I’ve updated Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea Dome on the previews page to say 2013. Obviously I’m not going to have it done in 2012.
I’m at a point where for some reason, I’m just having a hard time getting the words out for this book. This despite the fact that I’ve got the whole thing plotted completely out. However, since all the books in the previews page now say coming in 2013, I’ve decided I’ll just work on whatever I feel like when I feel like it.
I didn’t get a lot of Christmas presents, because there wasn’t much I wanted or needed. My wife agreed not to buy each other anything this year– though we both cheated slightly. She bought me a belt and I bought her a compost bin! But my son and daughter pitched in together and bought me a Dark Knight Returns action figure set– totally unexpected to say the least, but I love it. It is sitting right above me on my desk. If you haven’t read or seen the animated version of The Dark Knight Returns part 1 (not to be confused with The Dark Knight Rises), you should check it out. Part 2 of the animated movie comes out in January, I think. I like it for no other reason than Superman and Batman, in it, are about my own age.
Mark Coker, founder and head of Smashwords, has posted his predictions for the publishing industry in 2013. He has a pretty good track record for his past predictions. Check them out here.
I’ve been thinking about lowering my presence on social media sites. I have been maintaining a Facebook page for each of my stories, and I do get a few visitors to those pages, and people “liking” them. But I don’t really think it’s worth the time and effort. I don’t think it’s driving sales and very few people comment. It’s also a pain in the butt to keep up with the user agreements and privacy policies.
On the other hand, here at my blog, I’m getting feedback and many visitors each month. I will of course maintain this site, regardless of what I do anywhere else. I’ve been blogging for coming up on five years (having missed only one day, I think) and it continues to be fun.
On the personal side, I’ve already cancelled my Instagram account, and I’m losing my interest in Pinteresting things. If it weren’t for the fact that some of my friends and relatives have contact with me only through Facebook, I would probably stop visiting it. Facebook really turns out to be a place where you discover why you never kept in contact with most people in the first place. On the other hand, those people I’ve “friended” that I would like to hear from more often, tend to seldom if ever log on.
My son and I went and saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey the other night. Now keep in mind that I am a big fan of Peter Jackson and of Martin Freeman and Ian McKellan (if you haven’t seen his Richard III, you should), and a bunch of other people in the movie. I thought the movie was very good and well worth seeing. It was also too long, overindulgent, a bit silly in parts. If you liked Lord of the Rings though, go see it. Otherwise, wait till it’s out on video.
One other thing that I noticed was that there were six previews before the movie and five of them were for space/science fiction movies. I remember when I was a kid and had to wait years between sci-fi flicks, so I love this. I’m really happy that sci-fi has come into it’s own, just as I was with fantasy. I remember when the only fantasy books in the bookstore were Lord of the Rings and Conan. Now, it’s half the (online) bookstore.
82 Eridani: Journey is going to be the first book in a seven book series. I was kind of inspired by Game of Thrones (which I have not read, but have watched). I thought “I need to write a story like Game of Thrones.” One filled with sex, violence, and violent sex; one based loosely on historical events; and one that plays out over a vast setting and over a multiple book series. Of course, there is already a Game of Thrones– so I’m not going to write it again. Besides, I want to tell my own stories, so instead of writing a fantasy story, I thought I would write a space/sci-fi series.
The first book, Journey, as the name implies, is all about the journey to the new solar system. There is a plot in the story of course, but it is also about introducing characters and themes that are continued throughout the series. Here are a few hints of what is included so far: genetic manipulation, robotics gone wild, adultery, serial murder, spying, and lots and lots of space sex (which is just sex, but in space).
I’ve had the basic outline for what is becomming 82 Eridani for about 10 years. The basic premise is a starship from Earth arriving in a distant solar system. The overall plot is based on events occuring during the exploration of America in the sixteenth century.
Originally I had planned my alien solar system to be Vega. I have read several great sci-fi stories that use Vega as their setting. But as I began thinking of the various things I wanted my setting to do, I thought that the one I had picked might not be quite right. I spent a few weeks reading about the stars in our Earth’s neighborhood, finally settling on 82 Eridani as my best choice.
Tomorrow, a little bit more about this story.
I read chapter four of 82 Eridani: Journey to my writers’ group last night and received generally favorable feedback. Writers’ groups are a great resource for any writer and mine “The Shared Word Writers’ Group,” despite being quite small, has been a great help to me.
I’ve shared the first four chapters, but I’ve written six so far. These are fairly long chapters and this will be one of my longer books– 4,000 word chapters x 30 chapters = 120,000 words. Of course, that’s just how I’ve plotted it. My books usually tend to end up shorter than originally planned. For instance, The Voyage of the Minotaur, The Drache Girl, and The Two Dragons were all plotted out at 125,000 words and they ended up being 110,000, 105,000, and 106,000 respectivley.
Stay tuned tomorrow, for a little background about the book.
Frosty and Rudolph
do not belong together.
They come from two distinct universes.
In Frosty’s world
children dance and sing
with animated snowmen,
policemen only yell ‘Stop!’
to prevent traffic accidents,
and even the meanest villain
can be appeased with a new magic kit.
In Rudolph’s world
children are capricious gremlins
who cast away toys with slight defects,
where even adult reindeer go out of their way
to exclude their physically challenged kin,
and the admissions boards of dental schools
routinely violate the civil rights of elves.
Yet here they are
Together
Sitting on a shelf in Blockbuster Video
Vying for my three dollars and ninety-nine cents.
City of Amathar 