January 29th, 2009
All right, so, I’ve figured out a new purpose for the blog. This thing has to be flexible, right? Right. So! As you know, I’m in the throes of writing a novel, and since I’m still basically an amateur, I keep getting distracted from that. I need to keep myself focused, but I also need a little wiggle room to write some short fiction.
To that end, I’ve decided the while I’m (endlessly) revising the novel, I’m going to start writing smaller pieces set in the same world. Once I begin, my goal is to post something once a week. This could take the form of a short story, a history blurb, a folk tale, or whatever seems like a good medium for letting you guys peek into the world. It’ll help me work through any hiccups I have and develop a more robust framework, and the responsibility of updating the blog will keep me working. It’s a win-win for me, and I really hope it is for you, too. I know I’m enjoying things, anyway.
I haven’t picked an official start date yet, but I’m shooting for “soon”.
January 27th, 2009
I keep hearing people say “Read the genre you write.” I’ve always nodded and done the wimpy arm pump thing, as if to say, “Yeah, I agree in theory!”, but the stuff I’ve been slowly reading over the last few years has been outside my target genre. I was following the other maxim that says “Read outside the genre you write,” so rather than fantasy, I was reading literary, science fiction, *cough* teen romance, and delicious programming books.
This weekend, completely on a lark, I picked up a book based entirely on how cool the cover art looked. The experience has been much like getting into a jacuzzi. As I eased my way into the first chapter, the water felt ridiculously hot and uncomfortable. I was shocked at how quickly the author started using world-specific terminology, and thought, “Surely no other fantasy book does this! What is she even talking about?” I tried to explain this atrocity to my wife, but when I was done, she simply said, “That sounds really cool.”
It took a minute to sink in, but she was right — even though I was confused about some things, the story sounded pretty awesome. The next night I got through chapter three, and was disappointed that my frail body wanted to sleep before I had to go to work. The water feels great and I’ve got jets pounding my shoulders. Nice.
That’s not the best part, though. The schools of magic in my novel were giving me some problems, mostly in that I had no idea why anyone would bother going to a university if they could theoretically learn all the magic they wanted a) during their apprenticeship, or b) by screwing around and hopefully not blowing themselves up. In Warrior, the witches choose their allegiance based on what kind of job they wanted. For example, people who want to travel and possibly be mercenaries would be Air and people interested in politics would go Fire. That was the missing piece — what kind of jobs can students at my magic school get? I had barely considered it…and I still have no idea, but it’s something new to work with.
So, there you go — books are good.
January 25th, 2009
When he was halfway across the bridge, he pulled over — which, on a bridge like that one, meant his front passenger-side tire was mostly over the yellow line. He left the lights on, but killed the engine. The car shuddered and went silent.
For several minutes he just sat there, staring out the window at the lake, squeezing the steering wheel with his left hand and the briefcase with his right. It was time to go, and despite everything that had happened, the reality of the moment gave him pause. (more…)
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