I'm sure my one reader who cannot attend the flensings is dying to know how it went. It went well! Overall people enjoyed the story, the larger universe, the characters, the runic art, and some little turns of phrase and description I threw in. The criticisms were helpful: further develop the Miqo/Kinarre relationship (perhaps with a scene at the bar), make clearer what's causing all hell to break loose, tie the larger story together somehow, bring the characters together to make these short stories mean something larger, re-visit some specific passages, end section with some sort of closure.
I'm thinking right now that I'll have the two agents of Jemma-Verse II be the thread that ties these together; I also like the idea of news articles and things floating through the story, seen by characters in different stories. My biggest problem is figuring out where the larger story goes (and for that matter, where exactly it begins - with Jemma or even earlier?).
Another big challenge will be bringing the characters back to continue their stories; as I've been thinking about it, Jemma and Elorna were killed. But that's actually not necessary to the over-arching plot, so I can mess with that. I was thinking I could either have the agents continue to be the Good Guys fighting the Bad Guys who have abducted (but not [yet] killed!) our heroines OR I could have the agents be unwitting pawns of the Bad Guys, and then they could have their own story, interspersed through the other stories, of finding out what they're doing. In that case, the Good Guys have abducted Jemma and Elorna to keep them safe. Maybe it's because I've been watching Alias lately, but I really like this second idea. The agents should get their own story beyond just the police investigation, after all! I was recently talking with one of my loyal readers about digging further into the agents' characters, and this would be a really fun way to do it.
I'm not wedded to anything, and this semester I'm not sure how much work I'll be able to do. But dang, I can almost see this turning into a Real Novel! It really helps that I can work on this in short bursts with these sections, so it doesn't feel like I have a gigantic stretch of Tens of Thousands of Words staring at me.
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Short Story - CannRomCom
For the livejournal writing community of which I'm a member, I wrote this short story in the CannRomCom-verse. Sadly, I finished a day after the challenge ended, but I should be able to post it this weekend. I had no idea what to do with the prompts for the longest time, but suddenly, just a couple days ago, I started writing something--and it turned out to be from the POV of CannRomCom MC. Fun!
My prompts were: abide, pitch, "What part of my subconscious do you hail from?" This is the first entry I've put behind a cut, I think. It's longer than what I usually post here
My prompts were: abide, pitch, "What part of my subconscious do you hail from?" This is the first entry I've put behind a cut, I think. It's longer than what I usually post here
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Brainstorming - CannRomCom
CannRomCom is the nickname I just made up for my cannibal romantic comedy. I'm not sure that's entirely accurate; the cannibal in question may not actually be a human being. I haven't decided.
I was despairing of thinking up a good premise for this story and doubting whether it was even worth trying to brainstorm until last night. A vigorous 30-ish block walk got my brain working, as 30 block walks often do, and I decided that the MC should be a flesh-eating monster, along the lines of an X-Files critter I vaguely remember. That was a very helpful revelation for me; I still don't have a lot of the plot or any of the ending down, but I feel like I might actually be able to write this.
So. X-Files flesh-eating monster. I was debating telling the story from a neutral third-person perspective, first person of the MC, or possibly first person her best friend, who gets bits and pieces of the story at a time. I'm thinking I might go with the third option because I have in mind a funny (well, to my reckoning) opener where the narrator is confiding to MC that she's thinking of going to therapy.
It goes something like... "For what it's worth," she told me, "the decade I spent in therapy taught me two things. One, as a flesh-eating monster, I was just as entitled to my life and my happiness as anybody else. Two, everybody else is entitled to their lives as well." MC stopped going to therapy shortly after she had these two revelations because, as you might suspect, her therapist was trying to get at the root of her delusion that she's a flesh-eating monster. Considering that she really is a flesh-eating monster, clearly their relationship was doomed to stagnate.
MC's thing is that her cannibalism (or whatever it is) is only roused during sexual ecstasy. That's fortunate for most of the people in the world, but, since she had her revelation that she can't eat people without their full, informed consent, it's unfortunate for her sex life. Where it goes from there, I haven't quite decided, but I really like the premise. And I think I like the narrative I'm leaning toward, that of her friend. We'll see what comes of this! If I ever get it on paper (after which I'll immediately hate it), I'll even try to muster up the courage to workshop it.
I was despairing of thinking up a good premise for this story and doubting whether it was even worth trying to brainstorm until last night. A vigorous 30-ish block walk got my brain working, as 30 block walks often do, and I decided that the MC should be a flesh-eating monster, along the lines of an X-Files critter I vaguely remember. That was a very helpful revelation for me; I still don't have a lot of the plot or any of the ending down, but I feel like I might actually be able to write this.
So. X-Files flesh-eating monster. I was debating telling the story from a neutral third-person perspective, first person of the MC, or possibly first person her best friend, who gets bits and pieces of the story at a time. I'm thinking I might go with the third option because I have in mind a funny (well, to my reckoning) opener where the narrator is confiding to MC that she's thinking of going to therapy.
It goes something like... "For what it's worth," she told me, "the decade I spent in therapy taught me two things. One, as a flesh-eating monster, I was just as entitled to my life and my happiness as anybody else. Two, everybody else is entitled to their lives as well." MC stopped going to therapy shortly after she had these two revelations because, as you might suspect, her therapist was trying to get at the root of her delusion that she's a flesh-eating monster. Considering that she really is a flesh-eating monster, clearly their relationship was doomed to stagnate.
MC's thing is that her cannibalism (or whatever it is) is only roused during sexual ecstasy. That's fortunate for most of the people in the world, but, since she had her revelation that she can't eat people without their full, informed consent, it's unfortunate for her sex life. Where it goes from there, I haven't quite decided, but I really like the premise. And I think I like the narrative I'm leaning toward, that of her friend. We'll see what comes of this! If I ever get it on paper (after which I'll immediately hate it), I'll even try to muster up the courage to workshop it.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Brainstorm - UFPE short story
Another idea for short stories I had is from the ten free cities along the coast of the UFPE continent (which so far lacks a name). I could even write a short story for each of them, on the personality of the cities and their wacky inhabitants. I had forgotten the name, so I checked the past entries: Ten Notches of the Glittering Scythe. I do like that, though I am skeptical that all those free-spirited, free city libertines ever agreed to call themselves one thing, fearsome as the name is. Or maybe they didn't agree? Maybe there are just as many names as cities?
I think the thing to do is to base each one very loosely on what I know of existing cities, which in some case is little more than seeing calendars with pictures of them. But it would be easier to keep their personalities straight that way. A full half of those could be based on NYC boroughs, if I wanted to go that way. Well, I don't think I will, but it's a good thing for me to keep in mind, in case I run out of places to base the cities on.
So NYC (could be further divided) and Paris are the obvious ones, since I've been there. San Francisco is another good one and LA because I've at least known people who've spent a lot of time there. Las Vegas would be zany fun to write. Something like Rome would be great and then St. Petersburg, (-berg?) which I know of vaguely because my mother spent a summer there. What else... Beijing was the center of Olympic stuff recently, so I may recall a little bit of that stuff. And of course, crazy crowded neon Tokyo. Excellent!
Now to do something with this. Hmm.
I think the thing to do is to base each one very loosely on what I know of existing cities, which in some case is little more than seeing calendars with pictures of them. But it would be easier to keep their personalities straight that way. A full half of those could be based on NYC boroughs, if I wanted to go that way. Well, I don't think I will, but it's a good thing for me to keep in mind, in case I run out of places to base the cities on.
So NYC (could be further divided) and Paris are the obvious ones, since I've been there. San Francisco is another good one and LA because I've at least known people who've spent a lot of time there. Las Vegas would be zany fun to write. Something like Rome would be great and then St. Petersburg, (-berg?) which I know of vaguely because my mother spent a summer there. What else... Beijing was the center of Olympic stuff recently, so I may recall a little bit of that stuff. And of course, crazy crowded neon Tokyo. Excellent!
Now to do something with this. Hmm.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Ideas - Short Stories
The flaying tonight was quite encouraging, on the whole, and my success with them as opposed to longer projects has me wanting to write more of them. Now, the hallmark of this blog so far has been "I plan to do X" and never actually finishing X--but I realize, only where long projects are concerned! So that settles that, whatever exactly that is.
--The UFPE requires short stories, namely Magely and Elvely ones. Ayrisella's history is much less interesting. I could also do some Might Have Been shorts with specific scenes I've had in mind for as long as I've thought about the MHB.
--More Archon-verse stories, as I've dubbed them. Jemma's advisor needs a story; he's being held at (probably metaphorical) gunpoint when he calls Elorna to cancel their meeting, and she has no idea of this. And I think Agent Glebick needs one too, as she continues the investigation. Of course, the Bad Guys need one too! I'd like to do a week's worth of stories which, considering the average length so far, would make it a novella.
--I have one line repeating in my head that could develop into something, "news that didn't really happened," along the lines of reality disintegrating, not your run of the mill fake news (I'm not naming names, but...). I feel there may be a way to tie this into Archon-verse, but I don't want to push it.
--Over IM just now, I had an idea. Sadly, I find writing comedy very difficult, but I could try a page or two. It would be a comedy romance (romantic comedy?) about a relationship wherein one of the parties (beknownst to both) is planning to kill and consume the other after they, um, consummate the relationship. I feel bad puns would abound in the most glorious way possible. If it worked, it would definitely be the strangest thing I've ever written... well, depending on one's calculus.
I'm debating as to whether I should set a concrete goal for myself - one a month? I'll think about it further.
--The UFPE requires short stories, namely Magely and Elvely ones. Ayrisella's history is much less interesting. I could also do some Might Have Been shorts with specific scenes I've had in mind for as long as I've thought about the MHB.
--More Archon-verse stories, as I've dubbed them. Jemma's advisor needs a story; he's being held at (probably metaphorical) gunpoint when he calls Elorna to cancel their meeting, and she has no idea of this. And I think Agent Glebick needs one too, as she continues the investigation. Of course, the Bad Guys need one too! I'd like to do a week's worth of stories which, considering the average length so far, would make it a novella.
--I have one line repeating in my head that could develop into something, "news that didn't really happened," along the lines of reality disintegrating, not your run of the mill fake news (I'm not naming names, but...). I feel there may be a way to tie this into Archon-verse, but I don't want to push it.
--Over IM just now, I had an idea. Sadly, I find writing comedy very difficult, but I could try a page or two. It would be a comedy romance (romantic comedy?) about a relationship wherein one of the parties (beknownst to both) is planning to kill and consume the other after they, um, consummate the relationship. I feel bad puns would abound in the most glorious way possible. If it worked, it would definitely be the strangest thing I've ever written... well, depending on one's calculus.
I'm debating as to whether I should set a concrete goal for myself - one a month? I'll think about it further.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Legal Fiction - first paragraphs
Well, the writing group shall have to wait until Tuesday for my piece, but I did get a good start on it tonight. It's not moving as quickly as I'd like, but I'm enjoying Elorna's character more and more as I write her. Here is a quick sample of the first few paragraphs before I stumble off to bed.
***
Elorna Mynee chose a terrible day to disappear.
Every one of her clients and colleagues was working frantically to take advantage of a pending Supreme Court decision, hoping to poach on competitors' patents while protecting their own. All around the nation, equal parts champagne and stomach-burning whiskey flowed in wood-paneled offices all afternoon into the evening as the news beamed down from the hallowed halls of justice. Under normal circumstances, somebody would have raised the alarm that same night, but everybody who would have called to ask where she was was regretting the afternoon's indulgence, crunching aspirin through an all-nighter. It would be over twenty-four hours after she awoke before one of the other partners thought to dial her number.
Elorna's first thought upon awakening to the ear-splitting trill of her computer was that either the decision had come down early or that she had slept amazingly late. Her hand groped for the button that would send the call through as she squinted at the clock. Four-thirty a.m.? she thought blearily. Did the justices not sleep at all?
The computer screen informed her that the call originated from Archon University, but it was not a number she recognized. It also informed her that the call had been made to her business number. “Elorna Mynee, how may I help you?” She barely smothered a yawn as she spoke.
***
What is in store for our intrepid lawyer, aside from inevitable disappearance?? Only time will tell.
***
Elorna Mynee chose a terrible day to disappear.
Every one of her clients and colleagues was working frantically to take advantage of a pending Supreme Court decision, hoping to poach on competitors' patents while protecting their own. All around the nation, equal parts champagne and stomach-burning whiskey flowed in wood-paneled offices all afternoon into the evening as the news beamed down from the hallowed halls of justice. Under normal circumstances, somebody would have raised the alarm that same night, but everybody who would have called to ask where she was was regretting the afternoon's indulgence, crunching aspirin through an all-nighter. It would be over twenty-four hours after she awoke before one of the other partners thought to dial her number.
Elorna's first thought upon awakening to the ear-splitting trill of her computer was that either the decision had come down early or that she had slept amazingly late. Her hand groped for the button that would send the call through as she squinted at the clock. Four-thirty a.m.? she thought blearily. Did the justices not sleep at all?
The computer screen informed her that the call originated from Archon University, but it was not a number she recognized. It also informed her that the call had been made to her business number. “Elorna Mynee, how may I help you?” She barely smothered a yawn as she spoke.
***
What is in store for our intrepid lawyer, aside from inevitable disappearance?? Only time will tell.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Brainstorming - Legal Fiction
Yes, too long has passed since last I posted! I think working on a computer all day gave me an aversion for working on a computer in the evening, even in the context of writing. I've been writing a bit of fanfiction for a friend of mine and doing that in a notebook. It's much easier on my weary eyes.
But I have been thinking over the legal fiction story, and it's developing nicely in several areas except arguably the most important - plot. Normally I like to focus more on characters, but for the short story I'm imagining, the plot needs to hook the reader from the start and speed along from there. I'm planning to write this the way that my writers group suggested I revise Jemma.
The MC is named Elorna Mynee, an IP lawyer who specializes in magic stuff. Of course, I need a more official name for magic stuff - writers group suggested thauma- as a prefix, which I'll probably use. She's been in touch on and off with Jemma, and Jemma's supervisor (whose name I've forgotten) contacts Elorna the day after Jemma disappears to ask what Elorna knew about Jemma's work. Elorna has other things on her mind, namely a huge Supreme Court magic IP case, the outcome of which will be announced on the day the story dawns.
But she's a true professional, so she takes on the work and conducts some serious investigation. While she's working hard and trying not to think about the case, a pair of National Security lawyers come in and warn her off the case in a very genteel-like way. They end up chatting about the case, and Elorna brushes it off. I'm not sure what should happen during the afternoon - the Supreme Court case comes down then - but during the evening she contacts a friend of hers from undergrad, a conspiracy nut, who meets with her at a vast, dusty library.
Elorna records their conversation with her futuristic blackberry, and when her friend wanders off for a moment to use the restroom (or something), she absently leaves it laying around somewhere conveniently nearby but not clearly visible - perhaps inside a stack of scientific journals. When friend doesn't return, she heaves an irritated sigh and goes to look for her. On the other hand, maybe she leaves it in the shelves near the journals she's reading.
And doesn't return before the janitor or library intern comes to re-shelve all the stuff she's taken out. JanIntern finds the blackberry and takes it. What shall be revealed from its contents??
This is classic sort of open-ended ending I love and a lot of readers hate. Alas. Now I have a week to write the story and post it for a flensing!
But I have been thinking over the legal fiction story, and it's developing nicely in several areas except arguably the most important - plot. Normally I like to focus more on characters, but for the short story I'm imagining, the plot needs to hook the reader from the start and speed along from there. I'm planning to write this the way that my writers group suggested I revise Jemma.
The MC is named Elorna Mynee, an IP lawyer who specializes in magic stuff. Of course, I need a more official name for magic stuff - writers group suggested thauma- as a prefix, which I'll probably use. She's been in touch on and off with Jemma, and Jemma's supervisor (whose name I've forgotten) contacts Elorna the day after Jemma disappears to ask what Elorna knew about Jemma's work. Elorna has other things on her mind, namely a huge Supreme Court magic IP case, the outcome of which will be announced on the day the story dawns.
But she's a true professional, so she takes on the work and conducts some serious investigation. While she's working hard and trying not to think about the case, a pair of National Security lawyers come in and warn her off the case in a very genteel-like way. They end up chatting about the case, and Elorna brushes it off. I'm not sure what should happen during the afternoon - the Supreme Court case comes down then - but during the evening she contacts a friend of hers from undergrad, a conspiracy nut, who meets with her at a vast, dusty library.
Elorna records their conversation with her futuristic blackberry, and when her friend wanders off for a moment to use the restroom (or something), she absently leaves it laying around somewhere conveniently nearby but not clearly visible - perhaps inside a stack of scientific journals. When friend doesn't return, she heaves an irritated sigh and goes to look for her. On the other hand, maybe she leaves it in the shelves near the journals she's reading.
And doesn't return before the janitor or library intern comes to re-shelve all the stuff she's taken out. JanIntern finds the blackberry and takes it. What shall be revealed from its contents??
This is classic sort of open-ended ending I love and a lot of readers hate. Alas. Now I have a week to write the story and post it for a flensing!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Contest - New Story
I think I've settled on a vague idea - but no more than that - for the story I want to write for the legal fiction competition I posted about a day or two ago. I want to set it in the Jemma universe and have it be from the POV of the Grienyte family lawyer (or one of them), whose mundane practice is turned upside down by her murder/disappearance/whatever. I already started writing bits of it in my head, and besides the plot, which remains a mystery to me, my main challenge is to make the protagonist a distinct character from Jemma. Actually, she could sound exactly like Jemma from the perspective of the judges, but I don't want to have One Stock Character I bring out whenever I write something original.
I'm thinking that Unnamed Lawyer is an intellectual property lawyer who specializes in magic business (which has a fancier name, after suggestions of critique group). This sounds awfully close to my own interests, but I promise that it actually works within the Jemma story. I'm thinking that Jemma pulled something along the very cliche lines of, "Send this story to the papers if I'm killed," but left something with her family's magic-specializing lawyer instead.
I already have a short tangent in mind about how the incorporation of magic into the legal codes and things finally spurred Congress or whomever to pass a law officially striking down the law against perpetuities. Okay, that might have to go, but the idea tickled me as I was thinking of it. The RAP is basically evil and complicated and stupid.
Anyway, the poor lawyer is bewildered by the wackiness that ensues, and I think that's where Unnamed Lawyer is going to differ from Jemma. Jemma was always pretty hyped up about what was going on, the point that my critique group mentioned several times that she's on the verge of a heart attack, and Unnamed Lawyer is going to be the opposite - bewildered but really laid back about it. Hey, you don't put in your obligatory three years in BigLaw in magical law only to jump out of your skin every time you get a death threat.
So that's all I have for now. Plot still needs to be figured out, but I have a character I like and a universe I vaguely know, which is pretty good progress.
EDITED to add: Check this out! Etymology of the word "prestigious": 1546, "practicing illusion or magic, deceptive," from L. præstigious "full of tricks," from præstigiæ "juggler's tricks..." Oh, that's going in there.
I'm thinking that Unnamed Lawyer is an intellectual property lawyer who specializes in magic business (which has a fancier name, after suggestions of critique group). This sounds awfully close to my own interests, but I promise that it actually works within the Jemma story. I'm thinking that Jemma pulled something along the very cliche lines of, "Send this story to the papers if I'm killed," but left something with her family's magic-specializing lawyer instead.
I already have a short tangent in mind about how the incorporation of magic into the legal codes and things finally spurred Congress or whomever to pass a law officially striking down the law against perpetuities. Okay, that might have to go, but the idea tickled me as I was thinking of it. The RAP is basically evil and complicated and stupid.
Anyway, the poor lawyer is bewildered by the wackiness that ensues, and I think that's where Unnamed Lawyer is going to differ from Jemma. Jemma was always pretty hyped up about what was going on, the point that my critique group mentioned several times that she's on the verge of a heart attack, and Unnamed Lawyer is going to be the opposite - bewildered but really laid back about it. Hey, you don't put in your obligatory three years in BigLaw in magical law only to jump out of your skin every time you get a death threat.
So that's all I have for now. Plot still needs to be figured out, but I have a character I like and a universe I vaguely know, which is pretty good progress.
EDITED to add: Check this out! Etymology of the word "prestigious": 1546, "practicing illusion or magic, deceptive," from L. præstigious "full of tricks," from præstigiæ "juggler's tricks..." Oh, that's going in there.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Short story - summary
No post yesterday (counting this day as finished when I go to sleep) and no substantive post today, but I have an excuse - I've been writing the short story of Jemma and her unhappy adventures. I meant to post it to the workshop page today, but alas, my connection makes these things difficult. It is the roughest draft I have submitted to the group, and so I am more than a little nervous to put it out for their collectively keen and critical eye. But these things must be done, and I do embellish the critique for dramatic effect. It's invaluable criticism, even when I disagree with one point or another.
The story took a couple unexpected turns, but I was generally able to keep it within the very rough outline I had envisioned. I am least happy with the ending, but I cannot see how to change it without drastically altering the story - and adding far more to the end than I like. Not only does the ending make me nervous, but the style is much different from what I'm comfortable with. I'm trying to write suspense, and suspense does not come naturally to me.
Rough draft, I'll tell myself through gritted teeth as I smile through my flensing. Rough draft.
The story took a couple unexpected turns, but I was generally able to keep it within the very rough outline I had envisioned. I am least happy with the ending, but I cannot see how to change it without drastically altering the story - and adding far more to the end than I like. Not only does the ending make me nervous, but the style is much different from what I'm comfortable with. I'm trying to write suspense, and suspense does not come naturally to me.
Rough draft, I'll tell myself through gritted teeth as I smile through my flensing. Rough draft.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Story Building - character interview
I'm coming down to the final couple days before posting the story I want to workshop. I'm still torn between a short story I already have written, which I must extensively revise and one of the stories I mentioned here. So in order to flesh out the latter story a bit more, it's time for another character interview! Same questions as last time.
The character is Jemma Grienyte, of the to-be-named short story where science meets magic and all goes horribly wrong.
1. What do you do for a living?
I'm a PhD student working on my thesis in magiphysic cosmology, and I get by on the pittance paid to me by the university laboratory for working as a petty rune smith. It's a little embarrassing.
2. Are any other people living with you? Who are they?
I have a roommate, another graduate student. She and I hardly see each other, but she seems nice. We've gone out for drinks a couple times, and we usually order take-out a couple times a month while we unwind for just enough time to watch a movie. She's a grad student in linguistics, so her field is as unintelligible to me as mine is to hers.
3. Tell me about your parents. How well do/did you get along with them
I get along fine with my parents, but I think they're eternally bewildered by my choice of occupation. They are both renowned grand rune smiths, and while they're proud of me for the degree I'm aiming for, they don't really know what to say to me. I guess we've grown apart.
4. What was your birth order? How many siblings did you have? Older? Younger?
I have younger twin sisters who are both in the family business. Every Grienyte is in the family business.
5. Who else was in your family while you were growing up? How did you get along with them?
Just my parents and my sisters. My extended family is almost exclusively made up of more rune smiths, though it becomes a bit awkward when certain households are much farther up in the professional hierarchy. It was a world that always surrounded me growing up, and I never wanted to stay in it.
6. What were three things you liked to do when you were a child?
I liked to get out of the house above anything, especially to go play by myself. I liked asking "why" questions to the point of irritating the adults around me. When I was a little bit older, I liked horrifying my parents by smoking.
7. What were you afraid of when you were a child?
I was afraid of ending up in the same world as my parents, where everything revolves around runes and magic and professional rivalries that get really dangerous. But on a more normal note, I was really afraid of my closet at night.
8. How did you respond to the physiological and psychological changes in your life as a teenager?
I did stupid teenage things - I smoked, I went to parties with friends where we smoked illegal substances, I drank with the same friends, I drove too fast. Looking back, I'm not sure if I did these things to horrify my parents, to spur them to kick me out of the house, or just to get their attention. It might have been all of them.
9. What makes you happy now?
I love getting first crack at the test results.
10. What is your greatest fear?
That the whole of my contribution to magiphysic cosmology will be my petty rune work.
11. What would you change about yourself if you could?
If I excised my affinity with runes, I suppose I wouldn't have this job. I guess I would stop worrying about the future and my place in it so much and enjoy the opportunities I have.
12. What is it that you have never told anyone?
I only took magiphysics so I could retain some link with my parents and the rest of my family. I was a little bit vexed when it turned out to be so interesting.
13. What do you want?
To finish my thesis! To understand the test results! To explain the interaction between magic and science with one grand sweeping theory. And I want my parents to ask about what I'm doing.
Hmm, this was not quite as revelatory as my prior interview was, though I suspect that's because I knew far more about Jemma going into this than I knew about Seaton prior to that interview. Still, I'm excited for this story. If I could bang out the whole thing in two days, I would post it a biiiit later than I should, but it would be thrilling to have a whole new story.
The character is Jemma Grienyte, of the to-be-named short story where science meets magic and all goes horribly wrong.
1. What do you do for a living?
I'm a PhD student working on my thesis in magiphysic cosmology, and I get by on the pittance paid to me by the university laboratory for working as a petty rune smith. It's a little embarrassing.
2. Are any other people living with you? Who are they?
I have a roommate, another graduate student. She and I hardly see each other, but she seems nice. We've gone out for drinks a couple times, and we usually order take-out a couple times a month while we unwind for just enough time to watch a movie. She's a grad student in linguistics, so her field is as unintelligible to me as mine is to hers.
3. Tell me about your parents. How well do/did you get along with them
I get along fine with my parents, but I think they're eternally bewildered by my choice of occupation. They are both renowned grand rune smiths, and while they're proud of me for the degree I'm aiming for, they don't really know what to say to me. I guess we've grown apart.
4. What was your birth order? How many siblings did you have? Older? Younger?
I have younger twin sisters who are both in the family business. Every Grienyte is in the family business.
5. Who else was in your family while you were growing up? How did you get along with them?
Just my parents and my sisters. My extended family is almost exclusively made up of more rune smiths, though it becomes a bit awkward when certain households are much farther up in the professional hierarchy. It was a world that always surrounded me growing up, and I never wanted to stay in it.
6. What were three things you liked to do when you were a child?
I liked to get out of the house above anything, especially to go play by myself. I liked asking "why" questions to the point of irritating the adults around me. When I was a little bit older, I liked horrifying my parents by smoking.
7. What were you afraid of when you were a child?
I was afraid of ending up in the same world as my parents, where everything revolves around runes and magic and professional rivalries that get really dangerous. But on a more normal note, I was really afraid of my closet at night.
8. How did you respond to the physiological and psychological changes in your life as a teenager?
I did stupid teenage things - I smoked, I went to parties with friends where we smoked illegal substances, I drank with the same friends, I drove too fast. Looking back, I'm not sure if I did these things to horrify my parents, to spur them to kick me out of the house, or just to get their attention. It might have been all of them.
9. What makes you happy now?
I love getting first crack at the test results.
10. What is your greatest fear?
That the whole of my contribution to magiphysic cosmology will be my petty rune work.
11. What would you change about yourself if you could?
If I excised my affinity with runes, I suppose I wouldn't have this job. I guess I would stop worrying about the future and my place in it so much and enjoy the opportunities I have.
12. What is it that you have never told anyone?
I only took magiphysics so I could retain some link with my parents and the rest of my family. I was a little bit vexed when it turned out to be so interesting.
13. What do you want?
To finish my thesis! To understand the test results! To explain the interaction between magic and science with one grand sweeping theory. And I want my parents to ask about what I'm doing.
Hmm, this was not quite as revelatory as my prior interview was, though I suspect that's because I knew far more about Jemma going into this than I knew about Seaton prior to that interview. Still, I'm excited for this story. If I could bang out the whole thing in two days, I would post it a biiiit later than I should, but it would be thrilling to have a whole new story.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Short Story - Filling in the Blanks
I have two short stories on my mind tonight: the science/magic one, and one I have agreed to workshop for the writers group I belong to. I have a tendency to focus on the style of my writing and less on the plot, but the latter story was looked over by an actual professional editor and drastic changes were made at his request. He liked the finished product, but he couldn't use it after all because it did not fit with the tone of the rest of the stories in the anthology. I'll be very interested what the group has to say about it. I suppose I should submit the final version of it, even though I and a friend of mine prefer the first version.
Anyway, that shall be re-visited, but that would not make for an interesting entry, and I did mean to write something interesting tonight. Tonight I shall be fleshing out the science/magic story, and I was thinking about this as I was walking home from a bookstore. Sometimes on these walks I focus on the big picture, but sometimes I get stuck on little details. Tonight, it was little details.
The MC, whom I've tentatively named Jemma Grienyte, is working on her PhD magiphysic cosmology, known among the grad set as "astral physics." The working title of her thesis is "Angels on the Head of a String: the New Approach of Magiphysic Cosmology to the Age, Size and Composition of the Universe." While she's attempting to write this very ambitious work, she's working as an intern at something like the Large Hadron Collider of this Earth AU. It's rather more boring than the LHC, though - no chance of blowing up the planet. They're doing something scientific with lasers and such, except they're shooting the lasers through the center of a very simple but fairly powerful magical artifact.
Jemma wanted to work there so she could get the measurements as soon as they came out, but LHC wanted her because she has done a little bit of work in rune-smithing. Runes are what magical artifacts generally are called; no one actually draws runes on things anymore. They were found to be far too unstable, compared to actually cutting the artifacts and using more natural designs. That is, if you want to call for strength, for example, it's much more reliable to draw a simple tree than to draw the rune for it and hope your source is good.
Anyway, that's not important. See, all these details ensnare me, and I wanted to have something substantive in this post! Oh well, maybe I'll change gears and go with the detail flow tonight. I like to think that this rune v. picture (the technical term is hieroglyphics) debate raged on for centuries until scientists, doing something very similar to what LHC is doing now, proved that hieroglyphics yielded stabler runes than... well, runes.
So everyday, Jemma actually gets to go up to the LHC and touch (!!) the simple silver cube with the hole cut through the center to make sure the spell is holding steady. It's a very simple spell, just the charm all graduate students have somewhere in their rooms to encourage the flow of knowledge and creativity. The point isn't to measure the effects of a particular spell; it's to see how the lasers act differently, if they do at all, when run through this low-level but steady magical field. If the spell feels like it's waning - it wears out quickly because of the nature of the experiment - she takes her trusty little stylus and writes the spell on the cube again. The hiero is sort of a head and sort of a sun.
Her trusty stylus is just a piece of sharpened wood, about the size of a big novelty pen, with the sharpened end all charred. She renews it by wrapping the tip in the special herb blend, touching the whole thing to a special oil mix, and burning it just for a minute or so. She gets teased on occasion for carrying around a magic wand, and that is probably why her subconscious seized on the charred stick as her rune-smithing tool of choice.
Okay, this entry is getting to be quite long enough. Maybe I'll interview Jemma Grienyte for my next one!
Anyway, that shall be re-visited, but that would not make for an interesting entry, and I did mean to write something interesting tonight. Tonight I shall be fleshing out the science/magic story, and I was thinking about this as I was walking home from a bookstore. Sometimes on these walks I focus on the big picture, but sometimes I get stuck on little details. Tonight, it was little details.
The MC, whom I've tentatively named Jemma Grienyte, is working on her PhD magiphysic cosmology, known among the grad set as "astral physics." The working title of her thesis is "Angels on the Head of a String: the New Approach of Magiphysic Cosmology to the Age, Size and Composition of the Universe." While she's attempting to write this very ambitious work, she's working as an intern at something like the Large Hadron Collider of this Earth AU. It's rather more boring than the LHC, though - no chance of blowing up the planet. They're doing something scientific with lasers and such, except they're shooting the lasers through the center of a very simple but fairly powerful magical artifact.
Jemma wanted to work there so she could get the measurements as soon as they came out, but LHC wanted her because she has done a little bit of work in rune-smithing. Runes are what magical artifacts generally are called; no one actually draws runes on things anymore. They were found to be far too unstable, compared to actually cutting the artifacts and using more natural designs. That is, if you want to call for strength, for example, it's much more reliable to draw a simple tree than to draw the rune for it and hope your source is good.
Anyway, that's not important. See, all these details ensnare me, and I wanted to have something substantive in this post! Oh well, maybe I'll change gears and go with the detail flow tonight. I like to think that this rune v. picture (the technical term is hieroglyphics) debate raged on for centuries until scientists, doing something very similar to what LHC is doing now, proved that hieroglyphics yielded stabler runes than... well, runes.
So everyday, Jemma actually gets to go up to the LHC and touch (!!) the simple silver cube with the hole cut through the center to make sure the spell is holding steady. It's a very simple spell, just the charm all graduate students have somewhere in their rooms to encourage the flow of knowledge and creativity. The point isn't to measure the effects of a particular spell; it's to see how the lasers act differently, if they do at all, when run through this low-level but steady magical field. If the spell feels like it's waning - it wears out quickly because of the nature of the experiment - she takes her trusty little stylus and writes the spell on the cube again. The hiero is sort of a head and sort of a sun.
Her trusty stylus is just a piece of sharpened wood, about the size of a big novelty pen, with the sharpened end all charred. She renews it by wrapping the tip in the special herb blend, touching the whole thing to a special oil mix, and burning it just for a minute or so. She gets teased on occasion for carrying around a magic wand, and that is probably why her subconscious seized on the charred stick as her rune-smithing tool of choice.
Okay, this entry is getting to be quite long enough. Maybe I'll interview Jemma Grienyte for my next one!
Monday, January 19, 2009
General Writing - Description
Ah, description. Description is one of my favorite things to write (along with snappy dialogue and the rare, really touching interactions). I love reading it when it's well done, but when it's poorly done (at least in my opinion), it can drive me nuts. Because of this, I've shied away from writing a lot of description, especially when I feel I should be pushing myself to write more plot. Plot remains a weakness of mine, but that's another post. Description is, I think, a strength of mine, but if I keep shoving it to the back burner, it will become more and more rusty a tool.
My UFPE short story is the perfect vehicle for practicing this. The main character, L, is attending a sort of medieval carnival - the first such event he's ever attended. I'm trying to establish a sense of wonder, of confusion, of a kind of breathless joy - which all goes sour soon enough. That comes later.
Not much in the way of actual posting tonight; I'm writing this separately in the document. Just to act of forcing myself to take the time out of my reading schedule to write is the point of today's entry. Here's an excerpt, from the beginning
Anyway, the excerpt:
The world danced before his eyes and roiled in his ears. A girl held out her hands to him, and when he tentatively wrapped his fingers around hers, she pulled him close and whirled him in a circle. Luzeoir had the vague notion that he should have been the one whirling her, but the confident smile on her dark red lips and the tug of her arms convinced him that she knew what she was doing. It was fortunate, he reflected, that one of them did.
As the two of them whirled nearer to the torches, Luzeoir felt perspiration break out along his brow and along the long lines of his torso. A wave of dizzy heat crashed over him, from nearby fire, the bodies pressed close, and the chaotic frenzy that enclosed him. He took a deep, desperate breath, and tried to catch his partner’s eye to beg for escape. Her eyes wandered over the madcap scene before them, and when she did see him, she just smiled widely.
My UFPE short story is the perfect vehicle for practicing this. The main character, L, is attending a sort of medieval carnival - the first such event he's ever attended. I'm trying to establish a sense of wonder, of confusion, of a kind of breathless joy - which all goes sour soon enough. That comes later.
Not much in the way of actual posting tonight; I'm writing this separately in the document. Just to act of forcing myself to take the time out of my reading schedule to write is the point of today's entry. Here's an excerpt, from the beginning
Anyway, the excerpt:
The world danced before his eyes and roiled in his ears. A girl held out her hands to him, and when he tentatively wrapped his fingers around hers, she pulled him close and whirled him in a circle. Luzeoir had the vague notion that he should have been the one whirling her, but the confident smile on her dark red lips and the tug of her arms convinced him that she knew what she was doing. It was fortunate, he reflected, that one of them did.
As the two of them whirled nearer to the torches, Luzeoir felt perspiration break out along his brow and along the long lines of his torso. A wave of dizzy heat crashed over him, from nearby fire, the bodies pressed close, and the chaotic frenzy that enclosed him. He took a deep, desperate breath, and tried to catch his partner’s eye to beg for escape. Her eyes wandered over the madcap scene before them, and when she did see him, she just smiled widely.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Story Building - Another Short Story
I started the UFPE short story last night, and I like where it's headed. I need to work on the descriptions, which is funny considering that I usually have to restrain myself from letting description take over a story. I fear that I've restrained my sense of description so much that I've (temporarily, reversibly, I hope) stunted it a little.
That is not, however, the point of this entry, though I may address that in a future entry. Until an hour or so ago, that would have been the subject of today's post. I've had another idea for a short story, and I want to expand upon that instead. It came up during the discussion of a favorite novel of mine, speculation about how the state of things in that world came to be. The specifics are not important, but it got me thinking about an idea that could be the foundation for an original work of fiction.
The idea is this: a typical fantasy world eventually grows beyond its sword-and-spear level of weaponry technology, first to guns and then to bombs of increasing destructive capability. Pure practitioners of the magical arts look down upon these crude tools, of course, but there are always shills willing to sell their skills to the highest bidder. While the military has used magic in the past to enhance their weaponry, someone has the brilliant idea to create something along the lines of a magical atom bomb - technology and magic fully integrated to create a sort of deathly synergy.
R&D for this weapon starts to unravel tiny threads in the fabric of reality, perhaps interfering with whatever it is on the quantum level that allows magic to exist. It's not like real world physics, where an atom bomb isn't an atom bomb until the necessary pieces are put together; each piece of destructive magic created and tested bores little holes. On the level of killing individual people, even of razing a small village, these little holes are papered over in the grand scheme of things, perhaps by equally powerful acts of creation. But where the magic reaches further and further, with the idea of annihilating millions of people, the effects start to reverberate.
Meanwhile, a lowly graduate student at Magical Princeton is keeping an eye on boring experiments and starts noticing weird blips. Maybe these correspond to strange events happening in the real world. S/he eventually follows up and investigates and after much exhaustive research, not to mention ridicule from colleagues, traces it back to Magical Area 51. S/he confronts the military scientists with these findings, and...
Threats? Untimely death? Untimely death but not before Graduate Student has left incriminating notes behind?
I like to think that things become progressively worse and worse in this world, so clearly the military cannot take Grad Student's advice right off. Of course, the military must have good reasons for doing what it does; it has access to resources beyond Magical Princeton's, and perhaps it sees a threat even worse than its own assault on reality. Are Elder Ones from the outer reaches reaching their squamous tentacles toward Magical Earth? Or are the bad vibes the military is getting actually stem from the shocks of what they are undertaking now? Somehow both?
So how does the story end? I'm currently discussing this with that same friend. Okay, I have it settled. It ends with an article, of the WWN variety. It's a morbid ending but also a little bit funny and ultimately ambiguous. Does anyone take these guys down? Or do they successfully cover it up and laugh it off?
That is not, however, the point of this entry, though I may address that in a future entry. Until an hour or so ago, that would have been the subject of today's post. I've had another idea for a short story, and I want to expand upon that instead. It came up during the discussion of a favorite novel of mine, speculation about how the state of things in that world came to be. The specifics are not important, but it got me thinking about an idea that could be the foundation for an original work of fiction.
The idea is this: a typical fantasy world eventually grows beyond its sword-and-spear level of weaponry technology, first to guns and then to bombs of increasing destructive capability. Pure practitioners of the magical arts look down upon these crude tools, of course, but there are always shills willing to sell their skills to the highest bidder. While the military has used magic in the past to enhance their weaponry, someone has the brilliant idea to create something along the lines of a magical atom bomb - technology and magic fully integrated to create a sort of deathly synergy.
R&D for this weapon starts to unravel tiny threads in the fabric of reality, perhaps interfering with whatever it is on the quantum level that allows magic to exist. It's not like real world physics, where an atom bomb isn't an atom bomb until the necessary pieces are put together; each piece of destructive magic created and tested bores little holes. On the level of killing individual people, even of razing a small village, these little holes are papered over in the grand scheme of things, perhaps by equally powerful acts of creation. But where the magic reaches further and further, with the idea of annihilating millions of people, the effects start to reverberate.
Meanwhile, a lowly graduate student at Magical Princeton is keeping an eye on boring experiments and starts noticing weird blips. Maybe these correspond to strange events happening in the real world. S/he eventually follows up and investigates and after much exhaustive research, not to mention ridicule from colleagues, traces it back to Magical Area 51. S/he confronts the military scientists with these findings, and...
Threats? Untimely death? Untimely death but not before Graduate Student has left incriminating notes behind?
I like to think that things become progressively worse and worse in this world, so clearly the military cannot take Grad Student's advice right off. Of course, the military must have good reasons for doing what it does; it has access to resources beyond Magical Princeton's, and perhaps it sees a threat even worse than its own assault on reality. Are Elder Ones from the outer reaches reaching their squamous tentacles toward Magical Earth? Or are the bad vibes the military is getting actually stem from the shocks of what they are undertaking now? Somehow both?
So how does the story end? I'm currently discussing this with that same friend. Okay, I have it settled. It ends with an article, of the WWN variety. It's a morbid ending but also a little bit funny and ultimately ambiguous. Does anyone take these guys down? Or do they successfully cover it up and laugh it off?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Character Building - Short Story
Partly as a result of having started a book of short stories I received for Christmas, partly as a result of feeling guilty for not having anything to show to my writers group, and partly to dive back into this universe, I have decided that I want to write a short story in the UFPE world.
The MC is going to be the Bad Guy of the story, who is one of my favorite characters. During Volume II, he explains to Our Heroine that when he was younger, he left Bad Guy Nation and spent some time traveling. It strikes me that this is probably a formative period of his life and his development as a villain; as someone who is doomed by his bloodline to never be quite good enough for Bad Guy Nation (unless his plot comes to fruition), I have a hard time understanding why he turned around and chose to embrace them as fiercely as he does. Why not settle down with a nice girl who has no idea who he is, in a nice village (or city!) where he can have nice neighbors who don't care what sort of scandals a great-great-great ancestor of his got caught up in so long ago?
For that matter, how did Bad Guy Nation come to listen to him? Now that he's solidified his reputation as a leader - just not quite as powerful as he'd like - who is poised to bring Bad Guy Nation into total world domination, his compatriots are willing to overlook his bad blood, as long he doesn't try to claim supreme leadership. But why would anyone listen to him in the first place? As I think about it, I am becoming convinced that he pulled a Talented Mr. Ripley or similarly devious scheme, to arise to his preeminent position.
Like any despot, though, L did not begin life twirling a mustache. His family life was fairly normal, but their blood taint cut them off from society at large. He was not one of those children who tore the wings off flies; he just spent a lot of time alone and understood from a very young age why his family was politely shunned. He never heard any suggestion that this was unjust. I like the idea that, at some point, he or his parents expressed a hope that one day, their descendants might be accepted back into society.
In something of an ironic twist, it might be his sojourn into the outside world that convinces him that this is possible; ironic because his quest later on is to Destroy All Humans or something of the sort. When he leaves his home, he may believe he is leaving for good, but he returns with a renewed vigor. Is it a sense of self-confidence he never had? A learned skill for oration and the power of hawkish rhetoric? Does he learn something about his people that he can use to sway them? I think all of the above - and as he's conducting his research into the history of Bad Guy Nation, the Secret Society who plays a major role in this story learns about him and his special snowflake astrology that makes him their perfect tool.
So - a story of a young man who leaves his home with the idea of never returning there again, of starting life anew as an anonymous farmer in a faraway land. Something convinces him to return home and lead his people to the greatest glory they have ever known. I suppose that could almost be a novel in itself. I have an image of my head of this story beginning at a carnival in one of the great cities. L is almost swept up in the mad whirling chaos of the place when he comes across a charlatan, doing something to swindle people out of their money. It immediately jolts him out of the magic of the event, and he thinks sniffily that his people may be extraordinarily bigoted in their way but they would never cheat one another.
It's a good beginning. I'm not sure where to take it from there, though I have an idea or two. Someone is going to tell him that at events like that, everyone knows something like that will happen. It's human nature.
Yes, that's the key there.
"They come to these carnivals, knowing that they'll be cheated?"
Laughter. "Most people like to think that they are too smart to be swindled, but yes. It's the price we pay for our pleasures."
He doesn't understand. "It's exciting, but surely someone must see what that man really is. Why allow him to continue to ply his trade?"
"Everyone knows what he is. Everyone knows what Carnival is - watered-down drink, meat pies spiced heavily to cover the taste of spoilage, and woman rouged to look ten years younger. We know them, but really, they know us better than we know ourselves. They understand human nature intuitively. They know just how far they can go. When they call to us, we are helpless." More laughter. "If I could do it, boy, I can't say I wouldn't join them."
From this, L has the idea to learn about the nature of his own people, and how he can call to them.
Excellent! Another productive entry!
The MC is going to be the Bad Guy of the story, who is one of my favorite characters. During Volume II, he explains to Our Heroine that when he was younger, he left Bad Guy Nation and spent some time traveling. It strikes me that this is probably a formative period of his life and his development as a villain; as someone who is doomed by his bloodline to never be quite good enough for Bad Guy Nation (unless his plot comes to fruition), I have a hard time understanding why he turned around and chose to embrace them as fiercely as he does. Why not settle down with a nice girl who has no idea who he is, in a nice village (or city!) where he can have nice neighbors who don't care what sort of scandals a great-great-great ancestor of his got caught up in so long ago?
For that matter, how did Bad Guy Nation come to listen to him? Now that he's solidified his reputation as a leader - just not quite as powerful as he'd like - who is poised to bring Bad Guy Nation into total world domination, his compatriots are willing to overlook his bad blood, as long he doesn't try to claim supreme leadership. But why would anyone listen to him in the first place? As I think about it, I am becoming convinced that he pulled a Talented Mr. Ripley or similarly devious scheme, to arise to his preeminent position.
Like any despot, though, L did not begin life twirling a mustache. His family life was fairly normal, but their blood taint cut them off from society at large. He was not one of those children who tore the wings off flies; he just spent a lot of time alone and understood from a very young age why his family was politely shunned. He never heard any suggestion that this was unjust. I like the idea that, at some point, he or his parents expressed a hope that one day, their descendants might be accepted back into society.
In something of an ironic twist, it might be his sojourn into the outside world that convinces him that this is possible; ironic because his quest later on is to Destroy All Humans or something of the sort. When he leaves his home, he may believe he is leaving for good, but he returns with a renewed vigor. Is it a sense of self-confidence he never had? A learned skill for oration and the power of hawkish rhetoric? Does he learn something about his people that he can use to sway them? I think all of the above - and as he's conducting his research into the history of Bad Guy Nation, the Secret Society who plays a major role in this story learns about him and his special snowflake astrology that makes him their perfect tool.
So - a story of a young man who leaves his home with the idea of never returning there again, of starting life anew as an anonymous farmer in a faraway land. Something convinces him to return home and lead his people to the greatest glory they have ever known. I suppose that could almost be a novel in itself. I have an image of my head of this story beginning at a carnival in one of the great cities. L is almost swept up in the mad whirling chaos of the place when he comes across a charlatan, doing something to swindle people out of their money. It immediately jolts him out of the magic of the event, and he thinks sniffily that his people may be extraordinarily bigoted in their way but they would never cheat one another.
It's a good beginning. I'm not sure where to take it from there, though I have an idea or two. Someone is going to tell him that at events like that, everyone knows something like that will happen. It's human nature.
Yes, that's the key there.
"They come to these carnivals, knowing that they'll be cheated?"
Laughter. "Most people like to think that they are too smart to be swindled, but yes. It's the price we pay for our pleasures."
He doesn't understand. "It's exciting, but surely someone must see what that man really is. Why allow him to continue to ply his trade?"
"Everyone knows what he is. Everyone knows what Carnival is - watered-down drink, meat pies spiced heavily to cover the taste of spoilage, and woman rouged to look ten years younger. We know them, but really, they know us better than we know ourselves. They understand human nature intuitively. They know just how far they can go. When they call to us, we are helpless." More laughter. "If I could do it, boy, I can't say I wouldn't join them."
From this, L has the idea to learn about the nature of his own people, and how he can call to them.
Excellent! Another productive entry!
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