Friday, February 27, 2009

Chapter 07 Is Up

Chapter 07 of Magician's Integration is up. It took me longer than expected to get it finished tonight.

I've felt off all week, both physically and creatively, but I'm hoping to get at least one more chapter done before Monday. No promises.

I did manage to get some more of Magician's Merger re-edited, chapters 24-28. I've now given those and chapters 1-6 various amounts of rewriting and polishing. I want to get the whole thing done so that I can start making it available in assorted types of ebook. I'm strongly considering posting it on Smashwords.

If I do post it, it won't be offered for free over there, but I don't intend to charge a whole lot, either.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Progress Note

Chapter seven finally is coming along well. I'm going to try to get it up before I call it a night. Mistake catching is appreciated.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Bec by BarBar

I don't think I've recommended this yet: Bec by BarBar is webfiction of the highest quality. BarBar is one of the Web authors who is writing at a nearly professional level of competence. Actually, I've read conventionally published fiction that was much worse.

The novel is about an unusual adolescent girl, a protagonist that I doubt would put off anyone who has been reading my serials. The story is non-fantasy, but the title character is interestingly weird. So is her mother. Highly recommended.

The site linked is Storiesonline, and they publish some stuff that is frankly pornographic, so you might want to take that into consideration if you read at work. Storiesonline demands registration from their readers, but they've never spammed me. I suspect they do it as a form of self-defense, because of some of the material they have.

Bec itself, in my estimation, is probably suited for a teen audience and older. The sexual content is very mild.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Pssst, Brits

Would you normally say "trouser pocket" or "trousers pocket"?

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Friday, February 20, 2009

Visualization, But Broader

Does anyone know a word that is similar to visualization but inclusive of all senses simultaneously?

Chapter 06 is coming along well.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Chapter 05 Is Up

Chapter 05 of Magician's Integration is up.

I write this stuff, and I think to myself, This is getting boring. Someone should smack someone with a sword or throw a fireball or something.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Progress Report

My dad is out of the hospital. He still has some outpatient tests he needs to have done. He at least looks better than he has for a while.

I have about 1600 words of Chapter 05 of Magician's Integration written. I don't have any feel for its ETA. Methinks it needs some more action.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Chapter 04 of Magician's Integration Is Up

Chapter Four of Magician's Integration is posted.

Happy birthday, Arthur.

My dad had to go to the hospital Friday night with a low hemoglobin level. He was admitted, and of this writing, I don't know when he'll be released. We're all hoping that it was just an accidental overdose of warfarin. He's in the ICU, but he's lucid, and no one seems particularly worried. One suspects that tests are scheduled for tomorrow, but Dad wasn't sure. I imagine I'll know more tonight.

As one might expect, writing a Web serial wasn't a priority. Nevertheless, I managed to finish Chapter Four this afternoon, when my nerves settled down. Don't be overly eager for Chapter Five. :-)

Saturday, February 14, 2009

It's for the Children

Children’s books burn, courtesy of the federal government.

I've heard that this might happen, and now it has started. If you care about books, reading, knowledge, and good stuff like that, you might consider spreading the word.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Blah

Insomnia last night has rendered tonight useless for writing. For what it's worth, yesterday I managed to write about 1100 words of chapter four of Magician's Integration.

Chapter Six of Magician's Merger has received a quick edit. It looks like Chapter Seven is going to take more extensive work.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Chapter 3 of Magician's Integration is up.

Chapter 3 of Magician's Integration is up. As always, mistake catching is appreciated.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Writing-Editing News

I've given chapters four and five of Magician's Merger an editing. They weren't bad enough to need a rewrite. (Yay!) I have a bit more than 1000 words written on chapter three of Magician's Integration.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Magician's Merger, Chapter 3, Rewrite

I've posted the rewrite of Chapter Three of Magician's Merger. I don't think the third chapter was as horrid as the first two, but it was still awful.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Magician's Merger, Chapter 2, Rewrite.

I've posted a rewrite of Chapter Two of Magician's Merger. It's still a horrifying infodump, but I think I made it somewhat more entertaining.

The Horror, The Horror

Oh, man. I've been looking at the last several chapters of Magician's Merger to refresh my memory as I work on Magician's Integration. Those chapters strike me as not being too bad.

Then I decided to look at the first several chapters. They are utterly awful. The passage of time makes their total suckitude stand right out for me, now. I'm astonished that anyone has stuck it out to read that thing.

Anyway, I've given Chapter One of Magician's Merger yet another rewrite.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Chapter 1 of Magician's Integration Is Up

Chapter 1 of Magician's Integration is up. Please see the Author's Note and Warning before you decide if you want to read the new serial.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Thinking Evil Thoughts

I'm starting to believe that the only way I'm going to get more writing done is to just write and post as I did with Magician's Merger, which is itself an example why that method is not ideal. The plot is imbalanced, and it has several dangling threads and false starts.

On the other hand, trying to write in advance hasn't been getting me anywhere.

I'm kicking around the idea of just writing, calling it the alpha release, and warning people that they are reading at their own risk. It might not get finished. It might fall apart.

Perhaps I should take a page from Alexandra Erin's playbook and make it an open-ended Web serial with no ending promised. Lots of comic strips and television series do it.