Twiddling My Thumbs

While I'm sitting here without access to my MSO 2003 docs, the only thing I can really do is think up more stories. So I've thought up a romance based on Zechariah Sitchin's controversial theories about the origins of the gods, human beings, civilization on Earth, whatever. Whether his theories are valid is not within my purview, but what is within my purview is that they make for a hell of a good story.

I'm still fleshing out the synopsis, but essentially it's about a high priestess in Ishtar's temple in the Sumerian city of Uruk who is forced to leave her beloved home in order to tend a technologically advanced outpost in the northlands where she eventually falls in love with the village's barbarian chieftain.

The only scene I'm certain of is where he rapes her. Or is it really rape? I'll let the reader decide.

Stay tuned on this one. It might actually sell.

You're Not Gonna Believe What Happened...

...so I won't tell you. Suffice it to say it's almost enough to make me think about embracing the Luddite movement.

If you don't know what a Luddite is, you are either a) young, or b) unread, or c) both.

On The Road Again

Up and running with the new computer. Unbelievable that it came today. I wasn't expecting it until Friday.

I'll have to think of a name for it.

So Dr. Compaq's been lobotomized, and its brain installed in the new kid. Thanks to my geek friend who allowed me to watch him work and ask a lot of stupid questions.

Urban Lexicon

Went to the bookstore a couple of weeks ago to buy one of those uber-expensive catalogs for writers like me on that vertical climb to publication. While I was there, I picked up two more little books entitled "urban dictionary", which, I think, pretty much speaks for itself. The books grew out of a website created by Aaron Peckham, at urbandictionary.com. The content is created by submissions of words/phrases and the definitions for same by people worldwide. In turn, the word/phrase/def are voted on by other users. If a word/phrase gets enough votes, it becomes official. So check it an' get yo' sef some mad street cred. Holla!

Anyway, you can imagine that there are lots of words/phrases having to do with blogs and bloggers. I, for example, am not a member of the "blogging class", since my blog has nothing to do with my personal opinions of a sociopolitical nature. Well, not overtly, anyway.

But I'll admit to sometimes writing a blog entry just for the sake of posting something, not because it's interesting or anything like that. The purpose of my blogging exercise is, according to legend, to build an audience for my fiction so I can say to a publisher "if you publish my book, they will read it and you will make (or at least not lose) money."

Posts of this nature are called "blogorrhea."

I believe this one qualifies. Damn skippy.

Uncrash!

Looks like Dr. Compaq isn't FUBAR after all.

But I gotta question. If you get a new computer, does like, Comcast or whomever have to come out and hook it up to the 'net? Guess I'd better call...wonder how long I'll be on hold this time.

Okay. New title. The Underground. Here's a summary of the story in one sentence:

A ruthless mage and a sadistic vampire’s ambitions to rule Seattle are threatened after the key to their plan, a rebellious werewolf, meets and then falls for a kick-butt, amnesiac space alien who might be a vicious serial killer.

Not too shabby, I think. A sprawling, damned near 400 page manuscript reduced to 39 words.

Know what? It's hard as hell to do. And I wrote the freakin' story!

Crash!

The title says it all. I think Dr. Compaq's really FUBAR this time.

This one is a spare I use for graphics. It's a Mac. You know, it's hard to believe MS and Apple haven't gotten this straight. The Word programs don't talk to one another. Sure, Mac can read PC, but the formatting is lost. And PC can't read Mac at all.

How annoying.

P.S. If Dr. Compaq isn't FUBAR, then I suppose I'll use it as a spare since I already ordered a new box online. So let's see, that's a spare Compaq, a spare Mac, a spare Dell...an embarrassment of computers.

A Tale Of Two Stories

So I've finished the first draft of Chapter 7, and it got me thinking. As I told you earlier, there are two "versions" of JC floating about, a space opera mostly in my head and another based on Earth that's being committed to paper, so to speak. I'd always thought of the entire story as a three-parter, but now I think it might be two. That means a number of issues that I'd originally thought would be resolved in the third book will most likely have to be resolved here. Like Kurt's love for Parker. I'd thought at one point it'd be consummated, and maybe it would have been in another galaxy, but it can't be done if they're still on Earth, because the timeline won't permit it. And the odd little relationship that developed between Kurt and Melera in the space-based version of JC will have to be dropped.

Oh yes, I know...just write the space opera using different identities to protect the guilty. It just feels odd, somehow.

Now for some real news. I'm going to be reading at the Capclave Con in Rockville, MD in October, and at Philcon (Philadelphia, PA of course) in November. Don't know what I'll read yet--it really depends on how much time I have. Either way, I'm going to have a ball.

See you there!