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My life is about to become interesting
Aug. 21st, 2006 02:58 pmI've got a new job, starting October, and the first thing I will have to do is to go overseas for a couple of months. Which I have exactly two problems with. Both are furry, psycho and do not take kindly to being deprived of their human. Apart from that, spending a few months in a place where I'd usually go on holiday is not a bad thing, if somewhat unexpected.
The story I've been writing since Mid-July is done! Now I need to do the first revision, check the time line and some canon details (which might be tricky because canon is inconsistent) and get it to the betas. It currently stands at 35K words, which makes it the second-longest story I've finished so far. Only I feel that it doesn't really have enough plot to support that many words. Maybe, if I cut out the boring parts, it will shrink down to a more reasonable size. And then I'll start the sequel I already have some ideas and a few scenes for.
I've been reading, too:
Storm Front, by Jim Butcher.
I like mysteries, urban fantasy and hard-boiled detectives, so that sounded like a book for me. It's also, I've been told, first in a series, so, if I enjoy it, there's more: always a good thing.
The hero, Harry Dresden, is the classic private investigator in the big city, Chandler-style. Only, he's a wizard. It takes a few chapters until it becomes obvious that we are not talking "psychic with a few tricks up his sleeve" here, but honest-to-dog staff-wielding, potion-brewing, demon-banishing, fireball-throwing bad ass WIZARD, who wouldn't look too out of place in Hogwarts, except for being American. The fact that he's set himself up with a PI's office and mode of work makes him an oddity in wizarding circles (the author never says what the other wizards live on -- maybe they are old money or routinely change lead into gold).
It starts, as usual, with a grisly murder, and a blonde in the PI's office, and goes on to mob thugs, demons, crime bosses, nosy reporters, a wizarding probation officer from hell (not literally) and a big bad dark wizard.
The structure is basic detective novel, easy to read, and the magic bits are solid and not shy of fireworks. It's fast-paced: the plot happens in a couple of days. The main character shows that "hard-boiled detective" and "mysterious, powerful wizard" are concepts that mix just fine. Despite demons, vampires and black magic the story stays solidly urban fantasy and does not drift into horror: the hero is never in doubt that the bad guys and monsters can be fought, he's only doubting that he can do it and win.
Very good reading, and would make a good plot for a role playing game, too.
Here is a review of the same book by T.M. Wagner.
Some links:
Ligers and Tigrons, again.
Science Friday Cat Blogging. (Skip the comments unless you are really bored.)
The Register on "Mass murder in the skies: was the plot feasible?"
Bush reads Camus. Funny.
New Orleans (nearly) a year after Katrina:
The Rude Pundit has a series on it. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
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docbrite lives in New Orleans and tells about her writing, the city, cats, and other things.
The story I've been writing since Mid-July is done! Now I need to do the first revision, check the time line and some canon details (which might be tricky because canon is inconsistent) and get it to the betas. It currently stands at 35K words, which makes it the second-longest story I've finished so far. Only I feel that it doesn't really have enough plot to support that many words. Maybe, if I cut out the boring parts, it will shrink down to a more reasonable size. And then I'll start the sequel I already have some ideas and a few scenes for.
I've been reading, too:
Storm Front, by Jim Butcher.
I like mysteries, urban fantasy and hard-boiled detectives, so that sounded like a book for me. It's also, I've been told, first in a series, so, if I enjoy it, there's more: always a good thing.
The hero, Harry Dresden, is the classic private investigator in the big city, Chandler-style. Only, he's a wizard. It takes a few chapters until it becomes obvious that we are not talking "psychic with a few tricks up his sleeve" here, but honest-to-dog staff-wielding, potion-brewing, demon-banishing, fireball-throwing bad ass WIZARD, who wouldn't look too out of place in Hogwarts, except for being American. The fact that he's set himself up with a PI's office and mode of work makes him an oddity in wizarding circles (the author never says what the other wizards live on -- maybe they are old money or routinely change lead into gold).
It starts, as usual, with a grisly murder, and a blonde in the PI's office, and goes on to mob thugs, demons, crime bosses, nosy reporters, a wizarding probation officer from hell (not literally) and a big bad dark wizard.
The structure is basic detective novel, easy to read, and the magic bits are solid and not shy of fireworks. It's fast-paced: the plot happens in a couple of days. The main character shows that "hard-boiled detective" and "mysterious, powerful wizard" are concepts that mix just fine. Despite demons, vampires and black magic the story stays solidly urban fantasy and does not drift into horror: the hero is never in doubt that the bad guys and monsters can be fought, he's only doubting that he can do it and win.
Very good reading, and would make a good plot for a role playing game, too.
Here is a review of the same book by T.M. Wagner.
Some links:
Ligers and Tigrons, again.
Science Friday Cat Blogging. (Skip the comments unless you are really bored.)
The Register on "Mass murder in the skies: was the plot feasible?"
Bush reads Camus. Funny.
New Orleans (nearly) a year after Katrina:
The Rude Pundit has a series on it. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
docbrite lives in New Orleans and tells about her writing, the city, cats, and other things.