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| Isaac's Current and Past Projects: A Production Schedule Sorted into No Particular Order |
| Project Title: "100 Days in New York" Date Begun: 1/8/2008 Status: Project Canceled due to Complete Lack of Personal Interest. Though the rough draft of the total progress made can be found here. Scheduled Completion Date: Never, as per above. Description: "100 Days" was intended to be a "diary" of sorts - a day by day recounting of moving from Seattle to New York City. It was intended to be filled with great amounts of humor and of adventure. After all, isn't that what following the dream and moving to the big city is all about? The project was cancelled after I realized that my life here is not that much more interesting than my previous life. While the city itself is certainly more interesting, the work I was producing seemed to be not much more than a glorified travel guide - and not a very practical one. Nevertheless, I plan on going through what I have (which is very rough), cleaning it up a bit, and publishing it on this site, just to prove that it did indeed exist. Updates are forthcoming. |
| Project Title: "Untitled American History Project" Date Begun: February 2008 Status: Research Phase Scheduled Completion Date: Early 2009. Description: This project was borne out of the fact that I could not find any decent, definitive books on the history of American Political Parties - both past and present. I have begun a study of American politics and the party system - how they began, why they were necessary, how they evolved and changed, how third parties ocassionally found their way into the system. Most interesting of all, at least to me, is my attempt to compare the political views of past figures, such as the presidents, and attempt to discover what political leanings they might have were they alive today. From what I have discovered so far, the results of such an experiment are truly surprising. This project has proven remarkably intimidating, though thoroughly fascinating and worth all the trouble. |
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| Project Title: "The Kingdom of Rome" Date Begun: October 2007 Status: Research Phase Scheduled Completion Date: Late 2009. Description: While a tremendous volume of information has been published throughout the years on the history of Rome, both in its Republic and its Empire phase, I have been able to find an utterly disturbing lack of information regarding the first period - the "Kingdom" period, wherein one finds Rome growing from a conglomeration of several city/states throughout the Italic Peninsula. The reason for this lack of interest in the early periods of Rome is that the entire era is so shrouded in myth and legend that it has become nearly impossible to tell where the stories end and history begins. As Warner Keller showed in his phenomenal book, "The Etruscans," however, we are not entirely incapable of at least a basic knowledge of the kings of Rome. In addition to explaining the difference between history and mythology, however, this project will delve into the motive that the historians of the first several centuries A.D. might have had in performing such obvious embellishments regarding the history of their nation. As a result of this examination, I will hopefullly be able to present a working theory of how the very study of history itself has changed dramatically over the years, both in its methodology and in its cultural influences. |
| Project Title: "Death by Quanta" Date Begun: January 2007 Status: Research Phase Scheduled Completion Date: Several drafts completed as of June 2007. Description: In January of 2007 I decided to take it upon myself to produce a work of scientific explanation. My goal was to learn as quickly as possible the basic tenants of modern theoretical physics, beginning with Einstein's theories of relativity and moving onto quantum mechanics and modern "grand unified theories," chronicling my process as I did so in the form of a book. In one very important sense, I believe the resulting work (the first draft completed within just under two months) was both very successful and very important. It was successful in that it showed me that this task, which I had honestly doubted myself capable of in the beginning, was not entirely out of my reach, and important in that my studies opened my eyes up to an entire world of potential subjects to study and write about. I am, however, not moving forward with theis particular project at the moment. While I have not lost faith in my original goals, I have come to realize that my approach to the subject left the entire project more muddled and amateur than I would have liked. I am working still on honing my writing skills and my scientific knowledge, so that before long I can pick up the project again - starting over from scratch, and reworking all of my explanations so that they are more consice (the extant version at the moment weighs in at more than 550 pages) and more perspicuous to the average reader. I have faith that this work will be completed one day - but that day is farther off than I had previously anticipated. |
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| Project Title: "Tripping Over Titan: An Adventure of Relavence" Date Begun: July 2005 Status: Several Drafts Completed - In Limbo Scheduled Completion Date: A couple more drafts... end of 2008, perhaps Description: Tripping Over Titan was my first foray into writing a full-length book, and to be perfectly honest, I still think it contains some of the best scenes I have ever written. The plot is simple... but at the same time, not at all. A couple not-so-brilliant scientists at a SETI-like organization on Earth suddenly find their paths intertwining with a friendly alien (whom it is their job to kill - though they decide not to). Their paths on Earth collide with a dark, brooding alien hunter in a black trench coat, and, in turn, another alien who may or may not be the King of Titan (the largest moon of Saturn - the home "planet" of the aliens). As this motley assortment of characters attempts to get back to Earth, they face several challenges, such as the clumsiness of Max (which proves fatal to several beings along the way), a mass slaughter of an endangered species, a crash landing on a desert island, and a madman with a scimitar. All this is nothing, however, compared to what they will face when they finally arrive on Titan itself, hoping to overthrow the entire government by means of force, which culminates in an epic, multi-layered final battle. If you'd like to do any proofreading or editing or criticizing - please email me. |
| Project Title: "Byron the Blackheart Meets the Internal Revenue Service: An Unlikely Pirate Adventure Featuring Roger the Passive Gypsaphant" Date Begun: December 2005 Status: See "Tripping Over Titan" above. Scheduled Completion Date: Within a Year Description: It's a book about pirates - so it's got that going for it. But at the same time, there's nothing truly "conventional" about it. Or is there? The story revolves around an elderly ex-pirate who finds himself facing an IRS audit. The problem, you see, stems from the fact that throughout his career on the high seas, Byron the Blackheart earned himself quite a bit of money, though he didn't pay taxes on any of it. Now, the IRS is hitting him with back taxes and this old man has no choice but to become a pirate again in hopes of finding his secret stash of gold and using it to pay off the federal government. Fortunately, Byron the Blackheart finds some unlikely help in the form of a mythological creature known as a Gypsaphant (half gypsy-half elephant) named Roger. Together, these two as Captain and First Mate, must assemble a crew and set sail on an adventure that takes them nearly to Africa, to Canada, to Florida, and finally to a treasure-filled cave, where a battle takes place between the pirates and... well... by an incredibly surprising and unexpected enemy. Want to help edit this book? Email me. |
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| Project Title: "These Glorious Plains: A Satisfying Tale of the Old West" Date Begun: April 2006 Status: Third Draft Complete Scheduled Completion Date: Before too Long Description: My one and only foray into the "western" genre (just to see if I could do it, mainly). This book tells the story of a hero of the old west named Josiah Clayton - a legend throughout the nation - feared by all criminals. The only problem is that there are no criminals left. Josiah killed the last of the great criminals years earlier, and with the twentieth century quickly approaching, the old west is dying away, leaving no more need for a hero like Josiah. But when it becomes clear that his arch-nemesis, El Guapo, may not be dead after all - Josiah must battle his own demons and perhaps sacrifice some of his own integrity in order to create the perfect setting for one final showdown before the west is gone forever. Featuring fighting, shooting, killing, and some good humor. Everything a person could possibly want in a western. |
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| Project Title: "The Horror: A Terrifying Novel" Date Begun: July 2006 Status: Second Draft Complete Scheduled Completion Date: Unsure Description: You guessed it. A horror novel. Can't really explain much about the plot without giving away some of my big twists, but suffice it so say that it should keep the reader guessing, up until the very moment that the villain is revealed. Trust me - one of the best villains I've ever created (though there's a chance that some people might be offended). I guess I could sum up the story simply by saying that it revolves around a group of people strandred in a deserted town filled with mysterious occurrences (my vast use of horror cliche was intentional, FYI). They must discover where everyone in town went, as well as the reasons for the strange, and sometimes violent, occurrences. Along the way, we begin to understand each character more and more as they each are seen to have their own motives and their own connections to what is happening, even if they themselves don't realize it. Duh Duh DUUUUUUUUHHHHH!!! (that was supposed to be horror movie music right there - hopefully your imagination can fill it in for you) |
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| Project Title: "The Horror: A Terrifying Novel" Date Begun: July 2006 Status: Second Draft Complete Scheduled Completion Date: Unsure Description: You guessed it. A horror novel. Can't really explain much about the plot without giving away some of my big twists, but suffice it so say that it should keep the reader guessing, up until the very moment that the villain is revealed. Trust me - one of the best villains I've ever created (though there's a chance that some people might be offended). I guess I could sum up the story simply by saying that it revolves around a group of people strandred in a deserted town filled with mysterious occurrences (my vast use of horror cliche was intentional, FYI). They must discover where everyone in town went, as well as the reasons for the strange, and sometimes violent, occurrences. Along the way, we begin to understand each character more and more as they each are seen to have their own motives and their own connections to what is happening, even if they themselves don't realize it. Duh Duh DUUUUUUUUHHHHH!!! (that was supposed to be horror movie music right there - hopefully your imagination can fill it in for you) |
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| Project Title: "They Call Me Troll" Date Begun: October 2006 Status: Very, very rough draft. Scheduled Completion Date: N/A Description: I decided to take part in 2006's NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month), which challenges authors to write a complete novel within the space of a single month. The premise behind my entry was, I think, rather interesting - even if the finished product was far too rushed for comfort. The story was simple: A Norwegian Troll has a dream of playing the piano, so he kidnaps one of the world's greatest concert pianists and forces him to teach him how to play. Unfortunately, being a troll, his fingers are far too fat... so he goes on an epic quest to find the world's greatest piano maker in order to get him to make a troll-sized piano. Maybe one day I'll go back and try to rewrite this thing, because I think it might have some potential. For now, however, it's on the backburner, as I've got many other projects to focus on. |
| Project Title: "The Life of Charlie Bishop" Date Begun: February 2008 Status: Still in the Beginning Stages - about 100 pages completed Scheduled Completion Date: To Be Determined Description: Writing the story of Charlie Bishop has been my intention for several years, now, though I have been prevented from doing so by a combination of schedule conflicts and a general lack of talent. To be perfectly honest, I have never been a good enough writer to do justice to the tale of Charlie Bishop. I have begun to attempt it now, though I'm sure it will require vast amounts of rewriting and edtiting before it is in any way presentable. Hist story - if you are not familiar already - takes the reader from an orphanage at the end of the nineteenth century, to the trainyards of the midwest, to a small town in Colorado, to Europe during the Great War, to the streets of New York during the Great Depression, to Africa on a journey of scarcely-to-be-believed proportions, to the battlefields of the second World War, to a remote prison, to the heights of world government and power. Such a story, clearly, is not an easy one to tell. It blurrs the lines between fiction and non-fiction, and it follows one of the greatest stories ever told by man from beginning to end - a story which could easily fill a dozen books. This project, I'm sure, will be continuing for some time, but I'll keep the reader posted on my progress.. |
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