The nanowrimo file grows. Lots of odd, random bits throws in, a variety of plot ideas and conceptions. Much of this is liable to be culled and ripped apart as nano draws closer, but so far I have the first scene in my head and a nasty idea of what the ending is going to be. It's going to be a horror novel in most every sense of the word where even the people with the grand and good goals have to go through hell to try and achieve them and how even good goals and organizations simply fail to work.
The real world demands compromises and breaks even the noblest of goals. You want to help others? Sure, but you'd better be prepared to take it up the ass during the process. And that is in the normal world, while the bulk of the novel takes place behind the stage, as it were, dealing with secret monsters and magicians and the small-minded people who want to rule or change the world.
Sometimes I worry myself :p
Monday, September 20, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
A note for nano
This is from me, to me.
Wikipedia is not that reliable, but here is Jeanne Calment (122), Marie-Louise_Meilleu (117), Christian Mortensen (115) and Henry Allingham (113). All supercentenarians, all smoked. (There are also combinations of vegetarianism, eating chocolate and wine among them, but that's the one common factor.)
Which means, obviously, that smoking can keep you alive longer. There must be a trick to it, however.
Wikipedia is not that reliable, but here is Jeanne Calment (122), Marie-Louise_Meilleu (117), Christian Mortensen (115) and Henry Allingham (113). All supercentenarians, all smoked. (There are also combinations of vegetarianism, eating chocolate and wine among them, but that's the one common factor.)
Which means, obviously, that smoking can keep you alive longer. There must be a trick to it, however.
Monday, September 13, 2010
namowrimo 2010: working on the tone
Insect wings hummed on his back, muscles straining painfully as they hummed a tune Brodie almost knew, with echoes of nails across boards and the dentist chair under it as the wings tried to adjust to human flesh, digging deep into his bones to stabilize the both of them.
His heart hammered hard in his chest as blood flowed from his body into the wings. The memory of the insect they’d been was deserting the wings and he began to glide rather than fall, feeling things tear deep inside his body as the wings tried to make him into something Other.
The ground was not coming close soon enough.
His heart hammered hard in his chest as blood flowed from his body into the wings. The memory of the insect they’d been was deserting the wings and he began to glide rather than fall, feeling things tear deep inside his body as the wings tried to make him into something Other.
The ground was not coming close soon enough.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Truth
There is one trick to learn in life, just one: how easy it is to take a life.
And one lie to forget: life is sacred.
Do those things, and you have Truth and power at your side. While all others will be hemmed by prisons of decorum and conscience, of shame and guilt, self-loathing and self-pity, you will be free.
And only the free can truly act. Justice without mercy, law without weakness, strength without shame. It is only those of us who are free who can change the world, who can shape it from outside, who can cut it so fine.
We are the surgeons the world needs. We are the judgement it craves. We are the the hands that that will heal without pity and make war without flattering.
And you, who are too weak to be strong, dare call us monsters? We are only w2hat you are too afraid to become, for once you act you cannot cease from action. Once you find Truth, you cannot settle for lies, and the Truth will take you far and deep and wide.
And there will be blood. Even your own.
And one lie to forget: life is sacred.
Do those things, and you have Truth and power at your side. While all others will be hemmed by prisons of decorum and conscience, of shame and guilt, self-loathing and self-pity, you will be free.
And only the free can truly act. Justice without mercy, law without weakness, strength without shame. It is only those of us who are free who can change the world, who can shape it from outside, who can cut it so fine.
We are the surgeons the world needs. We are the judgement it craves. We are the the hands that that will heal without pity and make war without flattering.
And you, who are too weak to be strong, dare call us monsters? We are only w2hat you are too afraid to become, for once you act you cannot cease from action. Once you find Truth, you cannot settle for lies, and the Truth will take you far and deep and wide.
And there will be blood. Even your own.
3 boys, one moral, several lesssons
The three boys played paper, rock, and scissors with the real deal, to make it more fun. It ended tragically when, beating Joe's paper, Henry stabbed him in the eye with the scissors. Then Alphie went all Cain and Abel with the rock.
If there had been four of them, they would have added dynamite.
If there had been four of them, they would have added dynamite.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Facebook Status Updates, Part II
And a few more status updates; one friend jokingly thought the first should be a t-shirt :)
“You know how, when you were walking along the beach?”
“Yeah?”
“And there was only one set of footprints?”
“Oh, come on --.”
“God was piggybacking.”
Short story in 6 words: See? I told you they’re friendly.
If Jehovah's Wtinesses don't believe in blood transfusions, can they become vampires? Discuss.
"Magic is not the negation of science, my child; on the contrary, it is where all unified theories take us in the end."
I looked at the ghost who had been my wife. She was thin and taut, bones jutting out under pale flesh; everything about her was hard. She wore white, probably to tick me off. Her anger was a cold wind in the room and her fingers crooked like claws. “Being dead changes a lot of things, Nathan. Not enough of them that matter, though.”
What, you think you are children of Light? That your species will enter the age of Acquarius to become stars? Are you truly that stupid? You destroy the planet, murder each other, leave half your world starving to death while the other half finds new ways to avoid noticing that. Fool. This world you’ve made, with oil spills, wars, pettiness: that is the limit of human potential.
We all make lines we will not cross, in our hearts. Some will never murder, never love: it’s not about morality. And it’s not arbitrary, as much as it can seem like that. It’s - identity, choosing who we are in the world. As long as you can do that, you can call yourself sane. the danger in such things is that there are no lines we’ll never cross, not truly: people are capable of anything.
Everything changed when Tyler realized there was no such thing as twins.
Dear Grey Alien: If you really must mutilate cattle, try to avoid the ones with testicles.
Thought of the morning: the world needs redneck superhero teams.
What kind of person watches clown porn? Discuss and provide examples (politicians not permitted).
"I hate you sometimes," He said.
She shrugged. "Hate is a force of attraction as well."
They teach things, in the school that isn't a school. They tell stories, because all stories are lies, but never laugh (it could be cheaper than the medicines) and smile in the way that never touches the eyes, all surface without depth. When they speak truths, their voices are gentle and unkind. And when they fold the world, trying to make someone anew, there is always a corner left crumpled.
What if only one Siamese Twin gets raptured?
"Of course I adore The Secret," the Devil told Mike Wallace. "It tells you that the victim is always to blame, and makes you all so very smug. No wish changes the world that remains a wish, no dream that is only ever but a dream. Wonderful stuff."
"Of course I backed the Skynet project. Once the Terminators come, we'll finally be alive again, have an honest war with fighting for. Once Mr. gates gets on board, the time travel project will proceed as well. I can't see anything going wrong with this plan, can you?"
“I'm not going to be a hero,” Boy said, and there was silence under the mountain. “If being a hero means I have to kill a dragon – to kill you – then I won't ever do it. If it means thinking of others as monsters, it's wrong. Just because things have a price doesn't mean it has to be paid.”
"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't care how many calories you burn: a zombie apocalypse is NOT a valid diet plan."
Dangers of having an very active danger sense: Cigarette smoke. Transfat. Misleading advertising. Artificial food colouring.
"Look at them, hiding out in their gated community with security to keep out the riff-raff -- for their false sense of security and putting happiness above freedom and -- ..."
Charles interrupted my have/have not rant mildly. "What do you think Heaven is?"
Vampire facebook:
"Delia bites Joe"
"Joe stakes Deliah"
Whenever I read that the Prime Minister has shuffled the cabinet, I wonder if it is really a living tarot deck.
"Really, being a sociopath is probably the best choice for stable morals."
- Moi. Context is everything, though ..... right?
The children adopted by Angelina Jolie and Madonna form their own nation by 2030. Discuss.
The most boring job in the world be improved by mentioning "sting operations"
"I want to be free."
"You are social?" the teacher said. "A herd animal, yes?"
"Humans are."
"Then I am sorry. You would be alone, and confuse that with being free."
When the aliens abduct me, I'm going to demand to see if they really do have a gift shop on the UFO.
“You know how, when you were walking along the beach?”
“Yeah?”
“And there was only one set of footprints?”
“Oh, come on --.”
“God was piggybacking.”
Short story in 6 words: See? I told you they’re friendly.
If Jehovah's Wtinesses don't believe in blood transfusions, can they become vampires? Discuss.
"Magic is not the negation of science, my child; on the contrary, it is where all unified theories take us in the end."
I looked at the ghost who had been my wife. She was thin and taut, bones jutting out under pale flesh; everything about her was hard. She wore white, probably to tick me off. Her anger was a cold wind in the room and her fingers crooked like claws. “Being dead changes a lot of things, Nathan. Not enough of them that matter, though.”
What, you think you are children of Light? That your species will enter the age of Acquarius to become stars? Are you truly that stupid? You destroy the planet, murder each other, leave half your world starving to death while the other half finds new ways to avoid noticing that. Fool. This world you’ve made, with oil spills, wars, pettiness: that is the limit of human potential.
We all make lines we will not cross, in our hearts. Some will never murder, never love: it’s not about morality. And it’s not arbitrary, as much as it can seem like that. It’s - identity, choosing who we are in the world. As long as you can do that, you can call yourself sane. the danger in such things is that there are no lines we’ll never cross, not truly: people are capable of anything.
Everything changed when Tyler realized there was no such thing as twins.
Dear Grey Alien: If you really must mutilate cattle, try to avoid the ones with testicles.
Thought of the morning: the world needs redneck superhero teams.
What kind of person watches clown porn? Discuss and provide examples (politicians not permitted).
"I hate you sometimes," He said.
She shrugged. "Hate is a force of attraction as well."
They teach things, in the school that isn't a school. They tell stories, because all stories are lies, but never laugh (it could be cheaper than the medicines) and smile in the way that never touches the eyes, all surface without depth. When they speak truths, their voices are gentle and unkind. And when they fold the world, trying to make someone anew, there is always a corner left crumpled.
What if only one Siamese Twin gets raptured?
"Of course I adore The Secret," the Devil told Mike Wallace. "It tells you that the victim is always to blame, and makes you all so very smug. No wish changes the world that remains a wish, no dream that is only ever but a dream. Wonderful stuff."
"Of course I backed the Skynet project. Once the Terminators come, we'll finally be alive again, have an honest war with fighting for. Once Mr. gates gets on board, the time travel project will proceed as well. I can't see anything going wrong with this plan, can you?"
“I'm not going to be a hero,” Boy said, and there was silence under the mountain. “If being a hero means I have to kill a dragon – to kill you – then I won't ever do it. If it means thinking of others as monsters, it's wrong. Just because things have a price doesn't mean it has to be paid.”
"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't care how many calories you burn: a zombie apocalypse is NOT a valid diet plan."
Dangers of having an very active danger sense: Cigarette smoke. Transfat. Misleading advertising. Artificial food colouring.
"Look at them, hiding out in their gated community with security to keep out the riff-raff -- for their false sense of security and putting happiness above freedom and -- ..."
Charles interrupted my have/have not rant mildly. "What do you think Heaven is?"
Vampire facebook:
"Delia bites Joe"
"Joe stakes Deliah"
Whenever I read that the Prime Minister has shuffled the cabinet, I wonder if it is really a living tarot deck.
"Really, being a sociopath is probably the best choice for stable morals."
- Moi. Context is everything, though ..... right?
The children adopted by Angelina Jolie and Madonna form their own nation by 2030. Discuss.
The most boring job in the world be improved by mentioning "sting operations"
"I want to be free."
"You are social?" the teacher said. "A herd animal, yes?"
"Humans are."
"Then I am sorry. You would be alone, and confuse that with being free."
When the aliens abduct me, I'm going to demand to see if they really do have a gift shop on the UFO.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Ah, plotting...
Falling to the Sky proceeds interestingly via writing group. Current scene semi-works (aka the swamp needs more detail as does the naming of things) but at least I know where it broke and how to fix it. Currently I write 1-2 sections ahead of what I submit, and the submissions are basically first-second drafts, altered based on comments about previous sections and plot changes from the new sections added in. Since I have the overall story arc mapped out, it works pretty well in allowing critiques to influence certain aspects of the plot (like having a certain item be a stone and not a glowing hand) as well as helping me figure what things are intrinsic to the plot and can't change.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
The Master Said, “See? They Don't Seem To Notice?”
The silence stretched between them until finally she broke it. “Your trip?”
“I don't want to talk,” he said, “about it,” and then did. “They took me to the cold place, the place that smells of death and the end of hope.”
“It is not always bad,” she said, though to him it was faith rather than hope that underscored her words.
She snuggled closer to him, their warmth enfolding; he did not pull away. This time his body was silent for him.
“What have they done to you?” she said, voice steady for the children. For them, she could do anything.
He tried not to think about that. “No more, never, never. That is what they did, what they are,” he said, a howl rising under his voice but he throttled it back. They could take him back. They could do worse things. He knew this in his bones.
“But --,” she said, and nothing else.
“I can still guard,” he said. “I still have my job here.”
“But.”
He could feel her wanting to draw away, but she did not. He wondered who this was for: the masters? the children? him? Herself? “They fed me,” he said. “And I never bit their hand, not once. I was loyal, and brave and true and --.” He stopped, courage failing for a moment.
“They made mockery of our love.”
“I should have been the one to say that.”
She stood, her eyes hard, a growl under her voice. “You did nothing wrong, and they made you not a man.”
“Sit,” he pleaded, but the speaking of truth seemed to have drained the strength from his voice.
“We should hurt them,” she said, and for a moment he saw the wildness he had fallen in love with and wondered if he'd ever see that flash of her again.
“No,” he said. “Our children would be taken to the death place or the river.”
“And you would not fight them,” she said, not making it a question.
“What do I have left to fight for?” he said. “I will not risk our children.”
Her tail thumped the floor feebly, trying to assure him and they curled up together on the mat by the door, trying to keep each other whole.
“I don't want to talk,” he said, “about it,” and then did. “They took me to the cold place, the place that smells of death and the end of hope.”
“It is not always bad,” she said, though to him it was faith rather than hope that underscored her words.
She snuggled closer to him, their warmth enfolding; he did not pull away. This time his body was silent for him.
“What have they done to you?” she said, voice steady for the children. For them, she could do anything.
He tried not to think about that. “No more, never, never. That is what they did, what they are,” he said, a howl rising under his voice but he throttled it back. They could take him back. They could do worse things. He knew this in his bones.
“But --,” she said, and nothing else.
“I can still guard,” he said. “I still have my job here.”
“But.”
He could feel her wanting to draw away, but she did not. He wondered who this was for: the masters? the children? him? Herself? “They fed me,” he said. “And I never bit their hand, not once. I was loyal, and brave and true and --.” He stopped, courage failing for a moment.
“They made mockery of our love.”
“I should have been the one to say that.”
She stood, her eyes hard, a growl under her voice. “You did nothing wrong, and they made you not a man.”
“Sit,” he pleaded, but the speaking of truth seemed to have drained the strength from his voice.
“We should hurt them,” she said, and for a moment he saw the wildness he had fallen in love with and wondered if he'd ever see that flash of her again.
“No,” he said. “Our children would be taken to the death place or the river.”
“And you would not fight them,” she said, not making it a question.
“What do I have left to fight for?” he said. “I will not risk our children.”
Her tail thumped the floor feebly, trying to assure him and they curled up together on the mat by the door, trying to keep each other whole.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
nanowrimo 2010
Well, have a plot idea. As my previous "Oh, here is a nano plot idea!" things have led to ... never doing it for nano, I shall see where it takes me. (Seriously; I did 3 nanoes last year, none of which was the story I plotted out.) So all I will say it is is horror and involves gnosticism like a lot of good horror does.
And it's about how global warming and nuclear holocausts are good for the human species. Really.
And it's about how global warming and nuclear holocausts are good for the human species. Really.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Things I have ready today on the internet
Or, signs the net is awesome:
Family circus parody.
Other theories of Intelligent Design.
The use of zyklon-B in world war two. (And failures of attempts to trademade zyklon since then.)
An episode of Look Around You, a british comedy series making fun of old science videos.
Information of brothers Loki may have had.
Article on Prop 8, leading to comment: "and the terminator approves of that. Gay marriage: bringing skynet one step closer...."
Information on the co-founder of google.
And other things, all a result of links and random other connections from links. (The Family Circus of Values led to Zyklon-B. Because the internet works like this.) Of course, I haven't got that much actually writing -- or anything else -- done this evening yet :)
Family circus parody.
Other theories of Intelligent Design.
The use of zyklon-B in world war two. (And failures of attempts to trademade zyklon since then.)
An episode of Look Around You, a british comedy series making fun of old science videos.
Information of brothers Loki may have had.
Article on Prop 8, leading to comment: "and the terminator approves of that. Gay marriage: bringing skynet one step closer...."
Information on the co-founder of google.
And other things, all a result of links and random other connections from links. (The Family Circus of Values led to Zyklon-B. Because the internet works like this.) Of course, I haven't got that much actually writing -- or anything else -- done this evening yet :)
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