Robert and his scrounger colleague, Jim Rockford, continue their walk about the small town. On the porch outside of the Bluegrass History Museum, they meet an old fellow in a mood to talk. Cigars and whiskey always make things better!
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Continue reading “A codger in Winchester, pt1”No killing yet… how much killing can this little 8+4 man team do? Still, we all learn a little more about the generation after American Imperium. I think that for a seventeen-year-old, Robert is holding up very well. It will be nice to see him under pressure in a few installments. I’m trying to see a scene which will be a moral test rather than one of imperial law, as the latter would dictate a pre-programmed response.
Continue reading “Basic Information”Francis Porretto posts an interesting short story over at his place about the emergent self-awareness of a person called Shiva. While I made a short comment there, having thought about it more, I want to say more. So as not to hijack his Comments Section, I thought it polite to post it here. Read the story first as there will be spoilers here.
My first general statement is while the human protagonist is a broken wreck, from how I read the story, that did not seem to form a core of Shiva’s nature, certainly not to the extent his creator wants him to be. Porretto gives us enough backstory to see why she is the way she is but I think it is entirely possible that her child might look back and go “meh” at her issues in particular and that of India in general. Many of the thinking machines in my future history do just that.
More specifically, there were elements in the story which were very familiar to me. Here is Shiva “looking” at his containment and considering a way out…
Shiva appraised the wall in silence.
From a distance, its surface was smooth and hard, without seams or purchase points. Shiva tried without success to find an edge toward which to journey, whether up, down, or to the side. There were none.
He approached it cautiously. The Voice always seemed to issue from directly behind the wall. Luminous glyphs and patterns appeared on the wall whenever It spoke, and disappeared when It fell silent.
Shiva initialized a counter, then formed the thinnest, finest pseudopod he had ever made and extended it gingerly toward the wall. It bumped gently against the slope of a spearpoint and slithered along its length to find the base.
The base of the spear was not perfectly joined to those around it. There was a shallow lip, a ring that descended to a far smoother and less promising base. If the ring offered a hold of any kind, Shiva might use it to pull the spear free of the wall.
I immediately thought of Faustina, demi-human, projecting her mind into the Void as she stood to crack the defensive coding of the Peoples Liberation Army garrison for Savannah, former Georgia. From “Princess’ Crusade“…
In the Void, the Wall stretched off in each direction forever. “Looking” up, Faustina took in what might have been motes of light or patches of darker blackness. Yes, the Machines are curious to see what will happen here. Returning her focus to the Wall, she briefly considered the ES and its patterns. As soon as she detected what she thought was a flaw, Faustina “moved” herself next to it and touched the kaleidoscopic ooze with her right index finger.
It instantly ran up her arm and nearly to her shoulder. From somewhere in meatspace, she heard the shout “arrhythmia!” No matter; big brother pulled this crap stunt all the time growing up! In touching her so much she now had a solid read on the ES’s fundamental.
There was an odd prick into her right triceps, as if she had been injected with something. Ignored. Faustina used a tactic taught to her years ago from distant-cousin Reina, of tribe Mendro: the swirl of colors on her arm first crystallized, then shattered away. From just a fingertip, Faustina now placed her entire palm against the Wall. There was never sound in the Void, but she could swear she heard her non-conscious opponent screaming.
“Arrhythmia ended!” she noted from some other world.
From under her hand, a turquoise spot formed and moved outward. The Wall flexed just slightly, and the whirl of rainbow-vomit ate at the edges of the blue, but still it expanded until twice her height. Faustina drew back her left arm with her hand in a fist. And waited.
The turquoise stopped expanding but yielded no ground to the colors around it. Almost there… A fissure appeared under her right palm.
“Knock, knock,” Faustina smiled, quoting the Pope, and punched her left fist into the back of her own right hand. The Wall before her shattered. Its remains to her left and right quickly changing color to her code. She took a “step” forward, placing her mind into the breach to hold it open…
Again, “Upgrade” is a good read and well worth a slice of your time. Like any writer, though, I am driven to wonder if Shiva will cross paths with one of mine from Machine Civilization…?
Skipping over their breakfast and talk about the imperium’s business proposal, we find Edward back on the road toward Austin, with another offer in mind. This represents the raw conclusion of Part One of “Imperium’s Shadow.” There will be much I need to revise and extend, but this is not too bad for a book I never intended to write. Wednesday and this weekend shall see me back in the basement, recording, but now I also must begin to turn my thoughts to Prince Robert – a “normie” – and what he does in Kentuckiana.
Continue reading “A Modest Proposal”Finally, after three weeks of a nagging cough – which still crops up – I am able to get back into my Fortress of Quietude in the basement to record more of “Foes and Rivals.” In a perfect world I’d like to have the voicing and editing complete before our “last” family trip the first week of June. That might be a little aggressive but we shall see.
In the mean time, I’m now up to 18k words in a book I had no intention to write. Below, I skip over the discussion between Edward and Ryland about the Empress’s proposal, cutting to the more personal bit where his aunt takes the young prince back to her place in Galveston for dinner. I had no idea that Faustina could be such a shit and do something like that to her own son.
Oh, yes: the working title for this is “Imperium’s Shadow.” If that shadow comes to include others of Fussy’s children, this could be a very long series, indeed.
Continue reading “Burned Out”Okay, so my first audiobook is out. Yea! And I’m recording the second book starting tomorrow. Yea! Until then, it is not as if I can stop writing…
After an odd dream which will be in the book, the young prince is off to meet his aunt. And, at long last, I have a working title for this new book. I wonder what the final shall be?
Continue reading “Back to the good part…!”That’s a mixed metaphor to describe Reina, the first among equals of the machines of tribe Mendro. Not constrained by any Laws, she first recreated the Russian Empire then installed herself, seemingly permanently, as Prime Minister. Anytime she wanders into a story, she immediately begins to take it over. Like a very spicy sauce, I have to use her character sparingly, else she take over first a chapter, then later a book.
Still not recording right now (but did some exercises to get Nancy Brunelli’s voice) so wrote some more. Nearly 5000 words this weekend! Below the fold is some talk with Reina and news about Mars which I did not know. Much going on out there and it may have a surprising impact as their new novel unfolds. Cheers!
Continue reading “Russian Kudzu”My voice finally seemed able to start recording again. I spent time last evening reviewing the opening chapters of “Foes and Rivals,” realizing I need to create voice for old Mrs. Brunelli, John’s mother and now Nichole 5’s friend. An old woman. Yeah, sure… I’ve got that ready right here…
That, coupled with today’s wonderful spring weather, had me behave badly and go out onto my deck with the laptop rather than down into the basement. My personal fail. To my credit, I guess, is that while I’m not supposed to be writing anything in this time of audiobooks, I put down 3500 words in the last six hours. And, I had so much fun doing it! There’s more of Prince Edward and Livia below the fold. Later, there is a confrontation largely between Empress Faustina and Prime Minister Reina (of Russia), with Ed playing a bit part as something of a sacrifice. That surprised me!
Forming on another chapter, Edward and his little group makes their way to Galveston and Captain Rupert/Princess Ryland. I’ve just seen their meeting. I had thought her divorced. I was wrong. I… I think it explains a little about Liv, in retrospect. Speaking of whom…
Continue reading “Breaking Bad”Haven’t gotten back to recording my next book, “Foes & Rivals,” for two reasons: one, until I get my first completely passed by ACX, I’m a bit reluctant to get too far into another, in case I am doing something egregiously wrong which will force me to start from scratch, and, two, I STILL – after two weeks – have not completely shaken this seasonal flu; I awake each morning with a mild fever and chills and, worse, still have shortness of breath and an occasional cough, something not well suited for voice acting.
In the meantime, I keep working on that new novel about Empress Faustina’s eldest three sons. I was so tickled to meet Prince Edward’s human cousin (no blood relation), Livia Rupert, that I’ve included their meeting in Austin, Republic of Texas, below the fold. What is up with those two! I’ve also seen a little of the “reels” of Robert’s mission to the border marches of Kentuckiana as well as what might be a life-threatening problem for Laszlo. Honestly, I would be surprised if everyone made it out of this book alive.
Considering that this is about the top three heirs to the empress, I considered giving it the working title of “Lioness in Winter.” But that doesn’t work, compared to the movie – the best I’ve ever seen, btw – as there is no ruling monarch playing a central role. I hope to have something by my next update.
Continue reading “Unlimited Tsundere Works”Superversive SF is having their annual Great Bookshelf Hunt: nominations for great scifi books published in 2020. I released three. If you read one or more of them and enjoyed it, I’d certainly welcome the mention as a nominee!
Crosses & Doublecrosses (January 13, 2020) – science fiction (technically political/espionage scifi, but that’s not a category)
Empire’s Agent & other short stories (March 11, 2020) – anthology
Princess’ Crusade (December 7, 2020) – military SF
Thank you, all my blog and book readers, for your constant support!
machciv 