This is taking on a life of its own. Just as most of my stories do. I’m not letting myself get dragged into a discussion of biomechanics for pt3, so I’ll deal with that as quickly as I can. Especially as I’ve heard Gary’s last words in the last scene. I must return to the 2nd edition of Echoes of Family Lost and the copy-edit of The Saga of Nichole5.
I also must keep writing each day. Tricky, that.
I was just tooling around the keyboard, kinda thinking I’d write a story about Faustina. I wrote two paragraphs. Two days went by. Nothing. I looked at the third paragraph.
“I can turn this into a glimpse both into what happened after Henge was made, as well as a tinier glimpse eighteen months into her future.”
And…
“Who’s Lauren?”
I deleted the first two paragraphs and tried again.
This is not a bad representation of how I observe Machine Civilization and report it back. Except, of course, for the music, beauty, and talent. I just watch & write.
Walking away from the keyboard yesterday – but never from all those in mind – at dinner I chuckled to my wife, “…nothing I’m writing right now! Guess I could just throw…”
She looked up as I trailed off. Now well knowing that far-off look I get when imagining, she kept her peace. I came back to myself (someday, I think, I shan’t) and looked up.
“A novel on the cheap: I take the 36k words/9 stories I wrote during Lent, toss in the 12k from Empire’s Agent, come up with one more, and call it an anthology of short stories of Machine Civilization.” As this was business and not creation, she looked to Daughter #1 and asked about her homework.
I thought about it more today. Initially, I despaired: the 2nd longest story, Abandoned Factory, is set in a borrowed world, that of Yoshitoshi ABe’s Haibane Renmei. Japanese copyrights never expire! I’d have to toss that one out! Later, tired in the afternoon, I recalled Comiket and the Japanese doujinshi industry: light novels, manga, anime, a goodly portion of which are entirely based on other’s works. And sold commercially…
I’ve still some legal matters to follow on, but “Machine Civilization Dreams,” a compendium of 11-12 short stories covering nearly twenty years in that world, is a distinct possibility!
I’ve uploaded the final re-edit for T4L. The preliminary re-edit of Echoes of Family Lost is due in next week. After I give my poor copy-editor a week off she’ll be back into “The Saga of Nichole5: Part 1 – ‘Friend & Ally.'” That will have me essentially re-publishing and publishing three novels in three months.
To quote the smartest person on my planet, Dorina, “That’s SOOOO cool!”
On the first hand, I am not thrilled where this has ended. On the second hand, this is just a temporary pause! At 11k words, it would be a real pleasure to turn this into a canonical MC novel where, as a romance, no one dies.
[sit down, Will!]
On the gripping hand, I’ve much work to be done with the re-edit of EoFL and SN5-1 right on its heels. As I’ve pointed out, I can no longer not write, so I wonder… what’s next? Continue reading “Empire’s Agent, baker’s dozen”
Busy morning about the house; was in the process of installing a new fluorescent ballast in the garage when there was a spark – oh, yeah: should probably turn the breaker off. Obviously Someone wants me to write more stories or I’d have been struck dead just then. All together now:
“there are no such things as coincidences!”
Below the fold the story did not, honestly, go where I thought it would. I was very surprised that they made such an emotional connexion when I’d been expecting a physical one. That’s, obviously, still a very real possibility in their next few hours, but… I wonder…
The devil on my left shoulder whispers “kill him! horribly! tragically!” Not today, Will D.!
In other RealWorld(TM) news, the final version of the Second Edition of The Fourth Law is being reviewed for release into the wild without a radiocollar. I hope to post an Amazon link no later than Wednesday. If you want to save 30% and get a personalized, signed copy, let me know in the comments or via writer [at] 3-arstudios DOT com.
Second, awful, miserable Dayjob(TM) weekend prep. Nine to four with no breaks, no lunch. At four (1600), I curled up around some boxes of liter normal saline and fell asleep for maybe fifteen minutes. Saw this and what I’ll write and post tomorrow. Worked for another 90 minutes.
I tend to forget about the weather; I shouldn’t: it can be a fantastic tool for advancing a story. Especially a story where two people might just be falling for one another.
Since, for the vast majority of time we’ve been genetically ‘human,’ getting sick = dying, I think that caring for the sick is a special form of love we show one another. I’d call it a subset of agape, but I drink more than I Greek.
My other task is to make two, minor, editorial changes to the 2nd edition of The Fourth Law. After Createspace does their third and final review, it’ll be commercially available. It will likely not be until the following weekend that I’ve everything fixed and uploaded onto Smashwords. Following that, the 2nd edition of Echoes of Family Lost. In May, “The Saga of Nichole5 – Part 1: ‘Friend & Ally'”
It’s as if I’m an author…
You know what I’ve watched? I’ve watched the conversation between Arpad and the old guy that just came into the bar (whom you’ll meet shortly, a tertiary character from my novels). Where everything below the fold came from? No clue; I just write.
“Hasten slowly.” Twenty quatloos – and a free, signed copy of the second edition of “The Fourth Law” to the first person who identifies who is best known for that quote: hasten slowly.
It begins to come out that while they are total strangers, Arpad and Lily do know quite a bit about one another. And it seems they both like what they’ve discovered. Lily’s past is still a splinter in her mind; I know that there are things as bad in his. He’s old enough that his father could have been in the AVO, and so despised. Hell, maybe he’s Orban’s love child?… we’ll see!
It’s lunch time and the sun’s warm!
PS And yes, that’s Lily’s silhouette in the center in black. Cute girl.
My free webnovel of “Defiant” is now no longer available. In a few months it shall return as a proper, edited novel with a proper cover. On the drive home today – from a long, awful, day at work – I’ve glimpsed a title. Perhaps I’ll create a poll on Gab.ai to see which way the winds are blowing?
Anyway, the tentative title for the webnovel formerly known as Defiant is now:
“The Chronicles of Nichole5:
Part 1 – Friend and Ally”
If there’s a part one, that forces me to write a part two! At the bottom of the cover I’ll add “A Novel of Machine Civilization” to let the unsure know it’s a part of my future history.
Didn’t find anything else wrong with the re-edit of The Fourth Law. I need to add two pages, at my wife’s very good suggestion, and get that off to Createspace. But… tomorrow. Too tired now and I don’t want to bugger up my pdf files.
Yes, yes: Lily and Arpad’s lunch! I know!
machciv 