The GHAWG Diaries, Part 63

What's happening behind the scenes to bring new GHAWG content? The GHAWG Diaries is my recap of what I've been doing.

^{Cover image designed by @magnacarta using emojis and Excel 2007 for text. Minor edits made using MS Paint.}

Introduction

There's more to #GHAWG than just daily zapfic entries and the spreadsheet I use to track them. There's research. There's review. There's also thought and inspiration. Then there are the tools involved in doing any of those tasks.

Just to keep things from getting scrambled in my head, and also to document for myself what I've been considering, I began keeping a diary of my activities as they concern #GHAWG. For that reason, I decided to share these diary entries with everyone on Hive blockchain (including the LeoFinance community at InLeo).

On Mondays which don't feature a GHAWG, Uninterrupted post (GHAWG-U)-- eventually replaced by GHAWG, Remastered (GHAWG-R)-- I'll post diary entries from the previous 7 days or between GHAWG-U/R posts if the time between them is short. Due to tech woes and other difficulties, TGD63 will have enough entries for 1 month; even when I was offline, I was doing something for GHAWG. The first entry starts on 2025-February-03.

Before anyone scratches their heads at a few terms, here are 3 I began using many posts ago: | Term | Meaning | | --- | --- | | ►Rat Bike◄¹ | Code name for #GHAWG (the first and current zapfic serial) | | ►Blue Lion◄² | Code name for the middle zapfic serial in the GHAWG Universe | | ►The Bronze◄³ | Code name for the final zapfic serial in the GHAWG Universe |

Monday, 2025-February-03

📓 As the ►Route 66◄⁴ storyline was coming to a close and Felix Legion found itself at the eastern terminus of the iconic road in ►Chicago, Illinois◄⁵, US, I had no idea what I was going to write. By the time Felix Legion was in Chicago, I came up with a storyline I could feel good about. To this day I feel good about what I had written for the day Felix Legion was in Chicago.

Until then, I was drawing a blank. It wasn't exactly writers block since I had ideas; they just didn't seem to fit the moment. Things fell into place for me when I decided to make recurring character and independent journalist ►Aníbal Rivera◄⁶ part of this storyline by using a parallel story structure.

I'm going through something similar in getting Felix Legion to deliver ►The Kids◄⁷ to their ultimate destination at the ►University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill◄⁸. I won't need the parallel storyline structure this time, but I need to find a way to get everyone to ►UNC◄⁹. If GHAWG was an airport, then I'm running out of runway to get Rat Bike where it needs to be. For now, the zapfic queue is in a virtual holding pattern, but the time draws near when I have to get Felix Legion where it needs to be.

Tuesday, 2025-February-04

📓 With Felix Legion almost at the end of the 5th segment of ►David Guardia◄¹¹'s ►Epic Ride◄¹⁰-- from Chicago to Chapel Hill and UNC-- I need to start looking at the final segment, the ride westward from UNC to various points in Iowa. I have at least one set piece I want to include, and that one takes place in Iowa, where the Iowa 5 (Felix Legion less The Kids). I should include another set piece earlier, but I have no idea what it should be or where it should take place. I have time to get that figured out, so I won't worry about it.

Wednesday, 2025-February-05

📓 While walking through my neighborhood I switched my MP3 app to a music artist I hadn't heard in a long time: 🕸️U2🕸️. Specifically, Peak U2 during the late 1980s. 🕸️"Hawkmoon 269"🕸️ sounds and feels like something to associate with David and ►Rhonda Bella Guardia◄¹². At the moment they are ►The Newlyweds◄¹³ and winding down Rat Bike, but this song is a better for them in the sequel zapfic serial code-named Blue Lion. I'm not saying that I will incorporate this song into Blue Lion for them, but it seems to be a perfect fit for them.

"Hawkmoon 269" is found only on the 1988 live touring compilation album 🕸️Rattle and Hum🕸️. Another song from this album I've been listening to is the U2 cover of "All Along the Watchtower," written by singer and songwriter 🕸️Bob Dylan🕸️ and made famous by Jimi Hendrix. Unlike "Hawkmoon 269," I'm not getting anything for 🕸️"All Along the Watchtower"🕸️; it's still worth listening to just to see if it helps me come up with something for GHAWG.

A third U2 song I've been listening to is the lead track from the 1987 album 🕸️The Joshua Tree🕸️, 🕸️"Where the Streets Have No Name"🕸️. This feels like riding music David Guardia can use when riding alone. The next time we will see him riding alone will be either in the second half of Blue Lion or at some point in the final zapfic serial code-named The Bronze. As with the other 2 U2 songs, I'm not saying I will incorporate this one into The GHAWG Universe. I mention these songs because I am using them to aid me in the creative process to help me come up with new ideas for GHAWG or to help me make a breakthrough in Rat Bike.

Thursday, 2025-February-06

📓 Today I extended the zapfic queue to 2025-February-14. Not only did I add a couple of zapfic entries, but I was able to slot the earlier entries I had written last week but couldn't include at the time. Now that these entries have been slotted, I can start the next day of travel toward UNC. More importantly, I can focus on developing the key scene I've had in mind for a long time, one in which we see the characters in ways we hadn't seen them before.

Friday, 2025-February-07

📓 For about a month I was adding between 0 and 2 entries to the zapfic queue, and more often it was 0 with a few days having 1. So the zapfic queue had been inching its way to 2025-February-14. Today I was able to tie up enough loose ends in my mind to create at least the first part of the set piece scene to take place in the totally fictional town of Bolivion, Virginia, US. This burst of activity helped me push the zapfic queue from 2025-February-14 (B14) to 2025-March-04 (C04). This happens to be one day shy of the 2nd anniversary of the first zapfic entry I published to LeoThreads for GHAWG. To finish this set piece scene, I would like to include a chase sequence.

Saturday, 2025-February-08

📓 Picking up where I left off, I was able to include the chase scene to the set piece. This chase scene is what I had intended for the original chase scene back when the ►uncanny Manny Rey◄¹⁴ was David Guardia's co-pilot, only I flubbed it; it looked better in my mind than when I committed the scene to blockchain. Thanks to the chase scene, I was able to push the zapfic queue to 2025-March-14 (C14). At this point, Felix Legion arrives in ►Chapel Hill◄¹⁵, with the ►University of North Carolina◄¹⁶ a short distance away.

Sunday, 2025-February-09

📓 When the week started, my zapfic queue productivity was puttering at around 1 entry day, if that. Some days had 2 entries, but more had 0. So by then the zapfic queue was at 2025-February-14 (B14), about a week of entries in it.

By yesterday, I was able to get the zapfic queue to 2025-March-14 (C14). I was able to come up with the set piece scene in the fictional town of Bolivion, Virginia, US. For good measure, I even followed that up with a short chase scene.

Today, I was able to push the zapfic queue to 2025-April-19 (D19) by getting The Kids to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I was able to write zapfic entries showing changes to Sanjay Rampersad. I was even able to include a Felix Legion name change I had been considering for Lionel Odunsi. Originally, David Guardia-- ►Templar◄¹⁷-- had assigned to him the name ►Quartermaster◄¹⁸-- think 🕸️"Q"🕸️ from any of the 🕸️James Bond🕸️ movies-- because of his ability to find the crew overnight lodging. Given my own difficulty in remembering this name for Lionel, I decided he should have an easier club name, one more in tune with who he is. As a native Nigerian, I noted his affinity toward the Finn character from the Disney-era Star Wars movies since actor John Boyega is Nigerian-British. This affinity is shown by his choice of Hive account name for decentralized social media: @finnsjacket. While Templar had an easier time remembering that Lionel was Quartermaster, I used the unexpected media Q&A at UNC as the opportunity for Templar to rename Quartermaster Finn; this would also make it easier for his classmates at UNC to remember.

Monday, 2025-February-10

📓 Sunday morning in the wee hours I lost Internet access. The laptop I've been using for the last few years has been behaving oddly in recent weeks. First the keyboard was repeating certain letters even when I was typing gently. Then the wireless antenna became so weak that although I was connected to the Internet any request I made to visit a site timed out. Once I confirmed that the problem was my device and not my access, I decided to work on getting the antenna replaced. I will need a bit of time to get that done. So for at least the next few days I will be offline.

One thing my lack of Internet access gave me was time to think about the story I want to write for Rat Bike. This zapfic serial is focused on the Epic Ride which David Guardia began in July 2028 from his hometown of ►Bayonne, New Jersey◄¹⁹, US and would end before Halloween 2028 in ►Davenport, Iowa◄²⁰, US, the home town of his wife Rhonda Bella Guardia. The Epic Ride consists of 6 segments: 1. Bayonne to ►STURGIS◄²¹ -- the original purpose of GHAWG; 2. STURGIS to ►Portland, Oregon◄²² -- the mission David needed to carry out as per the uncanny Manny Rey; 3. Portland to ►San Diego, California◄²³ -- how GHAWG transformed into The GHAWG Universe; 4. San Diego to Chicago -- the Route 66 storyline; 5. Chicago to Chapel Hill -- from prophesying in Chicago to seeing a change in Sanjay Rampersad; 6. Chapel Hill to Davenport -- TBD

With the Segment 5 finished in the zapfic queue, I have one more segment of the Epic Ride to wrote about before I can declare Rat Bike completed. This means that soon I'll need to begin porting the zapfic serial into a traditional novel format.

Rat Bike is only a code name for this zapfic serial. For a long time I had no idea what the actual title of the story was going to be. I chose the code name Rat Bike because early in Segment 1 David mentions the Honda motorcycle he had been riding and how it was a rat bike, a motorcycle in good enough condition to ride but ugly in appearance. What was intended to be a 3 act story with interludes eventually outgrew that structure. By the time I finished Segment 3, it became apparent to me that the Epic Ride was going to be a 6-segment ride, and each segment would have its own story to tell.

Once all these realizations became clear to me, it became easier for me to find a title. Not only do I now have a title for the entire zapfic serial-turned-novel, but I have titles for each of the 6 segments of David's Epic Ride. These 7 titles I will reveal once Rat Bike is concluded and David and Rhonda end the Epic Ride in Davenport.

Tuesday, 2025-February-11

📓 Since my time offline afforded me free time I didn't have before, I decided to put that time to good use and begin porting the zapfic serial into novel format. I took the first 10 zapfic entries and expanded them into prose. Details from the zapfic entries can be found in the prose. Newer details have been added to add meat to the story hinted at by the zapfic entries. Some zapfic entries were turned into very long passages of text; others stayed more or less short just because of their nature.

If I port 10 entries a day to novel format, it should take me 2 to 3 months to get this novel written. At that pace, I should have a novel ready by May or June 2025. Ultimately it will be one novel, but I can't publish it all at one time to Hive blockchain; who will have time to read 1 post containing the equivalent of 200 printed pages (at least)? So I need to figure out how to break up the novel for serial posting on Hive blockchain. GHAWG began at LeoFinance and made the migration to InLeo, so the serialized novel will be published using InLeo. Once that's done, I'll market the novel using additional means (e-book sites, my own space, etc.).

Wednesday, 2025-February-12

📓 Another 10 zapfic entries have been ported. In this batch of entries, David Guardia loses his father to pneumonia and lives his life afterward. He also reaches the point where he changes his life by leaving everything behind to begin his ride to STURGIS. This turns out to be just the first of six segments of what will become (for him) his Epic Ride. He also finds himself in ►East Palestine, Ohio◄²⁴, US and needing the services of motorcycle mechanic ►Kaylee Chloe Callaway◄[^Kaylee-Chloe-Callaway].

The next batch of zapfic entries I port will feature the beginning of what has become the Epic Ride. The first destination of note for David is ►Allentown, Pennsylvania◄[^Allentown--Pennsylvania], US.