Constructs
| 2010-09-06 |
is very hands-on but would outsource those necessities to proven, competent individuals because most things are negotiable - including time. |
| 2010-09-05 |
That includes advertising, marketing, logistics, legalities, maintaining the websites, and editing. Strangely, I'm starting to enjoy it. |
| 2010-09-04 |
Tedious but important - each part which I'd rather not do would be a percentage that another publisher would take for their inconvenience. |
| 2010-09-03 |
first looks into planning out the forthcoming workload while taking into account the rigors of anti-creative back end business processes. |
| 2010-09-02 |
Each project holds a special meaning to my journey as a creator, but this doesn't mean I can't outdo myself. That snaps me out of my funk. |
| 2010-09-01 |
Putting my heart and soul into projects for months or sometimes years always created a residual, psychological letdown when it was all over. |
| 2010-08-31 |
It's hard to pull out of the creative mindset either during or at the conclusion of a project. That end feeling is of relief but also fear. |
| 2010-08-30 |
Whenever I begin a new project, there's always this moment of uncertainty. Actually, that feeling comes eerily as I conclude the last. |
| 2010-08-29 |
So with SSC2 officially and Criticality almost officially in the eBooks, it's time that I turned my attention to SSC3 and other projects. |
| 2010-08-28 |
Those who've read SpaceStation Colt and saw that last status update might be astonished, but think back. I have the perfect character.. :) |
| 2010-08-27 |
Much of my written work is R-rated, but I have a comic book which is PG, and I'm contemplating a third SSC spinoff for kids that is rated G. |
| 2010-08-26 |
Shock value went out of the window when I became a role model. Knowing my audience and delivering the appropriate content is not pandering. |
| 2010-08-25 |
From a business perspective, I never want to go out of my way to offend people, but creatively, I've started to cater to different tastes. |
| 2010-08-24 |
won't just create something and not care about if it happens to offend or create something just to offend, but he cannot please everybody. |
| 2010-08-23 |
Political correctness often has a negative connotation, but there is nothing wrong with civility in discourse - except the absence thereof. |
| 2010-08-22 |
In my past, I've said/written all kinds of things. This current creative phase is not so much about toning that down as it is focusing it. |
| 2010-08-21 |
As I've gotten older, my creative styles have also matured. I now know that the mighty pen can cause writers to get chopped up by swords. |
| 2010-08-20 |
What this speaks toward is an almost humbling (if not so introspective) bout of honesty which I've used to help improve my creativity. |
| 2010-08-19 |
Basically, in both art and life, I've found that I can speak faster than I write, write faster than I think, and think faster than I speak. |
| 2010-08-18 |
The process is slow but thorough. It leads me to wonder about a possible correlation between that, speech, the written word, and thought. |
| 2010-08-17 |
Usually, I'm fairly happy with the edits because my words better convey the meaning which was intended. But there's no denying the fatigue. |
| 2010-08-16 |
settled on a hybrid method which included reading the text silently while speaking the dialogue aloud to solidify the flow and find errors. |
| 2010-08-15 |
SSC2 offered ample chances to test out a few methods of editing, so I shook off the pain and went to work with my dictionary and thesaurus. |
| 2010-08-14 |
always had an appreciation for the task of editing since having been saddled with the process, but he needed to better cement a technique. |
| 2010-08-13 |
If ever there's a case against writing long novels, having to edit them and meet their impending deadlines are reasons enough to support it. |
| 2010-08-12 |
It worked. I had SSC2 written with an opportunity to write SSC3, but my momentum was soon blunted when I sat down to edit those 740+ pages. |
| 2010-08-11 |
Neither project suffered because one beget the other with the future dangled as an inaccessible carrot until the present was made right. |
| 2010-08-10 |
Whatever works, right? The boost to my confidence at present came from the promise of the incredible storytelling potential for the future. |
| 2010-08-09 |
Why that is happens to be irrelevant, so it's the resolution which is pertinent here. Those future ideas carried me over the finish line. |
| 2010-08-08 |
Writer's block is normally blamed for gumming up creative works, but I've always had ideas. The confidence to move forward was what got me. |
| 2010-08-07 |
Living for the future isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes that needed, creative boost plays a role in supplementing a faltering confidence. |
| 2010-08-06 |
A momentary lapse at worst - a period of motivation at best, working for the future becomes a subtle inspiration which pushes me at present. |
| 2010-08-05 |
It's where dreaming big meets planning ahead, but sometimes I forget that I need to wake up and execute on the projects which are before me. |
| 2010-08-04 |
Wishful thinking. I have a habit of looking ahead to future projects before the current ones complete - a byproduct of interlinking series. |
| 2010-08-03 |
So characters can go intra- and inter- imprint. I won't overuse this by any means. Picking my spots has always been key to timely writing. |
| 2010-08-02 |
Two properties belong to the SpaceStation Colt Imprint. Two belong to the Dope KPC Imprint. One is free-floating and resides within both. |
| 2010-08-01 |
Currently, I have five core, creative properties to use for crossovers. I often wonder what could be so dire to cause them all to team up. |
| 2010-07-31 |
The trick is for the visitors to not overshadow the home characters unless some other purpose is at work, but the stakes do invariably rise. |
| 2010-07-30 |
always admired the ability of characters to show up in other characters' stories and entirely different imprints altogether. He took notes. |
| 2010-07-29 |
loved the idea of those gigantic creative universes because individual events carried a literary butterfly effect to all corners of them. |
| 2010-07-28 |
Interweaving stories was a skill that I learned very early on as a child because I loved the idea of crossovers introduced to me by comics. |
| 2010-07-27 |
Another thing it will allow me to do is to tell concise and credible stories from numerous different points of view - including antagonists. |
| 2010-07-26 |
Now, a vessel exists to be able to expand the series and universe with minor characters who are more than capable of carrying major stories. |
| 2010-07-25 |
This practice invariably increased readership as some are finicky - needing to sample work before committing the mental effort to follow it. |
| 2010-07-24 |
Treating Criticality as a monthly serial kept the fans engaged during my writing of SSC2 since each, unedited chapter was offered for free. |
| 2010-07-23 |
Very episodic in nature, the pacing of Criticality is swift, so I was able to take some liberties with content flow. It has its own appeal. |
| 2010-07-22 |
If SpaceStation Colt is the literary work written like a movie, Criticality is the literary work written very much like a television series. |
| 2010-07-21 |
Cameos to the respective series will be made - wouldn't have it any other way. That not only increases their stock but it's exciting too. |
| 2010-07-20 |
No less epic, Criticality focused on the often overlooked civilian aspect whereas SpaceStation Colt detailed the core militaristic element. |
| 2010-07-19 |
Criticality is really SpaceStation Colt 2.5 because it fits within SSC2 and SSC3, affects, and is affected by the overall series continuity. |
| 2010-07-18 |
Creatively, I was at the top of my game and began shooting free throws with my left hand in deciding to write Criticality at the same time. |
| 2010-07-17 |
In the zone from inspiration but unconscious from motivation, I pushed myself and fed off of the creative energies which SSC2 had generated. |
| 2010-07-16 |
always despised the idea of having to wait (sometimes years) until larger projects were completed to tell stories that were on his mind now. |
| 2010-07-15 |
Soon, that formula will branch out to other projects, but this time I'd be tackling Action novels with either Fantasy or Horror elements. |
| 2010-07-14 |
At the core of what I'm writing are Action novels with Romance and Science Fiction elements - violent stories for sensitive intellectuals. |
| 2010-07-13 |
Technology is one tool in the arsenal for telling a Science Fiction story, and I credit my reading/studying of Action novels for that tact. |
| 2010-07-12 |
SSC wasn't lacking in any way, and it cracks me up that SpaceStation Colt wasn't even seen until the story was almost half over - by design. |
| 2010-07-11 |
The other part that Science Fiction is more casually known for is its technology. I made sure to step this up in SSC2 and had fun doing so. |
| 2010-07-10 |
The often missed part of Science Fiction is its vision which gets people to talk about difficult subjects. There's nothing geek about that. |
| 2010-07-09 |
Also, I'm not writing propaganda, so my personal beliefs don't need to enter into it in a manner that skews the actual story's objectivity. |
| 2010-07-08 |
If it did, I'd never have effective antagonists or conflict, and everybody would just sit around agreeing all day - not my idea of utopia. |
| 2010-07-07 |
might not agree with the views of some characters, but this had nothing to do with his decision to write about those noteworthy viewpoints. |
| 2010-07-06 |
Distancing myself from the politics of the characters' opinions always allowed me the ability to tell stories from multiple points of view. |
| 2010-07-05 |
On responsibility, mine is not to preach but to present. Characters have opinions and audiences get to decide. It's like pure journalism. |
| 2010-07-04 |
Numerous opportunities presented themselves during the writing of SSC2 for me to provide social commentary on a range of different topics. |
| 2010-07-03 |
A line from my song, 'War of the Arts', best sums this all up: "After all, what's more powerful: Having the power to kill or not using it?" |
| 2010-07-02 |
The wholesale use of death, written as a commodity, can desensitize an audience to its impact. My intent was not abundance but importance. |
| 2010-07-01 |
could never kill a character off 'just because'. Death is a literary device that I use sparingly and think through thoroughly beforehand. |
| 2010-06-30 |
From living life, I can tell that most deaths are often senseless, but there is absolutely nothing worse than a senselessly written death. |
| 2010-06-29 |
Killing off characters is hard for me because those lives hold meaning. Their sacrifice in the story was a major contribution to the story. |
| 2010-06-28 |
For those who hadn't survived, I never viewed nor treated their deaths as smears - ultimately reserving my right to resurrect them later on. |
| 2010-06-27 |
always desired to delve more deeply into the few surviving characters from SSC and make a good portion of the remaining series about them. |
| 2010-06-26 |
handpicked the returning characters from SSC as supporting protagonists because of either their hilarity, mystery, symbolism, or potential. |
| 2010-06-25 |
SSC took place across all of three days, but SSC2 was going to span months, so this meant that the characters had a chance to put on a show. |
| 2010-06-24 |
Extending out the endpoints gave me increased storytelling options. In essence, I had the opportunity and an obligation to slow SSC2 down. |
| 2010-06-23 |
Not every book will be that long, but I was comfortable with the flow and pace. Being honest about this during planning saved time later. |
| 2010-06-22 |
combined the original ideas of SSC2 and SSC3 together into a behemoth SSC2 where the whole wound up being greater than the sum of its parts. |
| 2010-06-21 |
Barring editorial constraints, books should be as long as they need to be. SSC2's plot came up short where I first envisioned it ending. |
| 2010-06-20 |
With experience, I could predict the length of my work (prior to having written any words) which helped me to gear up for what was in store. |
| 2010-06-19 |
SSC2 demanded thoroughness of effort. It was the sequel to SSC and the closure to the Zero Universe books. The long length was essential. |
| 2010-06-18 |
The fans also had me on the hook for the wait, but everybody else was sizing me up for talking trash across six months of status updates. |
| 2010-06-17 |
Writing SSC2 wasn't necessarily worth the pain that preceded it, but the story was worth telling, and hard times inspired me to write it. |
| 2010-06-16 |
SSC2 signified an end to growing pains because those labor pains, long associated with delivering my baby, had now become a labor of love. |
| 2010-06-15 |
From the Depths of Death in the Midst of Chaos was written at a time when I needed something to root for, and the characters' plight was it. |
| 2010-06-14 |
Quiet confidence was not about humility, modesty, bragging, or boasting. It was about my hunger as a no-name author to type the next word. |
| 2010-06-13 |
Once that all settled down, I needed to get back into a creative mindset, so an attitude of quiet confidence in my style was called for. |
| 2010-06-12 |
Many things prevented my moving forward with the SSC series from personal responsibility to contractual obligation to corporate work/life. |
| 2010-06-11 |
So almost eleven years later, SSC was released causing nearly a twelve year gap between that and SSC2. It won't take that long for SSC3. |
| 2010-06-10 |
Anyway, I never stopped collaborating with DJ VoiceCrack. I'm just writing a different kind of word to his increasingly treacherous beatz. |
| 2010-06-09 |
The soundtracks were a nice consolation prize (in a big way) for my hesitance to create audiobooks - mainly a time prioritization decision. |
| 2010-06-08 |
Books can be the equivalent of 'movies with unlimited budgets', so leveraging aspects of movie marketing and presentation was only natural. |
| 2010-06-07 |
Cinematography in prose, novel soundtracks, and even book trailers are nothing new. It won't work every time, but when it does, it's great. |
| 2010-06-06 |
'Epic Novels that Read like Movies' wasn't just a tagline. SpaceStation Colt is on some 2.39:1 type stuff with soundtracks to match. |
| 2010-06-05 |
So while I'm off writing novels, my original claim to fame - my music is made to suffer, right? Never. Novels were made for soundtracks. |
| 2010-06-04 |
This was the third, main thing that SSC was about, and it was laced with characters - some made up; some from real life; and many, a homage. |
| 2010-06-03 |
would like to do first-person in the future, but with this many characters, he needed the decentralized focus of third-person omniscient. |
| 2010-06-02 |
...which reminds me: From one author to the next, if you ever have trouble coming up with cool character names, check your spam filter. :) |
| 2010-06-01 |
didn't want to be lulled into telling stories only from protagonists' narrow perspectives when he had a universe of diatribes to pull from. |
| 2010-05-31 |
Normally, we are taught to create conflict that pushes the protagonist, but I, instead, chose to create conflict worthy of the protagonist. |
| 2010-05-30 |
The enemies were the next big thing that SSC was about, and the key was to not overshadow the heroine, so I had to break another convention. |
| 2010-05-29 |
The legitimacy of Marileva stems not just from being the prototypical strong female but a strong lead character who happens to be female. |
| 2010-05-28 |
Multiple adversaries hounded Marileva mercilessly. She defined the abilities needed to resist that onslaught. Abilities didn't define her. |
| 2010-05-27 |
To a savvy antagonist, overdependence on such things is an exploitable weakness, and those hounding Marileva were very much forward-looking. |
| 2010-05-26 |
Once outward appearances are stripped away, true character remains, and I believe this outweighs special abilities or blatant posturing. |
| 2010-05-25 |
had since removed the 'strong female character' typecasting from the website wanting to make the gender statement without literary cliché. |
| 2010-05-24 |
Socially relevant, organically skilled, and cerebral - this iteration of Marileva made it clear from the outset that she was now the star. |
| 2010-05-23 |
Marileva's character had grown during that iteration, but in the Epic Universe, she was destined to become a character with greater depth. |
| 2010-05-22 |
With the story now refocused around Marileva, I was actually amazed that she was only a supporting character back in the Zero Universe. |
| 2010-05-21 |
SSC was originally written before the 1998 winter break and, as mentioned before, twice extended around 1999 or 2000 for the Director's Cut. |
| 2010-05-20 |
The Original Universe was the serve. The Zero Universe, the bump. The Epic Universe was the set and spike via SSC and SSC2 respectively. |
| 2010-05-19 |
Hints from various characters might not have been clear at the time but were obvious in that some knew more than the writer was letting on. |
| 2010-05-18 |
SSC was a bit of literary misdirection. Readers could tell something big had set this all up, and something even bigger was being set up. |
| 2010-05-17 |
At the same time, I couldn't disrespect them by coming up with some weak angle of why SSC was never to have been considered a reboot/remake. |
| 2010-05-16 |
The other thing to remember is the characters' contributions. I'd never allow the older ones to be replaced and thrown away into the trash. |
| 2010-05-15 |
One need only look at the treatment I paid to the Original Universe in integrating that with the Zero Universe to understand my next moves. |
| 2010-05-14 |
Not hardly. Who ever said that the Zero Universe just didn't exist anymore after the Epic Universe began? I, as the writer, never did. :) |
| 2010-05-13 |
Upon closer inspection, SpaceStation Colt: Damnitio Exeum (2009) had all six of SpaceStation Colt (1989)'s chapters named in it. Hypocrisy? |
| 2010-05-12 |
doesn't like continually redoing works because the original cannot grow, and the imitation should've been strong enough to stand on its own. |
| 2010-05-11 |
Too many times, I chose to take the name and characters of something already existing when I should've created something new and amazing. |
| 2010-05-10 |
Reenvisioning works is cool. I'm not knocking that in the slightest. Originality assumes more risk and, for me, greater personal reward. |
| 2010-05-09 |
Filter out the rest who never put forth anything original from scratch, and I am among the elite. Creative types should have that attitude. |
| 2010-05-08 |
Beta reader-approved, but I don't hinge on opinion. The fact that I completed the work puts me ahead of 99% of the rest who never start. |
| 2010-05-07 |
For the first book of a series, and technically my first official publication ever, it was a starting point in every sense of those words. |
| 2010-05-06 |
SSC did exactly what the first book of a trilogy or a series is supposed to do. It introduced the story. For me, that assist was critical. |
| 2010-05-05 |
The beginning and end points I wanted did not make the resolution of many of the numerous conflicts I introduced possible within the covers. |
| 2010-05-04 |
If not for creating a resource to comfort anxious fans craving an official supplement, the encyclopedia certainly helped me avert fatigue. |
| 2010-05-03 |
With so many entries from less than two novels worth of material, it meant the universe was already comprehensive - soon to be overwhelming. |
| 2010-05-02 |
As the universe expanded, the need to catalog SSC grew - if not to lend further credibility, then to internally keep the continuity tight. |
| 2010-05-01 |
SSC was so much more and left readers wanting to know more about it, so I made an encyclopedia (180+ entries) to help address some of that. |
| 2010-04-30 |
This in no way implied that there was something wrong with the story. There was no forcing it into a category because SSC created its own. |
| 2010-04-29 |
It's hard to sum SSC up other than to say 'it's hard to sum SSC up'. Sometimes the elevator (pitch) can't reach the level of the story. |
| 2010-04-28 |
did this in a manner that tells the story of a thoroughly fleshed out universe but brings the reader in right after it had started. |
| 2010-04-27 |
In a trilogy, you can technically only do this once, so I wrote the story like that when it would have the most impact - at the beginning. |
| 2010-04-26 |
Why should the reader get some sort of additional insight? There was no additional insight to be had (or deservedly given) at that point. |
| 2010-04-25 |
Except, the characters experienced this adversity firsthand. Think about how it is when you go through life without all of the answers. |
| 2010-04-24 |
would submit that it made the protagonists' responses that much more genuine because they were just about as freaked-out as the reader! |
| 2010-04-23 |
It wasn't irresponsible writing, and I go back and forth on whether this was just me in my naïveté, but there was no denying the rawness. |
| 2010-04-22 |
looks back on SSC and smiles because the protagonists had no idea of what was going on. So, neither did the readers - along for the ride. |
| 2010-04-21 |
But everybody's story does that. In order to separate SSC from all the rest, it was necessary to write this from a heuristic point of view. |
| 2010-04-20 |
The cover says, "A lesson in human nature the universe won't soon forget" implying the protagonists' response to adversity is pretty stark. |
| 2010-04-19 |
So I've written extensively on what went into the mechanics of SpaceStation Colt: Damnitio Exeum, but what was the actual story about? |
| 2010-04-18 |
Taking this concept espoused by the title of Damnitio Exeum plus extending it to the characters and storyline makes for dynamic literature. |
| 2010-04-17 |
The song Lane Navachi by Lunascape is a prime example of this, and I applauded the concept as it affirmed much of what I believe creatively. |
| 2010-04-16 |
But there are times when socially-accepted words don't fit, and you must deviate to capture the emotion of what you're trying to get across. |
| 2010-04-15 |
loves words and might have become a philologist if he had it to do over again. Apparently, somebody was responsible for making this all up. |
| 2010-04-14 |
In that, the naming of SSC was not considered a mistake, and I had over ten years to change it between college and now if I thought it was. |
| 2010-04-13 |
Damnatio memoriae was the correct phrase, but its meaning did not fit the storyline of SSC. Damnitio Exeum was no less powerful a concept. |
| 2010-04-12 |
is glad that we were both wrong back then because SpaceStation Colt: Damnitio Exeum possesses its own ring while standing of its own accord. |
| 2010-04-11 |
Shame on me for not checking out the source, but my neighbor said that he was sure it was called Damnitio Exeum. It was good enough for me. |
| 2010-04-10 |
Back to the neighbor, he was taking some Latin course and told me about a cool phrase where rulers were erased from existence and record. |
| 2010-04-09 |
Ironically, they were both coming out at about the same time as well, so Insurrection wouldn't have worked, and I was hungry for ideas. |
| 2010-04-08 |
SSC was slated to be SpaceStation Colt: Insurrection, but as the fates of groupthink would have it, Star Trek had a film by the same name. |
| 2010-04-07 |
Naming SSC involved a priceless (repeatable) college story. My next-door, dorm room neighbor talked me out of the first title I had. |
| 2010-04-06 |
SpaceStation Colt was already claimed because of the book I wrote in 1989, plus this SSC was different and better - requiring its own title. |
| 2010-04-05 |
Having spent so much time creating an Action, Non-Science Fiction, and Ultra Violence story, SSC still needed a name worthy of the effort. |
| 2010-04-04 |
isn't a fan of violence for the sake of violence, but Ultra Violence illustrated the seriousness of the situation via gruesome consequences. |
| 2010-04-03 |
All of those hours spent watching Samurai Sunday movies were not lost on me, so great care was taken in the choreography of fight sequences. |
| 2010-04-02 |
If seen during ECW or as a part of some video game, chances were that SSC would credibly reproduce the move with a believable realism. |
| 2010-04-01 |
Without altering style, I brought the Director's Cut as was originally envisioned from my very own eyes. The Ultra Violence genre was born. |
| 2010-03-31 |
Creativity provided a chance to be myself, so in that presentation, how could anything be wrong? We're not talking spelling errors here. |
| 2010-03-30 |
It was creativity honed from scratch like a home cooked meal - not so easily wholesaled. Feedback was welcomed, but criticism was ignored. |
| 2010-03-29 |
had often said, especially as of late, that all he really owned was a laptop and a fast car. His creativity belonged on the list as well. |
| 2010-03-28 |
tends to be a private person, so this was a way of putting himself out there - in grand fashion. It should be added SSC is his life's work. |
| 2010-03-27 |
In pseudo-biographical fashion, I'm forced to write introspectively so that my character is true to himself/myself without the favoritism. |
| 2010-03-26 |
SSC is told in third-person, omniscient perspective; and nowhere did it say I couldn't write myself into the story without changing my name. |
| 2010-03-25 |
The 'Non' part of Non-Science Fiction is a nod to the Choose Your Own Adventure second-person perspective with an interesting twist. |
| 2010-03-24 |
The 'Science Fiction' part of Non-Science Fiction was covered at length earlier, but its nifty 'Non' component could use some explaining. |
| 2010-03-23 |
Action, at its best, includes all parties at the top of their games. To the victor goes the distinction of being right as spoils of battle. |
| 2010-03-22 |
Make no mistake that the heroes were just as hungry as the quote/unquote villains. This killer instinct was what blurred any differences. |
| 2010-03-21 |
Similarly, the antihero didn't fit because those questionable tactics might have been called for - not childishly unleashed as acting out. |
| 2010-03-20 |
had a hard time reconciling the villain who did what they did because they saw themselves as evil. He knew conflict was not so cut and dry. |
| 2010-03-19 |
These days, black & white perspectives insult intelligence. There needs to be something more than twists, turns, and subsequent responses. |
| 2010-03-18 |
At its basest, component level of telling an exciting good versus evil story, the Action genre requires shades of gray in order to shine. |
| 2010-03-17 |
loved the styling in Action writing which had long become his preferred genre. Everything written since the age of three veered that way. |
| 2010-03-16 |
While my peers were reading Encyclopedia Brown and Baby-sitter's Club, I was reading Don Pendleton's Executioner series for my book reports. |
| 2010-03-15 |
By using Romance as an element, I didn't cheapen its impact by treating it as a genre. That's how I wrote it. How it's read is the debate. |
| 2010-03-14 |
If the main character, Marileva, decided to take a novel off, I didn't want the entire premise of the series to be shattered in her absence. |
| 2010-03-13 |
Perhaps I underestimated how strong the True Love angle actually was, but I was looking ahead to SSC4, SSC5, SSCx in coming up with genres. |
| 2010-03-12 |
should take a step back. Action, Non-Science Fiction, and Ultra Violence were carefully chosen because of their associative literary depth. |
| 2010-03-11 |
That about does it for the SSC novels' keywords. The genre is up next, and an open debate exists as to why Romance was not also included. |
| 2010-03-10 |
For the proponents of each claiming to have the monopoly on True Love, I'd caution against arrogantly overlooking the merits of the other. |
| 2010-03-09 |
would have to imagine this was not the first time that both had been depicted at the same time within the context of a single relationship. |
| 2010-03-08 |
Wait..what?! He put vanilla and D/s in the same sentence with True Love?? The SSC trailer said 'greatest love story ever told', right? :) |
| 2010-03-07 |
Describing True Love is no joke, so although I am a sucker for vanilla romance elements, mixing in D/s sensibilities really set SSC off. |
| 2010-03-06 |
With no middle-entities between the interface of love and lower beings, that purity of unfiltered, untainted energy became True Love. |
| 2010-03-05 |
And vice versa. Being an Ethereal might not be all it was cracked up to be, but at least the burden of 'Ethereals = love' was lifted. |
| 2010-03-04 |
Removing the dominion of love from gods, hereinafter referred to as Ethereals, made possible the ascension of lower beings to their level. |
| 2010-03-03 |
Love, not cheapened by the animalistic emotion of itself, could only exist if it displaced the sanctioning god as the most powerful force. |
| 2010-03-02 |
Touchy subject, so before I go on - to each their own. Deciphering this was critical to the story for differentiation & 'so what' purposes. |
| 2010-03-01 |
This leaves the final keyword(s): True Love Trilogy. I spent years pondering the question of whether love was even possible without lust. |
| 2010-02-28 |
still remembers Roman and Marlena's wedding. That moment forever turned me into a hopeless romantic, so I needed to include the element. |
| 2010-02-27 |
In fact, the main nurturer of the protagonists, SpaceStation Colt (the ship), will become as important a character as those she protects. |
| 2010-02-26 |
The SSC's physical dimensions are fixed until the decision to retool, but a simple literary trick makes the internal compartments infinite. |
| 2010-02-25 |
The SSC moves! I am pretty impressed with the technology and design. As interaction occurs, the ship becomes larger in a figurative sense. |
| 2010-02-24 |
It's an important distinction, but at the risk of not making the title sound like anime, I chose not to include the 'mobile' part within it. |
| 2010-02-23 |
Not quite as obvious, from the discussion thus far, is the keyword Mobile SpaceStations which differentiates SSC versus stationary types. |
| 2010-02-22 |
Without ruining the story, other keywords included Alien Invasion, Interplanetary War, and Interstellar Conflict - all are fairly obvious. |
| 2010-02-21 |
New and Original Science Fiction went without saying but rounded out SSC's Sci-Fi descriptions: Dark, Feminist, Hard, Modern, New, Original. |
| 2010-02-20 |
felt it necessary to lighten the mood. After all, SSC wasn't slated to be a drama, but there was this new affinity for the word 'gritty'. |
| 2010-02-19 |
likes how SSC manages to be self-aware without overly poking fun at itself - conscious of the irony but not giving in to juvenile slapstick. |
| 2010-02-18 |
The story is evil, so from the characters to the scenarios they find or put each other in, a tinge of dark humor needed to be sprinkled in. |
| 2010-02-17 |
Dark Science Fiction refers to the fact that SSC is an incredibly messed up story that is getting worse as far as the stakes are concerned. |
| 2010-02-16 |
Because of the current climate of cultural differences, highlighting and playing off of contrasts between the sexes makes for a great story. |
| 2010-02-15 |
Instances of grouped character generality allow for it, but that one alien race neither male nor female will be a fun challenge to describe. |
| 2010-02-14 |
So yes, race plays a big part in SSC but at a much larger and less petty scale. I don't have the luxury of ignoring the sex of characters. |
| 2010-02-13 |
That is the true power of books. If some little girl reads SSC and believes Marileva looks like her, who am I to dash that aspiration? |
| 2010-02-12 |
has an idea of what race many of the characters are, but most of the times not - as it is ultimately irrelevant to the storytelling. |
| 2010-02-11 |
When a hostile alien looks down upon Earth, they don't see black or white. Their weapons happen to be colorblind and only see "Human".. |
| 2010-02-10 |
has to save the juicier tidbits of his ideology for the novels, but here we must briefly divert to the discussion on racism versus sexism. |
| 2010-02-09 |
Now SSC is not man-hating feminism or feminism that clings to one issue while turning its back on sexism. It is of the fair-minded variety. |
| 2010-02-08 |
Those who know of my activism and/or my philosophies can vouch for my credibility in being able to write powerful Feminist Science Fiction. |
| 2010-02-07 |
It was either "Hard" or "Hardcore", and I felt that "Hardcore" was too long plus gave off an erotic connotation - not bad but misleading. |
| 2010-02-06 |
My use of Hard Science Fiction as a descriptor will get me into trouble. Hard refers to "cussing" and "violence" not strict interpretation. |
| 2010-02-05 |
believes the story was and will continue to be told intelligently with those elements inside of it. Nothing in SSC is used as a crutch. |
| 2010-02-04 |
It is not, however, a dig against "blaster guns" and "space aliens". Some are ashamed, but we came from those roots as did smart phones.. |
| 2010-02-03 |
To me, Modern Science Fiction meant: not post-apocalyptic nor neo-technological. SSC envisions today's world with legitimate space travel. |
| 2010-02-02 |
greatly acknowledges the big two and many others, but SSC needed to stand on its own. First, the setting's backdrop mirrored current times. |
| 2010-02-01 |
Unlike Star Wars, SSC hinted at a much deeper premise such as the one espoused by the masterful narrative on race relations of Star Trek. |
| 2010-01-31 |
The Star Wars that I saw on Beta was crafted in exactly the same way, and if anybody wants to debate that fact, I have the toys to prove it. |
| 2010-01-30 |
will just come right out and say it: SSC was a wild ride with quick pacing and a ton of minor characters. That was the intent (!). |
| 2010-01-29 |
The delicate balance between openness to implementing feedback and standing ground in favor of original intention is a tightrope's dance. |
| 2010-01-28 |
scrapped many-a-story from fifty pages in, but to be expected to backtrack after completion and change major plot elements is a bit much. |
| 2010-01-27 |
None of this is to say that feedback is at all unimportant, but feedback is like advice - some of it sound while the other costs you money.. |
| 2010-01-26 |
Spelling & grammar (even that is debatable) aside, the scholarly takeaway is that authors must do things the way they need them to be done. |
| 2010-01-25 |
Such is the life, according to Robert Frost. And with chapters opening and closing in real life, I become that much stronger in prose. |
| 2010-01-24 |
It's no easy task weathering a psychological barrage of Aikido meant to either get you to quit or feel guilty for not having done so. |
| 2010-01-23 |
That's similar to stuttering or something else.. Writer's Block must be converted into a tool writers can use to block out distraction. |
| 2010-01-22 |
omits reasons as to why because they would be listed as excuses. The underlying issue stems from a general lack of confidence to perform. |
| 2010-01-21 |
talks big but still took over ten years to seriously start writing SSC2, so that is why he's the authority on the evils of perfectionism. |
| 2010-01-20 |
Perfectionist = Obstructionist. Completion > Perfection. Perfection in Completion = Attitude. |
| 2010-01-19 |
was never, is not, and refuses to become a perfectionist. If I missed something, I'd just get it right the next time around. |
| 2010-01-18 |
The extended Chapter 2 and Epilogue of SSC were proof of that. Such simple edits dramatically refocused the entire story on its heroine. |
| 2010-01-17 |
No matter the preparation, things rarely go exactly as planned. Thankfully, the writing process allows ample chances to adapt midstream. |
| 2010-01-16 |
Additional specificity would've been deadly (read: head explodes), so I placed the onus on the characters to flesh out & navigate the Logic. |
| 2010-01-15 |
Outline? Treatment? I'm not sure, but SSC had 180+ bullet points; SSC2 has 594 bullet points; and SSC3's release date is pushed back.. |
| 2010-01-14 |
doesn't draw, so he created a storyboard of words (called Novel Logic) which allowed him to keep the cinematic images straight in his head. |
| 2010-01-13 |
Enter pacing. The tag "Epic Novels that Read Like Movies" cites the delicate balance between blowing stuff up and telling a complex story. |
| 2010-01-12 |
Not all that different from you or me, part of the allure of these characters was in their mystery. The other part was in their timing. |
| 2010-01-11 |
Perception's a corporate cop-out for not taking the time to get to know someone, so does greater pleasure lie in the journey or destination? |
| 2010-01-10 |
took numerous creative liberties with character design - none more so than the choice of prolonged gratification over instant gratification. |
| 2010-01-09 |
Both deadly and cerebral, Marileva possessed a killer instinct capable of saving the universe or destroying and remaking it in her image. |
| 2010-01-08 |
These characters deserved that their story be told, so I was tasked with raising the bar. To do that, a strong female lead was called for. |
| 2010-01-07 |
If it were, I wouldn't write this. The personal cost is very high. I do this for Marileva, in particular, and the characters, in general. |
| 2010-01-06 |
had a lot of fun writing SSC. Anybody who knew anything about me that read it would smile, but the novel wasn't about me. |
| 2010-01-05 |
From there, the True Love Trilogy was conceived. SSC introduced it. SSC2 turns it dark. SSC3 resolves conflict - or tries to at least. |
| 2010-01-04 |
It was naïveté versus life experience: "If I had known then what (I think) I know now" -> translated directly to the literature. |
| 2010-01-03 |
should rephrase that - prequel/reboot wouldn't have worked, here. The startling contrast between youth & adult writing should be preserved. |
| 2010-01-02 |
Not a fan of prequels/reboots, I needed to devise a way to propel the current SSC iteration forward while honoring the last's continuity. |
| 2010-01-01 |
SSC2 was as long as SSC, but the characters of the defunct predecessor series demanded closure then & there - unwilling to wait for SSC3. |
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