Category: writing

“New Russia” An Update

Been awhile since I’ve mentioned what’s going on here, so there’s this. I’ve the proof copy of “Regent” in-hand and am about 1/3 through, looking for errors. A half-dozen, so far; a letter missing, a ” missing, that sort of thing. The MS for “Imperial Entanglements” is complete and my cover artist working on that. It’s format shall be similar to my other short story collection, “Empire’s Agent,” with a large, single image on the front and 2-3 on the back, all reflecting one of the stories. It may fly in the face of my “put a face front and center on the cover” policy, but we’ll see.

I got to about 23,000 words in “New Russia” and ground to a halt, again. I was able to get all three important characters, Sergeant Konev, Centurion Hardt, and Lieutenant Patel, together. And then they received orders to not be, due to politics in St. Petersburg, Ottawa, and wherever Regent Aurelia happens to be at the moment. That scene corresponds to the last scene of “Regent,” where Aurie gets shocking news from Russian PM Reina. Rather than continuing to follow Konev, and what may play out with their army politics and that odd demon they met, this will be a section shift to Bob Hardt’s (really Robert Hartmann, Crown Prince) perspective, as he and the rest of the family are called for by the regent.

I think he just abducted Eloise Patel, thinking her life in danger if she returns to either Canadian capital. I should know more later today. Hopefully another 18-22k words, then I’ll have to fold all that back into whatever the Russian are doing. No clue right now, of course, but they’ll tell me when they are ready.

Buy Physical Books

Hello, all. Nearly finished with the copyedits for “Imperial Entanglements,” but saw this bit of news come across the transom. It is one of the main reasons I have always pushed for physical media: hard/paperback books, Blu-ray discs, old CDs… Any electronic format is subject both to alternation and deletion; a form of clawback (which can also be done to your ones and zeros in your bank account).

Does it cost a little more? Of course. But then you own a piece of someone’s mind forever, not just until some #woke nitwit decides you or a creative is guilty of Badthink. Enjoy.

Happy February

In the US, it’s the shortest month for a reason.

Just as a clearinghouse update, here’s the news: my copyeditor has returned the blood-soaked body of “Regent” to me. I wanted to begin implementing editorial changes last weekend but remain focused on writing – imagine that. He also is in possession of “Imperial Entanglements,” but since I’ve not moved on what I have, that’s not urgent. The description for both of those are in the mind of my cover designer; not heard from her since Sunday so I’m hoping she’s not frozen in her central German home.

Work on “New Russia,” and the more I think about it, the less I like that working title; I’ll give it time, continues. From cutting my way back about 2000 words to 8000 and restarting the story, I’m now just over 14,000. I’ve introduced Canadian Lt. Eloise Patel from part two of “Obligations of Rank,” as well have touched on her non-relationship with “Robert Hardt.” There is still much Russian Army internal politics I do not get, so once past the next one or two scenes, I may have to take a day for research and notes. I remain convinced I can get the raw MS to my copyeditor by the end of March, which shall count as a win for my “3 Books in 3 Months” challenge.

Not confirmed yet but I may be hosting a panel at Imaginarium about Expert Systems (not AIs; the first person to say that gets the noose) in writing and graphic arts. The title should be “St. Tay, Pray for Us.” Understandable to any regular reader here.

That’s about it for now. Back to Manitoba. It simplified things when I realized Winnipeg is under the ice already, effectively cutting off central Canada from eastern Canada. I’m sure the Russian Major General breathed a sigh of relief when that overhead imagery came in.

Prophet (pt1)

I had to tell this story from the perspective of the lead of the wildcatter team. While I can guess at the political machinations of gals such as Fussy and Aurie, there is no way, NONE, that I could ever “get inside” the head of Kalí. Even when she says what she is, I don’t fully understand; and here I am, the supposed author.

For those few, you happy few, who have read “The Fourth Law,” yes, the opening paragraph is a clean lift of its opening paragraph. I have my reasons.

This represents in the final piece of the puzzle which is “Imperial Entanglements.” I have some introductory paragraphs to write and an editing pass to make but hope to have it to my copyeditor in no more than 48 hours. It represents book two of three of my “Three Books in Three Months” challenge.

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Berserker, (pt3)

There are about 1200 words left in this story but there was no even break. So, this one is a little shorter and the conclusion tomorrow will be a little longer. Such happens.

I finally have two days off in a row from DayJob; I swear those people do not know what “part-time employee” means. I also now have two more short ideas to round out my next collection. Oh, yes… it will be called “Imperial Entanglements.” That title is, of course, borrowed from somewhere else. I invite guesses.

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Featured

Machine Civilization, Reading Order

This has come up before. Being 1) lazy, and 2) busy writing when not being lazy, I’ve kicked the can down the road. It appears I have just ran out of road. So, here are two suggestions as to how you may choose to read the books of Machine Civilization, which stretches in time from now until, so far, about three generations hence.

“What order should I read your books in?” is a question I have fielded many times, in person and online. My glib answer is, “doesn’t matter, so long as you’ve paid for them.” My honest answer is to tell a story (imagine, me being a writer) and ask a question.

The story is this: when I stumbled into being a writer on November 2014, I just kept plowing on, meeting new ideas, new people, and dealing with them head-on in my former bull-headed engineering fashion. Understanding this was a coherent future history, it dawned on me after about four years that I, of all people, needed an Excel file to track the multiple interconnections. You can pull a thread in “The Fourth Law” and paragraphs twitch in “Friend and Ally,” and if your follow that thread, you hit the entire novella of “Crosses and Doublecrosses.” And that is one, single, example. There are dozens.

Having said all that to say this: below the fold are two groupings. The first is Order of Publication. What that allows you to do is follow me as this world and worlds were gifted to me and I came to understand and write them down. The second is Internal Chronological Order, and even that is tricky. For example, the very first event I record is a flashback of Lily Barrett and her father, looking at books in Jinbocho, Tokyo, Japan, in an early chapter of “The Fourth Law.” Then would be the first short in my collection, “Empire’s Agent,” about the creation of tribe Tohsaka; but that collection covers two generations. So, please take the ICO list with a grain of salt, slice of lime, and shot of tequila.

EDIT: I have also included a tiny descriptor of each book.

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Tamera (pt6)

This is about halfway through. I think I just got to an ending which shall be along in a few days. That makes these 4300 words about 15 pages in a 6″ x 9″ book. I’ll have to start pulling these shorts together to see how much material I have right now. I need at least one more story – most likely young Aurie in her Sisterhood, the first time she went into Berserker Mode, and probably nearly killed a human – or perhaps two.

I’m beginning to think that Four Roses bourbon presupposes me to cliffhanger endings.

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Colour | Epilogue

And that’s a wrap. 67,800 words of “Regent.” For those of you reading along from the beginning, congratulations. Anyone who has commented here or sent me a note, I appreciate your input and it all goes to make the story better.

I’ll be doing some editing and formatting for a day or two before dropping this load onto my copyeditor. At the same time, I’ll see if my cover designer has not frozen to death in central Germany to prod her into action. With chance and luck, I can have this commercially available by the end of January.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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