Busy day at work; tired.
Had to forage for dinner.
Dry and itchy from the winter weather.
Wife suggested we just watch something.
…
In other words, I was given every opportunity to not write something today. As tomorrow is the beginning of Lent, color me unsurprised at the temptation to give up.
Okay. Maybe 1200-1500. And the check’s in the mail. I swear.
I suspected this would happen: my small writing exercise would trigger something that goes on longer. I’m hoping – hoping! – that this is only going to be 1000-1200 words, total. That’s all I’ve seen as yet.
This, originally, was a scene from my second novel, Echoes of Family Lost. However, because of my writing style (start in the middle, use flashbacks for details) this just didn’t fit. And worse, it allowed me to start writing exposition rather than dialog. It’s a failing of mine but at least I know it’s there.
The gist of this is that Lily Barrett, her friend Fausta, and their guide, Orloff, are on their way from the Republic of Texas towards East Tennessee, to find someone very important to her. The badlands of post-Breakup America are a rough place, but charitas may be found in unexpected places.
See? That’s me, talking again. I’ll shut up now.
Not knowing much, well, anything, about international copyrights, this could best be called fanfiction. The main character here, Nike, plays a not-insignificant role in my forthcoming novel, Defiant.
This story takes place in a world created by Yoshitoshi ABe nearly twenty years ago. It yielded an anime that – while dated – is one of the most powerful and compelling stories I’ve ever experienced. For a non-Christian, ABe had an amazingly Catholic vision.
And yes: I do know who’s in the cocoon.
Looked over some notes from a project that never worked out: “Crosses & Doublecrosses.” It was to be a political-espionage thriller. I stopped writing the story after about a page and switched to notes. After ten pages of notes, I realized that 1) this was work, not fun, and 2) I’m not cut out for this sort of story – at least, not right now.
It was to be the back-story of what happened in Texas during the Breakup. The main character was Sylvia Fernandez, a lawyer who comes to work for Clive Barrett and his state terror organization I modeled on the Checka. Clive Barrett is the father of the heroine of my first two novels, T4L and EFL.
Below the fold is one of the introductory scenes. Looking at my notes, I’d forgotten that I’d cross-populated this part of the story with a character from my visual novel, OTChi Kocchi (reviewed here). I was younger then.
Going back to leap forward: from the end of “Echoes of Family Lost”, when a certain character declares his love for another (are there not Spoiler Tags in WordPress?), we find ourselves ten years in the future, on the beach, but around the dinner table just a few minutes before.
Yeah, it’s not the best title, but it captures what these are: micro (micro, tanjit! no 18k light novels!) stories from my world of Machine Civilization. It keep me writing and sane, at least one of which is a good thing.
Below the fold is after “Cursed Hearts.” A friend of Cat’s begins to get her life back together, just to see that interrupted. Spoilers.
the same way watching a Conan film counts as going to the gym. But, I wanted to talk about theology. Because Dante’s Comedy came into being – in vernacular – a generation or so before both Gutenberg and the so-called Protestant Reformation, the idea that there are three states after death became entrenched in the popular mind. To we followers of Holy Mother Church, that’s crap: there is only Heaven or Hell. Purgatory, invented by publishers to sell more books, is just Heaven’s… entryway? mudroom? foyer? It’s where you get yourself cleaned off and your shit together before coming further into the mansion for the grand party you were invited to. Walking into that covered in shit and blood would be rather rude, what?
I thank God for revealing the Tradition of Purgatory to His Church. If I really, honestly, believed that I had to be utterly perfect on this Earth to merit Heaven… suicide or Stalin seem to be the only responses to that. Given my personal unresponsiveness to the need of people about me, I pray for a long, long stay in the Foyer before I join the Party. Be rather rude if YHWH just let me in and while taking a flute of Champaign, I brushed past the Son with a muttered “…bloody wog!”
And that’s why most of my characters are finding their way there: Purgatory. Or, if you prefer, Guri (Glie). I’ve already written here, on this blog, shorts, where we see Nike, Maya, “Orloff” all having their moments. Honestly, I CANNOT wait to see the sunshine and be just a little drunk to write the book where ALL of them are there! Just tonight, I saw a little short between Emma (human) and Gordon (machine) of my most recent novel, Cursed Hearts, talking about the deaths of all their friends.
These blog posts keep me coming back to life, as it were. Hoping for greater things, very soon.
I’ve never had much use for “the Holidays.” I am asocial and dislike the dark of winter. Even as an orthodox Catholic, Christmas is just a matter of “meh” for me. And this year, things preyed on my mind.
Yes. Yes there is: in abandoning writing, I’ve abandoned myself. I’m dying; at a rather astonishing rate. I do not want this: I’ve glimpses: Gary & Henge, older, trying to talk out where and what to do with their love for one another. Nichole5 stands with Togame atop the New Tokyo Tower, with its Reactionless Thruster crown, talking about off-world colonies. Editing Pirate Twins into a light-novel-with-pictures or a graphic novel…
I’ve so much to do, and I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. Lent and lighter evenings are upon me; I’m not one to “give up” as I’ve so little. Instead, I shall take on: my father-in-law’s history, Machine Civilization’s new stories, things I cannot imagine.
Clear the decks: I’m engaging my enemy!
…
Apropos of this, below the fold is the utterly astounding artwork of Matt Michallow of StarArtWorks. He, through me, the guy wearing his art, owned Ohayocon, the largest animecon of central Ohio, two weeks ago. Over 350 pictures taken!
Saying thanks, and all that: ebook versions of The Fourth Law and Echoes of Family Lost will be available for FREE on Smashwords.com between now and New Years Day.
machciv 