Chapter 6

I just finished the latest draft of Chapter 6.  There are several areas that are still lacking, but it's a big improvement over the original rough draft.

Each time I finish a chapter I get really excited to start working on the next chapter, but I also get frustrated because I know the chapter I just stopped working on isn't the best that it could be.  It's an uncomfortable thought to know that something unfinished is out there and available as a representation of what I'm working on.  But this is the course I've charted for myself so I'm sticking to it.  

I finished two books this week; so expect some snap reviews and quotations to go up over the next few days as I get time.

The Time of Feasting

The Time of Feasting by Mick Farren

    I didn't expect much from this book when I started reading it. It was recommended to me by this scruffy looking Nerf-herder I work with. 

    As I got further into it became obvious that Farren can actually write. I turned to the back of the book to look at his mini-bio and it turns out he spent some time teaching writing courses at UCLA. 

    Then, as I got further into the book I realized that Farren had some interesting ideas about how to break from the traditional Vampire lore and still being respectful of the genre. There aren't any sparkling day-glo angsty douches in this book. They are vampires. They don't tell you they are bad... They seduce you, violate you, and then throw you away.  It's gory.  It's sexy.  And it's fun.

    The contemporary setting ('80's New York) was cool. The book's acceptance and respect for superhuman paranormal was cool (the vampires are threatened with destruction by a Zombie army if they don't get out of town). 

    I would recommend this book to just about anyone, and I can't wait to read the sequel. It's not the best book... Probably not as good as Fevre Dream by Martin... But it's worthy way to spend a weekend.    

    Nature is nature... Evil comes by choice and by the exercise of will.

    Pg. 146

New Draft of Chapter 5

This is the roughest draft I've posted yet.  Still, it's fairly readable.  There are a few places where I had to skip ahead a bit, because of continuity issues that I haven't worked out yet.

But, that's enough of Chapter 5 for now.  It's time to start working on the next draft of Chapter 6.  This is when the story starts to get kind of weird...


This is a great video of some girl singing the Cake song featured in Chapter 5.  I wanna be her friend.

The Windup Girl

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

First, it's written in Present Tense. Bad, Paolo Bacigalupi, Bad! 

I can't decide if I liked this book or not. That's a bad thing... 

The ending wasn't very satisfying after a meandering plot where I often wasn't sure who the main protagonist was supposed to be, and there wasn't a strong antagonist for any of them to work off of in any sustained/suspenseful way. 

The world-building was excellent; although implausible. The details were vivid, and the excellent sensory descriptions were often what kept me turning the pages when I wasn't particularly interested in the characters or able to see what larger issues were at stake. 

Also, it's written in present tense. 

I will probably read this book again, but I won't recommend it to any of my friends except the most serious of SF readers.

One can think there are such things as loyalty and trust and kindness...In the end they are only smoke and cannot be grasped.

    Pg. 72

Akkarat may be rich, but he is a paper tiger.

    Pg. 83

Everything is change...Clinging to the past, worrying about the future...It's all suffering.

    Pg. 349

Writing is hard

Progress on my sweet novel is still chugging along.  Unfortunately, I won't have a chapter ready to post this week.

Chapters 5, 6, and 7 from the rough draft were cannibalized to make the current draft of Chapter 5.  That's right; I tore three rough chapters apart to create this one draft of this one chapter.  The result is that the story is much tighter, but it took a lot of time to rework everything and make the necessary notes about rewrites for previous and succeeding chapters.  

It's a lot of work but it's worth it.  I now have a good setup for Phoenix's "Fuck Yeah" moment which likely occur in Chapter 9 or 10.  

I'll post whatever I have on the 9th whether I'm happy with it not.

In the meantime here's a word from our sponsor.