7 posts tagged “writing”
The shade of the aqueduct cleared a path through the wide swatches of sunlight, broken here and there where the workmanship had ruptured over the centuries. The harsh insect sounds of the desert scratched around the deep shadow, pausing only when the traveler passed through.
A
week of walking had taken him along miles of the structure. Always in its shadow, he walked through the
nights and days. The infrequent and
troubled rests lent his steps an occasional stagger. As the sun reached the curved edge of the
world on the last day of the journey, he gave up trying to keep to the shade and
stumbled alongside the time-eaten curve of the aqueduct. A scattering of other stones peered out from
the dust and sand alongside. Following
the path of the stones, he finally found the lake.
The land
dipped deep where the water had once been, leaving rings around the small
valley. At the edge of the first ring were the ruins of the city. The remnants of the aqueduct tapered into
them and ended amongst the rubble.
He followed his guide to its end and found a place to sit on one of the larger stones. Leaning up against the cooling rock face, he waited for the others to arrive.
I've been slacking. In general. I'm going to blame it on vampires. Not because they had much to do with it, but because it's fun to blame things that don't have any connection to the real causes.
About those vampires. Pants & my hubby were recently discussing the glut of crappy teen vampire books that are overwhelming the market. According to the Pants, I simply need to write some vampire trash to get my break in publishing! Genius, I say!
Well, I actually might or might not give that one a try. But I thought it would be nice to have a novel where the attractive, tortured male vampire has a younger vampire 'sibling' who is anything but attractive, athletic, sexy, emo, etc, etc, etc. A sibling who watches the classic vampire romance take place & gets to make commentary. Like if Edward from Twilight had someone who saw what a silly, over dramatic, whiner Edward really is. (Sorry, Pants, but that's how I feel about him). This person could try to talk sense into the girl who will inevitably have terrible things happen to her because she is so obsessed with the romance of her vampire romance. (Though, I doubt that this tactic would work. Have you ever tried to talk sense into a teenager in love with an idea?)
What a delight to have a character who could make snide comments on the vampire romance from inside the story. Because no matter how much we might enjoy the escapism of our teen vampire romances, there will always be that little voice in the back of our heads saying, "Really? Really?".
With the recent loss of my job and spare time aplenty, I’ve taken an opportunity to look over 5+ years of writing that is recorded on my computer. Freewriting, story ideas, chunks of larger works that have yet to be fitted together... and I’ve found reoccurring themes. Here they are, as promised to a couple of you. You'll laugh and nod at some of them, I'm sure. Perhaps you haven't seen some of the others before.
Where I like to be: mountains, forests, deserts. If the place has a name, it gets to develop a personality. Cities that are like spiders. Empires on the verge of collapse. Colonies, borderlands and (yes) crossroads. Sometimes snowing scenes overcrowded with strange shadows.
What I like to be: Canines, flying creatures, shapeshifters. Hybrids of mythology like Coyote who drives a park ranger jeep in the Rocky Mountains. Sometimes the undead.
When I like to be: The undying medieval settings, the end of the world, alternate histories. Even here and now, but never as it is here as now. At the beginning, but rarely at the end of a tale.
Who I like to be: mysterious strangers, messengers,
outcasts. Those who are not what they
seem, just like everyone else. People
who have a strong sense of purpose.
Those who search for purpose but always find it in the wrong place. The lost, angry, and driven. Those with a destiny to fight.
How I like to be: replete with symbols and omens, questioning the reality of each world, in pursuits or being pursued. Obsessed with meanings, especially the meaning of names. Wedged in the gray spaces between good and evil.
For anyone else who has the time or inclination – I’d love to see what themes you’d like to be. What are the themes in your writing, the books you read, the movies you watch, stories you tell in gaming, video games themselves, or anything of the like?
I've hardly even touched by blog or my writing this year so far. Sadness... and yet, I've had other creative endeavors to keep me occupied. The chief of which is the campaign I'm running for Myrddin, Sho, and (a little) for Indumar.
Crossroads. Sounds a little like an after-school special name, which I find hilarious. Filled to bursting with dOrange history: past, present, and even quite a bit for the future. It's allowed me a creative outlet for worldbuilding, character development, and general excitement about creating a great story. I love that what was going to be a little experimental Saturday game turned out to be such a strong tale with such fascinating players. Thanks to my PCs for making Crossroads so much more than I ever could have expected! I look forward to seeing where this "Empire Strikes Back" of dOrange goes before we have our tragically epic ending.
Here's a pic from the amazingness that is Ernie -- thanks for the great art, my friend!
Hey all my faithful reader types! In case you hadn't noticed from the permissions I gave you on GoogleDocs, Chapters 3 & 4 are now up! As usual, they're subject to editing and lots of changes.... but now you too can experience what comes next!
I've done some minor editing on 1 & 2 (and even some on 3 since I posted it yesterday). If you wants you can go back and check it out. More to come, hopefully! We'll have to get peepz together for another live reading like the one on Monday. ;)
Huzzah!!
So for those of you who are following the (very slow) progress of my writing, I'm planning on posting on Vox whenever I make a drastic update to the writing I have in Google Docs. If you're not amongst my readers and want to be added to the list of viewers, let me know. I'm only on Chapter One, so don't expect a lot right away!
Just remember - the Glossary contains spoilers, so don't read it unless you can't stand to wait (I'm looking at you, Pants!). Thanks so much for your patience, dear friends!
And here's the weekly update on the updates - I've been editing Chapter One slowly, constructing the glossary and outlining the main story arc chapter by chapter this week.
Obviously, there isn't much to update right now. I'm going to be starting on Chapter 2 as soon as I finished outlining the entire story. If you REALLY want spoilers, I can post the main story outline for you to read...
As most of you know, I've started writing again. It's a weird feeling to be able to sink back into it, but I'd forgotten how much I missed it. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been so supportive as I get started again. I'm posting stuff in Google Docs as I go, so if you want to see the latest bit I've come up with, let me know. Just bear in mind, most of it will be in draft form. ;)
An INFINITE amount of thanks to Dylan and the rest of dOrange (especially the Moreau crew) for letting me take their ideas and characters and shape them into something a little different. I'll do my very best. I'm looking forward to telling Aurelia's story. After that I'll get working on Amara's and Lina's.... and then perhaps we'll see what this will all culminate in....
