Another Obscure S-List Writer
I do not want to live in a world where samizdat is the only way to learn things not in the official story. USA Today, Twitter, and Facebook either have never heard the term or think that world is a good one. They have the ability to make it so. In that case, I’ll publish it.
This week is Black Tape for a Blue Girl. I saw them live while Sam and Lisa were still married. Lisa was very pregnant. My biggest memory of that show was the DJ set after and Elysabeth Grant dancing in the crowd with the rest of us.
Time for another round of sharing. This time it is the opening to a short story I’m aiming to finish this week. The story was inspired by reading the complete collection of Elmore Leonard westerns and a favorite 60s folk song.
My father died at 73. I will be 54 in five weeks. If I live as long as him, I have twenty years left.
I came close to finishing up a new story whose working title is “The Trap”. It is science fiction horror in the same broad setting as ”The Visions of Cireb”. I am working towards having enough stories set in the growing Portuguese space empire to select the best for a collection of 6–8 stories whose length is 40,000 to 60,000 words.
So, here we are, a quarter of the way through The Illiad and we have characters I can support. I know the fate of all the major characters well beyond The Illiad for those who survive. Currently, it seems only Hector, his wife and son, and Helen whose fates are undeserved.
The idea was for 30 days to use a small set of sources picked according to Jeff Rient’s “Alchemical Proposal” to create an RPG setting from scratch. I never finished it, but I think I did make a few very creative elements. This is one of my favorites.
Writing 500 words only to learn I was wrong is one of the two substantial rewards of blogging. In writing an essay on a schedule, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, in my case I am forced to clarify my thoughts. I am also forced to stop when something new enters my thoughts and decide if it is worth clarifying.
It has been a long week. I got a first draft of a new short, “Fire Flowers”, completed. It is my second Leo and Zoe story. I also started working through the first draft of “Family Sword”, a short whose first draft I finished back in April. I am considering it for inclusion in the October newsletter, so if you’re interested in free short fiction subscribe now.
That is why I’m working on craft more than on getting items up and for sale. The Visions of Cireb is up. Putting it up was a huge milestone in terms of committing to the field, but now it is time to learn my craft, to learn my fundamentals.
