Category: confusion

Civil Wars 2, 13

Apologies again. I died a little, including a trip to the local county hospital ER. Got better; some kind of seizure. Doc who looked all of thirteen wanted to give me valium. I told him to stick it. He was pissed and my wife laughed once he left. “You’re so charming,” she smiled. “I’ve no reason to be.”

So, in reparations for being silent for a week, here’s 1200 words of Graf and Pai’s encounter with Human Supremicists. They seem nice enough but have ideas which just won’t work in a Changed world, and they cannot understand that. Reading over it, it’s a bit confusing as to when Graf is recalling the encounter and when Pai is seeing to him after; it will make more sense when properly formatted into a book.

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Civil Wars 2, 12

Much shorter entry today. I realized yesterday I had screwed up and forgotten something: this book is supposed to be, in large not all, a war diary of Graf’s back to Alix and, for the future, their kids. So, I had to backtrack from what came after the end of this segment and am working it into a letter he writes two days later. Since it starts with, “Pai will have to check this, what with the painkillers I’m on,” we can guess this jaunt to just east of Pataskala, Ohio Province, didn’t go all that smoothly.

In RealLife news, today is election day in most of FUSA. As there was no candidates above the county level, I could consider them all. Anyone running unopposed, I skipped. All attempts to steal more of my money, voted NO. Doesn’t matter, they always pass. There are more people who like their gibs allied to guilty old White people that crap like that passes every time.

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Civil Wars 2, 7

Moving on and briefly back with his family, Graf has a bit of a “road to Damascus” moment. Not sure it will take, but we’ll see. Pai could instantly tell something was different. She is likely reaching out to her uncle, Balthazar, who is Russian Orthodox, for more information. I cannot imagine her hostile to a possible emergence of her husband’s faith; still, this is a complex subject and I will proceed carefully.

Next, we will meet this branch of the Hartmann family. I bet at dinner; I love dinners.

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Civil Wars 2, 3

Speaking of medical matters, on my day off was up at 0630 to drop off a dog for teeth cleaning. The estimate was $700-900. TF? I told my wife “next time buy a damned toothbrush.”

A rare Tuesday update, I wanted to wrap up Graf’s foray into the park across from the hospital. I also wanted to re-point out what Pai calls his gift; something he nearly considers a curse. I’m too good a writer to get into “Mary Sue” territory, so things will happen shortly to keep him on a short leash.

For those who know my works, you’ll recognize the scraggly gal Graf sees in the background for just a moment.

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Civil War, 2

One thing that is already bothering me is that a journal tends toward those “walls of text” which have never characterized my books. I am a dialog guy, from the show-don’t-tell group of writers. I’ll see how the rest of this first chapter unfolds, but am already toying with the idea of even-numbered chapters being Pai’s observational counterpoint to Graf’s writings to his children and their mother.

And, yes, that comes up again. Trust me, as a very socially conservative Catholic, it was and is a stress on me to have this three-way relationship. I know full well that cultures do drift over time, and here we are nearly 150 years from The Fourth Law, so I’ll keep on for now and try to muddle through. I also realize I’ll need to talk to my copyeditor about formatting. With Graf’s entries in italic, it would be confusing to use the same for his internal thoughts, which is what I’ve been using for ten books, now. Guess, I’ll figure that out, too.

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Civil War, 1

With Irrational Pai off in the hands of my copyeditor and cover designer, I was a loose ends for a bit. About 36 hours. Then, per normal, I was shown something. Most of IP was introducing the characters and the politics about fifty years on from my last novel and I knew it would be the forerunner of at least one more book. But what kind of book? Long time readers know that I like to try different things, so, borrowing from Grathew, I thought to make a kind of war diary.

This will mostly be from Graf’s POV, as he wants to leave some record for his children by Alix if he’s killed, but there will be parts where we will see that his wife, Pai, thinks of what is going on. What’s below is the a rough prologue, as I am always one to “start your story in the middle.” I’m messing about with the first chapter; as a diary, it is what I call “walls of text” versus what I normally do, which is dialog. I’m not entirely happy with the format, but am hoping to strike a balance as I keep writing.

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New Pai, 13

Interestingly, this underminds my entire arc for these two books. If Luce is banished from the DMZ, then one leg of my “religious war over the Fusions” is knocked out. Oh well, this is what I was shown to write, so I’ll work it out one way or another.

I think I’ll gloss the entire trial scene, esp as everything will be happening behind the scenes, anyway. Also, I know there is some significance to Luce’s reluctance to give up her staff and coat, but I don’t yet know what it is. Generally, a staff indicates authority and a coat or robe much the same (“I’m wealthy enough to keep warm”). How this novel wraps up, that is, the very last scene of the epilogue, will be a little odd, even for me.

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