As has become habit, a quick note on the personal stuff: Our wedding anniversary was the 19th...and the birthday of our second child. And the 21st was my parents' wedding anniversary. When my father died in 1990, they'd been married forty-five years. The boss and I have been married for forty-three years so we just might pass the folks. But Mom and Dad were much older than we were when they got married. Dad was thirty-eight and Mom was almost thirty-one. We were twenty-five and twenty-one.
Due to the demand by my employer to work five ten-hour days a week, plus the continued lack of mobility for the boss, I only get to exercise two days a week, and don't get to write really, ever. This blog entry is the only thing I've written in two weeks.
However, it is not all bad. Although I'm getting nothing down "on paper," I'm getting plenty of ideas. I've developed a clearer picture of Tara's background and I've expanded her personality. That will force me to go back to what I've already written and add details, but that's what writing is all about.
I've also developed a clear though undetailed picture of the climax of the story...it will involve a surprise that has been hinted at already in what I've written. And even as I go through my days I realize more details and more characters. Also, the motivation and character of the primary villain has revealed itself to me. He/she/it (still undetermined) is, of course, psychotic. This character's psychosis is likely to be a version of the psychosis of a past or present world leader of some country. In the past, think Stalin, Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Genghis Khan.
In the present, think...well, you all can use your imaginations and/or research news reports. However, here's a link to one candidate: https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-worst-leader-in-the-world-right-now-and-why
As for fantasy, I want to recommend my favorite author, Robert Heinlein. Heinlein is known as one of the best, if not the best, science fiction author of the twentieth century. He won four Hugo awards and lots of others. When the Science Fiction Writers of America decided to create a Grand Master Award, he was their first choice.
But Heinlein also wrote fantasy, both novel length and shorter. His most obvious fantasy work is the novella, Magic, Inc. This is usually available in book form paired with Waldo. And, though Waldo is presented as science fiction, it is a fitting introduction to the fantasy world of Magic, Inc. Other shorter stories of his that fall more into the genre of fantasy than science fiction can be found currently in the collection, The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein. An older collection, 6 X H, has some of the same stories. The larger current issue has "Waldo" and "Magic, Inc." as well as the six in the older collection.
I borrowed a few details from "Magic, Inc." when I wrote Witchery.
A full-length fantasy novel of his is Glory Road. The fantasy aspect sort of sneaks up on you as you read it. It has inter-dimensional travel, ray guns, modern surgery, astronauts, the war in Southeast Asia, and the Irish Sweepstakes.
But it also has dragons, non-earthly creatures of many forms, six-legged horses, and a very well-described sword duel. I may have borrowed from Glory Road for either Witchery or Prophecy of Honor, but not consciously. I did borrow quite a bit from Heinlein's The Cat who Walks Through Walls when I wrote Prophecy of Honor, though someone who read both might not see any resemblance.
In case I've never mentioned it, Daily Science Fiction is a free source of science fiction and fantasy. If you sign up for it, they'll send a story to your email address every weekday. Well worth the non-monetary investment. I haven't managed to sell them anything yet, despite three or four attempts, but I'll be trying again soon...when I have time to write.
And that's it for this time. Thanks for reading. Now that you've read this, please read something else. Preferably one of my books or short stories (here's a link to my writing in the Page and Spine archives: https://www.pagespineficshowcase.com/fw-stories.html ) or something else, but something you'll enjoy.
Due to the demand by my employer to work five ten-hour days a week, plus the continued lack of mobility for the boss, I only get to exercise two days a week, and don't get to write really, ever. This blog entry is the only thing I've written in two weeks.
However, it is not all bad. Although I'm getting nothing down "on paper," I'm getting plenty of ideas. I've developed a clearer picture of Tara's background and I've expanded her personality. That will force me to go back to what I've already written and add details, but that's what writing is all about.
I've also developed a clear though undetailed picture of the climax of the story...it will involve a surprise that has been hinted at already in what I've written. And even as I go through my days I realize more details and more characters. Also, the motivation and character of the primary villain has revealed itself to me. He/she/it (still undetermined) is, of course, psychotic. This character's psychosis is likely to be a version of the psychosis of a past or present world leader of some country. In the past, think Stalin, Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Genghis Khan.
In the present, think...well, you all can use your imaginations and/or research news reports. However, here's a link to one candidate: https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-worst-leader-in-the-world-right-now-and-why
As for fantasy, I want to recommend my favorite author, Robert Heinlein. Heinlein is known as one of the best, if not the best, science fiction author of the twentieth century. He won four Hugo awards and lots of others. When the Science Fiction Writers of America decided to create a Grand Master Award, he was their first choice.
But Heinlein also wrote fantasy, both novel length and shorter. His most obvious fantasy work is the novella, Magic, Inc. This is usually available in book form paired with Waldo. And, though Waldo is presented as science fiction, it is a fitting introduction to the fantasy world of Magic, Inc. Other shorter stories of his that fall more into the genre of fantasy than science fiction can be found currently in the collection, The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein. An older collection, 6 X H, has some of the same stories. The larger current issue has "Waldo" and "Magic, Inc." as well as the six in the older collection.
I borrowed a few details from "Magic, Inc." when I wrote Witchery.
A full-length fantasy novel of his is Glory Road. The fantasy aspect sort of sneaks up on you as you read it. It has inter-dimensional travel, ray guns, modern surgery, astronauts, the war in Southeast Asia, and the Irish Sweepstakes.
But it also has dragons, non-earthly creatures of many forms, six-legged horses, and a very well-described sword duel. I may have borrowed from Glory Road for either Witchery or Prophecy of Honor, but not consciously. I did borrow quite a bit from Heinlein's The Cat who Walks Through Walls when I wrote Prophecy of Honor, though someone who read both might not see any resemblance.
In case I've never mentioned it, Daily Science Fiction is a free source of science fiction and fantasy. If you sign up for it, they'll send a story to your email address every weekday. Well worth the non-monetary investment. I haven't managed to sell them anything yet, despite three or four attempts, but I'll be trying again soon...when I have time to write.
And that's it for this time. Thanks for reading. Now that you've read this, please read something else. Preferably one of my books or short stories (here's a link to my writing in the Page and Spine archives: https://www.pagespineficshowcase.com/fw-stories.html ) or something else, but something you'll enjoy.
RSS Feed