Chapter three! Sandy is truly a miracle girl, with a little prodding from her best rag doll. We also meet the mysterious Flops, have our first encounter with the Bundlish, and in general enjoy a fun vacation in the town of Cul-De-Sac!
(Disclaimer: Flops is not very mysterious.)
Chapter Three in .pdf format
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Random Memory
This memory just popped into my head, and it seemed interesting enough to share:
In middle school, my friend Billy and I loved the board game Diplomacy. We had just enough friends to put together a game sometimes. He and I were the best players, me because I had a knack for the strategy, and him because he was very good at the diplomatic angle. One day, after everyone sided with him again, I confronted a friend in frustration about why. Surely she knew that I would live up to the letter and spirit of my offer, while Billy would betray her the instant it was to his advantage. She agreed that she knew that both of those things were true, but she trusted him and not me.
That taught me a LOT about human thought.
In middle school, my friend Billy and I loved the board game Diplomacy. We had just enough friends to put together a game sometimes. He and I were the best players, me because I had a knack for the strategy, and him because he was very good at the diplomatic angle. One day, after everyone sided with him again, I confronted a friend in frustration about why. Surely she knew that I would live up to the letter and spirit of my offer, while Billy would betray her the instant it was to his advantage. She agreed that she knew that both of those things were true, but she trusted him and not me.
That taught me a LOT about human thought.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Nice Road You Got Here
Chapter two is done, and chapter three is already plotted out! Sandy's visit to Somewhere got off to a rocky start in chapter one, but she has a much better time in chapter two taking advantage of Here's transit system and meeting stone giants, fake sheep, and of course the Greater House Cuckoo.
Chapter two of A Sidekick's Tale, in .pdf format!
Chapter two of A Sidekick's Tale, in .pdf format!
Monday, October 14, 2013
The First Of A New Book!
Okay, so, I've mentioned this. The horror novel left me down. My book about candy, transformation, and passion is good, but completely not right for my mood now. I've been throwing around an idea for a new book, a classic 'Girl gets lost in a magic land' story in the Oz tradition - but told from the perspective of her sidekick. I've been getting pretty close to ready to write it, so I wrote the first chapter to give me a feel for the book that I could use to finish the outline.
...well, I loved writing it. I really, REALLY loved writing it. I feel so good right now. Just thinking about writing A Sidekick's Tale makes me happy. Also, it will be suitable for a much wider audience. So, have the first chapter!
A Sidekick's Tale, Chapter One in .pdf format
...well, I loved writing it. I really, REALLY loved writing it. I feel so good right now. Just thinking about writing A Sidekick's Tale makes me happy. Also, it will be suitable for a much wider audience. So, have the first chapter!
A Sidekick's Tale, Chapter One in .pdf format
The Last Of The Old
...for awhile, anyway! Probably. I am unlikely to continue the
currently-titled Lemon and Chocolate: An Alien Romance any time soon. I
will almost certainly make it my NEXT book. Reasons will be made
available momentarily. For now, I did finish Chapter Five, so you can
enjoy that if you're one of those people who enjoy things. (For
reference, Chapter Two was so big that I broke it up into Two, Three,
and Four. That's why this one is Five.)
Chapter Five in .pdf format
Chapter Five in .pdf format
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Random Book Review - The Golden Compass
So, I got into a discussion with someone about The Golden Compass. I think it was Ellie on Twitter. In the process, I realized I only read it once, and it's been years, and all I remember is the truly messed up ending. I figured I'd better reread it. It's a classic and a controversy, and it's good to read those for yourself.
Here is my review: Forget controversy. It's just not very well written. Here is an actual line of dialog from the main character:
'Oh, Pan, dear, I can't go on! I'm so frightened - and so tired - all this way, and I'm scared to death! I wish it was someone else instead of me, I do honestly!'
That may be the hokiest, least convincing, least realistic and most forced piece of dialog in any major novel. It has the emotional impact of soft cheese. In general, all the dialog sounds like a middle school drama play. All of the characters have this same stilted vocal pattern. On the very first page, I was pleased by the realism of a tween girl hiding in a closet to spy on important people because she hadn't through through the consequences, but then she discusses every detail of the moral decision involved with her pet, as if she were an adult.
Overall, characterization is very hit-or-miss. The narrator tells us at one point that Lyra for the first time evaluates herself, her own appearance and actions - and yet a couple of scenes back, she's evaluating which different disguises she can pull off, based on her age and social group.
Oh, yeah, social group. When the children are held captive, the narrator comments that girls only hang out with girls, and boys only hang out with boys, and that's how they like it at that age. This is completely contradicted by Lyra's street urchin antics at the beginning of the book. All these kids come from similar backgrounds, which are depicted clearly as having boys and girls playing together. There's a lot of convenient plot twists, too. In an exposition heavy book, Lyra's father has the ability to wish for things and they show up, which isn't explained. It's just something he can do, apparently because he's a Great Man. The snow bridge which forced Lyra to leave behind her polar bear protector for the final confrontation got an especially mortified facepalm. The book is full of this stuff.
I'm hoping the author learned something writing the first book, and the next two will be better. The basic story is actually pretty neat. I can kinda see the source of religious outrage as well. The moral of the book is not that god is evil. That's just a plot choice. The moral the book pushes is that the things we repress as 'sin' are good things that help us survive and be happy. That could be taken as pretty anti-religious.
Here is my review: Forget controversy. It's just not very well written. Here is an actual line of dialog from the main character:
'Oh, Pan, dear, I can't go on! I'm so frightened - and so tired - all this way, and I'm scared to death! I wish it was someone else instead of me, I do honestly!'
That may be the hokiest, least convincing, least realistic and most forced piece of dialog in any major novel. It has the emotional impact of soft cheese. In general, all the dialog sounds like a middle school drama play. All of the characters have this same stilted vocal pattern. On the very first page, I was pleased by the realism of a tween girl hiding in a closet to spy on important people because she hadn't through through the consequences, but then she discusses every detail of the moral decision involved with her pet, as if she were an adult.
Overall, characterization is very hit-or-miss. The narrator tells us at one point that Lyra for the first time evaluates herself, her own appearance and actions - and yet a couple of scenes back, she's evaluating which different disguises she can pull off, based on her age and social group.
Oh, yeah, social group. When the children are held captive, the narrator comments that girls only hang out with girls, and boys only hang out with boys, and that's how they like it at that age. This is completely contradicted by Lyra's street urchin antics at the beginning of the book. All these kids come from similar backgrounds, which are depicted clearly as having boys and girls playing together. There's a lot of convenient plot twists, too. In an exposition heavy book, Lyra's father has the ability to wish for things and they show up, which isn't explained. It's just something he can do, apparently because he's a Great Man. The snow bridge which forced Lyra to leave behind her polar bear protector for the final confrontation got an especially mortified facepalm. The book is full of this stuff.
I'm hoping the author learned something writing the first book, and the next two will be better. The basic story is actually pretty neat. I can kinda see the source of religious outrage as well. The moral of the book is not that god is evil. That's just a plot choice. The moral the book pushes is that the things we repress as 'sin' are good things that help us survive and be happy. That could be taken as pretty anti-religious.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
'Cadbury Porn meets the Terminator Bunny'
That was the description given to chapter one of Metal, Candy, Flesh (I do need a better title) by my local writer's group. It felt good that they liked the weirdness. The horror novel thing fell through in the most painful way possible, and it's taken me a couple of weeks to get back on my feet.
Now that I'm here, the good news is that Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm A Supervillain is finished editing, and I've been asked for ideas about cover art! The reorganization seems to have worked. Curiosity Quills is much more efficient now. That's good news for me - I can't wait to see that book officially released. You will all love it, trust me. It's my lightest, friendliest book, but it's a whole lot of fun.
Metal, Candy, Flesh on the other extremity is weird. With any luck, you'll love it as well. I think it's time to find out!
Here's chapter one in PDF format
And here's chapter two in PDF format
Oh, and despite the description, there is no sex in either of these chapters, and I'm not planning on anything explicit in the finished book.
Now that I'm here, the good news is that Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm A Supervillain is finished editing, and I've been asked for ideas about cover art! The reorganization seems to have worked. Curiosity Quills is much more efficient now. That's good news for me - I can't wait to see that book officially released. You will all love it, trust me. It's my lightest, friendliest book, but it's a whole lot of fun.
Metal, Candy, Flesh on the other extremity is weird. With any luck, you'll love it as well. I think it's time to find out!
Here's chapter one in PDF format
And here's chapter two in PDF format
Oh, and despite the description, there is no sex in either of these chapters, and I'm not planning on anything explicit in the finished book.
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