7.17.2009

Linked by Blood


Black and white

Photos floating, spiral of images. Never like it when this film noir starts in my head. The wrong music on the radio, the light in the sky fading through trees, the wind changing course, everything turning pale and chill.

We stand, quiet, in a half circle, dirt beneath our feet. Linked by blood, separated by death. He lies, quiet, in a box, lined in silk, eyes forever closed.

My heart beating. His heart still.

My heart breaking. His heart gone.

My life ending. His life a memory.

Clumps of dirt surround the deep chasm. Too much earth, hole too big. Box sinking down into the cotton quiet ground, earth swallowing human.

Dust to dust. We say it because we must—

Find a way to forget, the knife in our chest—

Ashes to ashes. The wind blows where it will—

And the journey of the spirit, we cannot follow. Never like the songs that played on the day my blood all went their separate ways. Never liked the car that brought me here or took me away.

Never cried, because he remained in my dark nights, in my heart. Even though the live blood all faded away. The blood that died never left.

How to Make Stuff Up


If you want to learn how (not) to write dialogue, how to make stuff up at the last minute, or even why Stephen Parolini's alter-ego is named Pedro, then you should check the recent post at Novel Doctor.

And then again, you could drop by any time. It's always fun.

Oh, I almost forgot. There's a contest too. At Novel Doctor. Go on, you know you want to...

7.01.2009

Something I Would Never Do


This five-year-old girl is laying on a glass balcony on the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower.

A) I would never let my child out there.

B) I would never let ME out there.

Fear of heights? Maybe. Kinda. Okay, yeah.

6.28.2009

Star Light


The words come and go. Start somewhere in the future, zip on their hellbent road to the past and somehow, somewhere between here and there, they get trapped in my fingers, tangled on the page.

They try to shoot across the barrier, diamond bright comets with trails of brilliance and pain.

And then they get stuck in my palm.

Before they know it, they are falling out of the mouths of my characters, weaving plot thread shuttles across a computer screen loom. Garments made from sun and moon.

Starlight, star bright, I wish I may, I wish I might create another tale tonight. One that keeps the children awake, that burns in the gut and twists like a snake.

6.25.2009

All Systems Go . . .


Getting ready to write.

New Sylar screensaver: check

Plotpoints and scene shortcut: check

Edgy steampunk beginning: check

Strong romance subplot: check

Bad boy shape-shifter: check

Now if I can only figure out how to turn on this steam-driven laptop...

Good bye


I'm really sorry he's gone. Such a talented guy.

6.04.2009

In the Name of Love


Would YOU eat a dead tarantula for love?

6.03.2009

Future Hybrid


Cruising down a canal in Venice, wind in your hair, sun on your back . . .

5.29.2009

Land of the Lost


As far as I'm concerned, there just isn't enough science fiction out there. So I can't wait to see Will Ferrell's new movie, Land of the Lost.

Big Bang Theory meets Jurassic Park with a dash of Lost in Space.

Gotta see it.

Now I gotta go finish that sci fi novel . . .

5.28.2009

Italics

Arrgghh.

I'm lost in a sea of italics.

Somebody. Help. Quick.

5.27.2009

Initials you wouldn’t want


M.E.H.

I.C.K.

U.G.H.

P.O.O.

D.U.H.

W.T.F

L.O.L.

P.I.G.

5.26.2009

I write, therefore I am


I write, therefore I am

Otherwise known as

I sit in front of my computer screen for hours and hours, therefore I am

Or

I continually rewrite and belabor this same stinking paragraph, unable to move onto the next chapter, therefore I am

And

I get a snack, drink some diet soda, stare out the window, contemplate the meaning of words and the vagaries of communication, therefore I am

AKA

I pretend this dratted book is finished, that I am finally a SUCCESS, that everyone loves me and buys all of my books, and that I have PLENTY of time to write said sequel to dratted book, therefore I am

But

I decide to write in my blog, which I have neglected for MONTHS because it is just a bit of fluff and nobody reads fluff nowadays (except ME when I’m supposed to be writing, then I LOVE blogs and FLUFF), therefore I am

And then

I sigh, take something for my headache, vaguely wish that I was a dog instead of a human, wish that all I had to say were things like WOOF and BARK and HOOOOWWWWLLL, because I’m sure I’d be done with this project by now if my vocabulary was so limited, therefore I am

Unless

I HAVE TO TAKE MY COMPUTER INTO THE SHOP BECAUSE I MESSED AROUND FOR SO BLASTED LONG THAT MY CAPS KEY GOT STUCK, THEREFORE I AM

2.08.2009

Is Genetic Engineering Ba-a-a-a-a-d?

Some animal rights activists think so. The FDA has just approved a drug that supposed to prevent fatal blood clots in people. Oddly enough, the medicine is derived from the milk of a genetically altered goat—a goat that has been “given a human gene.”

Ouch.

Watch out for the Chimera uprising. It’s bound to be around the corner.