Not too much… really just wrapping up Gary’s day I started awhile ago. The ‘problem’ is what I saw next: just as I feared, I’m sorely tempted to start talking about the Hartmann’s and how life has changed in Knoxville over the past ten years.
Deep breaths: let’s try to stay focused on our happy couple…
This is going to be based on an idea I had almost three weeks ago. You don’t have to go back and read it – in fact, I’d rather you didn’t, as a better, edited, version is in a blockquote below the fold.
Henge (“hen-geh”) first made an appearance toward the end of The Fourth Law. I was playing with the idea of how AIs could make children; not just copies of themselves, but children, and she showed up. In the last scene of my second novel, Echoes of Family Lost, Henge meets Gary when everyone is taking some well deserved R&R on her beach. They make some connexion I still don’t understand and announce to both Families, human and machine, that they’re getting married.
The trick for me is to not get sidetracked on what’s happened politically and/or socially in the intervening ten years. I’m going to have to say something, obviously, but I’ll try to confine myself to culture. What I want to accomplish here is a love story between two very different people, who are united by their deep orthodox Catholic faith.
Let’s go!
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.
To cite Arkada of Glass Reflections: ladies, gentlemen, and others, I present to you the final installment of Act 2.5 of “Defiant.” Yes, you read that right: the writing component is complete. Editing and ret-conning the four parts of this 18-month, 85.5k writing exercise into a proper novel will begin.
And therein lies your chance, you followers of this blog and those that have wandered in via my sole social media presence on Gab.ai: if you so desire, you can d/l and read the entire story between now and Saturday, for free. It’s very, very rough, but you’ll get what you pay for. Come Saturday, whenever I wake up, I’ll be pulling the entire ‘free webnovel’ down as I begin to turn it into a commercial novel. As always, I’ll do the first-pass editing myself. Second and copyediting – and a cover – are as yet an unknown; after the layabout wife and the Dog With the Golden Nose, it’s all ramen and Taco Bell salsa packets here. My sole, possible, hard-deadline, is January 26th, when I might have another Creative Writing panel at Ohayocon. If I do, I’d like to say, “since my last panel, I’ve published two books… what did you do?” Keeps the snarkers from snarking.
Anyway, there’s just over thirty five hundred fricking words below the fold! Open a bottle of wine or make a pot of coffee, the one right next to that bottle of bourbon, sit back, and, please, see what I’ve seen… and have fun!
Very good introductory to quantum computing. Much promise in this field, especially to meet new friends! Someone should write about… oh…
Said Prince John to his brothers and Queen Eleanor, around 1185 in Chinon Castle.
I feel the same way. From my last post, I knew I’d seen enough to move things forward; not all in one day: my notes point toward about 11k words of story. But, time to get going!
So why do I have Teresa kissing Nichole outside the Miller Library? WTF does this have to do with the Cannibal Army storming the Lewis & Clark Bridge? Where’s the killing? Where’s the nerve gas? SRSLY?
If nothing else, I’ve SEEN when the breathless messenger comes rushing into the room where N and the Mayor are having their very guarded conversation, announcing the loss of the bridge to the Enemy. That’ll get things rolling! N has some funny, but pointed, things to say about how/why Japan lost the Pacific War, starting with Guadalcanal, and how that impacts His Honor’s response.
Bleeding Jesus, but I need an Editor!
Continue reading ““Oh my God! We’re Supposed to Start a War!””
…start blowing stuff up.” I realized Wednesday, after a small psychotic incident (when you wake up wondering if you’ve had a stroke, the rest of your day will not unfold well), that cutting myself off from creative works was turning into a very bad idea. After scaring the hell out of my boss with my borderline behavior, I excused myself at 1300 and went home to stare off my deck into my backyard.
After an hour of that, I got a notepad & pen and began. Nothing detailed, just trying to SEE. Made about a page and a half while my aggregates slowly coalesced into normalcy. In downtime on Friday, did some checking and realized the nuke plant NNW of Portland, from my childhood memory, was out: the progs have obliterated all trace of it. But, there is a bridge, about a mile north… about 3/4 page of notes.
Today, half of #fam was at swim meet, so more waiting to SEE. Finally got it: a wrap to the Cannibal Army from Act I, as well as exposition of local politics, more friend Mackenzie, and how Joe actually falls for Nichole. Literally: from an exploding bridge blanketed by nerve gas.
No story below the fold, but I did want to share my notes; they’re 1;4 and 2;3 in the pics, so don’t get confused. I’ve made a gallon of my super-concentrated tea for tomorrow and am going to bed early. Hoping for much friendship, politics, and mayhem, tomorrow!
I’d just now put those words onto Maya’s lips. And that’s how I feel: at 57k words… why not introduce a new character! Eff me, why not?! What I needed was a victim to satisfy Maya’s cravings after being held captive by [person] in the machine’s home for one of our weeks, so, thinking about the sacrificial secretary at the start of Elfin Lied (06:41-07:24; subs don’t matter, this is just what I had in mind at the time), I came up with Emma Miller.
“Look at you.” The scowl was there, but Emma hoped it was a spark of mirth she saw in those odd eyes. “You’re a walking cliché: blue jeans and blue eyes; blonde hair and an unnecessarily large chest! All the while knowing nothing about how this world really works! Bismarck was right!”
All Maya has to do after running into her is grab her and steal her life… but, there’s a CCTV camera; if Gordon’s watching, he’ll know that what she told him about just wanting to meet her brother is a lie, and will alert Chris… so Maya hesitates. In that moment, Emma starts talking. I learn she’s a Masters in Computer Engineering, working on her PhD and is a better programmer than anyone at UCSD-SCS. But, since she’s low-man on the totem pole, she’s the one to bring coffee and donuts.
Until Maya literally runs into her.
And when Maya lets slip that Gordon is self-aware – an impossibility to Emma – the dialog started. Last I saw, they were on a bench on the north side of Giesel Library eating brats for breakfast. I couldn’t take it, so I vacuumed two floors of my house and did two loads of laundry. I’d the hook by the time I got back: Emma is a friend of Cat’s and has heard the name ‘Chris’ already. Maya’s already mentioned that, so Emma is running confused. She gets a text from Cat about lunch, and excuses herself from Maya… who can read a lying human like a book. She follows.
When Can I Kill These People?!?!? It’s as if I’m fond of them and –
Oh.
Krep.
At long, long last, I’ve my three main characters (Chris, Cat, Maya) in proximity, at UC San Diego. I also came face-to-face with a problem I’d known, but chose to ignore: they are almost exactly one week out of synch.
For Chris & Cat, just two weeks have passed; an eventful two weeks! However, for Maya, it’s closer to three – if not a day or two more. Once I start editing, I’ll have all my notes and glosses to tally everything up. But: a week apart.
Last night, came home from day-job, made coffee (1/2 and 1/2 reg and decaf so I don’t kill myself), added some brandy, and was able to finish C&C’s trip home from the Newman Center and their dinner (just what was Cat alluding to when she whispered her embarrassing desire to Chris?). After that, I got Maya from the SD airport to the NE side of campus, where the Supercomputing Center (and thus, Gordon) is; what an UGLY building! Maya uses a bit of future-tech to talk to Gordon – with a cameo by Dorina – and she leaves, hunting for her brother and his intended.
A week out of synch.
I stared and the screen all the way through the second coffee/brandy. Nothing. Metaphorically tossed everything into my unconscious mind and descended to the basement to watch some animes with my wife.
Woke up. Nothing.
Just before lunch, I saw something: while Maya was in the machine’s home – ‘cyberspace’ if you will – who’s so say the passage of time was 1:1 with ours… especially with that very odd incident with the male figure, whom she couldn’t see, at the end, who called her ‘my daughter’? What if Gordon had kept the room with the sensorium locked for – oh, I don’t know, let’s say, a week? That gives me two things:
A solution to my temporal decoherence and a very, very hungry Maya.
Back in the game!
Over 50k words, he said! Just another 8-10k to finish the book, he said!
Annnnd then, Dorina showed up. To quote from Band of Brothers: “…well, hello 2nd Armored!”
Look, it’s NOT exposition and I AM NOT LECTURING! I can prove it, below the fold! These people just keep showing up… this just keeps happening…!
Seriously: I need to start killing everyone. No! I mean it! Don’t you dare click on Continue reading “Baton”
machciv 