29 November 2006

Follow-Up

This is a follow-up to a previous post I made.

Anonymous asked: Interesting questions. Why do you ask them?

Recent events around the house, namely a family death, brought this back to my attention.

Now, death is a strange thing, and though it's true that everyone grieves differently, there are what one would consider "normal" acts of grief that almost everyone goes through. Crying a lot, getting choked up, feeling depressed, angry, etc. are some examples.

Now, I myself don't go through most of these, at least publicly. Privately may or may not be a different matter, depending on the circumstances. But most of my emotions remain on an even keel in these times. I feel sad, but most of my attention is geared toward supporting those left behind. I could probably get into why this is how I am, but that's a longer post than I care to get into right now.

So, back to my original post, I asked (in a nutshell) whether someone who doesn't follow the same emotional makeup as the majority could still write characters who do follow those same emotional acts.

And I imagine a good writer could do so. Although Anonymous' example is a special circumstance (space-based science fiction writers make a lot of stuff up on the fly, I suspect...even if they've never been to space), it does hold that a writer could realize how "normal" people react to different events, if they've been exposed to those behaviors, or have learned about them in some way. And as long as they're able to write it in a believable manner, it should come off okay.

So, there's hope yet...

Current Status:
FID editing: 75% complete

24 November 2006

Hilarious Stuff for those Post-Thanksgiving Blues

I've added a new link under the Fun Places to Waste Time section over there on the right...

But in honor of Casino Royale, which I plan to go see this weekend, a little sample.

Not the funniest one by far, but...



22 November 2006

Waxing Nostalgic

Being as old as I am, there were a number of things I grew up with that I'd like to have once again. Some of those things happen to be computer games.

Sundog was one of the best games I ever played (on the Apple IIe) growing up. And now, it seems like the original developer may be trying to bring it back.

If I was a betting man, I'd say that Sundog probably had at least a small contribution toward the creation of Aston West. If I had any programming knowledge (that was worth something to modern computer games), I'd be all over this new project.

Of course, then I'd NEVER get any writing done toward the next Aston West novel.

Current Status:
FID editing: 65% complete


11 November 2006

Time to Dust Off the Translator

And people think I just make this crap up...

I really need to bring the author-ese translator out of the closet and crank out a few...

04 November 2006

Write What You Know?

1. If you've never experienced something, is it possible to write about it?

2. If your emotional makeup is abnormal compared to the vast majority of society, will you be able to write passages with "normal" emotional reactions to events?