Wasteland Wednesday #2

*Language and Content Warning*

Unlike QE’s normal informational blog, Wasteland Wednesday will include foul language and post-apocalyptic nonsense.  I’m talking f-bombs, men with tentacle appendages, and joy-puking.

Welcome back to Wasteland Wednesday!  Last week we tipped our hat to Michail Mamaschew and revealed his progress on the kick-ass cover artwork he is doing for Wastelander: The Drake Legacy.  Also, Drake knocked down the doors of my imagination and raised a tiny bit of hell.  I wanted to talk about the world today, but I know for a fact Drake is currently occupied, so let’s take a Wednesday and peel away one of Drake’s layers.

Before we do that, let me share some updates with you all.  I’m happy to report that the cover artwork is finished.  Michail couldn’t have done a better job.  Unfortunately, I’m not going to give it to you all at once.  I’ll give it to you all in snippets and explain the relevance.  Can’t an author get a little foreplay?

Secondly, I’ve managed to snag Michail for illustrations in the complementing novella: The Wastelander Survival Guide.  I’ve taken a couple weeks off from my writing projects to recuperate, but during my “free” time I have been sketching out storyboards and will be passing those along to Michail so he can get cracking on the line art.

All right, let’s talk about Drake.  Here’s the original concept cover featuring Drake if you missed last week where he explained what he was doing in this scene.

The concept cover art for Wastelander: The Drake Legacy. This image is owned by Corey Truax. Any manipulation or use of this image without written permission from Corey Truax is not permitted.  Do you have a first-born?  Maybe we can barter – contact me. 

Today I wanted to direct your peepers to Drake’s left hand.  You’ll see something there.  A malformed snowball? A thirty year old puff pastry?  Nah, it’s a baseball.  Not just any baseball though.  A baseball named Sammy.  Here’s a better look for you.

When Drake’s journal was converted into books, Sammy was introduced to the reader in Chapter 1 of both.  Here is an unedited excerpt from Drake’s journal.

“On a side note, some people might think it strange to include a baseball in your wasteland survival loadout.  Some people are idiots.  Why huck a rock when you can sling a baseball?  What if you can’t find a rock?  You gonna toss some other piece of gear?  Why not always have an item with you designed to be thrown?  Anyways, I digress.  So with Sammy in hand, yes my baseball is named after the late Sammy Sosa, I tossed a nice high ball straight up into the treetops to garner some attention from the clueless hunters.”

-Drake

So now we have a name, Sammy, and a little bit of backstory from Drake.  Now Sammy is an important item to Drake.  Beyond basic function (throwing), the baseball serves other purposes.  If it didn’t, why would this Sammy be the 17th of its kind?  The first Sammy had an original signature on it from Sammy Sosa.  All the following baseballs had Sammy’s signature on them, too.  The only difference is Drake forged all of those.

I‘ll let you sort out the value of a baseball in the wasteland if/when you read the book.  But today, let’s look at how the wasteland can bust your balls (or lady parts), both literally and metaphorically.

• Sammy #1 Stolen when shot in head.
• Sammy #2 Fell into a fire.
• Sammy #3 Boiled and eaten to survive winter.
• Sammy #4 Discarded while Sammy #1 was being reclaimed.
• Sammy #5 Blown up.
• Sammy #6 Lost him.
• Sammy #7 Stolen while asleep.
• Sammy #8 Stitching gave up and he fell apart.
• Sammy #9 Fell into river.
• Sammy #10 Got drunk and wagered him.  Lost the wager.
• Sammy #11 Destroyed while Sammy #10 was being reclaimed.
• Sammy #12 Modified into explosive and destroyed.  It was glorious.
• Sammy #13 Inbreeder ate him.
• Sammy #14 Traded him for food.
• Sammy #15 Destroyed while Sammy #14 was being reclaimed.
• Sammy #16 Was crushed into a million tiny pieces.
• Sammy #17 Current Sammy.

That’s your sneak peak into Wastelander today.  I’m enjoying sharing some of this trivial information with all of you.  It’s tricky revealing information that is intuitive, but not going to spoil the book.  I’m doing my best to keep it entertaining though.

I‘m not sure what we’ll talk about next Wasteland Wednesday.  Heck, the world may be a wasteland by then.  Who knows.  Drake has his baseball and some other bits and bobs.  If the world was going kablooey tomorrow, what items would you take with you into the wastes?  Until then, keep hiding, keep hoarding, and as always – stay alive.