In Odds and Ends #17 my Patrons will find Roger Zelazny, a lot of crime novels and graphic novels, a handbook for game designers, a bunch of hot librarians and a steampunk version of F1 racing.
Because it’s good to be My Patrons.
Probably.
Why is it that good ideas always come when our schedule is completely full? I think it’s because our brain, as we are working hard on a couple of projects, shifts gear, so to speak, and generates a surplus of ideas. Talk about hyperactive imagination.
So last night, while I was taking a break after dinner, I did the only thing one can do in such a situation – I opened a Scrivener file, I gave the thing a title, and typed a general idea and then a tentative outline for something that would work great as a novel, if only I had the time to write it.
It is indeed an idea, for what I would call a folk horror, that has been tumbling through the dark (and deserted) corridors of my brain for a while now, but as it usually happens, now some bits and pieces have clicked together. What I don’t have is time.
But as I was putting all the bits and pieces together to save for later, I also noted down a few links and stuff for background research.
I was quite surprised at how nicely the ancient goddess Cybele (aka Kubaba, aka the Magna Mater) fits my plan – and I found quite funny the bit on Wikipedia that says…
In Greece, Cybele met with a mixed reception.
Sort of like a rock band or an art movie.
On the plus side, having stuff I want to write makes me more focused on what I need to write – and helps me work faster, better (hopefully) and with a stronger motivation.
On the 19th of October 1903, at the Princess Theater in Manchester (UK), Ellen Terry opened as Beatrice in Bill Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, that happens to be one of my two favorite Shakespearean plays, but this is another story.
Admittedly, a Beatrice somewhat long in the tooth, considering that Terry was born in 1847 and was therefore 56 years old at the time.
This bit of information is particularly interesting because I am writing a story – called The Adventure of the Manchester Mummies – set (also) in Manchester in the late autumn of 1903 – and knowing that Ellen Terry was in town with a Shakespeare play has absolutely nothing to do with the story I am writing, and I doubt I will ever use the information, but is the sort of strange fact that surfaces while one is looking for something completely different – train timetables, in this case.
Continue readingThe 16th issue of Odds & Ends my Patrons are reading right now features zen koans and Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a short cartoon and a serialized novel, the Top 10 of the ancients and a heady mix of jazz and noir.
Because it is good to be my Patrons (or so they say).
Today I found a hole in Wikipedia. Nothing major, but enough to derail my research work for the better part of this morning. I had to dig out old books and cross-reference information to determine not only what the hole was about, but also what should have been in place of the nothing the hole represented.
I’ve been commissioned a short historical article about two women that lived in Turin in the 17th and 19th century respectively. They belonged to the same family, and lived in the same building, but were extremely different for personality and personal history. So I was looking for historical detail to define their actual relationship and to build some kind of bridge between the two. I needed something that could fit two paragraphs and join the two personal histories.
Continue readingMy weird western story is done, in first draft: two sessions, about four hours, 1600 words – which is fine, considering the call is for stories between 1000 and 5000. This call was different than usual, because it asked for a story to fit a pre-existing setting – it came with a set of characters, a place, a bit of background.
It’s hard, but I like working this way, once in a while – it’s a good exercise, it’s good for discipline.
Also, considering the proposed rate of payment, I needed to make it fast, or it would become anti-economic.
I guess I did it.
Now I’ll let it rest for the night, and have a go at it tomorrow morning – a little editing, and an extra 200/300 words because there is a point I know needs some expanding for both structural and narrative reasons. I’ll add a scene, and balance the story. Add some flavor too.
Maybe 150 words to cut, also.
And I’ll need to find it a title.
And then it’s off to the editor, and fingers crossed.
It’s not my usual kind of story, but it has potential.
All I can do is wait and see.
But it’s been a good day, despite the rough dinner and the day-long wind and rain.
The 15th Odds and Ends has just been posted to my Patrons, just in time for Easter. This week: a great post-cyberpunk thriller for 99 cents (in Italian!), a stack of science books for real cheap, a whole world dominated by birds, a collection of Hobbit recipes, an article about the late Gene Wolfe and a short movie about the end of the world.
Because it’s good to be my patrons.
Karavansara 