Halfway through my Boot Camp (working through "Creating Character Emotions" by Ann Hood), and I've covered Anger, Anxiety, Apathy, Confusion, Contentment, Curiosity, Desire, Despair, Excitement, Fear, Fondness, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Happiness, Hate and Hope.
As usual, my exercises run the gamut of completely new world/character concepts, familiar worlds with new characters, different time periods and/or locations, and occasionally, an extension from a current story.
The exercise for Hope involved writing a paragraph depicting hope, contrasted by a second after that hope has failed - despair. The exercise called for three Hope/Despair pairings. It also suggested trying other opposed emotions to show an arc of character growth. This was my third; here there is an implied time-lapse between the first and second paragraph:
Sedra held her arms in an awkward circle, holding her daughter in that mental grip. It did nothing to diminish the distance between them, and so she dropped them, laying her head against the stone wall. Rain drummed against the window, drummed with her heart, drummed with the sound of a messenger who was still – she knew – out of sight. Reports from the front, where her daughter had been badly injured … she closed her eyes, wet her lips, and pictured his face, the casual monotone – how many mothers had he given bad news? But not this time, she prayed, not to any of the gods but to the steady thrum of numbers rushing past. They were on her side. One in five didn’t survive the surgery, but she had only one daughter, not five …
Again, the awkward circle, this time convulsed, tightened, even shaking, though she fancied she jarred her daughter within the circumference. She pictured the face – not the captain she was now, but the child who had come to her side at night and keened for attention – screwed up with protest, batting her away … so far away that Sedra flew, out of the house, across the yard, through the shadow of the trees into some unknown, as if she were the one who had died. On the thought of death, she crumpled, broken of the fancy and tasting its ashes.
About Me
- Lindsey Duncan
- I'm a professional harp performer, chef / pastry chef, and speculative fiction writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. My contemporary fantasy novel Flow is available from Double Dragon Publishing, and my science fiction novel Scylla and Charybdis is now out from Grimbold Books. I've also sold a number of short stories and a few pieces of speculative poetry. I write predominantly fantasy, usually epic and/or humorous, with some soft science fiction. I play the traditional lever harp with a specialty in Celtic music - but I also perform modern and Renaissance tunes. And yes, you read that right - I have a diploma in Baking and Pastry and an Associates in Culinary Arts and am currently working in the catering field at Kate's Catering and Personal Chef Services (Dayton, KY). I am a CPC (Certified Pastry Culinarian) and CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine).
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Lights Go Down
On Sunday, September 14th, around two-thirty in the afternoon, Ike visited Ohio.
We had hurricane-force winds, gusts up to 84 mph, though only a few drops of rain. Trees came down with a crunch and a crack ... thankfully not hitting anything crucial in my immediate vicinity, though there is a house nearby more or less demolished by an old-growth tree.
A couple million people throughout the state, Indiana and Kentucky without power -- about ninety percent of Duke's customers. They had recently released a lot of their workers to aid down in Texas, which left us vulnerable when the lines went down.
Here, the neighborly thing: everyone pitched in, sawing limbs, hacking branches, trying to reduce the fallen to a manageable pile - and succeeding.
Power had come back to the commercial district by mid-morning yesterday. Ice was snatched as soon as it was unloaded; batteries, with the exception of double and triple As, were nowhere to be found. Panera, the most convenient source of wireless, was packed to the insulation in the walls ... so many people reaching out to a world that had abruptly gone dark.
My power returned about 4pm this afternoon ... I'm still in the minority ...
You never realize how many things depend, directly or indirectly, on a power-source until you have no access.
We had hurricane-force winds, gusts up to 84 mph, though only a few drops of rain. Trees came down with a crunch and a crack ... thankfully not hitting anything crucial in my immediate vicinity, though there is a house nearby more or less demolished by an old-growth tree.
A couple million people throughout the state, Indiana and Kentucky without power -- about ninety percent of Duke's customers. They had recently released a lot of their workers to aid down in Texas, which left us vulnerable when the lines went down.
Here, the neighborly thing: everyone pitched in, sawing limbs, hacking branches, trying to reduce the fallen to a manageable pile - and succeeding.
Power had come back to the commercial district by mid-morning yesterday. Ice was snatched as soon as it was unloaded; batteries, with the exception of double and triple As, were nowhere to be found. Panera, the most convenient source of wireless, was packed to the insulation in the walls ... so many people reaching out to a world that had abruptly gone dark.
My power returned about 4pm this afternoon ... I'm still in the minority ...
You never realize how many things depend, directly or indirectly, on a power-source until you have no access.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Another year ...
Another successful Cincinnati Celtic Fest. One set with Amy Roark-Oblak on the flute - White Orchid - and another with "Tri Werin," which means three folk and is a Welsh group. Technically, there are four of the latter, but the Welsh word for four is a sadistic tongue-twister.
I am exhausted, my fingers still feel like sausages, and I do not want to think about anything for a while.
But it was good.
I am exhausted, my fingers still feel like sausages, and I do not want to think about anything for a while.
But it was good.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Anatomy of an Idea: Ten Cities Down
Ten Cities Down initially started as a writing exercise. I took a handful of randomly generated names that intrigued me and wrote short scene snippets. Other names chosen include Kallistrate, Vasilka and Jory. Timur's included the core concept, the idea of a multi-tiered city and an escape from the afterlife. This piece sat for some time before I decided to write a story from it ...
I knew I needed another character to complicate the journey, and particularly a pretext to divert him back downwards. I decided to use his daughter, and things were never the same. Civine ... well, she took over, running my story and my narrator ragged.
I've always been fascinated by the wisdom and resilience of children ... while still, of course, showing the impatience and inexperience of their age. This is a story which is very muted at heart, with a repressed emotional tone. Were it left up to Timur, it might be cold. Civine provided (I hope) my balance.
I knew I needed another character to complicate the journey, and particularly a pretext to divert him back downwards. I decided to use his daughter, and things were never the same. Civine ... well, she took over, running my story and my narrator ragged.
I've always been fascinated by the wisdom and resilience of children ... while still, of course, showing the impatience and inexperience of their age. This is a story which is very muted at heart, with a repressed emotional tone. Were it left up to Timur, it might be cold. Civine provided (I hope) my balance.
Ten Cities Down
To my surprise, this story is already posted at Labyrinth Inhabitant, here: http://www.labyrinthinhabitant.com/stories.html
Pleasurable sense data! Share and enjoy.
Also, the editor provides officially the best log-line for a story ever. I would not have thought of it, for certain!
Pleasurable sense data! Share and enjoy.
Also, the editor provides officially the best log-line for a story ever. I would not have thought of it, for certain!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
The Opposite of Despair
I just received word that Abyss & Apex want to reprint my story, "Hour By Hour" in their Best Of volume for 2007.
... well, of course I said yes!
But it gets better. They'll be launching the anthology at the World Fantasy Convention. Which means I'm there! Even if it's just the first time it sees sales, that's still pretty cool.
Cover art here:
http://ericreynolds.livejournal.com/31864.html
... well, of course I said yes!
But it gets better. They'll be launching the anthology at the World Fantasy Convention. Which means I'm there! Even if it's just the first time it sees sales, that's still pretty cool.
Cover art here:
http://ericreynolds.livejournal.com/31864.html
Despair
One of the exercises for my boot camp today - the one I chose - was to contrast despair with a time of contentment. This is about three quarters of what I came up with. The implication is meant to be that she was in a political (albiet loveless) engagement, which was just broken:
Saerin turned the ring over in her fingers, the inscription catching against her nails. “To a fruitful union and two successful lives.” Not a romantic inscription, but the nexus of calculated hopes formed with a man who had understood her priorities. What had seemed very logical and reserved then now drew her down out of – so it seemed – all proportion with her loss.
If that round hollowness inside her crumbled, she worried what else would fall. Into it, she poured the memory of scattershot days, madcap days before she had been elevated to the rank of judge. Unreasoning hope like white-hot barbs kept her surging forward, sleepless, ceaseless, always championing someone for whom there could be no success.
Those were the days of her greatest pleasure.
She guided that foolishness down into the deep and had no idea whether it would ever emerge. The gridwork of ambition surrounded her, this action necessary, then this concession – a sound political marriage … the ring was the same shape as that space she was trying to fill, but her fondest recollections would not substitute for the chances she needed.
Standing in stasis, unfamiliar, balanced on a brink without a bridge – when she had once not cared about the width of the abyss. She whirled, dizzy, snatching at the moments. Happiness … but could she even hold onto why she had been happy? It seemed arcane now. What pleasure in meals that could not fill her, in learning to write by stars when she could no longer afford candles?
Saerin mocked her younger self as she buried the memories. She had known the carter was innocent of running over the young nobleman, but how grateful he would have been for a light sentence, to save face, to remember the dewey-eyed lawyer later. Never mind the twin sons who clung to him and his bustly wife who rubbed her almost-flat stomach anxiously.
She stopped her work of mental reconstruction. It was the blurry sensation of examining a stranger’s life, a woman she could not remember being. A woman who had been happy – and by that extension, she could not recall the emotion. It was a part of another existence. Was it something she could regain? Or, like a quirk of personality, out of reach the same way reshaping herself would be?
“To a fruitful union and two successful lives.” Saerin flicked the ring to the floor, watched it bounce, heard the final click of the gavel when she was not the one wielding it. The pounding of her heart. A wet, hot rush of absolute experience.
Saerin turned the ring over in her fingers, the inscription catching against her nails. “To a fruitful union and two successful lives.” Not a romantic inscription, but the nexus of calculated hopes formed with a man who had understood her priorities. What had seemed very logical and reserved then now drew her down out of – so it seemed – all proportion with her loss.
If that round hollowness inside her crumbled, she worried what else would fall. Into it, she poured the memory of scattershot days, madcap days before she had been elevated to the rank of judge. Unreasoning hope like white-hot barbs kept her surging forward, sleepless, ceaseless, always championing someone for whom there could be no success.
Those were the days of her greatest pleasure.
She guided that foolishness down into the deep and had no idea whether it would ever emerge. The gridwork of ambition surrounded her, this action necessary, then this concession – a sound political marriage … the ring was the same shape as that space she was trying to fill, but her fondest recollections would not substitute for the chances she needed.
Standing in stasis, unfamiliar, balanced on a brink without a bridge – when she had once not cared about the width of the abyss. She whirled, dizzy, snatching at the moments. Happiness … but could she even hold onto why she had been happy? It seemed arcane now. What pleasure in meals that could not fill her, in learning to write by stars when she could no longer afford candles?
Saerin mocked her younger self as she buried the memories. She had known the carter was innocent of running over the young nobleman, but how grateful he would have been for a light sentence, to save face, to remember the dewey-eyed lawyer later. Never mind the twin sons who clung to him and his bustly wife who rubbed her almost-flat stomach anxiously.
She stopped her work of mental reconstruction. It was the blurry sensation of examining a stranger’s life, a woman she could not remember being. A woman who had been happy – and by that extension, she could not recall the emotion. It was a part of another existence. Was it something she could regain? Or, like a quirk of personality, out of reach the same way reshaping herself would be?
“To a fruitful union and two successful lives.” Saerin flicked the ring to the floor, watched it bounce, heard the final click of the gavel when she was not the one wielding it. The pounding of her heart. A wet, hot rush of absolute experience.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Mother of Lies
I just finished "Mother of Lies," the second in a duology by Dave Duncan (no relation), and I can wholeheartedly recommend both of them. In general, the story is intense and intriguing, with some enjoyable twists, realistic and flaw people, and - again - the sense that what occurs is less a plot as an organic exploration of events. Characters who have been hinted at and mentioned throughout the first book finally surface in solid portrayals. And once more, Duncan (no relation) manages to pull off showing an event I knew was coming while making it effective and surprising.
I did have some quibbles. One romantic relationship in the story just seems to happen out of nowhere. There were a couple bits in both dialogue and internal narrations that seemed like modernisms and thus out of place. One of the main antagonists was degraded in such a fashion that I thought it did a disservice to the entire storyline. I didn't want to see her reduced before the final showdown. In part due to this, in part just due to portrayal, this same showdown felt anticlimactic to me (though it wasn't the only showdown in the book, and the others were superb). One plot-thread was never resolved. And though the unusual physical design of the world was touched upon, it didn't seem enough - particularly as the book ends with an appendix discussing how the physical geography would (not) work.
That aside, I recommend these two books heartily. They're well worth the read.
I did have some quibbles. One romantic relationship in the story just seems to happen out of nowhere. There were a couple bits in both dialogue and internal narrations that seemed like modernisms and thus out of place. One of the main antagonists was degraded in such a fashion that I thought it did a disservice to the entire storyline. I didn't want to see her reduced before the final showdown. In part due to this, in part just due to portrayal, this same showdown felt anticlimactic to me (though it wasn't the only showdown in the book, and the others were superb). One plot-thread was never resolved. And though the unusual physical design of the world was touched upon, it didn't seem enough - particularly as the book ends with an appendix discussing how the physical geography would (not) work.
That aside, I recommend these two books heartily. They're well worth the read.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Emotions ...
So far, my boot camp has included exercises on Anger, Anxiety, Apathy, Confusion and Contentment.
I really enjoy doing boot camps. They have several advantages: I get a secondary exercise fitting the parameters into fantasy (though in a couple cases, I haven't done that), I get to explore aspects of settings I've written in or am working on without dry summary or the obligation to write a full story, and I can play with ideas or concepts in snapshot - again without having to feel pressured to complete a work.
In the case of the script boot camp, I didn't have the "relaxation" of not having to create a finished work, but in compensation, I got to work with a new medium and compress stories into a (relatively) streamlined form.
I really enjoy doing boot camps. They have several advantages: I get a secondary exercise fitting the parameters into fantasy (though in a couple cases, I haven't done that), I get to explore aspects of settings I've written in or am working on without dry summary or the obligation to write a full story, and I can play with ideas or concepts in snapshot - again without having to feel pressured to complete a work.
In the case of the script boot camp, I didn't have the "relaxation" of not having to create a finished work, but in compensation, I got to work with a new medium and compress stories into a (relatively) streamlined form.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
How do ...
... dogs drink water?
Here's a link to a rather interesting video that answers that question:
http://videos.komando.com/2008/08/29/dog-drinks-water/
It's not what you think.
Here's a link to a rather interesting video that answers that question:
http://videos.komando.com/2008/08/29/dog-drinks-water/
It's not what you think.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Reading Recc Updated
I just added a new reading recommendation to my site: Children of Chaos, by Dave Duncan (no relation). I was going to comment more here, but I got most of what I wanted to say in the clip. Be warned, though - have Mother of Lies on hand before you read this one. I'm flailing because I need to go pick up book two now ...
Actually, I do have more to say! I was disappointed that Duncan (no relation) didn't do more with the unusual shape of his world, but given the course of events towards the sequel, I think that is on its way to being corrected. I also found myself consulting the glossary at the front of the book. Whoever green-lighted its inclusion was shrewd. The world isn't hard to understand, but for some reason, I found myself consulting a lot to make sure of terms.
Actually, I do have more to say! I was disappointed that Duncan (no relation) didn't do more with the unusual shape of his world, but given the course of events towards the sequel, I think that is on its way to being corrected. I also found myself consulting the glossary at the front of the book. Whoever green-lighted its inclusion was shrewd. The world isn't hard to understand, but for some reason, I found myself consulting a lot to make sure of terms.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Ten Cities Down
... sold to Labyrinth Inhabitant Magazine. This is a story I'm very proud of, and features one of my favorite child characters.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Writers' Boot Camp: Session Three
Converting a script into a story was a pleasant surprise: it was easy and smoother than I had anticipated, though I ran into a POV issue and I think I will need to strengthen the emotional arc a bit. That's for editing, however!
As I decided earlier, I'm going to start another boot camp session, this one by following "Creating Character Emotions" by Ann Hood, with one exercise chosen from each emotion per day. I've already read the introduction and am ready to start with anger.
... no, I'm not annoyed, that's the first emotion.
As I decided earlier, I'm going to start another boot camp session, this one by following "Creating Character Emotions" by Ann Hood, with one exercise chosen from each emotion per day. I've already read the introduction and am ready to start with anger.
... no, I'm not annoyed, that's the first emotion.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Boot Camp Addendum
I finally decided which script to convert into a short story, and it was one of the first. Specifically, this one:
Script 7/3-4 (Carl Rugman, film producer; hair brush; "When you say it like that, it's almost poetry." Superhero): Harried Carl Rugman interviews three superheroes - Rapunzel, the Sybarite and Dolphin Lass - for inclusion on a reality TV series. This was so ridiculous and so insanely fun to write. Almost eight pages long. I probably will convert this one into a story.
Hmmm. I guess I was right about that. ;-)
Script 7/3-4 (Carl Rugman, film producer; hair brush; "When you say it like that, it's almost poetry." Superhero): Harried Carl Rugman interviews three superheroes - Rapunzel, the Sybarite and Dolphin Lass - for inclusion on a reality TV series. This was so ridiculous and so insanely fun to write. Almost eight pages long. I probably will convert this one into a story.
Hmmm. I guess I was right about that. ;-)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
My dog ...
In the past few days, she's had dramatic barking confrontations with her reflection, a soda can and a watermelon.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Due Thought
"I hope I never do anything without due thought - even if the thought sometimes has to shift its feet pretty briskly to keep up with the deed." -- spoken by Brother Cadfael in Ellis Peters' One Corpse Too Many
Monday, August 18, 2008
Nextian Geography
I just finished Jasper Fforde's First Among Sequels and have a few comments - spoiler-free! I want to start off by staying that Fforde is one of the few authors who makes me genuinely happy just reading. There are some beautiful explanations, puns, situations ... and a diabolical cameo by one of my favorite fiends, Aornis Hades. The book ended with a few plot threads dangling and one (large) new one just opened ... well, it *is* the first among sequels.
This is the first book in the Next series, however, that felt like a sequel in the Hollywood sense - as if Fforde went back, analyzed popular elements, and made a point of continuing them on popularity, not so much whether they fit a story he wanted to tell. Now, this could be just my vibe, but it is particularly ironic in a book that deals - as part of its plot - with pandering to the demographic. I'm not disappointed by any means, but it struck me peculiarly.
On another highlight points - Thursday's family rocks, and the jump forward to Friday's teenagerhood is far from just a gratuitious gap. Landen, her husband, could so easily be a cardboard character, and yet his page-time is realized with skill.
Also amusement is this novel features the series' first cameo of a character from a series of a living (and active) writer - apparently with permission! Cool.
This is the first book in the Next series, however, that felt like a sequel in the Hollywood sense - as if Fforde went back, analyzed popular elements, and made a point of continuing them on popularity, not so much whether they fit a story he wanted to tell. Now, this could be just my vibe, but it is particularly ironic in a book that deals - as part of its plot - with pandering to the demographic. I'm not disappointed by any means, but it struck me peculiarly.
On another highlight points - Thursday's family rocks, and the jump forward to Friday's teenagerhood is far from just a gratuitious gap. Landen, her husband, could so easily be a cardboard character, and yet his page-time is realized with skill.
Also amusement is this novel features the series' first cameo of a character from a series of a living (and active) writer - apparently with permission! Cool.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Acceptance!
... is not just a philosophy.
It is what has just happened to my story "The Seeds of Profit." Hurray! Details forthcoming for an untitled anthology approximately April 2009 ...
Sorry for my quiet of late. Haven't really been able to think of anything to say.
It is what has just happened to my story "The Seeds of Profit." Hurray! Details forthcoming for an untitled anthology approximately April 2009 ...
Sorry for my quiet of late. Haven't really been able to think of anything to say.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Anatomy of an Idea: Soul Siblings (reposted)
You may want to read this story (http://www.sorceroussignals.com) before you read the following. There are considerable “spoilers” in here. This is actually a repost (somewhat edited) from the previous run of the story.
The Gedden (originally the Geneb) are a fantasy race I've had on my backburner for a long time. They date back to my first "epic" multiple plotline novel, a schlocky disaster which I divided into three parts (still one book) at end of February, 1997. Though I can't place an exact date on it, I would have started sometime in late 1996. I was fascinated by the idea of a literal, physical third eye, of a race of soul twins ... and the penalty for their meeting. In book two or three - I forget which, and I never wrote either - my Geneb character was supposed to be forced by the villains to confront his soul sister. He lived and hooked up with the story's token werewolf, but his opposite died. There is no direct causal connection between Kenri and Delanor and Tarivan and Evyelara.
Flash forward to a more sane and better written era. I wanted to revive the Gedden, but wanted to do a story about mages. (Tarivan was originally supposed to be a different kind of sorcerer.) So I tried to think of what kind of magic might be particularly useful with a third eye, and lit upon the idea that it might allow you to see two different things at once. This would help if you were a seer and would otherwise be "engulfed" by the vision. The general form of the plotline fell into place quickly - the siblings on the same job, the capture, the rescue, the eventual denouement ... though in my original plan, it was Tarivan who died. The situation with Quirilan was inspired by a historical precedent - I'm not sure if it was Roman noblewomen and gladiators, but it probably was.
This story sat in my idea file for a while, marked uncertain as to whether it was a novel or a short. I finally decided to write it specifically for Black Gate magazine after I received a glowing rejection for Summer in Sadria, which was essentially a fantasy mystery. I lined out the story in general terms and started writing. When I got into it, though, I realized that I had made my villain just a stereotypical evil overlord and at least wanted to provide him with a concrete desire and a reason to resist him that was SLIGHTLY unusual. Imitating a god came to mind, I decided it would be appropriate to make Tarivan devout to contrast with his otherwise rootless personality, and this conveniently provided my (somewhat) happy ending.
It found its initial home at “Afterburn SF,” and is happily reprinted in Sorcerous Signals now. Months (years?) later, I’m still quite proud of this one.
The Gedden (originally the Geneb) are a fantasy race I've had on my backburner for a long time. They date back to my first "epic" multiple plotline novel, a schlocky disaster which I divided into three parts (still one book) at end of February, 1997. Though I can't place an exact date on it, I would have started sometime in late 1996. I was fascinated by the idea of a literal, physical third eye, of a race of soul twins ... and the penalty for their meeting. In book two or three - I forget which, and I never wrote either - my Geneb character was supposed to be forced by the villains to confront his soul sister. He lived and hooked up with the story's token werewolf, but his opposite died. There is no direct causal connection between Kenri and Delanor and Tarivan and Evyelara.
Flash forward to a more sane and better written era. I wanted to revive the Gedden, but wanted to do a story about mages. (Tarivan was originally supposed to be a different kind of sorcerer.) So I tried to think of what kind of magic might be particularly useful with a third eye, and lit upon the idea that it might allow you to see two different things at once. This would help if you were a seer and would otherwise be "engulfed" by the vision. The general form of the plotline fell into place quickly - the siblings on the same job, the capture, the rescue, the eventual denouement ... though in my original plan, it was Tarivan who died. The situation with Quirilan was inspired by a historical precedent - I'm not sure if it was Roman noblewomen and gladiators, but it probably was.
This story sat in my idea file for a while, marked uncertain as to whether it was a novel or a short. I finally decided to write it specifically for Black Gate magazine after I received a glowing rejection for Summer in Sadria, which was essentially a fantasy mystery. I lined out the story in general terms and started writing. When I got into it, though, I realized that I had made my villain just a stereotypical evil overlord and at least wanted to provide him with a concrete desire and a reason to resist him that was SLIGHTLY unusual. Imitating a god came to mind, I decided it would be appropriate to make Tarivan devout to contrast with his otherwise rootless personality, and this conveniently provided my (somewhat) happy ending.
It found its initial home at “Afterburn SF,” and is happily reprinted in Sorcerous Signals now. Months (years?) later, I’m still quite proud of this one.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Writer's Boot Camp: Clean-Up and Next Plan
Two more scripts. I decided this time to try a couple less ambitious concepts:
Script 7/29 - 30 (Holiday Film; Ingrid Malaise, shoe salesperson; a roll of toilet paper; "I'll have to ask my mother."): Ingrid, unsuspecting shoe salesperson, ends up trying to sell heels to Santa Claus' daughter. The Clauses have bought rolls of toilet paper to give in lieu of lumps of coal. Ingrid remains skeptical despite multiple "proofs" of who she is dealing with, but Christmas morning erases all doubt. Five and a third pages. This was just pure fluff. I don't really see it as a story, though some of the bits were fun.
Script 7/31 - 8/1 (Sci Fi; Ken Moore, painter; one half of a swimsuit; "What were they gonna offer you for it?"): Ken Moore hangs out on his porch with buddy Jack, discussing a bizarre alien visitor who tried to buy half of his ex-girlfriend's bikini. His friend dismisses it as a tall tale ... then goes into the kitchen to warn his own alien visitor that his fellow citizens are being a trifle too obvious. Five and a half pages. I'm sure I've seen or read this story before in some form. It just feels tired.
I enjoy my self-imposed boot camps - I think they do a lot to strengthen my writing, give me a sense of discipline, and give me some fodder that I might not have otherwise come up with. This in particular was a blast and gave me a chance to try a new style of writing. I'm thinking of picking one of these scripts to convert into a short story. After it's written, then I'm starting on another boot camp run, through the book "Creating Character Emotions" by Ann Hood. It should be a little over a month as there are thirty-six emotions listed, with exercises for each.
Script 7/29 - 30 (Holiday Film; Ingrid Malaise, shoe salesperson; a roll of toilet paper; "I'll have to ask my mother."): Ingrid, unsuspecting shoe salesperson, ends up trying to sell heels to Santa Claus' daughter. The Clauses have bought rolls of toilet paper to give in lieu of lumps of coal. Ingrid remains skeptical despite multiple "proofs" of who she is dealing with, but Christmas morning erases all doubt. Five and a third pages. This was just pure fluff. I don't really see it as a story, though some of the bits were fun.
Script 7/31 - 8/1 (Sci Fi; Ken Moore, painter; one half of a swimsuit; "What were they gonna offer you for it?"): Ken Moore hangs out on his porch with buddy Jack, discussing a bizarre alien visitor who tried to buy half of his ex-girlfriend's bikini. His friend dismisses it as a tall tale ... then goes into the kitchen to warn his own alien visitor that his fellow citizens are being a trifle too obvious. Five and a half pages. I'm sure I've seen or read this story before in some form. It just feels tired.
I enjoy my self-imposed boot camps - I think they do a lot to strengthen my writing, give me a sense of discipline, and give me some fodder that I might not have otherwise come up with. This in particular was a blast and gave me a chance to try a new style of writing. I'm thinking of picking one of these scripts to convert into a short story. After it's written, then I'm starting on another boot camp run, through the book "Creating Character Emotions" by Ann Hood. It should be a little over a month as there are thirty-six emotions listed, with exercises for each.
Soul Siblings - now up!
My story "Soul Siblings" can now be found at Sorcerous Signals: http://www.sorceroussignals.com/
Read it! Vote for it! ... mostly the latter. ;-)
Read it! Vote for it! ... mostly the latter. ;-)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Writer's Boot Camp: Week Four
Otherwise known as the week during which, for whatever reason, I wrote excessively long scripts. Two of them were in part because I was trying to build a romantic arc in a short space - the other, I have no idea how it happened.
Script 7/23 - 24 (Romance; Joe Whittles, baseball pitcher; a crystal amulet; "Wow. You certainly know how to do that!"): A famous pitcher (he became a batter in the write by accident, but it doesn't really matter) is being hypnotized into loving a witch, until a tomboyish poetry lover walks into his life. Exactly ten pages, no room for leeway. Doubt this is story fodder, but I had fun looking up poems to use.
Script 7/25 - 26 (Spy; Martha Plympton, animator; a lazer gun; "Pardon me. I didn't mean to offend."): An injured spy ends up on the doorstep of Martha, an animator whose role is also literal - she can make her drawings come to life. Unfortunately, her created backup spy brings an enemy agent to their doorstep, and it's up to a science fiction drawing to save the day. A little over nine pages. This is a possible story; in fact, it would even work in the same setting as my novel, Flow, since I've established that certain heritages can manifest in drawing animation ...
Script 7/27 - 28 (Ghost Movie (wildcard); Burt Franklin, gospel singer; steering wheel; "You will never find enough paper towels to clean that up."): Traveling musician Burt drives over to the house where he is staying, only to find out is haunted by a frantic Cassie, who pleads with him to drive away two exorcists. When he becomes romantically attached to the ghost, however, she fades out rather than hurt him, and the exorcists congratulate him on a job well done. Nine and a half pages. Maybe, maybe not. But I had fun with some little underlying jokes with this one ...
Celtx continues to not register sometimes when I save, so I've been keeping a file backup. Anyhow, a little less than a week left and then some plans for the next boot camp ... I'm happy with how this venture turned out.
Script 7/23 - 24 (Romance; Joe Whittles, baseball pitcher; a crystal amulet; "Wow. You certainly know how to do that!"): A famous pitcher (he became a batter in the write by accident, but it doesn't really matter) is being hypnotized into loving a witch, until a tomboyish poetry lover walks into his life. Exactly ten pages, no room for leeway. Doubt this is story fodder, but I had fun looking up poems to use.
Script 7/25 - 26 (Spy; Martha Plympton, animator; a lazer gun; "Pardon me. I didn't mean to offend."): An injured spy ends up on the doorstep of Martha, an animator whose role is also literal - she can make her drawings come to life. Unfortunately, her created backup spy brings an enemy agent to their doorstep, and it's up to a science fiction drawing to save the day. A little over nine pages. This is a possible story; in fact, it would even work in the same setting as my novel, Flow, since I've established that certain heritages can manifest in drawing animation ...
Script 7/27 - 28 (Ghost Movie (wildcard); Burt Franklin, gospel singer; steering wheel; "You will never find enough paper towels to clean that up."): Traveling musician Burt drives over to the house where he is staying, only to find out is haunted by a frantic Cassie, who pleads with him to drive away two exorcists. When he becomes romantically attached to the ghost, however, she fades out rather than hurt him, and the exorcists congratulate him on a job well done. Nine and a half pages. Maybe, maybe not. But I had fun with some little underlying jokes with this one ...
Celtx continues to not register sometimes when I save, so I've been keeping a file backup. Anyhow, a little less than a week left and then some plans for the next boot camp ... I'm happy with how this venture turned out.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Dear World: Do Not Read This Story ;-)
Another tepid review on the BASH anthology, at least where my story is concerned. I keep cringing and wish no one would see it any more:
http://moonfire.us/blog/2007/09/17/bash-down-the-door-and-slice-open-the-badguy-edited-by-w-h-horner/
But at least there is good news! The reviewer liked some aspects of it.
http://moonfire.us/blog/2007/09/17/bash-down-the-door-and-slice-open-the-badguy-edited-by-w-h-horner/
But at least there is good news! The reviewer liked some aspects of it.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Writer's Boot Camp: Week Three
Some repeated genres here - that only seemed to make sense.
Script 7/15-16 (Drama; Sam Simon, ballet dancer; lingerie; "It only takes one captain to command a ship."): Sam Simon, the washed-up leader of a zero-gravity ballet troupe, is in love with the captain of the ship. He tries in vain to dissuade her from flying into dangerous territory, where she is badly wounded. (... and bandaged with lingerie.) Eight and a half pages. This one might convert into a story. Why zero-g ballerinas? I had Scifi on the brain from a previous hat-draw, discarded due to a repeated element.
Script 7/17-18 (Film de Femme; Roger Less, spy; bubble gum on the bottom of a shoe; “Wash that off.”): Rachel disguises herself as Roger Less to infiltrate a high-class gentleman’s club and find out if two businessmen are plotting against her employer, the CEO of a sunglasses company. A bit over six and a half pages. Not really a potential story. But I had a dilemma when I drew this – Film de Femme (which is, by 48 Hr definition, a film with a strong female protagonist(s), not a chick flick as I initially assumed)) with a male character? The answer, after a brief pause for thought, was obvious.
Script 7/19-20 (Sci Fi; Colin Kanser, medical doctor; a broken unicycle; “Is that really something that I should not have done?”): Colin is assigned to treat the Prosopeans, a race of shapeshifting mimics who become objects – and runs afoul of their culture when he attempts to cure a “broken” individual. Eight and a half pages. Yeah, I want to do something with this. I’m taken by the idea and it was a lot of fun to write.
(This is also the point at which I discovered that Jim had WAY too much fun replenishing the hat.)
Script 7/21-22 (Historical Fiction/Period Piece (wildcard); Kim Carnies, mystic; notebook; “No dogs allowed!”): After Margaret Fox confesses that the birth of Spiritualism is a hoax, one of the mediums who falls under scrunity is Kim Carnies – who also happens to be a fraud, until the spirit of her beloved canine comes to her rescue. Almost seven pages. I would like to turn this one into a fiction piece, though I am not sure of getting the historical accuracy, so I might put it into an alternate world. When I saw the wild card and the character, the idea of using Spiritualism fell right into my brain, though I remain unsure whether Kimberly was a period name.
This particular batch seemed to be more genre to me. Might just be where my brain ended up ...
Script 7/15-16 (Drama; Sam Simon, ballet dancer; lingerie; "It only takes one captain to command a ship."): Sam Simon, the washed-up leader of a zero-gravity ballet troupe, is in love with the captain of the ship. He tries in vain to dissuade her from flying into dangerous territory, where she is badly wounded. (... and bandaged with lingerie.) Eight and a half pages. This one might convert into a story. Why zero-g ballerinas? I had Scifi on the brain from a previous hat-draw, discarded due to a repeated element.
Script 7/17-18 (Film de Femme; Roger Less, spy; bubble gum on the bottom of a shoe; “Wash that off.”): Rachel disguises herself as Roger Less to infiltrate a high-class gentleman’s club and find out if two businessmen are plotting against her employer, the CEO of a sunglasses company. A bit over six and a half pages. Not really a potential story. But I had a dilemma when I drew this – Film de Femme (which is, by 48 Hr definition, a film with a strong female protagonist(s), not a chick flick as I initially assumed)) with a male character? The answer, after a brief pause for thought, was obvious.
Script 7/19-20 (Sci Fi; Colin Kanser, medical doctor; a broken unicycle; “Is that really something that I should not have done?”): Colin is assigned to treat the Prosopeans, a race of shapeshifting mimics who become objects – and runs afoul of their culture when he attempts to cure a “broken” individual. Eight and a half pages. Yeah, I want to do something with this. I’m taken by the idea and it was a lot of fun to write.
(This is also the point at which I discovered that Jim had WAY too much fun replenishing the hat.)
Script 7/21-22 (Historical Fiction/Period Piece (wildcard); Kim Carnies, mystic; notebook; “No dogs allowed!”): After Margaret Fox confesses that the birth of Spiritualism is a hoax, one of the mediums who falls under scrunity is Kim Carnies – who also happens to be a fraud, until the spirit of her beloved canine comes to her rescue. Almost seven pages. I would like to turn this one into a fiction piece, though I am not sure of getting the historical accuracy, so I might put it into an alternate world. When I saw the wild card and the character, the idea of using Spiritualism fell right into my brain, though I remain unsure whether Kimberly was a period name.
This particular batch seemed to be more genre to me. Might just be where my brain ended up ...
Monday, July 21, 2008
Remember
This flash fiction piece - a sort of experimental (... yes, I just used the word experimental) second-person-implied-first-person story - was just sold to Kaleidotrope, publication currently tentative April 2009. Hurrah!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
As Promised!
Picture of Lexi! Unfortunately, none of the three on this roll of film were as high-quality as I wanted, but at least to give an idea:
http://aiara.deviantart.com/art/Lexi-92263770
http://aiara.deviantart.com/art/Lexi-92263770
Friday, July 18, 2008
Introducing ...
I got a new family member today! She's an eight week old Bichon Frise puppy, and slightly cuter than unbearably so.
I've been speaking to a breeder for about two weeks, getting necessary information and checking references. She mentioned she had two seven week old puppies (early in the dialogue) and also a then-ten week old puppy that she had been intending to keep for herself until a breeder in California ran into a new "number of dogs" law and arranged to send her some extra dogs. (All three puppies were female.) My mom and I arranged to travel up to Fostoria, OH (a three hour drive) to see the older puppy and, if we were satisfied ... home she would come.
When we arrived, she had the older puppy ... and a second puppy who, it turned out, was eight weeks old and had been given to the breeder in payment for stud services. The first puppy turned out to be rambunctious and demanding, which - after seeing this behavior from Nimi from a young age - I wanted to avoid. However, the second pup (also female), a little quieter but cuddly - "needy," as the breeder put it - immediately gravitated towards us, and vice versa. It was serendipity. So she started the trip home, blissfully curling up and sleeping on the drive.
Four options had been chosen for her name - Zoe, Sofie, Phoebe and Darcy - with the idea that looking at the puppy would help the decision. Best laid plans? She didn't fit any of them. Mom and I batted around other possibilities, growing increasingly silly. Well, maybe Haley (as in the comet) would fit. It wasn't until she was home and frolicking around the living room that a search through another name-book found the perfect name: Lexi, from Lexia / Lexine -- protector of humanity. (... hee ...)
I took a few pictures on the end of my latest roll of film. I hope to get them developed and up soon!
I've been speaking to a breeder for about two weeks, getting necessary information and checking references. She mentioned she had two seven week old puppies (early in the dialogue) and also a then-ten week old puppy that she had been intending to keep for herself until a breeder in California ran into a new "number of dogs" law and arranged to send her some extra dogs. (All three puppies were female.) My mom and I arranged to travel up to Fostoria, OH (a three hour drive) to see the older puppy and, if we were satisfied ... home she would come.
When we arrived, she had the older puppy ... and a second puppy who, it turned out, was eight weeks old and had been given to the breeder in payment for stud services. The first puppy turned out to be rambunctious and demanding, which - after seeing this behavior from Nimi from a young age - I wanted to avoid. However, the second pup (also female), a little quieter but cuddly - "needy," as the breeder put it - immediately gravitated towards us, and vice versa. It was serendipity. So she started the trip home, blissfully curling up and sleeping on the drive.
Four options had been chosen for her name - Zoe, Sofie, Phoebe and Darcy - with the idea that looking at the puppy would help the decision. Best laid plans? She didn't fit any of them. Mom and I batted around other possibilities, growing increasingly silly. Well, maybe Haley (as in the comet) would fit. It wasn't until she was home and frolicking around the living room that a search through another name-book found the perfect name: Lexi, from Lexia / Lexine -- protector of humanity. (... hee ...)
I took a few pictures on the end of my latest roll of film. I hope to get them developed and up soon!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Website Update
To form rather than content - decided to move my pre-2007 publications to a "Past Publications" list at the bottom, so what you get at the top of the screen are the more recent stories. Looking at that makes it clear to me that 2008 hasn't been as good as 2007 was ... rargh. I'm backsliding!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Writer's Boot Camp: Week Two
(Almost) halfway there! And after I blathered in my last post, ye verily, the hat runneth over. I feel kind of guilty - it wasn't meant to be a complaint.
Script 7/9 - 10 (Musical or Western; Ray Samples, college student; Egg; "Could that be any larger?"): When hapless romantic Ray is granted a wish by his fairy godmother, he asks for his perfect girl. But it doesn't seem to work until the egg she has given him hatches a mermaid. I used two Welsh tunes -- The Earth is Becoming Green and Calon Lan -- and an Irish O'Carolan tune -- Planxty Irwin. Eight pages. I can't really see this one adapting to a story, but I do think a story in which people rhyme - and no one comments on it - would be fun. What I've learned is that I probably shouldn't be allowed to write lyrics. Some of the rhymes are worthy of a contortionist - but I sort of decided that was the point.
Script 7/11 - 12 (Fantasy; Tommy Peters, Kindergarten teacher; Suitcase; "What is that on your head?"): Karen's new kindergarten teacher turns out to be a boto, a dolphin-spirit with a blowhole on its head. When he gets involved with her mother, Karen steals an article of value to him - it's in the suitcase - to make him stay. Once his mother finds out what Tommy is, however, she gives him it back ... and he is so grateful he decides to stay. A whopping nine and a half pages, right on my upper limit. This one really needed too many scenes to make sense, and as you can see by the description, it's way more complex than it felt like when I was pitching. This one could translate into a story ... certainly I've always thought this about selkies. Sure, they run away as soon as they have their seal-skins, but you FORCED THEM TO STAY in the first place.
Script 7/13 - 14 (Silent Film (wildcard); Ignazio Del Fuego, cab driver; Knife; "That is still really sticky."): Ignazio has a problem - a bubble-gum wad in the back of his cab is starting to attack people. ... no, I'm not kidding, that's what this script is about. About five pages. For some reason, I lost a page on this one - twice - and I can't figure out why, so now I'm edgy. This doesn't have translating potential. However ... I initially thought that the wildcard would be fairly frivolous on the writing end, just a direct translation with no particular reason for it. As I started visualizing it, I had some really *neat* effects with the silence. And then I got to use a line like this: SOUND EFFECT CARD: Indescribable eldritch scream.
Drawing for today soon. Onwards!
Script 7/9 - 10 (Musical or Western; Ray Samples, college student; Egg; "Could that be any larger?"): When hapless romantic Ray is granted a wish by his fairy godmother, he asks for his perfect girl. But it doesn't seem to work until the egg she has given him hatches a mermaid. I used two Welsh tunes -- The Earth is Becoming Green and Calon Lan -- and an Irish O'Carolan tune -- Planxty Irwin. Eight pages. I can't really see this one adapting to a story, but I do think a story in which people rhyme - and no one comments on it - would be fun. What I've learned is that I probably shouldn't be allowed to write lyrics. Some of the rhymes are worthy of a contortionist - but I sort of decided that was the point.
Script 7/11 - 12 (Fantasy; Tommy Peters, Kindergarten teacher; Suitcase; "What is that on your head?"): Karen's new kindergarten teacher turns out to be a boto, a dolphin-spirit with a blowhole on its head. When he gets involved with her mother, Karen steals an article of value to him - it's in the suitcase - to make him stay. Once his mother finds out what Tommy is, however, she gives him it back ... and he is so grateful he decides to stay. A whopping nine and a half pages, right on my upper limit. This one really needed too many scenes to make sense, and as you can see by the description, it's way more complex than it felt like when I was pitching. This one could translate into a story ... certainly I've always thought this about selkies. Sure, they run away as soon as they have their seal-skins, but you FORCED THEM TO STAY in the first place.
Script 7/13 - 14 (Silent Film (wildcard); Ignazio Del Fuego, cab driver; Knife; "That is still really sticky."): Ignazio has a problem - a bubble-gum wad in the back of his cab is starting to attack people. ... no, I'm not kidding, that's what this script is about. About five pages. For some reason, I lost a page on this one - twice - and I can't figure out why, so now I'm edgy. This doesn't have translating potential. However ... I initially thought that the wildcard would be fairly frivolous on the writing end, just a direct translation with no particular reason for it. As I started visualizing it, I had some really *neat* effects with the silence. And then I got to use a line like this: SOUND EFFECT CARD: Indescribable eldritch scream.
Drawing for today soon. Onwards!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Alas, poor hat ...
I just wore out the poor 48 Hr Film Pitch hat. Specifically, ran outta characters. It was designed for practice, not my insane blitzing boot camp. I thought about allowing reuse of elements, then decided ... this was more fun. I copied over the remaining unused elements to a file, then skimmed this year's 48 Hr Project cities at random. I just borrowed their elements to create a list, which I'll roll from randomly. I've got nine scripts left after today, so I went for 9 - 10 elements (to allow me some random-roll space).
Favorite items from the ones I grabbed:
Character: Mike / Meg Jordache, papparazzi
Prop: Urn with someone's ashes in it
Dialogue: "Hold on, let me write that down."
Favorite items from the ones I grabbed:
Character: Mike / Meg Jordache, papparazzi
Prop: Urn with someone's ashes in it
Dialogue: "Hold on, let me write that down."
Reading Out Loud
An interesting website I was just linked to with tips on how to do readings - some of it is about recording, but a lot of it is relevant to authors reading samples of their work. I found it worthwhile.
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud/
I'm hoping to tentatively sign up if Broad Universe does a Rapidfire Reading at the World Fantasy Convention this year, so kind of thinking about this in the back of my head ...
http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/reading-aloud/
I'm hoping to tentatively sign up if Broad Universe does a Rapidfire Reading at the World Fantasy Convention this year, so kind of thinking about this in the back of my head ...
Friday, July 11, 2008
Good Ol' Asimov ...
Two of my favorite quotes:
"Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments." --- Isaac Asimov
"Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once." --- Isaac Asimov
I may have posted these before. If so, well, no harm done - it was about time to put them up again.
"Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments." --- Isaac Asimov
"Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once." --- Isaac Asimov
I may have posted these before. If so, well, no harm done - it was about time to put them up again.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Writer's Boot Camp: Week One
Having completed the first week of my boot camp, here's a report on what I did. In parentheses are the random elements: character, prop, line of dialogue and genre. I'm very glad I told myself up to ten pages, because I went over seven a number of times.
Test script (Sue Morton, grandmother; paper bag; "How much is that?" Horror): A doting grandmother picks up a Thanksgiving charity bag, which hatches a dreadful monster. She defeats it by showing it pictures of her grandchildren. Just a little over four pages. Possibly adaptable into flash fiction.
Script 6/23 false start (Bitsy Ballou, advice columnist; snow globe; "Where were you yesterday?" Holiday film): A glib advice columnist is given some lessons in holiday spirit by an oddball stalker. About seven and a half pages. Can't really see this one converting.
Script 7/1-2 (Emily Longman, coffee shop barista; necklace; "How much is that?" Detective/cop): When young witch Emily's necklace is stolen from the coffee shop where she works, she follows the case's detective persistently until he reluctantly comes to believe in her abilities. A little over eight pages. Actually, okay, this is decently cute and it might be workable.
Script 7/3-4 (Carl Rugman, film producer; hair brush; "When you say it like that, it's almost poetry." Superhero): Harried Carl Rugman interviews three superheroes - Rapunzel, the Sybarite and Dolphin Lass - for inclusion on a reality TV series. This was so ridiculous and so insanely fun to write. Almost eight pages long. I probably will convert this one into a story.
Script 7/5-6 (Hugh Simon, bouncer; electric fan; "Smell that. Does it seem funny?" Comedy): A mysterious aroma in the Subterfire nightclub sends the bouncer and the electrician looking for the cause ... and when they find it, they decide to let sleeping dragons lie. Almost six pages long. Ironically, this was really hard to write. It's as if I can only be funny when I can't help myself ...
Script 7/7-8 (John Kent, farmer; purse; "Where were you yesterday?" Spy): Arthur Tartleton, British secret agent, gets injured in a field, and is taken in by a farmer who wants him to use his super-spy skills to determine whether his wife is having an affair. Seven pages pretty much exactly. This one was a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I have a use for it ...
So far, I think my plotting is pretty stock. I don't mind, it's getting me used to think in bite-sized portions and writing in a style without internal cues. Three more weeks to go!
Test script (Sue Morton, grandmother; paper bag; "How much is that?" Horror): A doting grandmother picks up a Thanksgiving charity bag, which hatches a dreadful monster. She defeats it by showing it pictures of her grandchildren. Just a little over four pages. Possibly adaptable into flash fiction.
Script 6/23 false start (Bitsy Ballou, advice columnist; snow globe; "Where were you yesterday?" Holiday film): A glib advice columnist is given some lessons in holiday spirit by an oddball stalker. About seven and a half pages. Can't really see this one converting.
Script 7/1-2 (Emily Longman, coffee shop barista; necklace; "How much is that?" Detective/cop): When young witch Emily's necklace is stolen from the coffee shop where she works, she follows the case's detective persistently until he reluctantly comes to believe in her abilities. A little over eight pages. Actually, okay, this is decently cute and it might be workable.
Script 7/3-4 (Carl Rugman, film producer; hair brush; "When you say it like that, it's almost poetry." Superhero): Harried Carl Rugman interviews three superheroes - Rapunzel, the Sybarite and Dolphin Lass - for inclusion on a reality TV series. This was so ridiculous and so insanely fun to write. Almost eight pages long. I probably will convert this one into a story.
Script 7/5-6 (Hugh Simon, bouncer; electric fan; "Smell that. Does it seem funny?" Comedy): A mysterious aroma in the Subterfire nightclub sends the bouncer and the electrician looking for the cause ... and when they find it, they decide to let sleeping dragons lie. Almost six pages long. Ironically, this was really hard to write. It's as if I can only be funny when I can't help myself ...
Script 7/7-8 (John Kent, farmer; purse; "Where were you yesterday?" Spy): Arthur Tartleton, British secret agent, gets injured in a field, and is taken in by a farmer who wants him to use his super-spy skills to determine whether his wife is having an affair. Seven pages pretty much exactly. This one was a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I have a use for it ...
So far, I think my plotting is pretty stock. I don't mind, it's getting me used to think in bite-sized portions and writing in a style without internal cues. Three more weeks to go!
Sunday, July 06, 2008
The Enchantress of Florence
I just finished reading this book by Salman Rushdie - it was a recommended read at Amazon, forty percent off, and the description sounded intriguing. For me, it was a very different book. There was a lot about it that I was able to appreciate but didn't like; there were other things I thought were unnecessary, indulgences of a society that glorifies deep thought in its literature at the expense of simplicity and common sense. There were also points I genuinely enjoyed.
Of style - light, lyrical, with some exceptionally long sentences that require the unwary reader to go back and untangle them. In some places, the novel approaches poetry, woven seamlessly into the lines.
In many ways, this book reminded me of another, very different: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I commented on some time back. Both approach the world from an unconventional sense of logic. For American Gods, it is a dreaming logic. For The Enchantress of Florence, it is a stream of consciousness logic, an artist's logic, the sympathetic magic where like things are bound together though they have no scientific connection.
At first, I had trouble adjusting to the story. Once I accepted that this wasn't a novel about plot or character, that it was a novel rather about event and imagination, then I found I was able to relax and flow with it ... but I always wanted to be more connected to the characters, somehow, to find a stronger harbor in the seas of philosophy.
At its core, this is a novel about the supreme power of imagination and belief, how fiction can become more important than reality, how tale and teller can be lost in each other. It is a novel that dances casually past real-world events and entertains with its touches of the past. Both the frame story and the nested tales have the feel of history, an invention that is independent of their creators. Who is really in charge, inventor or invention?
Yet it is hard to forget that there is a storyteller involved in this novel, and thus hard to become truly immersed in the world. More often than not, there is the sense that the reader is being explained to, rather than shown. Ironically, for a story about the power of dreams and imagination, this is a novel ruled more by its craft and construction than by its core idea.
Of style - light, lyrical, with some exceptionally long sentences that require the unwary reader to go back and untangle them. In some places, the novel approaches poetry, woven seamlessly into the lines.
In many ways, this book reminded me of another, very different: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which I commented on some time back. Both approach the world from an unconventional sense of logic. For American Gods, it is a dreaming logic. For The Enchantress of Florence, it is a stream of consciousness logic, an artist's logic, the sympathetic magic where like things are bound together though they have no scientific connection.
At first, I had trouble adjusting to the story. Once I accepted that this wasn't a novel about plot or character, that it was a novel rather about event and imagination, then I found I was able to relax and flow with it ... but I always wanted to be more connected to the characters, somehow, to find a stronger harbor in the seas of philosophy.
At its core, this is a novel about the supreme power of imagination and belief, how fiction can become more important than reality, how tale and teller can be lost in each other. It is a novel that dances casually past real-world events and entertains with its touches of the past. Both the frame story and the nested tales have the feel of history, an invention that is independent of their creators. Who is really in charge, inventor or invention?
Yet it is hard to forget that there is a storyteller involved in this novel, and thus hard to become truly immersed in the world. More often than not, there is the sense that the reader is being explained to, rather than shown. Ironically, for a story about the power of dreams and imagination, this is a novel ruled more by its craft and construction than by its core idea.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Much Ado About Murder Review
Much Ado About Murder -- edited by Anne Perry
Mystery stories inspired by Shakespeare? Count me in.
These are mostly period stories or stories about the events of the plays, rather than modern tales involving Shakespearean elements – perfectly valid, and because of my interest in translating mystery to a “standard” fantasy setting, more up my alley. I did start with some prejudice, however: I am dubious of any anthology where a) the editor describes the stories in the introduction, in glowing prose and b) the editor has a story in the anthology. I imagine it’s torture for an editor NOT to pitch in with a themed anthology, particularly if they took on the project with personal interest or as a labor of love … but I find it a bit tacky.
Jeffery Deaver’s “All The World’s A Stage” is an Elizabethan tale about a London man who learns that his father was murdered by a man now favored at court – and sets about to have his revenge without being caught. Mystery story? Perhaps not, but a well-paced tale cleanly unfolded nonetheless. At first, the involvement of Shakespeare seems gratuitious – an interjection made only to pacify the editor – but it comes clear in a fashion that is more than satisfying. The details in this story are authentic, but some segments of the narrative seemed “info-dumpy” – seems as if this author got caught up in the novelty of his research. As always, using period dialogue but modern narration is a tricky balance, and there are places where it jars, but I appreciate the authentic speech.
Enter Carole Nelson Douglas’ “Those Are Pearls That Were His Eyes,” a story which occurs after the events of The Tempest and also involves characters from The Merchant of Venice. Caliban is the principal point of view character, but the story invokes the format of a play early on, and moves into a half-omniscience. Here, the dialogue is natural, suited to the lingering, evocative narration with which the story opens. Thereafter – to the detriment of the tale – it becomes almost pure dialogue, difficult to follow. The intimations of play-hood are not enough to dispell this sensation of disembodied talk. For other reasons, I found this story confusing to follow. Caliban was well-portrayed as a sympathetic character, however, and the ultimate conclusion was a satisfying one.
“The Fall of the House of Oldenborg” by Robert Barnard is a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the events in Hamlet, as told by the Silent Irishman, a scheming syncophant who accompanies “Hammy” on his quest. Again, this isn’t truly a mystery story – at least, we know from the start how it will turn out, though there are some surprises along the way. I enjoyed some of the humorous elements of this story, but I thought that it trended into the category of “too silly” – it was hard to identify with the characters through the comic detachment, or to sustain much (if any) tension. I didn’t find it funny enough to overcome these weaknesses, though this is a clever read.
There is great delight in Sharan Newman’s “Jack Hath Not His Jill,” a period story written as a letter from Anne, Princess of France. After a puzzling reception, she sets out to determine the true force behind the throne of Navarre. Where this story shines is its narrator, bright and feisty while still being a perfect portrayal of early royalty. I did become a little lost in the letter. I also had trouble keeping track of the cast of characters, but I think this is a flaw of my not being familiar with the play on which the story was based – and possibly how tired I was when reading the story. I still enjoyed the conclusion, and there was much fun in being along for the ride.
I came away from “Gracious Silence” by Gillian Linscott with exactly one thought: wow. This is the tale of timid Virgilia, wife of Coriolanus – whose silence carries her forward until she can be silent no more. Since reading The Handmaid’s Tale, I thought that a passive character couldn’t be a sympathetic narrator, nor star in a fulfilling story – this one proves me wrong. I came to sympathize deeply with the main character and her plight, and had a full appreciation for the strictures imposed on her both by ancient Roman society and by her imposing mother-in-law, Volumnia. If there is a flaw in this story, it is due to its placement: this is neither a mystery nor even really a murder story. What it is is a thoroughly engrossing read.
Yay! Twelfth Night!
Courtesy of Lillian Stewart Carl, “A Dish of Poison” fits seamlessly into the events of the play, a quasi-prelude wherein the newly-disguised Viola/Cesario is sent by Duke Orsino to discern the true facts behind the death of his beloved Olivia’s brother. This is a quick, lively tale with easy to follow clues (but not too easy) and a solid mystery at its core. There is even a smooth info-dump in the beginning for those not familiar with the plot of the play. A few famous Shakespearean lines weave naturally into the dialogue. Both old characters and new are well-defined and realistic – they come right off the page.
Not a mystery story, but “Too Many Cooks” by Marcia Talley is a delightful take on the events of Macbeth, from the POV of the (hapless) Weird Sisters, desperate to make a living from their sorcery with spell ingredients on the cheap. It is great fun to see how their good intentions run amok, and there are some really clever segues from the witches’ mistakes to the events of the play. My only small complaint with this story – and it scarcely marred my enjoyment – is that in the second half of the story, the witches are fairly passive, and the conclusion isn’t really in their hands. The characters are sympathetic, the story light and fun ... and you have to love an unexpected happy ending.
“Squinting at Death” by Edward Marston is a straightforward tale of detection centered around a murder that occurred on the bloody battlefield of Agincourt. He cleverly combines historical figures with characters from Shakespeare’s Henry V. The aftermath of the battle is depicted authentically without resorting to gore, and the main character’s determination to solve a crime in the midst of so much other death provides an interesting contrast. From a zinger of a comment in the denouement (to say more would be to give it away) to the ethnic pride of the Welshmen, this story is flavorful and enjoyable. I did feel that I was being “red-herringed” into expecting a political conspiracy in the beginning, however.
Simon Brett presents “Exit, Pursued,” a story set in the twilight days of Shakespearean theatre, when the bard battles with bear-baiting and an apathetic public. When one of the company is murdered, Charles Parys becomes an informal detective. This is a solid mystery story built on the foundations of its time and place – evocatively described and entertaining to read. I had only two small complaints: one, I thought that the characters perhaps spent too much time quoting the plays (there is a point when skillful incorporation becomes “laid on too thick”), and two, the conclusion hinted at a lack of conscience on the part of the detective that I found disquieting – and it didn’t seem supported by the rest of the story. Ultimately, this didn’t mar the story, and I intend to seek out more of Brett’s work.
“Richard’s Children” from Brendan DuBois wasn’t my cup of tea. This is a contemporary story of conspiracy surrounding two Richards – Richard the Third of Shakespearean (and historical) fame, and Richard Nixon. It’s an interesting premise that appeals to the paranoid theorist in all of us, but the story felt somehow hollow to me. Maybe the pacing was off; maybe I felt something was promised that wasn’t delivered. Certainly the connection to Shakespeare is more tenuous than I would have expected: we’re dealing with the historical Richard here, with only a few gratuitious references to the Bard thrown in. This almost feels like the first chapter of a novel … maybe what disappointed me was the worldbuilding turned into little more than a punchline.
Margaret Frazer’s “This World’s Eternity” presents an interesting variation on the mystery. The story contains an italicized monologue from one of the characters … but which is it? This one follows the events King Henry VI, and presents a satisfying tale at heart – for all its characters show the range of their vices. The opening of this story is somewhat shaky, as it bombards the reader with names and conflicts too rapidly to be digested, but it evens out as the tale continues. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it is an interesting study of characters and subtle influences.
“Cleo’s Asp” by Edward D. Hoch takes us back to ancient Egypt and a clown turned investigator who must figure out which of Cleopatra’s maidservants have betrayed her. This is a well-written story with a sympathetic narrator and good pacing, but there are some flaws. With two servants, and the narrator having close sympathy for one of them, the conclusion paints too broad a stroke regardless of the guilty party. In addition, he knocks out a potential murder suspect – but alerts no guards and does nothing to restrain him. How does this make sense? I found the murder in this mystery to be bare, and it invited a twist that was too spurious to be effective.
Kathy Lynn Emerson’s “Much Ado About Murder” tackles one of Shakespeare’s most beloved heroines – and one of my personal favorites. She introduces Beatrice and Benedick seamlessly into the history and lives of her series sleuth, Lady Susanna Appleton – who takes it as a personal charge to smuggle Protestants out of the country during the rule of Queen Mary. When one of the transients turns up a corpse, it is up to the two women to find out who killed him. The main characters of Much Ado About Nothing are beautifully depicted; I was immediately taken by Emerson’s Beatrice. There is also nice trick of casting criminal suspicion on Shakespearean characters: would the author go that far from the traditional portrayal?
“The Serpent’s Tooth” by P.C. Doherty explores the possible murder of the most integral figure to Shakespeare’s works: the Bard himself. The physician Siggins arrives by royal decree to question daughter Susanna, and her husband, John Hall, in the wake of Shakespeare’s burial. This tale builds suspense and curiosity in a slow, effective expansion of details – the cat and mouse game between Siggins and the Halls is tense and absorbing to read, and build sympathy for the pair. There is one fairly major flaw in this story, a pair of uneven POV shifts with no scene break to demarcate them, but this is the only thing to interrupt the skillful construction of the story.
I admit to not being familiar with the play on which Peter Robinson’s “The Duke’s Wife” is based. To his credit, he attempts to summarize the events which leave Isabella married to the Duke and her good friend Mariana married to the scandalous Angelo … whose most recent crimes turn Isabella into an amateur investigator. However, the summary is somewhat clumsy, and the story which hangs on it somehow lacking. Maybe there isn’t enough space to develop sympathy with the characters. Maybe full connection with the story involves knowledge of the play, summary notwithstanding. For whatever reason, this one missed the mark with me.
Peter Tremayne often slathers on his historical information, and “‘Let The Game Begin!’” is no exception to this – but heavy history notwithstanding, this is an enjoyable story. This anthology opened with a tale of actors in jeopardy … now it closes with two in sequence. Constable Hardy Drew is summoned to the Red Boar Inn to investigate the death of a gentleman, but all is not as it seems. I liked this character and the strong sense of history in the story. The plot is well-paced with an interesting conclusion – enjoyable to follow with just enough clues to guess where it might be going. There’s also a nice, clear emotional arc for the main character, a lesson learned without being preachy.
Despite my reservations above, “Ere I Killed Thee” by Anne Perry is a worthy addition to this anthology. It is set in the Victorian period around a stage performance of Othello, and the theme of this work is elegantly woven into the tale of jealousy and revenge played out by its actor characters. While I was left with some questions as to the narrator’s early inaction, the mood and motive is otherwise expertly illuminated. I confess, however, that I guessed the murderer early on, which is a rarity for me and makes me wonder how well it was hidden. Finally, the ending involves a device that even I (who hasn’t read that many mysteries) recognize as a cliché. Flaws aside, this one balances out as an enjoyable tale, and a solid ending to the anthology.
Overall, this was a strong anthology with only two real mis-steps that I could see. One, half of the weakest stories were put right in the front. I can easily see a picky reader giving the entire anthology a miss on the basis of those stories, and that would be a shame. Two … no A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Given some of the plays that were used, the absence of this one seems to be a gaping hole. You might argue that the fantastic element makes it difficult to work with, but there’s a story about The Tempest in the anthology, and the representative Macbeth story is fantasy in character. Perhaps the editor simply didn’t receive any stories in this vein, or attempts to solicit one met with lapsed promises. Maybe I’m just biased.
Or maybe I’ll write one …
Mystery stories inspired by Shakespeare? Count me in.
These are mostly period stories or stories about the events of the plays, rather than modern tales involving Shakespearean elements – perfectly valid, and because of my interest in translating mystery to a “standard” fantasy setting, more up my alley. I did start with some prejudice, however: I am dubious of any anthology where a) the editor describes the stories in the introduction, in glowing prose and b) the editor has a story in the anthology. I imagine it’s torture for an editor NOT to pitch in with a themed anthology, particularly if they took on the project with personal interest or as a labor of love … but I find it a bit tacky.
Jeffery Deaver’s “All The World’s A Stage” is an Elizabethan tale about a London man who learns that his father was murdered by a man now favored at court – and sets about to have his revenge without being caught. Mystery story? Perhaps not, but a well-paced tale cleanly unfolded nonetheless. At first, the involvement of Shakespeare seems gratuitious – an interjection made only to pacify the editor – but it comes clear in a fashion that is more than satisfying. The details in this story are authentic, but some segments of the narrative seemed “info-dumpy” – seems as if this author got caught up in the novelty of his research. As always, using period dialogue but modern narration is a tricky balance, and there are places where it jars, but I appreciate the authentic speech.
Enter Carole Nelson Douglas’ “Those Are Pearls That Were His Eyes,” a story which occurs after the events of The Tempest and also involves characters from The Merchant of Venice. Caliban is the principal point of view character, but the story invokes the format of a play early on, and moves into a half-omniscience. Here, the dialogue is natural, suited to the lingering, evocative narration with which the story opens. Thereafter – to the detriment of the tale – it becomes almost pure dialogue, difficult to follow. The intimations of play-hood are not enough to dispell this sensation of disembodied talk. For other reasons, I found this story confusing to follow. Caliban was well-portrayed as a sympathetic character, however, and the ultimate conclusion was a satisfying one.
“The Fall of the House of Oldenborg” by Robert Barnard is a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the events in Hamlet, as told by the Silent Irishman, a scheming syncophant who accompanies “Hammy” on his quest. Again, this isn’t truly a mystery story – at least, we know from the start how it will turn out, though there are some surprises along the way. I enjoyed some of the humorous elements of this story, but I thought that it trended into the category of “too silly” – it was hard to identify with the characters through the comic detachment, or to sustain much (if any) tension. I didn’t find it funny enough to overcome these weaknesses, though this is a clever read.
There is great delight in Sharan Newman’s “Jack Hath Not His Jill,” a period story written as a letter from Anne, Princess of France. After a puzzling reception, she sets out to determine the true force behind the throne of Navarre. Where this story shines is its narrator, bright and feisty while still being a perfect portrayal of early royalty. I did become a little lost in the letter. I also had trouble keeping track of the cast of characters, but I think this is a flaw of my not being familiar with the play on which the story was based – and possibly how tired I was when reading the story. I still enjoyed the conclusion, and there was much fun in being along for the ride.
I came away from “Gracious Silence” by Gillian Linscott with exactly one thought: wow. This is the tale of timid Virgilia, wife of Coriolanus – whose silence carries her forward until she can be silent no more. Since reading The Handmaid’s Tale, I thought that a passive character couldn’t be a sympathetic narrator, nor star in a fulfilling story – this one proves me wrong. I came to sympathize deeply with the main character and her plight, and had a full appreciation for the strictures imposed on her both by ancient Roman society and by her imposing mother-in-law, Volumnia. If there is a flaw in this story, it is due to its placement: this is neither a mystery nor even really a murder story. What it is is a thoroughly engrossing read.
Yay! Twelfth Night!
Courtesy of Lillian Stewart Carl, “A Dish of Poison” fits seamlessly into the events of the play, a quasi-prelude wherein the newly-disguised Viola/Cesario is sent by Duke Orsino to discern the true facts behind the death of his beloved Olivia’s brother. This is a quick, lively tale with easy to follow clues (but not too easy) and a solid mystery at its core. There is even a smooth info-dump in the beginning for those not familiar with the plot of the play. A few famous Shakespearean lines weave naturally into the dialogue. Both old characters and new are well-defined and realistic – they come right off the page.
Not a mystery story, but “Too Many Cooks” by Marcia Talley is a delightful take on the events of Macbeth, from the POV of the (hapless) Weird Sisters, desperate to make a living from their sorcery with spell ingredients on the cheap. It is great fun to see how their good intentions run amok, and there are some really clever segues from the witches’ mistakes to the events of the play. My only small complaint with this story – and it scarcely marred my enjoyment – is that in the second half of the story, the witches are fairly passive, and the conclusion isn’t really in their hands. The characters are sympathetic, the story light and fun ... and you have to love an unexpected happy ending.
“Squinting at Death” by Edward Marston is a straightforward tale of detection centered around a murder that occurred on the bloody battlefield of Agincourt. He cleverly combines historical figures with characters from Shakespeare’s Henry V. The aftermath of the battle is depicted authentically without resorting to gore, and the main character’s determination to solve a crime in the midst of so much other death provides an interesting contrast. From a zinger of a comment in the denouement (to say more would be to give it away) to the ethnic pride of the Welshmen, this story is flavorful and enjoyable. I did feel that I was being “red-herringed” into expecting a political conspiracy in the beginning, however.
Simon Brett presents “Exit, Pursued,” a story set in the twilight days of Shakespearean theatre, when the bard battles with bear-baiting and an apathetic public. When one of the company is murdered, Charles Parys becomes an informal detective. This is a solid mystery story built on the foundations of its time and place – evocatively described and entertaining to read. I had only two small complaints: one, I thought that the characters perhaps spent too much time quoting the plays (there is a point when skillful incorporation becomes “laid on too thick”), and two, the conclusion hinted at a lack of conscience on the part of the detective that I found disquieting – and it didn’t seem supported by the rest of the story. Ultimately, this didn’t mar the story, and I intend to seek out more of Brett’s work.
“Richard’s Children” from Brendan DuBois wasn’t my cup of tea. This is a contemporary story of conspiracy surrounding two Richards – Richard the Third of Shakespearean (and historical) fame, and Richard Nixon. It’s an interesting premise that appeals to the paranoid theorist in all of us, but the story felt somehow hollow to me. Maybe the pacing was off; maybe I felt something was promised that wasn’t delivered. Certainly the connection to Shakespeare is more tenuous than I would have expected: we’re dealing with the historical Richard here, with only a few gratuitious references to the Bard thrown in. This almost feels like the first chapter of a novel … maybe what disappointed me was the worldbuilding turned into little more than a punchline.
Margaret Frazer’s “This World’s Eternity” presents an interesting variation on the mystery. The story contains an italicized monologue from one of the characters … but which is it? This one follows the events King Henry VI, and presents a satisfying tale at heart – for all its characters show the range of their vices. The opening of this story is somewhat shaky, as it bombards the reader with names and conflicts too rapidly to be digested, but it evens out as the tale continues. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it is an interesting study of characters and subtle influences.
“Cleo’s Asp” by Edward D. Hoch takes us back to ancient Egypt and a clown turned investigator who must figure out which of Cleopatra’s maidservants have betrayed her. This is a well-written story with a sympathetic narrator and good pacing, but there are some flaws. With two servants, and the narrator having close sympathy for one of them, the conclusion paints too broad a stroke regardless of the guilty party. In addition, he knocks out a potential murder suspect – but alerts no guards and does nothing to restrain him. How does this make sense? I found the murder in this mystery to be bare, and it invited a twist that was too spurious to be effective.
Kathy Lynn Emerson’s “Much Ado About Murder” tackles one of Shakespeare’s most beloved heroines – and one of my personal favorites. She introduces Beatrice and Benedick seamlessly into the history and lives of her series sleuth, Lady Susanna Appleton – who takes it as a personal charge to smuggle Protestants out of the country during the rule of Queen Mary. When one of the transients turns up a corpse, it is up to the two women to find out who killed him. The main characters of Much Ado About Nothing are beautifully depicted; I was immediately taken by Emerson’s Beatrice. There is also nice trick of casting criminal suspicion on Shakespearean characters: would the author go that far from the traditional portrayal?
“The Serpent’s Tooth” by P.C. Doherty explores the possible murder of the most integral figure to Shakespeare’s works: the Bard himself. The physician Siggins arrives by royal decree to question daughter Susanna, and her husband, John Hall, in the wake of Shakespeare’s burial. This tale builds suspense and curiosity in a slow, effective expansion of details – the cat and mouse game between Siggins and the Halls is tense and absorbing to read, and build sympathy for the pair. There is one fairly major flaw in this story, a pair of uneven POV shifts with no scene break to demarcate them, but this is the only thing to interrupt the skillful construction of the story.
I admit to not being familiar with the play on which Peter Robinson’s “The Duke’s Wife” is based. To his credit, he attempts to summarize the events which leave Isabella married to the Duke and her good friend Mariana married to the scandalous Angelo … whose most recent crimes turn Isabella into an amateur investigator. However, the summary is somewhat clumsy, and the story which hangs on it somehow lacking. Maybe there isn’t enough space to develop sympathy with the characters. Maybe full connection with the story involves knowledge of the play, summary notwithstanding. For whatever reason, this one missed the mark with me.
Peter Tremayne often slathers on his historical information, and “‘Let The Game Begin!’” is no exception to this – but heavy history notwithstanding, this is an enjoyable story. This anthology opened with a tale of actors in jeopardy … now it closes with two in sequence. Constable Hardy Drew is summoned to the Red Boar Inn to investigate the death of a gentleman, but all is not as it seems. I liked this character and the strong sense of history in the story. The plot is well-paced with an interesting conclusion – enjoyable to follow with just enough clues to guess where it might be going. There’s also a nice, clear emotional arc for the main character, a lesson learned without being preachy.
Despite my reservations above, “Ere I Killed Thee” by Anne Perry is a worthy addition to this anthology. It is set in the Victorian period around a stage performance of Othello, and the theme of this work is elegantly woven into the tale of jealousy and revenge played out by its actor characters. While I was left with some questions as to the narrator’s early inaction, the mood and motive is otherwise expertly illuminated. I confess, however, that I guessed the murderer early on, which is a rarity for me and makes me wonder how well it was hidden. Finally, the ending involves a device that even I (who hasn’t read that many mysteries) recognize as a cliché. Flaws aside, this one balances out as an enjoyable tale, and a solid ending to the anthology.
Overall, this was a strong anthology with only two real mis-steps that I could see. One, half of the weakest stories were put right in the front. I can easily see a picky reader giving the entire anthology a miss on the basis of those stories, and that would be a shame. Two … no A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Given some of the plays that were used, the absence of this one seems to be a gaping hole. You might argue that the fantastic element makes it difficult to work with, but there’s a story about The Tempest in the anthology, and the representative Macbeth story is fantasy in character. Perhaps the editor simply didn’t receive any stories in this vein, or attempts to solicit one met with lapsed promises. Maybe I’m just biased.
Or maybe I’ll write one …
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Another Art Spurt!
It's bleeding out of my fingers! But I've got an obscene amount of space on my website, so why not? I have done some computer modulation, but only to make the scans look as much like the original pages as possible.
This was a free-form drawing, with no photo for reference. After starting it, I immediately wished I had used only white pastels. One small computer modulation beyond those described above - I originally had her eyes a bit too high, and the first pencil mark was faintly visible in the scan, so I smudged it digitally.
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WaterNymph.jpg
Just for fun, I put it into Paint Shop Pro and blue-scaled it:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WaterNymphBlue.jpg
This one, on the other hand, was sketched by hand and then colored in PSP. The title is "Chocolate Bard" - a combination of my trying to "fantasy up" my work and my really bad pun sense:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/ChocolateBard.JPG
But wait. The puns get worse. Much, much worse. This one is entitled Waite-d Dice:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WaitedDice.jpg
Finally, I went kind of nuts and bought myself a starter set of acrylic paints. This is the result:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WarriorHills.jpg
I'm having fun conceptualizing things that I can draw without using copyrighted models - and basically giving myself permission to experiment and be not terribly good at it. ;-) I'm taking a roll of film right now to see if my camera even works ... I'll be shocked if it does, considering the film that was in it when I found it was from 2005 ... but it was a good camera, so there's a chance.
This was a free-form drawing, with no photo for reference. After starting it, I immediately wished I had used only white pastels. One small computer modulation beyond those described above - I originally had her eyes a bit too high, and the first pencil mark was faintly visible in the scan, so I smudged it digitally.
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WaterNymph.jpg
Just for fun, I put it into Paint Shop Pro and blue-scaled it:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WaterNymphBlue.jpg
This one, on the other hand, was sketched by hand and then colored in PSP. The title is "Chocolate Bard" - a combination of my trying to "fantasy up" my work and my really bad pun sense:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/ChocolateBard.JPG
But wait. The puns get worse. Much, much worse. This one is entitled Waite-d Dice:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WaitedDice.jpg
Finally, I went kind of nuts and bought myself a starter set of acrylic paints. This is the result:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/WarriorHills.jpg
I'm having fun conceptualizing things that I can draw without using copyrighted models - and basically giving myself permission to experiment and be not terribly good at it. ;-) I'm taking a roll of film right now to see if my camera even works ... I'll be shocked if it does, considering the film that was in it when I found it was from 2005 ... but it was a good camera, so there's a chance.
Spaaaaace Sirens!
I just sold a story entitled "Precious Cargo" to the anthology Space Sirens, edited by Carol Hightshoe (of The Lorelei Signal and Sorcerous Signals - always gracious and professional). Essentially, the theme of the anthology is female-centric adventure science fiction. She was looking for some humor / tongue-in-cheek - I'm not totally sure where my story falls on that spectrum, but I was trying. ;-)
Friday, June 27, 2008
Fantasy ...
"Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels." ~Francisco Goya
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Mirror, Mirror
Dry spell broken - sale!
Mirror, Mirror will appear in the debut issue of Speculative Mystery Iconoclast (http://specmysticon.wordpress.com/) sometime towards the end of July. I rather think I'm going to enjoy this magazine, m'self ...
Mirror, Mirror will appear in the debut issue of Speculative Mystery Iconoclast (http://specmysticon.wordpress.com/) sometime towards the end of July. I rather think I'm going to enjoy this magazine, m'self ...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Boot Camp Revised
Finally decided on a two-day cycle:
Day 1: Pitch and first three pages
Day 2: Remainder
I did a script yesterday, but I may be putting off the rest of the "camp" to start next Monday. I am having a wildly over-busy week and it's just one thing too many on my plate. Will heavily depend on whether I get a script started today.
Day 1: Pitch and first three pages
Day 2: Remainder
I did a script yesterday, but I may be putting off the rest of the "camp" to start next Monday. I am having a wildly over-busy week and it's just one thing too many on my plate. Will heavily depend on whether I get a script started today.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Writers' Boot Camp: Part Two
A while ago, I did a self-imposed Writers' Boot Camp: I went through the book The Three A.M. Epiphany in order, one exercise a day, skipping only the ones that didn't fit easily into a single day's work and taking breaks only under extenuating circumstances. Now, I'm pondering a different idea.
Since participating in the 48 Hr Film Project, I've become intrigued by script writing. The random prompt generator the Oblaks set up for practice pitches is still there. I thought I might make use of it to write a whole bunch of short scripts. A rough guideline is one minute per page, so if I stay within the 48 Hr guidelines, which I see no reason why not (brevity practice is always good for me), it would be aiming for 4-7 page scripts. I'll go easy on myself and say to max out at ten.
I'm not going to come out of this with a product I can sell. My hopes are two-fold:
A) Come up with some material that can be converted into short work / flash fiction, and/or that can be used within a story - a play within the work, for instance.
B) More importantly, improve as a writer by stretching and trying a completely new medium.
My only quandry here is how to set it up advantageously. In the past, my boot-camp was designed to leave me enough time per day to work on my continuous projects. I'm not sure that I can write 4+ pages of script and not have it take up the whole day. However, if I say per 3 days, then I lose the element of having an obvious goal for each day. I think I'm going to try a couple over the next few days and see how it goes; then I'll decide how to proceed. But I'm thinking a two-week "camp" is my final goal, and/or ten scripts minimum.
Since participating in the 48 Hr Film Project, I've become intrigued by script writing. The random prompt generator the Oblaks set up for practice pitches is still there. I thought I might make use of it to write a whole bunch of short scripts. A rough guideline is one minute per page, so if I stay within the 48 Hr guidelines, which I see no reason why not (brevity practice is always good for me), it would be aiming for 4-7 page scripts. I'll go easy on myself and say to max out at ten.
I'm not going to come out of this with a product I can sell. My hopes are two-fold:
A) Come up with some material that can be converted into short work / flash fiction, and/or that can be used within a story - a play within the work, for instance.
B) More importantly, improve as a writer by stretching and trying a completely new medium.
My only quandry here is how to set it up advantageously. In the past, my boot-camp was designed to leave me enough time per day to work on my continuous projects. I'm not sure that I can write 4+ pages of script and not have it take up the whole day. However, if I say per 3 days, then I lose the element of having an obvious goal for each day. I think I'm going to try a couple over the next few days and see how it goes; then I'll decide how to proceed. But I'm thinking a two-week "camp" is my final goal, and/or ten scripts minimum.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Not Quitting My Day-Job
Every now and again, I like to draw - hindered somewhat by the fact that I'm not very good at it. I also prefer to have something to draw from, which is a problem when photos are copyrighted, etc ... I feel a bit "off" claiming it. Also complicating matters is the fact that I feel the urge to "fantasy up" everything I draw. Anyhow, I've gone through another phase, and thought I'd post a few for the heck of it.
Old work:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/mask.jpg
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/briallan.jpg
I really liked the inverse shading I had to do with the pastels for the second one, so am planning on trying something similar.
Currently, some found objects from my house:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/Spilled Rocks.jpg
And I felt the overwhelming need to fantasy-ize this one by making it anthropomorphic:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/PepperGrinder.jpg
This next one, I was initially going to do three ways (pastels, pencils and digital), but I couldn't get the lines distinct enough to "work" them on the computer. So:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/Traveling Musician 2.jpg
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/Traveling Musician.jpg
I had a huge rant prepared about how the background of the second one was supposed to be a carpet, so expansive that there wasn't really a horizon in the perspective, but it turned into a psychadelic trip ... but *then* the carpet color didn't really get picked up by the scanner.
So. Yeah. Not an artist.
Old work:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/mask.jpg
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/briallan.jpg
I really liked the inverse shading I had to do with the pastels for the second one, so am planning on trying something similar.
Currently, some found objects from my house:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/Spilled Rocks.jpg
And I felt the overwhelming need to fantasy-ize this one by making it anthropomorphic:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/PepperGrinder.jpg
This next one, I was initially going to do three ways (pastels, pencils and digital), but I couldn't get the lines distinct enough to "work" them on the computer. So:
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/Traveling Musician 2.jpg
http://www.lindseyduncan.com/Traveling Musician.jpg
I had a huge rant prepared about how the background of the second one was supposed to be a carpet, so expansive that there wasn't really a horizon in the perspective, but it turned into a psychadelic trip ... but *then* the carpet color didn't really get picked up by the scanner.
So. Yeah. Not an artist.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Just Goes To Show ...
I am a horrible judge of my own work. I had discounted my entry for the May Fantasy-Writers.org Writing Challenge, because I'd read a couple other entries that I thought were significantly stronger than my own.
Read:
http://www.fantasy-writers.org/
(I'm Aiara.)
I am sort of mystified. But pleased!
(No more 48 Hr updates for a while. Next step is the screening next week, of all twenty films in our group ... I'm hoping to attend.)
Read:
http://www.fantasy-writers.org/
(I'm Aiara.)
I am sort of mystified. But pleased!
(No more 48 Hr updates for a while. Next step is the screening next week, of all twenty films in our group ... I'm hoping to attend.)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
48 Hour Film Project: 46hrs to Zero Hour
So the mysterious secret of the editors' demesne twas revealed, and after getting myself thoroughly lost off the exit (go me!) I finally trolled in about 5:30. An hour and a half until submissions opened, two hours until the final bell. With sixteen minutes needed to make two tapes, the crew was busily working on the audio. It was crazy, watching the last minute blitz. Amy was in nail-biting mode, but too tired to actually do any chewing.
At first, we're talking about leaving to be there by 7pm. Then leaving by 7. And then, as a few of the boys head off to scout the way ...
Kachunk. Disk failure. Reboot. Reboot again.
We need sixteen minutes. It's past 7. ... and it's not going to happen.
A disheartened crew is ready to push through even despite, but the energy is gone. Then a cameraman has the idea to copy the second tape on the way over. "But we don't have this cable!" "I do!" "... my battery is dead." Eventually sorting out the mishmash, we race to the car, waiting and ready to drive. (I am not driving. Are you crazy?)
A lone figure surges out of the apartment. "I checked the rules! We only need one tape!" And whoosh, we're off, pedal to the floor, clocking like crazy for downtown, and very tempted to run some red lights downtown. We pull up by Fountain Square - out jumps Jim with the tape - and a crazy swing down into the parking lot to park. I really wish I'd known I was going to be running: I literally ended up out of one of my sandals as we hurried to join him. (Only he needed to be there, but - still! Fervor!)
We made it, less than two minutes to spare. Off to celebrate, swap shoot stories, snack on appetizers and (quite a bit) stare into space. What a ride.
At first, we're talking about leaving to be there by 7pm. Then leaving by 7. And then, as a few of the boys head off to scout the way ...
Kachunk. Disk failure. Reboot. Reboot again.
We need sixteen minutes. It's past 7. ... and it's not going to happen.
A disheartened crew is ready to push through even despite, but the energy is gone. Then a cameraman has the idea to copy the second tape on the way over. "But we don't have this cable!" "I do!" "... my battery is dead." Eventually sorting out the mishmash, we race to the car, waiting and ready to drive. (I am not driving. Are you crazy?)
A lone figure surges out of the apartment. "I checked the rules! We only need one tape!" And whoosh, we're off, pedal to the floor, clocking like crazy for downtown, and very tempted to run some red lights downtown. We pull up by Fountain Square - out jumps Jim with the tape - and a crazy swing down into the parking lot to park. I really wish I'd known I was going to be running: I literally ended up out of one of my sandals as we hurried to join him. (Only he needed to be there, but - still! Fervor!)
We made it, less than two minutes to spare. Off to celebrate, swap shoot stories, snack on appetizers and (quite a bit) stare into space. What a ride.
48 Hour Film Project: 43 hrs
Just received a call from Amy - turns out they banned anyone who wasn't an editor from the editing room, and didn't even tell most of the crew where said editing was occurring. She said that it would probably be open in a little while, but I've got a lunch date for Father's Day, so ... and the last stage, of course, is the drop-off, with celebratory dining afterwards. Not sure whether or not I'll be able to make it down there ...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
48 Hour Film Project: 17hrs to 25hrs
Ah, the dreaded phonecall:
"It doesn't read like a road movie."
Unfortunately, with about ten minutes until I left, the mail came in, and it included a rejection on an agent query. So I felt this irrational compulsion to get it back into the "mail" (email in this case) immediately ... complicated by the fact I'd decided to multi-query. I finally told myself I was being silly, as long as I had the destinations chosen, there was no way a couple hrs in sending was going to matter ... but still, getting myself out the door with the queries unsent was unnervingly hard.
Managed to get a parking space out front, then realized I had only one quarter. One of the apartment owners was outside with Randall (puppy!). I rushed up to ask if I could trade for some change. He asked if I'd checked around the corner for alley parking. I turned, in sort of a rush because I was fifteen minutes late (1pm was the requested meet-time) and ... smack. OWW. I crashed thigh-first into a flower-pot. The fact that it leapt out of nowhere and viciously attacked me became a running joke for the rest of the day.
But I have a war-wound! (Actually two of them - cut my finger later trying to pull the dog back on one of those darned auto-retractable-extendable-whatever leashes.)
We decided to extend the travel sequences and add some monologues, including one about kayak being a palindrome ... why isn't palindrome a palindrome? Anyhow. Also some other conceptual neatos, followed by the slow trickle in of necessary personnel before ... uh ... turns out the crew that wanted to start filming as soon as the new draft was approved couldn't go anywhere because they had the kayak, but no way to secure it.
Eventually, everyone got out the door. Amy and I ended up doing some clerical work and coming up with a possible form for the credits. Since she was the only other one there, I hung around for a bit before clocking home ... mainly because we weren't conversing, I was monologuing and I was turning increasingly more idiotic.
There was a lot of hurry up and wait today, but we got some good, strong work done, and I'm feeling better about my contribution to the collaboration. Tomorrow -- editing, and that's mostly an observer post again.
Halfway there!
"It doesn't read like a road movie."
Unfortunately, with about ten minutes until I left, the mail came in, and it included a rejection on an agent query. So I felt this irrational compulsion to get it back into the "mail" (email in this case) immediately ... complicated by the fact I'd decided to multi-query. I finally told myself I was being silly, as long as I had the destinations chosen, there was no way a couple hrs in sending was going to matter ... but still, getting myself out the door with the queries unsent was unnervingly hard.
Managed to get a parking space out front, then realized I had only one quarter. One of the apartment owners was outside with Randall (puppy!). I rushed up to ask if I could trade for some change. He asked if I'd checked around the corner for alley parking. I turned, in sort of a rush because I was fifteen minutes late (1pm was the requested meet-time) and ... smack. OWW. I crashed thigh-first into a flower-pot. The fact that it leapt out of nowhere and viciously attacked me became a running joke for the rest of the day.
But I have a war-wound! (Actually two of them - cut my finger later trying to pull the dog back on one of those darned auto-retractable-extendable-whatever leashes.)
We decided to extend the travel sequences and add some monologues, including one about kayak being a palindrome ... why isn't palindrome a palindrome? Anyhow. Also some other conceptual neatos, followed by the slow trickle in of necessary personnel before ... uh ... turns out the crew that wanted to start filming as soon as the new draft was approved couldn't go anywhere because they had the kayak, but no way to secure it.
Eventually, everyone got out the door. Amy and I ended up doing some clerical work and coming up with a possible form for the credits. Since she was the only other one there, I hung around for a bit before clocking home ... mainly because we weren't conversing, I was monologuing and I was turning increasingly more idiotic.
There was a lot of hurry up and wait today, but we got some good, strong work done, and I'm feeling better about my contribution to the collaboration. Tomorrow -- editing, and that's mostly an observer post again.
Halfway there!
48 Hour Film Project: 9hrs to 16hrs
Zzzzzz.
Woke up this morning and sent probably the second text message of my life to Amy to find out if they'd slept yet. Turns out they want to meet at 3pm to do some editing, so unless it becomes earlier, I'll be shipping out in a bit to play observer. I'd also think the editing process should have some creative elements ... not that I'm necessarily providing them, but I can pretend. ;-)
At this point, I want to step aside and discuss a basic problem with fiction: Inspired By True Events.
Truth is stranger than fiction. "Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities - truth isn't." (Mark Twain) It all boils down to this: we tolerate coincidence in the real world, but we don't tolerate it in a story, except as maybe a catalyst. ("Oh, look, a kayak!" That's fine.) For real events to work as a translation, they have to have an underlying causual integrity. And sometimes, the way things actually happened don't necessarily make for a better story.
So there's a push-me-pull-you between, "But that's how it happened!" and the evolution of script and story. It's not all one way, either - we want to keep the core, because there is something really fresh about the fact that this actually happened. But it has definitely been a confounding factor.
Woke up this morning and sent probably the second text message of my life to Amy to find out if they'd slept yet. Turns out they want to meet at 3pm to do some editing, so unless it becomes earlier, I'll be shipping out in a bit to play observer. I'd also think the editing process should have some creative elements ... not that I'm necessarily providing them, but I can pretend. ;-)
At this point, I want to step aside and discuss a basic problem with fiction: Inspired By True Events.
Truth is stranger than fiction. "Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities - truth isn't." (Mark Twain) It all boils down to this: we tolerate coincidence in the real world, but we don't tolerate it in a story, except as maybe a catalyst. ("Oh, look, a kayak!" That's fine.) For real events to work as a translation, they have to have an underlying causual integrity. And sometimes, the way things actually happened don't necessarily make for a better story.
So there's a push-me-pull-you between, "But that's how it happened!" and the evolution of script and story. It's not all one way, either - we want to keep the core, because there is something really fresh about the fact that this actually happened. But it has definitely been a confounding factor.
48 Hour Film Project: 5 hrs to 8 hrs
Location scouting! I have no business being part of this, but it involves being on the streets of Cincinnati at 12:45 in the morning, so hey. Eerie cloud passage overhead. It's amazing how alive the streets are, and then they clear out, and in that possessive stillness I'm reminded of a favorite poem about a very different place -
And suddenly, a silence ...
Takes your breath away
There's something very magical about this illusion of emptiness in a city.
Peanut butter brownie cookies I bought on a whim are a hit. Seriously, I just stared at all the cookie varieties until I saw two that I particularly wanted to have. There was very little public appeal thought to it, but for some reason it seems like everyone else was in the same cookie mood.
I could have left at this point - and I know there will probably be creative disputes after I did leave - but I was curious to catch the beginning of the filming. It's a slow process of hurry up and wait, but passerby seemed to be both courteous and very interested.
Could have stayed over and slept there - I did bring my sleeping bag - but I put my back out a week ago, and that struck me as really dumb. So stayed until I could feel I was edging on too much pain and too much sleepiness to drive safely, then took off for home. Will call when I wake up to see where everyone is ...
Cannot go to bed without shower. Spent way too much time petting dog and way too much time around smokers. Will wake up as one ball of unremitting allergy otherwise.
What a crazy, surreal, eclectic experience. This is a whole new form of collaboration for me. Still processing. More as the film continues ...
And suddenly, a silence ...
Takes your breath away
There's something very magical about this illusion of emptiness in a city.
Not quite so magical: random drunk man trying to high-five everyone.
Quinn compares parts of the script to Douglas Adams. Terry looks blank. Scott and I are shocked. You poor deprived woman! Or maybe I should say, "Our jaws hung open exactly the way bricks don't."
There are bits I'm not fond of - I've got a limited tolerance for crude humor. (Yeah, call me a snob.) But it should hang together well.
The kayak arrives!Peanut butter brownie cookies I bought on a whim are a hit. Seriously, I just stared at all the cookie varieties until I saw two that I particularly wanted to have. There was very little public appeal thought to it, but for some reason it seems like everyone else was in the same cookie mood.
I could have left at this point - and I know there will probably be creative disputes after I did leave - but I was curious to catch the beginning of the filming. It's a slow process of hurry up and wait, but passerby seemed to be both courteous and very interested.
Could have stayed over and slept there - I did bring my sleeping bag - but I put my back out a week ago, and that struck me as really dumb. So stayed until I could feel I was edging on too much pain and too much sleepiness to drive safely, then took off for home. Will call when I wake up to see where everyone is ...
Cannot go to bed without shower. Spent way too much time petting dog and way too much time around smokers. Will wake up as one ball of unremitting allergy otherwise.
What a crazy, surreal, eclectic experience. This is a whole new form of collaboration for me. Still processing. More as the film continues ...
48 Hour Film Project: -2 hrs to 5hrs
A man, a plan, a ... kayak?
Today is the ... no, yesterday is the day. I really wanted to collect all my thoughts before I slept. Actually, what I really want is a shower, but I don't want to wake anyone else up. ;-)
4:50pm -- Amy telephones me and lets me know they're en route to draw their random elements for the film. Stuck on Fields-Ertel, which is one of those nightmarish roads upon which construction occurs, but no improvement. Everyone needs to be at the Plum Street Cafe in downtown Cincinnati by 7pm to begin work as soon as elements are announced. I'm planning to leave around 6:30 ... leaving fifteen minutes earlier usually just puts you that much closer to the rush, so you end up arriving at the same time with more glunking in the car.
6:10 -- Amy again, "Hey, Linds, where are you?" Me, "I'm not driving yet, leaving in a few minutes." Her, "Well, there's this accident ..." Me, "Aaack. Getting in car. Now."
6:50 -- bumper to bumper traffic, thirteen miles to go and OMG WHY IS THERE A BUS DRIVING ON THE LEFT HAND BERM?
7:26 -- finally downtown. Circled around once. No parking. Saw Amy and her husband Jim, tried to beep at them, probably ticked off other drivers. Phonecall, picked her up on the next go-round, and finally got parked.
Inside at last for the moment of truth:
Genre: Road Movie
Required Character: Winston (or Wilma) Weatherby, an auctioneer
Required Prop: A roll of toilet paper
Line of dialogue: "There's no way this is going to work."
I think there are a dozen people in the room, and we get down to coming up with a general form. Some things are kicked around - I suggest a bicycle road movie, someone brings up Antiques Roadshow. Turns out there's a true story about the brothers who own the apartment we're taking over and one of those things that sounds like a good idea when one is drunk: an epic tale of trying to bring a dumped kayak back to their apartment.
There are a couple other suggestions, but this seems to lead. Everyone contributes to general form, possible incorporation of the elements, and by just a little after nine o'clock, we have a rough outline. Terry, Scott (I think) and I are turned loose to script-write. Terry takes the typing and the lead; she's opinionated but not roughshod, so this works really well. I feel like I'm quiet, but I do contribute some. I am inordinately distracted by the fact that we have a storyboard artist drawing shots of the scene as we're scripting. Too. Awesome.
(Also, I stop to have a conversation with Randall, the dog. No one finds this odd.)
At this point, time begins to bluuuuur. I think it took us two hours to get a rough draft - four pages, which at about a minute a page (and with a couple of action/montage scenes) put us comfortably in the 4 - 7 minute restriction. Time became of the essence because, while conceptualizing the script, we realized it had to be shot completely at night. So - shooting would start (has started) tonight and be finished Saturday night.
(I have a chocolate orgasm. This is a cookie. My diet is more shot than a tourist trap.)
Readthrough, suggested minor changes, and then some more significant thematic issues, handled with a few lines. Amazing what focus and clarity can be conveyed in minor tweaks.
Laura and Quinn pop upstairs at this point and have written us a themesong. Chords, lyrics, melody and campiness about being in a kayak with no paddle. Themesong. Seriously. Wow.
Continuing into tomorrow ...
Today is the ... no, yesterday is the day. I really wanted to collect all my thoughts before I slept. Actually, what I really want is a shower, but I don't want to wake anyone else up. ;-)
4:50pm -- Amy telephones me and lets me know they're en route to draw their random elements for the film. Stuck on Fields-Ertel, which is one of those nightmarish roads upon which construction occurs, but no improvement. Everyone needs to be at the Plum Street Cafe in downtown Cincinnati by 7pm to begin work as soon as elements are announced. I'm planning to leave around 6:30 ... leaving fifteen minutes earlier usually just puts you that much closer to the rush, so you end up arriving at the same time with more glunking in the car.
6:10 -- Amy again, "Hey, Linds, where are you?" Me, "I'm not driving yet, leaving in a few minutes." Her, "Well, there's this accident ..." Me, "Aaack. Getting in car. Now."
6:50 -- bumper to bumper traffic, thirteen miles to go and OMG WHY IS THERE A BUS DRIVING ON THE LEFT HAND BERM?
7:26 -- finally downtown. Circled around once. No parking. Saw Amy and her husband Jim, tried to beep at them, probably ticked off other drivers. Phonecall, picked her up on the next go-round, and finally got parked.
Inside at last for the moment of truth:
Genre: Road Movie
Required Character: Winston (or Wilma) Weatherby, an auctioneer
Required Prop: A roll of toilet paper
Line of dialogue: "There's no way this is going to work."
I think there are a dozen people in the room, and we get down to coming up with a general form. Some things are kicked around - I suggest a bicycle road movie, someone brings up Antiques Roadshow. Turns out there's a true story about the brothers who own the apartment we're taking over and one of those things that sounds like a good idea when one is drunk: an epic tale of trying to bring a dumped kayak back to their apartment.
There are a couple other suggestions, but this seems to lead. Everyone contributes to general form, possible incorporation of the elements, and by just a little after nine o'clock, we have a rough outline. Terry, Scott (I think) and I are turned loose to script-write. Terry takes the typing and the lead; she's opinionated but not roughshod, so this works really well. I feel like I'm quiet, but I do contribute some. I am inordinately distracted by the fact that we have a storyboard artist drawing shots of the scene as we're scripting. Too. Awesome.
(Also, I stop to have a conversation with Randall, the dog. No one finds this odd.)
At this point, time begins to bluuuuur. I think it took us two hours to get a rough draft - four pages, which at about a minute a page (and with a couple of action/montage scenes) put us comfortably in the 4 - 7 minute restriction. Time became of the essence because, while conceptualizing the script, we realized it had to be shot completely at night. So - shooting would start (has started) tonight and be finished Saturday night.
(I have a chocolate orgasm. This is a cookie. My diet is more shot than a tourist trap.)
Readthrough, suggested minor changes, and then some more significant thematic issues, handled with a few lines. Amazing what focus and clarity can be conveyed in minor tweaks.
Laura and Quinn pop upstairs at this point and have written us a themesong. Chords, lyrics, melody and campiness about being in a kayak with no paddle. Themesong. Seriously. Wow.
Continuing into tomorrow ...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
In Memoriam
Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of putting my dog Nimi to sleep. Here she is, enjoying a last car-ride:
http://www.geocities.com/wyrin/NimiRide.jpg
A year later, I still think this says it:
"I'm on the move
I'm gettin' on
I'm breakin' out
And it won't take long
Behind the wheel
Got a song
Pedal's down
And I'm gone ..." --- Cadillac Car (Dreamgirls)
http://www.geocities.com/wyrin/NimiRide.jpg
A year later, I still think this says it:
"I'm on the move
I'm gettin' on
I'm breakin' out
And it won't take long
Behind the wheel
Got a song
Pedal's down
And I'm gone ..." --- Cadillac Car (Dreamgirls)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Mystery in a Mystery?
I just finished Glen Cook's "Sweet Silver Blues," which I've heard described as a (loosely) noir-style mystery in a fantasy setting. This is the way I want to take my own fantasy-mysteries - a period investigator in a fantastic setting, rather than the urban detective in a paranormal contemporary world that seems so popular - so I was particularly interested in this one. It certainly has some elements of a mystery story, and I did like the noir intrusions into a fairly standard fantasy setting, but it didn't strike me as a mystery for one reason: no fair play.
There was no way that a reader could have guessed what was going on before the detective, because most of the time, the background clues, hints and relevant world knowledge was provided only a few pages before the attached solution. I got the impression that I was somehow expected to intuit any number of possible fantastic elements ... or there was no play-along aspect to the mystery.
Since this is the first book, I would expect this to balance out in later novels. Undecided whether I'm going to try to pick up future volumes to see. I was curious to see what would happen, but I didn't feel invested in the characters, so I wasn't interested in their survival ... a loss of tension. I am very very picky about my character development, though, so odds I'm being overly harsh - high.
There was no way that a reader could have guessed what was going on before the detective, because most of the time, the background clues, hints and relevant world knowledge was provided only a few pages before the attached solution. I got the impression that I was somehow expected to intuit any number of possible fantastic elements ... or there was no play-along aspect to the mystery.
Since this is the first book, I would expect this to balance out in later novels. Undecided whether I'm going to try to pick up future volumes to see. I was curious to see what would happen, but I didn't feel invested in the characters, so I wasn't interested in their survival ... a loss of tension. I am very very picky about my character development, though, so odds I'm being overly harsh - high.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Laptop Woes
My laptop has - twice now - abruptly turned off and refused to reboot. This usually happens after I've had it on for a number of hours, so I'm working on the theory the fan might have died. Going to see if it does it again, and then possibly take it to a repair place ... I really hope it's not very expensive to fix if so. I also keep procrastinating on getting the CD burner on my desktop fixed because the last time I had my desktop repaired, the Gateway people held it hostage for two months ...
Random work update --
Journal of the Dead - just a tiny bit shy of 72,000 words. Protag and her bodyguard are about to have a blow-up over his romantic interest in her.
Miss Understanding - full manuscript under review. Keep your fingers crossed.
A Dose of Aconite (short) - Challenge story for Fantasy-Writers.org. June is "Write a story from a/the villain's perspective." So my villain has just knocked out my heroine ...
Flow - about to post my synopsis on a private writers' group. I think.
Random work update --
Journal of the Dead - just a tiny bit shy of 72,000 words. Protag and her bodyguard are about to have a blow-up over his romantic interest in her.
Miss Understanding - full manuscript under review. Keep your fingers crossed.
A Dose of Aconite (short) - Challenge story for Fantasy-Writers.org. June is "Write a story from a/the villain's perspective." So my villain has just knocked out my heroine ...
Flow - about to post my synopsis on a private writers' group. I think.
Friday, June 06, 2008
48 Hour Film Project
So I decided to step out of my comfort zone - way, way out of my comfort zone - and attempt this:
http://www.48HourFilm.com
Essentially, teams in every host city get a randomly selected genre, character, line of dialogue, and I think maybe a prop. They then have 48 hours - from 7pm Friday evening to 7pm Sunday evening - to script, cast, shoot and edit a 4 -7 minute film. I've only dabbled in screenwriting, but obviously I'm intending on pretty much helping with the creation aspect and then stepping back ... though if there's a need for a crowd scene, I'll be happy to be involved.
My friend Amy (the flutist) and her husband are in charge of this group - Eikonoclast Films, responsible for the winning entry in Cincinnati last year, "ATM: A Time Machine." We were talking about it while I was in Connecticut last year for my cousin's wedding ... really wish I could have been there for the scifi entry.
I know a bit more about how it works now and I'm pretty excited. My main fear is that I'm going to sit there dumbly, because my track record with collaboration is spotty, but it's too fun not to try.
http://www.48HourFilm.com
Essentially, teams in every host city get a randomly selected genre, character, line of dialogue, and I think maybe a prop. They then have 48 hours - from 7pm Friday evening to 7pm Sunday evening - to script, cast, shoot and edit a 4 -7 minute film. I've only dabbled in screenwriting, but obviously I'm intending on pretty much helping with the creation aspect and then stepping back ... though if there's a need for a crowd scene, I'll be happy to be involved.
My friend Amy (the flutist) and her husband are in charge of this group - Eikonoclast Films, responsible for the winning entry in Cincinnati last year, "ATM: A Time Machine." We were talking about it while I was in Connecticut last year for my cousin's wedding ... really wish I could have been there for the scifi entry.
I know a bit more about how it works now and I'm pretty excited. My main fear is that I'm going to sit there dumbly, because my track record with collaboration is spotty, but it's too fun not to try.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Review!
A brief view of A Time Two ... Volume 2, with one of my flash fiction stories (Retirement) in it:
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Atimetovolume2.html
I always get jumpingly nervous the moment I see there's a review up. This one is positive, if brief.
http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Atimetovolume2.html
I always get jumpingly nervous the moment I see there's a review up. This one is positive, if brief.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
American Gods
I've lost track of how many people have recommended Neil Gaiman's American Gods to me. I don't remember how long I've been meaning to read it, or how long the book (picked up at Half Price Books) has been sitting on my shelf. I suppose it was inevitable that there would be a shift between the various expectations people have built up and the actual book, but now that I've finished it, I find myself thoughtful and vaguely disquieted. (A few spoilers ahead. I tried not to, but there were a couple things I simply had to say.)
American Gods plays by dream logic, both in the way the story fits together and the way the point of view character accepts his world. Things happen that are impossible, without causality (or with strange causality) or simply only half-glimpsed ... and neither the reader nor the character asks questions, because this is the way of dreams. Symbols appear, figures and forms whose meaning is somehow known. Yet there is a search for sense in this dream-world - is it found? I'm not sure. The large questions are answered; smaller ones remain, and I feel almost as if the thing this dream lacks is the waking up. I came away from the novel feeling as if something had not been explained.
Maybe it would have worked in a three, four hundred page book, but I found that the character of Shadow was too passive. His actions were generally reactions, with a few exceptions - the checkers game with Czernobog, for instance. For someone who has as much strength of past as he seems to ... he stays very much in the background of this game that goes on around him.
What shines in American Gods are the people, the bizarre, prosaic random things they say and do - the little details that Gaiman sketches - their bizarre actions that inevitably make you say, "That's a person." They're people you might know, people you can imagine existing ... and the humans are far more vivid than the gods, in this respect. Many of these characters existed for the sheer purpose of coloring Shadow's world, and they did a beautiful job of it.
What was also interesting was the interludes depicting the lives of people who had created, influenced and been influenced by the American versions of the gods. These sub-stories were enjoyable to read ... and they also quieted a fear of mine about my "Journal of the Dead," where I have a number of side-stories that take up the equivalent of several book pages. Side-narratives, even long ones, can play a key part in fleshing out the underlying framework of a novel.
Overall, I'm glad I read the book; I'm not totally sure I liked it or the conclusion. One thing I was glad about was the fact that there was no "happily ever after" with Shadow's wife. After some of the things she'd said and done throughout, I thought a happy conclusion would have been false and hollow. An interesting experience.
American Gods plays by dream logic, both in the way the story fits together and the way the point of view character accepts his world. Things happen that are impossible, without causality (or with strange causality) or simply only half-glimpsed ... and neither the reader nor the character asks questions, because this is the way of dreams. Symbols appear, figures and forms whose meaning is somehow known. Yet there is a search for sense in this dream-world - is it found? I'm not sure. The large questions are answered; smaller ones remain, and I feel almost as if the thing this dream lacks is the waking up. I came away from the novel feeling as if something had not been explained.
Maybe it would have worked in a three, four hundred page book, but I found that the character of Shadow was too passive. His actions were generally reactions, with a few exceptions - the checkers game with Czernobog, for instance. For someone who has as much strength of past as he seems to ... he stays very much in the background of this game that goes on around him.
What shines in American Gods are the people, the bizarre, prosaic random things they say and do - the little details that Gaiman sketches - their bizarre actions that inevitably make you say, "That's a person." They're people you might know, people you can imagine existing ... and the humans are far more vivid than the gods, in this respect. Many of these characters existed for the sheer purpose of coloring Shadow's world, and they did a beautiful job of it.
What was also interesting was the interludes depicting the lives of people who had created, influenced and been influenced by the American versions of the gods. These sub-stories were enjoyable to read ... and they also quieted a fear of mine about my "Journal of the Dead," where I have a number of side-stories that take up the equivalent of several book pages. Side-narratives, even long ones, can play a key part in fleshing out the underlying framework of a novel.
Overall, I'm glad I read the book; I'm not totally sure I liked it or the conclusion. One thing I was glad about was the fact that there was no "happily ever after" with Shadow's wife. After some of the things she'd said and done throughout, I thought a happy conclusion would have been false and hollow. An interesting experience.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Fatecraft
The sale of this story - to Darwin's Evolutions - is now final. Hooray! Will update with a publication date when I have it.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sigh
No Sword & Sorceress publication for me this year, again.
I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong and why I haven't fixed it in a year. ;-)
I am getting old, darnit!
I just wish I knew what I was doing wrong and why I haven't fixed it in a year. ;-)
I am getting old, darnit!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Projects Out and About
For (possible) entertainment, here are the projects I currently have looking for homes, in order of when they were put into circulation:
Miss Understanding - novel - submitting to publishers
Pens In Silver And Gold - novel - submitted to Baen; basically, my "last chance" slot before retiring, as they keep it for about a year
Scylla and Charybdis - scifi short story
Butterfly's Poison - novel - querying to agents
Instructions For An Initiate - flash fiction fantasy
Humane Warfare - scifi short story
The Changeling Letter - fantasy short story
Remember - flash fiction fantasy
Mirror, Mirror - fantasy short story
Servant of Winter - fantasy villanelle
The Seeds of Profit - fantasy short story
Protocol - fantasy short story
If These Walls Could Speak ... - fantasy short story
Twice Given - fantasy short story
Ten Cities Down - fantasy short story
Lightning Strikes - fantasy short story
In These Shoes - fantasy short story (currently being held by Sword & Sorceress 23)
Precious Cargo - scifi short story
Four Tests - flash fiction fantasy
Which is to say - dang, I have too many things out there right now.
Miss Understanding - novel - submitting to publishers
Pens In Silver And Gold - novel - submitted to Baen; basically, my "last chance" slot before retiring, as they keep it for about a year
Scylla and Charybdis - scifi short story
Butterfly's Poison - novel - querying to agents
Instructions For An Initiate - flash fiction fantasy
Humane Warfare - scifi short story
The Changeling Letter - fantasy short story
Remember - flash fiction fantasy
Mirror, Mirror - fantasy short story
Servant of Winter - fantasy villanelle
The Seeds of Profit - fantasy short story
Protocol - fantasy short story
If These Walls Could Speak ... - fantasy short story
Twice Given - fantasy short story
Ten Cities Down - fantasy short story
Lightning Strikes - fantasy short story
In These Shoes - fantasy short story (currently being held by Sword & Sorceress 23)
Precious Cargo - scifi short story
Four Tests - flash fiction fantasy
Which is to say - dang, I have too many things out there right now.
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