Tag: writing

Nazca, 2

A bit of a “first contact” part of the story. I can just imagine what Salvy thought of an alien lizard next to him. Aleja is a clever girl and gets her visitor back to the shed where she was told to live. We do get a little foreshadowing when she sees an Anglo woman in this tiny, out of the way village.

Her uncle and aunt sound like real winners.

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Nazca, 1

Another short story project. This will be a submission for an anthology likely due out in the spring of next year. It is fairly contemporanious with my last short; both of these are, of course, a part of my future history, and, more specifically, the coming of the Civil Wars.

In the story, there is a reference to the goings-on on Mars. Also, later, we meet a minor character first introduced in my most recent novel.

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Civil War, 2

One thing that is already bothering me is that a journal tends toward those “walls of text” which have never characterized my books. I am a dialog guy, from the show-don’t-tell group of writers. I’ll see how the rest of this first chapter unfolds, but am already toying with the idea of even-numbered chapters being Pai’s observational counterpoint to Graf’s writings to his children and their mother.

And, yes, that comes up again. Trust me, as a very socially conservative Catholic, it was and is a stress on me to have this three-way relationship. I know full well that cultures do drift over time, and here we are nearly 150 years from The Fourth Law, so I’ll keep on for now and try to muddle through. I also realize I’ll need to talk to my copyeditor about formatting. With Graf’s entries in italic, it would be confusing to use the same for his internal thoughts, which is what I’ve been using for ten books, now. Guess, I’ll figure that out, too.

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Civil War, 1

With Irrational Pai off in the hands of my copyeditor and cover designer, I was a loose ends for a bit. About 36 hours. Then, per normal, I was shown something. Most of IP was introducing the characters and the politics about fifty years on from my last novel and I knew it would be the forerunner of at least one more book. But what kind of book? Long time readers know that I like to try different things, so, borrowing from Grathew, I thought to make a kind of war diary.

This will mostly be from Graf’s POV, as he wants to leave some record for his children by Alix if he’s killed, but there will be parts where we will see that his wife, Pai, thinks of what is going on. What’s below is the a rough prologue, as I am always one to “start your story in the middle.” I’m messing about with the first chapter; as a diary, it is what I call “walls of text” versus what I normally do, which is dialog. I’m not entirely happy with the format, but am hoping to strike a balance as I keep writing.

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New Pai, 14. End

A bit abrupt. But, 1) this is a raw MS, and 2) it is part of at least one more book; the likely war which may involved two planets and the space in between. I’d like to have that finished by late July, but, honestly, I don’t see it. Instead, I’ve some RealLife things to get done in the spring. So, maybe I’ll just play with some micro story ideas. Some of those have turned into novels, so I never really know where I’ll be led.

I’ve gone back and broken this 52k word story into chapters. Sixteen plus an epilogue. There are still some bracketed notes at the very end as well as on paper just to my right. Like I said: raw MS. Also, while doing the chapters, I realized I’m introducing a lot here, even for those passingly familiar with Machine Civilization. So, a bit more material; but, this was designed to set the stage for the coming war, and I think it accomplishes that. Thanks for coming along for this journey.

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New Pai, 13

Interestingly, this underminds my entire arc for these two books. If Luce is banished from the DMZ, then one leg of my “religious war over the Fusions” is knocked out. Oh well, this is what I was shown to write, so I’ll work it out one way or another.

I think I’ll gloss the entire trial scene, esp as everything will be happening behind the scenes, anyway. Also, I know there is some significance to Luce’s reluctance to give up her staff and coat, but I don’t yet know what it is. Generally, a staff indicates authority and a coat or robe much the same (“I’m wealthy enough to keep warm”). How this novel wraps up, that is, the very last scene of the epilogue, will be a little odd, even for me.

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New Pai, 12

Yes, it’s been three weeks. Standard excuses for the first two: couldn’t see the ending, DayJob… The third excuse was a surprise: in my dotage I’ve suddenly developed a shellsfish allergy, so the scallops over butter noodles from Friday/Saturday before last attempted to kill me. My wife wanted to take me to the hospital but I was a mule and said no. Even so, bedridden for three days, with no food, then barely moving for two with a little toast. At one point when my wife came home from work, she said, “You like like you aged a year in a day.” Thanks, Honey.

But, just like falling off your horse’s bicycle, you get back on something. In fact, I realized one glaring and one minor issue from Part 11: glaring, that did they go off and leave the body behind? Are you kidding me? Minor, that I wanted Pai to clarify to Graf just how latently dangerous he might be. While I have rewritten that in the MS, I didn’t really see a reason to repost everything here, as these are supposed to be raws to make me think, anyway.

Having said all that, let’s get into the Epilogue. Luce finds out you do not piss off the matriarch of an entirely new race, and we catch a glimpse of Graf’s talent.

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New Pai, 4

Back in the river for more fish. Suza says something a bit startling to her dad, who runs it back past Alix. Later, at breakfast, Pai gets sneaky again about later that day. Then she shocks Mindy awake with her news of her unilateral action.

If I can just get everyone to this afternoon, the next segment, I can return to the plot of “religious war?” and start making trouble for everyone.

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