Global warming? My ass.

The sky here is a vibrant (one might even say cerulean) blue.

Highs today in the mid 80s, lows at night in the 50s make it seem as if we are in for a real Autumn here in Texas.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm still alive. Summer is always a bad time for blogging for me. Something about the structure of the kids' school year helps me write more consistently.

We recently returned from a two-week vacation in Colorado. High point (literally): I bagged a 14er -- Quandary Peak -- with my two sons. That makes two Colorado 14ers in my life now (I climbed Red Cloud Mountain when I was 15).

More later.

Posted by: JohnL at 08:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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From my English journal, circa October 1982:

Writer's Block

This is not the first time this year. Oh yes, I've had plenty of writer's block.

I have ideas, but I just can't put them down on paper.

So what do I do? I sit ... and think ... I look around ... look at recent happenings ... it usually does no good.

Other times I'll write anything in my mind down onto a piece of scratch paper and see what I can do with them.

So what happens when none of these work? I lay [sic] down and read, stand on my head, go jogging, or even ... watch TV.

All of these have been proven to work as some earlier journal topics of mine were inspired by one of these methods.

Now, the ultimate disaster ... none of these methods work [sic]. What do I do? I write about it. Gosh, I didn't know I could write so much about such an off-the-wall topic, but there it is, no more writer's block.

I was already quite the blogger a quarter of a century ago.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I wish I could say the absence of posting around here was a result of drafting the next great American novel, but instead I have to confess a lack of desire to write much of anything. Intense legal work has a way of wringing out my desire to read or write much.

I've got the coming week off, and plan to do a great deal of physically intense yard and house work. Maybe that will inspire some more recreational reading and writing energy.

But then again, maybe not. Check back and see.

Posted by: JohnL at 09:55 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Well, I've foolishly decided to tilt at the literary windmill again this year. I hardly lasted 3 days last year. And so far I only have a few hundred words this year.

No problem. This time around, I have taken the wise step of associating with some other like-minded writers to create an anthology of "Giant Evil Space Robot" fiction. By aggregating our work, we can reach the 50,000-word goal, without (we hope) creating too much unreadable dreck.

I'm spending a bit more time on plotting this time around, with the hope of producing something better. Check back every few days. Blogging will be light, but a bit more steady than it has been. Especially if I get in procrastination mode and avoid writing fiction by noodling around here.

Posted by: JohnL at 01:08 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Is it spring fever?

Whatever.

I'm gonna go watch some TV.

Posted by: JohnL at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I am now up to 1789 words. Which means I am basically two days behind the pace.

I think I have completed my first chapter. I went through and added some text to what I had already written, so I am just posting the whole thing in the extended entry.

Glad to hear any feedback, positive or negative.
more...

Posted by: JohnL at 11:47 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Ouch. Only 354 words tonight. I'll need to do some major typing in the next couple of days to get back on pace. Chapter One (started yesterday) continues below the fold:
more...

Posted by: JohnL at 10:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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NaNoWriMo, or the National Novel Writing Month, has started.

For some insane reason, I thought I would give it a go this year. Fifty thousand words in thirty days? Ha! Piece of pie. Easy as cake. (ed. - avoid cliches, especially getting them wrong).

Actually, I have had a juvenile science fiction novel bouncing around inside my brain for a few months. It will definitely show influences of Heinlein and Kim Stanley Robinson, though I hope it has some of my voice, too. I've sketched out a few (three) main character treatments, and written a very rough plot outline, so I'm hoping the thing will write itself. (Ha!)

I posted a dialogue exercise from the pre-novel here a while ago. I probably won't be able to use that, as the "rules" require new prose. I may have to bend the rules a bit, though, since that conversation never went anywhere and I never wrote more than a couple of hundred words.

Even though the goal is a 50,000 word novel(la) by the end of the month, I may write more or less. I'm just trying to write every day, though.

If you want, you can check out the first 982 words of the next great American juvenile science fiction novel below the fold. I will accept constructive criticism, and look forward to suggestions about naming the thing (Jake's first name is based on my dog's name, and the last name pays tribute to the Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Caruso, and the author of one of the best Martian SF trilogies ever written, Kim Stanley Robinson).
more...

Posted by: JohnL at 09:53 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 I'm no expert on writing fiction, so I'll just say it's good enough to get me interested and looking forward to its continuation.

Posted by: Boyd at November 02, 2005 08:48 AM (7lQ54)

2 Dig it! I'm glad you're doing this -- I am too and are we insane?!?! lol. You're off to a great start (I saw the second part to this -- I'm hopping over to read that next!), and keep it up!

Posted by: dawn at November 03, 2005 03:55 PM (jFpDX)

3 Sounds like a good beginning. Esp. like the "mears" for Mars-years. Good touch. One thing Heinlein did so well was to be able to drop a detail into a story (best examlpe: "The door dilated") w/o explanation & let context establish it. (Few cowboys ever paused to explain their Colt .45's, after all...) Might be a good idea to have some sort of sealant sprayed on those lava-tube walls... cut air loss via fractures as well as avoid silicosis, etc. Don't forget to take care of the atmospheric water vapor (w. dehumidifiers) - don't want to waste water, after all... Do they really need an elevator in 0.3G? unless heavy equipment is coming up & down, I'd think a ladder more than adequate. Best of luck w. the story!

Posted by: JohnW at November 04, 2005 06:28 PM (TcqDH)

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Here's a few more words on my way to a million. I got bit by the bug hard last night, and I'm writing a story. I've got more than 1500 words so far, and most of the major plot mapped out.

This is intended to be a juvenile SF book, along the lines of Between Planets or Space Cadet by Heinlein. It takes place on Mars.

So far there are only two characters that I have a solid grip on: a father and a son.

I've put a snippet of dialogue in the extended entry. This is pretty rough (not heavily edited by any means), but I'm curious: does this sound like a natural conversation between a dad and a 12-year-old?

Does it make you want to learn more about these characters?

Let me know what you think.
more...

Posted by: JohnL at 10:52 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I have previously mentioned the adage that a writer needs to write a million words of crap before getting published. I know I have written close to a million words of non-fiction crap on the Internet over the last nine years (some here, some on Usenet and old Listservs), but I would like to experiment now with some fiction.

I'll count this short story I wrote as a first installment toward those million words. Here's the setup: what happens when a citizenry, with the best of intentions, has empowered its government to wage wars on drugs, terror, and lesser evils such as tobacco use? What do you think would happen if that same government were paying for everyone's health care? Don't you think it might take an interest in the lifestyle choices of its citizens?

Thus, the following thought experiment on that theme (very rough, but then it is part -- 671 words, to be exact-- of the million I'm supposed to crank out):
more...

Posted by: JohnL at 11:29 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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