First and ten

During the usual night of being a grave digger on 3rd shift, I managed to make a couple potential breakthroughs on how to approach the new "bad guys" in this one, dealing with organized religion and a possible church (offshoot church of I'm guessing all world religions at the moment, perhaps the religious leaders of the main ones) that has two avenues at the moment. Either they are presented as the good guys originally, and over time and story, they turn into the bad guys - or if I plan to bring back my plot line from the first one, they are the bad guys from the get go. Right now, they are looking like complete total radicals in their way of thinking, on par with many extremist wings of religions in the world right now (ISIS, etc.) The way of the radical thinking process puts them firmly in the driver's seat of being able to use the plot point to the fullest extent, perhaps seeing them as the harbingers of the apocalypse. I think this approach because it will allow me to add in the third storyline as well, potentially being a character back from the dead in essence and allowing him to roam the earth once more. Of course, I'm not convinced he ever died, but he'll definitely go the way of the zombie in some form.

Something like this I guess. Minus the rotting flesh and lack of optical organs.

Going with this line of thinking though, it does allow me to continue the struggles for the main character, though I see it as more of him being able to confidently confront these things with his best friend, his wife, and his sister at his side and back. Travi Gladius has grown exponentially over this time frame from the first book, to the years in between, to the new book which I am placing about 2-3 years into the future, around 2017-2018. Travi Gladius, a secret agency, versus the dangers of radical religious leaders and their followers...

Jim Jones anyone?

With this line of thinking on the bad guys, references such as these can be made. Incorporating historical figures into the events of books can give some measure of relevance and relation to how the world is currently shaped. The "Black Ops" series in the Call of Duty games is famous for this, having such historical figures as Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, Manuel Noriega, Jonas Savimbi etc. By inserting the main character of the games: Alex Mason, David Mason, Jason Hudson, and Frank Woods etc. into the mix with these historical figures, it adds a sense of relation to the game seeing historical events such as the Bay of Pigs invasion, The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, and the Invasion of Panama come to life from the viewpoint of a fictional character. That is the aim I am shooting for. We'll see how it all plays out in due time.

Missions are still at a premium, but I think I have a few solid ideas on how to progress once I get a few more things ironed out. It's all progressing really well at this point, a bit better than I had first hoped. The character list is all but done and I think our bad guys have probably established their identity. From here, it's just moving onward and letting the story tell itself. Time to listen to these characters and see what kind of story they want to experience. That is the first lesson I ever learned about writing, let the characters write the story for you.

Sorry for the lack of wit and humor this time around, but I'm tired - and it's another long set of days ahead. Time for me to grab some shuteye. I may be able to get another update in later on this evening once I am back from the gym. Adieu.