Category: Catholicism

Ice Colour

So, who wants to see Aurie in the nude?

Well, you’re not going to here. This is a written story, not ecchi manga, you pervs.

I know that the Thinking Machines do not plan, certainly not in our sense, as they think too fast; while we open the fridge to wonder about dinner they’ve completed a schedule to terraform Mars. I think there is something a little similar with demi-humans. Not speed… just some difference I do not fully get, yet. I’ve seen a little of that with Faustina both in combat and with her sons. So when Aurie nonchalantly says, “I’m hoping to get laid,” it is apparent she’s given this some thought.

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Colours of Faith

Wherein I introduce the Archbishop of Montreal. I think, but not yet know, that this is his own act, not that of the Canadian government. As Aurie says, the centripetal forces of Canada, noted in “Obligations of Rank,” are already tearing their country apart.

Should I be capitalizing the Y in “your Eminence?”

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Border Colours

This was a surprise. I am as curious as y’all are to know if Lefevre was sent by Ottawa, Quebec, or is acting on his own? It also implies that the Catholicism of the imperial family is common knowledge. I do see already that Aurie politely demands he and his entourage be her guests for the evening. Guess Colour is getting kicked out of her VIP tent…

I kid. I’m sure they have have several extra. Hmmm. Was Aurelia an altar server as a kid? Be funny if she, general and princess, helps with Mass. Unlike the Empress, I think Aurie would be happy to. We’ll see.

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Cadets, 2/4

We learn the nature of who the imperium is fighting and why. And, I just learned that little Aurie has some ability to see the future. I wonder why God gave her such a terrible gift?

With today off from DayJob, a friend asked me to write a personal primer for one or many – I don’t know – who are about to embark on NaNoWriMo. I sent it to him just before posting this. If he likes it, I’ll add it here, too. If you’ve been following me for any time, it’s mostly old material about the creative writing process.

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Podcast 11: Religion in Machine Civilization

Having covered politics and sex it was time to turn my attention to the last of the “not to be discussed” triumvirate of religion. More specifically Christianity and ever more so, Roman Catholicism. Only two of the machines are believers and I’d guess about half, barely, of the human characters who get a speaking role in my twelve books are. I and my characters are never preachy but it is a very important matter for many of them.

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Podcast 10: Sex in Machine Civilization

Nearly twenty minutes of a middle-aged ex-engineer talking about sex. Perhaps your time would be better watching your grass grow? In modern times, this very important subject is treated so lightly and so callously that our society finds itself confusing “gender” with sex and thinking there are scores of them. That’s not how I roll.

Even in one of my earliest books one of the machines says, “Sex differences go all the way down in a way even we do not comprehend. The coders did not know that and many early models went insane.” Never once does any character speak of gender. Even the co-creation byproduct of humans carries elements of their sexuality, leading to Thaad’s most interesting development.

NOTE: more than any other podcast to-date, this one is packed full of spoilers. FYI.

As you hopefully can see, I have made several structural changes to this site. The RSS’s for the podcasts are now at the top of the sidebar. Instead of listing all links to my books – after all, they are on display right there – I have an overall link to Amazon and Smashwords. Yes, yes: baby steps. But steps nonetheless.

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“No better friend; no worse enemy”

This is a freebee to all my readers. It is from my short story collection entitled “Empire’s Agent.” The reason I’m tossing it out there is that a fellow Gabber, and a good man, is dying and expressed concern what to tell his grandkids. Thought I could lend a hand.

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“No” or “hell, no!”

Had a co-worker over for cocktails yesterday afternoon.  Ohio allows personal interaction and we’re both “vital medical personnel” *snort* so we do what we want in the Dark Age of BatAIDS.  He’s one of the folks who encouraged me to think seriously about making audiobooks.  We covered that subject and several others.  While mildly lef of center, we discovered that we’re shoulder-to-shoulder on issues such as private property and firearms.  He’s not particularly religious and was surprised to find out I’m Catholic.  I stared at him over the rim of my Martini and asked, “You’ve read three of my books.  Did you think those elements fell in there by accident?”  All in all, an excellent Saturday afternoon.

Below the fold, anxious for her men and wanting to reunite her army, Faustina thinks of ways to bluff her next opponent rather than fighting a battle.  Which is a polite way of saying I don’t want to throw away another week thinking about it.

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Up the Yazoo

Which, for my overseas readers, is an actual river and city in the State of Mississippi.  Faustina has to move fast:  both to prove herself as a legionary commander and to show that she’s better than humans.  In this segment, the first of two before the Battle of Winona (there will finally be shooting, I promise), she schools her distant relations on strategy and tactics in the former US as well as that attacking the enemy’s mind is always more effective than attacking their body.

I am also older that to write a campaign, you have to plan a campaign.  A visual example of that is at the very end of this entry.

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Rehab

After not formally writing for a week and half, I feel as if I should be entering rehab; I have (looks about) five pages of notes from downtime at DayJob and quiet times about my house but when I just didn’t the time to sit down in front of the laptop.

That came to an end today.  Daughter #2 off on a cancer fun-raiser, wife doing something about the house somewhere… I’d no more excuses.  I fired up the pellet stove in the basement and came down thirty minutes later to write.  So far, it’s working.  3k words of Faustina’s recover in the Knoxville hospital flowed right out.  There’s much there:  her physical condition, the reaction of her family to her injuries, and her fervent desire to return to “her boys” as soon as she is able.  It will be a balancing act for her, in, I think, three parts.  Here’s part one.

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