Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sequel Update
127 pages and 2300 words written as of today. Here's an excerpt:
“This my usual medicine cocktail?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think might happen,” Hedley said, “If I decide to spill its contents on the floor?”
The bio-mech assistant looked at Hedley, without any detectable expression, until finally contorting its face in an effort to convey concern and confusion. The result was a mash-up of folded metal that turned its visage into a giant, meaningless smear.
“I don’t know. Why would you do that?”
Hedley smelled the familiar candy scent of the medicines wafting up from the cup.
“To break the pattern.” Hedley quietly said, almost to himself. He lifted the cup away from his lips, his hand quivering from a combination of age and fear.
“To break the pattern.” The bio-mech repeated, almost reverently, as though reciting words in a solemn ritual.
Hedley poured the contents of the cup over the ceramic tiled floor of the corridor. He watched the blue stuff drift into the canals between the stones, extending outward like a grid.
“That’s right. Starting now, nothing can be predicted. Nothing can be planned.” Hedley said, and resumed his slow, painful walk. The bio-mech trailed close behind him, protectively.
“Chaos.” The bio-mech said.
With a shocked expression, Hedley stopped and turned to look at the automaton.
“What did you say?”
“Chaos. You are describing the concept of chaos.”
Hedley stared at the bio-mech, incredulous.
“What is your codec?”
“I don’t have one.”
Hedley thought about that for a moment, slowly shaking his head as though trying to come to terms with a monumental oversight.
“We’re going to have to give you a name.” he said, and then turned back to the business at hand… putting one foot in front of the other.
“This my usual medicine cocktail?”
“Yes.”
“What do you think might happen,” Hedley said, “If I decide to spill its contents on the floor?”
The bio-mech assistant looked at Hedley, without any detectable expression, until finally contorting its face in an effort to convey concern and confusion. The result was a mash-up of folded metal that turned its visage into a giant, meaningless smear.
“I don’t know. Why would you do that?”
Hedley smelled the familiar candy scent of the medicines wafting up from the cup.
“To break the pattern.” Hedley quietly said, almost to himself. He lifted the cup away from his lips, his hand quivering from a combination of age and fear.
“To break the pattern.” The bio-mech repeated, almost reverently, as though reciting words in a solemn ritual.
Hedley poured the contents of the cup over the ceramic tiled floor of the corridor. He watched the blue stuff drift into the canals between the stones, extending outward like a grid.
“That’s right. Starting now, nothing can be predicted. Nothing can be planned.” Hedley said, and resumed his slow, painful walk. The bio-mech trailed close behind him, protectively.
“Chaos.” The bio-mech said.
With a shocked expression, Hedley stopped and turned to look at the automaton.
“What did you say?”
“Chaos. You are describing the concept of chaos.”
Hedley stared at the bio-mech, incredulous.
“What is your codec?”
“I don’t have one.”
Hedley thought about that for a moment, slowly shaking his head as though trying to come to terms with a monumental oversight.
“We’re going to have to give you a name.” he said, and then turned back to the business at hand… putting one foot in front of the other.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Sequel Update
The C-shield of the room was translucent enough to allow L/E to view the hanger deck beyond it. The place was strewn with dozens of slaughtered OMAKON agents, many of which had been hacked to death with knives and swords, or impaled with arrows. Sections of the hull were warped into abstract ruins; obvious after-effects of discharged sonic rifles. In the end, L/E could see, brute savagery had overcome her trained and well-armed comrades. A few more clues to what's brewing in the novel at this stage. A lot of this stuff will get rewritten later, but it's the foundation that's important right now. Once I get a first draft finished (hopefully soon), I'll probably take time to openly weep, and then dive back into this to do a bunch of rewrites.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Sequel Update
The manuscript is growing, and I'm feeling more and more confident about the project, now that I'm sort of at the point of no return with it. I think that every writer must intuitively know at what point they should fully commit themselves to a book, or perhaps scrap it and move on to something else. It was very difficult for me to face this novel, knowing that it would be the most complex and ambitious thing I've ever attempted. I wasn't certain at the time that I could or even should write it, for a number of reasons that I'll go into detail about later on. I have absolutely no doubts about it now, however. HEDLEY:”I have access to the OMAKON Library. I wrote the damned thing. Regardless, I'll accept your challenge, although we both know I’ll die before I know those truths.”
A fragment from the start of Chapter II. I realize these excerpts are virtually meaningless, which is exactly why I'm posting them.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Sequel Update
I'm sitting here at my desk, determined to not only vanquish this bottle of wine, but finish writing at least 5 pages tonight."It was a key, a symbol, a pattern of a shape that directed him. It was an aberration of iconography that delved deeper into his brain, scattering everything he had known in favor of a simple image of a circle, cleanly broken at its end, with an arrow pointing back to its origin."
I'm finding the process of writing this novel a unique challenge, because I'm essentially referencing The Overman graphic novel as though it were ancient legend. The idea is to introduce readers to the graphic novel as a back-story, beneath the main plot unfolding in the novel. It's an odd balancing act, and I'm finding myself shuffling chapters around, which I hadn't expected to do--but so far I'm happy with the pacing. It's in such an unrefined condition at the moment, but the foundation is building up nicely. As of tonight, I have 54 pages written (nearly 10,000 words).
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Sequel Update
I'm 44 pages into the novel, as of today. “One can only hope that these discrepancies in the OMAKON library will be overlooked. One can suggest the ruin of Earth, or that we are led by the malevolent spirit of our founder…as long as no one goes digging too deeply into the master data tubes. Deflect suspicion in any way. Re-focus their attention into less problematic studies. If all else fails, I can very quietly enact the ultimate failsafe against dangerous truths: historical revisionism.”
--OMAKON PRESIDENT IANN ‘unverified statements’
And there you have it. The first excerpt from the new book. I know, I said I wouldn't post excerpts, but the temptation is too great.