Triplets

So, in rapping with my dear friends Iris and Bucho in the comments of my last post, something about which I'd been quietly meditating for a few days came up.

Iris indicated a reticence to work on more than one project at once, while Bucho made a great point about how multiple projects can, in a cool way, inform each other.

See, I've got three unfinished novels lying there, and a deep passion for each. One is a sequel to my last novel, another is the first steps into my own space opera, while the third is, I think, another horror/suspense piece. I think.

In any case, I'd been contemplating attacking two at once, and either alternating days on them, or just letting my passion go where it takes me, so long as I bang out that all-important page-a-day.

What's influenced this, as well, is my contemplation of how 'me time' works nowadays, as this would be the window in which I would tackle such an enterprise. The context of 'me' changes drastically not only when you partner with a mate for life, but when the two of you collaborate on an offspring or several. Being that I've extended what I 'need' in order to continue a reasonably palpable existence by bringing these two under my 'great umbrella of life,' this fundamentally alters what 'me' is, and thus 'me time' becomes something that is paroled with a severely diminished fervency. View this not as a complaint, but as a topic on which I'm meditating.

In any case, I just want to fucking write.

If I want it badly enough, I'll do it. Kinda like my recent surge in body maintenance.

I commented, previously, that I'm interested in trying to write first thing in the morning. I may have some quiet time in which I've not quite piqued the interest of the rest of the world, and the timing is in such proximity to the dream world, that I can't help but wonder if that aspect might be conducive to some pleasant surprises in my writing.

Alas, I despise getting up before 7AM, so we'll see. Otherwise, mayhap I'll just make some time in the hour or so before bed.

Yeah, so I'm eager to get cranking on something. I've got solid footholds on two of them, and some reworking to do on the space opera. I just made some odd decisions in its first few chapters, and need to clean that up. I'm thinking that one's shelved for a bit, while I'll push on the other two immediately. I may even fold the 'horror/suspense' novel into the Endless Wars universe. We'll see.

When do you write?

-Blaine

Sycophants and Ass-Clowns

First of all, if you're hitting this blog via the front page, please allow me to apologize for that Star Wars music that just auto-played. I hate that shit, too, but I didn't realize, two posts ago, that video was an auto-play when I embedded it. My bad. Just take a moment, scroll down, and pause it.

I'll wait.

Okay, so before I begin this tirade, I want to point you to a really good blog.

If you like this blog, but find yourself longing for something that's written much more coherently, and caters much more specifically to those that are interested in the craft of writing, and has fewer run-on sentences, and is less of a shambolic shithole, please allow me to introduce you to Fists & Angels, Christs & Angels. It's written by one of my good buddies, Bucho. We used to be super-tight, but then he turned into a better writer than I am, so fuck him.

Also, fake beer can really hit the spot on a Friday night when buried in your creative mental space. Yes, I'm THAT guy, now.

The title of this post ... it came from a conversation that I was having with some friends at work ... I vent a considerable amount lately, and for good reason. I vent for good reasons that I'm not going to get into here, but if you know me, you know what the deal is. The short version is that I plopped down in the chair next to Captain Butthurt's cubicle and muttered, 'I am so sick of dealing with sycophants and ass-clowns.' Yeah, there's some shit going down that I'm part of, but I'll survive it one way or another.

ANYWAY, the Captain said I had to use 'Sycophants and Ass-Clowns' as this weekend's post title. Since I do what I'm told, I did.

Truth
I sometimes fantasize about the inevitable future. Right now, the world is controlled by money, but eventually, all of us SysAdmins are going to rise up and grab them by the surprisingly undersized balls and demand a change.

You see, we control the world.

You don't necessarily know it right now, but your computer was able to be manufactured because several sysadmins allowed it to happen via networking and server administration. Your internet connection is maintained by an army of sysadmins. Your power stays on because sysadmins allow it by making sure that the right servers can talk to the right systems, in addition to maintaining the networking that goes into that.

We control the lights. We control the TV. We control the internet. We control the phones. We control the traffic lights. We control the porn. We control Justin Bieber. We control the world.

One day, reality TV will go away, or I will rally the troops and bring this world to its fucking knees.

Just think about it.

Network Programming
I want to talk about Alphas and Falling Skies for a moment.

It's rare that a major network doesn't fall upon its own sword to avoid producing a good science fiction series. Somehow, Falling Skies managed to become quite good after 2-3 episodes.

What it did well was follow the Walking Dead roadmap. It treated the aliens as a device, rather than as a focus, and shifted the emphasis to the people, and how they re-learn to live their lives.

While it's not nearly as good as The Walking Dead, it definitely filled a niche this summer.

If it wants to reach The Walking Dead status, it needs to make the characters more interesting, and stop just relying on conflict to achieve that. Conflict can be a good way to engage the viewer, but it gets tiresome if that's all that's going on.

They did seem to catch onto this a bit as the eight-episode season went on, but the show hasn't truly blossomed yet.

As for Alphas, this is my new SyFy show. This one has been solid from the pilot on. The characters are engaging and sympathetic, and the plots have been fun. It really is Heroes + X-Files.

If I had to recommend one new show for the summer, it would be Alphas.

That Phone App
The Windows Phone app is proceeding apace. I've been looking at approaches to the game logic, as well as incubating the 'story' in my head. I use quotes because it's not one linear story. If a story is a thread, this is a tapestry.

The logic part is challenging because this can really be approached a number of different ways. I could have a left-to-right branching series that starts skinny on the left, gets fat in the middle, then gets skinny again on the right, then gets fat again going further right, then gets skinny again, etc. I could also use an Enum, as suggested by Captain Butthurt, to tick a set of events, that once fulfilled, opens the next section, then repeats a few times. Additionally, I could also plant a few key decisions in a branching series that then set the path to one of several middle points, which then each open up to their own sets of branches, wash, rinse, repeat.

So, I've got some planning to do, then some writing, then some coding, and then a cigarette.

That Science Fiction Novel
This coming along well, if in a somewhat halted fashion. This is the first novel I've ever written in which I get self-conscious. It's very unlike me, but I'm really pushing things in a VERY adult direction, a la Battlestar Galactica or The Walking Dead, but with a dash of Firefly. I think part of my discomfort comes from the fact that I'm working in the holiest of genres for the first time, so I'm having to relearn my approach somewhat.

Also, this is the first book I've ever written while not totally shitfaced most of the time, so I'm having to rebuild my process somewhat. A writer gives him or herself permission to do a lot more when they're 'altered' while writing, and that can be a very potent thing, and I've handcuffed myself somewhat in terms of the creative process.

So, I'm loving this book so far, even if it makes me a little nuts sometimes. I think I'm lingering too long on certain characters, but it's because I'm so interested in them, and that's what editing's for, dammit.

Where the hell is the next Endless Wars novel?
It'll come. Not soon, though. There are other projects I want to get out the door first, and that's a series that's complicated for me to approach now.

Book Recommendations
I need some good non-licensed works reading. What ya got?

-Blaine

Soundtrack
Red Fang - Prehistoric Dog
Pearl Jam - The Fixer
Eddie Vedder - Can't Keep
Rob Zombie - Werewolf Women of the SS
Tres Mts. - She's My New Song
Rob Zombie - The Man Who Laughs
Tres Mts. - God Told Me
Brad - Luxury Car
Rob Zombie - Sick Bubblegum
Eddie Vedder - Dream a Little Dream With Me
Limp Bizkit - Loser
Avenged Sevenfold - Welcome to the Family
Brad - Runnin' For Cover
Foo Fighters - Dear Rosemary
Slash - We're All Gonna Die
Chris Cornell - Long Gone
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Them Crooked Vultures - Spinning in Daffodils
Alice in Chains - Your Decision
Korn - Pop a Pill

Creativity Update

For both of my fans out there ...

... the second Endless Wars novel has been shelved indefinitely.

Why?

Most of it goes back to the rampant alcohol consumption that was coinciding with that book's writing. Some of it is because I'm just not in that headspace right now. To write an Endless Wars book, I have to be in a very, very dark place, and I'm just not there right now.

If you haven't read the first book (now available in the iBookstore), do so, and you'll understand what I mean.

For those who don't know, I'm an alcoholic, now six months sober, and that darkness is something that has sloughed away, along with the need to make booze the focal point of my non-work hours.

If the first EW novel, written in 2000, was mildly supplemented by booze, the second novel, half-written last year, was rocket-powered by it.

There's some damn good material in there, but much of it reads like a sugar-high Michael Bay script. The parts that don't are filled with arguments between Taran and Nigel, which I found particularly revealing. What's interesting is that much of the book is devoted to Taran completely falling apart while becoming more powerful, which is an interesting choice.

I don't know. I'm still sifting through my feelings on the book, which is a moot point, because almost all of it was lost.

Yup. I was so fucking drunk so much of the time that I managed to format and write new operating systems onto each of the hard drives it was stored on.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, since I have all my PCs sync their 'My Documents' folders all the time, but I managed to have HDD failures in exactly the right order, so that the only left of the book is the first draft of the first couple chapters.

Like I said, I'm still sifting through my feelings about all this.

However, I have two tidbits for you that have me particularly pumped.

First, the second edition of the first book will be hitting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the iBookstore in the next month or so (the first edition is still available via iBookstore for a limited time now.) It's on Lulu now, and once we all sign off on it, it'll hit the larger retailers shortly thereafter.

Second, I'm working on a brand-new series, and I'm glad to say that I've FINALLY found a science-fiction idea that works for me.

SciFi has always been my favorite genre, but I've never had a workable idea of my own before. My stories usually straddle the horror/fantasy genre, but this is something that's slowly pieced itself together over the last few years, and after letting it germinate for the last few months, it all clicked into place during E3, and I started banging it out then.

I'm toying with several ideas in terms of novel structure and what makes a novel, and may do something new with this series.

I'm a big fan of HBO & Showtime original series, and when they tackle novels, they tend to treat each novel as a season.

I'm thinking about turning that on its ear, and after writing this novel, I'm thinking about either publishing lots of sequential short stories that would be 'episodes' of a 'season,' or writing sequels as short story collections that carry a common thread through them, like a TV season.

We'll see. Let me know what you think of the idea.

Anyway, I'm about to kick it with an old friend, so I'm gonna jet.

Just let me assure you that it feels great to be writing about robots and spaceships.

-Blaine

Almost there...

...just wanted to drop in and give a status update.

My editor still has the book and she is nearly done with her notes. It's taken her longer than either of us anticipated, but I asked her to go through it and get as nasty as she can. It's very much not her style of book, which is why she's my perfect editor. I don't like having my stuff reviewed by someone who understands the genre. By giving it to someone who doesn't live in my genre, I'm able to get perspective on things I wouldn't otherwise.

It also helps that I married my editor, who knows me quite well, but very much has her own mind when it comes to what she thinks of stories and writing. She is, herself, quite an excellent writer, even if she functions on a whole other plane in terms of what she prefers.

I've always told people that she and I cross over on about 50% of what we like in storytelling, which is a perfect ratio. We're able to each live in our own worlds, but share space just as often. It's a great arrangement, and one that I wish I saw in more marriages around me.

As for the cover, I've been dragging my heels on getting it done, but I know what it's going to be, and it should only take me a few hours. I think.

Otherwise, while I play the waiting game, I've been busy with work and school, as well as development on the next project. I have some opportunities on the table, but have had some difficulty deciding on which one to take up and run with. I've had discussions with some musician friends and former bandmates on a couple different projects, I've been solicited for a screenplay, and I'm itching to write another book. A lot of this breaks down into what I want to do vs. what I should do (in terms of my career as an artist.) I'll kick it around for another month or so. Depending on what I decide to do, I may or may not be able to share a lotta details. If I can't say much, I'm sorry, but I learned the hard way, a few years back, it's better just to keep your damn mouth shut on the internet when it comes to your artistic pursuits. This is just one of the reasons the book has been delayed for nearly 10 years.

Anyway, in a perfect world, the book comes out in August or September. Ideally, it would be in the middle of August, but I've learned to never underestimate the power of my own self-doubt. This is my first novel, finished 10 years ago, and there are aspects of it that I dislike intensely, but I've left them unchanged because I want to be true to the writer I was back then. It's kind of like granting one last honor to my old self. It's a good book, but there are elements and structure that I was experimenting with at the time, and some of them worked beautifully and some of them come off as a bit awkward. At the same time, some of these are almost like load-bearing walls in this book, and to pull them out would collapse the book in on itself.

It seems like I'm apologizing for the book in advance. I'm not. I think it's great, but I'm also aware that I've left things in that keep it from being the single greatest achievement in literature.

Lastly, I'm thinking of doing something like 'bonus features' for it a la DVD/BD. This would consist of 'deleted scenes' prefaced by me explaining where they would've gone and why they were cut, as well as some interview stuff talking about the evolution of the series and this entry in particular. It all sounds great to me, since no author can resist the temptation to self-aggrandize, but I want to see if there's any kind of opinion on this.

Really, it just seems like a way to do something new with the medium. This is a medium that has suffered under the painfully oppressive yoke of publishers who have carefully protected it from any kind of interesting experimentation, and I'm finally in a position to start trying new things.

I'm also thinking of some post-release stuff, too, like maybe a .pdf file for book owners that walks through the reader back through the book and talks about where particular scenes came from or how they were changed and why.

I dunno. I'm just thinking of things I'd love to see for books I really enjoyed, and it seems like a good way to keep people interested until the next book is out (it will not be another 10 years, you have my word.)

So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what people think of the book.

What's it about, you ask? Let's see if I can do this totally spoiler-free...

...it's 2001. Taran Walker is 23 and is reeling from catching the girl of his dreams with another man. He has failed in nearly every meaningful way in life, and is living in an abandoned halfway house with some friends as he ponders his next scheme. Meanwhile, there is a convergence of souls, some young and some ancient, in St. Louis, and though he doesn't realize it, Taran is at the center of it. He is the one to finally lead the ultimate rebellion and throw off the shackles that have held humanity back since the beginning of time. He will have to fight his way through underworlds and parallel universes, he will battle vampires and rival gods, as well as their lethal servants, but not without the help of a rather interesting mix of friends and allies. From gun-toting dwarves to magic-infused vampires to dope-peddling succubi, Taran will be aided by all manner of creatures and friends. It's the perfect blend of ancient fantasy archetypes and settings and real-world sensibilities and settings. Discover the world you never knew existed but for which you secretly yearned.

Oh, and it's called 'The Endless Wars: The Descent.' That's not the final blurb, but just something I threw together real quick.

Anyway, this is much longer than I intended. So much for my 'quick update.' Anyway, lemme know what ya think of anything I posted here, particularly the extra stuff for the book.

Actually, lemme know, too, if that quick blurb I posted at all excites you.

Awesome. Peace out.

-Blaine