EEMM22

I'm 22 years old.

EM2 is getting a slow start; it's up to 1350 words now. I'll write more when I can. It feels quite different from EM1; even the dialogue is snappier. I'm also happy to announce plans to tie in an old character, one who might be my most beloved of all time.

I got my hands on the classic Tezuka manga Phoenix. So far, just the first two volumes (Dawn and Future). I'm not really a manga guy at all, but thanks to the musical efforts of the group System 7, whose latest album was inspired by Phoenix, I discovered a compelling science fiction plot intertwined with an interesting twist on history. I've also ordered the CD version of that album (I bought the MP3 version a few weeks ago) along with a vinyl single containing remixes of one of the album's songs.

Speaking of music, I've been collecting Underworld's Riverrun 12-inch remix vinyls. They're all pretty good, but even better, in the middle of my collecting spree (ordering two at a time to be shipped from the UK), Underworld opened its digital store, which happens to have those very singles in CD quality. I am quite excited about this; I can only hope we'll get more stuff, soon!

I finally picked up a book that has haunted me since I first understood that I liked sci-fi: Eon. It has stared at me from just about every book store and library shelf I can remember. I was actually looking for Poul Anderson's Harvest of Stars, just because, but it wasn't in the store. Eon is interesting, but also provides a reminder of why I prefer "softer" sci-fi: the characters are single-mindedly obsessed with their damned science and math. Most of them are enjoyable in spite of this, but the main female character, Patricia, gets on my nerves. She's either 100% certain or 100% uncertain of herself. I'm probably only 1/5 of the way through it, so things may change. Even if they don't, I have the feeling I won't regret buying the book. On a side note, the book was written during the Cold War (albeit near the end), and the nuclear holocaust scenario that may or may not come true in the story makes me smile a little. I'm glad the Cold War looks rather silly to us now, because it sure didn't seem that way to Bear when he wrote Eon.

My man Emmett pointed out the Forever War books. I've been in a "war sci-fi" rut lately, having gone through Starship Troopers (both the book and the film) and having picked up another copy of John Steakley's Armor (an excellent book, by the way). Maybe I'm just trying to find inspiration for the militaristic aspects of EM2. Oops, did I let that slip out?

He has arrived.

Earth Mother I is more or less finished, ending with more than 20,000 words. I've been taking notes like a good little boy and hope to start EM II soon. In case you missed it, here's part I.

Him

It's done. I've finally gotten a surge of strength, and Earth Mother I is complete. 19,300 words is roughly novella-length! There's a lot to patch together before the public can take a peek, but it's the best thing I've ever written. I feel great!

Holding the Moth

Things are happening. I haven't yet finished part one of Earth Mother; I will, soon enough. Aside from that, I've had several material gains since the last update:

• The Rice Boy printed comic book (quite excellent!).
• The Oblivion With Bells gatefold vinyl, complete with larger, better art all over that place.
• Rusuden's Warm Human Antennae, which I have reviewed on the music page. There may be some other new things for you there.

White Pages

This week is the beginning of my final phase for Earth Mother .I.. With any luck, Part .I. will be finished soon. I've already begun writing notes for Part .II.; where my "outline" for its plot was perhaps twenty words in length at the time I threw down the entire Earth Mother idea, I have given a nice little synopsis of the events leading up to Part .II., and some of the events that will be included.

My handwriting how somehow gotten even smaller; I suspect that this is because I have misplaced my pen and now use a mechanical pencil to write in my notebook. I'm writing fifteen or sixteen characters per inch, which is probably smaller than an eight-point computer font (size twelve is something like ten characters per inch, while size ten is twelve per inch). The notebook itself has exceeded its sixtieth page; with the generally small handwriting of the past half-year, I am satisfied that Notebook Three packs more punch in every page.

A new sketch war awaits typing. I am unsure if I should post it, as it was the first after a long period of silence, and it makes little sense (in a bad way), but tomorrow will tell.

Speaking of the fine art of writing by hand, I was delighted to find something new in the local Barnes and Noble. For the past few months, this store has not stocked my preferred kind of Moleskine, the pocket-sized, unruled (plain) notebook. After a fairly thorough inspection of other book stores in my area, I have found that no one has it on display. Is the plain notebook that unpopular? Or are they burning all stock off before the coming of the new Softskines? Either way, I couldn't get a new notebook for the eventual succession of Number Three. So I looked around the store a little more, and to my surprise I found a series of small, softcover notebooks that is very much like a long-gone favorite of mine, the Moleskine Volant. The Volant softcover pocket notebook was my first kind of Moleskine, and really the first kind of notebook that I used for writing and ideas, rather than for the purpose of a journal or diary. It was an important milestone in my life. Well, the Volant has been off the market for two or three years now, and I wished I had snatched a few more up when they were still in stores. But the stuff I found from Nava is just as good: a set of twelve 80-page notebooks, one supposedly for each month in a year, in close approximation to the Volant style. That's 960 pages! I probably won't burn through 80 pages in a month, but the notebooks are simply numbered (one dot per month), not named (January, February, etc.). The paper is of high quality, and $25 (at least, that's what I paid at Barnes and Noble) for 960 pages is better than I expected for something of this type--the Volants vere about $6 for three books of 64 pages. Anyway, if you are interested, keep an eye out for Nava Design's "One Year of White Pages" notebook set.

The latest EM-dash

Earth Mother continues its domination of my soul. I'm more than 15,000 words in, and I still have quite a bit to write before Part I is over. Still, over the Christmas holiday, I wrote a good bit, and I'm very happy with the way things flow nowadays. risa comes tomorrow!

L = r x p

A spin-off, it is. Literally. From Equinox's home system were hurled a number of uninhabited planets that the original rulers of Equinox quickly forgot (well, they also died, of course). One of these planets has happened into a small, poor solar system that is home to a colony of miners.

I'm 8900 words in, and less than half-way through Part I. It's a funny thing: every story I write overshadows the last. I thought it was perhaps because it took me so long to write a story (usually one short per year), but even with my extremely quick turnaround from writing "Equinox," the familiar jump in skill and spirit is still present; it's not a time-based thing, after all. The only limit is how quickly I can write a story.

For now, I'm enjoying this one too much to rush it. I know this attention to quality and detail will pay off for the reader.

LET'S GO RED SOX, AGAIN

I'm 1800 words into my next story. I don't think I'll be done any time soon; I'm seriously taking my time, and nothing has actually happened yet. I'm simply developing the characters and revealing the workings of their society. This society and its members will undergo an important change soon, so it's necessary to give some small impression of where they came from. I believe I'll make this whole thing publicly available once it's done, rather than sending it off to a magazine. With any luck, it will exceed the usual submission word limit anyway, and I'll be forced to publish it myself! Writing this story is making me truly happy. It's already my best yet; once it's done, I'll either have a great thing on my hands, or I'll lay it down and start writing something even better.

If you want a piece of the action, e-mail me. I'll be glad to leak previews. I even developed a formatting program so I could share it with others (I've begun typing this one before completing it in writing; anything longer than a few thousand words needs to be typed in parallel if only to avoid tedium later).

Underworld has had to cancel the European leg of their world tour because one or several of its members are very ill. Let's hope they recover their vitality soon!

Dub, Edits, and Whiskey-Coke

Chab is a musician from Switzerland. His album, Dub, Edits and Whisky-Coke, is a recurring favorite of mine. Most of the tracks harbor some hidden bitterness or sadness that is so cold it's beautiful to hear. Next time you're feeling just a little bit alone, listen to "Sunrise." You'll shiver and look around yourself. If you want to know what I listened to as I was writing "Subject B," have a listen.

I've begun a new story that will be part of a trilogy. The focus this time is not only a superb plot, but more character development than my writing of the past two years has attempted. It's a spin-off of Equinox, but beyond happy coincidence on the part of the characters, nothing is shared between Equinox and this trilogy. I have a very positive feeling about this project; it's the beginning of a steep ascent.

Speaking of Equinox, those of you who haven't read it and would like to: let me know. I'm not going to put it on this site unless it is rejected from the magazine to which I'm sending it. I do not want to get into legal trouble for providing a free online version of something that another party would own. In any case, I can certainly send it to individuals, so e-mail me if you want it.

I received Oblivion With Bells a few days ago. It is an album of singular beauty. There are parts that grate on me a little, but the more I listen, the more I like everything. This record is a masterpiece. Every time I start listening to it, I say to myself, "this is the last time." But once it's over, I put it on again. Underworld is to music what I want to be to writing: an entity of pure artistic freedom. I'm glad that they now have complete control over their music (the Oblivion cover proudly displays that the music inside is (c) Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, trading as Underworld. Can you imagine what that's like?

I think it's also about time to do another batch of Sketch Wars. Perhaps if readers tune in tonight, they will see a new sketch.