Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Back to work
Ahhhhhhh I sooooo needed that break. Anyway, Back to work for me. I only did a little today, as I'm still considering this as part of my break. I predict I'll be done sometime on friday with the whole second draft. I've posted a revised chapter 40, because I let my frustration and inability to concentrate ruin a lot of my ideas for changes in that chapter, so I went back and fixed them today. It's nothing much, just fixing a few sentances so that they make better sense, and changing a few details about Cain's control over the Apostle. Pain chases him from her mind, it's the only thing that he fears, and she was in a lot of pain, so I had to change it to something more like emotional pain, and pain caused by, but not felt by him as opposed to complete agony like before. The idea that pain chases Cain away is very important, because it's how Gabriel wins, and how the Apostle triumphs over Cain.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
uhg
I've been working on Spires of Infinity at least 5 hours a day for an entire month, and I need a day or two off. I'm having trouble concentrating enough to do a good job, so I'm going to not work on it for a couple days. I'll still finish it this next week, but it'll be the end of the week rather than the middle.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Spires of Infinity Chapters 36-40 Draft 2
I've finished chapters 36-40 of the second draft of Spires of Infinity and they can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
I'm down to 140,000 words woohoo. So far I've cut 27,000 words in this draft. I doubt that I can cut 5000 more out in 7 chapters, but I'll try. I'll be done on tuesday or wednesday next week and holy crap I need a break from this. It just took me 8 hours to do one chapter because I couldn't keep focused on it ><
Anyway, in these chapters the climax begins, I've changed quite a bit of things to streamline it and keep up with the earlier changes I've made.
So, before I even started writing the first draft of this story I went and did a crapton of reasearch on what, exactly, a black hole would look like up close. I found a ton of theories, and crap like that, and then i read one of stephen hawking's books, and his description of what he believes black holes looks like fit my needs the best. A black hole will visibly distort the space around it, kind of like looking at things through the bottom of a bottle. the event horizon, the point at which light can no longer escape the gravity, will be perfectly sphereical, and rather than actually being black as was previously thought, it will shimmer and appear to reflect. This effect is due to the fact that a black hole is constantly spewing radiation. I used his description and added a bit of the supernatural to make it seem like a living, malevolent entity rather than the single most destructive force known to man.
I'm down to 140,000 words woohoo. So far I've cut 27,000 words in this draft. I doubt that I can cut 5000 more out in 7 chapters, but I'll try. I'll be done on tuesday or wednesday next week and holy crap I need a break from this. It just took me 8 hours to do one chapter because I couldn't keep focused on it ><
Anyway, in these chapters the climax begins, I've changed quite a bit of things to streamline it and keep up with the earlier changes I've made.
So, before I even started writing the first draft of this story I went and did a crapton of reasearch on what, exactly, a black hole would look like up close. I found a ton of theories, and crap like that, and then i read one of stephen hawking's books, and his description of what he believes black holes looks like fit my needs the best. A black hole will visibly distort the space around it, kind of like looking at things through the bottom of a bottle. the event horizon, the point at which light can no longer escape the gravity, will be perfectly sphereical, and rather than actually being black as was previously thought, it will shimmer and appear to reflect. This effect is due to the fact that a black hole is constantly spewing radiation. I used his description and added a bit of the supernatural to make it seem like a living, malevolent entity rather than the single most destructive force known to man.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
WOOHOO!!!
After 7 freaking years, George R. R. Martin has FINALLY finished the next book of his fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. A Dance with Dragons will FINALLY be coming out in july. I've been waiting for this book for so long it almost seems like I'm dreaming, haha.
And here's a fun fact for you. Sa'Dhi is an abriviation for the name of the comapny that invented them. Saffron Dharmi. These are the last names of the two people that question Gabriel and Sam when they are captured in the past at the Spires of Infinity, Henry Saffron and Aaron Dharmi. These two men stole the data they got from Gabriel and Sam and went into business for themselves, creating Sa'Dhi, and experimenting with NVM before the nuclear war struck and ended it for them. They were not able to get very far with NVM, and they had sent the data to the Empire's Excel Research Outpost as well, so they did not have much to do with backwards engineering that one, but they can claim credit for making a working copy of Gabriel's Sa'Dhi, and they do, as evidenced by naming them after themselves. =)
And here's a fun fact for you. Sa'Dhi is an abriviation for the name of the comapny that invented them. Saffron Dharmi. These are the last names of the two people that question Gabriel and Sam when they are captured in the past at the Spires of Infinity, Henry Saffron and Aaron Dharmi. These two men stole the data they got from Gabriel and Sam and went into business for themselves, creating Sa'Dhi, and experimenting with NVM before the nuclear war struck and ended it for them. They were not able to get very far with NVM, and they had sent the data to the Empire's Excel Research Outpost as well, so they did not have much to do with backwards engineering that one, but they can claim credit for making a working copy of Gabriel's Sa'Dhi, and they do, as evidenced by naming them after themselves. =)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Oi!!!
I must grumble and complain!!! To the Bat Cave *points*
So, I'm reading The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, second in his trilogy after The Name of the Wind.
Ok, I had one gripe about the first book and that was that it went absolutely nowhere. It was highly entertaining, with a great world and characters, but nothing really happened. It introduced everything for a second volume that would get things going. I'm about 3/4 through with the second book and unfortunately it seems to have the exact same problem.
While the Wise Man's Fear is highly entertaining at parts, and very funny, NOTHING IS HAPPENING AT ALL!!! I have two gripes this time around. THe first is the mystery of the love interest. The author is dragging it out and dragging it out and draaaaaaaaaagging it out WAY longer than is necessary. I get it, she's terribly mysterious, GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!!! He drags out the fact that the main character knows nothing at all about her, and she's so hard to find, and she's working for someone shady, and he can never find her when he wants to, and they feel for each other, but they shouldn't, and they're too young to realize it, and blah blah blah, and it's becoming incredibly distracting and frankly painful to trudge through, I've even considered skipping any and all parts with her because they're annoying me too much. No one is THIS stupid when it comes to dating, seriously. there's no reason for all of this and I really want to give the writer a good kick for it. Yes, I get the whole building sexual tension thing, but there's a limit to how far you can and should take it. When the readers start rooting for her to die because they're sick of her, you've taken it MUCH too far.
My second gripe is this. At first this book seemed to really be going somewhere, making up for the last book's lack of any real climax, though entertaining, nothing really happened, and it really got to me in my second read through of it. Now that I'm looking out for it, the same thing is happening in this book. It's a great book, don't get me wrong, but nothing is happening. It is about nothing. The writer has made a great world, and excellent characters, and given them nothing to do. He hints at great events in the main character's life, but never takes any steps closer to them. I just finished a 200 page long side story that led absolutely nowhere except a realization that the character made halfway through that could have come at any other point in the story.
Anyway, I had to complain, because this series is so promising, but the writer seems to be ruining it with his inability to come up with an interesting storyline to go with his characters and world. Oh well, there's still 200 pages left, so I guess he's got time to pull things into a great conclusion in this book, but things are not looking good for it.
Sooooo, from this post you might think that I hate this book, but I don't. Those are just two complaints I have about it. In fact I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit, despite my grumbling about its faults. If there's only two things to complain about that are relatively minor things, then it's a pretty good book. It's written so well, and the characters really are very entertaining, and the author has a great sense of humor. He just drags some things out way too long for comfort.
So, I'm reading The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, second in his trilogy after The Name of the Wind.
Ok, I had one gripe about the first book and that was that it went absolutely nowhere. It was highly entertaining, with a great world and characters, but nothing really happened. It introduced everything for a second volume that would get things going. I'm about 3/4 through with the second book and unfortunately it seems to have the exact same problem.
While the Wise Man's Fear is highly entertaining at parts, and very funny, NOTHING IS HAPPENING AT ALL!!! I have two gripes this time around. THe first is the mystery of the love interest. The author is dragging it out and dragging it out and draaaaaaaaaagging it out WAY longer than is necessary. I get it, she's terribly mysterious, GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!!! He drags out the fact that the main character knows nothing at all about her, and she's so hard to find, and she's working for someone shady, and he can never find her when he wants to, and they feel for each other, but they shouldn't, and they're too young to realize it, and blah blah blah, and it's becoming incredibly distracting and frankly painful to trudge through, I've even considered skipping any and all parts with her because they're annoying me too much. No one is THIS stupid when it comes to dating, seriously. there's no reason for all of this and I really want to give the writer a good kick for it. Yes, I get the whole building sexual tension thing, but there's a limit to how far you can and should take it. When the readers start rooting for her to die because they're sick of her, you've taken it MUCH too far.
My second gripe is this. At first this book seemed to really be going somewhere, making up for the last book's lack of any real climax, though entertaining, nothing really happened, and it really got to me in my second read through of it. Now that I'm looking out for it, the same thing is happening in this book. It's a great book, don't get me wrong, but nothing is happening. It is about nothing. The writer has made a great world, and excellent characters, and given them nothing to do. He hints at great events in the main character's life, but never takes any steps closer to them. I just finished a 200 page long side story that led absolutely nowhere except a realization that the character made halfway through that could have come at any other point in the story.
Anyway, I had to complain, because this series is so promising, but the writer seems to be ruining it with his inability to come up with an interesting storyline to go with his characters and world. Oh well, there's still 200 pages left, so I guess he's got time to pull things into a great conclusion in this book, but things are not looking good for it.
Sooooo, from this post you might think that I hate this book, but I don't. Those are just two complaints I have about it. In fact I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit, despite my grumbling about its faults. If there's only two things to complain about that are relatively minor things, then it's a pretty good book. It's written so well, and the characters really are very entertaining, and the author has a great sense of humor. He just drags some things out way too long for comfort.
Spires of Infinity Chapters 31-35 draft 2
I've finished chapters 31-35 of the second draft of Spires of Infinity and you can download them at the bottom of this page. I have also posted a revised version of chapter 30, and deleted the old version. There was something I forgot to add that explains something later on.
These chapters mark the point where Gabriel overcomes his selfish nature and decides he wants to be the hero of the story, and also the beginning of the climactic end. I've added a little more depth to his internal struggle and decision, as well as a bit more to Kari's advice to him to better fit changes that I've made. I've also added a lot more character development for Kari as well. Her internal struggle was barely touched at all int he first draft, and I needed to remind people that she's still not sure what her motivation is before her climax in the story. I've also removed a lot of the ambiguity regarding her feelings for Gabriel. Her character is interesting because she's got two very hard problems to deal with, her identity crises, and the fact that she met the man of her dreams and he was already taken, these two things have recently forced quite a bit of uncertainty and insecurity into her for the Apostle to take advantage of. I downplayed it in the first draft because it doesn't play that big a part in this book, but it will in later ones, but I realized this time around that she really needs to be falling to pieces over her perfect life crumbling around her for the Apostle to be able to affect her with her powers, and this gives her that extra little kick over the edge that she needs.
This is also where things get a little screwey with time travel. I hope that it is clear in the story, but this is what happens. Gabriel goes back in time. He almost immediately reappears with his mission completed in the present, the Apostle attacks, makes it over the walls, and uses the Gate's previous coordinates to Gate Jump back in time, and Gabriel sends Sam after her, knowing that if he does not, he'll die, creating yet another paradox. In the past, when Gabriel arrives it seems as though no time at all has passed between his arrival and that of hte Apostle, because she used the same coordinates to arrive at relatively the same time and place that he did. Everything that happens to him in the past happened between the few minutes that he was gone in the present, despite the fact that it was hours for him.
Isn't time travel fun? I really enjoyed using it as a plot device in this story, because it takes some thinking to set it all up correctly, and it makes someone who is reading use their brain a little to follow what's going on.
Only 12 chapters left to go on this draft, and I'm currently down 23,000 words from the first draft.
These chapters mark the point where Gabriel overcomes his selfish nature and decides he wants to be the hero of the story, and also the beginning of the climactic end. I've added a little more depth to his internal struggle and decision, as well as a bit more to Kari's advice to him to better fit changes that I've made. I've also added a lot more character development for Kari as well. Her internal struggle was barely touched at all int he first draft, and I needed to remind people that she's still not sure what her motivation is before her climax in the story. I've also removed a lot of the ambiguity regarding her feelings for Gabriel. Her character is interesting because she's got two very hard problems to deal with, her identity crises, and the fact that she met the man of her dreams and he was already taken, these two things have recently forced quite a bit of uncertainty and insecurity into her for the Apostle to take advantage of. I downplayed it in the first draft because it doesn't play that big a part in this book, but it will in later ones, but I realized this time around that she really needs to be falling to pieces over her perfect life crumbling around her for the Apostle to be able to affect her with her powers, and this gives her that extra little kick over the edge that she needs.
This is also where things get a little screwey with time travel. I hope that it is clear in the story, but this is what happens. Gabriel goes back in time. He almost immediately reappears with his mission completed in the present, the Apostle attacks, makes it over the walls, and uses the Gate's previous coordinates to Gate Jump back in time, and Gabriel sends Sam after her, knowing that if he does not, he'll die, creating yet another paradox. In the past, when Gabriel arrives it seems as though no time at all has passed between his arrival and that of hte Apostle, because she used the same coordinates to arrive at relatively the same time and place that he did. Everything that happens to him in the past happened between the few minutes that he was gone in the present, despite the fact that it was hours for him.
Isn't time travel fun? I really enjoyed using it as a plot device in this story, because it takes some thinking to set it all up correctly, and it makes someone who is reading use their brain a little to follow what's going on.
Only 12 chapters left to go on this draft, and I'm currently down 23,000 words from the first draft.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Save Japan~!!!
As most of you may have heard, Japan has suffered tremendously in the aftermath of continuing natural disasters. From very early in my life I have been influenced by Japanese culture through anime and video games, and I have to say that I owe a great deal of my own personal creativity to them. To see such a wondrous and magical place, that has given me so many hours of entertainment and creative nurturing in such a sorry state is a very sad thing for me. So many people have lost their lives, or been hurt, many more are still missing. The damage alone will take years to recover from. Every day I hear more horror stories about the conditions over there, and each is worse than the last.
The Red Cross is currently working hard with relief efforts, trying to feed and shelter as many refugees as possible, but they can't do it alone. Shipping food and water over there costs a great deal of money, and they're asking for donations. If you would like to do your part to help them help the people of Japan you can donate money at www.redcross.org or to make a $10 donation that will appear on your phone bill text REDCROSS to 90999. Whether you can donate a little or a lot, every bit helps.
The Red Cross is currently working hard with relief efforts, trying to feed and shelter as many refugees as possible, but they can't do it alone. Shipping food and water over there costs a great deal of money, and they're asking for donations. If you would like to do your part to help them help the people of Japan you can donate money at www.redcross.org or to make a $10 donation that will appear on your phone bill text REDCROSS to 90999. Whether you can donate a little or a lot, every bit helps.
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