Reid Stories: Zone of the Enders Remix and VECTO Chapter 1.5

Here's a remix video for Zone of the Enders HD Collection for the PS3:



"Zone of the Enders (ゾーン　オブ　エンダーズ Zōn obu Endāzu^?), commonly referred to by the acronym Z.O.E., is a video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and the video game publisher Konami, and expanded on by the animation studio Sunrise. The original Zone of the Enders was developed for the launch of the PlayStation 2, which has so far spawned a sequel, a Game Boy Advance side-story, an OVA movie, and a twenty-six episode anime series." - Wikipedia

Here's where you can buy the second game in the series for the PS2 (my favorite one): Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner.

And here's my VECTO scene of the week:

Reid Prizes: Caption This to Win Free Vecto T-shirt

Caption this for a chance to win a T-shirt.

Want to win a free Vecto T-shirt? It's easy. Just caption this image by artist Rafael Fitzgerald. I created this contest to thank readers of my VECTO story for helping the story reach more than 1,000 reads on Wattpad. If you don't know who Vecto is, he is a robot from the book of the same name that I'm working on. You may have a better chance to win if you have read the story first. You can read the story on my Wattpad page here.

After I receive captions from 50 people from my blog, Twitter, and/or Wattpad account, I will announce a final deadline and declare the winner. I settled on a minimum of 50 people so I will receive a good variety of captions to choose from and to encourage you to tell your friends. The caption can be almost anything: funny, serious, or even use a quote from the story. Keep it short and don't use curse words or say anything inappropriate. You may submit up to five captions.

Here's how to submit your caption:

Blog user
Simply comment below and make sure you receive notifications so you will know when I respond.

Twitter user
Tweet me @ReidKemper with your caption followed by the hashtag #FreeVectoShirt for a chance to win.

Wattpad user
Go to "VECTO Contests" in my "works" section and comment with your caption on the T-shirt contest page.

When the contest ends, I will pick my favorite caption. If you win, I will ask you to privately send me your gender, shirt size and address so I can mail the T-shirt. Due to shipping costs, I'll only mail to the contiguous United States area (48 adjoining states). If I tell you that you won, you can use my "Contact Me" page on this blog or private message me on Twitter or Wattpad. You have the option of including the caption on the shirt or not. It will be a basic white T-shirt with the image printed on the front. You may decline the gift if for some reason you don't want it. After I announce the winner and try to reach you, if I don't receive a response with a gender, shirt size and address (which is needed to order the T-shirt) within 30 days, the prize will be forfeited, but you will still be considered the winner.

Have fun!

(Oct. 23, 2014, update: You can buy my Vecto: Vengeance light novel on Amazon here: Vecto: Vengeance.)

Reid Stories: Mega Man X4 Scene and VECTO Chapter 1.4

Here's a fight scene from Mega Man X4:



"Mega Man, alternatively written as Megaman and MegaMan, known as Rockman (ロックマン Rokkuman^?) in Japan, is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the robot character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. Mega Man, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, began a series of over 50 games on multiple systems. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately twenty-nine million copies worldwide, making it Capcom's most prolific franchise.^[1]" - Wikipedia

Here's where you can find the game: Mega Man X Collection - PlayStation 2.

And here's my VECTO scene of the week:

Reid Stories: Awesome Matrix Scene and VECTO Chapter 1.3

Here's an awesome scene from the Matrix movie (spoilers):



 "The Matrix is a science fiction action media franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the feature film The Matrix (1999), and continued with two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). The characters and settings of the films are further explored in other media set in the same fictional universe, including animation, comics, and video games." - Wikipedia

Here's where to find the movies: The Complete Matrix Trilogy (The Matrix / The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions) [Blu-ray].

And here's my VECTO scene of the week:

Reid Stories: RoboCop Shooting Scene and VECTO Chapter 1.2

Here's a shooting scene from the 2014 RoboCop movie:



"The RoboCop franchise is an American cyberpunk media franchise featuring the futuristic adventures of Alex Murphy, a Detroit, Michigan police officer, mortally wounded in the line of duty who is converted into a powerful cyborg brand named Robocop at the behest of a powerful mega-corporation, Omni Consumer Products. Thus equipped, Murphy battles both violent crime in a severely decayed city and the blatantly corrupt machinations within OCP." - Wikipedia

Here's where you can find the new RoboCop movie: Robocop [Blu-ray].

And here's my VECTO scene of the week:

(Previously: Crysilis, a blue-armored cyborg, and Streamline, a brown-armored ex-commander, wait for battle as Botland, wearing a red powersuit, cuts through a door with a laser.)

Inside, New Earth Police officers rushed into position as a white laser beam penetrated the closed door. The military police officers grabbed their weapons hanging on the blue wall, moving in single file, letting the veterans barricade the front line with five-foot-tall energy shields. The head police clanked their frontal shields against the ground in a domino wave as the others hurried behind them. The commander stood in the back, shouting orders of alignment.

"Remain behind shields. Prepare to block incoming fire!" the commander barked, his voice echoing across the half-circle training room. "When I give the command, and only when I give the command, you will fire! Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the group of 50 acknowledged. The last officers hurried down the middle aisle and took position, remaining still and silent in the open-floored room. They watched the laser beam disappear and heard a loud screech echo from the walls. It was an overbearing metal scraping sound like claws digging through a slate board.

As the cutout grinded from the hole, sweat from police officers' foreheads rolled down their faces, but they wouldn't dare remove their helmets. At last, the three-inch-thick oval tipped over and crashed. Smoke fumed from the entrance as a figure in a red powersuit casually ducked through the entrance and paced toward the military police.

"Steady!" Sable ordered.

Botland stopped in front of the two rows of policemen and peered through the middle at the commander.

"Surrender, or we'll open fire!" Sable warned.

The intruder didn't respond. He simply tilted his head and tauntingly raised his arm, pointing at the commander as if provoking an attack.

"Open fire!" Sable yelled.

The men and women in the front line, with their rifles in position against their shields, unleashed the first wave of gunfire even before the commander had finished speaking. Piercing Ira bullets slipped through streams of air molecules, impacting the intruder. The room was quickly engulfed in smoke.

"Cease-fire!" the commander ordered.

(What happened to Botland? Did you dodge the bullets or get shot? Find out more in the next installment of VECTO!)

(Oct. 23, 2014, update: You can buy my Vecto: Vengeance light novel on Amazon here: Vecto: Vengeance.)

Interview About My VECTO Book, Info About Light Novels, and QA

Book cover by Rafael Fitzgerald.

I was interviewed by fellow author and blogger James Kresnik about my VECTO light novel and BitNovel format. Check out the interview on his returnnovel.com blog here. In the interview, I go over what motivates me, why I call VECTO a light novel, and what a BitNovel is, among other things.

For those who aren't familiar with what a light novel is, Wikipedia defines it this way:

"A light novel (ライトノベル raito noberu^?) is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting middle and high school students (young adult demographic).^[1][2] "Light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Such short, light novels are often called ranobe (ラノベ^?)^[3] or LN in the West. They are typically not more than 40,000–50,000 words long (the shorter ones being equivalent to a novella in US publishing terms), rarely exceed 200 pages, often have dense publishing schedules, are usually published in bunkobon size, and are often illustrated.^[4] The text is often serialized in anthology magazines before collection in book form."

Basically, light novels are short, fun, character-driven stories that are very popular in Japan. There are a few English speaking writers such as James Kresnik and me who are using the light novel format (my story so happened to match the style). Hopeful, more light novels will originate in English instead of having to be translated.

Now about BitNovels. I coined that term to represent stories that are released in small parts with mobile readers in mind. I'm posting a "bit" of my story on this blog ever Saturday at 10 a.m., but you can read more of my story on Wattpad here. Also, you can check out Kresnik's light novel titled Return - The Survivalists here and follow him on Twitter @JamesKresnik1.

Do you like the interview but want to know more? Well you get to be the interviewer this time. Comment below with questions you have, and I'll do my best in answering them. It's QA time!

(Oct. 23, 2014, update: You can buy my Vecto: Vengeance light novel on Amazon here: Vecto: Vengeance.)

Reid Stories: Power Rangers Battle and VECTO Chapter 1.1

Here's a classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers battle:



"Power Rangers is a long-running American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action children's television series featuring teams of costumed heroes. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, later by BVS Entertainment, and currently by SCG Power Rangers LLC, the television series takes much of its footage from the Japanese tokusatsu Super Sentai, produced by Toei Company.^[2] Its first entry, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, debuted on August 28, 1993, and helped launch the Fox Kids programming block of the 1990s, during which it catapulted into popular culture along with a line of action figures and other toys by Bandai.^[3]" - Wikipedia

Here's where you can find the first series: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Complete Series.

And here's my VECTO scene of the week: