The Lee Kennedy Acknowledgments

As usual with a released book there are a number of people who I would like to thank, who have been involved in the production of this book.

First to AUK who have agreed to help me to get this book out to the world, so that more than just my friends and I can read it.

To everyone who read the first couple of chapters on www.waveysbookbyjune.blogspot.ie (while that site existed) and provided comments and feedback, thank you.

To William Paul Young for both ‘The Shack’ and ‘Crossroads’, two wonderful books, if you like this one you will like both of them.

To Andy McClintock, who listened to my outline ideas and began to correct some of the ideas, and improve on them, almost immediately and provided his shoulder and head for the cover.

Thanks also to Jon McClintock. I had an idea about ending this book but he and Andy thought it could be improved with an alternative ending. They then helped tease out what that ending would look like, and that is pretty much what you are reading now (or just have read, or will read soon, hopefully).

I must also thank the Irish Bible Institute, where I am presently studying a Masters in Applied Theology, this course has allowed me time to think about some of the things touched on in this book, which has been a wonderful experience for me.

Thanks mum and dad for your support and love, and Jamie and Katelyn for being awesome little siblings (even if you are both taller than me now).

Last, but by no means least, I want to say a cheesy thanks; but I really mean it. Thank you Jesus for loving me and saving me. Thank you for making every bad day good, and every good day better. Thank you for being the one set of footprints.

The ODDs Acknowledgement Section

Hi everyone, so today I got my copies of "the ODDs Beginnings" and noticed that they left out the acknowledgement section.

I believe it is very important to thank the people that believed in the twelve year old who began writing the ODDs and encouraged it the whole way up until publication.

If you were wondering why I tagged you in a post on Facebook containing a link to this that is why. You are someone I am thankful for in the production of the ODDs. If you buy the book (available here Book Depository, ODDs) then please feel free to print these acknowledgements and stick them in the pages at the back. They should be in your copies!

Acknowledgements:

It was over ten years ago that the first version of the ODDs was begun and there are so many people to thank between then and now.

Thank you to early concept artists: Richard Martin, Aisling Harney, David McInerney, Jonathan Cribben, Conor Campbell, Jenny Callan, Jamie Cowpar and Anna-Victoria Lynch.

Thank you to all the people who read versions of this book and offered criticism and advice: Shane Vaughan, David 'Milky' Barry, Ben Jackson and Samuel Lawes.

Thank you to the people who helped inspire parts of the story, as well as the above, that includes Finbarr Begley, Daniel Wheeler, Melissa Kelly and Kevin Neville.

I need to say a big thank you to the staff of Villiers Secondary School in Limerick who, apart from giving me an education, also believed in this book.

Thank you to Mr Geoff Griffin who tasked us with writing a five chapter short story, a poem and a play that instilled a love of this craft in me way back in 2002-3.

Thank you to Mary O’Sullivan who read the ODDs before it was even called such.

Thanks to Dr. Richard Johnston who allowed me to submit chapters as essays and was the first person to read the completed first draft of this book, and pass it on, recognising a talent that was really undeveloped at the time.

Thanks to Jonathan Lawes for everything he was and is as a teacher and a person. 

Thanks to Janet Woods who ignited a passion for history in me which I was not aware was there and for being one of the first people to feedback after downloading it to her Kindle.

Miscellaneous thank you(s) are owed to Aoife Beville, Conor O’Neill, Isabel Kennedy, Tom and Grace Campbell, Dónal Walsh, Colman McCarthy, Jason Kelly, James Kelly, Jon McClintock, Aislinn McClintock, Daniel Duffy, Tricia Flannery, Michelle Malone, Greg Duffy, Mark Duffy, Katelyn Cowpar, Mary-T Clancy and many others who have been involved in this process in some way, shape or form over the past ten years.

To my mother and father, Katharine and Ken Cowpar, I am most grateful for all you have given me, and the support you have been. Told you I could do it ;)

Finally, I need to thank my three cover artists. Anna-Victoria Lynch, who worked on the back of the cover. Jamie Cowpar, who did initial sketches and pulling together of the front cover, and Andy McClintock who perfected those sketches and made the front cover what it is today.

This may sound cheesy but thanks and praise are most certainly owed to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by whom all things hold together and in whose power I live, stand, move, breathe and have my being. My life only continues at Your will and it is my will that my life would be lived in service to you. You gave everything for me Jesus and everything I have is from You, so I give it all to You for You deserve so much more.

Where do we go from here?

This post is about my plans for the future of writing; now that I actually have books out.

I wanted to include the following video, but the only words that actually kind of suit the tone of what I am saying is the "where do we go from here" part. Ah shur, here it is anyway.

It's insane to think that in May 2002 I began writing a story, a story which developed over the ten years between then and 2012, into what is today published as "The ODDs Beginnings".

Although I always wanted to see the day the ODDs would be published it is still hard to believe that it has actually happened. But, now that it has, there is a sense of "what comes next?"

Firstly, sales of the actual books would be great. So I am going to include their covers, and where you can find them now!

The Book Depository is probably the cheapest place to buy the ODDs Beginnings. It has free postage to most countries in the world.The ODDs Beginnings.

At present Lee Kennedy is not in stock in the Book Depository, however, you can order it from Amazon, ignore the not in stock on the page, of course it isn't, no one has ordered it yet so they haven't either. Lee Kennedy on Amazon

Okay, so enough about both of them. Let's talk the future.

The more observant among you will have noticed that 'The ODDs' is published under the name 'Wavey' and 'Lee Kennedy' as 'David J. Cowpar'. There is a reason for this! The future of my book writing will make all of that become clearer, but I will tell you about it.

Everything published with the name 'Wavey' exists in the same fictional universe. This universe is called "the Waveyverse". Everything I write that doesn't find its home in the Waveyverse will be published by David J. Cowpar.

The Waveyverse:

This is the place where the ODDs exist. Here is the current stance of what will be coming out, and in the Waveyverse.

Presently available:

-The ODDs Beginnings (AUK, Nov 2013)

Presently complete, but as of yet unavailable:

-The ODDs 2: Chaos and Discord (hopefully available late 2014 or early 2015)

Works begun, but not yet completed:

-The ODDs 3: The Battle for Limerick.

-Erebus' Darkness (a story about an alien that crash lands on earth. The ODDs and Earth's Army [who appear in the ODDs] will be hunting the alien down.)

-Dahag: The Scourge of Moleth (this one is about dragons in Ancient England, about the time of the Roman invasions, [Dahag is the old Zoroastrian {that's a religion} or Persian word])

-Dahag: The First Ajaja (also about dragons, follows on from 'The Scourge of Moleth'. Ajaja is the Finnish word for Rider)

Works planned, but not begun:

-The ODDs Dragons (a spin off of the ODDs 2, which brings the Dahag story and the ODDs story together)

-Dahag: Chicago (the third Dahag story which brings the characters in Dahag into contact with some of the ODDs characters)

-The ODDs 4: Apocalypse.

-The ODDs 5: Colony

-Erebus War.

-Dimingo (a small lizard-esque creature that teaches kids history.)

-Dragon and Horse (a dragon and a horse that teach young kids about the alphabet.)

Possible Comic book series' that belong to the same universe:

-The Grand Masters (a prequel to the ODDs, like the Old Testament to the ODDs' New Testament, tells the stories through history that are alluded to in the Prequel of 'the ODDs Beginnings')

-The Adventures of James Games (another ODDs prequel, telling the story of the 4 years James Games was the first Water Empowered)

-Waves (my own superhero. He falls into radioactive water, with his radio studio, which is struck by lightning and he gains the powers of Waves)

-Earth's Army (the organisation mentioned in both the ODDs and Erebus series' own series)

Wavey Seas Themepark. With elements from all of those books (and TV shows and movies) as rides. This is the dream at least!

The non-Wavey verse books i.e. things published by David J. Cowpar.

-Sleeper (begun) a story about two cops investigating a modern day case of Sleeping Beauty.

-The Tale of the Magic Dust.

Ranking Every Episode of Buffy, ok my top and bottom 10.

Recently there was a thing floating around ranking every episode of Buffy ever. 
http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/ranking-every-episode-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer
I decided to do a top 10, and why, and bottom 10.

Bottom Ten:
144. Beer Bad (4x05)
This is the stupidest episode of Buffy. Basically Buffy drinks magic beer and reverts to being the missing link in human evolution. Yeah, it's that bad. Also Xander (who is meant to be 18-19) is working in a bar in a country where you can't drink until you are 21, where Buffy who is the same age is served beer. Stupid episode.

143. Bad Eggs (2x12)
Eggs for a "look after the egg" class hatch and take over people to dig up a bigger one of the demons that come out of the eggs. There are also two random vampires who could of had a bigger part in the show but ended up being a waste of time.

142. Retile Boy (2x05)
Teenagers go to a frat party where the frat guys worship some demon snake that allows them to have lots of money. Buffy and Cordy end up being sacrifices to the snake guy. Buffy kills it in the end (and Xander gets kicked out of the party)

141. Where the Wild Things Are (4x18)
Buffy and Riley have sex a lot and a plant grows out of the room. Other weird things happen and can only stop when they stop. Really a stupid episode. The only reason it isn't at the bottom is the fact that the house the episode is set in was an old house for troubled girls and that's the reason everything is going badly.

140. The Pack (1x06)
Xander gets possessed by a hyena spirit, along with some others from the school, and they eat the school mascot (a pig) and then, without Xander, the principal.

139. Go Fish (2x20)
The swim team are given performance enhancing drugs which ends up causing them to become fish monsters (from the black lagoon). Then at the end they just swim away. They aren't healed or killed. I expected them to come back in some later season, that would have justified the episode, but they never did.

138. Band Candy (3x06)
This is my one major divergence from buzzfeed's list. They think this should be number 26. I hate this episode. Earshot, which harks back to it, is a much better episode (33 on buzz feed). The adults eat chocolate and act like kids, basically. It is only this high because Giles keeps encouraging Buffy to hit things, thinking that is the solution and Principal Synder is a loser as a teen, as expected.

137. I was Made to Love You (5x15)
This douche called Warren makes a sex robot because he was dumped. Then the girl comes back to him and he leaves the hopelessly devoted robot walking around looking for him until her batteries run out. Yawn. Only this high because it results in Robot Buffy and Spike trying to flirt and being thrown out a window.

136. Doublemeat Palace (6x12)
Buffy becomes a fastfood person and the nice old lady is a monster. It sucks... like McDonalds on TV.

135. The Killer in Me (7x13)
Willow kisses a girl and turns into the guy she killed in the previous season and almost reacts the murder that led her to murder. Amy (normally a rat) turns out to be a rat (in the she's a horrible person sense)

honorary mention:
134. Into the Woods (and the other Riley breakdown episodes)
The Riley story is tragic and this episode, where we learn that to feel alive he is being bitten by vampires and having his blood drank for cash, is the worst of that downward spiral. Buffy's life was too much for this good guy from Iowa, or wherever, and he becomes the worst of all the guys. Spike became a good guy for Buffy, Angel's good side is completely in love with Buffy but Riley becomes the darkest of the three of them. Then Buffy (after one of Xander's emotional speeches) runs after him to get him back because all Riley is doing is all her fault anyway. Stupid. Really glad he got away in the helicopter and came back married.


Top Ten:
10. Becoming (2x21 and 22)
This is another of those heart-wrenching but amazing finales of Buffy. Spike, the evil vampire, sides with Buffy against Angel the good vampire... Then, after a big fight, Buffy has to kill Angel, about ten seconds after he turns good again.

9. Restless (4x22):
This is Buffy gone crazy. It has four dreams caused by the events, or the aftermath of the events, of the previous episode. There is also a cheese man.

8. Graduation Day (3x21 and 22):
There is so much packed into the two-part Season 3 finale, it’s impossible to list all the great moments. To highlight a few: Buffy’s showdown with Faith, Angel drinking Buffy's blood, and all of Sunnydale High taking up arms against Mayor Wilkins. It’s a thrilling cap to Buffy’s high school era.

7. Tabula Rasa (6x08):
The one where they all forget who they are.
"You're Dawn."
"Or Umad"
"I know why Joan is the boss, I'm some kind of superhero."
"Joan look, I'm a superhero too."
"They want spikes."
Oh the good memories of not remembering.

6. Once More With Feeling (6x07):
The musical episode of Buffy, all singing, all dancing. So much fun.

5. The Body (5x16):
I think this is possibly one of the best episodes of TV EVER! It is a beautiful piece of TV with no music and so much emotion. Buffy deals with a natural death and can't do anything about it. So powerful because it makes her so powerless.

4. The Prom (3x:
This is the episode in which all of the Sunnydale High students recognise they have all been saved at least once in the last three years by Buffy and award her with the class protector umbrella. Moving moment in Buffy history. Giles comments on how sometimes people can surprise you in their capacity for good (or something) which the viewer just has to nod to

3. The Gift (5x22, 100):
The last episode of Season 5 (episode 100, the last on the WB) is one of the saddest episodes of Buffy, as opposed to the previous which is one of the happiest. Buffy dies, and even today it gets me every time.

2. Prophecy Girl (1x12, 12):
Shock horror that this is up here. This is the first episode I ever saw, when I was about 6-7. Buffy became the girl that could kill the monsters hiding in my wardrobe and under my bed. Despite her dying she gets up and kicks the Masters butt to dust.

1. Chosen (7x22, 144):
The series finale of Buffy where every girl who could be a Slayer becomes a slayer is definitely the best. Buffy went out with a bang, (all of Sunnydale was destroyed). The scenes with the first four (Buffy, Willow, Xander and Giles) brought the series beautifully full circle.

Good ones that just didn't make the top 10:

• Earshot (I have previously mentioned, it is genius). (3x18)
• Conversations with dead people. (7x07)
• The Weight of the World (another one I disagree with the buzz feed list on, they have it 110, I would have it around 20) (5x21)
• Hush (4x10)
• Killed by Death (BF 130, me about 15)
• Seeing Red (6x19)
• Villans (6x20)
• Two to Go (6x21)
• Grave (6x22)
• Fear, itself. (4x04)
• What's my line (2x09 and 10)
• This Year's Girl and Who are you? (4x15 and 16)
• Something Blue (4x09)
• The Wish (3x9)

ihbia: Medical Companies

I was thinking about what someone told me one day. That was: that medical companies have developed a cure for cancer that works so well the medicine isn't needed much and is really cheap to make. Because of this low cost in production and returns the companies won't even bother to make it: as there wouldn't be enough of a profit!

Now I do not know anything about the veracity of the above story, however, it got me thinking about the principle behind medical companies.

The main goal of a medical company is not to cure illnesses or make people better, it is to make a profit. That's a scary thought when you sit down and let it sink in. Sure some of the more serious things medical companies have developed drugs to cure but there are some other things, some discomfort issues, that maybe they have discovered a cure for but it is more profitable for them to not release it onto the market.

For example I was thinking about my own asthma. Every month I spend (and mine are the cheapest of the inhalers pretty much) around 60 Euro on my different inhalers in order to combat the discomfort my asthma brings me. Now I know that in 99% of circumstances that my form of asthma isn't all that life threatening, it is more a trouble breathing discomfort thing. Imagine that Ivax (who make my inhalers) developed a cure for my strand of asthma and it could be sold on the market at 100 Euro and you needed to take two doses of whatever it was to be completely cured. So instead of 60 times 12 (720 per year), the medical company gets 200 once and no more. That doesn't make any business sense for them! It is better for them to have me on my inhalers my entire life with them only doing a fraction of what may actually be possible so they do that to line their own pockets.

Going back to the cancer scenario. What if it is true? Then I believe any medical company that has that knowledge is committing a crime against humanity in not releasing the information to the public and making the drug available.

It is madness that a company in the business of developing ways to save lives is doing something counter to that. They should be forced to take a Hippocratic oath and face time in prison if the government appointed agency that watches over their dealings finds them to have broken it.

People can be so selfish...

Ihbia: Christmas

Here within are my thoughts on the Christmas period, not necessarily the event that it all springs from (so not necessarily the important bit).

So, firstly what date is Christmas again? Is it sometime near Thanksgiving? I feel like it must be when they play Christmas music on the radio in late October and have Christmas goods available in Tesco before the Halloween ones even came out. (late August).

I love the Christmas period but I hate Christmas day. It's really anti-climatic I think.

I love the period because I can decorate the house all pretty and with lights and tinsel and decorations and lovely things that make me happy, and, like right now, I can listen to cheesy Christmas songs that I hate to love. I like buying presents for people, it's like an exercise in how well I know them. It's kind of exhilarating. I love making dinners for people and having a laugh together and all of that.

BUT I think we do Christmas Day completely wrong. Firstly, it is an unChristian notion that Christmas should be about your family. I'm sorry but if on the 11th of November (my birthday btw) you were to tell me "I can't come to your shindig because I need to spend time with my family" I would punch you. Probably not literally because I have punched like one person in my entire life and that was for an ironic reason I won't get into at this point. I think Christmas Day should be a big party... We should go to Church and STAY THERE, all day... Bring all the family, bring the friends, bring the grandkids, bring the neighbours, bring the homeless, bring everyone!

We can have music, we can have cake, we can have mince pies, we can ring bells, we can open presents as one HUGE family of God, we can all bring food we spent Christmas Eve cooking and eat together, we could have it in someone's house... we can do it all but in Jesus' presence.

When I was a kid I insisted, and so it is now a tradition in my house, that we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas Day before we ate dinner. I thought it was stupid when I was a teenager and hated it, imagine my embarrassment when mum told me it had been my idea!

Maybe I should do a glimpse into the Cowpar Christmas (and there is nothing I don't love about this, I just think it should be much less about us and much more about Jesus)

-Arise, 6:30-8:30am to open 'Santa' presents.
-9:00 breakfast, tea and get dressed.
-10:15 head to the Hall.
-10:45 Mince pies in Mallow Street.
-11:30 Leave the Hall.
-12:00 sometimes visit people.
-15:00 dinner.
-16/17:00 open non-Santa presents/
-19:00 Christmas soaps.
-21:00 Christmas game or movie.


What I presently love about Christmas:

-Decorating.
-Buying presents
-Giving presents.
-Making dinners.
-Smiles and love.
-Helping mum with stuff.
-Going to St. Mary's Cathedral for the first eucharist of Christmas on Christmas Eve-Christmas morning with dad (when he isn't working).
-Christmas day church.
-Doing actual things with the family... being together, playing a game or something that doesn't involve TV.

Bah Humbug ;)

Ihbia: IBI

Hi,

My name is Wavey (David to some people, incorrectly Dave to others) and I am still alive.
I realise I haven't blogged in about a month, and I realise I still have to do my 'controversial' if not 'radical' post on Evangelism... I will at some point, don't worry... I need to use my thinking cap and it is presently in the wash or something.

This is a new series called 'I haven't blogged in ages' and so here is a blog about what I am doing... which is largely about IBI.

I presently have the joy of being a Masters student in IBI. The Masters in IBI is really weird, in terms of how you go to classes. I wish I could tell you about all the modules I am doing, but I am not doing all the modules.

The way IBI works it's MA is that you do ONE module a term. At the moment I am doing something like "Church and Mission in Contemporary Ireland", not sure if that is the exact title but you get the idea. In the module you do one week of classes at the start, that was back in August, and then a catch up class, that was last Tuesday at 6.

The rest of term has been spent on reading for an essay and a personal growth essay thing. The essay is about how the problem in Ireland isn't that spirituality is gone but that the interest in the Church as a means to express that spirituality is gone.

Basically it is looking at how the church is modern and people are post-modern. The more I look into it the more disillusioned I am by the Church... which is kinda depressing because I loved it and thought it very important to Christianity and Christian walks once upon a time... now it seems like it is past its sell by date and spends half its time street preaching and the other half sinning and judging others while, every now again, having time to call people that call for reform heretics. God save us! That's not to say that any particular Church does this, or that I am saying that all Churches do... It's just the impression from some of the literature.

Having said that, there is hope. New churches that rethink how we do things, that want to reach this generation are starting which is awesome.

In IBI recently I heard a relatively new Church in Limerick has almost reached 100 members now. Praise God, that is so amazing and they are obviously doing things right when almost half of those are from unchurched backgrounds.

I think I want to look more into this postmodern thing. See if I can find my hope for the church again...
I think my thesis will be on "Why are young people leaving the Church and what can the Church do to draw them back?"

I can't wait for next term, when I will do Pastoral Care #2 and be able to be up every Wednesday.

IBI has some really cool people in it. There is a guy from Cavan called Craig who is a Church of Ireland Rev. (bishop more like). He oversees a number of Churches. He is such a legend. He is one of my favourite Church leaders and Christ shines out of him. Meeting people like him make all the hardness worth things :)

Okay, enough about IBI... I wanna talk about Christmas.

ask.fm/wavey1111