Much better now. My wife made the astute observation: “this is going to kill you.”
Of course it will! But I rather die in a weltering of my stories than a drugged plant in front of the teevee, shoveling cheesy-puffs into my mouth.
Below, originally from my second novel, Echoes of Family Lost, are two now very old friends talking shop.
Saw much while at work today: project manager Chinon’s surprise when Dorina tells him she’ll be running things at Chise’s brief restart; Shandor’s possible betrayal (and thus Thaad’s possible reaxion); Pius XIII on his knees in his office in the Vatican, praying; a certain door to a certain chamber opening… as the thin rug of reality that gets torn out from under Leslie…
So I saw that. But I’m very tired and do not want to screw it all up for everyone. Please, grant me a night for them to let me dream their details. Confused? You won’t be after tomorrow’s episode of The Second Bridge.
PS You really, really think there are such things as coincidences? This showed up, today, of all days!
Going from Dayjob to this is once again exhausting me. I really would like to see this story to its close, but I might need to go quiet and rest for a day or two. We’ll see. Thanks for everyone’s tacit encouragement.
Awful day. Cable modem has failed. Too hungover to bang wife in the AM. Cooking last turkey of the season and something’s wrong with the propane system. Kill me.
At least there’s this.
Just before Mass tonight I let out a little laugh. Never knowing what I’m up to my wife looked me a question.
“Just saw part of a story,” I said. I’d been making correxions to the newly re-edited version of “The Fourth Law” all day, so it was a surprise to suddenly have this story break in. Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to see what I did. The ironic part is that what I saw doesn’t happen until pt.6!
Ecchi. Well, how ecchi can you get for two that have been betrothed to one another for over ten years? I commend their self-discipline. Henge and Dorina are up to something, we know. They’re feeding info the to the scientists and engineers at Oak Ridge, we know.
We need to find out what we don’t know. Not necessarily today, though. Did I mention ecchi? I don’t know any… are Gen Zyklon kids capable of this sort of self-restraint?
This morning, I was preoccupied with thoughts about fusion reactors. At my lunch, I tried to catch up on where current tech was for their development.
As I was getting ready to leave DayJob, I realized that was stupid and that my characters were talking over drinks in a bar.
Where that went… I’d no idea. The last half of this short – who’s Tracy? – was just shown to me.
At 1800, my wife was at the far end of the dining table looking at dishwashers on her phone. She thinks we need a new one; I think she needs to do a better job rinsing dishes before she puts them in.
Anyway.
At that time, I was staring off, wondering what to write. I kinda/sorta knew Gary was due for an appearance, but I really didn’t –
And then, in an instant, I did. Everything below the fold was there in my eyes. Creative writing is so… strange!
After last night I knew I had to get back to writing or I’d die. Considered various ideas throughout the workday. Just after 1700, when I was cleaning the isolation hood, the roar of its motor must have mixed with the chemicals in the Cavicide wipes to let me see something. Not a lot of detail but certainly a week’s or more worth of story. I’d been thinking about Faustina, however by lunch I’d come to know I didn’t know her well enough to tell her story.
For Gary and Henge, though, I’d already laid down two big markers: one in “Echoes of Family Lost” and another in ‘Worlds Without End.’ I’ll be picking them up now. This is, I think, going to be a great deal of fun!
This may seem shorter than usual, but when you only need to write dialog, as in a play, it tends to keep your word count down.
PS I came up with the title after writing all this. It derives from something Ai said late in “The Fourth Law.” In doing so, I may have been given a glimpse of Faustina’s story. Apologies to Cornelius Ryan in advance.
