Europa’s appearance was originally in Part 4, but the break didn’t fit. This installment is a little shorter, but my action sequences always are. You’ll see more of that next week once ‘Cursed Hearts’ is commercially available.
Editing of Proof Copy this weekend. Shall I come back to Logres & Europa? Move onto something else? I get many ‘Likes,’ but comments & quesions are very welcome, too!
I’ve seen about 200 words or so beyond this, but it’s getting late and I didn’t want to make any unforced errors. I think constantly introducing new characters is my besotting sin.
“It is not good that man be alone.” Thanks be to God, Europa’s back, even if just for this installment. Everybody gets older. Not one, single clue what happens next. Awesome!
RealLife(TM) work followed me home, not much, but I was off the clock, which sucked. I’m trying to make this a 4-5,000 word story complete by the time my CH proof copy gets here (irrational deadlines!) so that’s 1k words each night. That’s about what’s below the fold. Makes sense: my stories are characters and their interactions; this whole entry is Logres on his own, so, honestly, it’s a little boring. I had to get him halfway across Europe; now that that’s done, I hope he and Europa can show me what comes tomorrow!
All right: I’ve an idea for a short story. I’m breaking it into parts, three, probably, that I can write over the next few days. Reilly’s out, but I still wanted something nostalgic, but, as I said in the last post, inside my future history. So, let’s rock.
Editing and cover for ‘Cursed Hearts’ complete and the hardcopy proof will be in my hands Thursday or Friday. I’m sure there’s a half dozen more surprises lurking in there for me. So for now, I can sit back and relax…!
[Wanders around the house. Vacuums upstairs. Looks at interwebs. Glances at watch: noon]
Bored!
I’d a notion last night this would happen, but was far too drunk to worry about it. In the few quiet moments at Mass this morning, I did. If I don’t start writing something, I’ll go crazy. So, I paged through some notes and pondered.
At first, I thought about striking out in a completely different direction: going back to the script I wrote for the Steampunk Reilly graphic novels; it has a good series of stories held together by a coherent overall arc and a brace of interesting characters. It also has nothing to do with Machine Civilization.
About a week ago on A Writer’s Path (a super resource), I read an article about why a writer should, basically, “stay on message;” if you do SF, do SF. If you write romance, write romance. Given that I’ve written SF, religion, magic, romance, horror, friendship all through visual novels, traditional novels, websites, and picture books, I considered that to be a crock of shit. In fact, I’ve very deliberately chosen to change genres, just to see what I can do.
However, there might be a useful nugget there still: while I have used different characters and settings to tell different stories, they’ve – so far – all been in my future history, Machine Civilization. Mulling on that – and that I think steampunk is much better suited for a visual medium – I put the Reilly story away. Again. So, what to do? There on the sidebar (or in the Menu, depending on how you’re viewing this) is my free novel/writing experiment, “Defiant.” It’s just possible that I could edit Acts 1-3 into Part 1 of 2 of another novel (and that would be a lot of editing! It was never designed to be a free-standing story!). It has some romantic elements that I could turn up or down, as well as a strong military theme. Some politics, but not so much that my head starts spinning by page five (as it did with ‘Crosses & Doublecrosses).
Then again, having just come off of a novel, do I want to undertake something big again? Would maybe two or three short stories be better both to keep me writing and the creative process engaged? Short stories can also be scaled up, witness, ‘It’s Just Business’ (that was the original title) turning into ‘Cursed Hearts.’
Sighing into my computer screen, I imagine Ai’s family, Nichole’s family, and anyone left alive at Neuroi Corporation, sighing back at me, wondering when Stupid Writer will tell more of their stories. Apologies, friends: I’m trying.
Via Smashwords, my first two novels are now available in a much wider variety of ebook formats.
Background: Archimedes of Syracuse, per the orders of General Marcellus, is not killed in 212 BC by a Roman legionary but is brought to Rome to walk in that general’s triumph the following year. Paroled, he spends the last five years of his life in an insula in the Suburra, successfully completing his notes on his invention of calculus.
Those notes, and the others recovered from his workshop in Syracuse, are used by Roman civil and military engineers over the next two hundred years to accelerate the growth and stability of the Late Republic’s provinces. By the time of Octavian’s monarchy, Germania had been a province for one generation and Parthia for two.
Around 50 BC, the observer of natural phenomenon, Varro, formerly Pompey’s biographer, invents a primitive steam engine for use in mines and agriculture. Circa 10 AD, Hero of Alexandria creates a cooling jacket that improves the efficiency of Varro’s engine by several orders of magnitude. The Roman Empire enters the Steam Age.
Story: (c. 100 AD) Marcus Quinctilius Justus Varus Pius, Justus to his co-workers, is a mid-level clerk in the Licinius SA international trading firm. Besides his day-to-day actuarial duties, he spends most of his time trying to not be reminded that he is the sole surviving family member of “the last general that lost a Roman Army,” his great-grandfather, some ninety years ago. However, because of his mother’s Parthian background and his knowledge of that language, he’s tapped as an assistant to a trade mission – sanctioned by the Emperor himself – to the far land of Sirica (what we call China). Roman and Serican traders meet all the time in India and the isle of Taprobane, but this was something different: find an over-land route where Roman engineers could build a road for trade. Or invasion.
After many adventures and close-calls, Justus and his party come to the borderlands of Serica. There, in the city of Liqian, they have their first shock: the citizens are the descendants of legionaries captured at the battles of Carrhae and Phraapsa and forcefully relocated to the Parthian NE frontier. After so many years, are you here to guide us home, they ask? Close on the heels of that, Justus quite by accident stumbles upon the Sirican’s greatest military secrets, and thus a chance to redeem his family’s name: the powder that explodes.
Just an idea I had. Thoughts? And what would you call this? Romepunk? Marblepunk?
Via the talented Monica San Nicolas, whom I very highly recommend, editing for CH is finished. I shall spend this weekend formatting the pages to 6″x9″ (effortless) and creating chapter breaks at the appropriate moments (not so effortless) followed by a hotlink Table of Contents for anyone who buys the ebook version (easy, but time consuming).
And, even though I’ve days left, I shall make a decision about the cover (see post, below). No matter who wins, there are some minor tweaks to be made to front and back; and, the winner will need the book’s spine width.
I’m already mulling three new story ideas, but also think that I should be older about Marketing and learning to reach out to agents. Are there any readers of this humble blog that could illuminate me in those regards?
Apologies to Henry II Plantagenet. I’ve eleven days to decide a book cover between my two finalist. I’ve been stumped for two days and want to be done by this weekend to get published, soonest! A link to where you can take a look and vote is below. Opinions welcome.
They’re both so tanjed good! How to decide…?
https://99designs.com/contests/poll/2nc3oq
machciv 