Christmastime

Bloody awful. By and large nice to have my girls home for a couple of weeks, but it seems around 18 December the wife and I got the Ohmygod! variant of ChiCom Kung Flu, so it has been a miserable time. Not as bad as the non-gengineered flu I had last February, I ran a fever for nine days, peaking, of course, on Christmas afternoon itself at 102F. My wife, with great consistency, has even the sniffles always turn into bronchitis, so she’s been hacking up her lungs for the same time.

Today is the first time I think I’ll be able to get back to both writing and making the final changes to “Obligations of Rank” to release commercially. I’m also due to report back to my DayJob on Monday, but I do not much care about that place anymore. Hospitals kill people for government money and my guilt in that complicity grows.

There’s much on my plate for January, including returning to making podcasts. Thanks to everyone’s support over this odd year and I look forward to it again, next year.

Still alive. Plus: editing

Yes, I dropped off the radar again. At DayJob, the IV Room assignment has become a punishment detail, what with all the drips for the vent patients we’re killing (avoid hospitals, everyone). At home, much better but just as busy: That short story I wrote in October, which was growing into a novella in November, has metastasized into its own novel, meaning over the last three weeks I’ve put down about 15,000 words.

Which all ground to a halt yesterday evening. I’d a few pages for the opening of part 2, but the main character, Allen, is presented with a nigh-well insolvable problem. Until I think of how he can solve it, nothing to type.

In the meantime, here’s an ad and a link to my copyeditor. The man is efficient and reasonably priced. I have relied on Mr. Zimmer for, what, five of my novels, now? And hope to continue to in the future.

“Allen x Ryland,” part 8 [end]

Wherein we reach the conclusion of this short story. Note how I phrased that. The 6055 words of parts 1-8 were from a glimpse of something I had at church three weeks ago. It took about five days to write it all down. Once complete, I thought it would be a nice addition to my second short story collection.

Until last Sunday, when another reel started playing in my head. Picking up right where this one ends, with Allen up in his room using his tablet to read Ryland’s bio on the Naval Academy’s page. The next day he’s back at the Galveston base and the following day at his job, doing in port maintenance on TNS Liberty. And that’s only what I’ve seen so far. I do know Allen develops a friendship with another sailor and it is quite possible that the Mexicans, Cubans, or some other power, have slipped a submarine into the Gulf of Mexico to interdict commercial shipping.

Saying all that to say this: thanks for reading along with this short story and look forward to its novella in 2022!

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“Allen x Ryland,” part 7

At the end of another long week. I’m almost beginning to hope I get let go from my DayJob. Now that my wife has a full-time job with health benefits for when her lymphoma comes back, I’m just working to pay my bar bill.

After upsetting her boyfriend’s mother, Ryland takes a moment to fill in some historical gaps Allen didn’t know, even if it had to do with family. I’ve seen that often in meatspace, esp with Millennials and GenZ who don’t even know who their grandparents are. As someone who can trace my family back over 300 years, it is almost impossible for me to grasp such ignorance. Your family, after Christ, is everything.

And then Ryland gets all nice with Alan. Clever girl. And, as this is the future history of Machine Civilization, it is about time I drop that into the story.

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Fish and Shrimp Radio Waves

The good folks at The Star Chamber were having an open lines night. I was just following along with a few lines to their Chat Room when they foolishly wandered onto a topic I found relatable. After all these months, I would have thought that the host would know to recognize at least my Area Code and block all numbers from there, but no… once again they wagered their reputations on letting go live. The triumph of hope over experience.

I wander in almost exactly at the 1:15:00 mark and babble for about eight minutes. Once off, the hosts try to recover from my verbal Molotov Cocktails. It was fun.

“Allen x Ryland,” part 6

Taking a break from tractor engine work, the Ruperts try to be hospitable. It appears that is as difficult for Ryland as it is for her cousin. I wonder if the Barrett family descendants are mildly cursed to be assholes?

Caught up in the family emotional drama, Allen briefly reverts to form; at least verbally.

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“Allen x Ryland,” part 4

The “x Ryland” part of the title has been off-screen long enough. So I’ll start to fix that here. Any cop comes to understand human nature pretty damned fast as a part of their job and Allen’s father is no different. Sure, it’s possible for broken people to turn around their lives, but most do not.

I had finished the original 6000 words of this short story several days ago. Thinking a little too much about this past Saturday… and hello to an additional 1800 words! This is now definitely headed into “novella” territory and one again I conclude that creative writing is a mental illness.

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“Allen x Ryland,” part 3

The story takes a turn for the murky as Allen’s father seeks to provoke his son, to shock him into realizing this sort of relationship just won’t work. The lad responds by saying something Ryland told him. Personal family history which no one talks about.

And the old tractor needs fixing; there’s that.

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“Allen x Ryland,” part 2

The short story continues as we get both a little more about Allen’s backstory, including an outburst as to why he hates his old life, as well as a tiny introduction of the this girl.

For those of you who have read it, we meet 14-year-old Ryland in “Empress’ Crusade,” she’s even on the cover with her cousin, where she proves a very level-headed girl. I say there that she is “graduating the academy in two years,” so that would seem to be where we are right now.

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Continue reading ““Allen x Ryland,” part 2″ →