Col. Eugene C. Watkins

My grandfather, Colonel Eugene Conrad Watkins, "Gene" to his friends, passed away last Friday May 11th. I haven't been able to write much on the blog since, as my family and I are in mourning, remembering a great man. A man who was brave, generous, kind, humble. A man who served his country for most of his life as an air force pilot and officer.

The world has lost a wonderful father, grandfather, and friend.

I'll be back to the blog as usual next week.

Thoughts on my Grandfather

Grandpa, Charis, and I at Grandpa's favorite Mexican restuarant.

This week I’m taking a break from posting about the process, and just writing a little about what’s in my heart. Yesterday, my grandfather suffered a minor heart attack. I’m happy to report that he’s conscious, talking, and in good spirits, and will make a good recovery and be out of the hospital in another day or two. In fact, due to the repaired splints they put in, the doctors say he may have better oxygen and bloodflow, and may have better energy than previously. The family gathered at the hospital as soon as we heard, and after a tense afternoon at the ER, we were all so relieved to hear that he came through the procedure healthy and well. By the time we saw him in the ICU room, he was jovial, smiling and joking with us.

Those of you who know me know how close I’ve grown to my grandfather in the last couple years. When I left San Francisco in 2010, I moved home to Denver to be closer to my family. He kindly and generously opened up his home to me, saying I could stay as long as I needed, and in fact gave me almost the full basement to set up my room and work area. I helped him around the house a bit, doing dishes and yardwork and stuff. We grew much closer over that year than we’d ever previously been, since previous to this, I’d been living away from Denver for many years.

Every morning (or afternoon, depending on when I’d wake up) we’d chat over coffee, talking about this or that- the news, politics, family goings-on, anything really that came to mind. Then in the evenings, 6 p.m. sharp every night, it was Jeopardy time. Between the two of us, we did pretty good! For Christmas that year, I drew him the following “Jeopardy” illustration.

Rocking at "Jeopardy"

The thing I love most about being home in Colorado is family dinners and holiday get togethers. Most Sundays my mom has the family over for dinner (and her and Scott’s amazing home-cooked meals!). I’ve enjoyed them immensely, and continue to, almost every week. For most holidays, we go up to my aunt and uncle’s beautiful ranch up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and spend a lovely day in eachother’s company, with another amazing meal courtesy of my mom and aunt Libby, with my mom’s husband Scott and Uncle Jim frequently grilling the steaks or cooking the meats. It’s always a great time.

Dinner at the big-kid's table- Grandpa's 88th birthday.

Time for presents!

Lyla and I watching Grandpa open presents! Lyla looks perplexed.

One other activity Grandpa and I enjoyed from time to time was watching action and Western movies together. He’s a big Western buff, the biggest I know. As I’m currently writing a story set in the old west, I enjoy watching classic westerns with him, and hearing him chat about the time period, notable lawmen and outlaws, classic firearms, stuff like that. I look forward to picking his brain for many years to come, as he’s a wealth of knowledge and history. For his birthday, I drew the following western-themed illustration (he’s also a big fan of NCIS, which I referenced in this drawing...)

Grandpa is also a wonderful support- in our family we have people of many trades and interests, and without exception he supports us all in our work, our lives, and in pursuing our dreams. He loves to hear what we’ve got going on, how we’re working towards fulfilling our various projects to fruition. He’s a great listener and often has good advice for us all.

Though I no longer live under his roof, Lyla and I still see Grandpa a couple times a week. We often visit during the week to chat, and play a round of Jeopardy. He and Lyla have grown close too-- they love to chat about this and that, often about history and about interesting events in Grandpa’s life. A career pilot and officer in the airforce, he always has interesting stories about different time periods, events, battles, family history, and much more. Not to mention, we all share a love of chocolate, and during our visits he always shares with us from the basket of chocolates he keeps on the side table. We very much enjoy our almost-weekly visits.

Grandpa and Mom look excited for dessert! (we all are).

The only thing that can make Grandpa run for cover- Scott's adamantium claws.

Grandpa's return, armed with a battle-axe. It's going to take a lot more than a minor heart attack to keep this man down!

My grandfather is a generous, wise, principled, and loving man. He loves a laugh and loves being around family. We all love being around him too, and look forward to many more years to come of enjoying his company, his laughter, and his spirit. See you at Sunday dinner, Grandpa!

Story Story Story

It’s funny, though I suppose not surprising, how some people react to the “Jordan Gets All Trav’s Money, Trav Dies Penniless and Alone Plan”. For every person who tells me they think it’s a good way to keep motivated, I get people who think it’s just bizarre. I have a buddy who was kidding around with me, saying “Dude, if you miss every milestone, that’s TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!” Haha... My reply was, that’s obviously not sustainable. I have nowhere close to that kind of money!

But, the point is that I’m working hard to not have to pay ANY money. And so far it’s seeming to work. It’s definitely a wackadoo idea, and I can see why some people give me a bit of grief about it (all good-natured, of course).

Anyway, last week I pitched to Lyla the story for book one. Sitting down at the corkboard outline, I ran through the whole book rapid-fire, explaining each major beat. It felt like I was at an animation studio, pitching storyboards, and it was really fun. I was happy to find that she felt it was a pretty strong start. She pointed out a few elements that needed clarification, or felt lacking in some way, and I took them and started making edits, additions, and cuts. I think the outline is more solid for it, and armed with a more solid outline which I created in Google Docs, I started writing the script for Book 1.

So, as of now I’m in the middle of the first draft, and I’ve been pretty good about keeping up with it. At times it’s a bit daunting, and at times I find it hard to get motivated to sit down at the computer and type, but mostly it’s been a total blast. As the story comes together, I’ve been often pleasantly surprised at how much I like it. That doesn’t mean it’s actually that good yet, but I have confidence that it’ll get “good enough” (as opposed to “perfect”)...

The characters and their voices are taking shape. The story elements are finding what they need, be it drama, emotion, humor, action, romance. I’m striving to include all of them. I’m also referencing a book as recommended on Jason Brubaker’s excellent Remind Blog called Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald. It’s a really straightforward, easy to understand look at what makes successful stories. It includes a lot of fun examples from the world of both screenplays and comic scripts, and thankfully doesn’t reference Citizen Kane or Chinatown anywhere in the book, but instead includes fun ones like Raiders of the Lost Ark. That’s a lot more my speed, and I appreciate the author’s perspective.

So, that’s where I’m at this week- story story story! I expect to be done with the first draft at the end of this week... Then it’s time for revisions... More next time!