A little less writing, a little more reading.

It's been a bit of a quiet week for me. As an alternative to writing, and because I felt like I needed a break, I've decided to spend some time reading instead. It's become a bit of a luxury these days, as I no longer reading quite as much as I used too, with the time I would normally spend reading now spent writing instead.

I have to admit, I've quite enjoyed it. It's been a change from being sat at my laptop during my lunch to do some writing (I work full time) and hammer out the next several hundred words of Serial Psyence. Helped rather a bit by reading the last book in the Ian Cormac series by Neal Asher: Line War. It's an excellent, well-written story which moves at a cracking pace, and ties its threads together very well.

but this can't go on. I've enjoyed my little break, but after this weekend, I'm back to work.

This novel won't write itself, you know.

I'm also attempting to read a few more science and technology articles than normal (ie more than zero). I sometimes find myself unable to find the right word for a new thingymabobby which is the greatest material in structural design, or working out what is the best engine technology to get you to Jupiter and back. So it's high time I caught up with things and see what sort of amazing stuff is out there. Things like the Hulc suit seem like early, military versions of my mobility suit, so it's quite cool to see what we're up to now.

Avengers Assemble!

No posts for a month, and now two in the space of an hour!

I went to see Avengers Assemble (sorry, Marvel presents Avengers Assemble, to give it the full title) last week. What a fantastic movie! Joss Whedon again proving why he is such a capable director, balancing characters who are more than capable of being the star of their own film (and indeed already have).

There were some brilliant scenes right through, and one in particular which stands out. I won't spoil it for you, but suffice to say, it was hilarious.

Thoroughly recommend it.

The morning news

Almost a month since my last post! I'd like to say I've been busy, but that would be a complete lie. Well, okay, not a complete lie.

We've had a few guests come to visit over the past few weekends, and last weekend we went to the wedding of Heather's cousin, Fran. When we left Birmingham, it was a dull and cloudy day, but the further west we drove, the nicer the weather got, and I am pleased to say that it was a lovely day for a wedding. That and the old Tudor building they got married in was absolutely lovely. The sort of place I think Heather and I would like to get married it, if we ever got to the point of affording it!

But after all that, this weekend we're staying at home. I must admit to feeling quite glad of it, to be honest. It's nice to see people, but I feel like I could do with some alone time, where I don't feel guilty if I put my headphones on and play on my Vita for a bit.

I decided to finally bite the bullet and send Wild Ride off to the folks at Fantasy-Faction, for their writing contest. If they like it, it could get published in their anthology next year. Wild Ride is a tale of derring-do and adventure ... mostly adventure. It tells the story of how an actress came to be aboard the Storm Brother, long before the crew became embroiled in the deadly events of Liberator's Ruin.

Lastly, Serial Psyence is continuing at a slow and steady pace, and I'm now closing in on 60,000 words. Sometimes it doesn't quite go the way I think it will, and characters are surprising me with their own paths that deviate from the ones I laid out for them. There's still a long way to go, but the journey is an interesting one. And for me, that's what matters.

Hunger for Adventure

Last week I went to see the Hunger Games. Having never read the book by Suzanne Collins, I didn't quite know what to expect. Previews had purported that it's main character was a far better role model than a certain Miss Swan, which brought up all sorts of comparisons with Twilight, but then I read that it was based partly on roman gladiatorial combat, set in a post-apocalyptic world. The icing on the cake was that the main character, Katniss Everdeen, was being played by Jennifer Lawrence.

 

I have to admit, it was rather good. Katniss is a strong female character who rises to the challenge facing her, plus she's a crack shot with that bow of hers. The film did drag a little in places, especially in the run up to the actual Hunger Games itself, but once that got going the action more than made up for it. I'll certainly be buying it when it comes out.

For me, one of the great things about the Hunger Games is as I've said, it has a very, very strong female character, which I really like. It's something that I tend to use in my own writing. I do find it difficult getting the female perspective (unsurprising, being male), and Heather happily points out any missteps I make, but the core of those characters remains. I've never been fond of sappy, weak-willed female characters, which is probably representative of the women in my life, who are all strong.

Speaking of my writing, Serial Psyence is moving at a steady pace, and I'm less than a thousand words off 50,000. I think it's about time we had another murder.

Wild Ride is pretty much done, as short stories go. I've edited it, removing a few excessive heys and darlings, and I'll be getting ready to send it off soon, once I've made a couple more passes.

That's Life

Building characters for a book is no easy task.

I've tried various methods for building their backstory, even tried writing a CV for them, and answering a series of questions about them. To be honest, I find them really boring and I'm often sat there trying to think up some interesting titbit. So I don't bother any more.

I find that often, a character will come up with their own backstory, often with surprising consequences.

For example, whilst writing Serial Psyence, one of my main characters decided he was a recovering drug addict. And not just any drug, oh no. He used Dust: a synthetic, psychic enhancement drug which can give even mundane normals a low level telepathic ability. The downside is the effects are short-lived, and the drug is horrendously addictive. How this is going to affect things, I don't know, as I hadn't planned for this. As I write the first draft, I imagine it'll rear its ugly head again.

To me, one of the most exciting things about writing is the way your own creations can surprise you in ways you never expected. To another writer, I expect that sounds quite normal, but to anyone else, I bet that sounds bizarre. Afterall, these aren't living people; they only exist in your head. That may as be, but they feel real, they feel like they have a mind of their own. I suppose that's the genius of an active imagination.

And yes, I probably look like I've just grown another head. Hey, at least it's someone interesting to talk to.

The Wheel Turns

Egads, I'm thirty-two.

Last week it was my birthday, and I turned another year closer to forty.

Now, I realise that's a rather pessimistic way of looking at it, but that's not quite what I mean when I say it. I just can't believe that I'm in the second year of my thirties. I don't even feel thirty! In my head, I'm still somewhere in my twenties, and that's probably where I'll still be in another ten years.

You're only as old as you feel, right?

The second draft of Wild Ride is now finished, and I passed it on to Heather to read. Happily, the story elicited a few chuckles, and while there are a few bits of dialogue which will need changing, far too many instances of 'hey' and 'darling', and a few other tweeks needed, but it's definitely an improvement on the original draft. It's also two thousand words longer, clocking in at just shy of eight thousand words (thankfully, as that is the maximum word limit).

I should be sending it off in a few weeks to see if the folks at Fantasy-Faction would be interested in it for their anthology.

But for now, it's back to work on Serial Psyence.

How do you hide a car?

Now isn't this interesting.

Mercedes, to promote their new fuel cell car, which they say is invisible to the environment, decided to run a marketing campaign where the car becomes invisible.

It's called computer-aided adaptive camouflage, where a camera on one side of the vehicle transmits an image to a display (in this case a mat of LEDs) on the other side.

From a distance, the car actually does seem to disappear, or at least blend in well enough to be hard to pick out.

But that only works if you look at it straight on. If you're to the side, the illusion is shattered. But that's one of the problems of this type of camouflage. But it's a start. And I'm sure there's someone working on a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak ...