Throwback Thursdays – Paging Doctor… Chapel?

Tags

fan fiction, star trek, writing, young adult

That’s right, I left Dr. McCoy back on Vulcan.  I didn’t necessarily want to do that, but those of you who can tell where this story is going and who know your Trek lore know why I had to do that.

Whatever the reason, Kirk goes down to sickbay to get advice from his friendly doctor, but it’s not Bones, it’s Christine Chapel.  This entire chapter is one lengthy chat between the two of them set against the old Star Trek “Kirk doesn’t like physicals” gag.

As I re-read this story (written twenty two years ago this spring), I am still amazed by how terrible some of it is and how decent other parts are (remembering it was written by a sixteen year old kid).  This scene seems like filler, and it might have been, or maybe I wanted somebody else to plant some ideas in Kirk’s head that he might act on.  His usual suspects not being available, I had to go for the unusual.

Without further ado, here is chapter four of this story:

Chapter Four

Kirk regarded the familiar sickbay with some anxiety.  Bones would usually find some way to avoid his physical, but Christine Chapel was a stickler for regulations.  He decided that he would come quietly, though, because he needed some advice.  Chris had not been his friend for as long as McCoy, but they had gone through many things together and the Captain’s best advice usually came from his ship’s surgeon.

“Well, Captain, are you ready for your physical?” Chapel asked, disturbing Kirk in the middle of his deep thoughts.

“I’m never ready for these things, but they’re just another part of my job,” Kirk answered with a grin.

“Honestly, Jim, what’s on your mind?  Under normal conditions we’d have to have security stun you and strap you to a table before we could give you a physical?”

“Apparently, Doctor, Leonard’s not the only psychiatrist around.  I’m concerned about our mission.  The Klingons don’t exactly like me and I’ve never known any machine to work well without its main parts.  Eli Whitney may have invented interchangeable parts, but for some things there are no substitutes.”

“If it’s the Klingons you’re worried about, drop the Romulans off a day early and deal with the Klingons one on one.  The Federation can always stage other peace negotiations with both parties and if you did meet with both the Klingons and the Romulans, the Romulans could turn the tide of battle either way.  The Romulans don’t particularly like this ship or her Captain either, you know.”

“But those incidents were more than ten years ago and several parsecs away.  They wouldn’t hold a grudge that long, would they?”

“That’s my advice and it’s yours to take or leave,” she said, rolling up Kirk’s sleeve and preparing to take a blood sample.  “But now it’s time for your physical and don’t you dare object.  If you do, I’ll hit you over the head with a baseball bat.  If you don’t, we can talk more over a glass of Saurian brandy later.”

“You have such an excellent bedside manner.”

“I learned from the best, Jim.”

Modern Mondays – Progress report

Tags

indie books, indie publishing, publishing, self publishing, vergrinn, writing, writing process

So, I have been plugging away at Book Three and it is rapidly drawing to a close.  I have often read the forewords by authors, even before I had any idea of writing any books of my own.  I seem to recall reading something Lloyd Alexander wrote once about being mired in the marshes of Morva during the writing process (maybe I am misremembering).  That is how Book Three has felt as I have written it.

Progress has been slower than I had hoped, but it is finally drawing to a conclusion.  The main action of the book is underway (almost complete) and a little wrap-up at the end (tying up some loose ends from this book and setting the stage for Book Four) is soon to follow.  I think Book Three has been difficult because the story involved picking up a large number of people and dropping them into action a long way from home.  It ultimately makes sense in the broader context of the overall story (and also in the immediate context), but that has taken a lot of thought and work to pull off.  New minor characters (good and bad) have been introduced.  They will be necessary to continue and ultimately conclude the story.  During Book Three’s writing, I had an epiphany regarding Book  Four and Book Five (not changing the plot, but adding a lot more plot elements and another lot line or two) and I have been working all of that in as best as I could.

Reader feedback has been very motivational during this process.  Someone I know keeps telling me that his teenage sons are bugging him to find out when Book Three will be finished, so I have worked to be able to tell him “I’ve finished a few more pages” or “I’ve finished another chapter” whenever I see him.  The pressure ratcheted up when he told me that his wife started reading my books and was already on Book Two and that there will likely be a fight in his household over who gets to read Book Three first.  (I told him they should just buy multiple copies to resolve that problem)

So, on to the numbers.  I have finished 21 chapters and 210 pages (based on the same page size as the previous two books).  I figure it will be about six or seven more chapters and a small epilogue before I am done.  My revised prediction is completion by the end of June with a little editing/proofing and then available for Kindle and in Paper shortly thereafter.  To put this in perspective, I have finished three chapters in the past week and a half or so.  If I can keep that pace up, the main body of writing will be done in early June.  I don’t know whether I can keep that pace up, which is why I am projecting the end of June. (I sent out a version to Beta readers in late April with 18 chapters, sent out another last weekend with 19 chapters, and sent one out today with 21 chapters, so you can see that the progress is non-linear)

Friday Surprise!

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amazon, ebook, free ebook, hobbit birthday present, kindle, self publishing, vergrinn

In honor of the bibliophile celebrating her birthday tomorrow, I decided to make the Kindle version of The Vergrinn War Book Two free this weekend.  This also goes along with the fact that her big gift this year is a Kindle as she is devouring books at a rapid pace.  We loaded up the Kindle last night with a few dozen books – mostly classics with a couple of newer items thrown in.  This means that today, tomorrow, and Sunday you can go out and grab a copy of The Wolf Spear’s Task for absolutely nothing but a little effort on your part.

Here’s the link in case you are not inclined to find it at the top or the side of this web page.

Consider this my hobbit-style birthday present (you know, the folks that gave things away for their birthdays).  Book Three is rolling along and I will have a status update on it shortly.

Have a great weekend.

Throwback Thursdays – That one paragraph

Tags

fan fiction, star trek, writing, young adult

I mentioned previously that this story came about because of an assignment by my Advanced Placement English teacher back in the spring of 1991.  I also mentioned that he was rather smarmy when handing out the assignment, and that the length of this was a response to his smarminess.  I believe I also mentioned that Mr. Bob Devoss, the English teacher in question, became the basis for Bob S. Soved.

He knew when he read the piece that this was him, and as the class read aloud the works for each other, everybody realized that this was him.  The best/worst part of that was that when we were reading this, he was eating a big piece of some sort of crumbcake.  Needless to say, before the paragraph was finished he had gotten up and left the room, leaving the entire class in stunned silence.

You’ll understand all of that as you read the descriptive paragraph in question.  Looking back at my original notes, it appears that I wrote the scene, then decided I needed to move that particular paragraph and put a note to insert it a little earlier in the scene than it was written.

I don’t recall that Commander Sterling was based on anybody, and as a result the character is somewhat bland.

On to the story. (and it is a big chunk today)

In the officers’ mess, the two new senior officers were discussing their first day over a shared dinner.  As the artificial day turned to artificial evening, commanders Soved and Sterling were discovering that they had much in common.

“Do you mind if I call you Sophia?  You can call me Bob.  I hate all the formality of Starfleet.”

“I’ll call you Bob, but I hate the name Sophia.  My full name is Sophia Phileo Sterling.  You can call me Cat; that’s the nickname I picked up when I was on the Academy track team.  My teammates said that my combination of grace and speed reminded them of a great cat like a tiger, but that ‘tiger’ sounded too masculine.”  It was true, and it wasn’t just her fellow cadets that realized it.  When anyone saw her move, they always said that the best description was the cliché “poetry in motion.”  Aside from her grace, she was a knockout.  Her light hair fell almost to her shoulders and her dazzling blue eyes enchanted every human male she encountered.  She was relatively shy for the most part, but her genuine, ever-present smile attracted potential friends by the dozens.  Like moths seeking a lamp in the darkness, people came to her with their problems in the hope that through her wisdom and understanding, she would find an answer.  She never failed.  Her intelligence was a given.  By virtue of her position alone, one could see that she must be truly brilliant.  This conclusion was confirmed by the fact that she had graduated at the top of her class at the Starfleet Academy of Engineering.  That class was comprised of the top one hundredth of one percent of engineers who applied.

Bob, on the other hand, was nothing like Sophia.  He was fifty-five years old and had been serving Starfleet in various capacities for thirty-five years.  At the end of this year, he planned to retire and accept a hefty pension, but he did not know what he would do to pass the time.  What little hair he did have around the sides and back of his head was as grey as his full beard and mustache.  Watching him eat was a disgusting process.  Food escaped from his mouth and became trapped in his beard and mustache with each bite he took.  Everyone who knew him thought that he must have been trying to show his “great knowledge” by letting it shine through his skull by a process of waxing and buffing his scalp daily in order to achieve its lustrous appearance.  Others who saw him said that he resembled busts of the ancient philosopher Aristotle.  The real reason everyone disliked him was his generally condescending attitude towards his inferiors, equals, and superiors.  Unlike most 23^rd century humans, he was prejudiced in that he believed women to be inferior.  As a result, he attempted to cover this up by outwardly agreeing with any statements made by a relatively intelligent woman, whether or not the statement itself was intelligent.

Now, Bob had a problem, and like several other crewmembers of the Enterprise, he asked Cat for help.  “Cat, why is it that no one appears to like me?” he asked.

Probably, she thought, because you’re an obnoxious, pompous, overbearing fool who is accustomed to having his own way.  “It’s most likely that Chekov was right,” is what she said.  “While most people on a starship find it necessary to formulate fact-based conclusions which would facilitate their jobs, you pride yourself on your ability to draw different conclusions based on your knowledge of human nature.”

“Thank you for your honesty,” was all Bob could say.  After this exchange, they finished their meal and returned to their respective quarters.

Modern Mondays – Music and the Mood of the Moment

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ebook, george lucas, music, self publishing, vergrinn, writing, writing process

I remember seeing an interview with George Lucas before he went nuts and Peter Jackson’ed all of his best films (I say that with the highest regard for Tolkien and the lowest regard for the anti-Tolkien usually called “Peter Jackson” – that’s a whole ‘nother SERIES of blog posts).  He mentioned that when he was writing various scenes in the original Star Wars, he was listening to certain pieces of music that set the tone for the scenes in question.

I don’t do that.

What I have done, however, is identify certain scenes (after they are envisioned or written) with a particular piece of music (pop music for the most part).  For example, the theme of the vergrinn in many of their scenes naturally pops into my head as Duran Duran singing “Hungry like the Wolf.”  The beginning of Book One, Chapter Seven brings to mind a song by Information Society: “I can’t slow down”

This also works in reverse.  Whenever I hear certain songs on the radio, they bring to mind certain scenes I have written.  Whenever I hear “You don’t know you’re beautiful” on the radio, it instantly reminds me of the introduction of the character Aesa in Book Two and the influence she has on the characters and story.  When I hear the song “I won’t give up on us” it reminds me of a scene that has not yet been written which will appear near the end of Book Three. (yes, the scene is that sad and hopeful).  In a movie, the scene would be two characters looking off into the distance from their respective locations, but in the book it will likely be two separate scenes.

A couple of the songs that are associated with scenes are hymns.  The scene where Amundr et al return to the bridge in Book One makes me think of “O They Tell Me of a Home” (or occasionally “Above the Bright Blue”).

When you are writing, does your writing make you think of songs?  Do certain songs inspire you as you write?

Throwback Thursdays – Kirk and a Klingon

Tags

fan fiction, star trek, writing, young adult

So, we are getting into the “meat” of the story.  We know that the Romulans are out to get Kirk, and we find that Kirk is paranoid about the Klingons.  I introduce a couple of semi-disposable security officers here named Dirk Zealot and Thor Levakees.  You don’t get their first names yet, but I shared them as spoilers.

Dirk and Thor were based on guys in my youth group growing up.  When we were talking about things going on in school, I mentioned my story.  Both of these guys wanted to be in there, and they both wanted to choose their own names.  Dirk Zealot was chosen by a guy named Mike (last name withheld to protect the not so innocent).  Thor Levakees was based on a guy named Brian (name similarly withheld).  The joke that one of them tells in this story was actually one of Mike’s favorite jokes back then.

It’s interesting to me to look back and see what I remember about the influences on this story from the perspective of twenty years later.

On to the story…

Chapter Three (begins)

When the buzzer at the door to the captain’s quarters sounded, Jim started, even though he had been expecting Korrd.  Here we go, thought Jim.

“Come.”

As Korrd walked in, Kirk saw a look of genuine bewilderment on his face.  “What exactly do you want from me, Kirk?”  Korrd inquired.

“I want answers!” Kirk exclaimed.

“What are the questions?”

“Stop playing games with me, General.  I know there’s no love lost between myself and your Empire.  Your government has something in store for me and I want to know what it is.”

“I know of no such plan.”

“Perhaps you’d like to cool off in our brig until you are willing to talk.”  Kirk switched on his comm unit and said, “Security, send two men to my quarters immediately.”

“You have no right to incarcerate me!  What are the charges?”

“Suspicion of espionage,” Kirk replied as two young lieutenants entered the room.  “Mr. Zealot, Mr. Levakees, please escort the ambassador to the brig.  He is to have no contact with anyone else without my permission and my attendance.  Understood?”

“Aye, sir,” replied Zealot, the younger but more intelligent of the two officers.

Happy Anniversary!

Tags

blogging, books, philosophy, publishing, self publishing, vergrinn, writing, writing process

Wow.  It’s been a year.  I know, this doesn’t fit with the Monday/Thursday posts I have been making in the hopes of building a regular readership.  Do I have any regular readers?  I’m just curious.  I have hundreds of “followers” and a few folks that occasionally comment, but I have no way to determine regular readership.  (but that’s another post entirely).

Any way, I was originally going to write this as a Modern Monday post (and I had even written the introductory paragraph above with that in mind), but I opted against that when I saw that if I made this a special post on the actual anniversary of my first post, it would also coincide with blog post number 100.  How cool (and fortuitous) is that?

Well, let’s look back over the past year and see what we have learned.

1) Blogging is no picnic.  There are no cans of potato chips (or crisps, if you prefer), no sandwiches, and no pre-packaged snack cakes for dessert.  There are, however, no ants either (unless you are blogging from my kitchen during the ant migratory season when I have not treated the house properly).  There are some things you can do to make life easier for yourself, such as pre-scheduling entries and borrowing material from various sources (including things you have previously written – see Throwback Thursdays for more on that).

2) Readers are unpredictable.  I have written some great posts that have gotten a paltry number of views, and the “About” page of my blog is actually the third leading page on the views list (maybe that should make me feel good – folks read what I write and want to learn what kind of nut I am – I’ll save you the trouble, I’m a Macadamia).

3) Everybody loves Michael Jordan.  Seriously.  My top viewed post of all time is Arrogance vs Self-Confidence, and 10% of the folks that got there  searched for Michael Jordan and arrogance or self-confidence.  Many others got there simply by searching Arrogance vs Self-Confidence.

4) The writing process is a journey, and like any journey to a strange and faraway place, it moves at various speeds.  I flew through my first book in four weeks of writing, took the subway from the airport as I ground out my second in five months, and have been languishing in traffic in a rental car for the past eight months as I work on the third.  The third book is getting there (I’ll give a progress report soon), but as I said before, many things are holding me back.

What will the next year bring?  I sincerely hope that I have finished Book Three of The Vergrinn War series and have made major progress on Book Four: The Rightful Heir (heir to what?  You’ll see.  As with all of these books, there is a dual meaning to the titles that only becomes apparent as you read through the book).  Hopefully I will have at least another hundred posts out there (at two per week I ought to, right?).  You never can tell what the future will bring, so I guess I’ll have to just wait and see.

Modern Mondays – Bibliophile under construction

Tags

books, kindle, life, perspective, reading, writing

I have written previously about how our daughter (who is not yet 7 years old) has become a bibliophile.  We make one or more trips to the library every week and she checks out dozens of books.  She has her own library card, and the books she checks out are not “first grade” books.  She checks out and reads chapter books that run hundreds of pages and has started reading historical and biographical works aimed at kids.  We are so thrilled by her progress that for her upcoming birthday, she will be getting a Kindle (if you know her, don’t spoil the surprise).  Our library lets folks check out books on the Kindle, so that will make life even easier.

Anyway, this post isn’t about her.

This post is about our son.  He just turned four and is turning the corner on reading.  Last night (and I am writing this a few days in advance), he read his first book on his own.  We sat together in a chair and he sounded out the words in a book that he had not seen in years (if ever).  He had shown a great interest in sounds and letters and words (we have worked with him on these) and he had even taken to sitting with one of his books and “reading” to himself.  Because of that, I got out a set of books that we used with our daughter when she was around his age and which he had not seen since he was a baby.  He sat in my lap and sounded out every word in the first book.  We got about halfway through the second book before he lost interest and got down.

I am grateful for the books he is now reading (the “Bob Books” if you are interested), and it reminds me of why I started writing.  I wanted to create something that my children and everybody else’s children can read in future years and get some benefit from them.  What books are you thankful for?  What books do you want to write or see written for yourself, your children, or anybody else?  Why haven’t you written them yet?

Throwback Thursdays – A big chunk

Tags

Captain Kirk, fan fiction, star trek, writing, young adult

So a whole lot of this book deals with Kirk’s internal struggles and fears.  What?  Kirk never displays those anywhere, does he?  You’d be surprised.  That chat with Dr. Marcus (the female one) in Star Trek II is all about him feeling helpless and afraid.  There are several points in the Star Trek timeline when Kirk deals with this, and my story dealt with that as well.

As I looked at the notebook, I thought I was about to post the longest scene I had done yet.  Then I noticed an editing note in the margin and realized that I put a scene break in there (which makes sense, since the part before the break happens in Kirk’s quarters and the part after takes place on the Bridge).  That would have been one messed up transition between points of view if I had left it as one scene, eh?

So instead, you get one brief scene that takes place entirely in Kirk’s quarters (and almost entirely in his head).  Kirk and his inner demons, laid bare for the reader.  Forgive my poor handling of this, I was just 16 going on 17 (and admit it to yourself, I did just make you break out in a song from the Sound of Music, didn’t I?)

…oh, because it is such a brief scene, I will give you a bonus scene (which will conclude Chapter Two).

On to the story:

Back in his quarters, Kirk’s dread once again seized him.  He thought back to the statement that someone had told him about several weeks ago.  The Klingon ambassador to the Federation Council had sworn that there would be no peace as long as Kirk lived.  What if this was a ruse?  What if the Klingons were luring him here to ambush him, knowing somehow that he was alone, that his three top advisors were temporarily gone??  He never should have trusted Korrd.  Klingons always had ulterior motives when doing something nice for the people of the Federation.  These thoughts and many others raced through his mind as he hit the switch to activate his comm unit.

“Commander Uhura, have General Korrd meet me in my quarters immediately, please,” Kirk requested.

“Certainly, sir.”

***

On the bridge, the officers wondered what this new development could mean to their present mission.

“Does it seem to you like the Captain is acting strangely?”  Sulu asked of no one in particular.

“He’s just uncomfortable because we’re going back to Nimbus III.  He especially doesn’t like it because he is unfamiliar with two of his most important officers.  Nothing personal, Bob,” stated Chekov.  “It is probably due to the fact that you base your conclusions on intuition while Mr. Spock based most of his decisions on hard facts.  Keptin Kirk likes hard facts because they are a perfect balance for his own intuition.”

“I think I can understand that,” said Soved, but he didn’t.  He had temporarily moved up from second-in-command of Sciences to first officer of the Enterprise.  He had an exemplary record and an A-6.8 computer rating.  Spock liked his intuitive abilities, so why couldn’t Kirk?  He had tried his hardest to impress Starfleet and would continue to do so.  He had to know what made Captain Kirk tick.

 

Modern Mondays – Inspiration from the Bible

Tags

bible, christianity, life and religion, philosophy, writing, writing process

So, I was thinking about one of my favorite Bible stories the other day (are you on the right blog?  Yes, I have mentioned before that I am a Christian who stays busy teaching Bible classes and occasionally preaching).  I know, some folks reading this may not have my appreciation for the Bible, but please bear with me here.

So, I was thinking about a story in the book of 1 Kings.  Let me recap it briefly.  Elijah, a great prophet, had just stood up for God and won a great victory which involved God showing His power very directly to the people.  After this great victory, the queen threatens Elijah, who is terrified and runs away.  He is upset and scared and says he wishes he was dead (1 Kings 19:4).  God takes several steps to strengthen and encourage him, and finally tells Elijah that He is going to appear to Him.  A great wind comes, but God is not in the wind.  An earthquake comes, but God is not in the earthquake.  A fire comes, but God is not there either.  Finally, Elijah hears a gentle whisper, and finds that the Lord has come to talk to him.

The point of this story that any of you who are secular writers might take is that often times, the really important things are in the gentle whisper, not the tornado, earthquake, or fire.  Often times as writers, we want to “go for the gusto” with the dramatic, the edgy, or the silly.  We forget that we need to connect with our readers through simple things.

What would Kal-El be on a world full of Kryptonians?  Average.  What is he when surrounded by everyday folks like you and me?  Superman.  If you have a terribly interesting character and/or an amazing plot twist to surprise everyone with, but you turn your readers off with your confusing grammar and writing style before they finish chapter one, where are you?  If you are writing non-fiction and have the most insightful views into human nature since The Prince but folks can’t stay awake through your thoughts, what good will it do?

In advertising, they used to say “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.”  I’m here to remind you that in writing (and in life), without the steak, there is no sizzle.  Don’t ignore the basic essentials when working your craft.  Listen to the whispers, and don’t let the wind, earthquake, and fire drown them out.