery 

#2 - Permuted Press Part 2, or, Solidarity Isn’t Just For Unions





Re: #PermutedPress

Well, Roy C. Booth and I had a book releasing on October 28th, now we don't and here's why:

Permuted Press decided they didn't want to honor a contract that was signed over a year ago. We were told repeatedly that our book was on track to be released via multiple emails, with the most recent dated Oct 3rd. Then out of the blue, on Oct 9, Permuted President, Michael L. Wilson sent out a mass email to over 100 authors and informed them that all pending and future releases (except for a select few) would be released in ebook only. Mind you Permuted has our print rights, among others. So naturally, I emailed them back and asked two very distinct questions:



1) What does this mean for MORTUARY OF MADNESS release and now the rights that you have, if you are not going to exercise POD/Paperback rights, do they revert back to us? If not, then we have a major issue. 

2) What does this mean about a backlist book, ie, IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW, does the POD/Paperback cease there as well? And if so, do those rights revert back?
the response was direct and to the point: "...All backlist titles, including If God Doesn't Show, will not be affected by the new changes in policy. Mortuary of Madness will be released as an ebook only, and not be in print...Permuted will retain all rights per the contract, whether or not the books are released in ebook or print."

Say what?!? You have no intention of exercising print rights, yet you are keeping them. More importantly, you are telling me this 20 days before release, after you previously sent me an email saying nothing of the sort.

So, I did some digging.

Edited with new info via Jake Bible: At a convention in Nashville (which all authors were invited, but only a handful could afford to attend) back in September, President Michael L. Wilson told that group of Permuted authors the plan to go ebook only and halt the release schedule and told/asked them NOT to discuss this plan in the Permuted Facebook authors group. They were told, according to Jake Bible, they could talk amongst themselves, but not about in the private group. Hence the uproar, with over 100 authors being blindsided with this news days before release. 

Read that last sentence again. Go ahead, I'll wait.

So instead of being up front with their entire roster, Permuted Press decided to act as if everything was business as usual and LIE to their authors. Yes, an outright, deliberate decision to LIE to their authors by continued emails assuring me, and others, their books were on schedule, when they had no intention of honoring that schedule.

This is just my personal situation, you can read even more about their deceptive practices and the monetary damage they're causing here on Gabrielle Faust's Blog

I'm sure in the coming days, we'll start to hear even more stories of the damage they've caused.

Updated: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1550478995182689&id=100006618100242

As for those authors that knew this was coming and chose to keep quiet, I hope karma is real nice to you. 

You and Permuted Press deserve each other.

Are we a computer simulation run by our descendants?

Ever since I first stumbled across this theory a few years ago, it's completely fascinated me. I grew up in an extremely rigid religious home and questioning any belief was religiously (pun intended) crushed and forboden.

There simply wasn't an option to question even the more "out there" beliefs my parents tried to get me to believe blindly.

When I left home at 16, I started searching, and have been ever since. I've looked at so many religions, and, guess what, I still haven't found an explanation even remotely close to the answer I need.

I've been captivated with anything related to the Quantum Mechanics field and read about advances and theories every chance I get. It's probably part of the reason I write fiction, other than to deal with my search for answers and the crap I went through in a religious upbringing.

Check out the article below, it's really got huge consequences IF it can be proved :)



"A decade ago, a British philosopher put forth the notion that the universe we live in might in fact be a computer simulation run by our descendants. While that seems far-fetched, perhaps even incomprehensible, a team of physicists at the University of Washington has come up with a potential test to see if the idea holds water." 

http://www.washington.edu/news/2012/12/10/do-we-live-in-a-computer-simulation-uw-researchers-say-idea-can-be-tested/


Video explain Nick Bostrom's theory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nnl6nY8YKHs#at=124

Reading (Or the Sorely Neglected Part of Writing)

A few months ago, I participated in a discussion with a bunch of fellow writers about their reading habits. I came away from the discussion kinda surprised and bewildered. Obviously, this topic has been percolating in the back of my brain since, and I've finally figured out how and why I wanted to write this little piece.

Here goes:

To me, it should be second nature to read as widely and as varied as you can, if you're playing (seriously, or otherwise) at this writing gig. During the above referenced discussion, there were quite a few writers that claimed they didn't read much, if at all. That was simply surprising to me and a bit of a head scratcher.

My initial response to the thread was this, "An author must read, or their writing will suffer." I certainly wasn't expecting the response I got to that statement. It seemed like second nature to me. There were quite a few writers that said they didn't read for pleasure (or otherwise) and seemed to be proud of the fact. A few even responded to me with varying degrees of "Broad sweeping statements like that don't apply to all writers, etc."

When words are what you do, reading words should be a part of that process. Writing in a vacuum is not necessarily a productive way to go about things, in my opinion. I'm a reader first, I'm an author second. I read because I love it, I write because I have to. Now, everyone's reading habits are, indeed, different. For me, I read (at least) 4 to 5 books simultaneously. That doesn't work for everyone. My TBR pile is massive, there is so much I want to read and absorb and I do my best to finish at least 2 to 3 books a week. If I'm not writing, I'm reading. Absorbing the craft, learning how other authors use language, and simply enjoying the stories.

I don't read in just one genre either, that, I think, is also detrimental. An author needs to read far and wide, to absorb, to learn, to experience.

There's ton of writing advice all over the internet. Most of it is crap because it assumes a universal fit, the key is knowing what advice to take, use it, or stop clinging to it, if it doesn't work for you.

Like this blog, being a well-read author is key to crafting your own stuff


...or not :)

An advance NOS4A2 review

Here's the publisher's synopsis - 

Victoria McQueen has a secret gift for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. On her Raleigh Tuff Burner bike, she makes her way to a rickety covered bridge that, within moments, takes her wherever she needs to go, whether it’s across Massachusetts or across the country.

Charles Talent Manx has a way with children. He likes to take them for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the NOS4A2 vanity plate. With his old car, he can slip right out of the everyday world, and onto the hidden roads that transport them to an astonishing – and terrifying – playground of amusements he calls “Christmasland.”

Then, one day, Vic goes looking for trouble—and finds Manx. That was a lifetime ago. Now Vic, the only kid to ever escape Manx’s unmitigated evil, is all grown up and desperate to forget. But Charlie Manx never stopped thinking about Victoria McQueen. He’s on the road again and he’s picked up a new passenger: Vic’s own son.

I managed to acquire an ARC of Joe Hill's new novel, NOS4A2 a few weeks back and promptly dived into it. I've been a fan of Hill's from day one, starting with his short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts, Heart Shaped Box, to Horns. Each and every outing Hill has proven he knows how to craft a great tale and inevitably the comparisons to his father have been numerous. Sure, we all know (now) that Hill's dad is Stephen King. A few of us knew before the general public and one of the reasons I admire and respect Joe outside of his writing was that he didn't rely on the King name to get published. He stood up on his own two feet and showed he can write, and write extremely well. 

Now, NOS4A2 is going to be the novel that everyone looks back at in 25 years and says, "This is where Hill broke out into the mainstream. This is the novel where Hill came into his own." I firmly believe that. This is a beast of a novel, coming in at 704 pages. It's epic, it's world-building, but it's also an intimate story about a mother. I'm pretty sure Hill knew the King comparisons would come even more heavily with the subject matter of this novel and rather than shy away from it he embraced it whole heartedly. There's even some nods to his dad's mythology, Mid-World and the Dark Tower universe. When Hill mentions a certain clown (in passing with a wink and a nod) from his dad's fiction, I let out a cheer and you will as well. Hill's world is familiar and his characters are real. They're familiar because some of us (myself included) grew up reading his dad's novels. King is a master at character development and Hill is proving he's as good, if not better, than his dad. One of the main differences, is where King peppers his fiction with pop culture references we all recognize and love, Hill peppers his fiction and NOS4A2 with his geek cred. Hill loves and knows his Joss Whedon, his Dr. Who, and any number of other geeky goodness.

Still, this isn't (and shouldn't be) a dad vs son issue, but it is, and will continue to be. Both can write, and both can tell a tale with astounding skill. 

Charlie Manx is one of the best crafted villains I've read in a very long time. Sure, he's the bad guy of NOS4A2, but Hill manages to go deeper than "he's a bad guy who does bad things", there are certain points, especially near the finale where Hill makes you feel some sympathy for Manx. And that's a skill many horror writers don't have these days. The villain is more than just a jumble of bad things, and Hill understands this and shows up Manx's past in such a way that, yes, you will feel sorry for the guy at certain points, even as he's kidnapping a child. 

Vic, or "the Brat", is a fully fleshed out character. She's damaged, she's lost, and she's human. And you're gonna feel for her during her journey in this novel. Guaranteed!

It's been two days since I read the last chapter of NOS4A2 and I still can't think of one single thing I didn't like about the book or the story. I really, honestly...can't. The best way I can describe reading and experiencing NOS4A2 is this - The first time I read IT back when I was 12 years old, that feeling of "YES!" and the first time you've fallen in love with the horror genre. That...is how reading NOS4A2 was for me. Hands down. 

Hurry up, Mr. Hill, I'm ready for your next one! 

When NOS4A2 is released on April 30th, 2013, get this book. You'll fall in love with horror all over again. 

The ABC's of Death Review

The ABCs of Death - I'm damn curious, so here goes with some running commentary on each segment :)

"A" is for Apocalypse by Nacho Vigalondo 

Dug this one



"B" is for Bigfoot by Adrian Garcia Bogliano

Should've been called "B" is for boobies 

Really did not like this one, very badly done, shot, and narrative was a complete car wreck 



"C" is for Cycle by Ernesto Diaz Espinoza 

Creepy vibe, interesting premise, kinda muddled just before the end, but better than "B". 



"D" is for Dogfight by Marcel Sarimento 

Loved, loved, loved this one. No dialogue at all, told completely with visual cues. Complete story, beginning, middle, end. Visually stunning, shot EXTREMELY well. 



"E" is for Exterminate by Angela Bettis 

TERRIBLE...ugh, where to start? Shot bad, story non-existent, horrible, obvious, badly done CGI. 



"F" is for Fart by Noboru Iguchi 

Umm, what did I just watch? 

Japanese school girls, Check. Japanese school girls naked making out, Check. Japanese school girls breathing each others farts...ummm check? 

Crazy Japanese? 

Not even a horror plot if you don't count one girl being sucked into the others ass... 



"G" is for Gravity by Andrew Trauki 

Worse than a high school attempt. 



"H" is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion by Thomas Cappelen Malling 

Dug this one. Excellent production values, great makeup, hilarious cartoony story line, and a nazi fox stripper. 



"I" is for Ingrown by Jorge Michel Grau 

Completely lost on this one, didn't get it. 



"J" is for Jidai-Geki by Yudai Yamaguchi 

Guess I just don't get Japanese humor? Completely pointless short, more comedy than anything. 



 "K" is for Klutz by Anders Morganthaler 

Animated piece this time...a girl fights with her own turd...umm yeah.



 "L" is for Libido by Timo Tjahjanto 

Another weird Japanese piece. Good production values, lots of gore, some uncomfortable implied pedophilia. 

These things are definitely getting weirder. 



"M" is for Miscarriage by Ti West 

Exactly what the title implies, a minute or so long piece, horrible camera used, shit production values, and a long, long shot on a toilet bowel. 

Worst of the bunch so far



"N" is for Nuptials by Banjong Pisanthanakun 

Talking parrot exposes a cheater...meh



"O" is for Orgasm by Bruno Forzani and Helene Cattet 

Another obvious one, with BDSM and multiple slow motion shots of bubbles bursting and apparently women blow bubbles when they reach climax. 

Man, just when I think these cant get any worse...



"P" is for Pressure by Simon Rumley 

Another piece w/o dialogue. A hooker with a heart of gold trying to provide for her kids, then some guy gives asks her to make a film and she gets paid to do bad things to a kitten. 

Yep, these directors are going for shock/taboo and not even trying to make a good, storytelling piece at this point. 



"Q" is for Quack by Adam Wingard 

Ironic piece about how the directors got Q and they don't know what kind of short to make, so they decide to kill a duck on screen, ends badly for them. 



"R" is for Removed by Srdjan Spasojevic 

Surreal piece. Doctors remove film strips from a guy (yeah dont ask) he finally escapes, pushes a train car and then collapses and then it rains blood. 

I guess it's supposed to a metaphor about how a director cuts a piece of himself to share with an audience and bleeds for his art? 

Or some shit 




I'm really starting to get pissed at some of these "directors" for wasting my time, a 5 yr old could make a better short film...




"S" is for Speed by Jake West 

Starts out with two chicks (who can't act AT ALL) running from a Vorhees wanna be. There's a nice hotrod car, some really bad, cheesy camera work, a flame thrower scene, and then apparently turns into a metaphor on the dangers of drug use...ummm WTF???



"T" is for Toilet by Lee Hardcastle

A claymation piece this time. About a killer toilet. 

I actually liked this one, and that's sad cause I only like it cause there's been such crap since the letter "D". 



"U" is for Unearthed by Ben Wheatley 

Now we're getting somewhere. A vampire gets killed, but it's shot from the POV of the vampire. A very unique take. Great effort.



"V" is for Vagitus by Kaare Andrews 

Sci-fi piece about a future where propagation is illegal, but you can earn a permit to have a child if you serve as an enforcement agent hunting down people who have illegal babies, includes a killer beheaded baby...what!



"W" is for WTF! by Jon Schnepp

*sigh* I'm not even going to bother addressing this one. So far, worst of the bunch and that's saying enough.



"X" is for XXL by Xavier Gens 

Fat girl gets made fun of, goes home and cuts all of the fat away, dies skinny. 

Oh you crazy French directors.



"Y" is for Young Buck by Jason Eisener 

Another one w/o dialogue, set to an 80's synth track. Old man takes young boy on a hunting trip, does bad things, boy comes back wearing a dead deer's head, impales and decapitates the man, does bad things to the head....

I kinda dug this one, it was different. 



- And to close out this mostly steaming pile of shit - 





"Z" is for Zetsumetsu by Yoshihiro Nishimura 

Let's see, where do I even start??? Another Japanese piece, seemingly very Anti-American, there's a Swastika, a chick with a 5 ft penis that has a knife that comes outta the end, there's a guy in a wheel chair that ejaculates rice, a bunch of naked men eating sushi, a girl fight with said girl with 5 ft rubber penis, penis gets sliced, somehow other chick can shoot vegetables out of her vagina, some other chick has 9/11 across her chest with the towers on one boob and a plane on the other, and she jumps up and down swing her boobs together...

As all this is going on there's a voice over about how Blacks hate White Americans and how nuclear energy is safe and yellow people are the best...no, I am NOT shitting you. 





So 4 out of 26 were worth watching, with only 2 being anywhere near good, how did this EVER get distribution?

A Serbian Film Review

NOTE: This review will contain ***Spoilers***

First off, believe the hype about this one. It is singly the most brutal, depraved, horrifying, uncomfortable (insert any other adjective or synonym) film I've watched to date. 

And yes, I watch them all. From Martyrs, Cannibal Holocaust, Irreversible, Men Behind the Sun, Audition, Antichrist, Salo, to  The Human Centipede, and a host of others, I've sought out and watched every single one. Yes, most of them deliver on what is promised, and yes, most of them are truly depraved and rest among the darkest side of horror film and cinema, in general. 

A Serbian Film, in a director of lesser skill, would've been a disaster. 


Let's talk about art first -

Art is: The creation of works of beauty or other special significance. 

Art should be designed to make the reader or viewer feel something, be it revulsion, sorrow, happiness, pain, or awe. 

In relation to cinema, there's been many attempts to claim certain hardcore, disturbing films are art, and yes, some of them truly are. Even with the violence, the gore, and the sexual depictions, there was something the director and/or writer were trying to say. Some excel at this, others, not so much. 

It's hard to shock me, as a viewer or reader. I, myself, have written some pretty graphic fiction. It made me uncomfortable, but I did it because it served the story. You see, for something that is graphic, gory, and depraved, there has to be an element of storytelling, a reason for the depictions on the screen. If there isn't, then it's nothing but shock value. 

***SPOILERS FOLLOW***

Their Last Dying Acts - A short story collection

Their Last Dying Acts

My second story collection (or third depending on how you look at it) has been out for a few months now. THE MONSTER WITHIN IDEA is nearing 50,000 downloads, but THEIR LAST DYING ACTS isn't enjoying the same success. If you've read my work, this collection includes some work from THROUGH THE GLASS DARKLY and a host of new work you may not have had the chance to read. 

About the book: 

Their Last Dying Acts captures the true essence of the horror genre displaying the breadth and depth of an author’s imagination. Riley does not hold back on the horror as he leads the readers through tales that feature monsters, both the imaginary and human kind, and horrific circumstances that can occur either in the darkest corners of the night or the brightest sunny day. 

From splatterpunk to psychological, from a snapshot of real life horror to a “Twilight Zone” unreality, these stories show the genius of a writer who can adapt his writing to wherever the story takes him. With stories like, Surveillance, a gritty police story, featuring a robot who would be man--a thoughtful allegory about racism in our society, very well-disguised and Heal Thyself, a story about the use of religion as a means of deception and the old motto of "What goes around, comes around”, to No Strings Attached, a weird and thought-provoking story worthy of an episode of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. 

Nowhere is safe in the imagination of R. Thomas Riley.


“…Captures the true essence of the horror genre.” Horrorworld

“If you like your short fiction bleak, dark and wonderful, Riley will take good care of you.” John Sunseri, author of SILENCE IN HEAVEN and others 

“Riley's style is gritty and realistic and works perfectly…” John Grover, author of CREATURES AND CRYPTS and FEMININE WILES 

“A writer that has studied his Rod Serling, channels just the right amount of Edgar Allen Poe's ghost, and taps that same Southern gothic vein that Joe R. Lansdale has been so blissfully strung out on all these years.” Matt Wallace, Author of THE NEXT FIX

Purchase your copy here - Their Last Dying Acts

“What is essential to crafting a believable horror environment?”

It’s time for halloween: ghosts, goblins, jack-o-lanterns and horror writers! We have a packed house this week with ITW’s premier horror authors. This week join David Sakmyster, Brett Talley, M.R. Gott, Michaelbrent Collings, R. Thomas Riley, W.D. Gagliani, Rick Reed, JG Faherty, Douglas Wynne and Christian Riley as they discuss the essentials of crafting a believable horror environment.

This week's International Thriller Writer's Association Roundtable discussion - October 22 – 28: Horror: “What is essential to crafting a believable horror environment?”


http://www.thebigthrill.org/2012/10/october-22-28-horror-what-is-essential-to-crafting-a-believable-horror-environment/

Lego Zombie Apocalypse build for IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW

Out of many of the things that's happened in my career over the years, this is easily one of the most awesome things to date. 

Evan Roy over at Bricks of the Dead recently created an MOC for IF GOD DOESN'T SHOW (co-written w/ John Grover). What exactly is an MOC, you may ask? Well, it's anything you create with LEGO bricks is called a "MOC", which stands for "My Own Creation". 

I was unaware that Evan was doing such a thing, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find out he'd done just that. I was curious to find out the process of how he went about creating the build. 

Also you can check out the book review here and my author interview here



Here's what he had to say:

How long did it take for you to complete the build? 

Evan: Let's see...the background buildings were already built. Believe it or not, that car took me about 8 hours. I really wanted it to look like an RPG hit it under the car and was tipping it over. I rebuilt it over and over again. I probably spent an hour positioning the mini figs. Maybe another hour playing with lighting. About 2 hours shooting it as I am learning a new DSLR camera. So yeah, about 12 hours in total. 

As I said, before, this is a pretty awesome build, not only because it's based on my work, BUT because Evan could've chose to build anything and he took the time to do this build. Thanks Evan for all the hard work. It's certainly an honor and John and I are very happy with the end result. The more I look at the build, the more details I find. See for yourself and enjoy! 

Build in Progress Shots: 

And Final Build Shot: