Tales from Doril

Somewhere, a snowy, wind-swept plain

2012-01-25T08:21:00.002-07:00

Crow: "Is it dead?"
Squirrel: "I dunno, it ain't movin! Whaddya think?"
Crow: "Maybe... They're pretty tricky. Poke it, why doncha"
Squirrel: "I ain't touchin it, it smells terrible! You poke it!"
Crow: (Hops around to the other side of the body) "Uh-uh. They're pretty tricky, might just be playing dead. Why don't you throw your acorn at it?"
Squirrel: "And waste a perfectly good acorn? No way!"
(The hand twitches)
Squirrel: "Aieeeee! I'm out of here, it's alive!"
Crow: "Nah, that's just a reflex. Go ahead, poke it!"
Squirrel: (over his shoulder as he scampers off in search of a tree) "No chance. See ya!"
(The hand twitches again) Crow flies up to the fence post. "Guess I'll wait around and see what happens"

(To be continued...)

October

2011-10-04T19:41:00.001-06:00

Writing continues to be on the back burner, the FAA has demanded far too much of my time and energy of late. However... Looks like the overtime trend is backing down as we enter the doldrums of travel season. Let's see what I can do to fire up the creativity, or at least crawl out from under the log...

I've actually joined the facebook world. Mostly to get in contact with long-lost relatives. It has been fun to see recent new pics uploaded from the other side of the world. Of late, while I've been trying to unwind after work, I'll share a pandora radio link to something new that's caught my interest. Otherwise, there's still a lot of junk that I can ignore...

Silly season approaches. IE, time for the loonies to come out and run for office. Ugh.

We've had a warmer than usual fall here in Colorado, averages more like the beginning of september rather than october. As a result, I'm still having to mow the lawn. Guess that's one good reason for the first snow of the year...

As I've mentioned, retirement looms. 12 or 18 months, depending on what happens with our retirement plan. Irma and I have talked about what we'll do with all the extra time. Consensus is, we're going to be busier than ever, but with good things. I know my writing attitude will improve, plus more time to just do what we want. Fly Fishing ranks high up on the to-do list. We've even talked about IFGS. I doubt I'll be bored.

Anyway... I always say, more to come. Perhaps I'll drag out some old D'oril tales to revisit, writing wise...

Clear skies,
Jim

Dog Days

2011-08-23T16:23:00.002-06:00

August. Last post, (I know, I'm sorry) was last June. Perhaps I can claim that July doesn't exist, since there's no blogging proof... ;-)

It's been a weird and difficult thunderstorm season at work. I've done little writing as a result, though I will admit to some wool-gathering about storyline ideas for Imperfect Hope. I've not given up on it, just sidelined it for a time. Same with Ole the Weatherman, ran into time issues. September will be better. I promise myself...

I did get selected to appear for jury duty. Conventional wisdom here at denver center is that Air traffic controllers never get past the first round of questions, assuming you even get selected. I can't think of another controller here that has actually served on a jury. So, summons in hand, I showed up at the courthouse, expecting a "thanks, we don't need your type here".

Surprise.

I ended up serving on a 4 day criminal trial. It was an eye-opener. At first (and probably like every other person on the jury) I felt like "Oh, great, what a burden. Lets get this over with"... Opening statements painted the defendant in a very bad light, and at first, it seemed like it was going to be easy. After all, the prosecution had numerous witnesses, a 911 call, police reports, and cell phone tapes to back up their claims. However, I was careful to not prejudge (even though the defendant "looked" like a thug...

My optimism for an easy verdict fell to pieces as the prosecutions first, "star" witness began to open her mouth.

In a nutshell, she contradicted herself several times in the first few minutes. She contradicted her statements to police minutes after the crime, she contradicted her later statements to investigators months later, and she even began disparaging the next upcoming prosecution witness before she even got to the stand.

There followed witness after witness whose statements the day of the "event" matched statements made to investigators over the next few months only rarely. The most believable testimony came from a 16 year old girl, who basically said to police the day of the event, and on the stand last week, "I didn't see a bat, there was a lot of chaos". She did tell investigators about a bat 6 months back, which backed up her mom's (Star witness #1) claims.

The 911 call was odd, in that for the first 30 seconds of the recording, the witness was calling everything out in real time... "He's chasing us with a bat... He just ran his car into a house... He's attacking my husband with his car..." The next 2 and a half minutes were a past-tense narrative. There was no vocal transition between the two stages of the call. Initial police reports, told of the witness claiming she made the call from the dead end street where the assault was taking place. She told investigators she made the call when the defendant first pulled out a bat. On the stand, her husband contradicted her statement by stating that "they made the call from the house".

There were many other discrepencies.

Defense witnesses, amusingly enough, consisted of police officers called to the scene.

Unfortunately, the DA (or ADA) was very articulate, and the public defender was much less so. When we the jury got the case, there were only two of us who had "reasonable doubt" about the prosecutions version of events that night.

Two days of logic presentation, argument, and discussion later, we found the defendant not guilty of the 5 most serious charges (including 3 felonious assault), and guilty of one count of "reckless endangerment" (Police found tire tracks of his car cutting across a lawn at high speed).

The "thug" began to cry when the 4th not-guilty verdict was read.

During the pre-trial brief, the judge defined reasonable doubt for us. Among the legal descriptions, she included the observation. "You can be assured that reasonable doubt exists when, two days after the trial, you wonder to yourself what really happened, or you have a bad "feeling" about your decision. (odd commentary from a judge at the time)".

I feel good about our decision. And, interestingly, I came away with a sense of accomplishment.

I won't discuss my feelings about the legal system in general, however. I'm still a cynic. Most of the time...

Clear skies,
Jim

June's bugs

2011-06-27T18:30:00.003-06:00

Another month almost gone. I'll not bore you with more tales of FAA madness, suffice it to say that it's still an ugly summer thunderstorm season. Writing wise, however, I feel like it's time to get back to the future job. I suspect a week off from work last week has a lot to do with the improved morale.

We did go on a vacation last week, 8 days in Alaska, as well as attended our nieces wedding while we were up there.. Not Irma or my first trip, but we brought along Claudia, Gerardo, and our 6 year old Granddaughter for their first Alaska experience. Tatiana (the granddaughter) was one Meghan's (the bride) flowergirls. It was both a wonderful wedding (though more than a little odd to be at the reception, nearing midnight, and still bright daylight (though the shadows were quite long)), and a great relaxing vacation. We stayed at a condo in Girdwood, beautiful, restful, with a mountain stream burbling outside our balcony. I'll post some pictures in the near future.

Among the highlights (beside the wedding), we took a day cruise out of Seward into the Kenai Fjords national Park. Even with a little drizzle, it was a great day, saw sea otter within 5 minutes of leaving the dock, Orca, Porpoise, Humpback Whales, innumerable sea birds, including Puffins too stuffed with fish to get airborne, and house sized hunks of ice falling off the Holgate Glacier. It was exhilarating.

Of course, we ate far too much (even cooking in the condo a couple of times), but hey, that's what vacation is for. If any of you are ever in Anchorage, and crave pizza, however, I'll strongly recommend Moose Tooth, probably the best pizza I've eaten. It didn't hurt that he brews his own microbrews and sells (half-gallon?) sized growlers to take home with you. Yummm. Wonder if they deliver to Longmont...

Anyway, as always more to come.

Clear skies,
Jim

June? Already?

2011-06-09T15:15:00.002-06:00

Okay, somebody stole May. I blinked, and it was gone. Local police have no suspects, but I have a feeling that it was either the illuminati, or the Boulder County Commissioners. Either way, I'll never get it back now...

     Work at the FAA has been brutal, our thunderstorm season hit early, and the patterns we've faced have been ugly. Nothing like a line of thunderstorms 600 miles long to mess up the system. I have had an opportunity to see the control room from a different viewpoint lately...

     I work on a crew that butts up against a senior crew on one end, and a junior crew on the other. I'm senior on my crew, could have been on the senior (A) crew, but chose to avoid working mids and hence selected B crew. That means that one night a week (Tuesday), I'm working with more experienced controllers, and on Wednesday I work with mostly junior. The way the evenings run on either day show the differences between 20 years experience, and 7.

     Tuesday nights, when we've had bad weather, we've gotten through with much less drama and panic and screaming than similar weather on Wednesday nights. It's not that the senior controllers are all that much better, individually, the b crew controllers are almost as skilled with routine operations. The experience shows as the senior controllers handle the pressure, coordinate with each other, and keep coming back for another round. The juniors get clobbered, and tend to be gun-shy the rest of the night.

     There are other differences, junior controllers tend to use one or two main "outs" when confronted with a difficult situation, senior controllers have a much larger 'bag of tricks'. Sometimes the one or two outs that the junior has learned just can't be applied. Also, senior controllers work faster, even though they speak more slowly (which increases pilot comprehension and hence reduces repeating instructions).

     On the other hand, the junior controllers aren't jaded. They'll come back the next day fresh and ready to try it again. Senior controllers have a "been here, done it too many times before, gonna get clobbered again and it's gonna hurt, oh well.." almost Eeyore-ish attitude to another day of thunderstorms.

     Anyway... One year, ten months... Not that I'm counting...

TTFN
Jim

sleeping addenda

2011-04-30T07:24:00.003-06:00

Good Morning, I'm well rested and ready to go... Uhhhh. At least, as much as possible when my sleep schedule has been disrupted for 23 years...

I won't blather on about the current ATC crisis much more, but at least the news media is finally recognizing something I've said for five plus years, there's a shortage of conrollers now, and it's going to get worse. I did want to comment on sleep-gate one more time. Our fearless leaders continue to nod their heads at the media ("yes, yes, safety was never compromised, we're addressing the problems, don't worry, those lazy-ass controllers will be dealt with...") This in the face of more and more evidence showing up as to how fearless leaders have ignored the problem for 25 years+.

I recently read an opinion piece that seems to address the problem from a reasonable and intelligent point of view. Charles A. Czeisler, Ph.D., M.D., is Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine and director of the Divisions of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, he posted an opinion on CNN referring to his long history with the FAA and sleep studies. The full text of his article is ... http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/26/czeisler.sleep.air.traffic.controllers/

Some of the key points he addresses are that he advocated reforms to the FAA's controller schedules way back in 1983. Ignored by our administrators. In 1989, the NTSB (national transportation safety board) cited the FAA's response to air traffic controller fatigue as "unacceptable". In 2001, an advisory committee recommended schedule reform and fatigue management programs. Ignored. In 2007, the NTSB strongly recommended the FAA change it's scheduling practices and implement the fatigue management programs that had been recommended following a series of fatigue related air traffic control incidents. Ignored.

Now our FAA administrators are acting surprised at the revelation of tired air traffic controllers making mistakes.

I'm, sadly and cynically, not surprised.

Reading more on the sleep experts, I've come to realize that the fatigue that the article talks about seems to affects everything I do. My friends in the IFGS have often wondered why I poke my head up so rarely to join in on the fun and games, others observe that my schedule, though it gives me a full weekend off (except when I'm assigned mandatory overtime...), still seems to prevent me from socializing regularly. Irma's been a saint, more often than not we'll make plans and I'll back out at the last minute, mostly because of just a deep, probably subconscious, fatigue. I'm used to being tired at home, knowing that on my next shift, I've got to fire it up and be ready. It's been this way for 23 years. You get so used to it, you don't even notice it.

Announcement: Jim retires in 25 months. Mandatory. Even if the FAA changes the rules, I've decided. April 2013, I get my life back. Counting down.....

Who wants to help me plan the retirement party...

Here's to 2013...

TTFN
Jim

Time for a nap

2011-04-20T16:26:00.002-06:00

Probably a few of you have noticed the recent firestorm surrounding the actions of a few air traffic controllers of late (or more appropriately, the non-actions). As is typical, our friends in the media tend to bloviate without any understanding on what is really going on, as well as tend to jump on the "lets find any dirt we can on them as long as we're looking" bandwagon. Keep in mind, there have always been a few who screw up, in this case 3 or 4 controllers out of some 7000 nationwide. Some of you probably wonder what I think of all of this...

I'll tell you after my nap... ;-)

Seriously, the media is turning this into a circus (but hey, that's their job). The fact is that on a midnight shift, there are long periods of extreme boredom. Because of our short staffing, many facility managers have made the choice to reduce staffing on the midnight shifts in order to have more controllers on duty during the busy day and evening shifts. That's fine, except if you're one of the mid shifters who is stuck in the control room alone. (Thankfully, I don't work many mids, since I've the seniority to pick a better schedule most of the time)

Here's the recipe for the scandal, though. A few years back, one administrator or another, (who likely never worked a minute past his 6:00 pm work-day end), decided that the control room was filled with too many distractions on the midnight shift. Yes, the lone controller often brought a radio into the control room, perhaps he brought a crossword puzzle book to work on between flights through his sectors, maybe there was a chess set set up on the supervisor's desk for an adjacent area controller to swap moves with. Said this administrator, "BAD DOG, No biscuit! Get all distractions out of the control room". Now, the lone controller gets to sit in a semi-dark room, staring at empty radar screens, for hours at a time. Nobody to talk to, because the facility manager stripped the mid crew of staffing to avoid paying overtime on the day shift. No planes for dozens of minutes at a time. Absolute. Utter. Boredom.

Now, you stay awake at 2:00 am, during your second shift of the day.
Really! I mean it. Stay awake!
NOW! Stay awake, dammit.
Okay, your turn for a break, here's your relief. You have one hour before your next turn in the control room. Go ahead, watch tv. Read. But, DONT take a NAP, the public will see you sleeping while you're on the job. That will make the administrator look bad!
Back into the control room. Still no traffic. Stay awake some more. WOnder how long the coffee will keep you alert.
Repeat all night until the morning crew shows up at 6:00 am.

And that's in the center, where we staff 2 controllers for the shift, allowing them to alternate breaks. The small towers often only schedule 1 person all by themselves for the entire night. No breaks. No allowed distractions in the control room. Did I mention no breaks?

A few years back, we had three controllers working the mid shift here each night. Two would be in the control room at all times. That extra person isn't so much to handle the busy workload, instead he was there to help you stay awake.

There are logical solutions out there. Sleep experts will tell you that a power nap would make all the difference, pilots are allowed to alternate short naps while they are flying, so long as one of the flight crew up front is in charge of the plane. Firefighters don't sit up all night playing cards while waiting for an alarm, they have beds and they use them. Returning to an extra person on the mid shift would do wonders as well, having a second person in the control room at all times would pretty much eliminate controllers falling asleep at the sector.

Shame the administrators put a higher value on saving money rather than flying safety.

Anyway... This firestorm of media attention is, as usual, annoying, but in the words of my louisiana born and raised supervisor, "It don't mean a thang..." We'll keep grinding through the heavy traffic during the day with 33 percent fewer controllers than we really need, and the mid shifters will grind away at the boredom as best they can.

Otherwise, the country will stop flying.

Clear skies,
Jim

Spring Break

2011-04-08T13:43:00.003-06:00

Not the kind of spring break you may have been hoping for. I took a break from blogging in March. Work continues, writing continues, and soon we'll see how our government runs with all the non-essential personnel sent home because our leaders in Washington can't come up with a compromise. Cue the cynical boo's...

What comprises "non-essential" personnel? Among others, the folk who process the essential personnels paychecks. The ironic thing is, they'll go home for a week or two, and when they're called back in, they'll probably put in overtime to catch up. However, I'm willing to bet you they won't lose any pay for the time off, either. Just the way our govt works. Meanwhile, if this lasts more than one week, expect to see the "essential personnel" like the military or air traffic controllers face delayed paychecks. "No one to process them, sorry folks. Just keep showing up, and we'll pay you, eventually..."

Did I cue the cynical boo's yet?

Good thing our health care system isn't under this program. Oh... wait... More cynical boo's...

On the positive side, It's grillin season. Going to be doing some "Three Day, Margarita-chipotle ribs" soon. Mmmmmm.

TTFN,
Jim

Grinding away

2011-02-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

     I've been working (with my brother) on a short story for the Grantville Gazette these last couple of weeks. It is a different world working on a project for a targeted audience, inside a pre-defined world. I've actually been doing a fair amount of historical (or hysterical?) research as I go, trying to keep both characters and locale accurate, historically, as well as fictionally for the series 1632.

     We started by bouncing ideas off each other, looking for something that hasn't been done in the world yet, as well as trying to play to our strengths, we eventually started on "Ole the Weatherman" (Tentative Title). Ole, a norwegian student and part time fisherman, ends up learning how to forecast the weather. We'll see where it goes.

     On the research side, I've found it necessary to track some historical characters from that era, both those mentioned in previous books, and those as yet unknown. We eventually selected the historical character, Evangelista Toricelli, an Italian scholar and occasional correspondent of Galileo. Galileo played a part in the novel 1634 The Galileo Affair, which runs takes the up-timer Americans (from the future) to Venice and eventually Italy as Galileo's trial by the catholic church comes to a head. It's a good read, really well researched and fun.

      Toricelli eventually became known for inventing the Toricelli Barometer in 1643, but there is an interesting gap in his real history from 1631, when he wrote Galileo in support of his theories on planetary movement, just prior to his incarceration by the inquisition ("No-one expects..." <wince> (sorry, inside joke)) until his publication scientific papers and reappearance in 1641, when he returned to the public eye. We're going to take him from 1633 or so and run with it, having him end up in Germany, where he gets tapped by the future-americans to help establish a weather forecasting office. There are other twists we're working is, so... Stay tuned.

     Why a weather forecast unit? That has to do with my observation that in the series, though weather reports are mentioned by many writers, none have taken the time to define the how, where and why. Weather forecasting without computer models or satellite feeds was in real life far different that the forecasting we have now, and in the 1632 universe, that's exactly what they'll have to do. Though there was some beginning research into weather data back then, forecasting didn't really take off until much later, at least on a scale other than locally. We'll see if we can turn it into an interesting story.

     Imperfect Hope has been tabled for a while. However, it's not forgotten, and every so often I think of something and write a note to myself. A growing folder of random thoughts awaits me when Jeff and I finish our project.

At any rate...
CLear skies,
Jim

writing prompt and stuff.

2011-01-29T19:02:00.001-07:00

Hey, all.

     Took some much needed time off, Irma and I spent a couple of days up in Estes Park at the Stanley hotel to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Didn't do anything but rest, relax, and hike. We had really nice weather, warm for this time of the year, and normally windy this time of year Rocky Mountain National Park was clear, sunny, and not much below freezing, made for a really relaxing hike. We both came back refreshed, and I'm ready to write something.

     To get me in the mood, I dug out some writing prompts and tackled an amusing one, write a short bit from the point of view of a rope about to snap.

    “Shaddup, If I hear you groan one more time, Mast, I’m going to snap. You think you have it so tough, well let me tell you, mast, you don’t know what tension is.” Rope creaked as another gust of wind stretched him taut as the mainsail belled out under the growing gale winds.

    As soon as the gust let up, rope sagged for a moment. Under his breath, he mumbled to himself. “No respect. I’m pulled this way and that, and only time I ever get off is when I get so wound up my head’s tucked under my ass so tightly I can’t move an inch. Splashed with salt water. And so help me, if those stinking sailors smear that tar on me again, I, I, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

    “You think you got problems, Haul line? Try life as a belaying pin. Either I got you wrapped around my neck, or I’m plucked outta my hole and swung left and right smacking hard headed sailors about by the first mate. That’s right, discipline, rope. And you ain’t got it.”

    “Shaddup, I said, you and mast both.” Rope readied another curse, but fell silent as he caught sight of the rogue wave bearing down on ship. “Ohhh, man, this is gonna hurt.”, he said to himself, then shouted over the wind. “Hang on, fella’s, here it comes again...”

     The point of a writing prompt for me is to just write, don't edit, don't revise, so, there it is. Now to tackle something with more meat...

Clear skies,
Jim

Channel changed...

2011-01-22T20:28:00.001-07:00

     Well, I took my own advice, and changed my channel for a bit, I put Imperfect Hope on a back burner, and started fiddling with some ideas for a short story for the 1632 slush pile. I have jotted down a couple of IH ideas and filed them away with the rest of the stuff for when I get back to it, but otherwise, I've put a fair amount of effort into just clearing my mind of the logjam that had developed...

     Writing a short for the 1632 universe is a complete change of channels for me. Going from an entirely self-created universe to a shared world with some pretty exhaustive rules is a challenge. I read a fair amount on the ground rules for writing there, they all make sense, (and would make really good sense in a shared ifgs writing world). Major characters are "owned" by specific writers, new writers may petition to obtain rights to one of the 3000 or so "uptimers" known to have existed when Grantville jumped back to 1632, or may create any number of non-historical, non-major characters for their stories. Technology has major restrictions, for example, no airplanes were transferred back to 1632, so when the Grantville army needed an airplane for scouting, they had to cobble one together using a vw bug engine and a relatively primitive design.

     I've been bouncing ideas back and forth with my brother, comparing notes on "what we know", between my aviation background and his engineering background. Jeff had spent a fair amount of time working in the north sea, and so has met some unique characters both on the offshore oilrigs, and on the mainland itself. Me, I've dealt with aviation ups and downs, seen technology change over the last 23 years (oh so slowly in our bureaucracy), and handled many types of emergencies, from "ohgodfireinthecockpitwegottalandthisthingnowcentercanyouhearus" to an open-cockpit 1930's era restored monoplane stuck on top of solid cloud layers, no navigation equipment, and no holes in the clouds within 100 miles. The latter is something that just might translate to a good 1632 type story.

     See, the way I figure it, one of the biggest lacks in the down time of 1632 for aviation wanna-be's (after the shortage of reliable aircraft powerplants is addressed) is navigation and weather. No gps nav systems, no vor nav aids, no radio beacons. No satellite weather forecasts, no current upper wind readings, no dopplar radar. A pilot flying from point a to point b in 1635 will have to reinvent (or resurrect) dead reckoning navigation if he wants to fly in any kind of weather. Even flying visually, there will be very few roads to follow. Visual navigation will rely on geographic features, not terribly easy even in clear skies visibility 100 miles. If you've not flown somewhere before, you'll have almost no visual references to tell where you are, one small hamlet will look exactly like another, and unless you've planned your flight carefully, chances are you'll be lost most of the time. Rivers will become critical for knowing where you are, and since cities tend to be near rivers, they'll be a useful air highway...

     My job as a writer is to introduce a stick of gum into the gears, though. One storyline to fiddle with involves a young swede or nordsk, trying to learn his now profession as a United States of Europe certified "weather guesser". Stay tuned, we'll see if anything comes of the concept...

Anyway, more to come
TTFN,
Jim

     Weather forecasting today relies on computer models and satellite feeds. 60 years ago, though, forecasters depended on amassing hourly readings from all across the US, fed to the weather forecast offices where trained scientists analyzed the data and gave out limited forecasts. Predicting conditions beyond a day or so was iffy. Local conditions could be predicted several hours in advance with some accuracy, but... Not the degree that we have now.

     Since navigation and weather go hand in hand in early aviation, I think I've got a good story to piece together. Gonna toss an idea football back and forth to Kuala Lumpur and see what come up. More to come soon...

Another year...

2011-01-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

Welcome to 2011. And I thought 2010 looked like science fiction. Time to look back at accomplishments of the past year...

     Okay, enough of that. Things I didn't get done: Imperfect Hope. Yah, I know, it's been number one on my topics these last few months. Time to change the channel...

     Got a note from my brother Jeff a few weeks back (Hi Jeff, know you're reading this), He'd gotten a short story published in the Grantville Gazette, a ezine dedicated to Eric Flint's 1632 universe. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it is a shared world speculative fiction (sci-fi) series based on the concept of a time-transference of a small area surrounding Grantsville, WV from the year 2000 back to 1630 germany right smack in the middle of the 30 years war. Eric Flint set up some very specific rules about writing in that era, most important of which is that the modern resources available to the uptimers (those from the year 2000) are restricted to an accurate inventory of what was actually in Grantville at the time of the transfer. Population 3000 or so, coal miners and librarians and school teachers, no rocket scientists, no aeronautical engineers, no lost detachment of special forces soldiers on leave.

     The grantville Gazette is an ezine consisting of non-fiction articles on recreating technology under those circumstances, historical references and conjecture on societal changes, and fiction short stories or serials based around the events of the print books co-written by Eric Flint. Some years past, Jeff wrote a non-fiction article on "oil mining", a low tech source of much needed hydrocarbons that the Transplaced Grantsville residents might use. From that article came his short story, co-written with Kiwi (I believe) Kerryn Offord about another potential low tech means of obtaining oil in 1634. It's a good read, I have to admit.

     Because it's published in an E-zine, I shouldn't post the entire story for the entire world to read, since it is a subscription e-zine, but they do allow previews of about half the story without buying a subscription. You'll find it online at http://grantvillegazette.com/ . For those interested, email me and I'll "loan" you my copy to read as long as you promise not to spread it willy-nilly about the internet. (I'm sensitive to the needs of copyright protection, and since writers to ezines get paid through the 'zine's subscription, if you subscribe, you'll be supporting starving writers like my brother... And perhaps me...)

     Not that he's starving, he and Bess Anne are in Kuala Lumpur living in a 3700 square foot penthouse working for a multinational oil company, and has to walk 15 minutes to his office on some upper floor of the Petronas Towers. Other than being half a world away from the triplets, I suspect he's doing fine. ;-)

     I hadn't kept up with the 1632 series of late, though it's always been a fascinating storyline to me. They've been pretty strict about keeping the limits of the recreation of technology realistic, and I've enjoyed the meshing of historical characters such as Galileo (tried for heresy in 1632 historically, I won't tell you how the writers have changed history in the book dealing with that case), and Richelieu with fictional characters such as Tom Stone (resident "non-traditional chemist known to the locals as stoner) and his rather undisciplined teenage boys, and challenging topics such as the catholic reformation, the plague, and politics, politics, and more politics. Give it a read. Perhaps I'll have a short story there someday...

Anyway, more to come soon, I promise...
TTFN,
Jim

december, finally some snow

2010-12-30T12:04:00.001-07:00

     "That's the last of the cargo, sir" Captain Lanso Malring tugged on his thin beard and eyed the wagon-sized pile of crates, barrels and sacks stacked up on the end of the stone pier, then acknowledged the bosun with a wave dismissing the lading crew. The offloading had taken far longer than anyone had expected, but at least they'd finished before the brunt of the approaching squall hit. His vessel sat on the leeward side of the stone causeway, only partially shielded from the building waves, even now spray was crashing across the pier, driven by the erratic gusts. A pair of sailors finished loading a hand cart with some of the supplies, they kept their heads hunched down on their shoulders against the icy wind-driven water as they pulled the two wheeled cart down the pier toward the weathered shack at the other end of the pier.

     Captain Malring turned to the red haired man who had stood silently beside him the entire time the cargo was being unloaded. "My men will finish moving the supplies to the supply shack at the other end, won't take but a few minutes. You sure you don't need anything else?" A minute passed with no response from the passenger, and the captain wondered again why anyone would take the job offered by the coastal league to tend the lighthouse, but then revised his opinion, if anyone would take such a job, it would be someone as enigmatic as this person. He'd offered little more than the occasional grunt or nod of assent during the entire 3 day journey from Port Whiterock, the longest conversation he'd had with anyone had been with the cargomaster about his personal gear when the gruff sailor had noted that some of the supplies seemed more appropriate for delivery to a brewery than a lighthouse, to which the mysterious passenger had replied, "who says a light house can't be a brewery".

   The above blurb is a writing practice I sat down to and keyed out over a pair of breaks at work. There's been no polishing, editing, or rewriting. It is a germ of an idea I've floated around relating to a tie between the the ifgs storylines of D'oril, and the literary storylines I'm working from. The lighthouse referred to is also a tie with another story concept within the d'oril world I've occasionally referenced, Lighthouse, lighthome. That story isn't well placed within the timeline yet, parts of it fit well with a precursor civilization that fell apart long before the confederacy of Imperfect Hope arose, but I haven't figured out the connection to the K'tath and their timelines. Where will it go from here?

   SInce it's been 6 weeks since I last posted, I feel I should apologize. All I can say is, holiday travel can be a bear, and I've been doing this for nearly 23 years now. Guess I'm starting to wear out. On the plus side, I managed to get a 2 week vacation the last two weeks of december, first time I've ever had holiday vacation time. Irma and I didn't actually go anywhere, instead the first week was prepping for christmas eve dinner, and week two (right now) is rest, rest, and rest. We've done a couple of day trips up into the mountains, lots of snow there, and until today, none around here. But, today, it's snowing, so we're staying in, and Irma's going to make some chile verde con puerco. (green chile pork stew) Yummm.

     I mentioned 23 years. Mandatory retirement is 2 1/2 years away, unless congress and the FAA change the rules, something they're threatening with the continued controller shortages. I'm betting there will be some changes, but I'm still planning on stepping out of the ATC biz then, unless they offer some really good incentives to stay. I'm not holding my breath. However, the concept of retirement doesn't seem real yet. Most people don't have the option to retire (with relative security) as early as controllers do, on the other hand, the stresses of the job make it a health risk for many controllers to continue, thus the reason for the mandatory age 56 retirement that stands right now. The talk is that medical waivers are going to be granted based on health and some expanded requirements to keep our medical clearances.

     Back to writing. No progress on Imperfect Hope, some progress on background details, and a eureka moment regarding my writing habits. These last few days of unfettered rest has opened up my creative channels, with the observation that being a controller wears me out much more than I thought. I'm still thinking through the implications, and considering ways to keep the fatigue monster from chewing me up once I return to the grind next week. Any suggestons (besides more scotch?)

     Anyway... More to come, (he promises) Watching the snow fall outside makes me think of D'oril...

TTFN,
JIm

Catching up with life

2010-11-08T12:20:00.001-07:00

     This always seems to be the busy season for me. Yardwork (winterizing), Work-work (transitioning from summer thunderstorm season to winter "ski-season" traffic patterns, and getting the house ready for the holidays tend to fill most of my time. Despite that, I have managed to do some writing, if not on Imperfect Hope, at least with the goal of getting back into the groove. With the silly season passed (er, election season), things are looking up.

     Last post, I commented on "writing what I know", at least with regards to the lore and history of the D'oril world that I know very well. Writing these last two weeks has put me back into that era, 60-100 years prior to the time of Imperfect Hope. Since most of my lore from that time focuses almost exclusively on the D'oril forests of the K'tath and the incursions of the Tallux empire, I do have to provide some background on what is happening around the rest of the world. I've made an effort to divorce the D'oril lore that references the IFGS lands that surround the k'tath homelands, and made good progress on replanting the characters I want to bring from the IFGS D'oril to the 'book' D'oril lands. So, where do I begin...

     Obvious to me are the K'tath characters, with one exception all of my own creation. Brandis, of course, as well as the NPC k'tath characters I developed while writing the IFGS games that took place in D'oril. The Sen'anth (in the IFGS games, never actually named, just referred to by title, was killed by plotline mid Sha'te Valley (a player motivational event that didn't have the emotional impact I'd hoped for, but one I can refer to in the book version). Kira, the deadly quiet Kel'anth, trying to hold the badly outnumbered kel together against the empire's legions. Other fringe NPC characters also created for the games include Cinda and Merrick, of the Inn of the Stumbling Friar. Their backgrounds, though never explored in the games, provide me with a great starting point for the surrounding areas. Also of the k'tath, though not of that race, is Merlissa, a PC character that was tightly intertwined with Brandis' early character history.

     South of the E'tel river, the non-k'tath have a couple of regularly appearing characters. Merrick, for example, is actually an Empire refugee. He came to the lands south of D'oril from the empire some 10 years or so prior to Sha'te, one of a small handful of survivors of a shipwreck from an Empire expedition searching for wintergem sources along the western coast of D'oril. A senior non-com (I hadn't decided whether he was an imperial marine, or a legionnaire), he found the lands south of D'oril to his liking, especially the relative freedom from oppressive government. Cinda, the (in the games) stereotyped bar maid of the Inn of the Stumbling Friar, was also a refugee in a character history that was never explored in the games either. She came from the lands to the south, fleeing the chaos following the fall of "the eleven kingdoms" just prior to the confederacy beginning to pull itself together.

     Then there were the villains, most notably Phorix, Beauty, Grannach, and Yam'to. Those four were the core of the Sha'te storyline, each representing an characteristic of the empire that PC's could relate to, or despise. (all had some elements of each). I'd written a lot about their pasts within my game lore, stuff not released to the players but instead intended to help me and the NPC's portraying them fill out their character.

     The events surrounding Sha'te are both well defined and vague. Vague in that, for the IFGS games, the empire had the clearly stated but vaguely motivated goal of conquering the area north of the E'tel, well defined in that they had put into a straightforward strategic plan to obtain that goal, and the 'good guys' (players and k'tath) were in the way. Because of the way IFGS games are run, the sha'te storyline necessarily had the players react to the empire's plan. Had I made Yam'to's strategy too complicated or convoluted, the IFGS gameline would have been overly complex. Translating that to the Imperfect Hope world mostly involves revising the empires motivations, in part through the wintergems found in the D'oril forest, a source of magical power now hard to find in the empire but necessary for the emperors continued hold on the far-reaching lands he controls).

     I've found my thought process interesting, though, as I dig deeper into the sha'te era, I find more interesting projects to tackle. So, do I sidetrack myself, or focus myself. Stay tuned for the answer, soon...

Clear skies,
Jim

I'm back, again

2010-10-19T10:01:00.001-06:00

Yeesh, september was an ugly month, three overtimes in four weeks really sapped my interest in writing anything. It's over, though, and I'm back...

     I did do a thorough read through of Imperfect Hope, draft 1, and marked up some inconsistencies (okay, a lot). What leapt out at me was that my writing errors had a lot to do with the fuzzy history before and after sha'te valley in my IFGS D'oril world, and the years leading up to "present time" in imperfect hope. I hope to correct those errors with a couple of strategies...

     One, as I work through IH again, I will allow myself to sidetrack and fill out background information as needed to make the storyline more consistent. For example, background history on the Baron of Bruils, a minor player in IH so far, but whose actions some 15 years past has a great deal to do with the chink in the confederacies security that the empire is exploiting. Going from an unspecified scandal to actually going back and writing the events as a story in itself will give me more food for thought, and unblock other aspects of the storyline.

     Two, I'm going open up another story to work on that takes place well before Sha'te that will help me define the confederacy and empire and the as yet unmentioned (here) island kingdoms to the south. I found that, in reading IH through, I obviously made some assumptions about what the readers knew that just isn't explained well enough. By writing out these precursor tales, I'll have a better background to write from as I do the rewrite in Imperfect Hope.

     Another light bulb moment came a couple of weeks back when I was wool gathering, and remembered the old saying, "Write what you know". I 'know' the sha'te era front and back, and I've been creating a lot of the Imperfect Hope era on the fly. Thus, I'm going to allow myself (I know, starting to sound undisciplined) to write about stuff from the IFGS timeline when I feel like it, or when I need a break from IH. I've no idea what may come out of it, but the goal here is to get back to "having fun".

     ALong the lines of having fun, I started fiddling about with a story from the SHa'te era, or rather one that begins toward the end of that time, and bridges the gap from then to now. I'll post a blurb from it at the end, something to lighten up the political downer that follows...

    Back to the mundane, then. I hate political season with a passion. Hate ads (Oh, I'm sorry, did I mean partisan campaign ads?), foolish wing-nut amendments and issues, and those anonymous campaign phone calls. It is clear that the politicians only (capital letters again, ONLY) concern is getting elected or reelected. The other side is wrong, and since they're wrong, we hate them, and you should too. It's made all the worse since I'm listed as an independent, both parties feel the need to tell me how to think. Knowing how the government works from the inside (at least within the FAA), I know that 99.9% of what the politicians are telling us they'll do is pure bunk, couldn't do what they promise if they owned all branches of the government. All I expect from this, and any other election, is that:

1) My taxes will go up, somebody out there resents (hates) me for my relative success and wants me to pay.
2) My services (or services to people who are really in need) will go down, somebody will figure out a way to scam the system and drain resources from those who really need it (which leads to number one again).
3) Whoever is in power will tell me it is the other parties fault.
4) Whoever is not in power will tell me that if they were in power, things would be better.
5) Left wing and Right wing nut-jobs control both parties, and they have no interest in listening to a moderate.
6) Tivo everything, and skip the ads and maybe I'll maintain my sanity.

Lest any of my readers think I'm hiding my head in the sand and ignoring issues, I'd like to suggest otherwise. I read a lot about the issues affecting us, from all sides of the debate. I make up my own mind on those issues, and refuse to allow either party tell me that, since I support/oppose a particular issue, all of my beliefs must then line up with (or against) umpteen-thousand other issues, and therefore I must vote for them. I don't let a political party tell me what to think...

Unlike too many of the people I work with, or know.

<Sigh>

Anyway, I'll be glad when it's over again.

That's it for now. Keep those cards and letters coming, introduce yourself, or otherwise make your presence known.
TTFN,
Jim

Oh, a blurb...

"That's the last of the cargo, ser" Captain Lanso Malring tugged on
his thin beard and eyed the wagon-sized pile of crates, barrels and
sacks stacked up on the end of the stone pier, then acknowledged the
bosun with a wave. The offloading had taken far longer than anyone had
expected, but at least they'd finished before the brunt of the
approaching squall hit. His vessel sat on the leeward side of the stone
causeway, only partially shielded from the building waves, even now
spray was crashing across the pier, driven by the erratic gusts. He turned to the red haired man standing beside him and asked if there was anything else they could do for him before they shoved off. A
minute passed with no response from the passenger, and the captain
wondered again why anyone would take the job offered by the coastal
league to tend the isolated lighthouse, but then revised his opinion, if anyone
would take such a job, it would be someone as enigmatic as this person.
He'd offered little more than the occasional grunt or nod of assent
during the entire 3 day journey from Port Whiterock...

new post coming by tomorrow

2010-10-18T19:41:00.003-06:00

Just another quick note: I'm back, and I'll be uploading my new post tonight or tomorrow. My apologies to those who've waited patiently... The new post will touch on my writing, including remotivation and redirection, and politics. hang in there...

Brief note

2010-09-10T13:26:00.003-06:00

I'm in the middle of a crazy month, with 3 ovetime shifts over the next 4 weeks, so I just wanted to let everyone know, I'm still out here, and I will be picking up again shortly. In the meantime, Feel free to post comments about anything, and contact me thru the email listed in my profile. WIsh me luck...

D'oril lore: the recent past

2010-08-12T20:57:00.001-06:00

     Part of the depth of the Imperfect Hope world is the past, as represented by the characters that I've either developed while writing IFGS D"oril games, lore, and player-characters I've adopted into the world. I've touched on how I intend to keep some character concepts whole from my 'borrowed' character list, while adding a bunch of depth that fits the PC's into the D"oril world more seamlessly. One way I'm doing this (as I get back into a writing habit, yes, it's coming back slowly) is to rework character histories by changing where they are from, and putting more detail into their past than the pc histories I pored through while I was writing D'oril games.

     Imperfect Hope references a few "old campaigners" that IFGS'ers may recognize, the most obvious being Brandis (a no brainer, since his background is the basis for all of my D'oril lore). Because IH takes place some 50 or so years after the Old Campaign (here after known as OC), the 'great heroes' of the past have faded into legend, tales of which have actually been lost because of the turmoil following Sha'te Valley, and the chaos following the fall of the old kingdoms south of D'oril (unrelated to sha'te). The old kingdoms, from which many of the heroes of SHa'te came, fell into a series of ugly wars against each other and outside influences (greed and poor leadership), much of the legends from before then were forgotten in the confusion as new heroes and more important (read immediate survival) issues abounded. Only in a few areas (The Inn of the Stumbling Friar, for example, or the monasteries of the triad, or among the k'tath) are the histories kept whole.

     The confederacy, which has risen from the ashes of the old kingdoms, is still in its infancy, and is more concerned with cementing their position within the western realms of the continent than recalling the heroic times before the troubles. The one time stranglehold on power that the old aristocracy held is now shared almost equally with the mercantile trade families that held the coastal towns together in the face of barbarian invasion, and the triad, whose monastaries provided intellectual sanctuaries inland, and their questors, who stepped in to protect areas of civilization as many of the aristocratic strongholds and families fell. The aristocracy held on to it's top position, but only barely.

     Thus, the Old Campaigners are mostly forgotten, despite their crucial role in staving off the invasions of the Empire of Tallux. However, they are not forgotten in the Empire, rather they are remembered with a mix of hatred, respect, and awe by the leadership, aristocracy, and middle classes. (The slaves, of course, know little of life outside their small world, but the legends of Beauty and the Free-warriors of the east are still talked about, much to the dismay of the emperor and his supporters.) The empire's current leader, taking the heart of the lessons from his father and the priesthood, takes into account his lessons and the memories of how the Old Campaigners opposed the empire in his plans to establish a foothold near the wintergem forests of D'oril. However, none of the old campaigners remain, except...

     According to my storyline, the "OC" involved in Sha'te were never replaced by young up and coming's, since the situation in the new confederacy wasn't conducive to the methods of the "OC" (freelance, involved outside their own lands helping others or merely helping themselves (mercenary style). Instead, the type of adventurer who would have become an "OC" instead ended up either involved in the triad questors, the mercantile trade families, or outright tied to old school ruling class families. Free-lancing (outside the questors, and that is an entirely different animal) ceased to be when societal survival wasn't guaranteed. To put it another way, The powers that be couldn't afford to let their 'free-lancers' go, and so ways were found to keep them within society.

     Except for one. The last of the independent Old Campaigners. The Red Mage. Rumored to be in his 80's already, a (some say bitter, some say merely crazy)wispy grey and red haired recluse who disdains almost all civilized contact. He lives on his own island off the coast, brewing his own ale. His recipes are slowly becoming legendary (some say magical), which he trades or sells only to a privileged few customers, including the Inn of the Stumbling Friar. And that is the story that I'm going to visit this week as I jump start my creative side, the story of the last human survivor of Sha'te Valley. We'll see if a short story comes out of it.....

TTFN,
Jim

Ode to a post hole digger

2010-07-29T21:23:00.001-06:00

     If you're expecting a poetic moment, sorry to disappoint. However, I will comment on one of our recent weekend to-do's. One of the fence posts between our property and a rental home next door was damaged sometime in the previous renter's tenancy (probably by the junk trailer they backed into their yard when they moved out in the middle of the night to skip out on their overdue rent), and this spring, some high winds finished the job, breaking it off such that the whole section of fence wobbled until we got it braced. The owner, ( a rather cheap-skate real estate agent who bought the house when her client couldn't sell it during the recent housing market crash), couldn't be bothered to help fix the fence his tenants damaged, so we bought the materials and fixed it ourselves this weekend. It seems likely that the owner is now fixing the place up to sell (we hope), at the very least, perhaps he'll be a bit more selective on whom to rent to.

     Word of warning. If you ever have a choice of hiring someone to replace a fence post, and doing it yourself, Hire the worker, no matter the cost! I'm afraid these old bones will never recover from the digging down about 4 feet to extract all of the old fence post and concrete that was holding it in. I've used my pick axe before, but breaking up clay, and breaking concrete and rotted fencepost and clay is... A younger man's job. The fence is repaired, though.

     One of the previous renters (from a bit more than a year ago) was, I'm afraid, a stereotype bad neighbor type. He was the one that damaged the fence with his trailer, some of their other tricks included storing their truck topper (peeling paint and rust) in their front yard (and sometimes he'd actually place it in our front yard, because he had lawn tools and other junk laying where he'd normally keep it). One day I heard a gas-powered string trimmer revving up next door, accompanied by the sound of laughing and screaming kids. From my deck, I could see his two mullet-haired boys (10 and 12 or so in age) playing, the older one was chasing his younger brother around the yard with the trimmer. No adults in sight. I asked the older boy what he planned to do if he actually caught his brother with the string trimmer... (Great, future leatherface in training???) His reply, in thick stereotype hillbilly was, "Uh, I dunno, he runs pretty good, dont he?".

     One of the landlords other tenants (who stayed only about 5 months) moved in in the middle of the night, moved out of the middle of the night, and regularly moved mysterious plastic trashcans from his garage to his truck regularly in the middle of the night. No, we're not spying on them, these antics were observed several times when I was returning home from an evening shift, my truck headlights illuminated them (2 mid-twenties young men and their hooded helpers) rolling 2 filled trash cans down the driveway and all four of them hefting them into the back of their own truck. Strange and scary...

    So now the house if being fixed up, with loads of new drywall disappearing into the house, lots of sawing and hammering and a dumpster's worth of construction trash piling up. Since we'd been good friends with the previous owners (who moved out a couple of years ago), we know that the basement was already finished, so it must be repairwork being done. Hmmmm......   (Please let it be sold...)

     Writing: I've taken a trip back to my roots, or sorts. In an effort to break my doldrums, I've been rooting around in the past of doril, digging up old stories to rekindle my passion for writing. I"m looking at writing a short, possibly about beauty, or perhaps the "old crew", Brandis, Wulluff, Evro, Delanore. Nothing earth shattering, just something to get me going again. I'll post it (or excerpts as I go) here. Hold me to it, patient readers. And please, comment. (especially you anonymous readers, I know you're out there, I just don't know who you are... ;-) )

Anyway, more to come, but I'll post tonight and write more tomorrow for later posting...

TTFN,
Jim

Adventures in Handymanland 2: The big outdoors

2010-06-27T15:19:00.001-06:00

     Spring (and now summer) yard chores have been piling up, and Irma and I have tackled our to-do list with a vengeance, hoping to get some of it done before it gets too hot. Some of our projects are finishing touches of stuff we've worked on in past years (for example, running some outdoor conduit to the outside corner of the deck so we could run the waterfall we've put in the garden there), others are projects put on hold last fall when the ground got too muddy or froze over (retaining wall around the willow tree, edging along the back fence area, and the stone tree wells around our apple and pear trees. The last entails a fair amount of digging and leveling, since the trees are on a 20 degree slope, the stonework has to be dug in level. We're doing a little bit every couple of days, since I find working on my knees digging and setting-in 40 pound retaining wall stones a bit fatiguing... ;-)

     Other projects for the next couple of months include the last two sprinkler zones along the back fence, one to provide drip irrigation to the veggie garden and the fruit trees, the other to water the grass (that will be planted once I finish the tree wells and retaining walls.), and running a water line to the side of the deck in order to provide a short, light hose for us to water the containers on the deck without dragging the heavy black hose half way around the house. I'd planned for this line when I laid in the sprinkler system several summers back, having laid some pvc underground from the sprinkler valves to beside the deck, where I put in a hose spigot and a manual valve that has until now sent water to the veggie garden drip system. I"ll use that line with a new valve hooked to the controller that will meter the water to the garden and fruit trees, and split off a spigot attached to the deck railing before the valve for the deck watering line. Finally, I'll put the trim and paint on the garden shed (built four years ago), and hopefully, be done for the summer. Until the next list of projects comes up.

     Writing. <Sigh> No progress still. But... (no more excuses).   I"ll let you know when I start up again. Perhaps our planned visit to the Colorado Renaissance Festival in a couple of weekends will spark some creativity. It'll be the first time for our grandkids, I'm sure they'll make it new for us too!

     Anyway, more to come soon.
TTFN,
Jim

What am I afraid of?

2010-05-28T20:23:00.001-06:00

Hello, patient readers. April and May have come and gone, and no postings. Bad Jim. No Biscuit.....

     On the other hand, there have been loads of issues and events. The FAA is, well, still nuts. Thunderstorms have already raised their ugly (thunder)heads, bringing terror to our new trainees who've never seen weather deviations before. One trainee asked me after a particular chaotic session, "Is this going to happen all summer long?" Yep. "Could it be any worse?" Yep. "How did you ever learn to handle it?" Just like taking a sip from a fire hose. Time to bear down and earn our pay...

     As to the title of this post, I've been doing some soul searching about my lack of progress this spring on Imperfect Hope. Guess what... I've been acting as if I'm afraid of writing... Something has triggered a fear of failure, or fear of success, or... Fear. I'm not sure exactly what is going on, I don't want to quit, but every time I"ve sat down to write, somehow something has come up to keep me from actually doing anything more than fiddling about with what I've already done. Perhaps I need to write something else for a bit? Perhaps I need to just deal with it?

     Some time away from writing has clarified some aspects of what I've been doing with Imperfect Hope, and raised other questions. I've muddled about with various sub plots that needed to be muddled with, and tossed out some that just didn't fit this story. Cerryn's journey to questor and weaponmaster will end up being a lot more involved, as will Randir's. Ren's tale will have a greater bearing on the overall political/strategic storyline, justifying his existence in the tale. And the political games of the Empire will take on a larger part, with factions within the Empire of Tallux pulling the emperor and those within the empire who oppose him back and forth as they try to balance their empire's needs.

     Beyond the writing front, Irma and I have tackled head on our spring to do list. Old gardens have been refurbished, grass dug out from where it didn't belong, and the retaining wall projects are underway. 3 fruit trees and a willow need to have the slopes that prevent them from getting sufficient water levelled by building a retaining wall around them, and I"ve incorporated the landscape design to allow me to level and build a gravelled work area in front of the garden shed at the same time. We've also wired some outdoor outlets for a water fountain at the deck corner, as well as lighting, solar powered motion sensor lights will eliminate the scary dark corners of our oversized lot (I hope squirrels don't trigger the sensors or the lights will be on all night). The deck was sanded (5 days of crawling around on my hands and knees smoothing out splinters) and refinished, and trim and paint have been touched up all around the deck and house. Ahead: watering zones for the veggie garden and fruit trees, trim up and paint the shed, and start laying in a flagstone barbecue patio adjacent to the deck. This to be done by summers end, when our fall to-do list will kick in.

   Why the flurry of home improvement/repair/upkeep? Three years to retirement. Looking ahead to it, we'll have to have those project expenses taken care of by then, so... Git-er-done...

   Anyway, I'm going to continue to address my writing fears, and one way I intend to do it is to get back to blogging more frequently. I think I'm going to write a short story or scene outside of my ongoing project, just for the blog. Maybe that'll break the logjam. Maybe...

TTFN,
Jim

Since I've been gone...

2010-03-31T23:00:00.001-06:00

     My apologies to those who've missed my posting of late, the last few weeks have been a maelstrom of chaos at times. My stepson (and dad to my two grandsons) spent a few days in the hospital, at first the doc's were certain it was his gall bladder, but later some "House" wannabe diagnosed some torn cartilage and acid reflux and discharged him with extreme haste. Three days later, a visit to Jose's personal doctor put him back on the track of gall bladder problems, a second gastroenterologist rediagnosed a gall bladder problem, and followups confirmed. 16 days after Doc 1 discharged Jose from the hospital, he had his gall bladder removed. The pain of the previous 3 weeks finally disappeared.

     While Jose was down with the symptoms and after the surgery during recovery, Irma and I took care of our two grandsons on the days that Jose has custody (4 days a week). They're 9 and 4, and quite the handful. We ended up the care three weeks ago when Jose was recovered enough to return to doting parental duties. So what do I do? Come down with a nasty 3 day stomach bug that had me unable to eat for a weekend. Then, barely a day after I returned to work, A cough developed that turned into Bronchitus. Another week of Phyuck! (and really strong cough medicine that turned me into a drooling zombie...)

     So... I"m finally back to work, though not fully back to strength. And I've done no writing for more than 6 weeks. Mother told me there'd be days (and days and days) like that..... ;-)

     In the meantime, Reader Matt (probably missing my commentary and trying to stir me from my apparent hibernation) asked me if one reason I quit writing IFGS and started writing "for real" was because of the limitations of putting out my story the way I envisioned it when the actors (NPC's) have to ad-lib everything, since the players haven't a script. In response to that (and Matt, I'll be sending out a more detailed response later this week when I gather my thoughts in specific), I've put together some more thoughts on the differences between writing IFGS and "for real".

     To a large degree, when you write for IFGS, you have to give over control of your story to your NPC's and staff, since there is no way to fully predict how players will act and react to your story. Having said that, in the mini-game series, (and to a lesser degree, in Sha'te Valley), I put an incredible amount of time in trying to tailor the story line to the known players characters and predict how they will act, and for the most part, I was successful. Though I can't put emotions into the PC's heads, I had some luck in getting them to "feel" the way I wanted them to in order to move the story forward. I made the antagonist characters larger than life (almost cartoonish) villains who had obvious character traits, strengths and weaknesses and made certain that the actors portraying them got the background as to why they acted the way they did (at least as far as the needs of the story went). Tailoring the NPC's backgrounds made it fairly easy to target PC's "buttons", for example, by understanding how Ray portrays his PC ranger, Evro, I was able to make Phorix a character that Evro would be torn over, (Good guy gone bad? Bad guy with honor? Wrong place at wrong time?). Thus, I was able to lead the PC's down the (8 lane wide concrete highway) plot path I'd laid out.

     In my writing, I don't have to be so cartoonish about the antagonists or protagonists. So long as I make it reasonable, I can lead the reader down the plot path that I choose, without making it so blatently obvious. Antagonists can be subtle, more believable, and hence, more to my story liking.

     Beyond that limitation, IFGS writing has to satisfy a "sanctioning committee" (SC), whose job is to make sure the game is safe, doable, and complies with IFGS rules in such a way that PC's won't feel 'cheated'. There was a degree of conflict between what they felt was fair, and what I felt was an important part of the storyline, unfortunately, I had a long term view of where the story went, and that by the end of the series I was working on, the PC's would feel successful, but within any given minigame, some would feel like they ended up on the dirty end of the stick. I chose my PC's such that they would see the long term and not file complaints against the SC for an unfair game, but the SC wasn't able to take the long term view. Mostly, I suspect, because they had other games on their review docket, and had to treat all the game designers the same, giving me a break could cause designer number 2 to cry foul if he didn't get the same break. So, in the interest of fairness, some blandness was required in the overall game design.

     I can be unfair to my characters when I write, they won't complain. 'Nuff said.

     Anyway, there's a lot of other reasons why IFGS writing is different for me than fiction writing. There are a lot of similarities, as well, perhaps I'll touch on them next time. I promise, it won't be nearly two months before I continue...

TTFN,
Jim

Revisiting D'oril

2010-02-10T21:56:00.001-07:00

     I've developed a lot of background material for Imperfect Hope the last few weeks that have refined my vision of D'oril and of the larger world of the D'oril continent (Still groping for a name, but it will come). Some of it involves one of my earliest "myths" from the IFGS character history of Brandis was that of the birth of the stars, the battle of Dag'enkath, and the position of the K'tath within the greater political arena. In that very basic myth, I cast the creation of the stars as the pivotal event of the k'tath through a lengthy "history".

     In that history, before Dag'enkath, there were no stars. There was also a balance between good and evil, darkness and light, so on set up in the aftermath of an earlier, world-devastating conflict between light and dark earlier. Unhappy with the stagnation of this world, Cy'te, (aka the gamester) introduced "shadow" to the forces of darkness, upsetting the balance. The forces of light were overwhelmed, until only the k'tath remained surrounded on the hilltop of Dag'enkath.

     To shorten the lengthy story, Elorna, primary guardian of the k'tath, was prohibited (as were all guardians) from intervening directly (from the pacts made long ago after that earlier war between the gods). Her tears of sadness became the stars, from which the k'tath warriors drew strength to face the shadows, and restored the balance.

     From that "mythical" tale, I've had to create a more believable "history" for both the k'tath, and the rest of the people of the world. Rather than force a rather unbelievable appearance of stars on the readers, I've altered the history to become "an awakening", that prior to Dag'enkath, the stars held no special powers to the k'tath, but after, their "talented" could draw upon Elorna's power through them. There's a lot of depth that I don't have the space to explain at this point, but basically Elorna has invested magical power in the memories of fallen k'tath associated with the stars. Other cultures have garnered their magical power from other sources (tides, ritual, intonation and/or gestures), all of which create an access point for the natural or unnatural powers that define their brand of magic.

     The awakening of the k'tath is only one part of the new history. The long dark brought on by the shadow wars that ended at Dag'enkath also explains the collapse of the civilization south of D'oril. That Civilization is the one that had built the network of lighthouses which enabled them to navigate the hazardous ocean between their and the far western continent. Though the true power of the lighthouses has been lost, a couple of the merchanter houses still maintain some ships that can use (in a limited fashion) the navigation lines that the still function lighthouses provide. In the long term, rediscovery of that technology will be a major part of the latter stages of the confederacy/empire conflict.

     All of this should help me keep Imperfect Hope consistant as I grind through it, but more importantly, the volume of material I'm putting together will keep me writing long into the sunset. I've already been able to place some of my other story ideas within the grand time scale I've put together. All told, the world of D'oril is firming up nicely...

     As an interesting sidenote, I recently started reading "The Rivan Codex" by David and Leigh Eddings. The Eddings' wrote the Belgariad and Malloreon series (some 9 or 10 books, I believe), something I read voraciously 20 years back when they came out. The Rivan Codex is a glimpse on how he and his wife wrote those books, including background tales and how they put together the world of the belgariad. The first chapter seems to indicate that I"m on the right path, many of the steps he writes about having been key in developing the background for his tales are the same ones I'm grinding through right now. It has also given me new enthusiasm...

     A second side note, a recent discussion I had with some of my co-workers had about writing abilities raised an issue that seems to be generational. Comparing how I learned to write 35+ years ago in the public school system to what is (and more importantly, what apparently isn't), and today's primary writing outlets (blogs, email, and <gasp> twittering) compared to what and how we wrote "back in the day", there is a huge gap in skill, intent, and comprehension. I believe I'll post about it next time, because it's ignited a firestorm of controversy (of sorts) within the control room, with us oldsters maintaining that writing has become a lost art, and the younglings under 30 holding to the belief that it has merely changed to reflect the times. I'll have to reinforce my soapbox for this one... ;-)

TTFN,
Jim

And where did you think these stereotypes came from, anyway?

2010-01-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

     Irma and I made a short notice trip to visit with her brother in Cedar City, Utah to give him some support through some ongoing difficult times. In order to get there, we had to fly to Las Vegas and rent a car to drive 2 1/2 hours into Utah. I've never been a 'city person', (nor even a large town person), and Vegas definitely fits the bill. However, we did get a chance to sample some amazing desserts and sandwiches from Jean-Philippes, a patisserie at the Bellagio Hotel where one of our nephews works. I'm afraid amazing is a bit restrained when it comes to the chocolates and eclairs and, yes, even the roast beef sandwich we had...

     On the flight out to Vegas, as well as while gathering our luggage at the airport, I had the opportunity to observe people. Yep, those stereotypes fit. On the flight, there was a large contingent of blue-haired senior citizens (and spouses) who happily chatted almost non-stop with each other and anyone else who made the mistake of making eye contact about how "I personally don't gamble much, but I always seem to win. But I know someone who lost x-thousand dollars the last time they went". Funny. Nobody loses in Vegas, it's always someone else... ;-) Of course, on the flight back, most of those same blue-hairs were silent and appeared quite somber.

     Another living stereotype was the white-leisure suit clad, comb-over bearing, 40-something who rushed off the plane to a vending machine near baggage claim in order to purchase a half dozen roses or some other such bouquet, presumable for the girlfriend he was to meet at the airport. Oozing class, he pondered over the important decision for 10 minutes or so before settling on some arrangement that presumable was almost fresh... Oh, and the young mid-twenties who put down a brace of beers prior to boarding the plane, talked loudly much of the way, and upon exiting the plane, almost ran to the slot machine to get rid of a few dollars that, based on how quickly he wanted to get rid of them, obviously must have been contaminated with H1N1.

     There was also the man, sitting across the aisle from me, who grumbled about how they wouldn't let him bring his beer from the terminal onto the plane, and when an infant 4 rows back from us uttered 5-10 seconds worth of loud crying (who wouldn't cry upon being herded into the closed confines of an MD-80), spent the next two minutes loudly muttering to himself "Oh lord, what have I gotten myself into. Great, a screaming baby. They should ban those things...blah blah blah") His harangue was infinitely more annoying than the normal utterances of even the loudest infant. ;-)

     Anyway, trip out and back went smoothly. Irma's brother, Omar, and his family (3 kids age 8,13, and 18), probably face a lot more stress as his wife continues her long recovery from brain surgery, but Irma and I both saw good signs of eventual progress and hope. Puts my whole cataract surgery drama in perspective, at any rate...

     Back to the writing, and I expect I'll be grinding away at Cerryns tale this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes...

TTFN,
Jim

100k! But is it art?

2010-01-20T15:29:00.001-07:00

     I topped 100k words last night as I finished Randir's first scene and started in on continuing Cerryn's tale. Randir's tale is coming together quite well, and I even did some editing/reworking on some of the first part of that scene that seems to help it read more smoothly. Picking up Cerryn's tale is a bit rougher, but I suspect as I get back into her storyline, it will come more easily.

     I'm jumping back and forth between Cerryn's and Randir's points of view in part to keep from getting stale as I write. I'm not certain yet how I'm going to blend those two tales together (scene by scene, or chapter by chapter), nor am I certain how Remy's tale, as well as the empire viewpoint tale will work in. For now, I'm writing along the chronologic time line of the entire story, which means that as I finish Cerryn's next scene, I should pop in and visit the empire to set their plots in motion. Then back to Cerryn some more before setting in on Remy.

     Randir's tale will have a longer gap in the story as I'm going to gloss over much of his Kel training and instead focus on the Li'vanya training (Elorna's gatherer) that he picks up as he nears his kel training completion. The Li'vanya training will force the normally isolationist K'tath to spend some time outside of D'oril learning about the outside world, and that's where things get interesting for him. BTW, for ifgs'ers, the last Li'vanya was Brandis.

     Meanwhile, Cerryn's training at the Eagles Forge monastery will focus on her sword dance specialization, as well as the extensive philosophic education that she struggles with, setting the stage for the theme of Imperfect Hope. I'm still putting together my thoughts on the philosophy of the Val'nar temples. I'll hopefully avoid the stereotypes of warrior-monks by having a distinctive culture built around the concept of Questors (a bit like questing knights, without the lord/government connection). The Val'nar temples have been trying to guide the confederacy civilization out of a devastating dark age that came about some time back with destruction of the preceding civilization, a humanish empire that spanned the western ocean with it's magical-navigation technologies. That, btw, is the core of my story idea that's been blurbed on the left here for some time, "Lighthouse". However, that tale will wait for another day to surface...

     The empire storyline will involve the rise of the new emperor to power, and detail how he follows (and adapts) his fathers long term expansion plan that replaced the previous dynasties rather blunt-force plans. Those plans led to the disaster (for the empire) at Sha'te Valley and eventually led to the fall of the previous emperor. The new dynasty adopted a longer term, more subtle strategy to obtain the resources needed to keep the empire running. The current emperor's father will come across as a rather brilliant strategist, but his son, having fallen under the influence of a powerful seta high priest, will be less successful at long term planning. I've not really fleshed out the emperor's personality yet, since I only touched on him in one scene in my first draft. I'm sure as I start to work on that, I'll find out who he is, beyond the two-dimensional figure he is right now.

     Time for a blurb, something from the tail end of Randir's first scene. It's first draft material, so don't expect too much.

     Elorna laid the newly crafted j'tai on the log next to her sleeping li'vanya. Moments passed as she gazed at him, her face a mixture of joy at his choice, and sadness at the harsh path she had just placed his feet upon. The glade returned to normal, the wind picked up and snow swirled about the clearing again. Gradually, the guardian faded from view until only the faintest of outlines could be seen, though her eyes remained star bright as she watched until the storm began to wane and the sun rose.

Clear skies,
Jim

January Progress

2010-01-14T19:30:00.001-07:00

     Back in the grinder. If you note the word count on the left, I've recently updated my count on Imperfect Hope to reflect that I've put in several thousand words of late. Current total, slightly over 97k. Being a rough draft, I know that number isn't terribly accurate when it comes to the final product, but it gives me a measure of my progress. I think I'll treat myself to something when I top 100k words (probably tomorrow). Little celebrations...

     Reader Matt (Thanks, Matt) sent me a note last week commenting on a posting from a bit more than a year ago about personality. Back then, I was reading up on the Meyers-Briggs personality tests, and applying that in some degree to my character development. At first, I envisioned the entire culture of the K'tath to be somewhat homogenous in their makeup, with a strong preponderance of Introverted, Intuitives. However, Matt, whose father has taught Meyers-Briggs for some 25 years, pointed out that the overall percentages of types is pretty much cross cultural. That 3% of americans who are INFP's compares to the 3% of East Germans, 3% of Nigerians, and 3% of Chileans. As usual, I got to thinking...

     It would make sense if I concentrate certain 'types' within the three castes of the K'tath, much like certain types do well (and concentrate somewhat) within certain professions (And that got me to thinking about the mb-types of air traffic controllers, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms). Thus, I'm going to look at the 16 types, especially the informal names (like guardian, mentor, artisan) and allow that to concentrate the typings for me. I'm also going to look at my current thoughts on the typings of my major protagonists to make sure it fits, but I don't anticipate any changes in their personality, I used the Meyers-Briggs as merely food for thought when I was fleshing out Randir and Cerryn.

     The "informal" names for the types seem to provide a clue to the typical personality of the various types. For example, a wikipedia article refers to the INFP (my type) as a healer, though not necessarily a "Physical Healer", rather it implies that an INFP is an emotional and spiritual healer (thus many INFP's do well in careers such as counselors and therapists). The INTJ's nickname is "mastermind". ISFJ is "protector". An ESFJ is a "Provider". You get the point. Using those 'non-scientific' names as a beginning, I can more easily see the makeup of the k'tath culture, at least regarding their disposition within the three castes. Sen would include ESTJ supervisors,INTP architects, and INTJ masterminds. Krath, the bulk of the k'tath, would include ESFJ providers, ENFP teachers, crafters, counselors, and so on. The Kel would include ENFP Champions, ISFJ Protectors, and possibly the ENTJ "Field marshall" (though they also might go into the Sen).

     Does this help me write? Perhaps as I'm jotting down notes about characters as I write the story, having a 'type' on file helps me keep the characters actions consistent, so long as I remember to consult my notes every so often to remind myself of the details I've accumulated. Many of my notes are scattered about my desk drawer, poorly organized, but since this summer when I upgraded my writing software to a program called ywriter-5, I'm able to append notes to characters, objects, places, whatever I need, and recall them with only a few mouse clicks. By the time I've finished IH, I suspect I'll have quite a file of notes saved on my harddrive(s) that will carry over to my next project. Now, where did I put my D'oril maps...

     Anyway... I'll probably get back to work on writing tonight after work, if I break 100k anytime in the next three days, Irma and I will reward ourselves (well, me for the milestone, and her for putting up with my madness) with a nice dinner somewhere. Anyone got any suggestions?

TTFN,
Jim

2010: New Year

2010-01-07T21:20:00.001-07:00

     I find myself a bit in awe of the fact that we're beginning another new decade. Y2K really doesn't seem that far back, and yet, here we are, 2010. Is anybody else feeling like the calendar is flipping by faster and faster?

     Imperfect Hope has languished for the last 6 weeks. As I'd mentioned in my last post, writing during the holiday period has felt nearly impossible. I know it would be different if I were writing full time, and not putting most of my energy into keeping my head above the water at the FAA. Though our traffic levels are down a little from last year, it felt busier than ever, in a large part due to the extra load we veterans have to carry while the new generation of trainees learn the ropes. With retirements coming fast and furious, the trainees are getting pushed hard to get checked out on the various sectors, sometimes too rapidly for them to absorb it all in a meaningful manner. When I went through the training process some 22 years back, it took nearly 4 years to complete. The technology has changed dramatically since then, but the core of the job is the same. It still takes about three years for the newbies to get through the program, and honestly, I think it takes another year or more for some of it to really sink in.

     I've looked at my skill progression and have come up with a comparison to medieval times. Back then, (and I'm playing a bit loose with hard facts because, frankly, there are dozens of different facts that contradict each other to some degree, so I'm picking the ones that I remember from readings that seem most relevant.) Anyway, back then, in the skilled artisan or trade guilds, an apprentice (trainee) spent many years learning the job (Controller wise, that's 2-4 years college, plus 3-4 years on the job training). Once they became a journeyman (we call them "FPL's", or full performance level controllers), they might spend 15 years or so perfecting their art. Then, they became masters. In the ATC world, I see the trainees get checked out, and spend about three years becoming what I consider a "journeyman" level, then another 12-15 years before I feel that skill levels are at the "master" level. Yes, there is a definite difference between a 6 year "journeyman", and an 18 year "master". There's an efficiency in action, a calmness, and frankly, a confidence in the way the master handles things that a journeyman, even though he may have all the technical skills, just can't project with the same smoothness.

     Thats where the challenges this year have arisen. We've got two humps of ages in the ATC system, a hump of 40 percent or so of controllers with 20+ years of experience who are all "masters", many of whom will be retiring in the next few years, another hump of 30 percent who are "journeymen" with 5-10 years of experience (yes, there was a period of ten years where the FAA just flat out ignored hiring new controllers because "we've got enough right now"), and the remaining 30 percent who are either trainees, or less than 5 year veterans. The burden is falling on the "masters" to train the newbies, not because the journeymen can't, but because the stress levels in 1 on 1 training pushes them much harder than it does the veterans.

     However, it is tiring. Sitting in front of a radar scope for 2 hours at a time with full attention on projecting what will happen in the next 10 minutes is fatiguing enough. Sitting behind a trainee with full attention on both the radar scope and the trainee is doubly so. A good trainer's eye spends almost as much time on the trainee because, basically, you want to sense trouble forming in the trainee's mind before he or she even realizes it is there.

     I watch my trainee's shoulders, hands, and leg movements. I listen to the timbre of his voice, speech rate, note stumbles and the frequency of "Calling Center, say again?". Some trainees start bouncing their knee when they begin to stress. Some lean further and further forward until their noses seem to almost touch the radar screen. And some just flat out freeze.

     A "journeyman" controller probably isn't aware of those telltales, so the trainee gets in trouble, and the journeyman trainer notices it about the time he see's that the sector is almost beyond control. He then has to jump in, pull the trainee out of the way, and spend the next 15 minutes shoveling furiously until he's out of the hole. Meanwhile, the trainee sits back and fidgets and stresses and, by the time he or she jumps back in, often has lost confidence.

     A veteran trainer might simply mention that the trainee is leaning too far forward, and perhaps he should unclench his fist and let his microphone button breathe a bit. A simple suggestion to head off a problem 15 minutes before it's a problem might be the key that a veteran see's, but the trainee hasn't. Rescue the trainee from the stress before it begins, and quite probably, the trainee will be able to get through whatever is building. He'll learn from it.

     Obviously, some veteran controllers have no business sitting behind a trainee. And some journeymen instructors do very well. There are as many training styles in the center as there are controllers. Some of us use more than one, depending on what is needed.

     Bottom line, though, is that, as I'd mentioned last month, we're tired. With Ski-country routes and traffic levels climbing again, it will be until after spring break before it starts to wind down. I'm on a crew with 6 FPL controllers (4 of whom are "veterans"), and three trainees, one of whom is a complete beginner, only having arrived at the center a couple of weeks back. Looks like it's going to be a long year...

     However... It is a new year. The FAA is 40-48 hours a week, and it is a stable job, something many out there don't have. It is up to me to shed the fatigue and stress of the job as I leave the facility and drive home, and be grateful for the blessings that have come my way. I just have to remember that the rest of the time is our time, so I'll keep my eyes on the stars... Just like Randir and Cerryn are supposed to do in Imperfect Hope... ;-)

Clear skies, all...
Jim

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T09:57:00.001-07:00

     I've found that trying to write between thanksgiving and new years is an exercise in futility. I'm afraid there are just too many things to get done. That's not to say it's a bad thing, I'll be the first to admit I love the family gathering, and all the work that Irma and I have to put in to get things ready are worth it. So, Imperfect Hope has taken a back burner, writing wise. I have, on the other hand, been mulling over some ideas that seem to have promise. For example, Remy's tale (he's Cerryn's younger brother, who'll play a more important role in part two) will likely include quite a bit a action at sea as I parallel his, Cerryn's, and Randir's lives while their paths converge. He's going to have an interesting life at sea while his big sister becomes a questor...

     Randir's tale has taken on some added complexity in my notes, I've cemented some thoughts on how I'm going to foreshadow his relational challenges with Cerryn later on in the tale, by the time he meets her, his fears (shared by most kel warriors of the k'tath) of Il'cha bond pairs ("soul-mates") and the tragedy that almost always dominates their lives make him a reluctant companion. Cerryn's own experiences will drive her away from him for entirely different reasons based on her own misinterpretation of the life of a questor. This despite the need for them to essentially create a synergistic team, something that the Valnar (guardian demi-gods) are trying to create by bringing them together in the first place. Sounds like a soap opera? Hopefully I'll find a not so blunt hammer to drive this storyline forward when I get to it in the writing stages.

     Anyway, all these thoughts have been bouncing around in my skull while hanging on a ladder 22 feet up in the air clipping christmas lights on the gutter. In previous years, we've had a routine for setting up our lights, but this year we decided to begin phasing out the old incandescent bulbs and replace most of the outdoor lights with LED-style. However, I realized early on that I'd have to change the pattern of string alignment, since the bulbs are closer together, strings shorter, etc. On the other hand I can link more of them together without overloading a circuit. With the old strings, I'd marked places on the cord where particular strings stretched across the peaks of our roof, so I could clamber across the roof with all the lights, stretch the lines out, and put them up in a short afternoon. With the new strings, Not so easy...

     FIrst of all, I had to get new gutter clips for the different style bulbs. Then, because I was linking the strings together differently, I had to experiment with different arrangements until I found an efficient one. New wall clips were needed, and all this had to work with the older bulbs I was keeping (the christmas train on the side fence, draped lights along the limestone wall, and lighted wreathes beside the living room picture window). Oh, and the sidewalk lights and crystal angels...(It sounds like a lot more than it is) TO make a long story shorter, It took three days (2 half days after work, and one full saturday) to get to a working arrangement. Next year it'll go more quickly. I hope... At least my balance is still fairly good. If not the stamina from climbing up and down the ladder...

     It was worth it. Our four year old grandson, Adan James practically glowed as brightly as the crystal angels when he saw it lit up last week for the first time. Ditto his eight year old brother, Jose Antonio, and our granddaughter (also 4) Tatiana (when she saw it a couple of days later). Oh, and Irma and I are happy with it as well (albeit with a few modifications next year to clean up the window treatments.

     Anyway, we're down to planning christmas eve dinner. Irma will be doing the Enchilada's, Tamales, and such (the request from half of the "kids"), I'm dry aging the 8-rib rib roast (the request from the other half) even as we speak, and will hit it with the spice rub it wednesday night. She'll put it in the oven thursday afternoon before I get home, then I'll finish with the gravy and the bearnaise sauce, roast potatoes and yorkshire pudding. Christmas eve we'll have all of the kids and spouses, grandkids, some inlaws, and even our grand-puppy... At last count, there'll be 22 of us for dinner.

     After dinner, Irma and I will sit back and let the whole thing settle. I'd have a scotch, but I have to be at work at 600 am christmas day, so I'll save that for the weekend...

     Anyway, If I don't write before then, Merry Christmas to all of you...

Clear skies...
Jim

December already?

2009-12-02T20:52:00.001-07:00

     I gave in and wrote about stupid FAA tricks last week. Had I only waited, I would have had much more to write about this week. Ah well, I'll put last weeks antics in the composting bin and perhaps dig it up in a few weeks after it has finished moldering...

     Imperfect Hope has slowed somewhat, mostly due to shorter writing sessions of late as other things to deal with continue to crop up. I did give in and do a bit of a rewrite on pieces of Randir's first scene, there were some poorly blocked out sections that just didn't mesh with what I'd written about K'tath culture. However, in rewriting, I discovered some new questions that I mulled over this week, aspects of the k'tath culture that need detail.

     Basically, I was starting Randir's tale "in media res" (the story has already started, and I pick up the action in mid-act) during his naming quest. The naming quest is another aspect of the k'tath that I'd noted decades ago in Brandis' IFGS history, that Kel and Sen went on a quest early in their youth to discover their "true name". Other than this aspect of k'tath culture existing, I'd never gone beyond "this happened, and so now...". However, Imperfect Hope offers me a chance to show this detail much more colorfully.

     One idea that emerged from the primordial soup I call "my imagination" was that all K'tath had a childhood name that stayed with them while they were young. When the time comes for their name quest, their krathen family performs a tiny bit of krathen magic that effectively takes the name from the younglings memory (not completely, but enough that during his journey, he'll have more and more difficulty remembering his child-name until he discovers his adult name, at which point child name is forgotten completely. I've combined that with the coming of age aspect of the youngling learning whether he will become Krath, Kel, or Sen during the same quest, it is tied in (some as yet undecided way) to the selection/bestowment of the adult name. In Randir's case, I'm still writing the naming quest scene, so exactly how it comes about is uncertain, I've several ideas competing for the lead right now. At some point, one will seem to be the best fit, and it will come together.

     This is an aspect of writing that comes up with me rather often. THough I've the plot line well outlined, event following event etc, I'll be writing, and some small aspect of the scene will take on more and more life as my imagination grabs it and runs with it. Sometimes it'll be good, sometimes it'll flop badly, and I'll end up dumping several paragraphs during the first draft because it just doesn't fit. A fair amount of it ends up staying just to see if I can come up with ideas that will make it fit better later.

     In Randir's opening scene, however, I've pieced together lots of lore from the IFGS D'oril and added much more content. I'm expounding on the concept that the guardians (Elorna and the others) have moralistic rules that prevent them from interfering directly in the affairs of their chosen people, that the dark guardians (Seta and the others) have the same rules, but are more able/willing to bend them, which tends to give them temporary advantages in the god wars that they wage/play in. The balance expects that "the bad guys" will cheat, and that "the good guys" have to work extra hard to overcome. That, in essence, is one of the themes of Imperfect Hope.

     I think the concept that "the bad guys cheat, and good has to work extra hard as a result" is a hidden theme in many fantasy works. Sometimes it's hidden under the guise of "evil takes the easier path, but in the end...", sometimes the badguys find a loophole in some natural law. In my case, I've set up a higher authority that the guardians and dark guardians answer to, this mirrors to some degree basic human civilization. Criminals ("evil") will bend or break the rules to get what they want, sometimes because they don't care, sometime because they assume they won't be caught, and sometimes just because they want to evoke a little chaos in the world. Am I equating my dark guardians with criminals? Not really. Just pointing out some behavioral similarities. I think. I'll have to take half my brain out and have a dialogue with it.....

     Anyway, more to come, I'm sure.

Clear skies,
Jim

Absent, but busy

2009-11-20T19:22:00.001-07:00

    Mea Culpa. I've been absent for a couple of weeks regarding posting, mostly due to a backlog of chaos. Irma and I are hoping it's under control again. We'll see, chaos has a way of following itself up with more chaos.

     The FAA's been busy acting stupid, but hey, why should this month be any different than the last oh, say, 21 years? Denver Center's staffing continues to drop, and even though traffic is down over last year, we're getting tired. Having said that, I will also observe that some (okay, many) of the errors that have resulted are as much the result of dumb controller decisions as they are of fatigue. For those who've not heard me talk about this before, I should explain. At 'center level', an error occurs when two aircraft within the same altitude stratum (+ or - 1000ft of each other) pass within 5 horizontal miles of each other. Doesn't sound like much of a problem, except it's the standard we're held to. An operational error is considered a big deal, one error triggers a review of your skills, more can lead to retraining or practicing your phrase "you want fries with that?".

     Some errors are just plain dumb luck, the result of a series of small mistakes that end up in an irreversible situation. Some are just plain Dumb Moves, the result of someone not paying attention or trying to take a chance. (ever see Pushing Tin? That movie was (besides just a plain bad example of controllers in general) filled with supposed controllers constantly taking stupid chances. I tried to watch it, never managed to get more than 10 minutes before I had to turn it off or risk permanent brain trauma). Anyway, hollywood image aside, Controllers don't last a full career if they continue to take stupid chances.

     However, our illustrious management seems to think every error is the result of someone doing something deliberate. When the facility has a string of errors (such as this fall, where we've had 6 or so in as many weeks, compared to the usual 1 every month or two), they (upper level managers) feel that "they" have to do something. The results, imposed on all of the controllers, is always draconian, always pointless, and always punitive. Thus, fatigued controllers are piled on with mid level managers who are asked to wear their headsets (equipment that they only rarely use) and patrol up and down the aisle, ready to... "Take that drink off the console, it might spill." or "Is that aircraft on frequency? How about now? now? How about now???" or "Um, what's that flashing, you doing something?" Does upper level management think their mid levels will instantly recognize an error developing, plug in and save the day?

     It only took me a few minutes to compose myself after reading that last line over. I suppose more explanation is in order. In my nearly 22 years of being an air traffic controller, I've never had an operational error. I suspect half of my coworkers are in the same boat. There's a core of perhaps 20 percent of the controllers I work with who've had multiple errors, probably accounting for 70% of the facilities errors. In todays FAA, however, management doesn't look at those who have multiple errors (unless certain conditions are met) and correct their actions. Instead, they blanket all of us with stupid restrictions and rules that do nothing but increase our stress levels. It reminds me of junior high, when someone in the back shot a rubber band at the teacher, and as a result, all of the class had to sit silently, doing nothing, until the end of class.

     So pardon the cynicism. I'll reemphasize, We've a safe air traffic system. We're doing our best, with aging equipment and goofy bureaucratic rules and regulations, and guess what? They system works. Despite the bureaucracy. I only hope nationalized health care doesn't follow the path of typical gov't agencies...

     On a writing note, Imperfect Hope continues to grind away slowly. I finished Cerryn's first two scenes (as a 9 year old), and set in on Randir's first scene (where he obtains his adult name). I've a lot of depth waiting to be added, and it seems to be the right track. I'll write more about it later this week, once I get the taste of FAA out of my mouth.

TTFN,
Jim

How background becomes sub-plot...

2009-10-31T10:31:00.001-06:00

    Wren Lorus was, despite her name, anything but birdlike. She was short, probably no taller than Cerryn's middle brother Julius, who stood just over 5 feet tall. Wren's hair was black, curly, and trimmed just above the nape of her neck, a style that was not common for women of the confederacy. Cerryn knew that there were a fair number of female questors, but she'd never met one, and had imagined that they probably looked like the Vendarian Guardian statues she'd seen at the temple, long haired and armor clad rather than short and bulky. Her face was square and hard, her patchwork skin was darker, more scarred and tougher looking than seemed possible. Though the questor was muscular, it was apparent that she had what Cerryn's mother would call "an embarrasment of blessings", a feature that seemed particularly out of place on the squat warrior. Cerryn's attention was drawn to the livid scar that ran from slightly behind the ear down to the base of her chin. It was ragged and raw, barely healed, and looked more torn than sliced. She shuddered as she tried not to imagine what had caused it.

     In developing Cerryn's past and fleshing out Imperfect Hope, I'm introducing a lot of detail to the questors of the Eagles Forge Monastery. Wren Loren is an aide to the questor general who has come to Whiteport looking for the questor-candidate shown to him in his visions from Valnar. Two children, typically aged 9-11, are chosen each year (Cerryn is 8) and are brought to the monastery to begin their training. Wren, as a senior female questor, will act as a mentor toward Cerryn during her early training at Eagles Forge. Confederacy (and pre-confederacy kingdoms) traditions hold that only rarely will a child shown to the questor-general turn down the honor, and that the parent's opinions are not heard. Part of the conflict I'm tossing out early is that Cerryn's father, the Baron of Bruils (and confederacy council-member) would keep his daughter out of the monastery (he's politically/matrimonially motivated). Cerryn's mother, though she'd much rather keep her daughter out of the questor's life, recognizes that pitfall of trying to create an exception for her own daughter.

     I'm laying the groundwork for events some 15 years down the road that will lead to the political embarrassment of the baron that will provide the framework for Min's manipulation of the council later on. The Baron, though nominally a good leader of his realm, has a blindness toward the effects of favoritism, and later on will attempt to influence the path of Remy's career. The resulting scandal will force the baron to resign from the confederacy council, and bring his (rather more easily manipulated) brother into the council where Min will take advantage of him.

     A lot of this background/subplotting I'd only just skimmed over in the original Imperfect Hope outline, I'd mentioned a scandal, but had done nothing to detail the players/events that led up to it. I'd only just started fleshing it out as I started deepening the characters around Cerryn's early age. By tying Cerryn's, Remy's and Baron Nallory's tales together, I'm hoping the story will feel more "real". I've other background items that are coming forward into the story, presenting opportunities to draw the reader into the tale more deeply, such as why Randir fears the Il'cha bonding so much, and why the walls he puts up between himself and Cerryn cause her to react in the manners I'd put forth already in the first draft. Having shown her reactions to her brothers similar actions years past, her actions should now make sense without paragraphs of explanation.

If I show the causes clearly enough.
If the causes are memorable enough to be remembered.
If I... Stop with the IF's already. Write, Jim, and worry about the details later.

Anyway, lots to work on. I'd wanted to comment more on the previous weeks posting, and may still later this week (musings on who's reading and why), but for now...

CLear skies,
Jim

Oh, what to write about? (No balloon tales, please)

2009-10-22T20:28:00.001-06:00

Unlike many other blogs out there, I won't comment on the obvious. (I hear a chorus of cheers out there...)

On the other hand, I want to step away from writing commentary for a day or two. (yes, I'm making progress for those who are worried.) I scratched my head for quite a while, thinking about what I should write about. Past topics came to mind, including musings on personality again (but I immediately started linking it to writing, so I dropped it), Adventures in Handymanland (but nothing has broken lately, and all maintenance chores of late have been uneventful things like raking leaves), or the FAA (but I don't want to write about stupid today, so...) So, forgive me if I meander while I seek a focus.

I've been wondering who has actually been visiting my blog. I know a couple of you have commented to me, some privately thru email (thanks, Matt), others directly on comments (Art and yarnspinner on wordpress, Lou, Jeff, AML, and others at blogspot). I know from my statcounter that there are several other regular visitors, but I've never been able to lure them in to comment, or even identify themselves. I wonder if they are folks I know who want to remain anonymous, or if they are strangers who, for whatever bizarre reason have kept up with these random musings of a slightly mad air traffic controller who imagines himself a writer. I suppose it's even possible that my mystery visitors are folks who I knew in the past, whom I've lost touch with, and are perhaps curious if "old what's his name" ever did anything with his life.

Statcounter logs visits to my blog and identifies from what part of the country (or world) they have come from through IP identifications. I'm not convinced it is terribly accurate, for example, when I visit my blog from work, it identifies me as coming from Oklahoma City, OK (which make a bit of sense to me, since a lot of the FAA's computer services are routed through OKC.) Others seem to jump all around, there's a verizon sourced visitor who's logged as being in Washington State some of the time, California other times. There are a couple of visitors from the UK (or maybe one who uses two different ISP's). Someone in Iowa, another in Florida, and...

Then there are the odd visits. I've had visits from Japan and China, Saudi Arabia (wonder if that's a US serviceman) and a couple of times, visits from Columbia.

It makes for an interesting puzzle, I've been able to guess who some of the visitors are by linking a posting time for a comment to an ISP listing, except some of your ISP's change IP's regularly. For example Lou's comments, though they all identify from Denver, have no common IP to label. Anchorage, on the other hand, is a stable IP, and knowing that, I can tell when my brother visits, even if he doesn't always comment. If folks don't comment, however, I've no way of identifying them, other than guessing. My visitor from Iowa for example, I've no idea, there's never been a comment linked to that visit time. Interestingly, Iowa's ISP name is constant, but for a time this year, according to statcounter, they came from New York. Unless that's someone else entirely (though I suspect it is the same person, because of the regularity of the visits). Are we confused yet?

Is this important? Not really, except in a curiosity sense. Some regular visitors I know found me because I emailed most of them and announced my start up. Others arrived (on wordpress) because of tag-searches (when I label a posting, others who look for posts at wordpress with that label may be directed to my blog). However, other visit reasons are a complete mystery.

So, I'm going to ask the question for the regular readers who didn't find Doriltales through my direct email contact: How did you find D'oriltales?, what were you looking for?, and why do you keep returning? Post a comment, anonymously if you wish, and satisfy the curiosity of this developing writer. I promise not to use your answers for any illegal or immoral (or even ill-advised) activities. ;-)

Beyond my own curiosity, I wonder what you want to know about. My profile is a bit vague, I'm not even sure if anyone's looked at it since I first put it up some two years past. Thus, part two of my questions, is there anything that you want to ask? I'll answer most questions, so long as it doesn't involve credit card numbers or the secret rituals of an air traffic controller. ;-) Let me know...

Clear skies,
Jim

Progress continued

2009-10-13T21:39:00.001-06:00

     Over the weekend, I set in on Cerryn's tale, reenvisioning Imperfect Hope's start by starting the story 20ish years prior to the events at Mud Bay that set the story in motion. Cerryn, one of the two main protagonists in Imperfect Hope, is an 8 year old baron's daughter, about to be "discovered" by the Questor General of the Eagles Forge Monestary. She starts the tale looking for her brother, 6 year old Remy, the youngest child of the Nallory clan, leaders of one of the provinces of the Western Marches. With this beginning, I feel that I'll be able to develop her character more naturally by the time she meets Randir, as well as lay the structure for the sub-plots that are an important part of Imperfect Hope.

     Remy is a new viewpoint character, one who will have a more important role in the events following the end of IH part 1. I'm introducing him now, however, in order to put into play some of the confederacy politics that I hinted at in IH. Remy, as youngest son of the Baron, is expected to follow the traditional path of a baron's non-inheriting sons, and serve the Baronry as a military commander. However, this youngster, it turns out, is drawn to the see, and at a crux point in his story (prior to Mud Bay and concurrent to a political time bomb that Nestor sets off that discredits Cerryn's family.) Remy, by going to sea with one of the trade houses, turns his back on family politics, but his role in IH part two will have impact on the Empire's plot.

     Meanwhile, I'm going to develop Randir in a similar method to Remy and Cerryn. Developing the character of a k'tath over time will make the character more personal, and will give me a chance to exhibit the major differences in Humanish and K'tath cultures. I'll be able to introduce the concept of Il'cha mates, which will go a long way toward explaining his attitudes toward the developing relationship with Cerryn late in Imperfect Hope. Cerryn's attitudes will also be developed in her own story.

     As I mentioned, I tossed my early effort to write Cindas opening frame story, at least until I can have finished first draft of the early part of the tale and have a better understanding of what I am framing. So, with the tossing out of 850 words, I still managed a net gain of nearly 3000 words over the weekend, and I spent quite a bit of my writing time polishing up some storyline concepts, so it wasn't all writing. It may not seem like much, but my attitude is positive, and my outlook is hopeful (if imperfect). Now to deflect those electrons... (so I don't get negative... ;-)   )

     Unrelated to writing, I'm fighting an urge to comment on the stupidity of recent FAA moves... For now, I'll just say that, even though I agree that we need to drag our atc system into the 21'st century with some much needed upgrades, the way they're going about it is incredibly dense. But I guess I expect that, after 22 years in the FAA, my cynicism is well founded. The bureaucracy of the federal Gov't just doesn't lend itself to well-thought out improvements. Instead, we're getting a radar/computer suite shoved down our throats, the interface of which was designed by software designers who have little to no real experience on what is important to an air traffic controller. As a result, if/when ERAM is implemented, I will be able to demonstrate 5 different ways to print out NOTAMS (notices to airmen)(something I've never had a need to do in 20+ years), but nearly every command I use to call up important information that I typically need in seconds, (and that I can now do with a button push, 3 numbers on a keypad, and a mouse click) will require anywhere from 2-4 menu/scroll downs/mouse clicks on different parts of a 30 inch computer screen, and sometimes a half dozen + keystrokes on the keyboard. ARGGGH!

     Anyway... Don't worry, the controllers will make it work. We'll just end up sitting in a corner at night after our shifts, rocking back and forth and babbling... Oh, I already do that..... ;-)

TTFN
Jim

False starts, new starts.

2009-10-08T18:12:00.001-06:00

     Last weekend, I put in some good time writing on saturday by starting in on what I'd envisioned would be the new starting point for Imperfect Hope. I continued the experiment that concluded my first draft of IH by beginning with Cinda's first person, folksy viewpoint providing a revised frame story for the entire IH series. However, by the time I'd finished writing that night, I began to have second thoughts about the experiment.

     Cinda's viewpoint, as a frame story for IH v-1, seemed to work. Her voice brought an immediate sense of some of what was going on, and as the closing scene for IH, part one, felt like a good, emotional cliff hanger. However, as the beginning frame for events taking place 20 years earlier, it lacks impact. Perhaps this is because I wrote the frame story for v-1 after I'd finished the first draft, and this time I was starting with the frame. Perhaps it just isn't the start I needed. Regardless, I was very unsatisfied, and sunday afternoon I deleted the scene and toyed with other ideas.

     After tossing around a mental football, I decided I'd write the first draft of Cerryn, Randir, and Remy's tales (they lead in to the old start of IH by showing the main characters as they develop) without building the frame first, and then go back and see if first person Cinda can then frame the story successfully. While I tossed around ideas, I put together a more detailed time line for each of the main characters, and revisited my outline/scenes. IH v-2 is back on the front burner.

     One change I'm making to my working habits this time around is that I'm giving my Inner Critic a more active role. The pre-story I'm working on is essentially another first draft that I'm tacking on to IH v-1, but I'm going to let myself revise this time around. I'll also work on first rewrite of IH v-1 on occasion, though I'm going to go slowly, rather than a rewrite, I'm going to tweak some revisions in as I make changes to the storyline in part one. I'm still planning to do a complete rewrite, but that will begin as I finish up part one and have a complete story to do.

     Another plan, as I start getting some rewritten scenes finished, I'll be looking for some readers to give me some initial comments. Rather than post my story online (which messes with some aspects of selling first publication rights should I succeed in getting a saleable product), I'll email segments to individuals who are interested. I've gotten a couple of offers for help over the last year, but I'll make an official volunteer solicitation announcement later this fall when I'm ready. In the meantime, I'll toss out excerpts once in a while...

     As I mentioned, vacation left my head more clear than it has been in months. It's amazing how much mental clutter I pick up from the day to day routine of being an air traffic controller. I hope Irma and I get a chance to take some weekend mini-vacations in the coming months to keep my head unmuddled. Maybe we'll go visit the Stanley Hotel and see if the ghosts want to come out and play again... ;-)

     Anyway, ATC duties call, so time to step away from the keyboard...

TTFN
Jim

We're Back...

2009-09-29T11:59:00.003-06:00

Kauai continues to be a magical place to visit. Irma and I thoroughly enjoyed our 2 1/2 weeks, and the feeling of de-stressing was almost tangible, by day two I felt "almost human", instead of "government employee". We kept our schedule light, in fact, we didn't really have a schedule, except for reservations to a luau, and dinner reservations at the Plantation Gardens. We generally decided what to do on any given day over coffee on the lanai.

Our condo had a good view of the ocean from the lanai, we could gauge the surf before we wandered down to the beach. The first five days surf was pretty heavy, on monday the 7th, we had 7-10 foot breakers off shore, and good 5-7 foot surf on the sand. I don't board surf (though there were plenty of newbies getting lessons nearby), but I spent a good part of the morning getting tossed about (okay, hammered), while showing Irma how (not) to take a wave ;-) , and generally acting like a kid. By mid swim, I felt I was up to speed in swimming in the surf (as opposed to getting flattened by the breakers). Irma wisely kept her distance, which isn't to say she didn't enjoy the surf, she just did it with a firm grip on my hand (or whatever part of me she could grab, whenever a wave managed to knock one or both of us down) just outside of the zone where the surf was breaking. The rest of our visit, surf was a more typical 2-4 foot waves, and Irma was more comfortable with swimming in the deeper water. By the end of our trip, we both were 'old hands' again. Next time, I'll introduce her to snorkeling... ;-)
This is the surf on a calmer day about 50 yards from our lanai...

The food was great, we went for a couple of hikes (including one into the Kokee swamp area, which was an experience I'll describe later) and another along a very rugged cliff and beach trail southeast of Poipu. When it came time to return, we were both disappointed to leave, but... Work and family awaited us. We did visit our favorite lighthouse, though, So here we are...

As I'd promised myself, I did no writing, nor did I plot or plan on Imperfect Hope. I did occasionally make mental notes of things to do or include. The Kokee swamp, for example, was a hiking experience difficult to imagine. There were pockets of what I can only describe as "dead air" where the aroma of the swamp was thick and earthy and felt like a warm, soggy blanket dropped on your head, other areas had pockets of air that was considerably hotter than surrounding areas and felt like walking into a sauna, and the rare stretch where a breeze actually penetrated to the forest floor. The trail we followed starts climbing up the ridge surrounding the volcanic caldera, so long extinct that it is filled with real tropical rain forest, then drops down into the depths of the swamp. We didn't go all the way in, in large part due to our desire stay out of the knee deep mud said to exist on parts of the trail. I'll admit, the "dead air zones" were rather daunting in feel, like stepping into a primordial land. I guess I'm just too used to the dry and wide open colorado trails...

I'll travelogue a bit more at a later date. For now, it's back to the FAA. I think my biggest mental challenge upon returning to work was putting on... SHOES. (Imagine Gollum writhing in pain, screaming "It burns... Get it off, it burns...") I wasn't far from reacting in that manner...

As I mentioned, I didn't work on Imperfect Hope, except to consider mental notes. When I got back late last week, I jotted down a bit of what I'd remembered, added that to the background content and thoughts I've compiled over the last 6 weeks of relative writing inactivity, and pawed through it over the weekend. I've a good idea on how I"ll be approaching the rewrite now, and, barring a surprise or three, I"ll start this week. Now to check inventory... Coffee? (Kauai estate reserve, check!) Notes? (check, if wrinkled and disordered) Goldfish? (Check, big dragon sized bowl) Scotch? (Check, but I'd better stock up...) Wish me good writing...

Clear skies,
Jim

Vacation time

2009-09-01T21:22:00.001-06:00

Our long anticipated vacation begins this saturday, Irma and I are disappearing for 2 1/2 weeks. We're going back to Kauai, long our favorite place to decompress, specifically the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation in Poipu Beach. I came to realize this week how fatigued I am from the last few months of work madness. We both need this break.

I am not planning to write while I"m on vacation. I might post a note or two on the blog, but I won't promise anything. If you'd read my observations two years ago when we last visited Kauai, you'd notice that we didn't schedule anything. Our day consisted of getting up and having coffee and breakfast on the lanai of our condo, listening to the zebra doves and other tropical birds chirping away. Between the scent of the flowers, and the fresh coffee, it sets a relaxing pace. We'll probably do some hiking, we might go on a day sail, and we'll consider a luau at the kilohana plantation. There's the Kauai Coffee Company, largest coffee plantation in the US, and several botanical gardens in the area that have short hiking trails through their gardens, from manicured to wild.

Kauai island has fewer than 80,000 residents on the whole island. If you're looking for nightlife, or crowded beaches, or exciting touristy things to to, you'll be disappointed. We're not looking for the excitement of an all inclusive resort. And we won't be disappointed, this is our 4th trip to Poipu.

I've a couple of links to share. The first leads to the kauai sheraton, the hotel adjacent to the Kiahuna Plantation. Their web cam overlooks the kiahuna plantation's beaches, we'll be there off and on throughout the trip. I'll wave, just in case anyone's watching. The other links are to the Kauai Coffee Company, easily the best coffee I've had (probably because we can buy it so fresh, it's still steaming from the roasters), and a few of the places we may visit, including the lighthouse that has contributed to my story idea, Lighthouse.

http://www.seehawaiilive.com/skr-cam.cfm is the live webcam that overlooks the beach
http://www.kauaicoffee.com/ where we'll buy our coffee.
http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Kauai/html/sites/Kilauea_lighthouse.html The lighthouse that inspired a big part of my story concept, Lighthouse.

I won't promise I'm going to post over the next two and a half weeks. I'm going into full rehab mode, hoping to return fresh and ready to grind it out again at the FAA, and perhaps my attitude toward IH will be freshened as well.

Clear skies, all,
Jim

More background

2009-08-25T22:15:00.000-06:00

     I've spent the last week answering some of the questions I raised for myself in reading Imperfect Hope v1.0. Several pages went into detailing the history of the confederacy a bit more, putting a more specific timeline in place and naming/defining the different regions. The east and west marches have taken on very different flavors, important for other tales in the D'oril world, as well as having a mild effect on the politics of the Empires plot. I put some thought into the reasons for the various regions coming together over the last 120 years, covering the influence the triad enclaves (the three main religions of the confederacy) that they've wielded in influencing the course of the region, as well as the power that the trade consortiums wield in their own way. The barons, dukes, and other regional rulers owe much of their continued success to the wealth that the merchants bring, as well as the knowledge that the enclaves provide, and as such, have been guided by them over the decades.

     This doesn't have a direct impact on Imperfect Hope, but it shapes the characters, especially Cerryn, who's father is one of the barons of the western marches. It also has helped me define the role of the questors, the adventuring hand of the enclaves.

     That info is important for my writing the new first five chapters. Cerryn's early life at her fathers keep, and her subsequent education at the Eagles Forge Monestary, will lead her to investigating the chaos forest (temporary name for a place ruined by excessive wintergem harvesting), and ultimately introduce her to Randir.

     Randir's tale begins with his own journey as a kel healer, and the internal politics of the K'tath as they wrestle with their desire for separatism versus the need to engage help from the south in keeping their own wintergem forests secure. When a small clique within the sen, guided by Elorna, decides to recreate the companions of Elorna from Brandis' time (despite the perceived problems they brought back from the empire lands), Randir is sent south to an enclave university to educate himself, as well as the scholars of the enclave about the k'tath and the wintergems. Eventually, Randir and Cerryn will meet, and begin their journey towards the beginning of Imperfect Hope V1.

     Once again, it may seem confusing, but I've a strong sense of where to begin the tale now, and how to proceed. I've a bit more groundwork to lay, including a rough outline of the new start, and... Soon, I hope.

     In the meantime, I'm playing with some opening ideas, either Cinda in my frame story concept, or foreshadowing the empires plot with... Something dark and dire. Perhaps when I finish this scotch...

TTFN,
Jim

The Big Picture, or, boy did I underestimate how much background I need.

2009-08-12T21:31:00.001-06:00

     Imperfect Hope, v2 is still in the planning stage. This last week, I spent quite a bit of time taking notes on the story as it is, from revising the opening chapter storylines, to asking myself questions about what/why/where/who/how with regards the overall world picture. As a result, I've been focusing on history of the world (part 1???). There are a lot of questions to be answered.

     First of all, I'm going to have to come up with a catchy name ;-). D'oril is really the only named area I've got, and it's a relatively small area, albeit one with huge storytelling impact. The confederacy, lands south of D'oril, occupy nearly half of the continent, with barbaric wilds to the south of that. However, Confederacy is, right now, more of a descriptive of the government form than a land name. I have to name the continent, name the confederacy, and name the baronries, trade consortiums, and enclaves that compose the confederacy. The south, as yet unimportant in my story, just took on a level of importance as I've referenced it in the confederacy timeline that details the relative youth of the confederacy, so I've got to define it with more than "here there be barbarians".

     Compare that to the continent of the massive Empire of Tallux. It (the empire) has a name (from the founding emperor), though the continent, regions, and so on are completely undefined. In Imperfect Hope, I've a scene that takes place in "Imperial City", but otherwise I've never detailed any aspects of the land. Until this week, anyway. It too has been given a timeline, and some basic regions have been crudely sketched out to give weight to events referenced in IH. However, much more is needed if I'm going to really flesh out the antagonists, I need to have a good sense of the political environment back home if the characters are going to be believable.

     I've gotten a very rough sense of history for both continents down, the Empire back about 650 years, the lands of the confederacy back only 200 years. Oh, and the k'tath legends of D'oril that in my oral storytelling from Brandis go back "thousands of years". Blending the time scales gives a date for Sha'te Valley as having occurred 68 years prior to the beginning of Imperfect Hope.

     Reading the first draft set me up to ask a lot of questions, seeing things that need explanation (either in the story, or in the background so I can remain consistent). The gaps in the first draft are significant, but seeing them has helped me start refining the story to make it viable. The ruling council of the Confederacy, previously undefined, has to take a shape in order to make it clearer to me how and why the empire spy has manipulated certain members to achieve empire goals. In turn, the empire goals have to be better understood in the context of the history of Tallux, as is the reason they're attempting the subterfuges at Mud Bay. I set the time gap since Sha'te, and as a result, I've been able to explain the changes in K'tath culture since then, which clarifies Randir's presence in the story. And understanding Cerryn's fathers position in the confederacy allows me to zero in on Cerryn's early attitudes and mores, which makes her actions in Imperfect Hope understandable.

     It is a lot of work. Some of it I'll flesh out while I work on the rewrite, but a couple of things feel like they need to be addressed first. I'm making a list of my questions, and I'll sort them into "flesh out now" and "work on later". Hopefully the "now" won't be too big...

     In the mean time, wish me luck and good scotch...

TTFN,   Jim.

Adding Content

2009-08-04T12:42:00.000-06:00

     I've made a decision. Imperfect Hope, first draft, needs more content. Specifically, I've added to the outline what turns out to be four chapters to be added to the front of the existing first draft. I'm planning to rewrite Cinda's opening monologue to reflect the new beginning, and then weave together Cerryn's tale of growing up in the Eagle's Forge, the Vendarian training temple (think Shaolin monks from the old tv series in a vague way), then gradually drop in three other storylines, one involving Randir and his journey to becoming a companion of Elorna, another involving Cerryn's older brother, and the third involving Del, a retired adventurer turned brewmaster. Cinda's opening monologue will mention Del, one of the old ones she remembers, effectively tying his story line to the long term tale. He'll also eventually link up with Cerryn's brother, but in the opening chapters, He'll start out linked with her, and then his story will diverge as hers starts to converge with Randir. It all sounds so confusing, the way I'm describing it, but in my own imaginations, it seems to make sense. Of course, IH v1.0 seemed to make sense, and it needs a major reworking. But, hey, that's what rewriting, as opposed to revising, is for.

     I am puzzling on exactly how to start Cerryn's tale. Some time ago, I wrote an exercise introducing Cerryn to a visiting monk from the Eagles Forge, that might make for a good start. If I do work from that initial point, I could then drop her brother in (an older brother, something of a black sheep, who Cerryn looks up to (and later, her idealized memory of her brother will undoubtably affect her questor training in some manner)). From there, I might skip years to touch upon her questor training before introducing her to Randir (an introduction I'd already mentioned in IH v1.0 as musings from Randir's point of view.)

      The as yet unnamed brother's tale will revolve around his own path of growth to where He'll take a center stage in IH part two in resisting the Empires efforts in Moon Harbor. The black sheep aspect of his tale may involve his interest in the confederacy navy, something his traditionally oriented father would strongly disapprove of. That would put him in the right place during the empires initial moves off the coast. I'm still mulling over it, though, so this storyline may change drastically.

     Randir's tale would begin at a later point than Cerryn's tale, and give me the opportunity to show the k'tath culture, and his own path toward Companion of Elorna. This line is as yet the most nebulous, but it's also the one I've probably got the most background material from which to draw. More will come, I'm sure.

     As I mentioned, Del's tale will be referenced by Cinda, in a completely revised opening first person/present tense monologue that will encompass foreshadowing and the like. From there, I'll refer to Del's story toward the end of the beginning four chapters, setting the stage for his link up in the primary story with Cerryn's brother. His role will expand in book two.

     All this gets me to ask myself, how many major and minor characters can I safely run in this story. I've read some books (Harry Turtledove, for example) who will weave 7 or 8 major characters viewpoints together, but honestly, sometimes I get lost. In looking at IH V1.0, I was running 3 major viewpoints, and 4 minor viewpoints, however two of the major viewpoints spend much of the time together (Randir and Cerryn). In version two now, I'm looking at 4 major viewpoints and 5 minor views, which pare down to 3 and 4 through much of the bulk of the tale. In addition, 1 of the minor viewpoints is a 1 scene cameo, and another of the minors is the Cinda "Frame" story. I don't think this is excessive, but... I'll see how it looks when I put it together.

     So. Time to get back to writing. I'll see if I can grind out a new start to Cerryn's tale over the next couple of days. Wish me luck...

TTFN,
JIm

Inner Critic, Meet Imperfect Hope

2009-07-31T19:38:00.001-06:00

     I've taken two weeks off from writing, except for the occasional idea storm and background notetaking. I finally started my first reading of Imperfect Hope over the weekend. As I'd planned, my first read through will be sans-notes, I just want to get an overall feel of the story. Later, I'll have notepad at side as I pick through the individual scenes.

     Inner Critic has taken to the reading with a harsh eye. I have to admit, I started out dismayed by my writing, but I have to keep reminding myself, this is only the first draft, it's far from complete. Lots of description will get added later, as will cleaning up of dialogue, developing consistency in voice and mannerisms and adding enough background. My first reading is going to concentrate on the overall storyline, is it viable, what is weak, what needs further development, what just fails completely. After I read it through, I'll sit down and have a conversation with the author...

     However, I've noted one major flaw during my first reading already. If this is a ten chapter book, it feels as if you've begun reading it in chapter four. Essentially, I've dropped the reader into the middle of the story. The maturation of the characters is too far along for my original story concept, and I make assumptions that the reader will understand things I've referenced that really should be shown or explained well before this point in the tale.

     This isn't the disaster I first felt it was, because as I looked at how I've started things, I realized that there are a couple of ways I can add the missing content. I'm going to belay deciding exactly how to restart the beginning of IH until I've finished my first reading. Once I know where I'm going to restart, I should be able to churn it out fairly seamlessly, since I know where the story needs to go.

     I've also been considering my observation from a couple of weeks ago that I needed some more content, sub-plot wise. I'm mulling over one possibility, that involves the older brother of Cerryn, serving as an officer in the confederacy in Half Moon Harbor. Since I'm almost certainly going to begin Imperfect Hope with Cerryn's early years, I can introduce her older brother and show how his influence has influenced her own development over the years. I can then put him in the story logically, and tie in that storyline with the whole empire plot line. As a side note, Del asked about the cantankerous old mage/brewer concept. Though I don't want to turn any IFGS-era characters into a comical stereotype, I do have an idea building around a pseudo-Delanore mage from the old days who is forced out of happy retirement (from adventuring) by the heavy hand of the "Damned Impies" (old-timey nickname for the imperials of Sha'te fame). Having him reluctantly join up with Cerryn's brother in resisting the Impies in Half Moon Harbor seems like a good idea right now... (Famous last words... "Here, hold my beer, I want to try something, seems like a good idea...")

     Finally, a work-related note: This has been a really ugly summer for bad weather, aviation wise. This week in particular has really chewed us up. Anyone out there know how to placate the thunderstorm gods???

TTFN, Jim

Don't even think about it, and Where are they now?

2009-07-17T14:51:00.001-06:00

     I promised myself I wouldn't think about Imperfect Hope for at least a week. Like the old joke goes, "whatever you do, don't think about bananas..." (Try it. Tell yourself "don't think about bananas", and see what you think about) ;-)

     That leaves me with a bit of a vacuum to fill, writing wise. In truth, I've stayed away from all writing since last sunday, though I've allowed myself to pick up a pencil and jot down some ideas (I suppose technically writing, but...) Things like maps of the Mud Bay area and such, and "whatever happened to..." regarding the IFGS version of characters. That led me down a different road, "whatever happened to..." with the subject being real people from the past that I've lost touch with.

     Sadly, that's a long list, pretty much anyone from high school or college. I ran through a list in my head of significant people from my past that I still hear from or run across or, at the very least, know what happened to them, and there were almost none from about 1986 or earlier.

     Granted, I went through some significant alterations in my path about that time. I'd entered college with a pie-in-the-sky image of my career choice. My naive view of a geologist was someone who traveled the wilds of the world, trekking through the most beautiful mountains and jungles of far away places, finding exotic minerals and turning the results over to the engineers to figure out how to extract it. Many of the people I knew were in the sciences, with career ideas that ranged from medicine to engineering to finance. My image of a geologist's life began to change when I spent a summer and fall working on an oil rig, where I met a real geologist, whose exciting career consisted of sitting in a ratty trailer 12 hours a day and collecting mud samples from the drill outwash every hour to record what kind of rock the rig was drilling through at that time. It was amended further the summer I worked in Nevada following maps to collect sand in the desert, and the summer I took field geology. I enjoyed the field work, hiking and such, but the reality was beginning to sink in. Geology rarely takes place in pretty places, and a bachelors degree in geologyphysics wasn't going to cut it, anyway. By 1981, I wasn't sure what I was chasing.

     I was still attending classes, and working essentially full time at a Village Inn, but... The view was changing. By the end of 1982, I'd dropped out of college, briefly chased a different dream to Idaho, and returned to Colorado to work in restaurants again. Some more college classes revolving around a second career idea (computers) followed, which led to a new job path, starting out working at a tech company putting together electronic instruments for the medical field. (bio scanners and precision scales). All that changed when I took the Air traffic control test in 1986, not because I was looking for a career, but because my girlfriend at the time was unemployed, and her dad (a pilot) suggested she take the test. I came along for moral support, and stayed for the career...

     So I went from geology to aviation. From imagining what a particular 5000 square mile area of rock looked like 500 million years ago, to predicting what a 5000 sq mile piece of airspace will look like 500 seconds in the future. From watching things that move at 8 millimeters a year to things that move at 8 miles a minute.

     I wonder if the people I knew in 1981 would recognize my name. I have a feeling that they would not, yet I still believe that I would recognize them in a heart beat. I've wondered about their paths in life, if they've been as filled with as many twists as mine, or if their plotted paths came about as they'd envisioned. There's a load of fun in imagining that, someone popping in after 30 years and saying, "Hey, what's up..." There's also that fear of them saying... "Uh, who are you again???"

     It'll make an interesting story.

TTFN
Jim

Two... One... Whew!

2009-07-13T22:52:00.000-06:00

   It's Done! Well, first draft, anyway.

     Wow. Productive weekend, I ground through the last two scenes, and added another to the first chapter to tie first scene in with the last one. As a result, I consider first draft, Imperfect Hope, Done! As I'd promised myself, I printed it out (125 pages of single-spaced, which corresponds to about 250 pages of typical paperback.) There's lots of problems with it, but it is after all, a first draft. Anyway, I printed it out, and shoved it in the desk drawer for a few days while I contemplate my next moves.

     Certain things leapt out at me that are in need of work during rewrite one: For one, I feel like I need to add another sub plot. Since my original storyline got shortened, the resulting plot is rather thin in places, too direct. Adding content from the empire viewpoint, which I"d been doing these last two weeks leading up toward closing the final chapter has helped, but something is missing. I''ve two main ideas, one is an expanded role for Major Vellars, militia commander at Mud Bay, I've presented him as a rarity in the confederacy militia, a competant soldier who has managed to turn the typical city militia into an actual useful force. He'll eventually be drawn into the politics of the council in part two, perhaps I can start playing up that sub plot in part one by building a storyline around him. My other idea involves an as yet unidentified character, mage by trade, who'll play a significant role in Half Moon Harbor in part two, where the empire's plan comes together. He might be an associate of Randir and Cerryn, He might be a scholar thrust into a leadership role, or he may be a curmudgeonly old mage (well into his high nineties in age) who'd rather just stay at home and make beer, but those damned Impies will ruin everything. I'm going to play around with ideas for a while...

     I surprised myself when I finished the final scene. Originally, I'd intended to place Randir in the hands of the K'tath for healing, and have Cerryn head back to track down the empire spy. However, I couldn't make a suspenseful ending out of that, once the badly wounded K'tath is in the hands of the kel, with krath healing on the way, what could possibly go wrong? I toyed around with ideas, rewrote the last part of the third to last scene (where Cerryn and Randir arrive at the Inn of the Stumbling Friar), and turned on the chaos machine...

     In a wild experiment, I went to present tense, first person narrative, from the viewpoint of an old acquaintance of the IFGS doril folk, Cinda the serving girl at the Inn of the Stumbling Friar. But (I hear Art say) this takes place a long time after Sha'te, umm, what? Cinda is now 91, and has run the Inn for nearly 70 years, at first as Merricks (the original proprietor) only server, then as his wife, then as clan matron. She's raised several children, one of whom now runs the Inn, and grandchildren and great grandchildren. Somehow, she survived the rugged life on the frontier, from back when the IOSF stood all by itself on the northernmost track of the Great Northern Trade Road (back then it was a mud and rut filled track) until now, when a village has grown up around the IOSF.

     It seemed to work, but lacked something. I recognized that what I'd done was create half of a frame, a writing technique where the author 'frames' the main story with a different viewpoint. So I went back to chapter one, and wrote a new beginning, First Person Present tense Cinda again. It seems quirky at first, but... Something about it feels right. I'll see how I feel about it a bit later, when I start rewrite.

Anyway, here's a snippet from the end of the first draft, Cinda's viewpoint. Synopsis, Cerryn has brought Randir to the IOSF, hoping to find K'tath healing for him, but there seems to be no hope. She now knows the assassin who tried to kill her is the same person who sent a doomstalker after Randir, and has some sort of tie to the Empire of Tallux, and fears if she delays, she'll miss out on finding him.

    Randir's hands are cold, the fever is passed for now, but I know it will return. Outside, I hear the slap of leather and clank of buckles and such as Bernt and Cerryn saddle the grey, and load the pack horse with the some of the rest of her gear that she and Randir had stored here two months past. I wonder for a moment if she'll come in to check on Randir before she goes, but I realize she's closed off her heart, and cannot bear to see what she leaves behind. She won't say goodbye. The horses will be ready soon and she'll be gone, back to Mud Bay to find her vengeance, the vengeance that she believes will heal her. I hold both of the k'taths hands in mine and have a knowing...

     A knowing is essentially a vision of the future, and in this case sets the scene for book two. I'll keep that to myself for now...

     So what's the next step? I'm going to spend a couple of days just mulling things over, for one. I'll draw up a couple of maps that cover the action areas of Imperfect Hope, that will give me a more solid reference when I do rewrite and tidy up the timeline of character movements and such. I'm going to pull together a bunch of lore and make some decisions about defining in more detail how magic works, the politics of the confederacy and the empire, and put some ideas down about details to start adding in to the culture. Then, I'll read the whole thing through once, mull things over again, then reread it, this time with a notebook and pencil to note changes and such. I'll probably have figured out what I'm adding by way of sub plot, and I'll revise the outline of book two to make sure the whole storyline still makes sense. Then I'll begin rewrite...

     By the way, I'm specifying rewrite, as opposed to revision, because I recognize that a lot of what I've written so far will change quite drastically. WIth paper copy on one side, and the notebook with changes at hand, I'll open a new file in my writing program, and rewrite, allowing creativity to change whole scenes when necessary. Yep, all 85k+ words retyped, and more content added. Only after that's done will I move to revision, where I'll start changing paragraphs, sentences, and words. Guess the works not even half done. Oh well.

Anyway... First Draft is Done!. Now where'd I put that 25 year old Macallen Scotch, I'm going to need it.

TTFN,
Jim

Three: The crucial conflict.

2009-07-06T22:48:00.001-06:00

   One scene of the final three has been completed over the weekend. It's a crux encounter, where our heroes have a fatal (near fatal?) encounter with a doomstalker. Yep, those nasty beasties have been drawn out of the IFGS D'oril and given a new life, and a shiny new set of leathery wings. The empire spy, afraid of being connected to the empires no-longer-clandestine activities in the northwest confederacy, summons one of the half-demonic blood-hounds to eliminate the one person who can link him to the raiders, namely Randir of the k'tath.

     In the IFGS D'oril, doomstalkers were used in a minigame to harry the pc's into hurrying a quest, they were monsters that would come back time after time to tirelessly pursue their prey, each time stronger than the last, unless (and in the minigame, until) the PC's gained some Elorna-blessed water and learned the ritual of closure to finally stop the doomstalker. They hunted in a pack of three, and by the end of the game, took some major effort on the part of the PC's to finish them off.

     In literary D'oril, aka Imperfect Hope, part one, Min summons a single doomstalker by asking a boon of the shadowlord (a different sort of shadowlord than the Lor shadowlord that Ray has tormented us with for so long). They were used at Sha'te, according to IH lore, and though Randir had never faced one before, he knew of it's only weakness, susceptibility to a certain sort of Elornan magic. He and Cerryn manage to finish off the stalker, but... What is the cost.

     That will be the wind down scene I'm working on next. Cerryn had learned from Randir of the connection between Min, the raiders who struck at Mud Bay (names of towns will probably change), and with the doomstalker's arrival, she makes the final connection to the Empire of Tallux. She's torn between making sure Randir gets to D'oril for the krath healing he needs to remove the shadow curse, and hunting down the assassin she blames for his death (as yet premature, but it looks probable. You know how those writers like to keep you in suspense). With the arrival of the kel group led by J'lan, who takes Randir's near-dead body back to D'oril, she makes her decision, and her goodbyes, not realizing that the shadow curse resides within her own soul.

     The final scene will set the stage for book 2, with admiral Tash setting the scene for the empire's next move, Randir's fate hanging in the balance, and Cerryn beginning her journey back to find the empire spy and, besides obtain her personal revenge, stop the Empire of Tallux from whatever their plan may be. This scene is, for now, the least well concepted scene right now, it's still rather formative. I'm planning on outlining book two after I finish first draft, but before I start in on rewrite, so I'll let first draft of this final scene take it's rough form on the fly. Chances are it will change later, but that's the whole point of rewrite.

     I'd begun to doubt my decision to split the story, for one, I was considering my new end concept a bit of a cop out. But recent books I've read actually have followed this format (for example, the Seeker series by... don't help me, I'll think of his name... (dang, I'll figure it out later)) with some very good success. In several of these books either Richard or Katlyn's fates have been left unclear at books end, to be used as lead in during the followup book. As to book length, I suspect I'll have two very reasonable 250 page books by the time I'm done. Wish me luck...

     Hope everyone had a great fourth of July, we certainly did.

Clear skies,
Jim

progress and history: Caution, IFGS D'oril spoiler (of sorts)

2009-06-30T12:15:00.001-06:00

     I've added a scene to chapter one, and another scene to chapter four, setting up the revised plotline for Imperfect Hope. I feel that both scenes are a bit weak, mostly because I was jumping back and trying to fit the new pieces in place. I know it will come together during rewrite, though. In chapter 7, I've inserted a new scene that will complete the foreshadowing and turn the next three scenes into a more suspenseful ending, and just started work on the next scene. This scene will set the tone for the climax, so I'm approaching it with a bit of caution. Regardless, I feel I'm on track to finish Imperfect Hope by mid July.

     One of the additions I'm tacking on is to increase the shadow emperors (as Prable the second is known outside the empire of Tallux) power and influence, and setting up the means by which he and the previous emperors have controlled their vast conquests. It ties in with the wintergems, corrupted by shadow, which is a natural resource that they (the empire) have almost depleted within their own lands. Thus the means for them to maintain power of the lands they already hold depends on them expanding their empire over more lands that hopefully have their own supply of wintergems, (or the as yet undefined alternative that I've decided exists in a vastly different form waiting to be discovered). Up until know, I'd treated the emperor as a distant figure that didn't actually take part in the tale, but with the new direction, I've introduced him to add dread and a higher-order threat to the protagonists. This actually ties in with my intentions re: the aftermath of Sha'te Valley.

     You seen, I'd written some notes some time back about sha'te's aftermath, and indicated that the failure of the empires army in D'oril lead to a revolution/coup attempt as the shattered armies under Yam'to's lieutenants made their way back to Tallux. Feeling badly used by the emperor, Beauty, as leader of the Demonguard, managed to find a loophole in his conditioning/curse that allowed his human half to override the restrictions placed on his demon half to disobey the emperor. During the long retreat, He and the few survivors of the demonguard shielded the van of Yam'to's army from the pursuing K'tath and allies, and more than once, was left to fend for himself in order to allow some favorite of the emperor to escape. Once they made it back to safety, He took it upon himself to depose the emperor, the ensuing generation of conflict ended with a new dynasty being founded, Prable the first. Prable succeeded in part because he called upon the shadowlord for support, not just Seta. (I suppose Shadowlord vs Seta is sort of sunni vs shiite)

     Prable the first would redefine the empire's strategy,while keeping the ultimate goal of obtaining freer access to D'orils wintergem supply, he would consolidate his hold on the rest of the empire.especially the eastern seaboard which suffered from few useable ports, too many pirates and raiders, and poor infrastructure (roads and such) that linked with the heart of the empire. He would strengthen his navy as part of his efforts, regaining control of the eastern coastal regions, and begin a campaign across the ocean, in line with his intent to avoid the frozen overland approach to D'oril. He took the long view, without actually putting any specific plan in motion towards D'oril, he set the stage for his son, trained in strategy as well as shadow theology.

     Anyway, with this background on the empires shadowlord connection, I've set the stage for a confrontation in Imperfect Hope, where the protagonists face their nemesis again, and learn much more about the empire's long term strategy, all in the shadow of the Inn of the Stumbling Friar. Yes, it still exists, 75 years after Sha'te Valley. I wonder who the owner is these days... ;-)

TTFN,
Jim

Decision time

2009-06-22T22:58:00.000-06:00

I've made more progress on Imperfect Hope this week than most weeks over the last few months, even with my indecision over the path I'm to take. Basically, I'm looking at a natural break point in the story line that would allow me to split the novel into two, and possibly allow me to add the prequel to round out a trilogy. It's not unheard of for a writer to hash out the middle of a story first, nor is it unusual for the story to take on much more than originally intended. I've been looking ahead at the outline, and wondering if there is another possible breakpoint a couple of chapters ahead, and it doesn't look so. On the other hand, the balance between this part and the finish would be a bit off, about 2/5ths in part 1, 3/5ths in part two. I'm wondering how successful I'd be at cutting part two, but I've recently added some strong content ideas to part 1 that gives me hope. Perhaps there's a lot more where that came from when I work on rewrite number one.

So... Decision time. Imperfect hope stalled out very badly over the last few months, but I'm back on track, putting weekly word counts back up. If I keep up this pace, I should be able to finish the next chapter in 2 or 3 weeks if I add content and make an ending for book 1. What then...

Listening to myself think (outside the random chaotic thoughts of "Hey, look at the squirrel" and such), I've made my decision. Imperfect Hope, part 1, first draft, is nearing completion. I"ve got two scenes I'm going to add in Chapters one and four to foreshadow my coming cliffhanger, and I'll rework the final three scenes in chapter 7 to make it much more suspenseful. I'm not going to set myself a time limit, since I'm not sure how much actual change I"ll have to do to make it a viable finish for IH-1, but... With any luck, August will begin the rewrite.

Oh... Did I mention how I intend to work on revisions. Well, when I finish first draft later in July, I'm planning to print the whole thing out, double spacing, and then... Bind it together and stuff it in a thinking drawer for two or three weeks. While it's put away, I'm going to have fun, draw maps and make history for D'oril, revise and refine my overall time line, and generally step away from Imperfect Hope to refresh my thoughts. Then...

I'll reread the whole thing, start to finish. No editorializing, no revising, just read. Then, make notes to myself. Then, out comes the pen for line by line commentary and I read it again. Find discrepancies in character behavior or appearance, history, settings, so on. Identify weak dialogue, description, or mood. Don't correct, just comment, then put it aside, perhaps for a few days. When I'm ready, I'll start writing again, with a fresh file on the computer. No preordained sentences or structure, just use the first draft print out at my side as a guideline.

Why this way? Because I know how I rewrite. I can take a paragraph on the computer, revise it on the spot, and... I'll improve the paragraph, but not affect the strategic sense of the novel because I'm focused on one paragraph. That kind of revision is important, but that will be during the final couple of workovers. Right now, I need to look at the big, Novel-Wide picture. In addition, I'm putting in the break period to allow myself to be purely creative with background material that will help me when I rewrite. I know there are novel wide flaws in the first draft, things that I need to fix across a couple of chapters and/or many scenes, and trying to fix it paragraph by paragraph will just reintroduce a whole new set of discrepancies. My notes should hold me to my overall vision.

I'm excited about finishing the first draft. It's a milestone that seemed out of reach only a few months ago. I'm excited about the rewrite. Now to swallow that lump of fear that's gathered at the base of my throat...

TTFN,
Jim

What? A light at the end of this tunnel?

2009-06-15T22:44:00.000-06:00

     Progress on Imperfect Hope continues, over the last week, I finished another scene, and ground through about half of the next. Meanwhile, I went back and looked at the big picture, from storyline to outline to see how things are going. I've realized two things, that I'm nearing the half way point of my original storyline, and that I'm also nearing a natural break point. If I were to split Imperfect Hope into a duology, or add the "origins" prequel to make it a trilogy as I've been considering, the next three scenes would close out the middle of the three books (or the first of two). As a result, I'm eyeing the next three scenes with the possibility of considering it "the end" of my first draft of my first novel.

     Okay, that's bigger than I thought, I could finish my first draft in a couple of weeks! Originally, my story estimate was about 90k words, right now, to finish my original outline it will take about 150k words, even without adding the prequel. If I end up with the chapter I"m working on, I'll be back to about 85-95k words, depending on how wordy I get with the next couple of scenes. As I said, this chapter seems to make a natural break point, though I'd have to add some foreshadowing to draw the tale to a satisfying ending and draw interest in the next book.

     I am not sure if closing out is the correct thing to do yet, I've a couple of concerns about the viability of the storyline as standalone if I end with essentially a cliffhanger. The initial plot is unfinished, the heroes have not resolved any of their initial problems, though they have uncovered a major plot by the empire. They barely survived, and recovery for them is still in the air (at least as far as the current chapter is concerned), let alone stopping the empires spy. If I end with this next chapter, I am fairly certain I could make the ending make sense, and with the proper foreshadowing, build strong momentum for part 2 (3?). I probably would have to add a scene or two to close out empire activities (from their point of view), perhaps set the beginnings of the next stage of their plot in motion before closing out with our heroes splitting up in D'oril. I'm intrigued by the possibility.

     However. Am I being too stereotypical? Perhaps, some good duologies and trilogies end with foreshadowing, unfinished business, and cliffhangers. I suspect that many more bad ones try to do the same thing and fail miserably. Am I "giving up" too easily, tired by the long drag through chapter 7, and dreading the next 8 chapters as too much to chew? Is my inner critic (hah, he's not capitalized, that must mean something...) subtly trying to take over. I'm going to mull these, and other questions, over the next few days while I finish chapter.scene 8.2. I have made my own comparison to my d'oril minigame efforts leading up to Sha'te. In the IFGS games, I allowed for minor PC victories in each minigame, but left the PC's with many more questions and worries each time, building toward Sha'te, where the conclusion (as far as the PC's were concerned) settled affairs in the north for a time.

     In the meantime, I'm going to finish chapter 8, scene 2 as is, then hopefully be able to look at 8.3 and see what kind of changes I'd need to make if I go for the finish early. I suspect it will require some considerable changes in format, but nothing plot changing. 8.4 would have to be a change of viewpoint, back to the empire's minions to close out their actions for IH-1, set up the plot for IH-2 and such. 8.5 would then close out IH-1, back in D"oril, where I'd have to add some content, possibly in the form of a vision from Elorna, or prophecy news from the Sen, or perhaps just a reasoned realization from our heroes as to what's happening. Another possibility would be to add another scene, taking place at southport, which is the next major action point of the empires plan. At any rate, dark clouds on the horizon promise black times for the confederacy, but are our heroes ready to take their place on the stage of fate? Or are they just plain tired...

     Stay tuned while I argue with myself while walking around the FAA air traffic control center, there may be yelling involved. Hope the neighbors don't call the Longmont PD to resolve a domestic dispute...   ;-)

Progress in writing

2009-06-09T12:09:00.001-06:00

     As I look back at the last few months, one thing has leapt out at me regarding my writing. I've been stuck on the same chapter of Imperfect Hope. In fact, I've been stuck on one scene in particular. Well, for what it's worth, I managed to close it out and start in on the next chapter. Interestingly, the words seemed to leap out of me when I started in on the new stuff.

     That tells me a few things. One, I suspect the scene I was working on most grindingly will most likely get changed drastically when I go from draft to first rewrite. If I couldn't find the enthusiasm to finish it, chances are a reader will bog down as well. I opened up a window for inner critic to peek at it, and got some observations. The scene lacks drama and passion. It actually plays like a bad soap opera for much of it, the segments where Cerryn and Randir, recovering from the causeway fight, lay around the militia post meeting well wishers and... Ewwww. No wonder it bored me. I'm going to leave it in for now while I forge ahead, but I suspect I'll have a much more interesting take on it when I go back for rewrite. Something with a bit more urgency.

     ANyway, Cerryn finally decided to take action, and chose to drag Randir's sorry butt back to D'oril so the healers there can figure out what's wrong with him. Little do they know that Min, that dastardly empire spy, has set into motion a plan to eliminate anyone who might be able to identify him, namely Randir, who is slipping in and out of a shadow coma because of Min's efforts to break the stalemate at the causeway. Randir, meanwhile, keeps forgetting to tell Cerryn that one of the visitors they had while he was semi conscious was the assassin who nearly killed her. Does this confuse you yet? Actually, it's setting into motion the core of the next few chapters, when Cerryn vows revenge on the assassin and goes after him alone, not realizing the peril she's in (and that Randir tried to warn her of). Ahh, the joy of a plot outline.....

     A side note, with the writing logjam broken, I've thrown some ideas down on paper about Sha'te Valley, the short story. I don't want to break the momentum on IH yet, but when I need a break, I think I'll rough out a short story idea. It'll help me consolidate my thoughts on time lines in D'oril, anyway...

     Our backyard owl's been visiting at night intermittantly. One of these nights when I hear him, I may just pull out the binoc's and see if I can spot him. Until then,

Clear skies,
Jim

Owls and coffee

2009-05-29T21:28:00.001-06:00

     Good morning... A great horned owl has taken up residence (I hope permanently) in one of the cottonwood trees that line our backyard. I first heard him or her last weekend when his booming challenge echoed through our open window at 430 am. Honestly, it was a great way to wake up. Since then, we've not been awakened that early again, but I have heard him most mornings around 600am as Irma and I are sipping our coffee and getting ready for the day.

I hear the gasp of "600 am?" out there. I actually only have to be up before 6 am for work two days a week, but the rotating schedule that the FAA asks us to follow really messes up my sleep patterns. Working 2 or 3 night shifts and 3 or 4 day shifts a week, I find that I'm groggy the mornings after a night shift no matter what time I get up. So I rise around 600 (or 520 for those days when I have to be in for the early shift) and just muddle through the grogginess with as near a bottomless cup of coffee as I can find. Sometimes I even make myself useful...

     Our great horned owl neighbor does bring to mind one of the early bits of lore I'd tossed about in the D'oril series, that of Elorna's connection to owls. In some ways, it was a direct theft from greek mythos, Athena and Owls, but I'd always kept most of the greek mythos connection well hidden. Sha'te was one opportunity for me to showcase the differences, I introduced the Shianna.

     Shianna are very loosely based on animist amerind mythologies where every animal had a "leader", almost (or directly) a god. Coyote, for example, or Father Bear, of the various tribal mythos, come to mind. In the D'oril world, the shianna were animistic spirits that represented all animals of that species, from chipmunks to owls to elk. For the most part, their connection to the k'tath was incidental, even as their connection to the humanish folk to the south almost non-existent. Once in a while, though, they'd get involved, usually at the request (or suggestion) of Elorna herself.

     In Sha'te, the 4 shianna I introduced were attempting to help the leader of the k'tath, the Sen'anth, escape the shadow scouts that had been placed on her trail by Phorix in retaliation for the use of the seeker by the PC's in Heartbow and Seeker.   The PC's, with the concurrence of the k'tath, had used the seeker to try and assassinate the "unbeatable general" Yamto before he could lead the empire's army against the K'tath. Though he lived, he didn't participate in Sha'te, and in response, the new general of the empire's expeditionary force sent a large contingent of shadow scouts to hunt down any of several leaders of the k'tath. In a sense, this act doomed the empire to failure at Sha'te, for it deprived the army of it's eyes as it approached the battlefield. (History buffs will recognize the similarity to JEB Stuarts ill-advised antics prior to Gettysburg, where, in an effort to regain favorable press, he undertook a wild ride "around the union army", which garnered the press, but deprived General Lee of valuable intel on the actions of General Meade in the days leading up to Gettysburg. Yes, this similarity was deliberate)

     At any rate, the Shianna had a brief introduction at sha'te as a minor force. They bore a faint relation to the ranger skill, Aspect of the Beast, and in the game, lent some otherworldly skills to the 4 heroes they were helping. I vaguely recall one of the shianna was Wheer, the owl, I think another was deer, but for the life of me, I cannot remember the others. (help, anyone?) Each lent it's power to one of the PC's for the crux encounter, and added a bit more to the final encounter of day two, but beyond that, I didn't develop them much at sha'te.

     In writing, the shianna are out there, but as yet, I"ve not put them into the storyline. I'm sure they'll show up someday, some how, somewhere. It'll probably be an owl, waking our heroes up at 4:00 am. Knowing the typical heroes of D'oril, he won't stop grumbling until the next winter.....   ;-)

TTFN,
Jim

Sha'te, Part 2. Delving into day one...

2009-05-22T20:54:00.001-06:00

Ah hah, the readership came alive with my posting about Sha'te Valley. The comments have encouraged me to delve deeper into Sha'te, as well as the whole IFGS game writing schtick. For readers who aren't IFGS familiar, bear with me, I'm writing about live action role playing. (A lot more info can be found at www.ifgs.org) Now to lure Ray in...

     Keep in mind that all this occurred many years ago, and that my recollections of the writing and sanctioning process are probably suspect. I've also changed my view of the storyline of D'oril over the years, most significantly in the last couple of years as I've been writing, and preparing to write in retirement. I'm sure those who participated, both as players (Del and others), or as game staff (Art, I know you're out there, mostly lurking in the wordpress mirror site) will have different recollections, I hope you'll share them.

     I think I ended up with more than 100 pages of game copy, by the time I was done writing. I had another 50 or so pages of notes and ideas that I'd kept to myself as background, plus all the materiel in the many minigames that preceded Sha'te. The original concept of Sha'te was much more grand that ended up being produced, but IFGS reality being what it is, the desperate battles of a few heroes against an army just can't occur. The biggest innovation was the 4 passes concept, where each team would stand alone against detachments of an approaching army. But even there, I had grander ideas that never made it to game copy.

     I'd wanted to find a game site where four "passes" would exist that the teams could block. Ideally, they would be far enough apart that it would take a few minute for pc's to move from one to the other, but hours for the approaching NPC army to do the same (The advantage of interior lines, a military tactic). I wanted the teams to know of each others presence, and I'd envisioned them arranging to send messengers back and forth with an HQ set up central to all four passes where the LM's would huddle over a map, considering the scouting reports coming in from the K'tath kel warriors, and shift reinforcements back and forth to meet the varying threats. There are many real-world gaming problems with this idea, though. For one, I'd have needed many more NPC's that I felt I could gather. Secondly, the game site I used didn't really offer a place that would work.

     Sha'te had a theme for each day. Day one's theme had to do with desperate last stands. On the strategic scale, never seen but referenced throughout the day by NPC to PC lore, had to do with the massive battle within Sha'te Valley itself, as the Kel of the K'tath stood up against the armies of the empire in an effort to keep the enemy from penetrating through the valley into the south, where open spaces would return the advantage to the empire with their superior numbers (Envision the spartans against the persians at Thermapole. On an operational scale, the players were to demonstrate the same theme with their 4 heroic "8 against many" stands within the 4 valleys while protecting the k'tath rear areas (Think 20th Maine regiment on little round top at Gettysburg protecting the flank of the union army). And on the tactical, the 4 "heroes" made their own "1 against dozens" stands trying to delay the pursuit of the k'tath sen'anth by Phorix's shadow-scouts as she tried to get to the kel command center. WIth this theme repeated three times at different tactical levels, a desperate last stand that, at the end of the day, left the final issue in doubt, I felt I had a storyline and concept that would really resonate with all players.

     During game writing, I knew that the massive battle within sha'te itself could only be referenced by lore, and I wanted to have in-character reports delivered to the pc's to add to the flavor, but I just didn't have the NPC's or time to carry through with this. On the operational level, my desire to see a PC command center where the pc's would coordinate the defense of the 4 valleys fell apart because the SC felt that the resulting situation, with messengers flying back and forth from the valleys, would lead to chaos. I'd envisioned a scene where one valley after another would report a major assault massing in front of them, request help, and each of the other valleys would send 1 or 2 of their team members to help. The diminished teams would face a smaller assault while their roving reinforcements were away. It was the SC's view that such cooperation between teams would be impossible, some teams would send virtually their entire fighting complement as reinforcements, while others might ignore the problem entirely. Balancing the fights at the remaining valleys would be impossible, since the SC didn't want to have the NPC coordinator adjust the balance on the fly. In addition, the requirement for NPC's under this scenerio would have been severly high, I think I'd determined that I would have needed more than 50+ fighting NPC's to properly challenge the teams in this manner. Instead, I formed what NPC's I had into several smaller groups that would rotate through the valleys, hitting the teams sequentially. Each team was completely independant of each other.

     The end result was that each team got battered, showed some success and some failure. In my original design, I wanted success to be "all of the passes held, although it was a very near thing, only the timely arrival of PC reinforcements kept the empire from getting it's troops into the k'tath rear area." If one or more teams had allowed a breakthrough, I had to have an in-game reason why it didn't turn the tide of the overall battle, and my idea during initial development was that the K'tath would have reserves in place, allowing them to shore up the hole, but taking away from PC resources on day two. I wasn't able to come up with a viable way to alter the second day of a major game in such a drastic way to the SC's satisfaction then, though I'd like to think, given time and a freer hand from the SC, I could have. As a result, I had to write second day game copy as if a breakthrough had occurred, regardless of PC success on day one. But, because I'd had to go to the 4 independent passes concept, it was a pretty good bet that one of the teams would collapse under the assault, so as far as game copy was concerned, everything went according to plan.

     How much more exciting would the game have been if I could have kept to my original design. PC's would talk about how the arrival of Evro and Delanore at the last minute turned the tide against the roman legion, or how their absence at the other front nearly cost everything, but Napadoc pulled a fast one and... And, how would I have changed day two if a breakthrough had occurred. More things to write about.....

Anyway, more to come on this subject,
Clear skies,
Jim

Sha'te Valley, an after action report.

2009-05-18T22:40:00.000-06:00

      The IFGS world of D'oril began as background material for a character history. I've touched a lot about it in the past, how it grew from there to a simple world, to a neighbor of the Land of the Seven Tribes, (and eventually splitting off so I can write without dealing with other authors.) I guess I'm keeping the ties to the IFGS alive, in part because there are times I want to (read wish I had the time to) pick up where I left off. As far as the IFGS version of D'oril goes, however, the world stopped at the end of Sha'te Valley, Except I kept some things going in Brandis' character history.

     Melding Brandis' history with Sha'te and the aftermath doesn't really take much effort, since almost all of Brandis' adventures within the IFGS took place outside of D"oril. I created the reasons he couldn't return, and fed tidbits of D'oril lore to other PC's when I played him. I've never really had a problem with time and the IFGS, though, for I took a page from the master, Ray Michel, and allow that "Time passes differently within the worlds of the IFGS". SO, Brandis can stand at Shatterman Pass, go through his torment following that as his soul darkened from the non-stop war and shadow threat, return home just long enough to obtain kath healing, and head back into the southern world. Nothing happened after Sha'te.

     Except in my head. I had jotted down game ideas, one that would have taken place months after Sha'te, another that would have picked up almost immediately afterwards. Both got through the outline and detailed storyline phases, but I never got the the encounter definition phase, mostly because the FAA (and real life) began to consume my life. I've kept those notes and storylines in some folders, ready to be resurrected.

     Sha'te, in itself, is an entirely different animal. The story for that developed over the first couple of years of writing minigames, I wanted to write a game outside of the closed world of D"oril that the general populace could participate in, yet retain the flavor of the closed world that I (and the players) enjoyed. In the minigames, I was ablt to tailor encounters, and plots, to specific characters, and pull the characters emotions this way and that. This was to be an issue that would plague Sha'te, to this day, I'm not sure how successful I was at presenting the story I'd written for Sha'te, as I saw it.

     One reason for my uncertainty is that, quite honestly, there were more than a few players who didn't enjoy Sha'te. I've felt that one of the main reasons for their dislike was because they'd not been immersed in the lore and storyline for 2 summers prior to the game, like the 12 or so players (who became the loremasters and their seconds in SHa'te) had been through the Heartbow and Seeker miniseries. Another reason has to do with logistics, I'd envisioned encounters that just didn't translate to the limited resources of IFGS games (although the Lor games approached what I'd hoped to do). Finally, The storyline itself was forced into the IFGS format in order to make it a playable game, and suffered greatly in the translation.

     The end result was a series of compromises that, although necessary for the game to be sanctioned and in order for it to be playable, weakened the storyline, and hence the impact that I'd envisioned for the game. One aspect of Sha'te that I'd not touched upon outside of a close few friends, was that SHa'te was written with an emotional plot. I wanted the characters to feel emotions that changed from Up and excited at game start, to worried, stressed, and perhaps fearful through day one, to emotionally spent and exhausted at game down on day one. Day two began with uplifting news that would boost the morale, allowing the characters to fight through to win the day. An emotional roller coaster. Except that only a few characters got into the depth of feeling that I'd intended.   I'd been able to manipulate pc emotions in the minigames, but... It doesn't work on a grand scale.

     To this day, Sha'te remains poorly understood, at least by my standards. What the players accomplished in their minds, and what was accomplished as far as the K'tath were concerned remain separated by a grand canyon. The epic scale of the Empire of Tallux's efforts were altered by a couple of dozen adventurers, not so much by the military defeat they suffered at the hands of the Kel warriors and the adventurers, but by ripples of cause and effect that have yet to be fully revealed. My writings today take Sha'te into account, and at least in my current project, shape much of what happens.

     I'll write more about Sha'te with my next post, perhaps a retelling of what happened, and hints at the changes that are still happening...

Clear skies,
Jim

Round 1--- Jim 2, Inner Critic 1

2009-05-14T06:01:00.001-06:00

     Round one of the bout: I think I'm ahead. I ceded the first minute of the round to IC, and let him convince me that a large section of stuff I'd written from november thru march really didn't fit, style wise. It was stilted, disjointed, and just didn't feel right. Inner critic moved it to the dump file (after saving part in a notes file for future reference). So, word count has dropped to a little more than 64000. One point for IC.

     However, while IC was gloating over his early victory in the round, I sneaked out on a break at work, leaving him in the control room grousing over the weather while I jumped back in on where I'd left off, some dialogue between Cerryn (one of our heroes...) and the unbeknownst to her villains, Min and his stooge (and presumed boss), the march warden of the western confederacy. For once, the dialogue flowed smoothly. In my half hour break, I churned out nearly 500 new words, and rebuilt some badly needed confidence. More importantly, it felt good. One point for me, and a bonus point because... I'm looking forward to continuing tonight at home. Total, 2 for me...

     During my writing session on a break at work, I noticed that my mood seemed lightened from previous attempts to write at work. I've a strong suspicion that the headaches that I'd dealt with since late october last year, the ones caused by my vision issues and that I just accepted as part of dealing with work (or just getting old), has had a huge impact on my desire and ability to write. Because the headaches were almost always low grade, I'd assumed I could just ignore it. Coworkers and family, however, have commented that I'd been rather... Grumpy through the winter. Yeesh, I never knew.

     I thought I was normal... ;-)

Jim

Somebody shoot that inner critic...

2009-05-11T22:46:00.001-06:00

     My inner critic really laid into me this week, from "this is going too slowly", to "you started in the wrong place, now everything will have to be rewritten when you start at the right place". I did manage to silence the chorus of "the plot is going nowhere". I am having a near crisis over the starting in the wrong place, at times I've almost agreed with IC to stop work on Imperfect Hope and start from the beginning. But... What is holding me to my original plan is the fact that, dammit, I need to finish the first draft! Come on, Jim, keep grinding...

     Because of the inner battles, I got little done on word count, though I did flesh out a bit more detail in my notes on where the story goes, both to the ending I'd originally plotted for IH, and through a good portion of what now appears to be part three of the series. I also pondered some ideas for part one, though nothing seemed to come together yet. I am going to let my muse wander around that forest, though, see if it can find any magic mushrooms... ;-)

     While muse was wandering last week, it did unearth another plotline that begs to be written about. The early empire, centuries before the Sha'te days, faced a long war of unification. I envision something a bit like the shogunate period in Japan, with an inner conflict over the future of the empire waged between the powerful warlords and the educated scholars, each with their own agenda. It would seem most logical that the powerful would win, but I've an idea, a larger than life scholar who manipulates politics and religion to build his powerbase such that he rivals the warlords in strength. I envision this scholar, whether victorious in the end or not, becomes directly responsible for the shape of the coming empire, even though he struggles to prevent its foundation. For now, this tale goes on a back burner, along with a dozen or so other ideas.

     At any rate, I'm battling inner critic tonight after work. Round 7... Wish me luck...

TTFN,
Jim

Writing and rewriting

2009-05-05T08:13:00.001-06:00

     First, a correction. A couple of weeks back, I referenced Foundation, and mistakenly assigned that work to Arthur C Clarke, author of 2001 and many others. It was Isaac Asimov who wrote Foundation and the books that followed. Now I'm going to have to go back and reread it (not that that's any real form of punishment)

     It's been almost 2 weeks without a headache. Man, what I'd been missing the last 5 months.

     I've done a little work on Imperfect Hope, added a couple thousand words, though I'm not happy with what I'd done over the weekend. My inner critic is snarling at me, in part because I picked up where I had left off, rusty and a bit off rhythm, so the writing sounds stilted. I'm fighting the urge to redo it. One way I'm considering ignoring the inner critic is to jump ahead to a new chapter, then go back when I'm feeling more in tune with the mood of the writing. I'll let you know how it goes.

   I"ve resigned myself to the fact that I'm writing the middle part of a lengthy novel that will probably be broken into 3 parts, and that I'd started at part two. Part one, as I'd mentioned in the past, would introduce the main characters as individuals, then show their paths converging as they got to know each other. I've some rough ideas for the plot of part one, and I may jot down some more specific notes/outlines as I grind through Imperfect hope, but I don't want to sidetrack myself just yet. However, depending on how the part one shapes up, Imperfect hope will likely need a good deal of rewriting to bring it inline with what I come up with in part one. I still intend to finish the first draft of IH before I jump to any other projects, though. I hope...

Anyway, more to come as I get back into the writing swing of things.

TTFN,   Jim

Eye see you...

2009-04-28T12:53:00.001-06:00

     Are you sick of the puns yet? I promise, no more eye puns. I'm back, though, and the eye surgery went well. My left eye now sees better than it has since I was about 7 or so, when I first started wearing glasses. Right eye still gets to wear a contact, and reading glasses are still needed, but... It's nice to see again, and nice to not have the headache that has plagued me for the last 5 months.

     The eye surgery was... Interesting. I spent nearly two hours in prep, getting an antibiotic/numbing eye ointment that was like apple jelly applied twice, and then, just before the surgery, a intravenous injection of something the anesthesia doc called "Don't give a damn juice". I was conscious and aware during the surgery, they draped my face and other eye, so I didn't see anything except the incredibly bright light they shined in my eye. There was some pain (or pressure that I interpreted as pain) a couple of times, and there was a distinctively odd feeling when they inserted the new lens. The best way I can describe it is to imagine taking a thick skinned grape and poke it with the blunt end of a toothpick. "Pop", more of a feeling than a sound, when the toothpick breaks the skin. I still shudder at the image, but at the time, I "didn't give a damn"...

     I'll be taking eye drops for the next three weeks to promote healing and prevent inflammation. Oddest thing now is wearing only one contact. At night, when I take it out, I can still see, even though it's only one eye, the good one overrides the bad one. This night time vision is something I haven't had for... (counting fingers and toes and... Damn, out of digits). More than 40 years. So that's what that bumping noise in the dark was...;-)

   Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers, I was grateful for the notes and such. So now, it's back to work, and... Back to Imperfect Hope. I've got some great plans now...

Here we go...

2009-04-20T22:41:00.001-06:00

   The surgery is tomorrow. I have to admit, I haven't mastered my anxiety, but I suppose I've masked it well enough. By way of mitigating my worry, I've joked about the procedure quite a bit, and I've come up with a visual that, if nothing else, lets me laugh. Picture a dark, musty dungeon, iron maiden hanging from the overhead beam, manacles on the wall and straw on the floor. I've been strapped to an ancient gurney, painted white with peeling patches on the railing. A hunch-back gnome pushes me through the creaking oak door into the room, as Vincent Price's maniacal laughter peals in the background. And the screaming starts...

   Yep, a grade-b 60's horror flick. All that's missing is the slightly bent, rusty needle they'll stick in my eye to get me to talk... Oh... There it is...

   Seriously, the surgery is no big deal. The prep takes longer (1 1/2 hours for the anesthesia to take effect), vs 15 minutes for remove the cataract and replace the lens. Recovery is mostly for the sedative to wear off. I'll have to wear a protective eye shield for a week or so at night, so that I don't poke or scratch my eye, but... I should be seeing 20/20 by this time tomorrow out of my left eye. Wish me luck...

     On to D'oril stuff. While sipping coffee this morning, I was watching a history channel piece on early navigation, from the viking times until Prince Henry of Portugal in the 15th century. I learned quite a bit about the earliest forms of navigation, especially with the invention of the astrolabe (a method of determining your latitude), and the problems of determining longitude. This tied in quite well with the issues that I've roughly shaped regarding the great ocean between Tallux and the Confederacy.

     In order to restrict the ability of the Empire of Tallux, a China-sized imperial expansionistic force, I'd made the ocean between the two continents very difficult to navigate across most of it's breadth. Only in the far north, where the two continents are close, is the limited navigation systems of the empire able to cross the ocean with any degree of success, and that is restricted by the harsh weather and dangerous, rocky waters. Thus, the empires early efforts at conquest outside their own continent lay in the north, trying to secure ports along the rugged northern coast of D"oril Sadly (for them), there are few harbors usable, and none of them year round. This was one of their biggest problems during the time of Sha'te Valley.

     The empire has also had some limited success with a bering sea type land bridge in the far north, but again, bad weather made this route extremely tenous in the best of times. Tallux desperatly needed a warm weather port, all of which are securely (of sorts) tied up by the confederacy, or the sea-raiders within the many rugged islands along the coast.

     I've envisioned the empire's naval technology similar to 15th century portugal. Thus, they are mostly limited to following coasts, with short, "latitude drives" directly across short stretches of open ocean limited to a couple of weeks at the most. The confederacy, on the other hand, has an advantage that they don't even understand, a secret kept by a few of the wealthiest merchant princes of the western coast, a way to navigate across a few of the vast expanses of the ocean, at least for a few legacy flagships. But that's a tale for another post...

Clear skies, and tomorrow, hopefully, Clear vision...

Jim

A short look back.

2009-04-10T09:09:00.001-06:00

      Decades ago, I took a creative writing class at CU. Never mind that the professor (if I recall, a graduate student who seemed to have no interest in anything except his own writing) didn't like anything I wrote, most probably because he wanted work that matched his own style. I vaguely recall that there were a few things I got out of the class.

     Like, be prepared to try explain to a professor the difference between Tome (a large old book), and Tomb (the dusty musty smelly dead place), or just use "so and so opened the book" rather than "so and so opened the tome" and have the professor insist that it should be spelled tomb. From this experience I concluded that his command of english was... Flawed. Despite his degree. It's colored my view of the higher education cartel since.

     Like, Don't actually present a plot in "creative writing". The professor wanted stories in which nothing happened. Like much of the "literature" that is considered main stream by "Those who tell us what to like and write about it in the east coast newspapers". From this, I concluded that the kind of fiction I liked was dead. At least, that's what the professor wanted me to conclude. I'm afraid I kept reading books with (gasp) Plots...

     Hmmm. Most of what I seemed to have gotten from that and other college level creative writing courses was negative. I came away from that experience with no desire to write after all the negative criticism of my work by that particular "Ivory Tower Elitist". It took me years to overcome that unpleasant taste in my mouth, and even then, only after much conversation with real writers, such as Mercedes Lackey, Robert Asprin, and Mel. White. Each of them saw something I'd written, crude as it was, and encouraged me to keep going. I wrote many games for the IFGS, the International Fantasy Gaming Society, games that required a plot so the players could participate in the story, many of them were considered good. I even got a game of the year award for Piper on the Hill. From that type of writing I started writing more and more detail about D'oril, and without realizing it, started developing my style. It only took me 15 years to recognize that my style had merit, and accept it within myself. I still have battles with the inner critic that the creative writing class implanted in my brain.

     In the last couple of years, as I've approached FAA retirement in a couple of years, I've read a lot about writing, looking for ways to polish that style. Orson Scott Card, on his website Hatrack.com, mentioned in one of his earliest posts (As well as in the book on writing he authored) that a good writer reads. And I've read a lot. I've even gone back and reread a lot of stuff from my college days that I liked,(such as Marion ZImmer Bradley's Darkover novels), or read and scratched my head over, wondering if I liked it (Such as Arthur C. Clarkes Foundation series). The books and articles about writing have ranged from basics about story structure to the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts about grammar and structure. My writing technique has improved, I think, writing games for the IFGS probably has done a lot for that, especially in the area of developing plot. I've been working through a writing exercise workbook on my breaks at work. Besides working on character, setting, mood and description, my efforts have given me a bit of confidence in my ability to write about almost anything. Blogging has started my on the track to, if nothing else, writing about just that, almost anything, and to vary my style from serious (see personality topics or D'oril background articles), sarcastic (anything to do with the FAA), to humorous (such as Activationg the Wayback Machine, Mr. Peabody, or Spoonerisms).

     THe only things I've not developed well, yet, are consistancy, and confidence. I keep blaming the FAA. Maybe it's time to look in the mirror. Time to hand the bagpiper that shilling.....

Clear skies,
Jim

Bad speling, and a revisit to the geography of D'oril

2009-04-02T20:46:00.001-06:00

     I apologize, my last post included some oddities. It seems that my scribefire added some unusual spacing when I tried to edit my work last week, placing much of the word earlier through the sentence that followed. And, tired as I was, I didn't bother with a spell check. Now I have to describe what that brain fart spelled like. Perhaps I'd better not.

     Three weeks to the surgery. Anxiety is building. Never mind the rational side that understands that it's a simple procedure...

     On to the fun stuff. I'd touched upon the geography of D'oril a bit back, thought I'd try and expound further on the confederacy, as well as explain my (still in the formative stage) thoughts on the history of the lands.

     The confederacy is split by an extensive mountain range into two halves, the eastern and western reaches (in some of my writing, I"ve referred to them as marches, I'll sort out the naming conventions later). The western half is heavily influenced by it's sporadic access to the western ocean, and bears a slight resemblence to Norway (Think fjords and rough coastline) and Washington state. Trade cartels grew from the few widely scattered towns that have reliable access to the ocean, the further south, the larger the towns and greater wealth. Prior to the formation of the confederacy, these towns were fairly independent of each other, though a few feudal strongholds did form. As a result, the mercantile cartels wielded (and still wield) a fair amount of influence within the confederacy, they have no direct representative on the council, but quite a few of the barons chosen to represent the different regions of the western marches are chosen because of their strong ties to the cartels. This is especially true of the south central region, where several large baronries formed out of some very wealthy mercantile families.

     Further to the south along the western coast, the land becomes less rugged, and a more agricultural and feudal society grew. Some of the baronries there have a much longer history, and deem themselves "the true center of the confederacy", for at first, it was the expansion of their lands that provided the core of the early confederacy as they linked up with the largest of the eastern duchies. The traditionalists, as they see themselves, have much less of a tie to trade, and hold a rather dim view of their mercantile-oriented cousins to the north. The society is one of rigid class distinction, clear patriarchal lineage, and a severe (and successful) military tradition.

     The southernmost of the eastern reaches are likewise traditionalists, with a much stronger hierachy, where the feudal lords share power with a church-like organization that influences much of the society. Originally, the religion (and I use this term loosely, for I don't intend to parallel any historical churches) focused on education, especially scientific, philosophic, and magical researches. A guild like power structure formed whereby the feudal lords each received an appointed advisor from the religious side of society, who often unofficially shared power with the lord, and occasionally even ruled. The religious power structure began breaking down with the formation of the confederacy, as well as the formation of splinter groups that sprang up with the opening of the frontier to the north.

     It is the northern part of the eastern reaches that had the first (in "modern" times) contact with the K'tath of D"oril. Early on, it developed a frontier like atmosphere, with riches obtainable, under the threat of the dangers of the wilds. Think "wild west", gold rushes, timber, wide open spaces. Into this dangerous frontier came many unhappy with the rigid structures of the south, as well as mercantile interests looking to gain even more wealth. Here is where the archtypical adventurers of the IFGS came together. Now I just have to define... When...

     At anyrate, there's a lot more to it, and I'll post more as I dig through my notes and cobwebs. Ask away, I'm sure there are lots of gaps, and answering questions will only help me solidify my thoughts...

Clear skies,
Jim

The eyes have it

2009-03-23T08:04:00.000-06:00

     I scheduled the eye surgery. April 21. Now to deal with the anxiety of knowing what they do. Ewwww... (At least I'll get valium before the surgery) In the meantime, because of the long term effects that contacts have on the shape of eyes, I have to wear my glasses until then in order to give my eye time to rebound to it's "natural shape". The good news: The headaches will go away April 22.

     EarI mentioned lbriefly the ifaa's issues with controlleer staffing atr DIA last week. Turns out there's an investigation (someone leaked to channel 4) that came out this week. You can read the report at ninenewsinvestigates. I think the report is, in itself, a bit more alarmist than the real situation, but hey, that's what tv news does best. From my point of view, the typical "safety was never compromised, everything is fine, we're looking out for you (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain)" chorus that is repeated by the faa's spokesman is typical. They repeat that mantra over and over..... The bottom line, someone from headquarters is always assigned the job of reassuring the public/covering their butts. Remember that the next time you deal with any federal (or even state) agency at anything other than the operational level. In the meantime, we (the controllers) will continue to keep em flying...

     A couple of months ago, I wrote about the background of the Empire in Imperfect Hope. (I"ll link to that article shortly) I was rereading it, and noted some storylines in it that bear potential. I'd written about the empires past as if posting an excerpt from a history book published many decades after the events, perhaps even centuries later. It was written from the empire's point of view, referring to the ktath and their allies as assassins and opponents of the empire as rebels. Even the disaster (for the empire) at Sha'te Valley was spun, despite it being a crucial event in the toppling (eventually) of the emperor.

     What struck me was how easy it was for me to reference the empires point of view in a positive light. In Imperfect Hope, the empire is intended to come across as "the enemy", but I have to make them believable and realistic. From their point of view, they have a perfect right to do what they're doing, it's for the good of the empire, and ultimately, good for everyone in the long run. Only an unbiased history will tell if they're right. (and from the author's moral view, they are not "right", but to make a believable and compelling story, I'll continue to give them the benefit of the doubt...) ;-)

     Those who remember the IFGS game Sha'te Valley will remember the "Villains" who survived the battle, Phorix, Grannach, and Beauty. I never 'officially' wrote about what happened afterwards to them, in part because for a long time I considered working on more D'oril based IFGS games. I did have a fate in mind, and I'd hinted at it to some of you over the years. However, the empire "history" I posted some time back addresses that in a vague way, and I've realized that their fates (as well as that of the heroes (assassins in the empire point of view), makes for a great tale. From the lead up to Sha'te (Heartbow and Seeker), to the battle, to the empire's dramatic retreat from D'oril (think Napoleon/1812/retreat from moscow) and pursuit by the k'tath and the companions of ELorna, to the turmoil in the Empire when their survivors get home and take their sides in the rebellion against the corrupt and capricious emperor. I know the players at Sha'te always had their own hopes for what their characters would do in the aftermath... Therein lies perhaps my next project.

Oh, it'd be a prequel to Imperfect Hope. Perhaps it would even answer the question about what ever happened to Brandis, Cerredwyn, Doc, Evro, Wulluff, Delanore, Merlissa, and the rest of the D'oril gang. Just remember, it's all fiction, and with author's licence, whatever happens in my stories takes place outside of IFGS life, unless you can make it fit... ;-)

And I may change the names to protect the not-so-innocent...

Till Next Time (TNT)
Jim

And now for something completely different...

2009-03-11T21:26:00.001-06:00

     A quick eye update... The latest eye doc appointment put me through a battery of test, all of which created in me a headache you wouldn't believe. Putting dilating drops and numbing drops in your eyes, then flashing a series of bright lights into your eye is... Painful. Result: Cataracts, not bad yet, eye pressure a bit high, no retinal nerve damage or loss of range of vision. Left eye clarity is down about 20% (it's like looking through a dirty window). So now, I'm to meet with a specialist next week. <sigh>

     More FAA stupidity. We're short handed (25% fewer controllers now than 5 years ago), with fully 10% of the controllers partially trained/recent hirees. Denver Approach is reaching a critical point with their staffing (too many newbies at the radar), so they went back to procedures that were in place back in the stapleton days to ease the pressure on approach. (which increases our workload dramatically). So, when we have a trio of operational errors last week, what does management do? Take one controller off radar/assistant duties in each area, and put them on the supervisor desk to essentially answer the phone and defer any real decisions to the supervisor, who now must sit in the middle of the control room, "watching". Good idea, reduce staffing by another 10% in order to allow a supervisor to sit in the control room, doing nothing but... Who knows. At least there's no snoring... Yet.) Now to take by anti-cynic pill, I should feel better in about 10 minutes...   :-)

     Got brainstormed the other night while I was working on Imperfect Hope. The story idea, in brief, involves a retired warrior/now scholar, asked to return to his liege lords service to correct the mistakes made by his lords heir/son. Right now, a short story idea, we'll see if it develops any more...

     Anyway, time to go back to work. Keep those cards and letters and comments coming. Or at least post an anonymous note acknowledging that my readership exists...

CLear skies,
Jim

friday stuff

2009-02-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

     Fitch peeled the rest of the thigh dressing off, and produced a roll of soft cotton and clean dressing from his bag. He whistled an off key sailors tune as he spread some salve on the wound, covered it with the new dressing, and wrapped the whole upper thigh with the roll of cloth. "Keep that clean, if you wish to bathe later, let me know and I"ll make sure the water is fresh and replace the dressing again afterwards. Now, how's that shoulder feel?"

    Cerryn responded with a shrug that sent new twinges of pain through her shoulder.

    Captain Fitch eyed the puckered scar tissue where Randir had healed her. "Yeah, I can see that it'll hurt for a while, but... Your companion is a talented healer, I know of few pure healers who could have tended that one as thoroughly as he seems to have, even without the shadow wound." His eyes closed as he ran his fingers across the scar. "I did a little reading last night, found a reference to shadow knives in an old text. According to that text, You're probably the first person who has survived such a deep wound from one, I'd say that had your friend not done whatever he did, you wouldn't have lasted the night."

The above section was part of what I worked on (and reworked some of) earlier this week. I actually managed to put together a couple of thousand words during breaks at work this week. Some of it feels pretty good, some is easily recognized as low-grade dreck from work. I believe I've commented before on how I can tell what's written at work, and what's written when I'm at home and actually "in the writing mode". It may be getting harder to tell th difference. (or I'm getting less perceptive). We'll see...

     Speaking of we'll see, my opthamalogist has recognized that my left eye is developing a cataract. I hadn't noticed any problems until she pointed it out, now I realize that for the last couple of months, at times I felt like I was looking through a dirty window with my left eye. I'd put it aside as side effects of allergies. I've spoken with the regional flight surgeon, and have come to the nervous decision to deal with it as soon as practical. The surgery, considered routine, gives me the willies...

    It gives me the willies because of something I faced 23ish years ago. I'd been working at Denver Instruments, where I worked on soldering parts to electronic instrument circuit boards all day. One Friday after work, I took my paycheck to the bank, where they were laying new carpet. My eyes started burning shortly after getting home from work. Apparently (as explained by the ER doctor later that day), the fumes that my contact lenses absorbed every day from work interacted with the carpet cement fumes to create an acid of some sort, that etched my eyes under my contacts. I spent the next 4 or 5 days with patches on my eyes, completely dependant on my girlfriend for everything, waiting to find out about any permament damage. Not having any vision for that time (and the corresponding worry) has made me very sensitive about my eyes.   (I still remember listening to the superbowl on tv that weekend as Craig Morton and the broncos got slaughtered. Needless to say, I'm a bit nervous about having the cataract surgery (as described by the opthamalogist, they make a hole in the side of your lens, stick an instrument in, and scramble/liquify your lens with ultrasonic waves. They then replace it with a permament contact lens-like implant that will give me perfect vision in that eye.) I was okay until he mentioned "they make a hole in the side of your lens. <<<Shudder>>>

     Anyway, I've another doc visit next week, to further examine the problem and discuss options. In the meantime, as Red Green would say,

"Keep your stick on the ice"...

Jim

Another week, time to reorganize

2009-02-25T09:06:00.001-07:00

I apologize for not writing this last week, I plead all the usual reasons. However, we have managed to finish our taxes, pending a review, and I've gotten a few dozen minutes in writing on Imperfect Hope. I found some good inspiration recently, and I'm building on it...

     I'm still suppressing my inner critic, most of the time, but each time I write at work, I have to spend a few minutes reading something of what I've already done to get air traffic control out of my brain, and creativity back in. Sometimes I can't resist amending something I reread. They're small changes, often just a different word or rephrase a sentence. I'm still holding off on the major rewrite, the one that comes after first draft is done. In the back of my mind, I've come up with some major structural changes I want to fiddle with. I keep toying with a flashback, even though it's considered a poor choice in first novels, simply because it's done too frequently. If I don't "flashback", I'll write the segment I've in mind, and it will either become part of Imperfect Hope's opening chapters, or it will be the core of the "prequel". More to come.

     In the area of character development, Randir and Cerryn have some minor changes due, for one, I'm considering making Randir slightly more "human". I want to do this to portray the evolution of the K'tath following the contact that Brandis brought in the "era" before Imperfect Hope. It will make the relationship between he and Cerryn more understandable, though I still intend to keep the tension between them high due to the cultural differences. I'm still not sure where it goes, even within Imperfect Hope. Dilemna's...

     Anyway... This week promises to be another busy one, but I've intentions to finish the scene I'm working on. Perhaps I'll toss a blurb your way later this week...

Clear skies,
Jim

Setting a goal or two...

2009-02-11T11:55:00.001-07:00

     Yeesh... February already. I'm working an overtime shift on a saturday, and as is usual, my thoughts are elsewhere when I'm on a break. After whacking the side of my head to get off the imaginings of poipu beach sand and a umbrella decorated mai-tai, I settled in on considering the spring projects. Ouch. Change the channel, quick...

     Plan B, muse about goals. I'm not ready to choose a deadline for finishing Imperfect Hope yet, other than reminding myself daily that "I will finish it... I will finish it..." Instead, I'm putting some thought into fitness, both physical and mental.

     Since we've started working with Charity (personal trainer and part time whip cracker), I've noticed a considerable increase in energy and strength. Balance is coming back, and the weight is slowly starting to come back down after an ugly summer and fall. Time to set some targets.

     I'd like to climb Longs Peak (again, but finish this time) . I know I'm not physically ready for that challenge right now, so we need to set some interim goals. My idea is to target a 12'000 foot peak for June, and a 13'000 footer for July. That gives us until May to build our stamina on other trails, as they open up in the spring. Let's see how the spring goes, though...

     Imperfect Hope remains my primary goal, writing wise. I will see what kind of writing schedule I can keep to this spring. Ideally, I'll finish the first draft by early summer, and take a bit of a break before starting the rewrite. Right now I'm building steam as I get Randir out of a coma caused by too intensive healing and drop the hints about getting him back to a krath healer to undo the shadow knife damage. Cerryn, in typical fashion, is focused on finding the culprit who attempted to assassinate her, and failed only because of Randir's overextension. Meanwhile, the agent of the empire tries to get his plan back on track after being foiled at Mud Bay...

     Finally, I may be starting up a collaberative blog later this spring. I won't name names yet, since I'm still working on the details of what/who/how/when, but I'll let you know more as it comes along. As always, more to come.....

Clear skies,
Jim

Workings of D'oril, Geography

2009-02-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

     If you're a regular reader, you probably already know that the D'oril that I am using for my writing world came to be during IFGS game writing years. From the D'oril mini-series through Sha'te Valley, and to a lesser extent, Piper on the Hill, I wrote about "The Far North". Originally, D'oril was loosely attached to the Land of the Seven Tribes, mostly for storyline convenience. I imagined the divider between the two lands to be represented by the E'tel river, a "Columbia Gorge" type river that in each game, would provide a tangible crossover between 7 Tribes and D'oril.

     Later, I began blurring the boundary. The Inn of the Stumbling Friar, firmly entrenched on the south side of the river, became a part of D'oril, at least as far as my writing was concerned. In IFGS/7 Tribes lore, the Inn of the Stumbling Friar was a crossroads near the northern frontier, conveniently located between several other duchies. I roughed out the area as an important crossroads, settled by Merrick, the founder of the Inn, recently attracting a small community of settlers including blacksmith and such.

     As I write for myself now, though, I've had to divorce D'oril from L.O.S.T., for many reasons. One, I need to have total control of all storyline aspects, two, I really can't take the time to figure out whose toes I might be stepping on, and hence who I need to ask permission of when I write outside of D'oril proper. So, the birth of the confederation, and formation of a new land.

     I do have maps drawn up, and perhaps soon enough I'll digitize them such that I can share here, but for now, a verbal description will have to suffice. D'oril still resides in the far north, in a region much like northwestern canada, rugged coastal mountains with a dense, almost rainforest like (except for the cold) region inland that compromises the bulk of "D'oril". Still north of the E'tel river, the rolling hills continue eastward, with the forest becoming less dense as the climate dries out. North of the forest, plains begin to intrude, the harsh steppes.

     The Confederacy (as tentatively named) is a loose confederation of duchies, city states, and mercantile holdings south of the E'tel. The couple hundred miles south of the E'tel are very sparsely populated, considered the frontier, The Inn of the Stumbling Friar being one of the few outposts along the "northern Trade Road". That road links the eastern and western halves of the confederacy that is divided by a mountain range running north/south to almost the E'tel, the Inn of the Stumbling Friar sits at the northernmost edge of both those mountains and the trade road.

     The western coastline of the confederacy is rugged, much like the norwegian coast with fjords and such. Like the eastern reaches of the confederacy on the other side of the spinal mountains, the civilization level grows as you head south. There are only a few useable ports/harbors in the northern half of the continent, climate becomes more temperate as you head south, but the coastal waters are considered barely navigable due to the weather and large number of uncharted rocks and islands. The port cities are the core of the merchant guilds that make up a third of the confederacy's "government", they hold a dear monopoly on trade out of the western harbors.

     The eastern half of the confederacy is the breadbasket of the region, with rolling, partially forested hills and rich bottomlands. Independant duchies make up the majority of the civilization, with the northernmost town being rather small, though aggressively expansionistic. The bulk of the confederacy's "civilization" lays further to the south, with towns giving way to cities, trails becoming paved roads, and the frontier like atmosphere in the north getting swallowed up by regional laws and regulation. I've left description of the lands south and east of the confederacy vague.

     Across the western ocean from D'oril and the Confederacy is the Empire of Tallux, and entire new continent. Though I've defined some basic characteristics, for now, I don't need to know much about it, so it remains pretty vaguely sketched out. The focus of my first tales will remain on the east...

     Imperfect hope begins on the frontier between Mud Bay, the northern-most town and harbor along the western coast, and the deep forests of D'oril. Most of the story will remain within the western portions of the confederacy.

     Needless to say, there's a lot more to the geography, and that geography plays a large part in defining the cultures and storylines. There'll be more to come.....

Clear skies,
Jim

excerpt, and a return to writing

2009-02-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

     "Well danced, Questor". Nunners was tired, his breath came heavily, but he kept up his defensive stance. In front of them, the raiders regrouped, fresh swordsmen came to the front.

     "We've done what we could, serjent." Cerryn glanced back at Randir again, his eyes were still closed, breathing shallowly. "If you'll gather Randir and your trainees, pull back. I'll hold them long enough for you and your men to escape."

    Before the serjent could reply, a bell began ringing at the land side of the causeway, followed by the clatter of dozens of boots. "Sounds like the major's arrived with help, guess I'll stick around to see the end, now." Nunners face held a wide grin.

     I wrote the above passage last year, it's near the end of a crux scene where Randir, Cerryn, and some militia help hold out against some raiders. It was near the end of my productive time last year, when I still seemed to have some energy, despite the chaos of the times. Much of what followed are some of my favorite scenes, from the end of the causeway battle, to the recovery scenes at the militia outpost afterwards. Action, dialogue, and emotion. It came together.

     That's not to say that what came before will all be tossed out, there are some good scenes, and most of what I wrote prior to the causeway scene is story critical. I just seemed to hit my stride with that point, a stride that I hope to pick up again with the same fervor I had earlier.

     I actually managed to get in some good time on a break at work today, though I"ll admit that switching from ATC-Brain to Writer-Brain was wrenching. I've said it before, 20 minutes isn't enough time to be productive. Here at home, I can find more time, but finding the muse when I"m worn from atc is another story. Anyway, I'm back on the tracks, just have to get that boiler going.....

     I'm working on picking up where I left off, specifically, when Cerryn awakes the next day. Randir is still a mess (shadow magic is a real pain...), and the local surgeon, though skilled, is at a loss as to how to treat him. Cerryn will have to make a decision, go after the traitor with the shadow knife, or find a way to help her "Cha'kel".

More to come...

Clear skies,
Jim

I'm back...

2009-02-02T22:53:00.001-07:00

     A week off. It wasn't nearly enough, but it was sorely needed. I hope we'll be able to take our real vacation in september, we're tentatively planning to return to Kauai. I'm looking forward to burying my toes in warm sand.....

     California was... California. At least we missed the worst of LA, flew in to Ontario, the airport there is about two miles from where Irma's dad lives. It was good to see Antonio, he's doing well, and can still kick both of our butts playing Dominoes...

     I really liked the Stanley. Estes Park was cold and windy, but that's to be expected in January. The history of the hotel is amazing, from F.O. Stanley, who was as good as dead from tuberculosis prior to his arrival in barbaric Estes Park (little more than hunters and ranchers in 1907), who built the hotel from the ground up to celebrate his return to health (and health related exile from the wealthy high society back east), to the decay and dilapidation in the late 80's when it was essentially abandoned and occupied by homeless squatters, to the restoration that began in the late 90's. There's still a lot of work to be done, but it was one of the most comfortable hotel rooms I'd ever stayed in.

     It wasn't just the amenities, in fact, the room was fairly basic. However, there was a sense of welcome there that you just don't get from gleaming steel and glass super-resorts. Being off season, the hotel was nearly empty of guests. The restaurant, Cascades, served first class breakfast and dinner, and though I didn't sample it this time, their single malt scotch list includes some of the really really exclusive scotches. (I think, though I can't remember right now, that they list a 50year old Macallan, along with 25yo, 18yo, and 12yo Macallans. Knowing what a bottle of 18yo costs, I shudder to thing what the 50 year old goes for. Perhaps I'll celebrate the completion of my first novel with a glass of 25 year old at the bar.

     Then there are the ghostly episodes. I know there are skeptics out there, and sometimes I'm one, but... There were things there that I couldn't explain. The ghost/history tour was fun, we took it the day after our first night there, and the guides explanations of things that regularly happen at the stanley certainly meshed with what we experienced the first night (which was experienced without reading any other visitors accounts prior to arrival). Perhaps I can be persuaded to write about those experiences later...

     Back to my own writing. I chose to leave the laptop behind on our trip so I could truly rest, I think it was a good choice, I do feel creatively refreshed. Imperfect Hope, first draft, awaits. And perhaps that tumbler of 18 year old Macallen scotch, to be shared with the ghost of F.O. Stanley at his hotel. Oh, wait, he was a teetotaler.....

Clear skies,
Jim

We'll be back, right after this commercial...

2009-01-23T07:50:00.003-07:00

Hello, all...

Mirror site seems to be up and running, Though Scribefire took a nose dive on me yesterday, so I'll be cut/pasting until I figure out what configuration setting I need to change. I'll be evaluating which blog system I prefer over the course of several weeks/months. In the meantime...

I'll be offline for a week starting tomorrow, short trip to visit Irma's dad in California, followed by a stay at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park to regrow some brain cells. I'm considering doing some writing during my down time, though images of Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" typing 'all work and no play makes jack a dull boy' over and over come to mind. We are going to take a history/ghost tour while we're there, just for grins. I'll definately write about that when I get back, sighting or no sighting.

Besides the relaxation, We'll probably do some snowshoeing while we're up there. It's been a very dry year here in Longmont, but the mountains are at or above average snowpack levels for this time of year. There's something pristine and inspiring about the mountains this time of year, in a large part because there are not very many other visitors up there on the weekdays. There'll be some D'oril inspirations found, I'm sure...

Anyway, look for more to come after next week, and keep those cards and letters (or comments and emails) coming. Clear skies,

Jim

Mirror, Mirror

2009-01-21T21:10:00.001-07:00

     Mid January has come and gone, we've been having an unusually warm spell, reaching 70 the last couple of days. I guess this will counter the unusually cold spell we had in December. Looks like snow this weekend... Maybe...

     I"m starting an experiment, a mirror blog site. This one is through wordpress, a bit more detailed than blogger in some ways. For one, it will allow more detailed commentary from guests, and I'll be able to create multiple pages. One thing I'm planning on is a page for each of my writing projects. I'll use the page to write down plot lines and character notes in more detail, and hopefully get some comments on interest, and perhaps suggestions, as well as provide a reference source for me while I'm writing. I'll also be able to "tag" my postings, something I'll explore in more detail as I figure the whole site out. Finally, Wordpress seems to be more capable of adding music files and/or photo's, with one of the extra pages, for example, I can post a bunch of photos from vacations, or what not. If Wordpress seems as useful as it appears to me, perhaps I'll switch to it as primary, but mirroring right now won't be difficult because...

     I'm using a new Firefox attachment, called Scribefire. This too is an experiment for me, it will allow me to write offline, then easily post to both blogs with three mouse clicks. As I get better at using it, I'll be able to track my categories more easily as well. I'll know it's working when this post gets online.

     The D'oril Wordsmith page is http://doriltales.wordpress.com/ . Give it a try and drop me a comment here or there to let me know what you think. I did make a couple of structural changes to the blogspot D'oriltales site, and added "Blogs I'm following" on the bottom of the page. (This may move to the side bar after I evaluate it.)

     Clear skies,
     Jim

The workings of D'oril: Homeland Security

2009-01-14T09:39:00.002-07:00
One of the major plotlines of the Doril tales has to do with the successful (so far) resistance of the K'tath of D'oril against the Empire of Tallux's expansion. The roots of that conflict are rather convoluted, and quite frankly, vary both depending on the "historical" era, and whose side youre listening to. For the most part, the k'tath are defensively oriented, having made no expansive moves towards anyone else, but they have, on occasion, taken offensive action to deal with a perceived threat. The empire, on the other hand, is openly expansionistic. D'oril is only one of their conflicts, at times not even that important one. But how is it that the compartively small k'tath culture has been able to withstand the huge empire for so long?

Early on in my writings, I identified the success of the k'tath as due to the single minded skill of their defenders, the kel and the foresightedness of their leaders, the Sen. In short, the Sen could to some small degree, predict what the empire (or other invaders) would do, and the Kel, given this good intel, act skillfully and forcefully to head off whatever the next problem might be. Of course, in order for there to be enjoyable stories, their actions would always smack of desperation, the chance of success right on the brink.

As I've deepened my background, I've recognized that in order for the stories to be believable, there would have to be mistakes made by kel and sen, nobody can be perfect. The Sen's prescience has to have limits, as does the kel's physical and tactical skills. Some of those mistakes or disasters have become the core of future stories.

At any rate, my early images of the kel as "super warriors" had to be tempered. Flaws were introduced, for example the concept that kel warriors, over time, become mentally worn out by the rigors of their constant vigilance on the frontier. Thus, the importance of the Krath came into play. Kel, normally very solitary folk, would after a time have to be reintegrated into the k'tath society by krath healing. Call it a stand down from duty, vacation, or mental health break. In essence, kel would return to the krath, exhausted and perhaps darkened by their experiences, and have to spend time with a krath empathic healer, perhaps weeks or months. This empathic healing became the third leg of the k'tath defense, the renewing of their defenders will and ability. This also is the core of one of my earliest saga outlines, Brandis' long journey apart from the K'tath, and his eventual redemption. It's something to work on, another day.....

More to come soon, including that promised blurb, progress reports, and... Who knows...

Clear skies,
Jim

New Year, New Hope

2009-01-05T20:56:00.003-07:00
As always seems to be the case, the end of one year and the beginning of another tends to bring chaos into our lives. Nothing more than the usual holiday madness and holiday air traffic, loads of private jets heading to aspen and eagle airports for the holiday ski season. The ski country airports continue to run wild, but the holiday stuff has subsided...

With the new year, I've always had a tendency to look back, not just at the last year, but the many years past. There are always regrets, mostly the people I've lost touch with, or haven't talked with or written to for far too many months. Maybe I'll write about that, either fictionally, or memoir-style. But enough of that for now...

Imperfect Hope is sitting at the 66k word level. Mel White suggested that many first novels end up being around that level, but for the storyline I've plotted out, I've another 60-75k words to go, at least in rough first draft. From past experience, I know I'll knock off about 30% of my wordcount during my first rewrite. This is based on when I've rewritten short segments, though, never a full length novel, so I'm not certain that pattern will hold. I already have spotted portions that I want to expand upon. Am I writing a trilogy? That's one of the areas I'm exploring as I work on Imperfect Hope. If so, this is the middle of three.

Next time I write, I hope to blurb a new segment from Imperfect Hope. Let me know what you want to read about, in the mean time...

Clear skies,
Jim

Things to do in longmont when you're frozen...

2008-12-16T20:17:00.002-07:00
Not much to report on the writing front today, I've done a bit more rewriting of a weak scene, and I've done a fair amount of backgrounding, such as the last couple of posts. All that background stuff is buried deep in my head, and writing it has done a lot towards helping me recraft the storyline of Imperfect Hope. I don't expect to do much writing over the next couple of weeks, though...

Holiday air traffic seems to be down from last year, with the economy the way it is, I'm not suprised. We've 5 fewer controllers in the area than last year, though (out of 53 last january, down to 48), so we're doing more. I've been grateful that the weather has been reasonably mellow so far, other than the record setting cold over the weekend.

I finally ordered the Turntable-to-digital recordplayer and the slide-to digital reader for my computer at home to start archiving all of my dad's slides, photo's, and rather extensive jazz and other record collection. I've put aside an external hard drive with 500gb space to it up on, and I plan to make cd's/dvd's as I go along to share with the family. I'm not sure where I'll start, the record collection starts in the 1940's, perhaps earlier, and the slides... whooo. Probably more than a few embarrassing shots of your's truly when I was way to little to care about the camera pointed my way. (As well as other members of the family who shall remain nameless so long as they promise regular "protection" payments to keep the pics out of the hands of his triplets... (Evil Grin). Seriously, I do intend to share some shots, in some cases I'll be seeking help in identifying places and/or people (though I don't expect Art to recognize my Aunt Whoosit) The music, who knows... If I can make the music player on the web page work seamlessly, I might upload the tune of the week... If nothing else, it'll give me something else to write about.

Anyway, drop me a line to encourage me or harangue me, or even to just say hello from the long-long ago's, either thru comment or email.

Clear skies,
Jim

More of D'oril's inner workings

2008-12-10T11:20:00.003-07:00
Working on Imperfect Hope has required me to look at the motivations of the antagonists with a critical eye. One way I'd done that was to detail the what/why/how/when/where of the plan. In IH's case, I needed to know why the empire was changing their tactics, in the earlier era (Sha'te Valley and IFGS times) they were driving straight at their foe in order to obtain...
The what. I hadn't detailed the reason for the Empire's aggression in Sha'te very well, I'd sufficed it to say that they wanted something in the south, and the K'tath were in the way. For writing, though, I"ve come up with a bit of a deeper reason. Wintergems... Once common in the empires lands, they were used and abused in creating control collars for dragons and demons (among other shadowy uses. The proble being, that using them in that way kills the Heart-Pine from which wintergems come. With their own supply all but gone, they found a new source, within the forests of D'oril.

In other words, the empire's aggression is a war for oil. Sort of. Anyway, one way I developed this plot line was to write the empire's history. Here's a blurb from the rough history of the empire of tallux.....

(Excerpts from History of Tallux, 2nd to 3rd empires, Gurn and Prable dynasties)

.....The series of military catastrophes that began with the debacle at the Battle of Five Passes (called Sha’te Valley by those of the eastern continent) weakened the last of the Gurn emperors. Gurn the XIVth had long relied on the competence of his generals, and following the assassinations and betrayals of his best commanders sent to conquer the wilds of D’oril while bolstering their ally, the Dar theocracy, he assumed direct command of the campaign. This proved to be his undoing, for Gurn’s control over the Demonguard, and specifically their commander Beauty became tenuous at best. The shadowgems that allowed his domination of the demonguard from afar lost their potency, and eventually failed entirely. As we later determined, Beauty eventually slipped his masters leash, dooming any further military progress in the D’oril region. All military units were ordered to return as best they could. This retreat, as well as the failure of the demonguard to maintain an actionable rearguard allowed the assassins of the northern alliance the time they needed to slip into the empire’s heart. Many of emperor Gurn’s most trusted advisors then fell to the assassins, and the replacements he chose were at best unreliable. When Beauty himself returned to the homeland with the remnants of what he now considered his own army, the changeling allied himself with the traitor Jun. The ensuing civil war lasted only 11 months, but exacerbated by the relentless attack on the empires leadership by the k’tath assassins and their allies, the fall of the Gurn dynasty became inevitable. Though the rebellion was crushed, it was nearly 30 years before an effective emperor emerged from the crowd of pretenders to take the reins of the empire of Tallux.....

.....Prable the First was vastly different from the dozen false emperors that preceded him during the time of chaos, and nearly the opposite of Gurn the 14th. He’d been educated in the temples of Seta, and throughout his long reign, he relied upon them almost exclusively for advice. It has been said that he was the first (and perhaps the only) emperor who essentially was advised directly by the demi-god himself, for he always chose the high priest of the temple as his closest advisor.

Prable’s first tasks, of course, involved pacifying the outlying regions on the western continent that remained in rebellion. The campaigns showed his prowess, both as a military strategist, ruthless foe, and diplomat. Many of the rebellious lands returned to the empire voluntarily, often following the untimely death of several of the more prominent leaders who had espoused their tentative independence. The success of his navy in suppressing the coastal raiders that sprang up during the chaos times marked the end of the rebellion, but before he could turn his attention outward, he fell ill, and died shortly thereafter.

His eldest son, Zuli (known as Prable the second) also relied heavily on the divine advice of the priests of Seta, but his adaptation of that advice was often flawed. In his early bid to gain access to the wintergems of D’oril, he plotted the course of both naval, clandestine, and diplomatic campaigns. These moves were designed to gain a foothold along the shores of the northwestern shores of the confederacy that had arisen from the loose conglomeration of merchant princes and Baronrys in the interior of the eastern continent. Zuli hoped to avoid the costly war against the k’tath that brought the fall of the Gurn dynasty by employing some complicated subterfuge within the fledgling confederacy in order to gain control of one of several ports along the rugged coast. Any one of these ports would have given Tallux a much more direct route to the forests of D’oril where the wintergems were found. However, circumstances spun wildly out of his control early in the campaign, and it became clear that Zuli’s prowess in both strategy and diplomacy would never matched his father.....

The workings of D'oril, pt 1

2008-12-06T20:23:00.000-07:00
So I’ve bloviated on magic and healing over the last week or so, explaining in a small way how things work. There’s a lot more involved, of course, especially the ‘color’ involved in how healing works (Randir’s healing style, for example, is more than just ‘laying on the hands’) but I’ll go into that at a later date. Art recently reminded me/asked a question about ‘cha, cha’kel, and indirectly, il’cha status. So, here goes...

Back in the ifgs days, when Brandis’ character depth was fairly limited, I tossed out the stereotype statement “Elf Friend” and applied it to a couple of characters who were either close friends of his, or could be considered such in their involvement with the k’tath in the d’oril games. Early on, I was pretty vague about the differences between “elf” and K’tath, and in a spur of the moment, pirated ‘elf friend’ straight from tolkeinish literature.

Later, as I began developing my own background and depth, the K’tath became more distinct from “elf” in many ways. At first, it was cultural, I borrowed somewhat from CJ Cherryh and her Kesrith/Kutath/Shonjir (Faded Sun) series of sci/fi, specifically the three castes of the Mri culture. Though I kept the words at first, as I developed more and more depth, I diverged the cultural divisions very differently from the Faded Sun trilogy and Mri. The last remnant of that appeared briefly in Sha’te Valley, where I had the kath (now called krath) veiled in the manner of the Mri. However, the desert-born mri costuming has no similarity to the taiga residing K’tath, so I’ve dropped even that last similarity. Now, the K’tath are mine fully...

From there, I began altering most other elements, trying to create a unique character. When I came to “elf friend”, I wanted to keep the concept, that there would be a very few human and other-raced individuals who the k’tath would accept as close allies and friends, but I wanted it to have a deeper meaning. In addition, I began to see the kel groups as a core of the success of the k’tath in war, because of their incredible teamwork within a fighting unit, unparalleled in humanish culture. Thus Kel brothers and sisters, originally merely a convenient grouping and naming convention, became an almost psychically bonded group of warriors. But even within that group, there would be even tighter bonds. Thus, Cha’kel, a pair of compatible kel warriors, usually of opposite sex, who formed a synergetic, empathic bond between them that enhanced their, and the kel’s abilities.

I later used ‘cha, appended to a name, in the ifgs when Brandis first referred to Cerredwyn (A human amazon character) as Cerredwyn’cha after Shatterman Pass. In that game, then two of them had lived (and essentially died) through a series of emotionally traumatic events. Cerredwyn and Brandis had been taken unconscious by some Jepali tribesmen, and then used as hostages in an attempt to get the commander of the pass fortress to open the gates. They were healed to bare consciousness by the jepali and displayed in front of the gate of the fortress, but the jepali made the mistake of letting the two of them see each other, With unspoken understanding (mirroring the empathic link of cha’kel) of the situation, they both thrust their throats against the knives held against them, in an effort to remove the ‘live hostage’ leverage that the jepali held against the fortress defenders. (Never mind that the defenders then sallied from the gates to recover Brandis’ and Cerredwyn’s dying bodies). I chose to apply ‘cha after the momentous/miraculous healing that they received afterwards, (and as fate/ifgs would have it, the two characters spent the next two years surviving a series of dark no-co minigames, thus cementing the ‘cha name in their character histories.)

When I began transitioning from IFGS mind set to author mindset, I worked on reconciling the differences in these and many other areas. Cha’kel held a different meaning than Cerredwyn’cha, or Brandis’cha, Elf friend was implied, but unnamed. And I still needed another level of bond. Elf friend would remain un-renamed for now, but for the new level, I created Il’cha. Il’cha was something much deeper, stronger than Cha’kel, or (name)’cha, and I added a level of tragedy to it, in essence it was a spiritual bond that, at least as far as the kel were concerned, sometimes went too far. Two ‘lovers’ or partners, too deeply involved with each other, such that in the fatalistic K’tath Kel world, sooner or later, one of them would die, and the other would suffer greatly as a result, disrupting the harmony of the kel group. Il’cha bond pairs thus became stuff of kel tragic legend, something admired, and feared at the same time.

Needless to say, this complexity, though clear within my own notes, isn’t easy to immediately explain in writing. In Imperfect Hope, Cerryn and Randir have progressed to ‘cha status, but because the tale begins well after the characters had first met, I’ve little chance to “show” rather than tell. If I do a prequel (which is looking like a good idea anyway), I can do just that, but if IH is to stand alone, ‘cha, Il’cha, and cha’kel (plus ‘elf friend’) will have to be explained, or shown in some manner. It’s something to work on.....

At any rate... Looking into the bitty details of what I'm writing about has helped strengthen the continuity of what I've written, and I"m planning to do a lot more. For one, there's the whole history between the K'tath and the Empire of D'oril Why is the empire so insistant on fighting them... More to come...

TTFN,
Jim

More stuff

2008-12-02T14:12:00.000-07:00
One aspect of the tale I’m working on, (and probably most of the stories I write) involves magic. Since magic can be whatever you want, there is a tendency for many authors to just “whip that rabbit out of the hat” when it’s needed. Bad technique. I’ve put a lot of thought into how magic works in D’oril. At first, I just sort of appended the IFGS system, without much consideration as to how it would fit. In truth, it’s a handy template, a familiar starting point. I’m not a big fan of “character classes” in fiction though, it reeks of writing about role playing games.

So classes, per se, are the first thing to go out the window. Instead, the main characters have some things they’re really good at (Cerryn and the 5 forms of sword dance she’s mastered), and some things they’re not at all able to do. (Cerryn and defensive magic) Not unlike real life, (me and keeping planes from meeting unexpectedly, probably a form of defensive magic, or me and getting a clue in social situations)

Once classes are out, I started looking at how magic is made. I”m still working on the details, but I’ve pretty much decided that there are a few forms of magic, such as elemental magics, natural magics, spiritual magic, mental magic, and innate magic. (There are a few others I’m still deciding if they’re independent forms, or sub forms) Within each form, there are likely some crossover effects (for example, elemental magic fire, and spiritual magic fire, though coming from different sources, may sometimes appear the same). Forms are differentiated by source, ritual (how the form is summoned) and side effects. Within this framework, I”ll be able to let characters develop who aren’t omnipotent, who are believable.

For example, Randir is a k’tath questor (known as a companion of Elorna during Brandis’ time). Magically, he’s somewhere between a cleric and a ranger (using some rather broad IFGS categories). He’s a skilled healer, which comes from a spiritual source, has some empath abilities (mental forms), and knows some basic natural magics. Since the story revolves around his spiritual side, naturally that aspect has been fleshed out the most so far...

That brings up the question, how does healing work. In my world, true healers are very rare, but there are more who have basic skills that would equate to modern day field medic abilities. The “medics” would use a mix of basic first aid with some limited empathy to detect and eliminate corruptions in wounds (infections). They can set bones, and with their empathic skills, ease pain a little. The next level up, “surgeons”, would share many basic skills with your basic general practitioner. Healers, full blown miracle workers, could conceivably do anything, but... There’s the consequences issue. Massive healing takes both massive energy (either from the healer, or the healers supporters) and has physical, mental, and spiritual repercussions to the healer. Thus, Randir can bring someone back from the brink of death, but... He’ll be unconscious, or near death himself, and more. The more is where a twist in the story begins...

Anyway... More to come...

new week, new month...

2008-11-30T16:02:00.000-07:00
Hey! I actually got some work done on Imperfect Hope. Not much, 1k words or so, and some rewriting of a couple of scenes in chapter 2, but it’s work, the first of a long time. I’m sure more will be coming. I did reread everything I’d done so far, noticed a general pattern that a couple of the early scenes were pretty bland, but the last couple I’d been working on before “summer vacation” were, if I may pat myself on the back, pretty on target. I think one reason is that the early sections in question were setting up character and scene, and the latter scenes revolved around some important action, even while it set firmly some aspects of the main characters. I’ll see how it goes from here, see if I can keep up the intensity.

I touched on a bit of Cerryn’s early life in my last posting, and it’s something I’ve been mulling over. In the character sketch I wrote way back last winter, I included the basic details of her early life, how as one of the youngest daughters of a keep holder in the coastal reaches of the confederacy, she faced a probable arranged marriage to cement political alliances, with no real hope of anything approaching today’s standard of happiness. It all changed when she was one of the two children selected that year by the Valnar monastery for training as a questor. I think that stage of her life would actually make a pretty good story in itself, especially after digging around in the dirt to see what makes the grown up Cerryn tick. I’ll see where I fit that in my ferocious writing schedule... ;-)

On the less than happy side, The summer of stress has piled on the physical side-effects. According to Dr. Faini, besides the weight climbing again (despite the weekly personal trainer sessions), my cholesterol is climbing again (though not in the bad area, yet). I’m reminding myself what I need to do, diet wise (“Portion control, man, and put down that loaf of french bread!!!. Oh, and more oatmeal for you...) and exercise wise (once a week doesn’t cut it,) so I”ve asked my trainer to prepare “homework” for me. I’m pretty sure I saw her rubbing her hands together in glee after I asked her...

Writing practice at last?

2008-11-13T12:34:00.004-07:00
I wish I understood what it is that motivates me to write. I've felt dead in the water for months now, and all of a sudden, these last couple of weeks, it's alive again. Maybe it was a form of depression, maybe somebody stole my mojo ;-), or perhaps my muse has returned. At any rate, I'm getting back on the ball...

I"ve been digging back into Imperfect hope, working on redepthing (there's a new word) the main characters. Though I'd done a rather detailed character history for both, I felt like there's something missing, hence the 'redepth'. Besides just adding some details, I've decided to spark my interest again with writing some bits and blurbs from their pasts as writing practice. So here goes, a little bit from Cerryn's life, well before she became a questor of Valnor...

Cerryn peeked out from behind the heavy tapestry, trying to remain inconspicuous as she watched the visitor. It wasn't difficult, she and her older brothers and sisters had found dozens of hiding places throughout the keep, and this was one of her favorites. From here, she could listen in on the courtly activities, though most times she understood little of what the grown-ups spoke of. Usually her older siblings would be discovered, either too fidgety or noisy, often they just grew bored and would run off after each other to play or study. Cerryn would keep quiet and listen for much longer than any of them.

From her secret vantage point, the young redheadwas able to listen intently as her mother and father spoke with the stranger. He was short, his hair was cut severly, with a clean shaven face. From where she hid, she could barely hear any of them speaking in their hushed tones, something rarely done withing the great hall. Cerryn knew that her father held an important position within the western confederacy, and that many came to him for advice on all sorts of matters. The great hall was rarely empty of observers, if there was business that needed to be kept quiet, they would meet in the library upstairs. This meeting, and in fact, this visitor seemed different. Both her father and mother seemed unusually deferential. It was especially odd considering the plain attire of the stranger, simple homespun breeches and tunic more fitting to a weary traveler than one meeting with one of the confederacy's councilmen.

"Cerryn, come here and meet the abbot-questor" called her mother. For a moment, she wondered how her mom knew she was there, and for a few seconds, the red haired youngster tried to stay very still behind the tapestry. When Cerryn peeked out again, she saw all three adults were looking her way. She grimaced, wondering if she were in trouble, and stepped out from behind the wall hanging that depicted the hills that overlooked their ancestral lands. Then, she recognized what her mother had called the stranger, abbot-questor. There would be only one reason the abbot-questor would be visiting the keep. Her heart leapt with hope, even as she kept her face calm. Her feet betrayed her excitement though, and the 6 year old almost ran to meet the legendary sword master of the Valnorian questors...

New Stuff

2008-11-11T19:19:00.003-07:00
I've rearranged a few items, including bringing the sunset of the day up to the left column, moved the quote of the day to the left, and added a reaction poll for each posting. The reaction poll will give me a snapshot on what I wrote about, and whether I should work more on it. I also added another poll, this one to gauge the interest in what I should write about in the future. Help me build interest.....

I've also added an opportunity to become a follower of my blog. I think this requires you to register with blogspot, though honestly, you can use any alias you want. One advantage is that you can get an email when I've updated the blog, post a picture of you (or your favorite mushroom) and follow other blogs from a dashboard when you log it. I'll be exploring it a bit myself to determine if it'll be useful or merely fluff.

Speaking of fluff, (nice segue, even if fluff has nothing to do with the rest of this note). Art raised some more questions about my timeline for Imperfect Hope, compared to the Brandis and the companions of Elorna era. I sat down and started charting out "THE BIG PICTURE", a time line from the earliest K'tath history, to beyond the time of IH. No year spacing yet, I'm just putting things into a perspective. I'm doing this so I can better understand how much the past (in my many notes about D'oril) can and should influence the stories. I'm rather excited by the ideas that have popped in my puny brain these last few days as a result of those questions...

One final note, my statcounter gadget tells of an average of 10 visits a day to Tales from Doril, about half are regular visitors. I know who a couple of you are, you've left comments, and I'm really curious who else is visiting, and why. Please leave a comment, introduce yourself (an alias will suffice if you prefer) and feel free to join in. Off topic comments are welcome (for now, but if it gets offensive, I'll edit/delete as I see fit), if there's enough commentary, I'll start a weekly "Open Commentary" thread for discussions. Help make this place fascinating...

More to come...
Clear skies,
Jim

Brandis and Merlissa

2008-11-06T20:29:00.004-07:00
First of all, mundania... It's Over... Now, maybe we can start to heal and get along???

Writing is coming back. Maybe it's because winter is coming, and D'oril is in the north...

I think everyone who has been reading my blog knows Brandis, in one form or another. I've been doing some writing practice, and one way I"m stretching my brain before getting back to Imperfect hope is to Remember, Rewrite, and Revise stuff I'd done in the past. Character histories are something I have always practiced. That dredged up a bunch of memories, some of which involved how Brandis' character history has evolved over the years.

In the beginning, (gah, I actually used it. Somebody shoot me) his history was pretty simplistic. Something on the order of "He's from the north, and all of his people were killed in a horrible attack". Later on, I added more details, explaining why he came south, what happened, who the k'tath were, and who the bad guys (anyone remember the "Black Axe Dwarves", the original B.A.D. guys???)

Later, as I started working on writing the first games that took place in D'oril, I amended the simple to a bit more complex, "Brandis thinks he's the last of his kind, but in truth, he came south because of Elorna's need". Suddenly, Brandis was no longer a refugee, rather he's now an emissary, though he doesn't know it yet, due to some machination of the goddess that he's not privy to.

Then there was Merlissa. About this time, I was reading a lot of MZB (Marion ZImmer Bradley), which often contained an edge of romance novels. When one of the D'oril games ran, my game aides added a bit of content intended for Brandis' history, (with my permission, albeit unknowing of the details) that smacked of the classic MZB romance. Merlissa, a tentative non-player character, later to become a PC) was wondering where Brandis was, pissed that he'd disappeared, leaving no word, and no clue from Elorna, except a sense of "He's alive, I know it, I'd feel it if he were gone". In the process of feeding information to the players of the mini-game, I was playing Brandis as an NPC, who'd returned to D'oril for some unremembered reason, and had fallen into the wrong hands. The end of the minigame provided the reunion, a classic high tension moment of complicated emotions for the NPC's.

After that, I revised and reworked Brandis history many times, usually adding more detail, occasionally changing something to fit the growing D'oril universe more smoothly. I never revisited the Merlissa story line, in part because the once NPC became a PC, and it wasn't in my rights to rework that part of the storyline. I considered "cloning" the character for my own purposes, but chose instead to stay away from the issue. Instead, I wrote him off in another direction, he faced another exile from D'oril. This one was explained by a short story I wrote about how Elorna intervened directly in a Shadowlord Plot, saving him from the hands of Beauty and the Empire, but in doing so forcing her to pull her hero from D'oril because she'd upset the balance.

Brandis became the center of several short stories, all incomplete writing practices that revolved around his adventures in many other lands outside the IFGS. He played in many IFGS games as well, his character darkening as he spent more and more time away from home. The crux came after a series of very dark mini's that he played in, most of them with Cerredwyn on his team. In them, Brandis and Cerredwyn became close friends, in some ways a substitute for Merlissa, but one that didn't touch on the intimate side of that relationship. Instead, his soul became exhausted by the constant war, this gave me the excuse to withdraw from playing him for several years (actually due to the pressures of being an Air Traffic Controller). In my writings, he found some spirit healing from a k'tath healer sent to help him, though he was still unable to return home.

I wrote about other topics for a while, and played Brandis in a few other games at Ray Michel's request, playing him still as an exile, becoming somewhat of a tragic figure. His mood deepened the more he spent away from home, while I sought through writing a way to finish his story that began as a character history. At one point, I outlined a series of D'oril games that could do just that, but FAA time pressures never allowed me to go beyond that stage.

I've recently gone back to the history, considering what I might do with the saga. Since I'm writing Imperfect Hope in the D"oril universe, Brandis can and should be a part of that, but I've going to place him in a different time frame from IH, probably a few dozen years earlier. The lands of the Seven Tribes, in which the IFGS games take place, have changed to the Confederation, at least in the present. Brandis' saga would detail the re-contact between the k'tath and the people of the south. But what ever happened to him. Did he ever get home? Did Merlissa ever find him again? Should I drop hints about the past, little easter eggs that, should someday I get published, fans (yeah, right) would argue over the meaning of online and at cons.

In the meantime, I"m going to keep practicing. Brandis' history is, at last count, some 40 pages of story and scenerio and random notes, maybe my next project will organize that. More to come later.....

Clear skies,
Jim

Nothing to write about???

2008-10-24T10:29:00.003-06:00
Argghh. 11 more days of political insanity. Then, I'm sure, the real finger pointing begins. I wish I could join the crowd of folk who love to comment ad nauseum on the campain, but the 'nauseum' hits me pretty hard. Guess I just hate conflict, there's that old INFP thing again (read up on that in the personality testing label).

Started watching a new tv series last week, "Life on Mars". It's a combination sci/fi crime drama show. Sci Fi because a 2008 era police detective finds himself transported back to the 70's, where he's apparently a new detective in an old school police department. The comparison between today and 30+ years ago is, at least in the one episode I've enjoyed, "Heavy, Man". I have to admit, I enjoy the look back at the 70's as well. Nostalgia is just another word for aging.....

Another show I've really come to enjoy is "Eli Stone". If you haven't watched it, do yourself a favor and track down last years episodes and catch up, the backstory is important, although you will enjoy just jumping in almost as well. (Perhaps there's a web page that will fill you in on the whoosits...). There's a lot of deep moral meanings in the program, which revolves around a high powered attorney who develops a brain aneurism that could kill him at any moment. Along with the aneurism, he gets visions, full blown participatory musical song and dance numbers that are so real to him that he's almost always drawn into joining in on the dancing, much to the consternation of the high muckety mucks of his law firm who have no idea why Eli has suddenly jumped on top of a conference table and started singing. The visions lead him to taking cases that, in the typical money driven judicial system, aren't likely to be big money winners, but have a strong moral and ethical value. At first, he resisted his visions, but more and more, he's coming to trust them. Good storylines, continuing character development, and just enough humor. Seeing George Michael singing "You gotta have faith" in one of the early shows, with attorneys and law clerks dancing around the extremely puzzled Eli Stone, corporate attorney, is a winner...

Looks like I had something to write about after all.....

More to come,
Jim

Blah

2008-10-06T11:18:00.003-06:00
With any real luck, I"ve had my fall bug. Last wednesday, at work, I felt a tickle in the throat, by shift end, I was sneezing like I'd just emptied a vacuum cleaner bag. By midnight, I was full blown sick. The next 5 days was typical "not the flu but feels just like it". What amazed me was how quickly it came on, usually I feel out of it for a day or two, then it comes on steadily. This one surprised both Irma and I. She said I went from looking normal, to looking really bad, in merely a couple of hours.

It has been going around work, my supervisor actually thanked me for not coming in thursday, too many of us feel the need to grind through it and work sick, especially with our standard short staffing, but that just spreads it around faster. Or maybe it just gets us all over it so we can face the rest of the season ready... Hah.....

I"m sure most of you know that I dislike the ugliness of politics. It's a necessary evil, I guess, I just wish we could do it without the venomous hatred that's coming out every 2 years now. Humor, on the other hand, even satirical, is less painful. A while back, I ran across a funny, well made, poke fun at everyone web cartoon/song. Give it a listen at... http://www.jibjab.com/originals/time_for_some_campaignin

Getting away from politics, work, and without even thinking about the economy (yeesh, I feel like someone just lifted a black cloud from about my head), I'm mapping out my next phase of writing. I'm going to finish the first draft of Imperfect Hope, and I'll poke through some other writing ideas that have cropped up lately. I keep saying there'll be more later. Really.

TTFN,
Jim

New stuff

2008-09-24T16:35:00.002-06:00
Hey all...

I've added some new, semi-permament content, some gadgets scattered about the page, there's a pic of the day slot at the bottom, as well as some other stuff. Feel free to comment on them, I plan on swapping the unpopular things out on occasion. I'm also considering reducing the space alloted to posts so the stuff on the bottom of the page doesn't get forgotten. Or I can just remind everyone to scroll down to see daily content. Or move that stuff up??? Comments? More to come soon.....

I'm back. Really... Is anybody still there???

2008-09-20T07:52:00.001-06:00
Well, after disappearing for more than a month, I"m back. A lot happened, travelled back east to Virginia for 2 weeks to help take care of my second youngest, and work was Work. I've had more adventures in Handymanland, this time involving basement water and drywall repair, and I think I've gotten the whole writing thing figured out. (Okay, maybe not the last...)

On the subject of writing... Imperfect hope still hold my primary attention, though I've not done any work on it for most of the summer. No changes to the major storyline, which I suppose is good news, considering I usually change everything when I come back to a project like this. I'll post more on writing later as I get more into the rhythm of it...

I've always felt that blogging should be more than an open diary of what's happening this week, and as I've looked back on the last few posts, I've realized that that is exactly what I've been doing. It's a factor of my mindset of the moment. Instead, I'd prefer blogging to be an expression of creative exercise. Pick something in my brain and run with it. Preferably scissors, point up. Figuratively. So.....

You can't escape politics right now, every other ad on tv is something attacking somone else over their position. I dislike politics. Or at least, the hatred that comes with todays version of it. Express an opinion at work that someone else disagrees with, and you get a five minute diatribe on how stupid you are for believing that. Dare to offer a counterpoint to someone elses view, and the venom that follows is beyond belief.

Part of my problem is that i'm a member of the most hated group of people, the (whisper it...) Moderates. I don't buy lock stock and barrel the arguments of either party, and that pisses them off. Just because I believe in strong national security doesn't mean I want to gut the educational system, just because I'm pro-education doesn't mean I advocate free government care for life for everyone (except those who make more than a nationally decided upon threshhold of success). Energy policy, Social Issues, so on. Mine is a pathway of deliberate, reasoned choices, rather than blind adherance to party line.

I was very disappointed in the tone of what has been coming out of both campaigns. But it's typical, I guess. There's not much I can do about it. Or is there... I have to admit that I tend to bury my head under a rock when the mud starts slinging, maybe I need to throw a few rocks myself at the mudslingers. Wonder it that'd do any good.....

Anyway, next post will be about fun. Anything but politics. I hope.....

TTFN,
Jim

Now what...

2008-07-22T20:06:00.003-06:00
Well, it seems that the summer of new crises is coming to a close. Or at least, so it seems. Things are returning to a more normal (as if anything is ever 'normal' around me) state here in colorado, between family health and issues and such. We have had to change our vacation plans, whereas we had planned to go to mexico to visit the ranchito, check up on our horses and visit my brother in law and new nephew, now we're probably going to fly out to visit Irma's dad in LA. For once, it's not going to be an emeregency someone's sick or worse visit, and that's the main reason we're doing it, Senor Antonio is doing well in his apartment, and has asked Irma a couple of times "When are you coming to see me). We're actually thinking of driving, mostly so we can set our own pace getting there...

With the abatement of serious chaos, I'm getting back to practicing writing, and champing at the bit to get back to Imperfect hope. I'm holding off, though, I want to rethink a plot line. In the meantime, I'm warming up with description practice and outlining a short story that I may work on in between Imperfect Hope segments. More on that later as I get a better handle on what my overactive imagination is up to.....

Work is still insane. Work is still grinding me down. Work is... I guess that's why it's called work.

Anyway... Life update complete. When I next write (later this week, I promise myself), I'll be creative.

For now, keep those cards and letters coming.....

TTFN,
Jim

Progress?

2008-06-17T20:37:00.003-06:00
Okay. Writing hasn't been high on my list of priorities these last couple of months. I'm still writing, though. Perhaps a break was needed, perhaps I just let stress get ahead of me. At any rate, I'm getting back to Imperfect Hope. I promise. (hear that, Jim? You promised it!)

Where do I restart? I'd stopped at a natural break point way back when, protagonists having dealt with their first crisis and were beginning a recovery, but... Soon the deadlier problem will reveal itself. I shouldn't have too many problems getting my writing back up to speed, but... Starting can take on a life of it's own. So I'm rereading what I've done so far, without (hear that, Inner Critic) Without editing, the goal being, when I catch up to where I left off, I should be "in the right mindset".

In the meantime, real life goes on. May have to drive out to Salt Lake in a couple of weeks to pick up Omar's (Irma's brother) kids to spend a few weeks with us, their mom is still in a hospital and facing long rehab after her brain surgery. Omar's been hanging in there, but it can't be easy, splitting his time between work on the ranch, nights at the hospital with his wife, and trying to take care of the kids. The kids are looking forward to a vacation... Lets hope Irma and I are up to the challenge.

Anyway... Back to the grind...

Clear skies,
Jim

Woodpeckers and Trainees

2008-05-31T06:23:00.002-06:00
We've always had woodpeckers in our neighborhood. Many mornings I've awakened to the machinelike pounding on ours, or our neighbors homes. Most mornings I smile, for whatever reason I like woodpeckers, I suppose they're not doing that much damage to the house, and after all, they're really just marking their territory. Or to put it another way, trying to attract a mate. Something about pounding your head against a block of wood in order to attract a mate strikes a chord with me. I'm just sayin.....

Speaking of pounding your head against a block of wood... For years, we've had a developing shortage of controllers nationwide, national management kept assuring us that "trainees were in the pipeline, don't worry." Well, they're here. 15 trainees, brand spanking new out of the academy at Oklahoma City. Most of them have gotten two years of associate degree work from one of the aviation related universities before going to the academy. 15 trainees. Wow.

Guess what our training department has them doing. Sitting in the control room, taking turns watching 2 or 3 printers spit out strips. (Flight plan and informational). What do they do? Look at the strips, and decide if they need to be delivered to controllers. Maybe one in twenty has any pertinence, the rest get tossed. Keep in mind, that before the arrival of the trainees, a supervisor would wander by the printer every 15 minutes or so and check for usefullness. Now, a trainee (with 2 years college, and 4 months academy screen and training) sits... Rat-a-tat-a-tat......

It used to be that flight data (the position he's filling now) had a purpose, we used to process flight plans manually on occasion, relay flight information to surrounding facilities, and actually do things that made sense. I spent a year on printers, and in doing so I learned the area in and out. HOwever, we've gone digital in almost all ways flight data, so the human touch is taken out. Nothing to pass, no flightplans to copy, coordination to complete, nothing. nada. Sit and watch the printer..... Rat-a-tat-a-tat.....

Why??? Because the training department hadn't foreseen the arrival of trainees. They've got other training programs that just can't be postponed, so the trainees, rather than get denver center specific instruction and training that would get them on the track to start being useful in 3 or 4 years, sit and watch and wait for the phase 3 training class to start in 9 months. Rat-a-tat-a-tat.....

So yesterday I had to provide training to one of our new future controllers. He's bright, young, enthusiastic. He's had 2 years college in minnesota, and passed the academy ready to jump in. And I got to explain to him what it was that our managers and instructors want him to do for the next 9 months. I watched the hope drain out of his eyes, watched the despair fill them. I tried to find useful things for him to do for the next 9 months, practice on URET (digital flight plan information) so he'll be fluent in it's use when he actually starts training, suggested he spend as much time as possible observing controllers at work. I hope the training department wakes up and moves their class date up, though... Boredom leads to attrition.....

Anyway..... Rat-a-tat-a-tat.....

Clear skies,
Jim

Tornadoes and stuff

2008-05-22T18:57:00.003-06:00
If you've read or seen the news lately, you've likely heard about the several tornadoes that struck northeastern colorado today. Most of them, including the most destructive one, were several to a few dozen miles northeast of us here, but one was spotted south of town. It lead to a challenging day.

First, the ludicrous. The tornado closest to longmont was spotted right around noon, and sirens went off town wide. I suspect many people around town were puzzled, many knew what was going on, and many just missed it entirely. Here at denver center, though, you would think that people who work on a daily basis with constant awareness of the weather and it's impact would understand. However, when the P.A. announcement went off telling all non essential personnel to proceed to the basement, and controllers to the control room (which is, I suppose, being in the center of the building and away from windows is a safe as one can be on the ground floor), what do a sizeable majority of staffers, managers, and other non-essentials do? Head for the windows or outside to LOOK FOR THE TORNADO!. Gah!!!!!

Anyway, the tornado sighting was just the mid point of a long and difficult day. Weather started building around 930 am, which is unusual. By 1100 am, there were lines of thunderstorms across eastern colorado, western nebraska and kansas forming up, much like the slats of venetian blinds. Thus far, aircraft could make there way through, but as the weather began filling in, the planes had to deviate further and further off course to get around it.

TMU, traffic management unit, tried to keep up. Once again, they seemed to be about an hour behind the real weather situation. As a result, they had sectors west of denver aiming aircraft at holes in the line of weather that had already closed. Nothing like a 120 degree about face and 100 mile detour to eat up gas.....

By early afternoon, the line had closed up, and nothing was getting through... Except tmu kept trying pathfinders, who would fly 100 miles east of denver, then head 125 miles north or south to find a way round. Oh well. (I'm sensing a pattern, and it's not just my cynical attitude)

Anyway... We got through it. Afterward, we began getting the reports on the damage in Platteville and points north. It wasn't pretty. Guess we had it pretty easy after all.....

Getting my writing back in swing, though I mostly have just done some exercises trying to get my rhythm back. Blurbs will follow soon. I promise.

Keep those cards and letters and comments coming....

Clear skies,
Jim

May showers and such

2008-05-14T18:43:00.002-06:00
May. Writing wise, I still haven't gotten back into the rhythm I had up to march, though I have actually done some rewriting. Word count is still about the same, and to be honest, I'm paying no attention to the deadline right now, I just don't need any new pressures. The inner critic has been happy though, he got to dump another entire scene and rework it, it came out tighter and much more relavent.

Why did I let him out? The scene in question seemed very weak, and it's content will directly impact future scenes and chapters, so I felt that I had to rework it in order to keep my continuity going once I do charge back in. It feels better, so I"m happy with the IC's work.....

I"ve started rereading some older novels in my library, still haven't found any of my old darkover books, might still try the library. Anyone have any suggestions for new writers I might find enjoyable?

I mentioned pressure. The fact is, sometimes life gets dirty. I've had to focus full time on work challenges (o/t is going to be a fact of life very soon, with our staffing shortages reaching a critical level.) YOu know it's bad when your Traffic Management Unit puts out a restriction on surrounding centers, not because of bad weather, but because an area is understaffed and can't handle normal traffic. Guess the airlines are going to start putting pressure on FAA management to DO SOMETHING FAST. Like they didn't have 10+ years warning that the retirements were going to peak in the next two years.....

Besides work, it's spring yard fix up time. ANother round of handymanitis had me digging up some cracked irrigation pipes in the front yard, stuff the original house builders really didn't do a good job on. Front yard is mostly dont and ready to go, I've a pair of sprinkler heads in the back to repair (One got whacked by the turf-aerator guys, despite the yellow flag marking it). Thankfully, we've had rain (and snow) the last couple of weeks, so I"ve not had to rush the repair jobs.

Oh. New Truck. Vaquera, my 9 1/2 year old ford ranger, has been replaced by a brand new nissan Frontier club cab. I"m still contemplating the name.....

Anyway, more to come soon. Drop me a line and say hello.....

Clear skies,
Jim

News from the front

2008-05-01T15:12:00.002-06:00
Writing continues at a slow pace, only put in 5k words last week, and that after dumping about 3k due to terminal dullness. It happened when I went through what I'd writtien som far, and realized that one scene was totally without point. I left a placeholder, in case I can think of some way of reworking the scene, but mostly, it was missing relevance to the rest of the plot. More to come.

On the non-writing front, things are back to going mostly well. Other than work and misc. crisis floating about. We did start looking for a new truck, Vaquera, the 99 ford ranger I've driven for nearly 10 years, is starting to show it's age, so we started looking around a couple of weeks ago. Because the ranger had been a very reliable truck, I looked at ford first. I was disappointed, in part at the selection of rangers that they had at the local dealership, and in part with the salesman who "helped" me.

I came on the lot with a clear idea of what I wanted to look at, a new 4wd club cab ranger, nothing too fancy, good gas mileage and trustworthy. The salesman apparently decided I needed to see something else, and took me immediately to see a used Ford F-150. Absolutely the wrong thing to do, if he doesn't even listen to my first list of 'wants', I doubt he'll do anything right from there on. I politely let him show the used ford to me, then tagged along while he pointed out the rangers that they had. Nothing like what I wanted. I haven't gone back...

Meanwhile, both Nissan and Toyota have treated me well. Nissan's Frontier and Toyota's Tacoma are neck and neck, but Toyota seems to be a bit higher end. Or, to put it another way, Nissan is more economically priced. Since I'm not looking for a massive off road toy or powerwagon or whatever, I'm leaning toward Nissan, assuming I can find the features that I want. So far, none of the salesmen have tried to show me used alternatives..... ;-)

Gardening time is near, so I've been working (not on the railroad, but) on the sprinklers, fixing the last of the original system that the house builders put in so incompetantly. My knees may never be the same.....

More to come later, Clear skies,
Jim

Reading the past

2008-04-08T22:00:00.004-06:00
Writing requires reading. Everybody in the writing business I've talked to, from Mercedes Lackey to Robert Asprin, tout this. I've always been a voracious reader, sometimes I've been known to go through 2 or 3 novels a week when I'm focused on that. As I"ve been writing more, I've also noticed that my tastes have become somewhat refined, in my own way, just like they've changed back and forth over the years.

I used to read a lot of hard military sf, things like Hammers Slammers. Before that, there were phases of humorous fantasy (Asprin comes to mind). I periodically pick up new releases by old favorites, Orson Scott Card, for example, keeps me entertained with a constantly changing battery of different styles.

What I've been writing with Imperfect Hope is somewhere from my long ago reading habits. I suppose it has an official name for the genre within the fantasy realm, but off the top of my head, I can't think of it. One of the prolific writers of my reading past (probably 20ish years ago) is Marion Zimmer Bradley, specifically her Darkover novels. I've come to realize that much of what I'm writing about in the d'oril realm is influenced by that styling.

MZB often set her novels in the harsh, cold climes of Darkover, I remember images of castles nearly swallowed up by massive drifts of snow much of the year, the residents hardened against the winter by their breeding and magical talents. D'oril is similar, the k'tath are quite inured by the cold of their homeland. I've also built a stable of potential heroic characters, and I've noticed that, Like MZB, many of them are female. I suspect many of them will show up in my stories.

I suppose it seems rather arrogant of me to compare my writing to Ms Bradleys, but in truth, I'm only making some very general comparisons, I know the reality is that I'm only just beginning, regardless of how much practice I'd had writing for the IFGS and fantasy gaming. But the realization of where some of my deep down inspirations have come from has reawakened my desire to dig out the darkover series and reread... Except I donated away most of my paperbacks about 10 years ago. Guess I'll dig up that library card and see what I can find.....

new month, new hope

2008-04-08T17:51:00.003-06:00
Okay, so I took a month off from writing. I've let my deadline slip. Hey, I'm an amateur, what do you expect. Well, I don't feel too badly right now, for I did get some headachey stuff dealt with.

One isue that'd been hanging over my head for nearly a year now was the last bits and pieces of the stuff from my dad's apartment. It had been sitting in storage since may last year, every so often I'd fiddle about, trying to sort and organize, but I'd made very little progress. So this March, I made a big effort...

Furniture and some stereo equipment went to Jose. Old, mold filled refrigerator went to charity, it hadn't run since more than 5 years ago, anyway. Washer and Dryer ended up going to Betty and Gerardo (and when we took their old one out of their basement, we saw how truly old it was). What was left got moved to fill half of my garage while I began to dig through it.....

Lots of papers. Some mementos. A lot of really obsolete computer disks and software and documentation. (One item found referenced requiring a 16 color monitor!) Slides from decades ago. It took me two weeks, but I emptied it.

The slides I'm going to scan into digital format and make cd's for the family. The extensive jazz collection on LP's and 45's will be an ongoing project to record into digital as well. And geneology stuff I"ll look at eventually.

It was emotionally draining to go through so much stuff, even more so than when we emptied his apartment last year (by just boxing everything in sight). However, it's done, and I have gained a greater appreciation for the things in life that last. Those photo's, for example, include most of my brother, sister, and I, growing up through the late fifties and sixties.

Anyway, I feel like I dumped a 80 pound backpack this weekend, finishing that. Yes, there's more to do, but it's constructive stuff, not like going through boxes and deciding what to throw out, what to donate, what to keep.

Back to writing now. I did some fiddling about with ideas this week, no formal writing, but I'm ready. More to come.....

Real Life trumps part time writing

2008-03-26T12:17:00.002-06:00
Heya's.

For those keeping track, I've not written for nearly a month, due to an avalanche of real life issues, all unrelated, hopefully once in a lifetime type crisis that I think (I hope) are winding down. Sometimes, real life overwhelms you, and I'd have been stressed even if I weren't trying to burn that candle at both ends. So, part time writing job was sidelined for four weeks. I've revised my deadline appropriately.

I hope to get back into the writing mode tonight, perhaps. We'll see how I deal with a "normal" paced day at work. I'd been short on sleep the last couple of weeks, but I think I'm caught up. Hah.

Outside of chaos, however, I'm coming up with a new distraction: 60+ degree spring weather. Who wants to sit in the office, typing when you can be outside. Ah, but then, there's the yearly ritual of getting the sprinkler system ready for the season, hauling fallen sticks and branches out of the back yard and down to the tree limb recycling center in town, and all the other springtime yard chores.

Breathe.... Balance...

I was recently reminded of a series of books I'd read way back in the early days, at my grandfathers house. Outdoor humor books by Ed Zern, probably the original curmudgeon. His titles included "How to tell a fish from a fisherman", "To hell with Hunting", and "To hell with fishing". I ran across one of his short essays a couple of days back, and remembered how much I"d laughed over his cartoons and imagery way back when. Perhaps I'll become a curmudgeonly writer....

Oh, too late, some say I already am.

Clear skies,
Jim

A postponement?

2008-03-11T22:17:00.002-06:00
Well, I've been off line for nearly 2 weeks, and though I got some good word count in the early part of that, circumstances out of my control put me in a forced non-writing mode for the better part of a week now. Irma and I had to make an emergency trip to Salt Lake City to be with her brother, Omar, whose wife, Rosie, had surgery on a (now known to be) benign, fist sized tumor on her brain. The surgery was successful, however the 48 hours following the surgery things did not go well. Swelling and bleeding put her in critical condition, they induced a coma, and... When we arrived, she was non-responsive and it didn't look good. Prayer, family support (as others of Irma's and Rosie's family arrived from la and mexico) and patience followed, when we left 4 days later, she was showing signs of improvement, albeit slowly. She's still in a coma, but the doctors are hopeful...

So. I've decided to tack on some extra time to my deadline. I'll let you know more about it later, and if I hear any boo's out there, they'll likely be drowned out by my own, but I think it's realistic to do that. I'll update my countdown and such later.

What I did get written prior to our last minute travel seemed to be going well. At least parts of it. A crux scene mostly came together well, but the action seems weak to me (but, 1st draft, so leave it alone for now), but amazingly, some dialogues seemed to really pop for a change. Not sure what I did right, but I'm hoping I'm getting better. Or maybe the scene's dialogue just fit the story better.....

Anyway, it's back to the grind shortly, but tomorrow, Cruella DaVille, aka personal trainer, is going to kick our butts. See, we ate out in SLC, and didn't make good choices all the time. The old comfort food/stress eating thingie... If I survive, I'll give a report.

Clear skies,
Jim

There are two times when...

2008-02-24T20:34:00.007-07:00
Writing for the week has gone well, I think. Word count will exceed 50k by the time I'm done writing tonight, I considered a small celebration, maybe an extra ration of grog for the scurvy dogs who've managed to scrape the hull of barnacles despite everything. On the other hand, maybe the captain is the one who deserves the reward, maybe a gallon of frozen strawberries. What I mean to say is that it seems to me that there's a whole crew driving this sailing ship of a novel. Captain Imagination, who comes out on deck and marvels at the weather, and waves vaguely at the horizon and says, "thataway". First Officer and chief navigators Scenery and Plotter (who figure out where the ship is going) . The B'suns mate, Discipline (who tries to keep the gang moving). And the crew, collectively named Tenacity and Fortitude. So who gets the credit for making it 1/3rd of the way (estimated, your mileage may vary)? I'll let you know, though I suspect it's the crew and the B'suns mate.

On a different subject, as long as the captains walking the poop deck, I figure it's time to smile a bit. I was watching the Red Green show the other day (a funny, home spun canadian import that has apparently run on canadian tv for about 15 years). Red, a gruff, grizzled canadian who runs the Possum Lodge (motto: When all else fails, play dead) somewhere in the great white north, was offering his take on life. He pointed out that "there are two times when you shouldn't be smiling, when you smell something bad, and when your wife isn't. (Think about it. And realize how often the two times coincide). That got my funny bone twitching. I'm sure there are other "two time" wisdoms out there, like "there are two times you shouldn't say volunteer", and "there are two times you shouldn't offer to carry a baby." So, here's the contest. Pick one of these two time lines, or make up your own, and write the punch line, stick it in comments. I promise, the winner (It's my blog, I choose) will get a prize. Something that will make you smile. Good luck. Or as Red says, "Keep your stick on the ice"...

Progress (IV)

2008-02-18T13:41:00.003-07:00
Writing progress, part four. (Did you think I was punning on progressive? me? a political statement? Maybe, all I've got to say right now is, Moderate is not a bad word, despite the efforts of both parties, and our good old main stream media, to define it as something else. Anyway, someday I"ll offend half of you out there and discuss the whole moderate/extremist thingy. If MSM has its way, by allowing myself to have an opinion that half of you don't share, I'm setting myself up to be hated.....

Anyway, writing progress. Met all goals this week, even with dumping nearly 2k of word count by letting the inner critic out of it's cage and allowing the tasmanian devil like creature to rewrite one scene. Inner Critic (IC, notice he's capitalized now, does that make him a real person?) didn't like how I had sneaky, dastardly villain number one deal with a plot point, so he dumped the whole scene, and made me rewrite it. The fiend!

In the original scene, he (DV#1) acted directly. When I was working on a later scene, it occurred to me how out of character it was, and I made a note to myself to consider redoing it. In the next scene I was working on, I came up with a solution, but I realized that changing that earlier scene would affect the following sections that DV#1 was in. I started writing with the change in mind, but found myself making note after note of things I'd have to include when I got around to rewriting the earlier scenes, so. Open Cage, let IC out. When the dust settled, old scene gone, replaced with new, hopefully better scene.

So, hopefully IC will quiet down for a while. I have started seeing things that I want to change when I do start revising, adding color and correcting discrepancies, but for now I'm just taking notes and sticking to my plan.

Anyway, milestone 40k words reached. Think I'll celebrate by... Hmmm. Only 110k words to go. Egad, 110k words. Panic attack?

Clear skies,
Jim

Activate the wayback machine, Mr. Peabody

2008-02-09T19:04:00.000-07:00
Okay, so last week I had a memory moment, one of those episodes where something gets dredged up out of the past. I don't know where these things come from, they just come out of the blue, like getting blindsided by a wing forward as you pop out of a scrum. (Three points to whoever correctly identifies that reference, sorry, Jeff, you're disqualified...) Anyway... look at the pretty lights when Sherman and Peabody punch that button...

Nineteen-sixty-one. The cold war and innocence battle for control of the minds of America's youth, and President Kennedy is worried about fitness. He forms the presidential council of fitness, and with the help of a famous stage and screen actor, sends to every (according to the propaganda, anyway) school, a six and a half minute exercise record. First graders and up are greeted in gym class, or on the morning PA, with which of the following?

A. Frank Sinatra sings "My way"
B. Richard Simmons does the Twist (and can't be seen on video, because it hasnt been invented yet)
C. Robert Preston takes a break from Music Man and sings "The Chicken Fat Song"

Anyone? Anyone?

I remember first and second grade, our once or twice weekly gym class teacher pulling out this record and playing, yes, "THE CHICKEN FAT SONG!" Oh, it was the most annoyingly mind-sticking song, we absolutely hated it. Nearly seven minutes of jumping jacks, push ups, and running in place while Mr. Preston belts out a broadway-quality, pre-video era exercise routine worthy of any boot camp. Marching music, a back up chorus, and words that, once triggered, probably mutated our little brains for all time. If anyone doubts that lines such as... "Give that chicken fat back to the chickens, and don't be chicken again, Go you chicken fat, Go!" hasn't warped todays generation beyond all repair, doesn't understand why both the United States and the Soviet Union spent billions on mind control research. ;-)

Anyway, the memory was jogged. Out of curiousity, I looked it up, and sure enough, someone was weird enough to archive it. Be warned, listening to this may cause epileptic fits, drooling, uncontrolled retching, smiling, giggles, and a reversion to childlike behavior. Be warned, but... Listen. It'll make you laugh. http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/2003/276.shtml

I think it should be required on all exercise mp3 players.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

More to come writing wise later.....
TTFN,
Jim

Blah Blah, Blah Blah Blah.

2008-02-04T20:35:00.000-07:00
Okay, so I'm not up for a catchy title yet. It's been one of those weeks where I've fought the arch villain, Inner Critic, to a standstill. He keeps poking at me, reminding me I'm doing it wrong, trying to turn me to the dark side. However, there are the occasional Rays of Hope (you hear me, Ray? I Hope?) I'm getting better at hitting a rhythm when I write, and I'm getting a sense for the feel of the tale better than when I started.

I can hear the question already, though. "You mean that you didn't have a feel for the tale when you started?" I suppose explaining what I mean by feel is in order. Starting out Imperfect Hope, I had a good sense of what the overall theme would be, the importance of "Hope". However, as I write, I'm getting a better feeling of the depth of how that theme will come together. The early parts of the novel will develop the main characters, Cerryn and Randir, showing their basic 'heroic' nature, as it has developed during their normally stressful but successful heroic lives. Then, crux encounter, which will change the fortunes of the protagonists. One will face his doubts through his faith, the other's faith, and hence hope, will falter. The feel for the tale incorporates a gradually darkening of situations, the playful banter of the early tale will later be replaced with grimness from the point of view of Cerryn and Randir.

Right now, I"m working on the pre-crux tale, setting the stage for the first reversal of fortune. I've introduced the antagonists, mysterious at first, and I'm building up to their first encounter. One of them is the Lord-Admiral of the Empire's fleet. He's a sympathetic character in an unsympathetic role, much like Phorix in "Sha'te Valley". Or so I hope.

At any rate, cheer me on. Word count keeps building, I've added more scenes and I've made notes on things the (Shhh, whisper his name lest he wake up) Inner Critic has identified. I promise, I"ll work on it later, just don't wake him up!!!

Clear skies,
Jim

Still writing, after all these years

2008-01-29T19:33:00.001-07:00
Was that 'still writing'? 'Still crazy'? or 'Still trying, very trying'. Progress was less than I wanted this week, but I'm not concerned about it right now, because what I did do felt like it was falling into place. Dialogue is still a weak point, but I guess that's what revisions 1-4 will take care of, for now I'm just getting the basics of the conversations down, and I'll add the characterization and rhythm when I start revising.

I have done some reminescing about years back when I was writing IFGS games, I remember writing the first games without a computer. (can you say Corolla Manual Typewriter?) White out and photocopiers were my friends. That was work. I don't think I could do it that way today.

The other thing I was thinking about was how I enjoy listening to a piece of music (either without words, or in a different language) and imagining a scene that goes with it. Often movie scores are fertile grounds for exercising that imagination, though it's best if I haven't seen the movie that the music goes to. I guess I'm the opposite of a composer, he sees a movie without soundtrack, and imagines music to go with it. I listen to music, and imagine a scene that someday may become a novel.

Anyway, nuff said. Time to get my BIC/HOK..... Oh. Already there.....

So it goes.

2008-01-20T21:56:00.000-07:00
Hey all.

Semi productive week here. I"m up to 16.5 k words, a little behind my target, but not terribly so. Guess I could toss some excuses out there, but... I know what's going on, so I'll deal with it.

I'm noticing as I go along that when I get into the zone, my writing feels good, and when I'm not, I feel stress build as I write. I'm not sure whether that means I shouldn't write when I'm not feeling it, or if it means I need to eliminate more distractions and focus on the "zone". The scene I've been working on tonight, for example, felt good. But yesterday's writing just doesn't feel right. Yet. Guess that's why the inner critic keeps trying to surface.

Anyway. One thing I was working on today was putting some emotional content into the interaction between the two main characters, Cerryn and Randir. IFGSer's will recognize that Randir is of the k'tath race, (similar to Tolkiens elves, though with significant differences, and no, it's not brandis, Art) is very reticent with emotions, at least as far as his interaction with Humans goes. On the other hand, Cerryn is the product of an upbringing that included most of her formative years training at a questors monastery, and they actively encourage their questors to keep a studied distance from outsiders. Randir and Cerryn have journeyed together for many years, and their companionship, though strong, has been kept safely locked behind closed doors. (figuratively speaking). Since growth in characters is an important part of the tales that I like to read, and keeping emotions locked away is a sign of non-growth, I've considered this to be a big part of the undercurrent of the story. However...

However. I don't want to fall into stereotypes. So I'm going to put some serious thought into how deep the relationship between protagonists should be. Many successful writers allow protagonist relationships to develop over the course of several books, giving readers a link between sequels that they can anticipate. (Call it the serial romance syndrome, my own title) Perhaps in book one, the protagonists recognize each other for who they are, but heroic circumstances being what they are, can't pursue anything for... See book two. If successful, the readers carry the anticipation from book one to book two, and perhaps by mid series, are screaming at the two protagonists, "For God's sake, man, Kiss her already! And you, lady, stop pushing him away because..."

We'll see if I can carry that sort of continuity through one book first.

Progress?

2008-01-16T20:16:00.000-07:00
It's going to be quite a balancing act, between meeting the deadline and keeping everything else afloat. So far, this half week, I'm barely keeping up with my projected word count (I'm at 13500 at this point), in part because of a rather productive Monday, and some good grinding at work tuesday night. Cautiously optimistic? nah. Still daunted...

There's a lot of things I'm noticing about my writing progress, though. For one, I'm pretty good at inanimate description, at least, it feels that way to me. I feel pretty weak at dialogue. At work, I'm pretty good at identifying plot inconsistancies, and if I'm stressed, I'm no good at anything except seeing how bad my writing is. If only I could keep stress away..... (a chorus of me too's out there, eh?)

The other thing going on these days is fitness. In November, we (Irma and I) started working with a personal trainer in order to deal with our ongoing health issues. We actually started with a nutritionist, who besides confirming that in general, we knew what we were supposed to eat, gave us some useful tips on avoiding some of the many pitfalls. After that, we started with Charity, and the YMCA.

Though she varies the routine each week, basically she has us do 25 minutes of cardio warm up on our own before the 1 hour session. Often she'll come in and see if we're working ourselves hard enough on the elliptical, treadmill, or bike (we get to choose), if we're not sweating and panting, she'll speed us up or otherwise correct our laxness. Then, the tough part begins.

Yesterday, with Irma out with bronchitus, I faced the dragon-lady alone. For me, one of the goals of this program is to get off bp and cholesterol meds, Charity expects that by my next FAA physical, I'll be able to petition my doctor for just that. In order to reach that goal, however, she's hammering me hard. Yesterday, it was 45 minutes of hard hard weight training, focused on the upper body, followed by 10 minutes of crunches, sit-ups, and stretching. Oh, there was that 5 minutes of running up a 14 degree slope on the treadmill in the middle of the weight training just to break up the routine.

I'm really feeling it. And tomorrow, I'll feel it more. Remember Tim Conway's shuffling old man on the Carol Burnett show? That's me.....

However, building the muscle will help with the weightloss. So far, 11 lbs gone out of the 60 I need to lose. Since we're focusing on changing our exercise habits, and keeping our eating habits healthy but not "dieting", it's a more sustainable way of losing weight. The diet is balanced so that, with no extra exercise, I'd lose about 1 lb a month. With the exercise, it's about 1.5 per week, and a big part of that is replacing flab with muscle mass, which is heavier.

We'll see how it goes, but... belts are looser, my watch flops on my wrist and will need to be adjusted soon, and I'm not out of breath just hauling folded clothes from the laundry room in the basement up to the bedroom on the second floor.

Anyway... Fitness and Writing. Now, for that stress... Where's that bottle of "15 year old Macallen"...

Three steps forward, one step back

2008-01-13T17:51:00.000-07:00
Well, the first half week has passed, and my word count has dropped. That would normally be a bad sign, except I decided that one scene I'd written last year just didn't fit with the plot at all, so I pitched it. 9500 words dropped to 7700, just like that. I spent a couple of days reworking the outline, tightening the plot, and then stepped in where I'd left off and ground out 1100 words to replace the 1800 I'd dropped. Now to keep the inner critic locked away.

I have to admit, I'm more than a little daunted. The word processor program I'm using has a feature that lets me set up a date, and a word count total, and keeps track of my daily word count production to let me know how I'm doing against the deadline. I"ve estimated that it'll take about 150,000 words to finish the first draft (more on what that means in a moment), and right now, ywriter tells me that means I"ll have to pump out 1380 words a day. Not bad, but that assumes I'll write that every day. Realistically, there will be some days I just don't have a chance to write. But... I've committed myself. (maybe one of you will be committing me later)

How is that going to come about, though. This week, I did do some writing at work on a break, I found it doable to write 200 words, allowing for time to set up, get my brain out of atc mode and into creative mode, type, then shut down. At home, my word count varies, some nights I glare at the screen and feel lucky to complete 600 words, other nights (or mornings before work) my fingers fly and can pump out 4-6 times that. If I set a schedule, I think it'll be easier.

So that's what I'm going to work on. Being consistent with writing, ask myself to write on at least one break at work a day, and see what happens. This week will be a peek on how that goes.

The other question I've asked myself, what does 150k words mean, and how did I come up with it. Well, in outlining the plot, I've broken things down into 59 scenes. So far, scenes are averaging 1600 words in length. I expect that will double in most of the latter scenes. Allowing for a few scenes that I expect to be much longer (crux situations), I came up with 150,000 words as a rough estimate. That's pretty average for a first draft/fantasy novel. It will probably lengthen when I start in with expanding descriptions and dialogues and such, and shrink when I cut ugly or unnecessary scenes. Final result? Hey, I'm new at this too, who knows.....

I'm still waiting for encouraging words, questions, or whatnot from most of you. Art did commment, and in response, I'd have to say... Ayup, winters in D'oril can be harsh to outsiders. Thats why wintergems are found only in D'oril, takes some really cold weather to concentrate that natural magics that make them so coveted by the Empire (and many mages in the south).

Here we go!

2008-01-09T11:29:00.000-07:00
Welcome back. I've added a new element, at the top left column you should see my ticking time bomb, the countdown. I plan to update it weekly, and I'll be using it as a way of measuring my progress, as well as provide you, dear reader, with a chance to push me and encourage me, and perhaps build some interest in Imperfect Hope. If you think of something you'd like to see or hear about, let me know, one idea I've got is adding the "question of the week". This will require active participation from you. (both of you?). To be honest, I'm hoping you'll ask me questions about either the writing process, plot elements, stuff you'd like to read/hear more about from blurbs, or what my favorite color is. I'm betting that active participation will motivate me to look deeper into what's going on...

So today, I"m going to imagine one of you has asked a question... Any volunteers? anyone? Yes, you in the back with your hand up? can you go to the bathroom? Ummm. Certainly Ray, but I'd hope not here... Any relevent questions? Yes? you in the back with the blond hair and dulcet voice? How did I come up with the title "Imperfect Hope"? Good question.....

The writing fragment I'd posted a couple of days ago came from an idea I'd been nurturing for quite some time. I'd imagined a hero, deeply involved in the battles of light versus dark, normally filled with self confidance and hope (and perhaps a little bit of reality blindness) who one day finds herself being stripped of her support little by little. Eventually, she finds herself alone, seemingly abandoned. Her hope disappears, her spirit is infected with darkness and shadow. When help does arrive, it seems too late, but her companion, himself only recently recovered from his own battles with inner demons, never gives up, and shows her where to find her own forgotten hope. She tries to adopt his attitude, but her own imperfect hope (there it is, the title! Eureka!) keeps standing in the way of her ultimate salvation. Finding the path through the shadows to find that salvation is the gist of the tale.

From that idea, I had to develop a plot that first put her in her dire straits, explained how her companions disappeared one by one, and how eventually hope returns. Those of you who remember the IFGS game, Sha'te Valley, may remember that I built it's plot around a similar theme, the players start out ultra confident, but set back after set back finds them, by the end of the first evening, having little to no hope of succeeding the next day. Here is where the real heroes emerged, for even though they saw nothing but darkness ahead, they forged on, finding a tiny bit of hope within themselves that, with a little nurturing, would eventually blaze into a beacon of success. (or so I imagined the players in the game feeling.) Now, what happens if that spark of hope isn't nurtured. How can the forces of light rekindle it in one of their favored champions.....

Thus, Imperfect Hope. Now to keep my own beacon of hope lit in the quest for completion.....