Michael Durant's Blog

Flash: Stuck in a Moment

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Wendig's latest challenge is to write in the present tense. Here goes.

The wind howls in my face. I hear, I feel, I taste nothing that isn't this bitter wind. Time is still. No hours pass. A leaf sticks in the air, forever falling. I try to move my feet.

I find they move. I turn around, to see my pursuer. He's frozen in the moment, trying to shout.

I wonder at the wind. I can wonder about that in safety.

I walk past my pursuer, and down the street, the way I came. I pluck a hot dog, forever warm, from the hands of a vendor. I don't stop moving until I reach my house.

Tears squeeze out of my eyes. I consider what happened. I'm trapped. I'm on the other side of a crack in time.

I close my eyes. I breathe in. I breathe out. I hear a car horn blow. The familiar sounds of the city erupt in my ears.

The wind doesn't blow anymore.

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The Magicians: Waiting for your life to start

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

I'm still gathering my thoughts on the novel (short version: I liked it and immediately demanded the sequel from the library). I feel, though, that there's alot to talk about with this book, so maybe the best way to do so is to make more than one post.

I am a year or two ahead of the exact sweet spot the book is looking for in a reader, but I like to think my memory of "just after college" is still fresh enough.

One of the major themes of the book is waiting for your life to start. Quentin isn't happy in Brooklyn. He's happy for a little bit at Magic University, but it doesn't last. I really identified with him as he was facing graduation, and didn't know what he was going to do.

After college, he moves to Manhattan to be with school friends, and the book really captures the morass of living like you're still in college after graduation. It involves alot of drinking and parties. Since grads have a trust fund until they land on their feet, money is no object to them. Their dean suggests that the wish-fulfillment nature of magic leaves them in a state of arrested development, since with magic, you never have to do without. Doing without is adult.

I'm not sure that's true. It could be the nature of college that leaves us not quite mature at age 22-23. We think everything's gonna be okay, if only we graduate, and then we're left with a Bachelor's of Magical Pedagogy (OK, I blatantly made that up) and no real calling.

Some of us fall into jobs because, unlike the magicians, we need money to live. But that only delays the feeling that, despite our degrees, despite all our knowledge, we don't know what we're doing.

It's a sad book, but a beautiful one.

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Update

2012-01-24T07:26:00.002-05:00

Writing is proceeding a-pace.

I'm where I want to be with Cold Irons. With an estimated wordcount of 70,000 words, I'm a third of the way through. Plot-wise, I'm a third of the way through, as well. Pleased.

The Halloween short story is... slogging. But I think I blew the lid off it on my last writing session. We'll see what happens this Friday when I sit down to assess. Optimistic.

Storyboarding my next Friday project. I don't normally storyboard, but then, I don't normally do scripts.

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Fear

2012-01-23T07:30:00.002-05:00

One thing strikes me about Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind. Creators, whether they're writers, actors, or directors, are kind of... childish.

I mean, OK. There's the drugs. And the sexual revolution. But I've yet to find a redeemable character in this history. Biskind is fascinated by the gossipy lives of the stars, and it's rubbing off on the rest of his message. It seems like, to make it in Hollywood, at least in the New Hollywood of the 1970s, you have to be a pussy-hound (Francis Ford Coppolla, Bob Rafelson), a user (Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson), or a movie-obsessed man-child (Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorcese). The women are more sympathetic, but Biskind defines each woman by what her man does.

The point of the book seems to be that creative types are by necessity immature.

Am I missing something?

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Wonder Years: the awfulness of Kevin Arnold

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

I was just a twelve-year old boy...

The Wonder Years is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's cheesy, heartwarming, and one of those stories that holds up whether you're Kevin the character's age or Kevin the narrator's age. I'd argue that it's a better show from the perspective of someone whose high school years are behind him. It's on Netflix Instant, and whereas the wife hasn't seen it, and whereas it's right up her alley, we've been watching it for the last several months.

I can say, though, unequivocally, that Kevin Arnold is a jackass. But you're left with the unanswerable question, Was I that much better? Well, most of the time. Then you have what is effectively the Season 5 finale (clip shows don't count), "Back to the Lake." And it's hard to decide what is the worst thing Kevin does. (Just in case it isn't clear, the following list is just one twenty-minute episode...)

1. Is awful to his Best Friend and Best Girl because they both have jobs and he doesn't want one.

2. Complains about the job his Best Friend does find for him.

3. Kidnaps his Best Friend while they carpool to work.

4. Heads up to the lake to find his old summer fling. (Yes, his relationship with Winnie is... sporadic... but she was in this episode! They're dating! And she's his Best Girl (his words)!)

5. Never kept up contact with his old summer fling, despite only recently getting back with Winnie, and despite getting a Christmas card from her.

6. Spends the night with his Best Friend in his car. This isn't really awful, I'm just emphasizing how long this kidnapping was.

7. Promises to send his old summer fling a Christmas card, despite the fact that she has a boyfriend, and despite his relationship with his Best Girl... which he doesn't tell his old summer fling about.

8. The narration points out that he never sends his old summer fling a Christmas card.

OK, so I think it's somewhere between 3 (and 6), and 4.

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Editors: The Cause of, and Solution to, All of Life's Problems

2012-01-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Omit needless words. - Elements of Style

Matt Bird had an interesting post at the Cockeyed Caravan yesterday morning (which all writers, not just aspiring screenwriters, should read). In it, he talks about film school's first rule: Never Compromise.

The example he gives is an adequate reason why Never Compromise is a terrible rule for writers to follow. In The Savages, the director refused to give her movie an ending.

As the lights went up, I thought. “Gee, that was almost great, but it had no ending. The kids never confront their dad!” Sure enough, in the Q and A, Jenkins said that most studios and even most indie producers begged her to add a scene where the kids have it out with their dad. Even the production house that actually made the movie told her that they would give her twice the budget if she added such a scene. But no! She stuck to her guns! And let that be a lesson to us! Never compromise! (aka “Never fix your movie”)

This in turn reminded me of Janet Reid's review of Stephen King's 11/22/63:

But, I'd have been disappointed if someone other than Stephen King had turned this in. Of course, with anyone else, it would have been chopped down to 400 pages first thing. And I'm not sure it would have gotten published.

There's the rub. Editing is a good thing. I'm reading Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind. and I read that George Lucas accused Warners of "cutting off the fingers of my baby" when they cut his first big film, THX-1138. That's what they're supposed to do. Once the rough draft is finished, a manuscript or a finished movie needs to be honed to a razor's edge, to slice through the audience like a knife through emotion.

... I think something got away from me there. Channeling my inner Wendig (Be lucky I didn't decide to write 25 Reasons Writers Need Editors).

My point is this. It's your baby. You want it to do well. The studios, the publishers, whatever, want it to do well. Never Compromise is a terrible idea, especially for students just learning their craft in film school. If you're Stephen King in 2011, you can never compromise with editors, turn out 800+ page books every year or so. But does the power to not listen to editors improve your work?

I don't think so. At once, I want to succeed at writing, and I want to still be able to have a writer who can tell me, "This? This is shit. Here's why:" I'd like to think my ego never got so big that I couldn't see anyone else improving on my work.

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Leftover Fried Rice

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

This is a very simple dish to make. Quick and dirty, like the kids say.

0. Thaw any frozen leftovers you'll be using.

1. Get some rice. Ideally, given the nature of the recipe, you'd have leftover rice from a previous meal. This is not always the case. What you're going to want to do: get some long grain white rice. I like to use a half cup for every two people. Set it aside. Boil twice as much water (for instance, if you're doing a half-cup of rice, boil a cup of water). Once the water is boiling, and I mean really boiling (don't show me little bubblejets), add the rice, stir, add some time (er, thyme), and cover the pot.

You are doing this in a pot, right?

Lower the heat to low, real low, and let it sit for twenty minutes. Check the rice. If it is soft, it's done. If it's hard, it's not done.

2. OK, so you have your rice now. Good, good. Toss it in a frying pan. Crack an egg in there. Stir the rice and egg together on medium heat.

3. Start adding your leftover accoutrements to the fried rice. Take some leftover meat, chop it up real small, and throw it in. This works well with pork, obviously. Stir in some frozen vegetables.

4. Time for seasoning. Real fried rice uses soy sauce. You can add that if that's your thing, but get creative. If you know what you used to spice up your meat, use that. A real nice thing to add to pork is Worcestershire sauce. Trust me. If it's curried chicken, add some curry powder to the rice. Mediterranean? Add some cinnamon. (And try to make fried couscous... but be warned... I haven't tried that... yet!) Keep stirring, to mix everything together well.

5. Try it. Definitely make sure you try one of the veggies. If the veggies are still cold, keep frying it until that's fixed. Add any more seasonings you think it might need.

And serve. It's a very customizeable meal, and works with pretty much anything. Even meatless, I guess! Whatever floats your boat!

... I suppose if you're vegan, you can use olive oil instead of an egg, and a bunch of vegetables and spices.

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Eagle

2012-01-16T09:00:00.002-05:00

This week's Wendig flash challenge is for a documentary called Bear71. Take an animal, and write a three-sentence story from that animal's perspective. I chose eagle.

The light atop the mountain calls to me, so I soar higher towards it. One of the smart-apes has lost his way. Still hungry, I leave the light atop the mountain.

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Top Ten Books of 2011

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

At least, what I read in 2011. In no particular order, because when it's this good, I just can't choose.

11/22/63 by Stephen King - Don't read it if you're looking for a Kennedy fix. Very good Stephen King novel, and it's easy to turn Lee Harvey Oswald into the best kind of King villain. Most shocking of all, King actually sticks the landing for once.

Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi - Neo-classical science fiction at its best. Entertaining the whole way through, and it's my first experience with Scalzi. Definitely looking forward to Red Shirts.

I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way We See the World by James Geary - Fascinating study of metaphor. Seriously, it's engrossing.

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont - Malmont's sequel to The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, in which Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, L. Sprague DeCamp, and L. Ron Hubbard try to discover Tesla's last invention. If it's your thing, it's your thing.

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff - Truth is way awesomer than fiction. Three plane crash survivors, including a brave, beautiful, adventure-seeking WAC discover a cannibal tribe in the jungles of the Pacific War.

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis - It's a hardboiled mystery set in ancient Rome by someone who did her research. This falls under "Things Mike is interested in."

The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published by David Henry Sterry - A very thorough demystification of the "non-writing" part of the process.

The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss - Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle is the best thing to happen in fantasy since Tolkien.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - Classic cyberpunk. Balls to the walls worldbuilding. Completely delightful.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - I have nothing to say about this. If you like Gaiman, read it. If you like Doctor Who, cast Arthur Darville as the main character in your headmovie.

Try not to suffer alot of paraskevitriskaidecaphobia today.

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Black Hills by Dan Simmons

2012-01-12T07:52:00.002-05:00

Black Hills is a unique novel about the selfish nature of man, and the selfish nature of, well, nature.

Paha Sapa (Lakota for Black Hills, and yes Simmons knows it's unusual for a Lakota to name a child after a place, but he's not changing the name so he'll acknowledge it about three times in the novel) is a young boy when he touches the dying Custer on the battlefield (Little Bighorn or Greasy Grass). He is possessed by Custer's ghost-voice, babbling to him for the rest of his life.

Fortunately for Paha Sapa, he doesn't understand the ghost, who babbles in English. Unfortunately for the reader, the reader can. There are three whole chapters in Custer's point of view. They are all addressed to his wife Libby. The first one is about how good she is at sexytime... AWKWARD.

Paha Sapa, now an old man, is working on defiling the mountain called The Six Grandfathers in the Black Hills, carving wasichu (literally fat takers, Lakota for the white men) faces into the mountain side. To avenge his warrior people, Paha Sapa plans to blow up Mount Rushmore in front of the President of the United States.

My one issue with the book is that important plot points are left out until the climax due to the disjointed nature of the narrative. Custer and Paha Sapa have plenty of conversations... in the second half of the book. Aside from the Custer chapters, the ghost is silent. It wouldn't stand out so much, except Simmons formatted regular dialogue with an em-dash and italics, and Custer's lines are regular dialogue, with quotation marks and no formatting. You would think Custer's running commentary would be more constant if Simmons wanted it to look more normal than regular dialogue.

SPOILERS

--Additionally, we find out that Paha Sapa's son died at the end of WWI from Spanish flu. Paha Sapa receives a vision of a note from Robert in 1936 saying that he would have died of Spanish flu anywhere, which resolves Paha Sapa's feelings about his boy joining the army. The problem? We discover all of this in the same damn chapter.

END SPOILERS

Aside from this issue, I really enjoyed the book. The ending, Paha Sapa's third and final vision, could be seen as cheesy. Be forewarned.

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Black Mass by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

In Boston, it's who you know. It always has been. It still is. Nowadays, though, it might not be Whitey or Billy you know.

Black Mass explores the relationship between Whitey Bulger and former FBI agent John Connolly. The conclusion is that Connolly was a gangster who happened to work for the FBI. Whitey didn't even have to turn Connolly. The book argued that Whitey was such a presence in Southie that the relationship between agent and informant was never on the ground it should have been.

The book is a very readable account of Whitey's rise to power, and how Connolly helped get him there. Lehr and O'Neill also examine several Whitey myths. Sure, Whitey didn't deal drugs. But he allowed others to deal in Southie, as long as they paid him rent to move in. Sure Whitey protected Southie, when it was convenient. But when a Southie couple opened up a liquor store in Southie while Whitey was looking for a new front, he rolled over them in one of the most affecting chapters of the book.

The book reminded me an awful lot of The Wire, with Whitey as paranoid as Avon or the Greek, and with the staties looking to set up Title 3s.. The book makes clear, however, that Whitey is no Michael Corleone, the Greek, or Gentleman John Marcone. He was a man who through simple intimidation got what he wanted or killed you dead.

The only reason Whitey rose to the top of the Boston underworld was Agent Connolly, however. Connolly used his pull within the Bureau and the Justice Department to keep Whitey off everyone's radar as a top echelon informant against the New England mafia. It was who you know.

I recommend this book to Wire fans, or to people who are interested in Whitey now that he's caught.

(Interestingly, Black Mass doesn't really delve into Robert Fitzpatrick's role much, just that Whitey raised Fitzpatrick's hackles. Wonder if Betrayal by Fitzpatrick (2011) makes it all about him?)

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Skyward Sword: Erratum

2012-01-10T08:20:00.001-05:00

Oooops. Just occurred to me I have that backwards. Nayru's flame is on the ship, and Din's flame is in the monastery.

I guess wisdom is the time travel region and power is a volcano. Less complex...

I liked it my way better.

Skyward Sword

2012-01-10T07:48:00.002-05:00

I've been playing Zelda alot, when my poor tendon feels up to it. So... not alot recently. One thing I'd like to talk about is story integration. Skyward Sword does it well. That is to say, yes, you're doing the forest level, the fire level... and then we get into high concept stuff. However, the dungeons fit the plot. There's not a huge hole where "Oh, hey, we're in the ice level. There's ice. Have fun."

Spoilers ahoy!

Let's examine the first six dungeons (I'm still in the Fire Sanctuary).

The first quest is "Find Zelda." You don't know what Zelda's doing at first, and think she's just running around in monster-infested temples. By the second temple, the game lets you in on her quest.

1. Skyview Temple

At first, I called it the Forest Temple because it was just a Forest-themed level. In its defense, however, and in Dungeon 2's defense, for once, the temples are actually used as Temples. The boss here is the main antagonist messing around with you. We won't have random monsters for awhile.

2. Earth Temple

Back to what I was saying about the temples. Here we actually see what Zelda is doing. She's purifying her body for a ritual in the two sacred springs. The first two temples are actually holy places. Zelda's on a pilgrimage. Anyways, this is the Fire Temple. The boss is a lava monster that the main antagonist summons. For Link's valiant efforts, he gets dressed down by Impa for not getting to the temple faster.

3. Lanayru Mining Facility

This is the back entrance to the Temple of Time, the third temple on Zelda's pilgrimage. The Lanayru region is a vast desert sprinkled with Timeshift Stones. Activating these stones opens a time distortion bubble around the immediate area, bringing back the ancient fields of Lanayru. I know, I was expecting the Water Temple, too.

Anyways, the mining facility is in disrepair and overrun by desert vermin. There are, however, also Timeshift Stones inside. It's one of my favorite Zelda regions and dungeons. The boss is a giant desert bug with claws and a stinger.

Then you get to the Temple of Time as Zelda completes her ritual. She opens the Gate of Time and enters it, sealing it behind her. Luckily, you find another Gate of Time, but need to sanctify your sword in the three Sacred Flames before it will open. Given that your sword becomes the Master Sword (spoiler? Uh, no, not at all), this explains its temporal abilities in Ocarina of Time.

4. The Ancient Cistern

Farore's Flame, the flame of courage, is here. A segment of the dungeon takes place deep underground, where there's strange dark water that curses you when you touch it (leaving you unable to wield your sword), and undead goblins. Link literally has to go to Hell and back to bathe his sword in the flame of courage.

5. The Sandship

Din's Flame, the flame of power, powers an ancient ship. This is in the Sandsea, a vast pit of quicksand that used to be an ocean. Yes. Timeshift Stones are around. In one of my favorite parts, you have a boat with a Timeshift Stone on it to traverse the quicksand in a little bubble of ancient ocean.

The remarkable part of the Sandship is that it is mapped out like a ship. It's by far the smallest dungeon, and makes good use of its space as you go back and forth. To reach the flame of power, you have to slay an ancient leviathan.

6. The Fire Sanctuary

Nayru's Flame, the flame of wisdom, is in an abandoned monastery. It's another fire temple, but it actually carries off the monastic aesthetic pretty well, too. I would not confuse the Earth Temple and the Fire Sanctuary. There are also molemen digging around looking for treasure. I keep wanting to tell them "Their treasure was wisdom. Wisdom... was their treasure."

The notable thing about the latter three dungeons is that they really do use dungeon design to enhance the themes of courage, power, and wisdom in each one.

I suspect that this game will end with 7 dungeons. Gotta have the main antagonist's stronghold. I would be surprised if there are more. But I'd like to see more games integrate story themes as well as this one does.

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Flash Fiction: Brown-Eyed Girl

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

This week, Chuck Wendig is having a song shuffle challenge, so I turned on Pandora to grab the first song title...

... And it's "I'll Be Home on Christmas Day" by Elvis. Going to get off Nog Radio and choose my favorite station... and the first non-Christmas choice is... an ad... wait for it... "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison.

Yeah.

Female. No ID. Six foot four. When she was alive, she probably could rub her two sticks together and start a fire in a man's pants.

Not anymore.

Now she was pale. Her raven black hair hung limp off my autopsy table. I opened her left eye. Jane Doe had brown eyes, Coca-cola brown, like Jenny. Jenny was tall, too, with long legs. I wondered where she was now.

I finished entering her information, and created a new file in the database. Jane E. Doe. The fifth unknown female corpse in Galveston this year. Maybe the Missing Persons Unit would find her file. Give her a proper name.

I could only hope that Jenny was out there, living her life. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she was sitting on a slab in some autopsy room out there, with no name. Just another stiff to be felt up by some other coroner.

I drank my coffee. It was leaving lukewarm country and heading north. I forced it down my throat, and left the empty mug sitting by the sink. She was gone. I couldn't blame her. I was a very cold man, and it was embarrassing to date the county coroner. Not that she had been embarrassed. I suppose I was more embarrassed for her.

She was gone. She might as well be Ms. Jane E. Doe. Jane's loved ones would never see her again either. Some thug had strangled her and dumped her naked in the Gulf. She washed up on Pelican Island, and it was there that I met her. This part was a formality. Gathering the details of the strangulation. Entering what data I had in the computer.

I sighed.

And then Jane gasped for air.

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The Plan

2012-01-06T08:01:00.000-05:00

In 2011, I budgeted out 1000 words a day, and over 50 days I wrote a barebones first draft of Cold Irons. I decided to expand my good luck with that by making a year long writing plan. I discussed the plan with my wife, and she talked me down from writing 365,000 words in 2012.

She's a smart one, but the tendinitis helped me see it her way.

So I redid my plan. I had already dropped off listing the wordcount target per day, settling for dividing my estimated wordcount by 1000 and slotting that many days for that project. Now I have a nifty calculator in Excel that calculates my wordcount as a percentage of the estimated total wordcount (Current Wordcount/Target Wordcount). I also took a page from On Writing by Stephen King, and set the second draft target wordcount (.9*Current Wordcount), and a calculator that figures out the percent completion of my editing (with regards purely to wordcount, of course). And then I put the percentage on my calendar when I finish for the day.

I took her advice and added some extra days to each project, bringing me from 10 2012 projects to 6.5. And that's fine. My big projects are Cold Irons (a third draft I'm treating as a new first draft) and my three weird west novellas. I also have a TV pilot script, a Halloween short story (which is only for people who subscribe to my newsletter!), and I'll end the year by starting a movie script (set in the Hub).

One key I found in writing plans is to always take a day for side projects. I set aside Fridays. The rest of the week will be spent in Cold Irons and the weird west. Fridays are for short stories. I shoved scripts there too because I didn't want to drop them for the year. I dropped three short stories (and pushed back the movie script) instead.

Do you use a writing plan? I'm not doing a five-year plan, because late 2013 and 2014 have alot to do with how successful I am at querying Cold Irons. But I'd suggest knowing what you plan to write.

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Titus

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Watched Julie Taymor's Titus over the Alpha and Omega of Weekends.

Pretty trippy. My friend tried and failed to describe it back in college, and it was the costume influence for my friend's The Duchess of Malfi, in addition to another director's Salome.

I think I have it, though: it's Shakespeare by Fellini. And it's glorious.

The wife was not so amused. She hates spoken Shakespearean dialogue. I prefer spoken to written for Shakespeare.

Also, best Yo Mamma joke:

(regarding obviously black baby)
SON: "You have undone our mother!"
DASTARDLY MOOR: Fool, I have done thy mother!
SON: And in the doing undone her!

... Or something to that effect.

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Blogging is back and here to stay

2012-01-02T10:54:00.002-05:00

I so resolve.

The problem is I have tendinitis. So I resolve to have short posts this week.

This year is the year of Writing. Broken Thoth idol or no. Pulled wrist or no. I so resolve.

Hard at work on a third draft of Cold Irons, as well as the Halloween short story. I resolve to begin querying Cold Irons by the end of the year. I have a writing plan for the year. Also on the slate: a set of three weird west novellas that would form a serial novel (the first volume of which I resolve to e-publish by the end of the year, as serials benefit from the e-publishing format), a movie script set in the Hub (called Deadly Fury), and a TV pilot for a Star Trek series.

It's a challenge, but I think I'm up to it.

So to recap my resolutions:

1. Blog at least three times a week, every week. I'll shoot for five, but three is the minimum.

2. Stick to my writing plan. Yeah, there's a spreadsheet.

3. Begin querying Cold Irons.

4. E-publish There Be Dragons, or whatever I end up calling Volume 1.

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Five Easy Steps to a JLA Movie #5: Justice League

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Not The League or Justice or anything else. We are actually calling this movie Justice League. It's the team-up movie, so we have to team everyone up, first.

This falls to Det. John Jones of the LAPD. He's pieced together the plot. Ares is manipulating conflict from his Olympian prison. Ares's acolytes on Mars, the subterranean White Martians, are preparing an invasion fleet for Earth. So, Jones decides to assemble Earth's Mightiest Heroes (wait... that's the other superteam) to meet the threat. His first stop is, of course, his friend Kyle, the galaxy's Green Lantern now. Kyle is, of course, in. Then Jones shows Kyle what he's been working on.

Arthur Curry has a prosthetic grappling hook arm. I mentioned earlier this week that he was basically a weaker Superman with telepathic control over fish. Does Superman have a grappling hook arm?

I DIDN'T THINK SO!

Jones has explained the situation to Arthur, and Arthur has agreed to reunite the tribes of Atlantis. It shouldn't be difficult, since he's only been in recovery for a few months and they were united under him before. So... Arthur commands an army of Aquamen (minus the grappling hook arm). Or together they'll all command Cthulhu.

Finally, Jones recognizes that there's another hero operating in the middle of nowhere who would like a crack at saving the world. He heads to Central City.

Meanwhile, Superman visits an old friend in Gotham, who agrees to help. And Wonder Woman, learning of Ares's treachery, returns to the World of Men. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, the Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Jade, and Green Lantern. Seven characters... five movies.

We get them fighting the White Martians together. It's what we paid for. Unfortunately, the White Martians use Kryptonite and put Superman out of the game. Hey, it's blatant Professor X syndrome, but it handily takes care of everyone being "almost as good as Superman".

There are seven heroes, who each need their moment in the sun. I'm thinking I'd pitch Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor as the "official couple" of the movie (U.S. army's gotta get in there somehow), with Jade/Kyle as the beta couple. Even including Lois at all would be a bit messy. Let alone Catwoman (who would be out of her league) or anyone else (Iris West?).

So there you have it. The Justice League starring in War of the Worlds. Where do we go from here? Well, possibly a Martian Manhunter movie rife with flashbacks. A low-key Green Arrow movie. A Green Lantern prequel starring Alan Scott. A Green Lantern sequel where Kyle tries to create a new Corps. Bring in big guns for the JLA to come back together for. Vandal Savage and Lex Luthor, for example. The fact of the matter is, with the Justice League taken care of, we can go anywhere.

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Five Easy Steps to a JLA Movie #4: Wonder Woman

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

Wonder Woman isoften cited as one of the Big Three for DC, but she's generally adistant third in the popular subconscious. Most adaptations (theexecrable David E. Kelly pilot for example) tend to ignore herorigins. While I too tire of origin stories, I feel that WonderWoman's is one of the stranger, and would benefit from an adaptation.

Sorry, ladies. Thatmeans the viewpoint character is Steve Trevor, USAF pilot. To wit:Trevor crashes onto Themyscira, a neo-classical paradise where womenrule. With their greatest warrior, Diana (sculpted from clay by theChief, Hippolyta, and given life by the goddess Aphrodite), Trevorreturns to the World of Man, with Diana as official Themiscyranambassador.

… So. Themiscyra.A previously undiscovered tropical island filled with women andclassic Greek architecture. Oh... kay... here's my take. Themyscirais an ancient lost colony of Atlantis. It fell through a crack inspace and time. They've lived in the crack for forty or fifty years.Also in this crack are ancient aliens who identify themselves as theOlympian pantheon. This simplifies things for our cross-continuity.Also... outside the crack is the World of Man, AKA Humans, AKA Earth.

Ambassadorship isnice and all, but we're here to watch a nice-looking lady be allempowered and tie up some men. So let's talk Diana's mission. Prettysimple. Ares left the crack and is currently in the World of Man.He's Ari Buchanon, a war mongerer and arms dealer, using a shadowy corporation to startand arm conflicts throughout the world, including gang conflicts in the United States. Diana's job is to bring himback to Mount Olympus for justice.

Obviously,one of the biggest parts of this movie, for me, would be that Stevemust never everrescue Diana from anything. She just needs to be an empowered bad-asswho shows him who's awesome (hint: her).

And that wraps it up. One of the more unusual origins... simplifiedfor the movies. And yes, a rip in space-time is simplifying things. (I actually mean that Themyscirans as Atlanteans simplifies things)

Next up... the JLA movie.

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Five Easy Steps to a JLA Movie #3: Aquaman

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

We've, like Marvel,tackled the easy bits first. The Fastest Man on Earth. Space CopRookie. Now... we get into the section that's a bit harder for folksto buy: magic. Aquaman is roughly equivalent to the Thor of thisseries. We need the audience to BUY a magic underwater civilizationand its erstwhile king. More importantly, there's a problem withAquaman being the lamest superhero ever.

And if you can buythis, I have a bridge to Themiscyra to sell you tomorrow.

So, the basis forthe movie's Aquaman is Arthur Curry, a lonely man working at anaquarium in San Diego owned by STAR Labs. Arthur takes care of theanimals after everyone goes home. In his loneliness, he of coursetalks to them and pretends they understand. Arthur has always been alittle different. He's always loved water, both drinking largequantities of it and swimming in it. He jokes that his mother was afish.

Our story begins,really begins, when Arthur helps release an orca into the wild. Thereis trouble with the orca's release, and Arthur is thrown overboard.The orca rescues Arthur, and dives with him, bringing Arthur toAtlantis, where he discovers his Atlantean heritage. His mother wasan Atlantean named Atlanna.

Alright, first, hisweakness. Arthur needs to keep himself hydrated. He needs more waterthan most humans. Second, after training his muscles with theAtlanteans, he has the strength of someone who lives in ahigh-pressure environment. So, he had super-strength, super-speed(from strong legs), and an impeccable swimming ability.

His problem isn'tthat he's ineffective as a superhero. He does have super-stength andspeed, after all. It's just that what sets him apart is a limitedability unless you're in the ocean. He has an ability to commune withsea animals, from seahorses to the horrors of the deep. This giveshim a limited understanding of non-marine animals, as well, sincethey all came out of the sea at some point.

Obviously, withoutthe talking to animals bit, he's a little weaker than Supes and alittle slower than the Flash... so what's the big deal, and how canhe contribute to a super-team that includes Superman (really, that'sa question for the JLA movie because, well, Supes makes everyone abit superfluous).

The Atlantis partof the movie needs to draw from the Thor aesthetic. Atlanteanmythology has it that the Greek Gods, and yes, those Greek gods (seetomorrow!), cursed Atlantis for its hubris, and sank the mightyempire. But the Atlanteans developed a way to survive underwater, andevolved to do it naturally.

Our villain isBlack Manta. His plan? To use his telepathic powers to sway Atlantisto help him command something that lurks deep within the MarianasTrench. Yes... he's trying to summon Cthulhu, or a reasonablyCthulhuan thing. After the King's murder, Arthur must use hismother's heritage to become Atlantis's king and stop Black Manta fromdestroying the surface world.

During the battle,Arthur loses a hand and afterwards he washes up in L.A. where LAPDofficer John Jones retrieves the body. We'll find a very differentAquaman in the JLA movie.

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Five Easy Steps to a JLA Movie #2: Ion

2011-11-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

So, obviously GreenLantern tanked. At the very least, Ryan Reynolds will not be theGL anymore, even if Hal is still bankable. We're going to follow theMarvel roadmap for this movie. Anyways, the plan here is TheIncredible Hulk. Or, if you prefer, Superman Returns. Thepitch: Green Lantern “happened.” And we're never going totalk about it again, especially if it contradicts something in thefuture. We will call this movie Ion. Here goes.

OK, so I didn't getmy best feedback from “Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner are buddy spacecops” pitch. So that's not this movie. “Between” GreenLantern and Ion, well, Parallax happened. Sinestro isdead. Coast City is destroyed (official story is earthquake, probablyjust Sinestro). And Hal has the One Ring. But that's all backstory(Coast City will be mentioned at some point).

Kyle Rayner is adorky, affable guy. An artist in Los Angeles. A Mexican-American(please? Marvel has, with the exception of SLJ, a very white cast).While on a date with a mysterious woman named Jade Thorn, the LastGuardian appears and shoves the “Ring of Ion” into Kyle's hand.

Kyle begins usingthe Ring of Ion, and of course decides to fight crime. He's a big fanof what Superman has done in Metropolis, and believes in Batman. Hisbest friend, LAPD Det. John Jones (sound familiar?), is brought intothe secret, and tips Kyle off to crimes in progress. Hal, possessedby Parallax, shows up. He's wearing a yellow-and-black ensemble, andhas a necklace of Green Rings. He wears the One Ring on his finger.

Kyle escapes withhis life and with Jade. Jade takes Kyle to Gotham, where her fatherlives, because the ring reminds Jade of something her father alwayscarried around. Her father, it turns out, was a Green Lantern, AlanScott. His ring is powerless, but he trains Kyle in using the Ring.Definitely a good role for an older white male looking to do somegenre work.

Alan is surprisedthe ring doesn't need charging, and shows Kyle his lantern. Kyletries to charge the ring in Alan's lantern, and the lanterncharges up. Alan Scott can use the Lantern like a Green Ring, andbecomes the Sentinel. Jade also reacts to the Lantern charging up,and discovers that she holds in her body the living energy that hadbeen in Alan's lantern/ring. She can use that energy like she wieldsa Green Ring. Kyle speculates that she is the one who is supposed tohold the Ion Ring. She demurs.

All this Ringactivity brings Hal to Gotham. Parallax recognizes the Ion Ring andIon possesses Kyle, granting him powers. Ion, the Sentinel, and Jadetake on Parallax and defeat him.

Definitely room fora Batman cameo in this movie, but it might be a little too precious,given that Kyle is a gushing fanboy of superheroes. Maybe apointy-eared shadow here and there during the Gotham scenes.

John Jones(a.k.a. J'onn J'onnz a.k.a. The Martian Manhunter) is the “AgentCoulson” of the JLA series. He will be the guy bridging theindividual movies and lending a sense of greater continuity. Left unsaid is the year or so between him being a STAR Labs employee and him being a cop in LA.

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Five Easy Steps to a JLA Movie #1: The Flash

2011-11-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

Getting back into the swing of things. I'm posting five times this week.

Anyways, why has DC had such raw luck with its properties in recent years, Batman notwithstanding? I'd argue that it's not the characters. DC is one of the Big Two comic characters, and even Superman received a drubbing at the box office. And it's not superheroes in general. Marvel is having great success with its Avengers Initiative. Warner Bros. just cannot commit to DC's movies.

Nevertheless, I have a plan, a five-movie series that should cement DC's place as a movie-verse. I'll be taking lessons from the Avengers Initiative, such as "don't be afraid of a high-concept character like Thor," and "commit to creating a shared universe." Using that, four second-tier superheroes will get introduction movies. Looming in the shadows will be the Big Two, Superman and Batman, who will be a big part of the fifth movie, the team-up. Each of the four heroes roughly parallels Marvel's success. I will be more concerned with ironing out issues and linking the movies than providing a beat-by-beat for each movie in the series. The four heroes? The Flash, Ion, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman.

Yes. I said Aquaman.

Today, we'll start with the Flash. This take on the Fastest Man Alive will parallel Iron Man as the gateway movie for the JLA franchise. There are three things you want to take away from Iron Man: it's another type of movie (screwball comedy) that happens to star superheroes. It's fun. And it committed to the moment after the credits when SLJ walks up and talks Avengers with Tony.

Flash is the easiest character I'll be writing about this week. He's funny. He has a simple origin and powers. He hasn't been done before. So, I'm skipping his origin altogether. He'll mention it offhand to some kid that he was struck by lightning, don't try it at home.

One of the looming themes of the series is really brought out in Flash, the very first movie. Superman operates out of Metropolis. There's an urban legend of a Batman haunting Gotham. All out on the East Coast. And they get much more recognition than the Flash, who operates out of Central City, Colorado. Flash mostly deals with street-level crime, not world-saving stuff. He does charity events (note to writers: perhaps a bachelor auction?). By day he's Barry Allen, crime scene technician.

The main plot of the movie involves alien technology at STAR Labs in Central City. Superman's not interested in it because it's not Kryptonian, so neither is the government, so it went into storage. Allen's good friend Jack Jones, a STAR Labs employee, discovers that the tech has been stolen. Meanwhile, a super-powered villain has begun a crime spree, gunning for the Flash... Captain Cold.

Jones disappears once the technology is recovered. Left unsaid is that the technology is Martian in origin. It's a cold-containment unit designed to fight fires. Martians are serious about firefighting. And John Jones... is a Martian in disguise.

It's a pretty good introduction to the Flash. It's funny and witty, hopefully a little screwball. And with Jack Jones, Superman, and STAR Labs, it hints at something more.

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Soul of the Hub: Shapeshifters

2011-11-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

Sully, the gangland werewolf who runs the underside of Boston, is a major figure in the Hub. So I figured I'd devote some time to the shapeshifters of the Hub.

Werewolves - After being cursed by a practitioner, the poor soul is saddled with an inner beast. He grows angrier and angrier until, in a moment of passion, he hulks out and transforms into a wolf. This generally kills most anyone near him. It's, well, curses are bad mmkay?

After the transformation, a variety of things can happen. The human soul and the wolf soul can bond together, and form a linked partnership. They can be at odds with each other. Or the human soul can tame the wolf soul. ... Generally, if a wolf soul dominates the human soul, it becomes a dangerous wolf, but still just a wolf. It doesn't last long.

Werewolves tend to seek each other out. In addition to his gang, Sully is also the alpha wolf of the Blue Hills werewolf pack. Like dogs, wolves tend to submit to an alpha wolf. There's not really much inter-pack organization, though. Just a bunch of small packs in various corners of the world.

Wolf-partners can transform at will. Tamed wolves, too. Being at odds with one's wolf makes you a ticking timebomb, ready to hulk out at the slightest provocation.

Skinwalkers - Certain practitioners can enchant bits of animal skin to become skinwalkers. The skin can be treated in any way, to be a belt, a jacket, a hat, whatever. One puts it on, and presto-change-o, you become that animal. Native American practitioners tend to go for coyotes or snakes, but other forms are possible. There is a healthy contingent of selkies (practitioners of Irish descent who can become seals) in the waters off of Boston.

Vampire skinwalkers tend to choose snakes, wolves, or even (yes) bats.

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Break

2011-11-08T14:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a rough few weeks. Personal things I don't want to get into. But hey.

For the forseeable future, I will be posting twice a week, a Hub thing on Wednesdays and flash fiction on Mondays.

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At the Concert

2011-11-07T14:00:00.000-05:00

This week's Wendigo flash fiction is about corporate abuse. It only tangentially applies to this story, but the story about the corporate abuse was... not forthcoming. Anyways, it's still an inciting incident for this.

As always, story after the jump.

Reese Jackson knew how the world would end. The collapse of infrastructure. Big Oil would bleed the earth dry. Someone would flip off the internet's switch. And then everything would end.

Her brain tingled with the numbness of the Venom. Her eyes were glassy. By Monday, when drug tests could be taken, there would be no sign she'd even taken Venom.

She put out her cigarette. The Impeachables were coming to the stage, and Reese hoped they would perform some new stuff from their apocalyptic concept album The Burning Fields. AJ fiddled with his guitar, and then launched into the opening chords of their hit cover "I Second That Emotion." Their original stuff was good, but "Emotion" was a hit. Even the women loved Tricky Dixie on vocals. Slick Willy, the lead vocals, was taking over for Dixie on bass. His saxaphone sat unused on the stage. Reese hoped he'd play.

Two suits entered the darkly lit bar. "If you feel like loving me," Dixie wailed.

Reese found both suits on either side of her. "If you've got the notion..."

The suits grabbed her and began dragging her from the bar.

"I second that emotion."

Reese was pushed out the back door of the bar. She stumbled into the dumpster, and the smell almost made her retch. She whirled around, mace at the ready.

Suit #1 held out his hands. "Ms. Jackson, we just want to talk."

"Yeah? An appointment would kill you?"

Suit #1 smiled. "Nobody can know."

Suit #2 snarled at her. "Easy, princess. What do you think would happen if we tested you for Venom right now?"

Reese's eyes widened only slightly. "You're not feds."

Suit #2 showed sharp, white teeth. "No, we're not. But we know enough about you, Ms. Jackson, to make your life very uncomfortable. As my companion said, we just want to talk."

"About what?" Reese kept her mace pointed at them.

They took a step closer.

"You are a biochemist working for the CDC--"

Reese sprayed the bastards and ran. Nobody was using her government clearance.

She saw the man fly over her and land in front of her. Suit #2 smiled a toothy grin, sharp, too sharp. Suit #1 tackled her from behind. She felt the points of his canines bearing into her.

"We just want to let you know about an imminent threat," whispered Thing #1. It was almost a purr or growl.

He stood. Reese just lay there. She rolled over. Vampires. Her mace was useless. She ran through what she had on her. Nothing to use as a stake. No holy objects. She moaned. She was a scientist. They were phantoms, bogey-men. They did not exist. How was she supposed to prepare for vampires when getting ready to go out for the night.

Where his tooth had bore into her, she felt a numbing sensation. Had she been bitten? She didn't stand, couldn't stand. She felt the numbness spreading like a liquid, dribbling down her neck.

The things in suits stood over her. "A plague is coming," said Thing #2. "Consider us concerned citizens."

"Geary Pharmaceuticals has a new product. Hemocillin. Heard of it?"

Reese nodded. She reached a hand to touch the numbness, and it came back numb. There was liquid on the finger. The experience was not unlike Venom. Vampire venom. She groaned. The drug. Processed vampire venom.

"These gelcaps are FDA-approved. Geary bribed all the right government officials. Amazing what your kind will do for a little more money. Wonderful drug, this hemocillin. Cures a number of blood and heart diseases."

"Venom..." she gasped. The venom on her throat made it hard to speak.

Thing #1 laughed in a way Reese knew he thought was natural. "No, no. Not our venom. Geary Pharmaceuticals is bleeding a friend of ours dry. Vampire blood is remarkable at curing humans. But it comes at a price. We cannot get our friend out from the Geary facility. We can't tell just anyone what Hemo is. So this is where you come in."

Thing #2 smiled. "It's simple, really. Our blood contains a virus. Once you die, the virus takes over. Makes you like us. So... when the first people who've taken Hemo die..."

"Vampire apocalypse," rejoined Thing #1. "And with no supply of humans to feed on... another crisis."

"We don't represent anything official. We're just looking out for everyone. You don't want to be vampires. We don't want you to be vampires."

"So, what?" Reese asked. "What do you want me to do?"

Thing #1 pulled out a paper bag and dropped it on the ground next to Reese. "You should be able to develop a vaccine to neutralize Hemo with this."

The two vampires in suits faced into the night. Reese grabbed the bag with her numb hand and reached in. She pulled out a garlic bulb, and laughed. Armed with a bulb, only she could save the world.

She laughed until it hurt.

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New Frontier

2011-11-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

Big news today! Last Monday, I started a new project, and a 2012 resolution.

I resolve to publish in 2012.

I had such good luck with my writing schedule while writing Cold Irons that I set up a writing schedule for all of 2012. The biggest project is a novella series I plan to publish as Kindle Singles. Look for it next year.

The setting is the weird west. British fantasy (Tolkienian fantasy moved up to steampunk) has colonized a new continent. They've established settlements. But they don't know the ways of the American fantasy natives (Howardian fantasy, or sword-and-sorcery).

I am loving this new world so far. Hope you will too.

I also have a play, another couple drafts of Cold Irons, and five short stories planned. I don't want to jinx it, but I think 2012 will be a good year for my writing.

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Soul of the Dead: Spirits and Demons

2011-11-02T14:00:00.000-04:00

There are, as far as I know, no angels or demons in the Hub. However, there are enough creatures that like to be called demons that this is a useful nomenclature.

Anyways, there are several entities out there that we can class under spirits. All these spirits can only interact with the world when they possess someone or infest something (infesting is possession for inanimate objects).

Astral projections. Some practitioners can project their souls into the world while they sleep. As disembodied souls, they can view far away events (either by "browsing" the world by floating all over, or by homing in on someone or something their soul has a sympathetic connection with).

Ghosts. They bear repeating. Again, a soul from a dead person still on the planet because of quantum emotional entanglement or something. Furies, banshees, whatever. Ghosts can't usually possess people, but they can infest objects and get called poltergeists.

Loa. Spirit entities. Lots of different kinds of loa, both good and bad. They're powerful enough to possess people. Nobody knows if the loa are just powerful ghosts or actual alien entities. Voodoo houngans like to summon them and make deals with them. Some loa like to mess with people. Others like to help.

Demons. Kind of a catch-all term, really. Bad spirits, who delight in being bad, end up getting called demons. Just how it works.

Oh, and exorcism works based entirely on the faith of the practitioner practicing the exorcism. So, a Catholic priest can exorcise a loa or an astral projection, because he believes they're demons.

Jinn. Spirits of fire. The Jinn are a Fae tribe, with a sister tribe called the ifreet. A powerful ifreet named Iblis is the basis of the Devil in Islamic culture. They can contain their fire in a human-like shell when they want to. They can also possess humans.

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Gods of Blackbloom

2011-11-01T08:01:00.000-04:00

Chuck Wendig has another worldbuilding challenge for his crowdsourced setting Blackbloom. We know ten major things about Blackbloom, where the dead walk, gods mingle forgotten, and cities speak.

He's looking for gods this week. Gods that no man worships, that walk among man unrecognized. rThey leave chaos in their wake.

My submission was the city god Urbino. I can't get a direct link, but my submission is after the jump.

Urbino (god) – The youngest in the pantheon, his lineage is unclear. A minor trickster figure in Bloomian myth, Urbino is worshipped at the fire festivals across the planet.

The cities speak of Urbino with reverence. The cities worship him as their chief deity.

Urbino is a problematic figure for the planet. He is largely unconcerned with the Bloomed, and tends to play tricks on them. It is said that he can be observed at the destruction of any building, in the dust.

See also: Urvi, Reos, Gerini.
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Father's Letter

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

Here is this year's Halloween short story. Next year, my annual Halloween story will only be available to those who sign up for my newsletter. So please, sign up for my newsletter. I'll be publishing a novella or two next year, and would like to be able to let you know about it, even if you're not reading the blog five days a week (which you totally should).

Story after the jump.

AFATHER'S LETTER

MichaelF.X. Durant

I never really knew my father. When Iwas about three, good old Jeremy Michael Harris was placed in a homefor the criminally insane. I never wanted to go see him. My paternityhung over me, overshadowing all I did. That's what happens when yourdad assassinates someone.

I suppressed it. My mother brought me infor all sorts of psychiatric testing when I was still young. Asidefrom some anger management issues (where's daddy?), I passed theirtests. I spent the rest of my life up to this point trying mydamnedest to suppress anything that might have come from his side ofthe family. The man rotted away and died in the “hospital.” Itook my mother's name, Fennimore. After high school, nobody reallyever asked me about my father. That was fine by me.

My kid, Ronnie, is the same age I waswhen my father committed his crime. I told my wife about my old mansome time before we married. Vanessa just hugged me, held me tight.She did the same thing when my mother died last week. I loved herwith all my heart, and when she held me I felt safe. Away from theworld. I felt calmer in her embrace, less angry.

My mother was in the ground for all oftwo days before we moved into her house for the selling of theestate. Vanessa went through each room with a trashbag, catalogingwhat we could sell and tossing what we couldn't. Hidden deep within afile cabinet, pressed between my mother's 1982 tax returns and hercurrent insurance information, Vanessa found a letter addressed tome.

It was yellowed and faded. Mr. MichaelHarris, the envelope read, with my mother's address. It waspostmarked... holy hell. The letter was sent to me when I was five.The return address was the damned hospital in Arkham where my fatherlived out his wasted life. He would have been in the hospital for twoyears by that point. Vanessa handed it to me unopened.

Dear Mike,

I'm not sure when this letter willreach you. If it will reach you. Nevertheless, I owe you anexplanation. Your mother won't hear it, but you must.

I stopped there. It was scratched out inpencil and faded in some places. I looked up from my seat to seeVanessa looking at me. She was watching me with a careful eye, justseeing what I would do. “Just his crazy ramblings,” I said. “Idon't need that right now.”

Vanessa smiled. “Damn right you don't!Want to toss it?”

I hesitated. These frantic ramblingswere all I had of my father. I should have thrown the damned thingout right then and there, but I couldn't. There was the JeremyMichael Harris the world knew... and the Jerry Harris that his sonwould never know. I shook my head, and folded the letter up. Vanessanodded and moved on to the next room. I placed the letter in theenvelope, and tucked it into my pocket.

I looked around the room, and decided tocatalog my mother's library. It was disordered, like the rest of herhouse. She could reach for the shelf and pluck the exact book shewanted, but I didn't know what her filing system was. I alwayssuspected there wasn't one. I began to stack the books on the floor,separating fiction from nonfiction, and then paperback fromhardcover. In the next room, Vanessa was singing to Ronnie, some oldsong about having no girl in your life. I had to pause a few times todry my eyes.

§

If I die in this rat hole, nobodywill ever know that I'm not crazy. That's the secret. I know how mystory sounded, so I didn't argue at my trial. There's not really muchyou can say to the government, to the rational sane world we think welive in.

We're wrong. The world is neitherrational nor sane. Son, let me tell you a story. Let me tell youabout the man I killed.

I didn't even know that I'd pulled outthe letter and begun reading it at first. Vanessa was out picking uplunch from whatever fast food joint was closest. We'd made a gooddent in my mother's belongings. We were just about done for the day.After lunch, Vanessa would sort through the jewelry I'd found, andthen we'd head home. My bereavement leave was over, so I would begoing to work again.

I was alone in the house, and when Irealized what I was doing, I looked up from the letter. The wind madea chime sing out in the back yard, and it howled through the oldhouse, its friend. The house was so essentially of my mother that Ihalf expected her to come down the stairs and tell me to turn myfrown upside down.

Iwas in college when I first encountered the...the markings were too smudged to read here. Atthe time, his name was Ray Fallon. He was a minor celebrity atMiskatonic University, where his band, Ray Fallon and the BrownJenkins, played almost every Friday night. One Friday night, I hadnothing better to do than to get drunk and watch the BJs. So, acouple friends of mine went with me to The Hoary Man to watch them.The Hoary Man was a dive near the campus, and most nights cateredexclusively to the students there. I can only hope you'll discoverthe same bar, too.

I went to Northeastern University.Miskatonic hadn't even been on my radar.

The BJs were the main act, and theiropener was some prog rock high school group from nearby Dunwich. Wewere good and toasted by the time the BJs came on stage. Ray marchedon stage with a demoniac glare that silenced the crowd. Some peopleare electric like that, and with a glance at his bandmates, theystarted to play. I'd never heard the BJs play before, and it wasenthralling. Almost literally enthralling. I may have had too much todrink, but there is one clear memory I have of that night.

Wewere deep in the woods separating Arkham and Dunwich. The BJs wereplaying in the clearing. I could not tell you why we were there, butthe music was intense. My heart beat to it. The crowd was chanting...here my father crossed out “Ia! Ia!”... “Yeah,yeah!” And then we looked up at the sky.

One of the members of the BJs had afiddle, which added a strange, otherworldly quality to the songs.Suddenly, his violin strains echoed back to us from the heavens. Ican't remember what I saw when we all looked up there. All I rememberis waking up the next morning in the wasteland of a roaring hangover.A friend and I had slept on a pair of benches by a bus stop.

I heard a car door slam, and put theletter away. Vanessa walked into the house with a greasy bag filledwith burgers and fries, and a shake for Ronnie. I went into thekitchen and pulled two cans of Coke from the fridge. As I walked backto the living room, I saw Vanessa sorting through some of the jewelrywhile Ronnie sat on her lap, drinking his shake. At that moment, mybody and soul were as far as could be from witch-haunted Arkham.

§

I had sleepwalked to my car. I have noidea what I had been dreaming about, but I was in my pajamas, in mycar, with my keys. I got out of the car, and went back inside.

The next day, I went back to work. Myfather's letter gnawed at me all day, but I was too busy catching upon two weeks of undone work. It was almost not worth the time off. Atlunch, I called Vanessa.

“Hey,hon.”

“Hey,Mike! How's it feel to be back?”

“Busy.Almost not worth the time off.”

She chuckled. Vanessa always chuckled atmy jokes.

“Ithink I'm going to go out with the guys for a drink tonight.”

There was the slightest pause. “Alright,hon. You deserve it.”

I didn't go out with the guys. I got inmy car and headed north of Boston, getting off at the MiskatonicValley exit on 93, and driving into witch-haunted Arkham. I'd neverbeen there before, but my GPS guided me. As I approached the city, Isaw the vast expanses of suburbia give way to something older andmore decrepit. My approach into the city drove past three familyhomes that were almost crumbling. A right turn brought me ontoCollege St., where the apartment buildings were barely any better,reminiscent of Boston's Student Ghetto.

Miskatonic University was a brilliantjewel that improved the property around it. I passed sleek, moderndorms and class buildings, and turned off of College St. Eventually,I came out of the cave of the college city, and found myself in anolder section. I could see the gambrel roofs on the buildings, andsoon, my GPS brought me to a halt in front of a small,ancient-looking building. The Hoary Man.

I parked down a side street, and doublechecked the space for No Parking signs. Then I went into the bar. Itwas a dimly lit college dive, with students eating sandwiches anddrinking beer. I saw an ancient bartender, maybe the Hoary Manhimself, and I sidled up to the bar, taking my seat away from thestudents. I felt my alien-ness in this place. Everyone in the barknew I didn't go to Miskatonic. The old man walked up to my seat, andgrumbled something. I looked at the beer menu tacked to the wall.

“I'llhave a house ale,” I said.

“Apint of Shoggoth's Old Peculier. Be right back.”

He walked away, and returned with amurky brown brew. I took a curious sip, and put it down. “Prettygood, ayuh?” the man asked.

“Ayuh,”I replied, mimicking his Maine accent without meaning to. “You beentending bar here long?”

“Ayuh,long enough. Used to be a pretty hopping bar. Bands, a lineoutside... Never think that now, eh?”

“Heh,you wouldn't. What kind of bands? Any I'd know?”

“Nah,mostly local shit.” The last word slipped off his tongue with awell-worn familiarity.

“I'vebeen looking into local music, actually. Ever heard of the BJs?”

“TheBrown Jenkins? Oh, sure, sure.” The Hoary Man's bushy eyebrowsnarrowed. “Not very popular outside the Valley.”

“Evenso. Know much about them?”

“Nah,they broke up some time in the eighties. Couldn't tell ya why. Theysure played, though.”

I took a long drink of the swill he'dserved me. “They ever release any albums?”

“Don'tthink so. None they sold here, leastaways. Crazy buncha kids. Thefans would follow them out to the woods like the fucking Pied Piper.”

“Everyweek?”

“Ayuh.”

“Everhear what they saw out there?”

“Whatthey saw?” The Hoary Man paused. “Maybe you should pay for yourdrink, young Harris.”

I looked around, then checked my beltfor my RID card. It wasn't there and would have said MichaelFennimore if it was. “How did you--?”

“Irecognize yer face. Yeh father was a reg'lar 'round these parts backthen, and I don't forget the regulars.”

“Tellme what he saw out there in the woods.”

“Idon't think I will, young Harris.”

I slammed a twenty on the table.“Another pint. Close out my tab and keep the change.”

I downed the first Shoggoth's before theHoary Man returned with another. He didn't glance at the empty glass.“Don't go chasing after your father, boy. Your father died chasinghis crawling chaos, and for what? Just go home. You don't belonghere.”

I looked into the Hoary Man's eyes. “So,my father was insane?”

“DidI say that?” The man was confused.

“Nevermind.”

I drank the swill in silence and leftthe Hoary Man. Was that all? My father's letter... all just himchasing the crawling chaos of his own insanity? I drove south, out ofArkham, and back towards the real world. My wife was emptying thedishwasher when I got back home, and I kissed her. Together wefinished cleaning up the kitchen.

§

I couldn't sleep. My mind crawled withthe unread parts of my father's letter. The Hoary Man's words cameback to me as whispers in the night. I got up without disturbingVanessa, and I walked downstairs with the letter to read more.

When we got back to the dorm, we bothfelt strange. We discovered that we both felt the same feeling ofbeing watched. Like the sun was some imprisoned eye glaring down atus, watching our every move. For weeks afterward, we couldn't standto be out in the sunlight for long. To this day, I hate it still, butI can bear it.

Reading his fevered words, I felt an eyeon me. I looked up and saw Vanessa standing there in her thin cottonnightgown. I smiled like a child caught in the act.

“Don'tworry about it, honey. It's natural.”

“Iknow, but...”

She walked over to me, and put her armsaround me. She pulled herself into my lap and kissed me quiet. “Butremember, Mike. He was a very sick man. Don't read anything into thisletter. He was insane.”

I kissed her back. “I know.” Ipulled the straps of her nightgown down past her shoulders, andkissed her again.

§

I owed it to myself to read my father'sletter, no matter how it affected me. And I owed it to my wife not togo around the whole state chasing his crawling chaos, trying tocorroborate his story. The next day, I sat in my cube for lunch andread more of the letter.

We suppressed the urge to shout atthe sun, tell it to stop watching us. Nevertheless, my friend killedhimself a few months later, in the darkest part of the Waite Library.I was alone with this madness. His suicide letter was a note that hewas escaping the Crawling Chaos that would come.

Years later, I began seeing Dr.Reginald Forrester at your mother's insistence. I was going through arough patch, then. It was either see a shrink or get out. I saw ashrink. Forrester came highly recommended to me, but I knew what hewas when I entered the office. Hidden behind his half-spectacleslurked the same demoniac glint of the eye that I had seen on RayFallon. Their names were linked together in my mind, and I even toldForrester about Fallon. I bared my soul to him, not even realizingthat it was happening.

Forrester didn't even laugh. He letme tell him everything, and with a few gentle probings, the matterwas laid bare. He prescribed some medication to bring me down from myfeelings of paranoia. But I sleepwalked.

“Fennimore!You got those reports done?”

§

With a few minutes to spare later in theday, I googled Dr. Forrester, but found nothing. The internet hadnever heard of him. Or, at least, there was no Dr. Forrester whopracticed near Boston or Arkham. The rest of the day, the initialsR.F. played in my head. I knew as well as anyone who Jeremy MichaelHarris had assassinated: Senator Roger Forsythe.

§

That night, I locked myself in my study,and resolved to finish the letter. I unfolded it from my pocket, andagain turned my eye to the now familiar handwriting. There was notmuch left to tell; I could see myself coming close to the end of theletter.

During one of our sessions, I askedDr. Forrester what he was. He smiled as if speaking with a child.“Jerry, you know what I am. I'm a therapist, and I want to help youget well.”

“No,”I snarled, swatting away his hand. “I know you by your eyes. Youcan't be Ray Fallon. But you are. What are you?”

The grin dropped from Dr. Forrester'sface. “Ray Fallon was one of my masks. Very perceptive. I have manymasks. A thousand. Thousands of thousands. I'm known by many names.The Black Man. The Dark Pharaoh. Some people call me Mr. Skin. I'm inthe chaos business.” He smiled at me. I couldn't believe my ears.Then he cocked his head ever so slightly, and my therapist was back.The mask was back. “Such a lovely day out today. Maybe you shouldtake a walk, Jerry. Fill these prescriptions.”

I went for a walk before returninghome, but I burned the prescriptions. I never told your mother. Iwent to see Dr. Forrester the next week, but it was as though hispractice had never existed.

Yourmother had grown suspicious by this point, and had gone to see Dr.Forrester. It was no use trying to tell her that he had vanished. Shedidn't believe I'd ever been to a therapist at all! Son, I hope youtreat your wife, if you have a wife, better than I treated yourmother. There was alot of shit that I just do not need to get intoright now, since it has no bearing on my story.I knew though. My father was an alcoholic, and he cheated on mymother. When I asked her why he would do such a thing, she shruggedand said that he liked the secrecy of it. Butyour mother threw me out at that point, and I was in a bad way.

I won't bore you with the details.This story began in Arkham and it ended there, too. I was staying ina cheap boarding house near the campus. I was at the Hoary Man mostnights, and I picked up a job as a janitor in the Waite Library.During my free time, I found myself in the old books section of thelibrary. I was drawn to a pamphlet called “On Nameless Cults,” anEnglish translation of a German original, kept behind glass. I readabout cults worshipping the Crawling Chaos, a pantheon of trickstergods, or the same trickster god wearing different masks. The pamphlettraced this entity to the witch cults of Salem and Arkham, whichworshipped the Black Man, and the Brotherhood of the Dark Pharaoh. Iknew the man behind those masks.

I was unsure of this entity'spurpose. More lunch hour research showed me the closest thing I hadto a name for the entity. The Dark Pharaoh in particular was tracedback to the historical pharaoh Nyarlathotep. Typically, the CrawlingChaos appeared to delight in nihilism, in self-destruction, or,according to some scholars, to further the dread unknowable aims ofhis brethren.

Around this time, I began to hearhallucinations. Even now, I can still hear the beating of the BJsdrummer, the mad piping of their flute, and the wild howlings of RayFallon.

I could barely stand to be out duringthe day, but night was sheer terror. For during the day, only one eyewatched me piece together the horrible truth. But at night, thousandsof eyes turned their gaze on me, boring into my soul to see what I'ddiscovered.

Ia! Ia! Shub-Niggurath! The Goat withA Thousand Young!

The next paragraph was written in adifferent pen by a steadier hand.

I don't know why Nyarlathotep hassingled me out from among the whole of humanity. I don't know what hewould have me do. He had interfered in my life twice. I'd lost mysanity, and my family. I swore to find that bastard and make him pay.That was when Senator Roger Forsythe took to the national stage.

I put the letter down. My headache hadreturned. Tentacles writhed and crawled around my skull and squeezed.I could see where the letter was going. For some reason, Ray Fallonhad been a traumatic event for my father. He had manufactured a wholedelusion from it, based on the initials R.F. His delusion went as faras the therapist Richard Forrester. Combine that with whatever occultinformation he had gleaned from Miskatonic University, and he haddeveloped a full-blown alternate reality. If it hadn't been SenatorForsythe, it would have been some other unfortunate celebrity withthe initials R.F.

And I'd almost convinced myself of that.But that hoary man at the Hoary man whispered to me across time fromour first meeting. He had known about the Crawling Chaos. How?

I finished the letter. It didn't shedany light on the matter, and it went pretty much as I had expected.He had planned his assassination attempt, and carried it out. Iwalked over to my mantlepiece, and stoked the log. I threw the letterinto the flame, and let it burn. I imagined the flame devouring theletter, the initials R.F. being last and the brightest to burn.

I'd almost convinced myself that myfather had talked to the hoary man, but that didn't sit right withme. I'd half-convinced myself that my trip out to Arkham had been abad dream. Then I saw the newborn photo we'd taken of little Ronnie.His initials were laser-inscribed on the frame.

Ronald Fennimore.

R.F.

I shook my head, and put out the log. Iwent up to my room and passed it. I walked into my child's room.Ronnie stirred, and looked up at me. “Papa?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

The only light was the silvery glint ofthe moon. I had an audience of a thousand stars watching what camenext.

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I don't want to watch Netflix on my phone

2011-10-27T07:41:00.001-04:00

Maybe I'm just not the demographic Netflix wants to reach with their mobile app. It would be great if I had a ~~datapad~~ tablet. But I have a phone. Itty bitty screen, pernicious battery.

I'm offering Netflix free advice today! Free! It's doing terrible, so I thought I'd help. Because I'm a helper.

You already know what I don't want out of the mobile app. Here's what I do want:

Queue Manager (for both DVD and Instant)
Browse database

Yeah, that's pretty much it. All I want is the ability to say "Oh hey, that's a great movie I should totally watch! To the Netflix!" And then to whip out my phone and add it to my list.

I know, I know, there's a third-part app called Queue Manager in the Android Market. I use it. Two problems. One, I don't like third-party apps. When I can, I prefer to go to the source. Official Facebook app, official Twitter app, etc. And second, it works fine but... but... it doesn't like television series. Adding TV series freezes it up.

So yeah. Also, the videogame-by-mail thing? Get on it. People were upset about Quikster, not the other changes.

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Soul of the Hub: Undead Creatures

2011-10-26T14:00:00.000-04:00

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Next few weeks are going to kind of be a bestiary of the Hub.

So once I laid out the magic rules, I had to justify how to make the usual monsters work. This is really hard, yo.

I mean, OK. The Fae are hyperspace aliens with their own innate magics and they use sympathy. Fine. And werewolves are cursed. OK. Traditional, but I can work with it. More on them later.

Then we got into the undead. And I realized I needed to define dead. And maybe the afterlife? ...

So I'm going to define dead.

The best way to define dead is to figure out what's missing. The soul, obviously (the soul is where we can have fun!). And the mind. And I went with a computer analogy.

To wit, the body is the hardware, the mind is the software, and the soul is the user. By playing with those three elements, you can work out alot of undead creatures.

Vampires - Once you've been infected with the vampire virus (transmitted through blood, not bites), your body begins to weaken. You die. Your soul is evicted. And the virus takes over your mind and bodies. So you're a soulless bloodsucking parasite with all your human memories. Your innate magic involves turning the life essence of others' blood into something that can pump through your veins. Also, possessing others' blood allows you to do some quick and dirty blood magic (which is, of course, sympathetic magic).

Mummies - Ancient Egyptian pracititioners knew how to make you live forever. They used powerful magic to bind a person's soul to the body, and embalm the body so it would live forever. The bandages are strictly optional.

Liches - Powerful practitioners can design phylacteries they can house their souls in, and the soul is remotely connected to their body. Without their souls, they can't actually use sympathy, and have to rely on artifacts and theurgy. The distance and safety of their soul tends to make them slightly less interested in moral objections.

Zombies - Classic zombies involve voodoo practitioners (houngans and mambos), because this particular magic act has roots in the original vodoun religion (of which more when I return to discussing magic traditions in the world). Basically, a houngan uses sympathetic connections to knock out your soul and take control of your body.

Undead zombies are related to vampires. It's basically a failed vamp, where the mind was damaged before death. Hence, the zombie needs BRAINS to replace its damaged software.

Ghosts - A soul left behind. There needs to be an emotional anchor keeping them here. The type of emotional anchor is what defines the soul's condition. Resolution allows the ghost to leave. Furies are ghosts with unresolved issues involving vengeance, usually vengeance against a family member (if you want to be traditional about it).

Banshees are ghosts with unresolved issues involving sadness and worry. Not to be confused with the Fae tribe of howling wind spirits. Um, I mean, yeah. They get confused alot.

I think that is it for now.

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Strong Female Characters: Wendy Torrance

2011-10-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

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Are you a Winnie or a Freddie?
I'm a Wendy.

Wendy Torrance is not a strong character. She is a deeply-flawed human being, like her husband Jack. There are problems with The Shining that inhibit Wendy's character, but despite them, she is still, in my opinion, strongly realized.

She's a Stephen King stock character, at least in his post-Shining work: emotionally abused as a child, and fleeing a physically abusive husband that part of her still loves. Am I describing Wendy, Beverly Marsh, or Rose Daniels? There's a whole other essay on the evolution of this stock character from her original realization in The Shining (or perhaps in Carrie) to the culmination in Rose Madder.

There's a big problem with Wendy being a strongly-realized character. Her goal is to keep Danny, her son, safe. That's more a problem with Danny than with Wendy. Pretty much everyone but the reader (and the Overlook) feels like Danny is this perfect angelic being who must be kept safe. (... that could be what danny wants them to think...)

However, despite the victimization of her character, I think she comes out well. Her inclusion as a character does a fine job of enhancing the parental fears theme of the novel. Much like Jack worries he is becoming his father, Wendy worries that she has become her emotionally abusive mother. The hotel plays on this, and when we're in Jack's corrupted point of view, he feels like she is an emotionally vindictive bitch.

More importantly to the subject I'm writing about, she is a fully-realized character. After reading The Shining, I know her. She's not "the mother" or "the wife." She's Wendy. She's a unique character. She moves forward not just the plot, but the themes of the novel.

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Interview

2011-10-24T14:00:00.000-04:00

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This week's flash fiction challenge celebrates bullying. Wait, I might have that wrong.

...

Anyways! I posted it over there yesterday. You know. At Wendig's digs. Deadline was two hours ago, but I thought I'd share.

Yeah, he wanted it in the comments. Here's a direct link to mine.

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Person of Interest: A Consequential Series

2011-10-20T20:10:00.003-04:00

I've watched the four episodes of Person of Interest, and am caught up to live television. I'm digging it.

Sure, you have the cynical, mysterious nerd BENJAMIN LINUS and the world weary bad ass JESUS CHRIST. And they're pretty good together.

It has its problems. The SASSY BLACK LADYCOP isn't doing it for me as an antagonist. But it does something interesting with its overarching plot.

Person of Interest pretends it's a procedural. Each week there's a Person of Interest. Our heroes, Finch and Reese, unravel the mystery of what the violent crime is, and stop it. The end.

But consequences are catching up to our heroes only three shows in. There's very little mythos, no seasonal arc (just character backstory). Only the natural consequences of each episode.

Which brings me to last night's episode, "Cura Te Ipsum." If you aren't a Latin whiz like me, it means "Heal Thyself." And at the end of the episode, there's no resolution.

Reese may or may not have killed a serial rapist. ("Which do you think I'll regret more, killing you or letting you live?" I don't think you'll regret killing him at ALL, Mr. Reese.) And it faded to black.

And that is hilarious. It's a show about consequences... but we may never know whether Reese killed that guy or not (He totally did, though). We'll see tonight.

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Magic in the Hub: Theurgy

2011-10-19T21:09:00.000-04:00

The final type of magic in the Hub setting is theurgy. Literally "urging the god." It's simpler than sympathy to master. What you're basically doing here is getting someone else to do the magic for you.

There are three many ways to get the agent to act on your behalf. There are, in fact, exactly as many ways as there are ways to convince someone. It basically boils down to two ways, though.

There's bargaining. The Fae love a good bargain, them. The loa, too (they're the Friends on the Other Side, if you love Disney but don't know alot about voodoo). Bargaining includes outright paying the agent, or trading on friendship, as Sam tends to do.

There's coercion, a time honored tradition. Coercion ranges from the more muggle methods of coercion (blackmail, extortion, guilt-tripping, hostage-taking) to binding the agent to an artifact. Binding an agent bends the agent to your will. They're basically your willing slave at that point.

... Theurgy is pretty well frowned upon in certain parts of the magic world, mostly by people who know sympathy and their own innate magics. It has its followers, though, such as voodoo houngans.

Also, some creatures can't use their own magic, and HAVE to use theurgy if they need mojo. More on that later.

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Star Trek

2011-10-18T08:01:00.000-04:00

Charlie Jane Anders at io9 wants new Star Wars and Star Trek. She wants the Star Wars television show to be dark and edgy, set as it is in the early days of Empire. And she wants a contrast with Star Trek, a future bright with hope.

The arguments for dark Star Wars are interesting, but I'd like something in between. We're talking about bounty hunters, man. They'll have fun no matter what the government is.

On to a brighter Star Trek.

For my money, a new Star Trek show ought to take place further in the future than theTNG era, and it ought to show the Federation and Starfleet facing some huge new challenges. And defeating them. For the past decade, Trek has been focused on exploring its past, from Star Trek: Enterpriseto the J.J. Abrams' alternate-universe version of the Original Series. But the spirit of Star Trek is all about moving forward.

This is true. However, I feel as though the TNG era is when Star Trek came into its own. I'd propose a return to that era, in the alternate universe. I'm not talking about casting a new Picard and Riker. I'm talking about something else entirely.

Paramount has the opportunity to establish two different franchises. A movie franchise starring the original Star Trek, and a new television franchise set 200 years in the future along an alternate timeline.

The universe would be darker and edgier all on its own. The Vulcans are a people without a homeland, er, homeplanet. The Romulans emerge as a threat, only because some Future Romulans came back to destroy the universe.

To complement the dark and edgy tone, I think it's high time to explore Section 31 as a series. Get us off the starships.

Just a thought.

Just a thought.

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Flash Fiction: The Nightly Grind

2011-10-17T07:53:00.001-04:00

Another Wendig challenge. "Five Words Plus One Vampire." He gives us five words, we choose three, and then write a vampire story using those three words. Three words are his. 369 are mine. I chose Bottle, Tax, and Fountain.

Joe ground his teeth. It was a terrible habit, and if he could afford a dentist, the dentist would tell him so. He muttered to himself. It was cool and dark in the city. He'd found an alley unlit by street lamps. He wheeled his shopping cart in front of him.

There. Moonlight glittered off something in the alley. He bent down. It was a beer bottle. Stoker's Irish Red. He picked it up with care. Empty. Unbroken. That was another nickel from the bottle tax. He tucked it in the trashbag he wheeled around inside his cart. He continued down the alley.

He was in Party Central for one of the local colleges. A veritable treasure trove of bottles to return. He turned out of the alley, onto a brightly lit street. It was three in the morning, and those rich, privileged kids were going strong. He hated them. Well, most of them. He drove down to 33 Marston Street, and found the trashbag out front. The kids of Lambda Chi were animals, but they knew to leave their empties packed and sitting on their front steps. Joe supposed they must think it charitable.

He was too poor to care. He loaded the bag into his cart, and turned down another cross-street. He was close to the Lincoln Fountain, donated by some rich alumni. There was sometimes a stash of empties there.

Two college students were making out by the fountain. Joe felt the red anger rising up inside him at the sight. His lifer wasn't like that. His life would never be like that again. Wife gone. Son gone. Family dead. Fired for his inability to function.

He'd never get back that life. The dark city was his world forever.

The girl collapsed on the fountain's edge. Joe looked again, and saw red. This time it wasn't anger. It was blood. A cold fear gripped him. The man stared into Joe's eyes, and licked his too-red lips. The girl rolled into the fountain in ecstasy, and Joe saw the lit water turn rose pink, then red.

The man stood, and smiled with too sharp teeth. Joe fled, leaving his night's work behind him.

Joe tripped over a curb, and screamed.

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Link Blitz

2011-10-14T07:49:00.001-04:00

"Without your armor, what are you?"
"A genius billionaire philanthropist playboy."
The Avengers are coming.

The Call of Cthulhu, as interpreted by Theodore Geisel (no, not really).

Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) wants to write a new Star Trek TV series.

32 sick burns.

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Magic in the Hub: Sympathetic Magic

2011-10-12T14:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I discussed innate magic. This is something people are born with. All humans have the ability to name people and things. All dogs can smell evil. Nature sprites, like dryads and naiads, can manipulate the weather.

But it was important to me that magic be available to everyone who was willing to learn. The modern day has taken that away from us. David Liss wrote an excellent article for io9 about the current elitism in modern fantasy. It's moved from years of grueling reading to "Yer a wizard, Harry!"

For me, that's just not enough. It depends on how you view magic. For me, magic upsets the natural laws of the world. For anyone to be able to do that... well, let's say I don't buy that the Wizarding World would be able to catch every explosion of magic and keep the world running right.

So I read The Golden Bough to learn more about magic. And I used what our ancestors thought about magic to formulate my own magic system. And then I read Patrick Rothfuss and saw I wasn't the only one with the idea.

There is sympathetic magic, and it all boils down to one thing. You use one thing to affect another thing. The magical connection is either homeopathic (similar to the target) or contagious (something that was once in contact with the target). I posit a world where one's belief in the connection makes the connection work.

You need more belief and a stronger mind with every sympathetic link that is necessary for the spell. For example, there are two links between using a compass to point the way and using a part of the target to find the target. Sam asks Nemo to make a spell that will help him find the lock a key goes to in Cold Irons. Nemo patiently explains that it's a weak link, and will require alot of energy to keep it going once the key leaved Nemo's hands. Using a map to represent a city is also a poor link, though better than using a map to represent a more rural area.

So to work magic you need to have something that is a link to the target, either by being similar to the target or something that once came into contact with the contact. You need a mind willing to believe in the link.

But... magic doesn't work in the real world. How do you make it work? Well, our primitive ancestors were on to something, but they didn't have everything. They needed fuel for their spells, and the knowledge of how to use it.

In the Hub setting, life energy fuels spells. Practitioners must be trained in the proper way to draw out life energy and use it to power spells. You can't perform magic without fuel, and without refining the fuel. There are three main sources for life energy in the Hub universe: blood, soul, and leylines. Blood is perhaps the easiest to manipulate, and if you have some blood on you, then you're in business. But extracting blood to fuel your spells is... kind of objectively evil, considering the sheer amount you'd need.

However, blood is an excellent resource to power tracking spells. The life energy in the blood fuels the spell, while there is a contagious link between the target and the blood that once coursed through its veins.

Your soul generally is best used as a source for your innate magic. Using it for every little thing will leave your soul a little threadbare. And extracting souls is far worse than extracting blood.

The leylines are a more abundant source of fuel, and you don't need to steal it from someone else. They crisscross any planet with life. There are a few focal points where leylines meet. Nexuses. Boston's nickname, Hub of the Universe, comes from its standing as a major nexus on Earth.

So, those are the three major parts you need for casting spells in the Hub. It's a dirty, more real magic than, say, casting a scroll of magic missile. But anyone can learn how to do it.

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U.S. Robotics: The Series

2011-10-11T14:00:00.000-04:00

Robots are the future, and when robots go broke, the team at U.S. Robotics investigate.

An hour-long sci-fi procedural. CSI meets robots. Every week there's a new robot, with one seasonal arc involving a short story from Isaac Asimov's I, Robot.

The team at U.S. Robotics is varied. The main viewpoint character is Dr. Susan Calvin, a logician who uniquely understands the positronic brain that makes robots go. She is a pioneer, and the world's first "robo-profiler." She is aided by Peter Bogert, mathematician, Milton Ashe, engineer, and the unlikely duo of Gregory Powell and Michael Donovan, USR's infamous field technicians.

The show will follow the team as they troubleshoot malfunctioning robots. In the first season, Director Lanning introduces Susan to a very special malfunctioning robot named Herbie. This particular HRB model robot can read minds. Over the course of the season, Susan and the higher-ups at USR try to figure out what to do with a psychic robot.

CSI is a very successful "science procedural" and U.S. Robotics will bridge the gap between CSI and more genre fare.

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Flash Fiction: Nothing New Under The Sun

2011-10-10T10:27:00.001-04:00

Wendig asked us to write him something new. A new monster for Halloween. I thought long and hard, and aside from a few new twists on old, old favorites (furies, muses, gorgons), it was hard for me. I have a couple eldritch abominations on the brain, but for some reason thought them too singular for this exercise.

There's nothing new under the sun, but hopefully I've combined some old concepts in a new way.

It's true what they say. There's nothing new under the sun. I should know. I've been watching you puling micro-organisms for eons. On this world and on others. I'd turn away, but it's like a train wreck. I just can't look away.

What? Of course I know about train wrecks. I've seen thousands of them. It's an unusual expression for me, though, I must admit. Nota bene: my thoughts flow through this new brain, and fall into the original owner's cadences. I file it away in my mental notes.

You have no idea the hell I have to watch every day. Life, pulsing and coursing throughout the universe. My enemy saw fit to shackle me to these hyperspatial peepholes. Forever I look upon all Creation and it makes me sick. Have you ever had that nagging feeling that you're being watched? You stop. You look around. You see the world continue to be normal around you. You shrug.

It was me. I was watching you. I know my host sometimes felt this way.

My experiment began a few moments ago. Well, on a cosmic scale. Judging by my current host, it's been about 2500 of her years since I began my first feeble attempts at escape.

Astral projection was new. New to me, anyways. A certain planet had creatures, cetrain specimens of which could do it. I watched them. I learned. I projected a part of myself down to the planet, into one of the creatures. That was the beginning of the experiment.

It was intriguing. I tried to give them the wisdom bestowed upon me as an eternal being. They crucified me for it. As you humans do. A witch! Burn her!

My current mission is simple. Gather data about the current state of the enemy. He is, of course, not on this insignificant rock. I analyze data from their primitive space programs. My eyes only bring me so far. He hides from me in the dark of space.

I lay dormant in my host, waiting for the right moment to seize control.

She thinks I'm a demon. A ghost. In a way, I suppose I am. There is nothing new under the sun, after all. I suppose he must not be the first host to think so. My host guzzles her third glass of ice water this morning. It's been a week. I sent too much of myself to her. She noticed the fever a few days ago. She cannot skip work, however.

Work makes me laugh. Let me tell you a truth about the universe. The Imprisoned Eyes see too damned much of life. Life is at odds with itself. There is a strong base desire to continue life in some way. To achieve immortality through either extending life or creating offspring. Then there is the more superior desire to mitigate the awfulness that is life with power, love, or happiness. A trick of the brain. Nothing more. Mortal life is a terrible thing.

I try to pull my power back. I'm not done with this host yet! She packs into a cattle car on her way into the city on a train. I can see what's coming, but I can't look away. This isn't how it should happen! I have more data to analyze!

The stupid bitch can't keep it together until she's above ground. She isn't long for this world. She dabs at perspiration with a tissue. The train pulls into the next stop and I step forward.

I step off the train. I run for the stairs to the surface, but it's too late. My final report won't get very far through all the concrete above my head.

I wonder how often I've done this. This exact thing.

No time.

I send myself home. I know it's hopeless. It's either die in this wretched monkeybody or die en route to my Eye on this system of planets.

The monkeybody burns.
Have something to say? Please comment!

Friday Link Blitz

2011-10-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

Things that are excellent:

Last American who knew what the fuck he was doing dies, The Onion

Robin Williams is excellent. (HT Topless Robot)
P.S. His daughter Zelda really is named after the princess.

OM NOM NOM: Mac'n'Cheese Frittata with Bacon and Parmesan - Circle B Kitchen.

Google is brewing its own beer.

11 alternate casting decisions that totally happened in Fringe's alternate universe. Yes, even the Bill Murray as Han Solo one.

Frontier Tales

2011-10-06T22:16:00.002-04:00

I finished The Case for Mars today. Very interesting read. Very helpful if you're planning to write about Mars, or if you're planning to actually lobby Congress for a humans-to-Mars mission.

I'd try to leave Zubrin's ego at the door if you do, though.

The epilogue made a compelling case for the frontier as the main driver of innovation and societal evolution. We have no frontiers today. It says something about us.

I have a particular fondness for Louis L'Amour's frontier tales. They're too redundant to read all at once, but every once in awhile, I have a craving for them. Everything's a chore. Going to the nearest town for a doctor is an adventure. Earning money is an adventure. Being able to eat is an adventure. It's a frontier filled with hardships to overcome, and it's easy to write a story about any part of it. Everything is a hardship on the frontier. And one of the quickest, dirtiest ways to write a story is to make things hard as hell for your character. That's why Westerns are so popular.

It makes a good story. Frontiers generally do. I take a look at my own writing, and see that I'm in love with frontiers. The Hub is a new frontier for the characters in my Hub setting. I have a New Frontier setting (with which I've been cuckolding the Hub... don't tell! My novel needs massive rewrites, and I'm not man enough for it yet!). In essence, British fantasy colonizes a world of American sword and sorcery. And the Twilit City I've mentioned is, of course, Areopolis on Mars. The next frontier.

You'll notice I included the Hub as a frontier. What is urban fantasy but a make-believe frontier? It's a magic realm lurking on the fringes of our society. It's not as nice as our civilized, over-bureaucratized, pansy luxury world. There are trolls under bridges. Things lurking in the depths of the sea. Things that go bump in the night.

Even then, it's not people versus people. The focus is on surviving nature. Alot of sword and sorcery is, in essence, frontier fantasy. Man versus nature. Even the land itself turns against out hero.

Some day, drive away from the city. Park in the middle of nowhere, and walk until you just can't see your car anymore. Imagine what it's like out of your neatly organized world.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Magic in the Hub: Innate Magic

2011-10-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

I'll be spending Wednesdays exploringthe Hub of the Universe for you guys. I'm going to spend the nextseveral weeks going over the magic system in use.

There are three kinds of magic in theHub setting: Innate magic, sympathetic magic, and theurgy. Innatemagic is unique to each living species. For instance, cats can seeghosts, dogs can smell evil, etc. Sympathetic magic is somethinganyone can do with the right knowledge or tools. And theurgy isbargaining for magic.

This week, we'll focus on innate magic.As I said above, cats can see ghosts, dogs can smell evil. There aremore fun innate magics out there. Muses, for example, are a tribe ofFae who also are psychic vampires. They form a symbiotic relationshipwith their victims. They get mental energy and adrenaline fromdraining you. You get all your synapses firing for a little bit. It'swhy the ancients thought muses inspired artists.

Magic, in all forms, requires energy tomanipulate. Innate magic comes from within. It requires concentrationand your own energy. Using too much innate magic fatigues the user.

So... can humans get in on innatemagic? Of course! But humans don't have magic. Sure we do! Our innatepower is derived from the one thing we tend to overdo. Naming. Yes...our magic is classifying everything. Says its the job God gave us,right there in the Bible.

For a human wizard (wizards just knowmore about magic) to get a familiar, he has to Name it. This is alittle more forceful and effective than, say, naming your pet. Namingsomething gives you power over it. Think of every time your motherhas used your FULL NAME, and you'll get an idea. The older you get,the more you shape your name, so the less effective your mother's useof your full Name is.

You can convince another being to usetheir innate magic for you, but that's called theurgy, and we'lldiscuss that later.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Blackbloom: The Festival

2011-10-04T14:00:00.000-04:00

This is somewordbuilding for Chuck Wendig's Blackbloom project. This week, wewere given 100 words, the name of the setting (Blackbloom), and thefact that more than just humans exist in the setting. I have beenreading too much The GoldenBough. My entry is after the jump:

During the midwinter festivals on thecontinent, families fell an elm, stand it in their homes, anddecorate it with candles. “When Shadows Bloom” is a popularcandle-lighting carol. The lyrics suggest that the tree and candlesdrives away the long winter nights. On Solstice, when the nightsbegin to shorten, the tree is chopped for the family's hearth.

The elm is likely used because N.Umbrosia is commonly found on his branches. The black leaves of thisplant, commonly called blackbloom, must have seemed to our savageancestors to be the ever-lengthening night being absorbed by the elm.

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Another Return: The new blog and Halloween reading

2011-10-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back. And I'm using a buffer. It's all very technical but I basically write the blog posts in advance.

Editing Cold Irons is consuming most of my available writing time (one hour a day). But I should have a Halloween story ready to go here on the blog on Halloween.

I decided to have some regular segments on the blog again. Mondays will be when I post fiction (usually the flash fiction challenges from Chuck Wendig). Wednesdays I'll explore the Hub, the setting for Cold Irons. And Friday I'll drop some links.

Tuesday and Thursday will be whatever I want. I'm obviously reversing Monday and Tuesday for this week only, so I can explain about the new blog structure before actually using it.

Anyways, I'm currently reading The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin. It's a fascinating look at how we could have had a man on Mars doing scientific research RIGHT NOW. Zubrin's a bit of an egotist and a blowhard, and that shows through in his book. It looks like there are two reasons we don't have a man on Mars: government bureaucracy and lobbyists, and Zubrin's personality clashing with everyone else's.

I do like the Zubrinian calendar for Mars. I'm folding the month lengths and names into my own fictional calendar (instead of 669 days, I use 668 with a three day leap festival every five years because Mars more accurately has 668.6 sols in a year) for a side project I may work on someday called the Twilit City Casefiles (formerly Scarlet City).

I have a detective novel set in ancient Rome waiting in the wings to be read. And I picked my Stephen King book to read for October: The Shining. I've read it once years ago... and have never seen the Kubrick movie. And Doctor Sleep, the sequel in which Danny Torrance fights vampires, is coming out in the next few years. So... timely.

I'll cap off reading the book by watching the movie on Halloween night with the wife... who hasn't seen it either. Thanks, Netflix! (Oh, and by the way, this classic is DVD-only. That's emblematic of the freaking reason your DVD plans won't DIE.)

Have something to say? Please comment!

Strong Female Characters, Part I

2011-08-12T18:28:00.001-04:00

I've been pondering this one lately. Between Kate Beaton, Chuck Wendig, and Raymond Chandler, I've been considering strong female characters.

Strong is definitely the wrong word for this. By strong, we mean well-developed. More than a shadow. A character that leaves an impression on you.

What we mean when we talk about a lack of strong female characters is that there is a lack of strongly-realized female characters.

Instead of true strongly-realized female characters, we get a sharp division. On the one hand are the flimsy need a man damsels. On the other hand we have the strong desexualized female warrior. The princess and the Amazon.

The Amazon for all her strength is not a strongly-realized character. She's basically a male character with a vagina. She is either unobtainable because she's not interested in anyone, or she's too busy avenging a dead lover.

So what makes a strongly-realized female character? In this series of posts I'll explore this in depth. But my broad definition is that a strongly-realized female character is defined by what she is not.

She is not defined solely by her sexuality and gender.

Playback by Raymond Chandler

2011-08-11T18:51:00.002-04:00

I'm frustrated with this one. It has a rambly plot. Marlowe pulls the mystery together out of nowhere in the last five pages. Linda Loring from the much better The Long Goodbye returns to marry our hero. I should hate it.

But despite the plot's problems, Chandler's prose and Marlowe's voice kept me entertained. Sure, the amount of ladies he beds is cheesy wish fulfillment. Sure, the mystery sucked. Sure Marlowe got out of his Chandler's Law mishap by having a hunch that he'd need his tire iron.

But there's this great bit as Marlowe's coming to that just makes me giggle. I'm easy sometimes.
Judging by the fact that I just have a screenplay and some essays left, I suspect this was the last Marlowe novel. I think it shows.

EDIT: Huh. I was too eager to move on, I guess. I am, in fact, talking about Playback.

Office Drone Mocha

2011-08-09T17:28:00.001-04:00

Been looking at the free beverages I can have at work. Soda is expensive.

Tried tea. I'm steeping it wrong because I'm a goddamned American savage and I'm lucky I didn't just dump it in the harbor.

Tried coffee. Not bad. Don't want to be an addict. Also drink water. Water's free, man.

Hit upon an epiphany. Mocha. My work provides coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. So I worked out a poor man's mocha.

Take a packet of hot chocolate mix and dump it into your cup. Brew a full cup of coffee into it. I think medium roast works best if there's a choice.

Add one sugar packet, and two milks. Stir well.

Bon appetit!

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

2011-08-08T19:46:00.002-04:00

Harry Dresden is hired to solve a murder... his own. Now a ghost, he must pull off the ultimate trick... without using any magic.

I read this over the weekend. Literally Friday to Sunday. So, I mean, I clearly enjoyed it. I was hooked. But I found several problems with the book. Spoilers lurk in the shadows (select the black bars to read the spoilers).

This book must be examined as the thirteenth part in a series. If you've made it this far, it's implicit that you like Harry's narrative persona, and the over-the-top climaxes and pop culture references that go with the series.

The pop culture references are starting to get a little too prominent, in my opinion. It's cute when Harry's ghost says "Go to the Dagobah System." It's annoying when he almost nicknames a fellow ghost Threepio because of an esoteric quote from A New Hope.

Sadly, though, the climax aboard a mental construction of the Enterprise bridge doesn't feature Harry saying "Use the targeting computer: that's what it's there for."

The book is nearly impossible for a newcomer to jump into. That's unfair, considering that it's Book 13, but following a book called Changes, it could have been a good jumping on point.

There's a new arc villain (arc villains being the Red Court and Lash the Shadow) called the Fomors, a fascinating concept: history/mythology's exiles. The execution, at least in Ghost Story, leaves alot to be desired. If this is the much-vaunted Black Council Harry has been speculating about for the series, color me unimpressed. The Fomors are an ancient enemy of the Faerie Courts, who basically can provide ocean-themed genetic mutations to their human followers. It's presented more comic-book-y than Lovecraftian Deep Ones. Their human servants are basically just ocean-themed superpowered grunts. I'm not really feeling them as a threat.

Also, that whole without magic trick? Dirty dirty lies. I can't blame Butcher for the jacket copy, though, can I?

Finally, the ending left a sour taste in my mouth. I don't consider it a spoiler to say that Harry spends the book as a ghost before getting resurrected. That much was obvious. I would have been pleasantly surprised to discover that Harry would remain a ghost for the rest of the series. And perhaps any method of resurrection would disappoint. But we're given a short scene at the end of the novel which is more of a teaser for the fourteenth book, Cold Days (or Ghost Story's post-credits scene). Mab resurrects Harry, whose pet island found his body and kept it on life support. Harry didn't get out of being the Winter Knight. AND THERE'S WORK TO DO. Granted, Cold Days may mitigate both my problems with the ending and with the arc villains. We shall see. But they remain problematic.

My problems don't mean I didn't like the book. As I said, like most Dresden books, I read it cover to cover in three days. Butcher's plotting is as fast-paced and frantic as ever. The book's central gimmick, that ghosts are made of memory, is used to good effect to provide us with ample flashbacks that explore Harry's backstory at long last. It reminded me of Peter Straub's Shadowland, and not in a bad way. As always, I'm impressed with Butcher's memory. Chickens always come home to roost for Harry Dresden, and Ghost Story is no exception. And the solution for Harry's murder is both brilliant and frustrating. I have a love/hate relationship with Butcher's use of memory wipes in a first-person narrative.

If you like The Dresden Files, you're going to read it. And you're going to be hooked. But it's fleeting. Definitely not a novel that stands on its own.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Postscript: Oh, and "He lied," absolutely reeks of "I completely forgot that was said on page 13!"

Another Crack At... LOST

2011-08-04T18:00:00.000-04:00

Recently, JJ Abrams claimed that fans upset at Lost's ending were actually more upset that Lost ended (io9). He also said he hasn't heard a single pitch for how it should have ended, just that the ending sucked.

Well, Mr. Coolest Nerd on Earth, I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK.

No, no, don't run away. I'm not going to waste my breath on the Dickian gnostic resolution I discussed at length. Or the one I completely forgot about where I claimed that the Island was Eden.

I'm going to stick with the framework of the sixth season: the two realities, the Island story and the Flash-Sideways story. And that's where my ending separates, right at the beginning of season 6. In my ending, the 1970s cast died in the hydrogen bomb explosion.

And that's it. They wake up on Oceanic Flight 815 in the Sideways Reality. That leaves us with Ben, Smokey as Locke, and Sun on the Island with Richard and the Others.

Meanwhile, we have Jack, Hurley, Jin, Sawyer, Kate, and Sayid, who have had their 2007-1970s consciousnesses thrust into their 2004 bodies, in a 2004 where the Island was destroyed in the 1970s.

Everything seems great at first. They land in L.A. And then Jin remembers that in 2004 he was an asshole and Sun was leaving him. And because they never conceived on the Island, he will never see Ji Yeon. Meanwhile, on the Island, Richard takes Sun and Ben under his wings in the battle against Smokey.

Here's how it breaks down. Jin and the others track down Miles, figuring he was also thrown to 2004. Since Widmore is still around, they meet with him, and he helps them recreate the Purple Sky Incident to send them to the main universe. Also, the destruction of the Island released Smokey from his prison. So there is that, as well, if you want something suitably epic.

Meanwhile, we get basic information on the Others, and how they've become Jacob's disciples. We see more about their religion. We find out that the Whispers are Island ghosts... from the alternate reality where DHARMA and the Others were destroyed in the 70s. Richard tells Ben about the candidates, and that Ben was never a candidate. Ben, Sun, and Richard head out to induct Sun in the Island mysteries and make her the new Protector of the Light (which is more strongly implied to be the electromagnetic storm the Island is on top of.

Sun and Jin both work as agents of their own desires, and find their way back to each other. ... And their freaking daughter (Goddammit, Why didn't Sun tell Jin that dying with her was romantic, but by golly, he should go raise their child? Grr... no, I will not get upset... it was what, two years ago?).

Anyways, we can work out everyone else later, but I especially want a Lost where those two stepped up. And we can have some fun where in the Sideways Universe, Sun doesn't know that Jin understands English. Things like that.

What we won't do? Introduce all new characters and waste a whole freaking episode on Jacob and Smokey's mommy issues. Jacob is religion and light. And science and electromagnetism. Smokey is vaguely diabolic, shadowy. We don't need a whole episode.

Anyways, I don't have time to beat out the whole season, but there it is. The main conflict is getting Sun and Jin back together, getting the two universes back together.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Outlines are Outlines, Part III

2011-08-03T18:13:00.001-04:00

Concluding my essay on the three act structure, and how it can help a writer in need of an outline.

14. The Grand Finale pp. 85-110: The hero takes the lesson he learned and kicks ass. He accomplishes his true goal, or accepts the failure of his original goal and discovers a new one.

15. Final Shot p. 110: The perfect bookend for the opening shot.

Act III is the easiest to talk about, but the hardest to beat. It's pretty much your game.

Conclusion

I'm not trying to say that the three-act structure is the best thing for all writing ever. Don't try to force your novel into it. If you find yourself straying from the outline, that's perfectly fine. It's there to guide, not to restrict. You can edit it at will.

If you have no idea where to start with a concept, though, definitely consider Snyder's beat sheet. Lay it all out on one page (I find that you can give yourself two lines for each beat in a word processor). When you have to, throw it out.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Outlines are Outlines, Part II

2011-08-02T18:13:00.001-04:00

I'm examining the three act structure this week, and how it helps me out as a writer who hates outlines. Yesterday we discussed Act I, where we established the protagonist, his world, and the plot. We also gave him a boot in the butt and he started his journey.

Today I'm going into Act II. This is the meat of the story. We get what we paid to see, and the stakes are raised.

7. The B-Story begins p. 30: So we're good to go, right? Not so fast. It's time to take a break. Here we get the B-Story. This is usually about meeting a few new characters. It's also ideally the antithesis of the A-Story.

In Star Wars, we meet Han Solo. His character arc is at odds with Luke's arc. While Luke has to grow up, Han has to learn to care about something greater than himself. Tiana is turned into a frog.

8. The promise of the premise pp. 30-55: This is where we get what we came to see. Cowboys fighting aliens. Motherfucking snakes on motherfucking planes. Jason killing sexy ladies and hapless guys. The Hulk smashing. Two buddy cops bickering about their different worldviews. The detective investigates. The prince and the working girl learn to live and love as amphibians. You get the idea. Snyder calls it Fun and Games. I think Promise of the Premise explains what you're supposed to do here.

9. False victory or defeat (Midpoint) p. 55: The hero gets what he thought he wanted, only to be wrong. Or the hero suffers a terrible defeat that he must overcome. Thor makes it to his hammer, only to find himself not worthy of wielding it. Leia's rescuers make it to Alderaan, but they're too late.

This is the part of the cop show where I point out that there are twenty minutes left, and our special guest star only had a small scene.

10. Bad guys close in pp. 55-75: The stakes are raised. I have a hard time with this beat most of the time. I dont know what it is, but it doesn't come easy.

11. All is lost p. 75: It looks pretty bad. The protagonist has been on a downward spiral since the midpoint. You've run him or her through hell. Now you toss him into the nadir. It cannot get worse. The protagonist faces death. Not necessarily his own. Luke watches Obi-Wan bite it. Facilier's friends capture Naveen. Bartleby kills Loki. Snape kills Dumbledore.

12. Darkest before the dawn pp. 75-85: It. Gets. Worse. Ok. So the previous beat was a lie. It gets worse. The Death Star follows our heroes to the Rebel Base. (oh Star Wars, why didn't I stick exclusively with you?) The battle of Helm's Deep goes poorly.

13. Revelation (End Act II) p. 85: The hero realizes something about himself or the villain our the love interest. He synthesizes the A- and B-Stories. This allows him to get out of the pit you threw him in, and purposes him for the finale, Act III.

Luke calls Han out for leaving. Tiana realizes that her wish isn't complete without someone to share it with. Aragorn's trust in Gandalf is rewarded.

Tomorrow is Act III. Basically the hero uses the revelation to win. Everything.

And I'll put in my conclusion, since there are only two beats in Act III.

Miss Act I?

Outlines are Outlines, Part I

2011-08-01T18:13:00.002-04:00

No more, no less.

Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the outline

One thing I've found helpful is learning the three-act structure for screenwriters. I have a couple short stories that were going nowhere. Then I outlined them using the fifteen beats Blake Snyder talks about in his screenwriting book Save The Cat.

Beating out stories is fun stuff. I beat out movie and TV pilot concepts just for my own entertainment now. And recently two short story concepts benefitted from getting a beat sheet. One is about a group of fantasy boy scouts encountering a gryphon in the woods. The other is a Hub story where a woman hires Sam to get back her selkie pelt. Both strong concepts, but they were going nowhere until I wrote out a skeleton.

The three act structure isn't always the best choice, but if you're stuck, give it a shot. See how you can make your story fit.Anyways, I was going to run down the whole three act structure in one post, but it's too long. So here is Act I. I'll do Acts II and III later this week.

1. Opening shot p. 1: Well duh. It should form some sort of bookend with the last shot. Star Wars starts with Leia's ship getting boarded. It ends with Leia victorious, presiding over an award ceremony.For example, it's pretty obvious what the selkie story's opening shot is: a femme fatale walks into Sam's office with a proposition. It's a classic and I can turn it on its head.

2. Theme is stated p. 5: Harder in a script. I'm impressed at how often Life on Mars manages this one. I leave it blank until I'm done with the beats. That way I can examine the whole story and figure out the theme that fits. And figure out who says what to who and when and in what context.The theme of most episodes of Life on Mars, by the way, is that you aren't alive unless you're fighting your heart out. If you didn't pick that up.

3. Set up pp. 1-10: Meet the protagonist. Find out what he wants. Worldbuilding. Set up the A-Story.

4. Catalyst p. 12: The major event that kicks off the A-Story. "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

5. Debate pp. 12-25: Can the protagonist go through with it? Should he? Should Natalie Portman help the strange Norse god Thor to retrieve her research and his hammer?

6. A decision is made (End Act I) p. 25: The protagonist must choose to go forward. It's not compelling if he doesn't have a choice. If you don't do a debate/decision, something suitably important needs to close out the Act.

For example, Tony breaks out of the Ten Rings terrorist base in Iron Man. Bruce Wayne quits the League of Shadows in Batman Begins. Luke decides to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan. The boys decide to go into the woods despite the danger in my gryphon story.The point of the first act is to hook the consumer of your media. You have to sell them on the story.

EDIT: Mobile app failed at formatting. Apologies if you saw this before 8:20 P.M.

Faerie

2011-07-28T20:52:00.000-04:00

More worldbuilding for the Hub of the Universe. Today we discuss the Fae.

The Fae are from another world that lies either in the leylines or on the other side of them. Their interaction with Earth has given rise to lots of mythological concept.

Earth's sister planet, Faerie, is ruled by the Seely, the Blessed. They're elves. Sometimes they are called Pucks. The Seely Queen took her name from Shakespeare. Naming things is a special power of humans, and Shakespeare is one of the best. Queen Titania's reign has been marred by a civil war.

An Unseely Fae with power over dreams has created her own Unseely kingdom on Faerie. Mab and Titania have been battling ever since. The many tribes of Faekind, from elves to dwarves, naiads to dryads, and muses to leprechauns.

Pixies are patently absurd.

These, well, aliens, tend more towards Lovecraft than Roddenberry. The human mind cannot properly conceive of them, and so we pitifully try to crunch the eldritch (otherworldly, but it originally meant elven!) visitors into human-like forms. This is called a glamour.

I'm also particularly fond of the Norrell-verse's Faeries. By the by.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Writing Update

2011-07-27T17:17:00.001-04:00

Editing Cold Irons is going slow. I expected to be done with my readthrough by now but that didn't happen. I'm also trying to work out a deadline for this draft.

I'm also wondering about my next project and could use some advice. Hub or not Hub?

To wit: I have a couple of novel concepts I could work on while querying Cold Irons to agents. I also have a couple Hub novel concepts.

I guess my question is: should I wait until Cold Irons has been sold to a publisher before working on the next Hub novel, or should I move full steam ahead, because I know where I'm going with the next two books?

I am leaning towards holding off on them for now, and mentioning in my query that Cold Irons lends itself to a series.

Google+

2011-07-26T19:36:00.001-04:00

I have been on G+ for about two weeks now I think. It's alright. I think it would be better if it weren't a ghost town. I'm really digging the layered privacy settings. It is nice to blast my Dr. Who nerdery at Whovian friends instead of everyone.

I wish it was integrated into Reader better. I wish it integrated into my Android contacts better. Wasn't this why Gingerbread dumped my Facebook contacts? I wish I could embed a post and comments into a blogpost. I wish it was integrated into Blogger at all. There's no easy way to so much as add a +1 button to posts.

I think it can be a solid media platform. We just have to wait and see.

Flash Fiction: The Message

2011-07-25T20:25:00.003-04:00

Another one of Wendig's challenges. When I first got the challenge, which is basically just "Unicorns!", I immediately thought of a famous movie scene involving a horse. I decided to go in a similar direction, without the iconic scene. But it was a good starting point. "The Message" is after the jump.

Carl pulled up to Hunt's place around one in the morning. The lights were out. Hunt was waiting. They drove in silence through the Blue Hills out to Harrison's private barn. Carl turned off the lights on the approach. He pulled out a fruit bar and washed it down with some water. He didn't like doing jobs on an empty stomach.

Hunt and Carl checked their weapons. The silencers were screwed on tight, and they were loaded. It was gonna be a shame, but Sully wanted it done. Sully was how Harrison kept operating at Suffolk Downs. If it weren't for Sully's loans, the state rep's gambling addiction would have ended him.

Rep. Walter Harrison (D, of course, in this state) was a vocal opponent of casinos in the state. Connor O'Sullivan was a private citizen who wanted to operate his own casino. Sully's number one, Drei, wanted to write him, but Sully figured this message would be more personal.

Sully wanted it done up like in the movie, but Drei decided that job was too risky. So Carl and Hunt were just going to kill the horse. Carl was glad. Cutting its head off and carrying it around sounded pretty gruesome.

The barn was unguarded, but locked. Drei had bribed the code off someone and Hunt typed it in. They walked through the barn. The horses didn't sense their cruel intentions yet. They were nervous, so Carl bribed them with bits of another fruit bar. They liked him OK after that.

Carl found Harrison's stalls first. One was a Shetland. Sully warned them not to do that one. That one belonged to wee Pamela Harrison. The other stall was empty. Hunt groaned.

“Figures, don'it?”

“Who the hell takes out a horse at midnight?”

“Maybe he took it to another track?”

Hunt shrugged. “Maybe. Toss the stall.”

“Why don't you?” Carl griped. He went into the stall, ready to smell horseshit. It was a clean stall. He looked up.

“There's no horse here.”

“Well duh, dipshit.”

“No, smell it.”

“No.”

Carl sighed. “Nothing but hay. What the--”

He grabbed at the wooden fence, and pulled something silver out of a splinter in the wood.

“So there was a horse,” Hunt said.

“Guess so. Weird color.”

Hunt went outside, and Carl continued to toss the stall. Nothing was there, so he admired the small Shetland. He pet the pony, and fed her some hay. Hunt came back into the stable and walked into Harrison's empty stall.

“There's an addition to the stable back here. Some secret room.”

Carl groaned. “Figures. This bastard can't make things simple for us.”

Hunt barked out a laugh. “Yeah.”

Hunt knocked on the wall in the back of the stall. It was hollow. The hollow wall reached to the Shetland's stall. The pony liked Carl, so he went into her stall, and found the door to the secret stall. He opened it, and found himself staring at a unicorn.

“Son of a bitch.”

It had a pure white coat, with a metallic silver mane. Dark bronze eyes stared at Carl. A light gold horn spiraled up out of the forehead. Where the hell did that state rep find a freaking unicorn?

A gunshot punctuated the night, and the unicorn reared in fright. Carl backed up and watched as the unicorn lowered its head. It aimed its horn at Carl's chest. From behind Carl another gunshot rang out. The unicorn fell to the ground, and Carl's ears rang. Hunt grabbed Carl's arm, and dragged Carl away from the dying animal. The last thing Carl's eyes focused on was the dark bronze blood gushing from the unicorn's chest.

The two hitmen stumbled over the dead Shetland pony, and ran back to their car. Harrison would receive a hell of a message in the morning.

Sully and Drei, Carl's bosses, are characters from my Hub of the Universe setting.

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Quickie

2011-07-22T13:18:00.001-04:00

Not much time today. I mentioned earlier this week that I wrote a review at Fantastic Pulp. I also began editing Cold Irons. Next week I need to sit my ass down and edit some shorts. The Halloween one. Another for submission.

Reading The Golden Bough. Getting some solid ideas for the Hub. I have two novel concepts and a short concept floating around my brain for the further adventures of Sam Serrano. Also a couple cool antagonists for a Sully subplot that might connect the next few books.

Anyways, i didn't get all that from Frazer. Specifically from The Golden Bough, I figured out the Macguffin for a future novel. Up to now it was some sort of magic spell, but now I know what it does. And why it's kind of a big deal. And can tie it into Cold Irons. And I can tie in something from my Wouldn't It Be Cool If... list of plot orphans looking for a loving home.

So progress. Awesome. The two novel concepts are currently codenamed Charlie and Something Wicked. They may be final titles. Then again I originally codenamed this novel A Mid-Summer's Knight.

This is far from a quickie now but I'm leaving up the title's lie. Have a good weekend. As they say up here, it's gonna be a scorch-ah!

Season 2: The sequel!

2011-07-21T18:06:00.001-04:00

I have begun the second season of The Wire. It is pretty awesome so far. Two episodes in, and the quality has not lessened. McNutty is still an asshole to everyone, Lester is still awesome, and Stringer is still the king.
But something was grating on me. Not the new case. I knew we wouldn't be covering the Barksdale Gang for six seasons. And the dockyard works. Still getting to know the new characters but that's alright.
No it's the suspension of disbelief that the fang is getting back together. I understand that it has to happen somehow. But it's a little too neat. You have the A-Team of McNutty, Bunk, Lester, and the Staties. They're investigating what is clearly The Greek's smuggling ring. Then you have the B-Team, containing some minor characters from Season 1 and led by Prez, investigating a dockhand who pissed off a higher up in the police department. And of course those two investigations will intersect and all of a sudden the gang is back together.

Hooray. I guess I have to swallow that, but I don't like it. It's the only sour note so far in an excellent series.

Modern Pulp Reviews Richard Belzer's I Am Not A Cop

2011-07-20T18:31:00.000-04:00

I wrote a thing!

Additional thoughts on I Am Not A Cop!:

I'm about to finish up The Long Goodbye. Which is fantastic, by the way. One of those books where you can see why it's a classic of the genre.

And yeah, Belzer puts on his best Marlowe for I Am Not A Cop!

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Serendipity Alert

2011-07-19T19:14:00.000-04:00

It is amazing when (and how!) my current reads intersect.

"Know something?" he asked suddenly, and his voice suddenly seemed much more clear. "I had a male secretary once. Used to dictate to him. Let him go. He bothered me sitting there waiting for me to create. Mistake. Ought to have kept him. Word would have got around I was a homo. The clever boys that write book reviews because they can't write anything else would have caught on and started giving me the buildup. Have to take care of their own, you know. They're all queen, every damn one of them. The queer is the artistic arbiter of our age, chum. The pervert is the top guy now."

"That so? Always been around, hasn't he?"

He wasn't looking at me. He was just talking. But he heard what I said.

"Sure, thousands of years. And especially in all the great ages of art. Athens, Rome, the Renaissance, the Elizabethan Age, the Romantic Movement in France-loaded with them. Queen all over the place. Ever read The Golden Bough? No, too long for you. Shorter version though. Ought to read it. Proves our sexual habits are pure conventions like wearing a black tie with a dinner jacket. Me. I'm a sex writer, but with frills and straight."

Sadly, I have not yet reached the good bits in The Golden Bough. Apparently. Just kidding! That book has more sex in it than I've ever read.

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Another Crack At... The DC Reboot

2011-07-18T19:49:00.002-04:00

In an effort to boost sales andrelaunch themselves as a digital publisher, DC has decided to rebootits entire universe. Except Batman Inc. is still around. And I'm surethe Spectrum Lanterns are still around because Geoff Johns is. Andeveryone looks stupider than normal, except for Harlequin.

She just looks like she's hard up formoney, and has taken to selling the Joker's Sloppy Seconds on thestreets of Gotham. It's disgusting and laughable.

It's a bad move on DC's part to dropwhatever they were doing to reboot the characters like this. Buzz isalready bad. And I place even odds that like New Coke, things willreturn to normal after 2012's BIG SUMMER EVENT. At most, the rebootwill be an Ultimate DC line, if it isn't destroyed.

Of course, I'm a nerd and I haveopinions. I know exactly whatDC needs. It has a multiverse. They've tried to walk that back, butit's always there, lurking, waiting for a BIG SUMMER EVENT to showits face. They have a multiverse, and they need to use it. I have acunning plan.

Alright, so themain DCU is failing. What I propose is that DC licenses out DCUs towriters. Joss Whedon. Neil Gaiman. Kevin Smith. Gail Simone. Theydon't have to be celebrities, but it would help with the marketing.

And inthe context of the fictional universes, the walls between them willclose forever. No more events between universes.

Every writer of anindividual DCU would get almost complete autonomy. They don't need todo a Superman book (they'll all probably do a Batman book, though.Fair warning). It would swamp comic shops with five differentBatmans, Flashes, Zatannas, Birds of Prey, etc. The worry might bethat people will be confused.

Irather doubt it. The most popular superheroes are mythic archetypes.Everyone knows that Bruce Wayne became Batman to rid the city ofcrime because his parents were murdered in front of him, and that hedresses like a bat because criminals are a “superstitious andcowardly lot.” Everyone knows that ~~God~~Jor-El sent his only son to Earth to save him from Krypton'sdestruction, and save humanity from themselves. Green Lantern is aspace cop and Earth is in his beat. Wonder Woman is an Amazon sentback to the world of Man to save men from themselves. Zatanna is asorceress whose day job and costume is stage magician.

We don't reallycare about a continuous character arc for Superman since the 1930s.We don't need a massive time-space tsunami to explain how theSuperman from the 80s to 2011 is from an alternate Earth, and we'refocusing on a new Superman now who's already been “active” forthe last ten years. And wasn't born in the Thirties. Just have animplicit acknowledgment that the two books featuring Supermanaren't in continuity with each other.

It would be up toindividual writers to decide how episodic or serial to make theircreations. As long as they get the core of the character down, nobodywill be lost. There's one important caveat to this, though. Therecan't be a “main” DC Universe. To do that, to make one universeany more valid over another, would ruin the model's validity.

It's risky, but therisk can be lessened somewhat, especially with lesser-known writersand less mainstream concepts. Want to introduce Earth 1852, whereeveryone's a cowboy (and, duh, it's the year 1852)? Give the writeran Elseworld's run as a pilot for his or her DCU. (Ashamed to admitthis, but “The Belfry” was a bit of fanfiction I penned but neverrevisited. Yes, when I say “everyone” I mean Batman. Although, Iguess I could have written “The Fastest Hands in the West” aboutThe Flash).

Start out withthree universes. Let's say Geoff Johns, Gail Simone, and Kevin Smith.Then introduce an Elseworlds arc by Neil Gaiman, or by Ulises Farinas, orby Joss Whedon. If that sells well, add that guy to the roster ofuniverses.

You would riskalienating those fans out there who like the continuity-heavy BIGSUMMER EVENTS that retcon everything. I say fuck 'em. They'realienating the rest of us. Plus, it's not like they're alreadyalienated by the reboot. DC has nothing to lose by following up thereboot with this.

All this is kind ofa long way of saying HIRE THIS GUY. For an Elseworlds, at least.

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Discovery of the Day

2011-06-30T17:30:00.003-04:00

Today I found GoodReads has a n app for Android phones. Excellent. ~~Now maybe I'll use it more. Now if only my Blogger app hadn't spazzed out at me, I'd be perfectly happy socializing from my phone. I'm back to emailing in my updates for now.~~

[UPDATE: It looks like the most recent update fixed my problem. Old posts were posting every ten minutes.]

Oh. And if I had Google+. Seriously, who does a guy have to kill to get an invite? Mark Zuckerberg? (Totally joking there, everyone...)

The Pitch

2011-06-24T17:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah, you read that right. Episode 4 traveled to the future, to be posted now.

Also, correcting the numbering system for these, finally.

Anyways, recently read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, and I got some good ideas on how to work on screenplays. Highly recommended. I figured now, with the knowledge the book gave me, was the time to draft up a onesheet for the American show. This is all backburner dream project stuff, but I'm still letting Cold Irons settle before tackling rewrites there. So why not go wild? It's a shot in the dark, but it's fun and exercises my imagination (which is important! I should always be working on some project or other!).

The elevator pitch? "The universe is vast and infinite, and when something goes wrong, it needs The Doctor to heal its wounds, and cure the cancers that plague it."

The onesheet is the show explained on one sheet of paper. It's an extended version of the elevator pitch. And it's after the jump.

“He’s like fire and ice and rage. He’s like the night, and the storm at the heart of the sun... He’s ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe... And he’s wonderful."- Doctor Who: Family of Blood (2007)

Doctor Who is an hour-long science fiction drama for the whole family. Ideally, it would air new episodes on Friday nights, with next-day reruns at noon on Saturdays. The show would appeal to most demographics, and the next-day rerun would attract the children demographic once morning cartoons end.

The Doctor is a runaway alien from a planet of time travelers. With a crew of human companions the audience can relate to, the Doctor travels through time and space in his blue box, called the TARDIS. This hook allows Doctor Who to be a completely different show every week. Within the same season, the Doctor can meet Benjamin Franklin in 1760s Pennsylvania, cure an alien plague in modern day New York City, or witness the fall of the Sixteenth Republic in 2540s Nouveau Lyons.

Even with the shifting settings and genres, the heart of the show will be the Doctor and his companions. The audience will identify with the Doctor's companions as they interact with his alien and frustrating worldview. They will form the continuity that audiences will crave.

Nevertheless, the same cast will not stick around forever, and Doctor Who has built-in chances to change the cast. Companions can come and go. But you can't have Doctor Who without the Doctor. The Doctor's race, the Time Lords, have a curious ability. When near death, they unleash a massive amount of energy that regenerates every cell in the body, giving the Doctor a whole new body, conveniently played by a new actor. Though each actor will have his own personal foibles, the Doctor will essentially be the same person.

This isn't the 1996 movie. The show will borrow from its British original's deep mythos, but we'll only use the good bits, and put an American spin on them. The show will be accessible to children, parents, genre fans, and fans of the original.

Part alien invasion, part mystery, and part fairy tale, Doctor Who is a British icon that has been on television for over 40 years. With the proper man at the helm, an American version would achieve the same success.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Photo from Lou Tamposi's Flickr account.

Done

2011-06-21T17:50:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend I finished the first draft of Cold Irons on schedule. In a month I will begin editing it, adding more character moments. It is challenging for non-Sam characters to be fully realized, but not impossible. I'll examine the three other protagonists today.

First is Nemo. Originally I had him pegged as a Percy, but that's an awful name for a wizard. So he's Nemo. Or "No Man." Like an early excerpt I posted suggested, names in the Hub are important. He's a wizard on the run. He frequently poses as a homeless man to keep unknown enemies off him. He needs to learn to trust his friends more. In the Hub, by the way, wizards are human. Magic is knowledge.

Next up is Rani. The female. She's also a Muslim, and I look forward to expanding on her spiritual beliefs. She wears a hijab, but for her it's because she can choose to. She's also a toxicologist at the hospital where the baby was stolen from. So that's how she's included in the case. She also is intrigued by the allergies of werewolves and the Fae, and wants to cure them. She's not really a warrior, but she's bad-ass with chemicals.

Finally, Finn MacCool. He's a leprechaun who lives in Southie. He runs guns and a pub. He has a boyfriend he tries to keep out of Hub business. He provides Sam with specialty bullets for Fae and werewolves. I also draw some parallels between the Struggles and the Seely War Finn ran from.

Leprechauns are kind of pygmy elves. The Fae are basically elves, and the various tribes of elves with various powers make up the different Fae. The ruling class are the Blessed, or the Seely. The rest of the Fae are Unseely, or not-blessed. A rebellious Unseely Queen is leading a revolution. Finn has elected to stay out of it, though he fought for the ruling Seely Court in the beginning.

Another Crack at... Green Lantern

2011-06-19T12:54:00.000-04:00

So I heard it was awful. Like, really bad. Even MovieBob was uncharacteristically venomous towards it. So where does non-Batman DC go from here?

Well, my suggestion would be to retire the Green Lantern property for now. Go make something safe, like a Flash movie or a Wonder Woman movie. Flash is simple. He runs fast. Effects? Bullet time. Costume? Use the goddamned comics costume. Look to X-Men: The First Class to make it work.

But then, are GL fans denied a movie for them? How do you revamp Green Lantern and rescue the brand from the awfulness here?

Well, the best thing to do would be to retire Hal Jordan. Sorry, Hal's Emerald Attack Team, but this movie is why Hal doesn't have nice things. I'm not saying that you can't have a movie about a conservative military test pilot who finds a magic ring and fights crime with it. I'm saying that the nerdy leading men looking to be in superhero movies aren't cut out to look like conservative military test pilots.

Face it, guys. Kyle's a much better character for introducing the Green Lantern to the world at large. You can picture Ryan Reynolds as Kyle. I still can't picture him as Hal. Kyle's literally this guy who, kneeling drunk in an alley puking his brains out, is approached by an ancient alien, the last survivor of his race, who goes, "Hey, you! You're a human, right? You're the last hope for the galaxy. Take this!"

That's funny. Reynolds could sink his comedic chops right into that situation. Unfortunately, Reynolds as the Rayner Green Lantern is out, too, since he has the stink of failure around him in GL movies.

One story arc that was critically acclaimed when it came out in the 70s was the Green Lantern/Green Arrow series, where the conservative Hal Jordan teamed up with the hippy Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), and together they hit the road, fighting crime and righting wrongs. And, just maybe, learning a little something about each other along the way. But I wouldn't recommend doing exactly that. For one, Hal's character still has the stink of this movie all over him. And for another, way to introduce the Green Arrow in someone else's movie. What, you don't think the Robin Hood for our times is strong enough to carry his own movie? (Well, I don't...) So... let's take that concept, and subtract out both Jordan and Queen. Who are we left with?
Like I said, Kyle Rayner is the perfect Green Lantern for the movies (my favorite is Alan Scott, so back off, HEAT!). So, obviously he'd be in on this road trip. Ideally we'd be able to use Ryan Reynolds, but that ship has sailed. Rayner's half-Mexican, so I'd look towards Latin Americans working in Hollywood. He'd be taking up Green Arrow's ideologies, though. Who will take up Hal's cross?

That brings me to Guy Gardner, the jingoistic red-blooded American who sometimes helps out Hal. He'd be perfect, played by Josh Holloway or some other actor with a nice Southern accent.

They'd be a perfect clash of personalities. And, well, awesome topical point: immigration. That's it. It's a buddy space cop movie. Guy Gardner. Kyle Rayner. Traveling the universe, fighting crime and righting wrongs. It would be in media res, because I don't think the moviegoing public would take another stab at the GL origin story. How Guy and Kyle joined the Corps would be told via flashbacks and via the characters talking, getting to know each other.

I'm not sure how to introduce Kyle to the Corps. Maybe, instead of Hal Jordan going crazy and killing everyone, the old model lantern rings began dying out. The Oans made new rings, but old Green Lanterns can't wear them.

The villain is almost an afterthought here, I know. But with the conflict between Guy and Kyle, do we really need Sinestro or Parallax and Ion or whatever?

Green Lanterns. 2015. Let's ignore Green Lantern and move on.

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CorSec: The Series

2011-06-17T07:51:00.000-04:00

Alyssa Rosenberg has some interesting ideas about how to make a Star Wars television show.

The thing the Star Wars extended universe has done quite well at is filling in the world around the Skywalker family and the people who have married or been adopted into it. Lucas, particularly in the prequels, is rotten at this. He’ll seize on an idea, be it crabby, potentially racist frog-people; slug-like gangsters who haven’t been couped for no particularly discernable reason other than who wants to be the biggest crimelord in a backwater; or feral teddybears and run with it. He’s got a sentimental streak a mile wide and absolutely no sense of how institutions work. For Lucas, politics actually do happen in the Republic’s Senate chamber, and mercenaries ultimately come around to the nobility of democracy promotion.

Rosenberg critiques the focus on the power struggles between the Empire and the crime syndicates of Coruscant. I agree. Xizor is a pretty boring villain, especially when competing with Vader for the Emperor's favor. Besides, we all know how that goes. It comes to a head during the civil war, where a brash, cocky Han Solo knockoff blows up Xizor's space station.

What intrigues me is that Rosenberg has her own totally awesome idea for a Star Wars television show!

Basically, her show would follow the Empire's expanding influence on Corellia, or The Mean Streets Planet. Specifically, it would focus on CorSec, the law-enforcement agency. It would be The Wire in space! Not just in space! Star Wars space! And the overarching theme would be the way the Empire slowly and insidiously creeps in and takes over the planet.

I want that show. I want that show so hard.

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Writing Update

2011-06-17T07:36:00.001-04:00

I wrote a Modern Pulp review for Fantastic Pulp. It's about Jon Merz's The Kensei. As for my own pet novel?

Doing well! I'm almost done with the first draft of Cold Irons. However, it's probably a little short at 50K. My second draft will probably be longer, but I'm not looking for more than 60K. This is a paperback thriller, not an epic fantasy hardcover.

Draft 1 will be complete by the end of the weekend, come hell or highwater.

Also, baby-steps. I'm feeling more confident. I can string 50,000 words together. Next time I can string even more.

Learned a little about planning the novel while writing Cold Irons. I should be able to plan another project more efficiently. 1000 words on my lunch break was a good target... except for some days when I just didn't write. There are some goose-eggs on my wordcount spreadsheet. Also difficult was the whopping 3000 goal for the weekends. My weekends are busy! I caught up, though. Mostly because I gave myself some lee-way by padding the deadline with days I didn't strictly need, but ended up eating into.

I think what would be more manageable is 1000 words for Monday-Thursday, 500 words for Friday, and 1500 words on the weekend. It's 2000 words less per week than Cold Irons, but it won't drive me slowly insane. Writing is a job. It doesn't pay, yet, but if I want it to be my job, I need to treat it like a job. Hence the schedules, the spreadsheets, and the complete and utter lack of anything romantic about my writing time. Thanks, Chuck Wendig!

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Day of Infamy

2011-06-16T20:03:00.000-04:00

Yes, I'm drawing from this well again.

Alright. So, I've gone through a couple seasons on this blog already. Season 1 ends with the revelation that I'm not going crazy with adaptation deviation, and the Doctor is, in fact, a Time Lord from Gallifrey. A second season would feature Gallifrey as a recurring villain, personified in particular by the Master who hasn't gone rogue yet.

One of the things Moffat handles better than Davies is intertwining a seasonal arc throughout the show. You may laugh at the Crack appearing in every episode, and all the repeated mentions that Silents Will Fall. But the timey-wimeyness of Moffat's arcs actually works better diffusing them across the show. And they're more than words that show up time and again. Yes, Bad Wolf made some sort of sense (not much, but some. Put the Doc on alert). But the repeated insistence on Torchwood was daft. There was no reason for the Doc and Rose to keep running across the word Torchwood, especially in The Impossible Planet two-parter. Again, Mr. Saxon was better, but the election nonsense was shoe-horned in.

Which brings me to my first seasonal arc idea.

Hawaii. The perfect spot for some rest and relocation. 1951, a peaceful year for the island. One small misstep, though. It's 1941, not '51. And Christmas wreathes are up.

Oops.

The Doctor discovers, amid the backdrop of Pearl Harbor, a rather alien situation has popped up. A fighter jet has crash landed on the island, and the TARDIS pings. The old girl recognizes a fellow TARDIS!

Turns out, the attack on Pearl Harbor was just a feint. The Sontarans used the attack to cover up their own mission: disable a TARDIS and capture it. The Gallifreyans have begun supplying TARDIS coral to the Rutans in their continued war with Sontar.

The Sontarans succeed in capturing the TARDIS, but not its pilot. The War Chief escapes, only to be captured by military personnel.

The eternal war between the Sontarans and the Rutans just gained another dimension. A new battle front. It's literal eternal war as the two sides jump back and forth through time and space to fight each other.

This has obvious benefits for the season. It places a backdrop of war over every episode as the first Great Time War spreads and sprawls across the wheres and whens of the universe. In addition, the Rutan's shapeshifting powers would be useful in creating Enemy Within (no, not the godawful movie) storylines anchored to 21st century Earth. Which American politician is a secret ~~Muslim~~ Rutan? It would provide an exciting backdrop to tie the season together thematically.

Also, examine the Americanocity of the plot. A temporal superpower is supplying arms to a lesser planet. This is seen as bad at worst and foolish at best. It would be almost too easy to tie the rest of the season up in martial themes that inform younger audiences about war, while forcing older audiences to ask questions about the nature of a war that keeps going.

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Chandler's Law

2011-06-14T17:10:00.001-04:00

Writer's block sucks. It sucks so bad. You want to write, but you've lost complete control of your narrative train. It has jumped the rails and is crashing full steam ahead into a school bus driven by nuns.

It's their first field trip to the zoo.

You're staring at a blank page and you don't know what's going to happen next.

So, what does one do? Raymond Chandler has your cure. Sit down at your computer, notebook, or typewriter if you're old-school. Flex those fingers. And type in the following words.

"And then a man with a gun burst through the door."

This sentence is a powerful cure-all. A man is pointing a gun at your protagonist. It quickly dominates the scene. And I'm not in the Harlequin demographic but I imagine it works there too. Writing a feel-good story set in Jane Austen land? A children's novel about a plucky Scottish Muffle mistaken for a wizard? Go ahead!

Stephen King prefers explosions. Michael Scott likes to spice up his improv with it (I know it's awful improv for the same reason it's Draino for the afflicted writer). The main point is to introduce a new immediate threat.

It serves two purposes. In the short term, you can wring a thousand words out of getting your hero out of peril. A man is pointing a gun at him! That gets you out of your slump.

In the long term, you get to decide where the new threat came from. Is it a new player in your plot? Is someone the character knows making a play? I had the character in the room when I pulled a gun. And now I can't imagine Cold Irons, no, the Hub setting, without the Revenant.

Writers block is for chumps, fearless readers who write.

The Art of the Ass-pull

2011-06-13T18:49:00.001-04:00

Today, I read an interesting post on Cockeyed Caravan (HT to Cassandra Mortmain via Google Reader). I'll link to it at home since I've misplaced my Paste function. Anyways, to wit: when stuck, the non-serialized writer can go back in his draft to foreshadow something, making the reader feel clever to spot the foreshadowing.
This is basically being adept at the art of the ass-pull. Now, as CC notes, Doctor Who is not very adept at this. Stephen King notes in On Writing that you can make your second draft tighter by spotting opportunities to add symbolism and foreshadowing. It was only in the editing process that King noticed that Carrie's traumatic moments all involved blood.
I'm going to be checking Cold Irons for ass-pulls, definitely. I intend to run a tight ship. While a loose feel for the plot can make for an excellent first draft, and while foreshadowing can improve ass-pulls,you have to integrate it before the last draft. Or else you end up with Doctor Who: The End of Time. Yecch.
That two-part special really is a good example or what I mean You have Wilf's service revolver, the Lady in White, and of course the sound of drums. Also the biggest bit of foreshadowing, "He will knock four times."

All of this was foreshadowing. None of it really integrated with the plot well. A random tourist in Planet of the Dead existed just to pass along a prophecy, the lowest form of foreshadowing. The Ood was a little better as an omen, but could have been used better in precious appearances. Instead, he was thrown in on top of Foreign Prophetess's warning.

I mean conclusion, work at drafting, and your Ass-pull Ft will grow, Grasshopper.

Tomorrow I'll discuss my favorite writer's block cure. And no, it's not Twitter.

Nintendo announces Wii U at E3

2011-06-07T19:53:00.000-04:00

So, Nintendo announced its new console today. The Wii U, which is only slightly better than Project Cafe. Maybe part of the marketing will be college sweatshirts that say Wii U on them?

From what I can tell, it's an X-Box 360 with an iPad controller. It's backwards compatible with Wii software AND Wii hardware (i.e. the Wiimotes). When someone else wants the TV, play can move to and continue on your controller's touchscreen. It has a front-facing camera for video chatting. And it squirts out the ambrosia of the gods for us mere mortals to drink.

Of note to me is that there are dual joysticks (a first! No, the Gamecube's C-Stick doesn't count), a D-Pad, ABXY buttons, shoulder buttons, shoulder triggers. Everything the modern controller needs.

Also good is that people can play Wii on it. Non-gamers who got a Wii won't be happy about making the upgrade, but that might sooth the wound a little.

Hm. I wonder how playing entirely on the controller would work with games that utilize both the controller's screen and the television. The Zelda Wii U game appears to use the controller as an inventory screen, a la Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.

Speaking of FFCC, one of the problems I found with that was getting the controllers together. You had to pay for four Gameboy links, instead of the four controllers you used for every other multiplayer game. Then, if you didn't have friends with Gameboy Advances, you had to scrounge up some yourself. Lucky me my brother wasn't using his, so I could play with another person, but I've never experienced the game with four people trawling dungeons.

So, for the Wii U every controller is an iPad. Or a cheap knockoff of an iPad. Either Nintendo cuts corners to get each controller to sell for $40, or Nintendo starts selling $100 controllers. At least. Will be interesting to see the pricing of the controllers, and then how functional they are. And how long they hold a charge. I have some faith in Nintendo, since they made the Wii affordable with the new motion control technology, but they backed down from WiiMotion Plus level tech, only to add it later for another $20 per controller.

Yeesh. I'm sure they've figured it out. It looks promising. I'd keep an eye on the pricing, though.

Have something to say? Please comment!

Both images from Nintendo's Wii U website.

Writing update: 35K written. 6.3K behind. But the last piece of the plot fell into place, and I know I can round out the plot with an action-packed finale. Going to do some extra writing for the next two weeks in the evening, and meet my deadline of 50K or the end of the novel by June 19.

Bradley Cooper is a Shrike Pilgrim

2011-05-30T22:48:00.000-04:00

Is there a name for Hyperion fans? Or is it too obscure? I'm gonna go with my gut on this one and keep "Shrike Pilgrim."

WOW. Just wow. According to io9, Bradley Cooper, of Hangover fame, wants to adapt Dan Simmons's space opera epic for the big screen. And it's one of his favorite sci fi novels. He is now my favorite Hollywood nerd.

We all know I'm also a huge Hyperon fan Shrike Pilgrim. And of course this picture is going to be made, and won't be rejected for being too ambitious like Del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness project.

The first movie would be Space Canterbury Tales, so it will be interesting to see how they manage to make the movie without skimping on any of the pilgrims' tales.

Fantasy casting ahoy!

... Now that I'm thinking about it, Cooper has the look for the Keats cybrid. I guess.

I really like Richard Schiff for Sol Weintraub. Always have.

The Consul should be an aged, distinguished action star. I'm thinking Liam Neeson, but then again, I keep forgetting that he's half Space Hawaiian. Perhaps George Takei would be a bolder choice, and you can't tell me he doesn't look like a diplomat and hero.

Naturally, because I know no Bollywood actors, and not alot of Middle Eastern Hollywood actors, Naveen Andrews should play Col. Kassad.

Brawne Lamia is difficult. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any actress to pull off "short, strong, beautiful hardboiled detective." Kristen Bell?

Any Asian actor can be Het Masteen. I've read the series twice, and he's still a cypher to me.

Paul Dure could be either Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen. Michael Caine would also be good. Lenar Hoyt should be someone who can do pained, weak, bookish. Possibly Brad Whitford.

I really love the idea of Billy Crystal as the foul-mouthed satyric poet Martin Silenus. I really do. Also good, if just to get the feel of the swearing right? Denis Leary.

Dame Judy Dench is the only person I can think of to play Hegemony CEO Meina Gladstone. However, Meryl Streep is probably also a decent star choice.

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Flash Fiction: An Unexpected Guest

2011-05-30T09:52:00.000-04:00

This story was written for Chuck Wendig's weekly Terrible Minds Flash Fiction challenge. This week's challenge is to write 1000 words on "an unexpected guest. Interpret that as you see fit."

I have to admit, my first thought was of the Devil. Then I thought of Jesus, Elvis, JFK, an alien, and a ghost or banshee. In that order. But I thought all those things might be too cliche.

Story after the jump.

She is beautiful. She stands in my doorway wearing a purple robe tied off with a rope. He hair is curly and brown. Her nose is aquiline. I never knew how a nose could look like an eagle and be beautiful until this moment. Her eyes are a deep, old brown.

I do what any single twenty-something would do. I invite her in. She hasn't said a word yet. “I'm Kyle,” I whisper. My voice had left me.

She nods. “My name is Minerva.”

I try the name on. “Minerva.” I don't like the name. Whatever, though, right? Hot girl in the room. Be cool. “Your friends call you Minnie?”

She smiles. “I do not have friends. Not as you know them.”

“That's sad. So, um. What brings you to my door?”

“I have been looking for you.”

“Me?” Yes yes yes yes yes.

“You or someone like you. Come, Kyle. We have much to do tonight.”

… Oh god yes.

She opens my door right back up and walks out into the night. I guess I'm supposed to follow her. I do. She leads me out of my apartment building, and into the street. We walk for who knows how long. I try to stop Minnie when she turns and begins walking up a highway ramp. I can't get close enough to grab her, though. She's too fast.

So we're walking along the highway now. A car barrels past us, a blur of silver and moonlight in the dark night. Minnie looks both ways, and crosses the highway. I chuckle despite myself, and follow her.

We walk into the median strip, a small grove of trees. I try to keep up, but it's difficult. I think I'm lost.

I see a woman sitting on a rock in the middle of this median strip. She's not my Minnie. I walk up to her, and see she's wearing a leathery sports bra... thing. And other bits of leather armor. She looks strong, and black inky hair pours down to her shoulders. Seeing me, she pulls her hair back into a no-nonsense ponytail.

“Hello,” she says. “My name's Diana. And what are you doing in my forest?”

“I was, um. I mean. Uh. I was following Minnie?”

Diana's mouth curls into a predator's smile. “Ah. A guest of Minerva's. I was not expecting her to bring you tonight.”

“Wait, what do you mean, your forest? This isn't a forest.”

She pauses, cocks her head to listen to the night. I realize that I can't hear any cars at all. I haven't heard so much as the occasional roar of an engine since I had entered the trees. Diana barks out a full-throated laugh. I chuckle despite myself. I have a paper I need to get back to. Minnie came into the clearing.

“Minnie.” Diana almost laughs at my nickname for the other woman. “How nice of you to drop in. And with a guest.”

Minnie smiles. “I'm sorry, Diana. I thought I'd lost him.” She talks like I'm a set of keys and she misplaced me.

“Shall we?” asked Diana.

“We shall.”

They strip, and they're as beautiful naked as they are with clothes on. Their skin gleams white in the moonlight. They approach me. They push me to the ground, and stand there laughing. A third figure hobbles out of the woods. She's old. She totters over to me.

“Starting without me, hm?” the new figure croaks.

“And what are our names tonight, children?” asks the hag.

“Minerva.” Minnie chuckles. “Or Minnie, if you prefer.”

“Diana.” Diana giggles. “Deedee.” Both women laughed.

The old woman smiles, and I see sharp teeth. “Then I suppose you've left me the name Hecate.”

“Kate!” crows Minnie. Her and Diana cackle in the night.

The old woman chuckles. “Kate, Minnie, and Deedee, out for a stroll.”

They smile, showing toothy sharp grins. I sit there, some human sacrifice for ancient goddesses.

I scream.

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Update!

2011-05-30T09:05:00.000-04:00

I've been such an asshole recently. Used a faulty power cord as an excuse not to blog alot. Saving my battery, you know? I'm also 5700 words behind where I should be on Cold Irons, but I'm fixing that today. Hoping to get under 5K today, then it's double duty until I catch up.

Also, I found a new power cord for $25.

I might toss up a couple urban fantasy mini-reviews in the coming weeks. Micro reviews? Moon Called by Patricia Briggs might be worth your time. Nightlife by Rob Thurman isn't. I'll try to work out why Briggs worked for me in more detail later.

Finally got my grubby little paws on a copy of The Kensei so I can start my FP reviews back up in June. I've read The Kensei before, and have an ebook copy, but I have no idea if there are differences between the 2008 ebook and the 2011 book. Seems like a do-over, at least.

Expect more action here in the coming weeks. I got a fresh new idea for Doctor Who U.S., I'll be writing some flash fictions for this space, and probably going to throw up some more Hub of the Universe worldbuilding.

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Mundane, Everyday Drama

2011-05-09T17:13:00.001-04:00

Not alot of time to post today, dammit. Behind on my reading.

A quick observation: fantasy needs reality. Good fantasy, like The Kingkiller Chronicle, has a dash of the everyday to contrast with the fantastic. The easiest way to inject some needed drama is to make your hero poor, like Rothfuss did in Name of the Wind. It also makes an interesting choice when he has to choose between money and the right thing.

I'm doing just that in Cold Irons, although Sam is less poor and more a small business owner (his PI business) in the city. I'm also making the Muggle aspects of the world as important as the supernatural elements.

Status!

2011-05-07T17:12:00.000-04:00

Cold Irons is coming together nicely. At 8100 words, and on track to hit 8500 by the end of the weekend. My target wordcount per week is 8000 words, so I already hit that.

Writing is not my job. My job is my job. I budget 1000 words per workday. On Wednesday, I didn't have a lunch hour, but I made my wordcount that night. The plan is to have 50,000 words written by June 19th. The book might be finished before then, and hopefully above 50,000 words so it's a novel, but come hell, high water, or an over-inflated wordcount, I'm shelving a completed first draft by the end of June 19th.

Finished editing "Big Bad Wolf" this week, and submitted it to Spinetingler last night. Good thing I didn't wait on that, since they closed their site to submissions this morning. YEESH.

Beginning edits on "Father's Letter" this week. "On the Origin of Species," or possibly "Point of Origin," will be ready to begin editing on Wednesday. I might re-edit "American Werewolves in Saigon" for submissions again. It's hard to find horror mags that don't have a blanket "NO WEREWOLVES DAMMIT" sign posted out front.

In blood.

Still waiting for Jon Merz's The Kensei from the library. Once I read it, I'll review it for Fantastic Pulp, because what the hell, I'm not writing nearly enough.

Selling Tip of the Week (via The Book Doctors' book, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published): looking for an agent or editor with a proven track record? Try checking out acknowledgements in books from your genre. This sounds like a "Duh!" when you think about it, but I never really thought about it. That's probably why the Book Docs get the big bucks. Think about it: editors and agents thanked in books have an actual track record (that you're holding in your hands!), and an author liked them well enough to give them a free reference in the Acknowledgements section!

Don't go for editors or agents with projects too close to your own. For example, despite the fact that one editor has edited three separate series of urban fantasy novels that I've come across, one of them is a mystery set in Boston, and involving fairies. It's just a broad strokes similarity, I'm sure, but damn. Can't believe it.

Looking forward to reading Unshapely Things by Mark DelFranco, though! It sounds like something I'd be into! You know... since I'm writing a book about a mystery in Boston and involving fairies.

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Weekly Plug

2011-05-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

Just decided to do this today, so, kind of slim pickings for something to plug.

Alyssa Rosenberg has a piece at Yglesias's joint about Kings, which I really loved when it was on. The thing was one part Bible, two parts Shakespeare, and, well, acting all over the damned place (good: Ian MacShane, Susanna Thompson, Sebastian Stan, Dylan Baker, and of course, Brian Cox stealing the show; bad: Christopher Egan, Allison Miller, the romantic leads). I definitely recommend watching the show. It's so awesome. Rosenberg argues that it was a policy wonk's drama.

Kings is not an unambiguously progressive show. The conflict between Gilboa (where the main characters live) and Gath that is the main frame for the events of the show is ancient, intractable. It’s clearly being kept going by the interests of warmongering financier William Cross, who declares at one point “war is just the fuel of progress. Nothing gets made in peace except art,” and Gen. Linus Abner who tells King Silas “I am a warrior. You took my war,” an ancient lament in a modern uniform. But Silas makes peace not out of any theory of when conflict is just, but with attention mostly to short-term political gains, and he’s willing to sacrifice a long-term driver of the economy and the people who support it, to win those gains.

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The Name of the King by Patrick Rothfuss

2011-05-04T18:52:00.000-04:00

I'm not gonna lie to you. I have to hear very good things about an entry into the fantasy genre before I decide to invest my imagination in it. I hesitate to explain it any more than to tell you that I'm a snob for good writing. But I've heard good, if vague, things about The Kingkiller Chronicle (from Penny Arcade and one real life friend) and so decided at long last to pick up the first book, The Name of the Wind.

I'm really glad I did. From the beginning, the book is not what you expect from fantasy. There is a world-ending threat lurking in the rafters, but the book focuses on the nitty-gritty of Kvothe's day-to-day life, instead of his quest to find and slay the seriously evil dudes who killed his family. The story is Kvothe, no doubt about it. It is a literal heroic fantasy with Kvothe as the hero. The reader finds himself immersed in the world as Kvothe worries not about defeating the Chandrian, but about how he will make it to the next day despite his crushing poverty. Kvothe's struggle to make ends meet is the crux of alot of the book's action.

The magic system, i.e. the fantasy bits, are well thought out and realistic. I'm not going batty, I swear. It is no coincidence that Rothfuss's "sympathy" correlates so well with the "sympathetic magic" outlined in James George Frazer's study of magic and religion, The Golden Bough. Except for the fact that in The Kingkiller Chronicle, sympathy works, whereas in the real world, sympathetic magic is the false, bastard sister of science. I was serendipitous enough to be reading Frazer and Rothfuss together, but have since shelved Frazer for something more practical. I will return to Frazer when I can.

The world is likewise well thought out, with the mapped area of the novel covering several different civilizations.

The prose is brilliant, alternating between true literature and well deserved sarcasm. The comedy rings as true as the emotions within the story. And the novel plays with storytelling and legend in very interesting ways.

As for the plot, it's a masterful package tied up and presented to the reader. Spoilers ahoy, after the cut.

The climax at the end of the book, where our hero finally slays the dragon, or demon, or whatever the legends say, is tightly packaged for the observant reader. Economic concerns drive Kvothe's mysterious female friend Denna to the climax, much as they drive Kvothe through much of the book. The draccus finally makes its appearance, the "real" creature legends of the dragon are based on in Kvothe's world. The draccus has been mentioned several times in the book before it appears, most notably as the subject of a book busting the myth of the dragon. And the draccus is hopped up on resin, the fantasy drug that has been mentioned several times in the book, which turns the draccus more hostile.

Kvothe defeats the draccus using the sympathetic skills he has learned through the book, and the draccus's defeat alludes to the tale of that world's God Turned Man, named Tehlu. It is an entirely fantastical messianic allusion. The only bit not tied up so completely was the title of the book. Kvothe learns the name of the wind (allowing him to control the element) only after the climactic battle.

I've tried hard to turn my critical eye towards finding one thing wrong with the book, but I can't think of a single miss.

I'm looking forward to reading The Wise Man's Fear, book two of the trilogy. I recommend this series.

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A Faerie Tale

2011-05-02T17:41:00.000-04:00

A Faerie Tale was one of the working titles of Cold Irons before I settled on this one. Also in consideration was A Mid-Summer's Knight, but both those were rejected by close friends.

So, it's obviously a story that involves the Faerie, which means I need to put a good spin on them to differentiate them from other depictions of faeries in urban fantasy. And there are alot of faeries in urban fantasy.

These snippets won't appear exactly in the books. I'm not even sure they'll appear in the first draft as-is. I may just write them again from scratch. So, take that as you will.

"That's a gremlin, Sam. What have you gotten yourself into?" asked Percy. He was pointing at the unconscious monkey thing.

"I don't know. It's been tailing me since I left the hospital." I took another look. "A gremlin? Is that the technical term?"

"Type of faerie. Crazy bastards seem to like human technology."

"A faerie. Hmph. Rana said it could be faeries."

"I'd listen to her, Sam."

"Faeries. Really?"

"Really. They live in another dimension. Like... within the leylines. It's sort of like... hyperspace? I think that's what your scientists call it."

"My scientists? They're your scientists, too, Perce. So, not faeries. Hyperspace aliens."

"Yeah. Aliens. Sure. More like Lovecraft than Star Trek. Ancient beings that are completely unlike anything human. I'll have to talk to the gremlin, figure out who sent it. Sam, you want to tread careful here."

"I'm always careful."

"Sam Serrano." My name cut through me like a knife. It was exactly how I'd say it myself, with every accent. The tone was commanding. It sounded like a sweet song, and I couldn't help but listen. I'd traded my name to Percy for information years ago. He didn't pull out my true name very often, but it still stung every time he did. I got the short end of the bargain. Didn't know him well back then.

"Sam Serrano. Attend carefully." A small, distant part of my brain realized that I didn't know Percy's name at all. "The Faerie are tricksters. You may joke about faeries not being real, but do not underestimate your hyperspace aliens. They do not lie. They have no concept for it. They find the truth more fun to twist and warp. They will try to curry favor with you. Do not accept a gift freely from them."

I nodded, under Percy's spell. "They will see it as you putting yourself in their debt. And if your investigation brings you to the notice of Queen Titania, shut it down. Return the money. Walk back to your office, and have a nice drink."

"Queen Titania?" I could only ask questions to clarify what he said. Percy's warnings were the most interesting things I had ever heard.

"Yeah. The leader of the Faerie took her name from Shakespeare's play. She liked the character. And she's not the only one who really likes the Bard. Titania is the Queen of the Blessed Court. She is the most dangerous and cunning of the Faerie because she's conned her way to the top, currying favors to maintain allegiances. I'm serious, Sam Serrano." Another chill went down my spine in the twilight. "Do not cross her."

"Yes sir." I nodded. The spell was broken; Percy's warnings were finished. "Call my cell if you find out anything from the gremlin."

"Right."

"And don't feed it after midnight."

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Status!

2011-04-29T17:23:00.000-04:00

Reading

Currently making good progress on Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Pleased with the book, and ready to launch into my novel come Monday (I may have mentioned this once or twice).

I'm loving The Kingkiller Chronicles. Probably about two-thirds of my way through it, and I'm drinking the prose. My friends, it's glorious. I'm reminded most of L'Amour's The Walking Drum, but this may be because both feature scholar heroes and focus more on getting by than on fighting.

RECOMMENDED.

Writing

Finished "On the Origin of Species" this week. I'm letting it breathe before I take my editing scalpel to it.

Actually started editing "Big Bad Wolf" again this week. I emailed it to friends and family as a Halloween story in, oh, 2009(?), but never sold it. Going to shop it around to a couple lit mags and webzines. I think it's a good one. If I can't find a market, I'll look into self-publishing.

This year's Halloween story goes under the knife Monday night. "Father's Letter" is ripe.

I feel like there's something else, but damned if I can think of it. Lousy writer's brain.

Nope, nothing. I found and checked my checklist.

I am cooking.

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The Hub of the Universe

2011-04-27T20:23:00.000-04:00

I'm proud to present my latest project. I'm beginning the actual writing next week, and plan to pound out a 50,000 word novel by June 19. We'll see how well I do deadlines.

The novel is Cold Irons, and it will be the first novel in what I hope to be a series. In short, the premise is The Dresden Files on the streets of Boston. Sam Spade takes on faeries, vampires, and all sorts of creatures of the night.

Sam Serrano worked the mean streets of Boston long before he knew it was the supernatural hub. Now he's a private eye armed with only his wits and his gun going up against the corrupt, the powerful, and the unworldly. Sam stares down vampires, tracks werewolves, and tells djinn to buzz off. His base of operations is still the city he calls his home, the Hub of the Universe.

In Cold Irons, when a wealthy lawyer comes to Sam's office with a story of baby-swapping and scandal, all Sam sees are dollar signs. But the deeper he digs into this case, the weirder it gets. And before long, Sam has to ask himself one question: does he believe in faeries?

If you're interested, please join me after the jump for more about the Hub setting.
I lit my cigarette and offered Percy my lighter. He shook me off and snapped his fingers. The end of the cig sparked, and Percy drew a long drag. Show off.

I'd asked him how he did that once. He grinned like I'd asked him about his baby boy. "Sam, my boy, I'm glad you asked."

I stifled a groan.

"You see, it's all about belief. I believe I can do it, and it happens. Similarity. I snap my fingers like they're flint and steel. I direct the spark to the cigarette."

"So, can I do that?"

"Only if you believe you can."

I tried to spark his jacket. No luck.

That was a long time ago. When I'd first met this sorcerer. Percy blew a ring of smoke out into the chilly Boston night. "Well, that's a tricky one. What neighborhood's this shyster from?"

"Beacon Hill."

"Near the Commons?" His face twitched down, and I could see his thoughtful face lit by the streetlight.

"Yeah, near enough I guess."

"Remember when I explained about leylines?"

"Yeah, yeah. Boston's sitting on a nexus of a whole hell of alot of them. It helps with magic."

"Right. Boston actually has the most leylines of any city in America. It's the largest hub in the world."

"Which is why the supernatural folk call it the Hub."

"Boston Commons is at the center of that nexus."

"So... you think this has something to do with the leylines? Wizards tap into the leylines for their magic, right?"

"Yeah, for anything more extravagant than snapping my fingers."

"So... a wizard switched babies on the Spencers? Why?"

"Why is the question, Sam. You know what I say when you can't find a rational motive, right?"

"There's probably a super-rational motive." As in, a supernatural creature's idea of rational. "Any ideas?"

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Redesign

2011-04-26T21:20:00.000-04:00

I prefer this background, I think. It's less cluttered.

I've begun reading The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, and updated the site as a result. I changed the About page to a little more in-depth "About the Author" page. I updated my Current Projects page to be more complete. And I added a News page so you can find my news posts more easily (since they will be littered among the blog posts). I also finally caved and combined the News blog with this one and turned this one into my main WWW site.

That's about it for behind the scenes stuff.

Next week I begin writing Cold Irons in earnest. You can look forward to reading more about that project here in the coming months.

Also, in May, you can look for me to continue my Modern Pulp column over at Fantastic Pulp.

I'm also particularly proud of this post over at LMT, so head on over and give it a look.

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Muse

2011-04-25T18:01:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, there was a bard named Orpheus. Being a bard is like being a rock star and Orpheus was the baddest rock star in all of ancient Greece. He was happily married to a beautiful nymph named Eurydice. Eurydice was his muse. She wasn't one of THE Muses but she was his muse.

When she died, Orpheus played some of the saddest music. His mournful dirges upset his fans, until nymph and god alike told him to go to the Kingdom of the Dead to win back Eurydice. Orpheus goes to the Kingdom of the Dead with nothing but his lyre. At the entrance to the Kingdom, he finds this three-headed dog, Cerberus. Cerberus is one tough customer, but Orpheus plays a lullaby on his lyre, and puts Cerberus to sleep.

Because Orpheus defeated Cerberus, he was granted an audience with old King Hades, the God of the Dead. There, Orpheus pleaded with Hades to relent and give him back his wife. But King Hades would not relent. Everything living must die. And Orpheus played for King Hades, a mournful melody that he hoped would move the King's cold heart. Persephone, the Queen of the Dead, wept at Orpheus's song, and on seeing his wife's tears, King Hades was moved for the first time in an age.

Orpheus could lead Eurydice back to the world of the living, but he was ordered to not look back. If Orpheus looked back, and showed that he did not trust King Hades, Eurydice would be dragged back to the Kingdom of the Dead. However, Orpheus's love for his wife was so great that he looked back before his wife had left the paths of the dead. At the last minute. Hades kept his promise, and Eurydice was dragged back to where she belonged.

Orpheus was driven mad, and strode the land of Greece playing insane, frenzied ballads that angered and frustrated his fans. He could not move on. Several nymphs vied for his attention, but he would have no one but Eurydice. Frustrated with him, they killed him.

I like to think that this was a blessing. After all, he was reunited with his wife.

Let me tell you about my wonderful fiancee, first. We had a discussion this weekend about my future as a writer, and she pulled out "The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published." She doesn't want me to give up.

I love her so much.

Finally, a little note about my muse. I don't know what your muse is. Stephen King describes his muse as a crusty old man wearing a sweater and chomping a cigar. Mine is a bit more present in the physical sense. I'd love to say she's my fiancee, but she hates my preferred genres and it would just be silly to write them for her.

No, no, my muse is the general hustle and bustle of other people. I don't know. I have always appreciated hanging out with other people, drinking in the energy of the group. And it helps with my writing. I do my best work in my work's cafeteria, with a group of people just hanging out near me. I eat my sandwich and start pounding away at the keys. It works well for me.

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Proud to be an American Show

2011-04-20T19:13:00.000-04:00

Doctor Who is alot of things, but one thing it is is quintessentially British. And with our intrepid professorial hero heading to the New World for the first episode of the new season, I've begun to wonder: what would make the Doctor American?

I was watching "The Sea Devils" the other day, and what struck me immediately was the resemblance between the aquatic Silurian tribe and the Deep Ones from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." Sure, the Sea Devils are more turtly than anything else, but the neck betrays a batrachian, amphibious relation.

I was also struck by the absolute uselessness of one Ms. Jo Grant, but I'll let that go for another time.

Further reflection on "The Sea Devils," and the Silurians in general, led me into a wildly different direction.

The Doctor's most memorable villains are The Master and the Daleks. Full stop. They are the spectres of Britain's past. The Master is a demagogue, and a crazed individual who wants dominion over everything. He's Hitler. He's every despot that Britain has ever known. The Daleks are, of course, the looming spectre of fascism. I shouldn't need to expand too much on that. That's quite aside from them being a virus.

Now, I'm not saying that America lacks the shared cultural experience to be terrified of despots and fascists. Clearly, we don't lack that. However, like the difference between classic British fantasy like Tolkien and classic American fantasy like Howard, there's a crucial difference between the two cultures. Howard's tales are much more about man v. wild and man v. savages than Tolkien's tales of fantastic realpolitik among diverse countries.

That's where I'm coming from with the Silurian thing. There are two useful allegories to draw from when coming up with compelling, American villains for the Doctor. One is of course, the angry precursors. We stole our country from the natives and we share a cultural guilt from that.

Fans of the show see where I'm going with this. The Silurians are of the opinion that while they slumbered, in hibernation to survive a disaster that never came, the humans, dirty stinking apes that we are, stole the planet from them. The original British version of the Silurians draws parallels to Palestine and Israel. I would draw the parallels between how America has in the past treated natives.

The second useful allegory is America's role as the world's only superpower. Take Gallifrey, and paint it as a galactic "temporal superpower." Suddenly, the Americans are looking in the mirror, opposed by a superpower far greater than them. And well on his way to ruling this vast superpower is, of course, the Master.

The setting is 1920s Providence, Rhode Island. There are mysterious goings on in the fishing industry, and H.P. Lovecraft is looking into the matter as research for one of his stories. Yes, I like historicals, so sue me. The Doc and his companion (ideally black, to play off the racist Lovecraft and remind everyone of America's other Original Sin) team up with the stuffy bookworm to investigate. Of course there's a minor arc where The Doctor realizes that Lovecraft's friends are mostly pen pals, and his companion remarks that Lovecraft would have thrived with the internet.

The three heroes discover the Sea Devils! Now! This would ideally work as the audience's second encounter with the Silurians. I've always liked the idea of a Darwin historical, but the first encounter need not be a historical. I picture the Sea Devils having a thriving religion where they worship a god they call Dagon. Now, Dagon doesn't need to be a real physical god to plant the seed in H.P.'s head. Anyways, the Sea Devils of course have an ally, and it's not really a surprise if you've seen the original.

Yes, the Master is there. But not as a renegade Time Lord. He's here to help the "homo reptilia" reclaim their planet from the usurping humans as an official representative of Gallifrey. The only man standing in his way is the Doctor.

Also, yes, H.P.L. is the human who mucks up the inevitable attempted peace between human and Deep One. As a friend would say, "Oh the Doctor with the Silurians and the trying."

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Cooking for Lunch

2011-04-18T18:07:00.001-04:00

Made buffalo chicken wraps yesterday for lunch. Came out well!

I've been checking the RSS feeds for Eating Well and Simply Recipes lately to pick out interesting recipes to try out.

Made one small mistake, and bought a fresh fresno pepper instead of cayenne pepper. But I chopped that fine and used it anyways.

Apparently real buffalo sauces is just hot sauce and butter. This recipe just uses hot sauce. I will try to make real buffalo sauce for it next time.

Very enjoyable. Nice kick. Not too spicy for the fiancee, which is good. I recommend it if you want something filling for lunch.

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Saving money

2011-04-15T17:06:00.001-04:00

So I've been thinking about my finances lately. Paying off my student loans, a car loan, car insurance, cell phone, and saving for a wedding. I'm lucky I don't have much in the way of rent, and that I treat my credit card as an omnibus car bill (gas, oil, etc.) that I pay off every month (it also does unanticipated expenses). Nonetheless, I still just scrape by.

Started adding some money directly from my pay into my personal account, and now I just barely have enough to get by. So, moving less into savings each paycheck.

I've begun rationing out the remainder of my money. Now I go to the ATM and take out $40 each pay day for any incidentals. It's my petty cash. It will last me until my next pay day. I have three dollars left from the first pay period I tried this in.

That small amount (as well as all change from the week) goes into a jar. That jar is my going out fund (because going out would deplete my petty cash). I don't go out often, but it's reassuring to think I'm not too poor to do so. Also, new Zelda this summer? That's, like, my one "do not miss" video game series... would be nice to have it.

I dunno. I hope this works for me. I really have to roll my change soon so I know how much fun money I have.

On Evolution

2011-04-13T18:15:00.000-04:00

(N.B. Gonna try to update this blog and LMT three times a week. Wish me luck!)

Last summer I read On the Origin of Species (The Annotated Origin). If you're going to do that, go ahead and find the annotated one. It helps alot. By the end I had a pretty good grasp on how Darwin argued for evolution by natural selection, and how he tried to anticipate and argue against Intelligent Design. Poor guy had no idea that within 100 years his critics would be accusing the devil of planting Darwin's evidence.

Anyways, more recently, I read The Phenomenon of Man by Father Teilhard de Chardin. I first heard of Teilhard from the Hyperion Cantos (finally finished it again, and that was so worth fully understanding it), but assumed he was a fictional saint. Turns out he was only a saint in Dan Simmons's future Catholic Church, but Teilhard was an actual historical figure.

Phenomenon explains his philosophy pretty well, although he's very flowery. On the one hand I can see what he was going for, on the other hand, I can see how people might have thought him heretical. To wit, Teilhard believes that once evolution became aware (in humanity), then evolution turned inward. He argues that all matter in the universe has evolved to the point of humanity^* , and will evolve beyond humanity. But not physically.

The meat of his philosophy is the evolution of the noosphere. Basically, humanity is the summit of the biosphere, but alongside the biosphere, the noosphere (the sphere of the mind) has been growing. So, he posits that humanity will evolve mentally until we form one unit. Not a dreadfully boring hivemind, but a connected race where we each retain our own individual identities, but function together as a whole (like cells in a body). I love this idea, and it is one Simmons uses to great success in his Cantos.

Furthermore, and here's the heretical part. Teilhard posits that humanity will evolve towards an Omega Point that will be able to cast itself forwards and backwards through time and space, and that this Omega Point may be God. The Church saw this and understood, "He's saying humanity will become God, what blasphemy!" I speculate that Teilhard was being cute at this point. We are one with God, and so we are God. There's a little bit of God in all of us waiting to be evolved.

I'm not sure I follow Teilhard all the way to his conclusion, but I do absolutely love the idea of the noosphere, especially in the Information Age.

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* I kid you not, Teilhard argues that viruses are the missing link between organic and inorganic matter. He understands that spontaneous generation is... not a real thing, and quickly points out that he posits a time when the Earth was young and cosmic radiation helped achieve this spontaneous evolution towards organic matter.[back to text]

Like a Pizza Deliverator for the Mafia

2011-03-04T07:54:00.001-05:00

I started Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash last night. It is by far one of the most insane books I've read. The jury is still out on whether it's a good insane or bad insane. I'm enjoying it, and bad insane is, you know... Clinically (See VALIS). So we'll see.

On Spirits

2011-02-21T12:39:00.001-05:00

One of the most challenging aspects of reading The Rite by Matt Baglio is confronting the fact that it is a purportedly nonfiction book about Catholic demonology. Part of me is fascinated, but the other part of me is well-trained to be skeptical about things unseen.

Unfortunately, the part that wants to run away is attracted by the book's admission that exorcists must be the ultimate skeptics. And then I'm left confused, because apparently even after sending the troubled person to doctors, psychologists, etc., there's something "spiritually" wrong with them, and science basically got nothing.

I'm still a little skeptical of the book, considering it's propaganda to make exorcism seem less silly and backwards. But it is nonetheless interesting, considering that my life has been spiritually empty (that is, empty of spirits, not spiritually empty), to ponder the unexplainable.

Not that I'm asking for a possession, obsession, or infestation. But it is interesting. One thing Hollywood seems to get right about exorcisms is that the priest walks away with a stronger faith from facing the Enemy. And, of course, God lets possession happen, one must assume so that the possessed victim returns to the flock, and people who witness the victim grow in their faith. So even when demons win, they lose.

Except in The Exorcist, because I'm pretty sure Regan and her mother didn't return to the church, and two priests died. So... Go, Hollywood demons?

Of Exorcists

2011-02-17T09:22:00.001-05:00

Starting The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio this morning. Mostly I left Fall of Hyperion at home.

Had a thought about The Exorcist. Didn't the demon win that one? The movie seems to imply no, that Karras's selfless sacrifice saved Regan. But think about it. The demon wanted Merrin. The demon got Merrin and killed him. Karras goes to save the girl by taking the demon into himself and jumping out a window, destroying the demon's shell. You know, himself. So the demon returns to hell, where he greets Karras, who committed a sun in suicide. The possession was never about Regan. It was about the priests.

So... The demon won that one, right?

P.S. Loving the Blogger for Android app.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

2011-02-16T21:34:00.000-05:00

For a novel that's literally "The Canterbury Tales" in space, I've always had a soft spot for the Hyperion Cantos. The plot is a simple frame story designed to introduce the setting and main characters to the readers before the epic sequel The Fall of Hyperion, which I jumped right into.

I read them as a teenager, but I recommend it for adults. I have spoken about why this particular series is an inspiration to me, but here I'm reviewing the first book.

The book begins with a simple premise: seven pilgrims are on their way to the Time Tombs to visit the Shrike. As the setting becomes established, you realize what all this means. On the way, they decide to tell their stories, knowing that there is a traitor in their midst.

The Priest's Tale is interesting. Don't often see the Catholic Church in science fiction unless it's by post-break Philip K. Dick. It's an interesting tale, and not for the squeamish or easily offended Christians out there.

The Soldier's Tale is the weakest tale in the book. I read it when I was a teen, and again as an adult, and I don't know how it could be better, but each time I find myself disinterested. Perhaps it is the Colonel himself, a blatant template for Master Chief. Others might like the tale better than I do.

The Poet's Tale is a fascinating, satirical examination of the art of writing, and as a result is the first direct appearance of the series's overarching theme: the relationship between creator and creation.

"In the beginning was the Word. Then came the fucking word processor. Then came the thought processor. Then came the death of literature. And so it goes."

The Scholar's Tale is the emotional center of the novel. The college professor on "Midwest College Planet" wrestles with the creator/creation relationship with the Abrahamic God. It's a very sad tale, and I recommend at least making it this far before deciding whether or not to put the book down.

... I honestly have no idea what to think of The Captain's Tale. I remember it and the Soldier's Tale don't really make sense until the end of the series, though.

The Detective's Tale is a cyberpunk noir story. So, you know, awesome. I feel like this story is when the setting of the World Web really gels and you begin to get an idea of what exactly is at stake.

Finally, the Consul's Tale is part Romeo and Juliet, and part an attempt to tie the other tales together from the other side of the story.

All in all, it's the cornerstone of the setting, and all build up for the Fall. But it's all necessary reading, and it's engaging. Hell, I couldn't stop myself from immediately picking up Fall and reading the first few chapters as soon as I finished Hyperion.

I recommend it.

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The Darkness by Lord Byron

2011-02-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

Think I might post some poetry I read from time to time when I like it. I'm all class.

Source

I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space

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The Cheat

2011-02-14T22:04:00.000-05:00

So, reading The Hyperion Cantos is helping me consider and flesh out the setting for a detective novel I'm writing when I'm not exhausted.

So, the germ of the novel was "detective novel on Mars." It's also set around a rather historic part of what I think of as my "Generations Day" setting. That was the novel I wanted to write, but it was pretty much dead on arrival. So I moved back in the setting's history. Set it on Mars. Figure weird detectives are as in as they'll ever be. Also I really like the idea of CSI: The Future, and I've always loved pulp crime novels.

I'll get into more about the setting later, but for now, the Cheat. Every sci fi thing has at least one cheat. Hard science fiction (Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke) has few. Soft sci fi (doesn't get softer than Star Trek) has more. Mostly, the cheat connects the work. How do you have an intergalactic epic when it takes sixty years to go from point A to point B? One popular cheat is faster than light travel (Can so go faster than light!). Another is Hyperspace (It's like punching a hole in reality to find a shortcut in a straight line). Reading the Cantos reminds me how deeply I was inspired by it. Simmons uses farcasters to connect the "World Web," a group of planets linked by gates. I used a similar idea in my GD setting.

My farcasters are just called orbital gates. People in the setting book a flight, it goes into orbit, through the gate, navigates hyperspace, goes back through another gate, and falls in a descending orbit onto another planet. At the start of the novel, there are only three orbital gates. One is around Tellus (Earth), and another is around Mars. A third was recently constructed by a generational ship around a planet that would-be colonists have named Vesta.

My other cheat follows up on Hyperspace. Hyper-routers that shoot data through hyperspace and connect the worlds' internets. I do call it the hypernet because I'm a dork.

When I first drew a concept of hyperspace, it looked like a tree. So I started thinking about spirituality in the future. Trees are important in several religions, and I figured wondering what the hyperspatial tree might be would be a good theological question for some minor characters. Is Hyperspace Eden? Is the Tree Yggdrasil? (Oddly, it wasn't until my recent rereading of Hyperion that I discovered Yggdrasil in that novel as well!) I might get into the religions on the blog at a later point, mostly as I work them out in my own head.

I've been playing with the concept of gremlins in hyperspace, but I think I'll drop them. Hyperspace beasties that attack ships? It might be a little too out there.

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Seeds of the Future

2011-02-03T19:53:00.000-05:00

Sometime over the past week I got a hankering for the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. I haven't read it since I was, like, 13 or something silly. A long time ago, and even longer when I look at it numerically. Anyways, I realized why I had a hankering for it almost immediately.

Most people can point to something relatively popular as an inspiration for them in science fiction. Like Frank Herbert's Dune or Asimov's I, Robot (or the Robot Trilogy if you're awesome!). I have this somewhat obscure four-part series, or a duology of duologies. Pick whichever one makes the most sense.

Hyperion is, well, the quintessential space opera epic written by an English Professor. I'm not a theoretical physicist, but the science is more rigorous than Star Trek, which is always appreciated. But for me, what Hyperion does is explore the rest of the future. The society. The religion (Space Pope! SPACE POPE!). The politics. It's utterly fascinating, and I remembered instantly why I focus on the same things in any science fiction I try to write. My characters are rarely scientists. They understand their futuretech about as well as I understand my Droid.

The other really excellent thing about this series is that Dan Simmons is an English Professor. He has saturated the entire Cantos with more literary references than you can, ahem, shake a speare at. (I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!) For instance, the first book is completely The Canterbury Tales in space. I'm serious. You're thrown headfirst into the universe, experiencing the setting intimately through six different voices, from a Catholic priest to a satyric poet who's been around. The sequel, Fall of Hyperion does away with the Tales entirely, and the other duology (Endymion and Rise of Endymion) follows a normal person a couple centuries later.

Why yes, the person who wrote this is the same one who wrote Drood, a psychological thriller about the last few years of Dickens's life. Go English professors?

The tale I always glazed over was "The Soldier's Tale." I don't know why, but for some reason I wasn't a normal teenager. The rampant sex and death didn't appeal to me all that much. Not that Simmons is bad at his erotic scenes, but I'm never really interested in sex scenes. Today I can see that Fedmahn Kassad is probably one of a couple inspirations for Master Chief, and even he probably falls back on some older power-armor soldier archetype. Forced myself to read through it, and it makes sense if you know who Moneta is... from reading the books over a decade ago.

I'm really digging it all over again, though. I'm more knowledgeable now, and I can understand more things that I probably just rolled with before. Highly recommend it to people.

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Santa, Baby

2011-01-14T13:24:00.001-05:00

Currently reading Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bari, and Manhattan by Charles Jones. It's part of a 2011 resolution to read more challenging fare, and blog about it.

Fun Santa facts:

Saint Nicholas started out in legends as a destroyer of pagan temples and the archbishop of a port city. And he was a bad-ass. Early Nick stories feature him as a patron saint of the wrongly imprisoned, of naval commerce, and of self discipline.

Fun legends: he is known for only drinking once from each breast as a baby on Wednesdays and Fridays. His self-discipline is part of why he is revered.

Just finished reading the first legend of Nick's generosity. Before his vocation, he was the son of wealthy landowners. When a rich man in town falls on hard times, and considers selling his three daughters as prostitutes, Nick secretly throws a bag of hold through the window at night. He saves each daughter with one bag of gold to pledge as dowry.

Very interesting to learn more about one of my faith's greatest and most well-known saint.

Fringe S. 3, E. 9: Marionette

2010-12-13T21:51:00.000-05:00

Fringe - "Marionette"

Last week's winter finale of Fringe was by far one of the strongest episodes of the show. Going against common TV logic, the climactic episode plotwise was last week. This week was the emotional climax of the arc. Some feel the episode was a jarring shift in tone, as the season had been building up the suspense of an impending interdimensional war.

Fringe, however, is back on the road to I-Don’t-Care. You’d think with an inter-dimensional war brewing, the writers would at least have a sense of urgency about it. This is probably why Fringe is moving to a Friday night slot after the first of the year. It can then saunter to its grave at its own pace.

For the last eight episodes, Olivia has been stuck Over There in the other universe, while the Olivia from Over There replaced her and seduced Peter Bishop. Last week's episode featured her escape from Over There, and her doppelganger's escape from Fringe's home universe.

This season so far was intense, and I'd argue a small breather episode did a world of good for pacing. Olivia's back, so let's solve a case of the week involving a re-animator who bears an uncanny resemblance to H.P. Lovecraft, author of "Herbert West: Re-Animator."

Meanwhile, unlike other shows, Fringe shows one of its hallmarks: hitting the right emotional notes behind the speculative fiction. Alot of titans of the genre skip the emotional core of the characters in favor of the speculative concepts on display. Fringe explores the emotions behind all the concepts, whether it's exploring the motives behind a mad scientist's decision to cross into another universe, irreparably devastating them both, or how a person would feel to discover that the man he calls father stole him from his real father and home universe.

In "Marionette," Anna Torv brilliantly displays Olivia in the middle of a nervous breakdown. The character Olivia initially seemed wooden in season 1, but the writers have followed that up with consistent characterization of a woman who plays it close to the chest, a successful FBI agent who represses anything that might make her seem feminine or weak. Here she has reached the breaking point. She's back home, but someone else has been living her life, fucking the love of her life, and the Other Olivia has left her mark on Olivia's life. Eventually, it leads to the knife in shippers' hearts.

Now she's everywhere. She's in my house, my job, my bed, and I don't want to wear my clothes anymore, and I don't want to live in my apartment, and I don't want to be with you. She's taken everything.

It's extremely well done. It serves as a breather episode, a lull in the action. But it's necessary, especially in a serial. And the filler case of the week is Fringe at its most creepy. After two and a half seasons, it finally made even me queasy (to each his own, but you get the idea). And the case resonated with Olivia's turmoil nicely, not in a cheesy way, but in a totally understandable "I know this only makes sense to me, me being Olivia" kind of way. She understands what happened, but it still hurts.

All in all, you could do worse than pick up "Marionette" and watch it.

Have something to say? Please comment!

2010-11-08T16:56:00.001-05:00

Will update with links later.

I have a confession: I'm cautiously optimistic about the new Spider-Man franchise. On the one hand, it's clear that Sony is trying to retain the franchise and couldn't care less about the character. And it's true that there has been some "Fuck you, Raimi!" news (MJ is out, Gwen is in, oh and we're using the Lizard and not cramming Venom down audiences' throats).

But I see five points in it's favor.

1. Casting. Martin Sheen is grabbing a paycheck as Uncle Ben, sure. But imagine him saying "With great power..." Also, the delightful Emma Stone (Zombieland and Easy A) is Gwen. Unsure about the new Peter, Brit Andrew Garfield... but he's almost an unknown, which can be good (Christopher Reeves) or bad (Brandon Routh).

2. The villain. OK, they're not getting Dylan Baker to be Connor. Raimi would probably drag Sony to Hell if they did that. On the other hand, Connor is the perfect villain for HS Spidey. He'll be the science teacher, in a position of authority opposite Parker. Does Peter confide in Connor while he figures out his mutation? Connor does work. And the fact that they picked a villain who works like that (instead of, let's say, teenaged Eddie Brock), is a strong point in the movie's favor.

3. "Other genre" with superheroes is hot right now. Superman? At his best when it's a romance with superheroes (the first two Reeve movies). Iron Man destroyed all expectations by being a screwball comedy with superheroes. Captain America looks promising because it's a pulp adventure movie like Indiana Jones with superheroes.

Spider-Man will be a teen drama with superheroes. Hopefully more Buffy than Twilight. Given that Webb is best known for (500) Days of Summer, it could be indie teen romance with superheroes... which could be bad or good.

4. Someone is respecting the character. It's certainly not Sony. This is almost an extension of #2, but deserves its own spot. Emma Stone is playing Gwen Stacy. NOT Mary Jane Watson. Of course, Gwen was Peter's love interest before MJ, and is his dead first love.

But speculation was that it would be a Reverse Twilight scenario with Peter as the superpowered male choosing between two Muggle babes, Gwen and MJ. Maybe it's Gwen choosing between schlubby Peter and bully Flash Thompson. Doubtful, since that would be inevitable (she chooses the titular hero, duh!). It could be Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat (Catwoman with ridiculous cleavage), which would resonsate with both (A) high school and superhero life mixing (provided she's a student) and (B) a choice between normal Gwen and exciting, alluring Black Cat. Also good girl v. bad girl.

5. Sony's not stupid. They took a chance on Raimi, they look like they're giving Webb enough of a leash. In kind of a reverse of what happened with Raimi, the story isn't about what the director isn't allowed to do. In fact, maybe as a reaction to how Raimi left, Sony has let Webb do some things that Raimi couldn't get Sony to do (i.e. no MJ, Lizard, no Venom yet). Also, with all due respect, fandom complains about everything, but the hate for this movie is pretty strong. It's a shameless moneygrab, but it needs to be successful to work. Sony's trying to put asses in seats here.

As a final point, and one that's not a reason to be cautiously optimistic about the film: it's OK. I'd prefer this business model to dragging franchises along. Comics suck when you get into the nitty gritty of continuity. They succeed at imprinting on the consciousness of America because of individual stories, not how they all fit together.

So the death and rebirth of a superhero movie franchise isn't reason enough to run scared into the night. It's fine.

And come on. Spider-Man might succeed despite the fact that it's a cynical "keep the rights alive and make money" ploy.

25 years of NES

2010-10-18T19:35:00.001-04:00

So the Nintendo Entertainment System and, as a result, video games as I know them today, are only slightly younger than me. I'm currently reading through Tom Bissell's Extra Lives, which is an excellent examination of a pastime and a compelling argument for how far video games have yet to go. I'll post more on that later (spoiler: storytelling needs work). For now, my top ten list of NES games my brothers and I played the everloving shit out of.

(H/T Steve Napierski for the idea)

Adventures in the Magic Kingdom - Disney really had some of the most amazing licensed games in the NES era. They make up almost half of this list. I remember that for some reason I was good at remembering trivia answers. Also, Space Mountain was hard, yo. Don't think we ever beat it.

Balloon Fight - Alot of people prefer Joust, but Balloon Fight was all we had in my house. There's just something compelling about two warriors with big noses attempting to pop each other's balloons, sending them to a watery grave. And the sea monster... oh, the sea monster.

Baseball - The computer is a cheating bitch. But for some reason, this game really highlights the ability of NES games to make you hate them and never stop playing.

Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers - Solid 2-player co-op. What more is there to say?

DuckTales - Woo-oooh! My friend was complaining how hard this game was now that she was an adult. I played for the first time in what, ten years? Beat it in hours.

Mickey Mousecapade - Never beat it, but I remember playing it alot.

Ninja Gaiden (possibly 2 or 3, I'm not sure) - I also personally sucked at this game. It's also the most story-oriented game on this list.

Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos - With the exception of this gem. The three of us tried and failed to unlock its mysteries until it fell into a pile of duds we sold at a yardsale for a quarter.

Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt - A tie between this and Super Mario Bros. 3. I'm sorry, it happens. The original goes on the list for long hours spent hunting pixelated ducks and a laughing dog.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Oh god the underwater level... always made it that far... maybe made it past there once.

Legend of Zelda isn't on the list because we never really played the original, and really hated Zelda II. Haters gonna hate me for saying that. A Link to the Past was my Zelda game.