"Just a little writing..."

I guess I've finally arrived as a writer. The other day at work I was doing some copy editing while on my break, and I had someone come up and inquire what I was doing. I explained, and one thing led to another. That's when he popped his "brilliant" idea:

"I have this terrific idea for a book that will sell a million copies. I just need somebody to write it down for me. I'll split the money with you."

I've talked to people at various writer's conferences, and I've chatted with people online. This is far more common than non-writers realize. In a way it's flattering, but in a way....

They say 4 out of 5 people have a story in them. Only a few of us, though, have the time and patience to learn the teachable elements of the craft (Elizabeth George maintains that while talent is God-given, craft can be taught). Earlier I alluded to where ideas came from. Without getting too snarky, ideas are everywhere. Let's look at a few:

• somebody Turtlewaxed a floor before killing a man on that floor - this made the blood easier to clean up (luminol still found traces though);
• maids don't always vacuum under a bed. In a seaside town in Washington a dead body was stashed under the bed in a motel;
• a body was found lying on a heating duct - evidence on the scene suggested the person had been killed somewhere else and deliberately left there (the heating duct will complicate time of death calculations, which are based on temperature);
• a large manufacturing firm, in an effort to save money, decided to print their checks on 20# stock white paper they picked up at an office supply store (the potentials for fraud are incredible);
• a couple bought a piece of property with an mine shaft on it - they discovered that there were over 22 bodies at the bottom of the mine shaft; evidence in the skulls suggested all had been shot and their bodies dumped there;
• a body dumped into cold water was preserved so well the forensic pathologist could still determine critical pieces of information about the deceased that led to an arrest.

And that's just from a casual glance through the newspaper. Admittedly they are only applicable in the murder writing genre, but an idea is an idea.

So, thank you, I'm sure you have a great idea, and I hope it works out. I have enough of my own to keep working for a while.

Random Topic Wandering

It's been more than two weeks. I've been busy, and I've been doing some reading. So, in no particular order, some items from the "busy" pile.

What have I been reading? Well, The Godfather Returns is out in paperback, and thus in my price range. It assumes that you've seen both movies and read Mario Puzo's The Godfather. The writing isn't the same quality as Puzo's, but different authors have different ways of doing things. It really tries to bring the story into the 1960s, and, for the most part, succeeds. I hope it doesn't try to incorporate anything from the movie The Godfather, Part 3. Hmm, what else? I think the book needs a little more focusing, especially for those who didn't see the movies.

Last weekend I put on a game of King's War. I also bought a pack of Venexia Miniatures (www.venexieaminiatures.com), the first figures I've bought in quite a while. King's War is fun to play, and hopefully close to the period in terms of effect. It actually is a variable-length-bound game; you literally don't know when the turn will end (or the game). The result is chaos, and as the commander you run around trying to manage it.

I've been toying with the same concept for an ACW adaptation. I think one of the differences is that a player can advance while still disorganized (up to a point), and you can accept more disorder to avoid retreating. In some ways the ACW is easier to do as both sides were organized and led in much the same way. In some ways the ACW is harder to do as everyone has an opinion on how things went, and why. Shelby Foote and Bruce Catton give the feel of an ACW battle, and I think that's more important to put into a game than a precisely calculated interaction of the weapons. I should be trying out the rules soon.

I modified Volley & Bayonet (2nd Ed. - Age of Frederick playtest version) slightly to do Marlburians. See elsewhere for the details. Suffice to say the early linear period has a fascination all its own. You can do a battle with 20,000 combatants in a couple of hours, get a result that looks like something you read in the history books, and it can even be fun. I've mounted a bunch of my Napoleonics for V&B, and when I get my gaming table moved and set up on the other side of the house I'll rebase the rest of them. I loved playing 1:60 Napoleonics when Empire 1 and Empire 2 were available, but I really like what Frank Chadwick has done with V&B.

An aside - when you want to bring Napoleonic gamers together for a big game (such as the Borodino Project), isn't it interesting that they end up using a modified version of Empire 2? It says something, doesn't it? Incidentally, I thought the two best modifications of the Empire system were Garde du Corps, and Houserules Napoleonic II. Of the two, HR2 was perhaps the best. It's only glitch was the command sequence of passing on orders, but a little rewriting took care of that. GdC's flaw was the formation modifiers for melee, and how you could "win" the melee, but get a "draw" result.

What about stories? Well, I continue to plug away on Firestar. I went down a wrong road for about 1.5 chapters, and I've learned that when I bog down, and just can't write, it isn't writer's block (because I can write other things), but instead it's my subconscious telling me I'm going in the wrong direction. The trick, then, is to back up and try again, looking for that other direction.

But about Firestar, I've workshopped the first two chapters, and smoothed things out. When I finish chapters 14 and 15 it'll be time to resubmit to the agent. By then I'll have the whole thing worked out enough that if he asks to see it all I can do that with few problems.

Oh, and real life intruded. A word to the wise. If you want to get out from under on your timeshare, good luck.

Rejection...again (11/6/06)

Another rejection letter, this time from Tor Books. I wrote elsewhere that there is a gradation of rejection letters. This was the straightforward one that tells you nothing: "this does not fit our current list". What can I draw from that?

Actually there were two rejections. "Dover Street Bridge" came back on the same day, making it a 2 for 1. "The plot is too weak". A little more informative on what was essentially a mood piece. At least the referred me to their website: http://www.weirdtalesmagazine.com

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That's enough stewing. What's next? This has concluded the agents I had personal contact with (other than Steve and Firestar. Time to hit Ralan and see what I can scare up.

Monthly Status Report

Jeeze, I last did status reports when I had the 8-7:30 pm shift for a large company. I know it was supposed to be 8-4:30, but we had this project, see, and the rules went out the window (including kindness, civility, and respect for ones peers). Plus the Project Manager was more than a little out of his depth (can we say Challenger Deep is less shallow than other spots in the ocean?). But anyway, that memory aside, here is where we are.

Novels
Firestar - I am working my way through chapter 14 of a rewrite of Firestar. Corey is considering resigning from the Navy. Her Family is encouraging this, but not with the overt hostility she had before. I just cut 8 pages of pursuit out of the story. Instead I'm going to layer in some background. Part of the reason for the rewrite is I'm trying to take Corey in another direction. This is the third rewrite (top to bottom) of the story. When I finish it goes off to Steve Mancino. I will be taking chapter 2 with me on Monday night to Woodinville.

Setosha, Lexeon, Boabdil - pulled out from the Families Arc, but I haven't done much beyond that. I did trim Lexeon down quite a bit to focus the attention. This is where I got Boabdil.

Different World - I read the beginning 14 pages at Phinney Ridge Scribblers last week. I expect some interesting feedback, I already have what they said that night and have incorporated it. I'm still stuck on chapter 5, but mainly because I haven't tried to write more. I took out a whole chapter earlier about visiting a Bavarian timeline.

Three Valleys - Sammi - I am up through chapter 22. Sammi is settling on her boyfriend. The next chapter is the "Formal" (in our world, the prom). This will cement her decision.

Devlin's Story - Chapter 54 is awaiting editorial response. Chapter 55 is mostly in the can. Chapter 56 will be Thanksgiving at Evan's folk's in the Keys. 57 will be a fast-forward, to get to 58, when Evan first pitches in the Majors. Then will come the wrapping up. Projected, 60 chapters. This is really easy to write.

Crosstime Cop - still no word from Tor Books. Time for an inquiry. I've completed a top to bottom rewrite, and am now dropping in bits and pieces based on feedback. Rewrote Chapter 16 to show more development in Marge (mentioned it to Darlene, Laura and Sarah - they were very positive). Am considering other Marge stories. I can't show previous stories, because we know the characters survived.

Counterfeit Line - I've done nothing with the story. Steve Mancino's comment is still valid: I need more "sense of wonder/shock" when Gina realizes where she is. After that, time to ship it out again.

Kassandra's Song - time to ship it out again.

Short Stories
Still no word on Dover Street Bridge. Time for an inquiry. I touched up The Dragon Commission, and now have to find a home for it. And I did a quickie (I meant that word) in the same mode as Sammi and Devlin: Improving Office Morale. Currently pulling down a 9.41 with 38 votes on SOL. The initial impressions are the important ones. Got one comment - he liked the tone. I have a follow-on in mind already.

Ideas
I got an idea from Dealing with the Devil, a story set in Nick Scipio's Summer Camp universe (though not by Nick). Hayley Devlin gets murdered, or somebody like her, and the detective has to figure it out. The gimmick is that it happens on an alternate reality where magic works, and gives me a fantasy/cop story.

Overall
Time to get off my duff and sent some things out. Time will be a crunch. Priority must go to Firestar for development work.