Ben Byrd's Short Stories

3/5/11 -- New Things

2011-03-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

I've been able to keep reading, but not as much as I would like. I have been distracted by the wonderful series Farscape. One thing that I didn't appreciate the first go round was the brilliant dialogue. It's beyond words like "frell" and "dren." Words like "microt" and "cycle" are used throughout the series that give life to the other world that Crichton finds himself in. "Arn" is another good example. Instead of reading, I have been watching episode after episode and have become fascinated, again, by how amazing a character Scorpius is. Great show, it's a must see.

Oh, and while I'm on it, I disagree completely with the idea that nonce words should not be used. It makes the story and the characters more real. It's attention to detail and it should be respected when used. Imagine Battlestar without "frak" or "Toaster."

I'm also working on a novel that I think you will enjoy. I have no idea how long it will take, but I'm enjoying it. Breaking a lot of rules about not writing about things in my life, but I can't help it. I'll try to explain more.

1/4/11 -- Still Reading

2011-01-04T18:16:00.001-08:00

Well, it took me a while, but I managed to persevere and finish the book I was reading. Enjoyed it. Even better, I'm working on finishing another book. I finished another story that had been bouncing in my head for a while. It's a neat concept (I think) about being alone and driving on the interstate. A little more to it than just that, but it's very simplistic in nature. I've been told that I should turn it into a novel. Not sure if I will. I like it the way that it is now. Short, simple and to the point. I have another story idea that I'll be working on in the near future, too. Good times. I think that it'll expand on the Codex stories. We'll see.

12/4/10 -- Being a Dad

2010-12-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

Being a parent of a young child is interesting. You get an understanding of what it must have been like for your parents dealing with you as a kid. You get to relive a lot of things from when you were a kid. You also get to read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies that you haven't read or watched in years.

And you realize that a lot of those movies are terrible. Some of the movies are good on an adult level, but some are not. Some are really terrible, really, really terrible. It's kind of weird, you know? I'd name some of those movies specifically, but I don't like being the kind of guy who trashes the work of those who were able to get something made/distributed/published/etc. Needless to say, a lot of animated films made a certain famous studio in the mid to late 1980s were not that good and were outright awful. But kids like them. Stupid, stupid kids.

12/2/10 -- Reading

2010-12-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

I'm doing better at reading, but not as well as I'd like. Had a lot of stuff come up over the past few weeks and haven't felt well, but I'm reading more. You can really feel the creativity come back when you read. Amazing.

11/14/10 - Back to the book

2010-11-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I'm a little busy with my job. I like what I do, but it is time consuming. I've been unable to read a full book in I don't know how long. I'm doing my best to try and manage my time, try and get in a little rhythm and read a book or two every now and then, but I haven't been able to. Regardless, I went to the library yesterday and checked out a book. I'm hoping that I can read it all the way through. I've found that I write better when I'm reading and I haven't been doing that lately. Very frustrating.

11/7/10 -- Not Writing Related

2010-11-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

While I typically reserve this blog for posts about my writing, I realize that I have a greater obligation to make sure that you are well informed and kept safe. In that vein, make sure that you do not try to remove excess hair from your razor with your fingers/thumb. That can and will, at times, lead to a nasty cut and a Band-Aid.

11/1/10 - The Sheppard Chronicles Continues

2010-11-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm working on another installment. This means that I have two in the works. I think that you'll like where the story is going. One of the installments involves Bill Sheppard directly, not from a distance as has been the case lately.

The interesting part is that I've taken a new approach to my stories. I'm reading them out loud after I get to a point where I feel like I'm ready to post. It's given me a bit of a different perspective and really helps me tell the story better. I also have a new story that is going to get posted soon. I'll keep you updated.

10/2/10 -- Put it aside

2010-10-02T05:11:00.000-07:00

That story I told you about in my last post ... I think I'm going to put it aside for a while and mull possible endings in my head. I tried to work on it this morning and nothing came up. Just sat there staring at the screen wondering what the hell I was doing. Distance may be the best way to work the story out. The problem that I'm having is I've hit a bit of a block and I don't have anything else that I can work on. Oh well. We'll see. I've been trying to come up with a new story for quite some time and I haven't found anything. It's almost to the point where I'm banging my head against the wall to get something going, which I hate. Hopefully something will come up soon.

Getting My Rear Kicked

2010-09-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out how to end a new story and I am getting whipped, seriously whipped. I've tried three or so different things and none of them have worked. I think that I'm making progress and I'm getting close to a resolution, but it's killing me getting there.

I HAVE RETURNED ... HOPEFULLY

2010-09-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

I am going to start operating this blog again. I doubt that anyone is out there who still reads this blog, but if so, I hope that you'll be glad that I'm back. I have two stories that I'm working on and I hope that they'll be decent. Also seriously considering self-publishing. Please give me your thoughts.

I'm Coming Back

2009-12-26T04:43:00.001-08:00

I've been gone for practically one year, but I'm coming back with a vengeance. I have a story that I'm sending to Malach soon. I've started using Open Office instead of Word programs, so I hope that there won't be any problems opening it on his end. I'll pass it along soon.

Sheppard Chronicles 6

2009-02-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

Is now up. Go here to read it. In other news, I have another short story in the works. This one has been a little more difficult to write, but I'm sticking with it. I like the idea so much that I'm willing to put up with the struggles to write it. Also, I have two other short story ideas that I intend to work on in the near future that I have high hopes for. The first one is a comedic piece, which is a style that I have been wanting to do more with for a while. As for the second one, the basic idea has themes that are similar to those of Codex, but I'm not sure that I want to make it part of Codex yet. We'll see what happens when I sit down and start writing it.

Yet Another Sheppard Chronicles Story

2009-01-20T16:36:00.001-08:00

I decided I needed to take a break from my novel in order to think up some more story ideas. As such, I pulled out an installment of The Sheppard Chronicles that I put aside to write episode 5. I like where this one is going. This one is from Luke Holloway's point of view, and it may well be the last one that is told through Luke's eyes. I have plans to for a few more installments, but I haven't decided on whether to make them first or third-person. One will be about Audra that takes place long after the death of Sheppard, and another will be the official, government account of Bill Sheppard (which will take quite some time to write, I have a lot planned for it). That one will obviously be in third-person. But I also want to write a story that takes place years in the future dealing with the key political figures introduced in episode 4 and I have no clue which narrative form I want for that story. We'll see.

Probe

2009-01-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Malach put up my latest story, Probe. Go check it out.
Also, I've been doing a lot of work on my novel, Prank. I'm close to reaching a point where I think that I have to wrap the story up. I'd prefer it be a little bit longer, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do extend the length of it. I've revised it a few times, and I'm not coming up with additional parts of the story. We'll see. I'd like to get it up to 175 to 200 pages, but I don't know if the story will let me.

Back To Prank

2009-01-08T17:33:00.000-08:00

I started working on my novel again over the weekend. It's coming along well. It's up to about 115 or so pages, which is by far the longest story I've written since I started writing again during law school. I'm also letting an idea for a futuristic sci-fi piece roll around in my head. I put a little bit down on paper last night, but nothing too concrete. I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Monitor Is Up

2009-01-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Malach posted Monitor. I like the font for the title, but I'm still not sure what the background image is about. Glad that it's up. You should go read it, I think you'll enjoy it.
In other news, I'm almost done with the story I mentioned in my previous post. I may have it done today and off to Malach in time for the weekend. We'll see.

I Found Another Story

2008-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, I bought a desk and a bookshelf for my office. With those items in place, I cleaned up and organized the office. In doing so, I came across the rough draft of a story that I wrote two years ago, but never got around to editing/finishing/sending to Malach.
I sat down yesterday and typed it up. It's an odd little story, and I can't remember exactly what point I was trying to make, but I like it. It's a futuristic piece that has a little to say about advertising and just how far people are willing to go to sell products. I'm revising it now and I hope to have it done in a week or so. I still need a title. Thoughts, Meleah?

On Second Thought

2008-12-27T04:14:00.000-08:00

I typed up my short story from high school. Ummm, yeah . . . Needs a lot of work. It's not terrible, and I think that if you read it, you would say that with a little work, this could be a pretty good story, but it really needs some work. I think what I am going to do is publish the original version, with some grammar corrections, and then write a new version and publish it. I like the basic idea, but it's not very effective as is. Also, it's pretty dark for an 11th grade short story. The word 'disturbed' comes to mind . . . :)

Going Way Back

2008-12-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

So, my mom came up to visit two weekends back. She brought a few boxes containing old things of mine, none of which was what I asked for, but that's another story. I looked through the boxes and came across a short story that I wrote when I was in 11th grade. I remember being proud of it when I wrote it, but I don't remember too much else about it. I haven't read back over it yet, so I'm not sure if it's total garbage, but I'm going to sit down with it, type it into the computer, and email it to Malach.

In other news, that story I mentioned in my previous post has been sent to Malach. I'll let you know when he's published it.

A New Story

2008-12-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've got something in the works. I'm not too sure where I'm going to go with this or how long I'm going to work on it, but I think that people will like it. I'm not sure if everyone will be able to identify with it, but I think it's pretty good. I'll keep you updated on its progress. I don't have much time to write at the moment, but I'm going to try and finish this one up as soon as possible.

Sheppard Chronicles V

2008-12-06T20:21:00.001-08:00

It's up. Go check it out. This story uses a different narrator and is the third that I've used in the series. I have at least one more in mind, but I would like to have the story told from at least seven different points of view. Thoughts on who else should tell a story about Bill Sheppard?

Another Goal Not Met

2008-09-28T17:30:00.001-07:00

I was hoping I could finish the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles today, but it didn't happen. I'm still ironing out a few wrinkles in the story, so you'll just have to be patient. However, I did take the time to update my blogroll. I haven't touched it since I started the blog, and I didn't realize that my link to Hill-TV was linking to a dead site. I deleted that and added a link to the blog of my writing buddy, Meleah Rebeccah. Go over there and tell her to start posting, or self-publishing, some more of her work. She won't post it online and I want more!

Got Some Work Done Today

2008-09-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time today revising the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles. I think that the story is pretty good and will serve as the perfect filler installment that I mentioned in my last post. I've added a few other elements to the Sheppard story that I intend to develop more fully in subsequent installments.
You know, I can't believe how much I've gotten out of Bill Sheppard. When I wrote Peacemaker, I never thought it would turn into this. It's weird. In the first draft, I had a Harry Dresden-type, hard-boiled detective character in the role of Bill Sheppard (at the time, I was calling Peacemakers "Enforcers"). I'm so far away from that now, I can't believe I was ever there. As I did the revisions, I realized that the character I created for Bill Sheppard didn't fit the character he needed to be. Peacemakers are essentially judges, and judges don't behave like hard-boiled detectives. I went back to the drawing board and turned Sheppard into a judge. I took away the wiseass comments, I took away the frequent profanity, and I took away the usual things you would find in a hard-boiled novel. I made him talk like a judge, act like a judge, and do what a judge does -- his job, even if he doesn't like it.
I think it's worked out well. I think that people enjoy the Sheppard character and identify with his thoughts and motivations. I'm still not sure if people understand what I'm trying to accomplish by switching from stories told from Sheppard's point of view to Luke's point of view, but it will probably become more clear with the next installment. Certainly after the next three, it should be very clear.

Episode Four

2008-09-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

The latest installment of The Sheppard Chronicles is up! I started working on the next installment yesterday, but I think that I'm going to push that storyline back a bit. I think that the transition from the last installment to this one may be a little too abrupt without something in between, so I'm going to work up a filler installment that will move the story along a little more smoothly. I have an idea in mind that I think people will like.

The Story I Couldn't Write

2008-09-04T05:41:00.001-07:00

Two nights ago I came up with what I was certain was going to be a brilliant short story. I came up with the idea after getting back in touch with an old friend of mine. She told me that she was no longer talking to her ex-boyfriend because it had become just too much for her to deal with.
OK, before you jump in with the realization of exactly what my story was like, just wait until you get to the end of the post. You won't get the full effect otherwise.
To continue, I thought to myself "Wouldn't it be great if you could just forget all about the person causing your problem? I mean, what if you could just learn to forget about everything? Imagine if you could walk right up to the person and say 'I don't remember you anymore.'" Wouldn't that be amazing? I start writing down a few basics of the story and try to come up with exactly how the person will go about forgetting. Should it be surgery? Extended therapy? Should a doctor wipe the mind clean . . .
And that's when I realized that I had come up with a story that was pretty much identical to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." I've never been so deflated in my entire life. I'm still trying to come up with a way to use this premise in a story that isn't a massive copyright violation. I'll keep you updated.

It's Out Of My Hands

2008-09-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

I sent the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles to Malach. I got some good feedback from my friend I mentioned in my last post, but nothing that affected this installment, more to do with possible back story revisions. A Vance Milligan short story serving as a lead-in to the first two Chronicles is a legitimate possibility. We also talked on the phone about the future of the series. Some interesting ideas I look forward to fleshing out.

Soon, My Friends, Soon

2008-08-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty comfortable with the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles, but I'm not sending it off to Malach just yet. I'm waiting to hear back from a friend of mine who regularly reads my rough drafts and provides feedback. He's the guy who came up with the idea for the Peacemaker seals, among other things. Once I hear back from him, I'll ship it off to Malach and he'll post it. I think you guys will like how I'm developing the story. This next piece introduces several characters who will have a profound impact on the story of Bill Sheppard from here on out. Can't wait to get this off!

The Next Peacemaker

2008-08-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

I put aside the novel and decided to go back to work on the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles. I had a rough draft from a while ago, but I didn't really like the structure of it. It all seemed a little forced. The end result was that I kept the basic concept, but reworked the characters and the nuts and bolts and I'm pretty happy with what I have right now.
This installment will be another part of Luke Holloway's biography of Bill Sheppard. I'm using this story to elaborate on the government structure as well as some of the political issues in the Districts, especially Badlander politics. I think that this is going to be a real interesting story line that I'll be able to get a lot of mileage out of. In addition to the political issues, I've created some fairly strong characters that I think the readers will enjoy.

New Old Story

2008-08-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

I sent a story over to Malach that I realized was missing from my page at The Reading Room and he got it up. The story is called "Toodle" and was originally published at Hill-TV. My stories were first posted there, but I switched over to Malach's site when Dr. Murk was going through some problems. All my other stories, as far as I can tell, were posted by Malach during the switch, but this one somehow got overlooked.
"Toodle" is a pretty funny story that makes fun of this guy I went to law school with. The guy operated under the belief that conservatism was the only proper theory of government, life, and what have you. His theory, though, meant that nothing could change in any way shape or form. He thought that if things had been done a certain way, that is the only way that things should be done forever. He saw change as radical and out of step, something to be avoided. He didn't believe that women should have voting rights and should stay at home. He also, in a Bible Study class with another friend of mine, said that society started to fall apart when sex became about pleasure instead of having children. I can't even put into words how crazy that is.
My favorite, though, had to do with his idea that no good literature had been written since the 1930s. He just had this arbitrary cut-off line for good works of literature, and it made no sense to me at all. How could good works just stop being written all the sudden at 1930?
The guy had absolutely no confidence in his own thought processes and always deferred to his elders and those who came before him. It was as if his own judgment and experience did not matter at all. What's the point of being alive if you just do what everyone else has always done and never stop to think about why? Stupid.

Prank Update

2008-08-15T06:34:00.000-07:00

I'm approaching 100 pages in the novel. I don't think that I've written anything quite like this before. I recall writing something that was about 60 pages or so in high school (that document is long last, unfortunately), but nothing like this. I'm surprised that I've kept with it.
I feel like I'm getting to a point where I need to start winding the novel down. I wish I knew the ratio between computer pages and book pages. I guess it depends on the font and page size, but I would like to have some general idea.
Like I said earlier, the hardest part is come up with the pranks for the novel. At this point, I'm sort of just asking myself, "What would be really cool?" and not worrying so much about whether it would be actually possible to pull it off. I'm letting myself get lost in the bizarreness of the world I've created and it seems to fit together well.
I may take a break from the writing over the next few days and go down the editing route. I already touched up the first 20 or so pages and I just have the feeling that I need to smooth out the rest of the wrinkles.

Shift

2008-08-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

After what feels like forever, I completed another short story. This one is called "Shift" and Malach has it up and ready to read. Malach did a pretty good job on the background, too. Enjoy reading it.

In other news, remember that novel I told you about back in September? I recently sat down and decided to get back to work on it. I stopped at the end of September because of time constraints after getting about 25 pages or so into it. I'm now up to around 60 pages after two days of work and the plot is moving along great. I'm not having to force it and reach deep in my mind to keep the story moving forward. It's really writing itself to an extent.
The development of the main character has turned into something that's pretty neat. I've turned the story into somewhat of a hard-boiled detective novel, although it's more humorous in nature. The main character, though, isn't the typical, totally in control, all-powerful tough-guy. While he knows everything about his job, he's totally out of it when comes to dealing with his family. Basically, if he's not pulling a prank, he's a fish out of water. Some of the interactions between him and his and him and his secretary really drive this home. I think it's kind of cool to partially invert the typical hard-boiled detective.
I've also created a mini-history of the art of pranking which should provide some good comic relief throughout the novel.

I Know

2008-07-23T05:43:00.001-07:00

I'm beyond over due for a new short story. I apologize. Life is a terrible mistress. I'll try to get one done ASAP. It'll probably be next month before I get back into the swing of writing again.

Newsworthy

2008-07-09T17:57:00.001-07:00

Malach got my latest story up. It's called Newsworthy, and it's a story that I'm very, very proud of. I can't remember exactly what inspired the story, but I'm glad that the idea came to me. I let the concept roll around in my head for a few weeks before I decided that a brochure would be the best way to really make fun of how the media covers a disaster.

In other news, I'm getting on with the second draft of another story. It's told in first person and is more in-line with the sci-fi that I normally write. I think it's a pretty neat concept that should have you all wondering just how it is that I'm so fucking brilliant. :)

Got A Great New Story

2008-06-29T11:29:00.001-07:00

I have a brand-new story that I'm almost done with. It's a type of story that I've never done before. It's highly satirical in nature and is kind of a brochure more than anything else. I hope that you all will enjoy it. I'll try to get it done ASAP and over to Malach.

Choice

2008-06-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

New story is up. Go check it out, it's called Choice. I have an idea for a new story, but I'm not exactly sure how to start it. I'll try to give it a shot this weekend and let you know how it turns out.

Really Busy

2008-06-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

Life has picked up quite a bit at the moment and I don't have much to time to read, let alone write anything. I'm going to try to reserve Sundays for writing. I have a story that I'm pracically done with, so I want to churn that out soon. I have a really good idea for another, too, so we'll see what happens with it.

Sping Has Sprung!!!

2008-05-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

My good buddy Malach got my latest story, Spring, up. I really enjoyed writing that story and I hope that you all enjoy reading it. The idea came to me when I walked across the field that hosted the post-graduation picnic and saw everything gone from the day before. It was dismantled in an instant and it really struck me just how fast things come. I was also thinking of the Tom Waits song You Can Never Hold Back Spring at the time and everything just came together for the short story and I outlined it in my head on my walk home.
I've got another story in the works I hope to finish up soon. Be patient, friends, be patient.

Two New Stories On The Way

2008-05-15T06:34:00.001-07:00

I've got two new short stories that I hope to be done with soon. The first one should be done very shortly, but the second one may take a little longer. Neither are my typical brand of science-fiction, which is fun for me as I'm getting out of my usual genre. One is a recount of the last three years of my life. The other was inspired by a half-dream I had while waking up and trying to keep warm (the covers had fallen off the couch).

Solace Is Up!

2008-05-13T05:32:00.001-07:00

Malach put Solace up last night. Go check it out. I think it's a pretty good read. The story was inspired by me having to stay inside on a rainy day. I got to thinking what it would be like to have to stay in day after day for weeks at a time and what you would do to pass the time. The real problem was working around the television issue. If people had television, people would just watch that all the time, so I just cut it out completely and focused instead on how reading functions as an escape valve. Board games, too. People will do things that they normally wouldn't do in order to escape from the weather. It's kind of like how prisoners play Dungeons and Dragons and read a lot of fantasy novels.

Codex Continues

2008-05-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm almost done with the third installment of the Codex series. I'm fine-tuning the ending a little bit. I expect to be done with it shortly, probably in the next few days.
I have another Codex story that I've outlined, but it will be a dramatic departure from the series so far. The fourth piece will have a great deal of dialogue, actual named characters, and will follow a more conventional story format. It will be less of an oral history regarding social change resulting from an environmental crisis and more about the individual characters who are trying to reform society itself.

Webcomic?

2008-04-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

I'm curious to see what people think would think of the idea of a Sheppard Chronicles webcomic. Malach mentioned the idea in passing and noted that he's too busy to do it at the moment. However, I wouldn't feel comfortable with a webcomic until I get another three or four installments under my belt (I need to do a little more with the story first). But that being said, what would you all think of an eventual webcomic if it's possible to do one?

The Third Installment Is Up!

2008-04-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

Malach's got the third installment of The Sheppard Chronicles up. Go check it out.

Off To The (Digital) Press

2008-04-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just sent the latest installment of The Sheppard Chronicles off to Malach. It should be up soon. I think that you'll like where I've gone with the story.

Much To My Surprise . . .

2008-04-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dichotomy will be published in the next edition of my school's literary magazine. This one came as quite a surprise to me as the initial comments suggested some serious revisions. They wanted more about the characters, less profanity, and that the magazine would hesitate to publish as is. Well, I guess that the brilliance of my writing (insert crickets chirping) won out and the editors decided to publish it without any changes (I told them that I wouldn't do any as I felt I got my points across). I must admit, I'm pretty excited. This is one of my more hardcore sci-fi stories and I'm pretty happy that people are willing to give it a chance.
Don't worry, Malach, I won't forget about you when I get all famous and powerful. I'll sue your former lenders for shits and giggles.

I'm Lame, I Know

2008-04-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been so slammed with crap to do lately that I haven't been able to write. I have to WIPs that I can crank out soon, I hope. One is having the finishing touches put on it today, the other will be next in line. The latter needs a little more work, but I have a good outline for the story and hopefully something good will come of it. I just need to figure out exactly where to take it. Again, sorry for being so lame, I hope to have something done soon.

Rejections!!!

2008-03-24T04:59:00.001-07:00

I submitted Due, Dichotomy, and the second episode of The Sheppard Chronicles to my school's literary magazine and got rejected. Well, sort of. I was told that if I shortened Dichotomy down a bit, reduced the swearing, and developed the characters a little more, they would probably publish it. I politely declined.
Why? Well, it's simple. The editors of the magazine just don't really understand the stories that I write. They do have some good, helpful comments for some stories, but for most of the ones I submit I can pretty much predict what I'm going to get back in comments as it's always the same. "Not enough about the characters, the readers didn't identify with the characters, we didn't quite understand the point of this", etc. (the profanity was a new one). Due was particularly problematic. I'm not sure that they understood that the story was about the moral arguments for and against the death penalty and really wasn't something that had a typical plot. I'm also certain that they didn't recognize the court quotes that I used in several sections. Here's what they had to say:

"Overall, we did not feel that this piece was appropriate for [magazine]. The length was an issue as well as problems with repetition. Some of the staff members were unclear about the meaning of the piece and remarked that it lacked a clear story line and seemed merely like an extended description. Also, we found the capitalization distracting without a purpose and the violence/swear word near the end a bit gratuitous. It was noted, however, that it was nice to have a different type of submission to [magazine]. We agree that we probably would not want to publish it, but would encourage the author to submit it to a different type of publication."

See what I mean? Also, I had like five swear words and bastard was the worst one. I would think that some profanity would be appropriate when you discuss the worst-of-the-worst killers in a death penalty piece.
It was the same thing with Dichotomy. They wanted a little more about the characters. Again, I politely declined. Dichotomy is not about the people involved in making a decision to send The Five back to the past, it's about the decision itself. It's about whether people doing something so horrible for good reasons is OK, it's not about the people making those decisions. I think that the theme of the piece got by them a bit and I emailed them back and explained what the story was about. Here's what they had to say:

"This piece was an interesting change of pace. Some of the staff members thought the beginning was a little slow and that getting to the point about “the five” a little more quickly would be effective. A few people found the swear words an unnecessary distraction and thought that the author could do a better job of introducing the characters more thoroughly. As of now, it has many long names but little background. If this piece was shortened a bit and the characters were developed a bit more, it could potentially be a work we would want to publish. Without revisions, we would hesitate."

Again, it's almost identical to the first comments about Due. Weird, huh? Also, as to the swear words being a distraction, IT'S A TENSE SITUATION!!! Get over your Christian upbringing and accept the fact that some people use profanity. Although, I admit, use of the C-word may have been gratuitous. Regardless, I think that it was necessary given the high stress level.

They did enjoy the second episode of The Sheppard Chronicles, but said that the first piece needed more character development. I guess that the whole series of short stories concept is a little bit beyond them . . .
I think that the problem with them is that they are part of an organized school of though on how to write and what to write about. I've read some other stories in the school's literary magazine and you can really see the formula that they've learned to write from. It's sad. Writing should be about creativity and exploring different styles, not about a predetermined form that you have to follow.
I hope that this doesn't seem like I'm whining about not getting published in next year's magazine. I'm not. As it is, I have the chance. It's just a complaint about how people get locked into a certain way of thinking and can't move beyond it.

This Is Number Three

2008-03-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

The third installment of The Sheppard Chronicles is more or less done. I've got to do some final revisions on it, but the form of the story is more or less complete. I added about 1800 or so words to the initial draft and I'm pretty comfortable with where the story is. It's a pretty sharp departure from the first two as far as the narrative structure of the piece, but there are similarities to the format of the second episode. However, you'll see that there are important differences that provide a springboard for Bill Sheppard's character. I'm getting some feedback from a few people, but the revisions should be completed fairly soon.

Also, thanks to Malach for plugging this blog over at DMDSS. Thanks, dude.

Developing the Story

2008-03-09T15:15:00.000-07:00

I'm working on the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles. It's going pretty well, but I'm afraid that the story isn't long enough. It's around three thousand words at the moment, and I'd like to add another fifteen hundred or so. We'll see hot it works out. I need to add a little more depth to this. It's an important transition piece and I need to get it right.
Also, this story is going to have fewer citations to the Code than the other two. It's part of the transition of Bill Sheppard. He evolves from being a man who is trying to carry out the Code to a man who is using the Code to justify his actions.

Dichotomy

2008-02-28T05:38:00.001-08:00

Malach posted Dichotomy at my section of The Reading Room, so go check it out. I like the background image he used for it as well as the font for the title. It all fits together well. Not bad for a French Canadian.
Also, I started work on the third installment of The Sheppard Chronicles. I think that I may do a short third piece that will serve as an introduction to the new direction of the series. The fourth piece will then pick up with the actual story of Bill Sheppard. We'll see how I feel about it after I write the next installment.

It's Got A Title

2008-02-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

The time travel story that I've been working on is almost finished. I have a few more revisions to go. Also, I settled on a title. I had been thinking of calling it Dichotomy, but it just didn't feel perfect. A friend of mine read over it, not to come up with a title idea, but just to read over the story and give me some feedback. After reading it, he said "I really liked the dichotomy between the two characters [at one point in the story]". At that point I decided that Dichotomy was the way to go. When you read it, I think you'll agree that it perfectly sums up the basic themes of the story. Like I said, I should be done soon, I hope you'll like it.
Oh, and Malach, I'll be working on The Sheppard Chronicles when I'm done with this.

The Next Chapter of The Sheppard Chronicles

2008-02-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

I spent some time last night outlining another installment of The Sheppard Chronicles. While I really like what I'm going to do with Bill Sheppard's character, I'm not too sure that I want this story line to be third. I'm a little concerned that the jump Sheppard's character will make from the last installment to this one being too severe, so I may write this outline up and hold it for a while until I can come up with another story line to put before this one. We'll see.
As for the time travel story that I mentioned earlier, it's coming along nicely. A few more revisions to do and then I have to hold it until I can come up with a title. I think you'll be impressed. I have no idea for a title, though, so we'll see how long it takes before I send it up get published.

Heretics Is Here!!!

2008-02-12T08:43:00.001-08:00

Malach got my latest story up. It's called Heretics, and like I said, it's a continuation of some of the themes that I started exploring in Withdrawal. Malach was kind enough to put both together under a page called "Codex". A third one is working its way through my head right now, but I've got another project that I'm currently working on. It involves time travel and should be pretty cool.

Should Be Done Soon

2008-02-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've almost finished the new story that I told you about in my last post. I'm doing some final revisions to make sure that it all makes sense and is readable. I had to go back to a few spots in it and make it longer and provide additional detail. It's not a particularly long story even with the additions, though. The themes of Withdrawal are very strong in this piece and I definitely want to come back to it in later pieces. I'm thinking of putting future stories centered around the same basic theme that I'm developing together in a collection entitled "Codex" (kind of like what was ultimately done by Asimov with I, Robot. We'll see if I have the patience/desire/time to do it.

It's Got Promise

2008-01-31T08:25:00.001-08:00

I've done about three or four drafts of a new story. It's got a similar theme to one of my stories that's already up at The Reading Room, and I think I'm going to spend a lot of time with this theme. There are some non-fiction books that should help me get some more story ideas, so I should be able to continue to elaborate on this for quite a while. I know that I should give more details, but I want to keep it close to my vest until it's ready. I hope that I've sufficiently whetted your collective appetite.

It's Alive!

2008-01-23T07:38:00.000-08:00

After much talk, I finished the follow-up to Peacemaker. Malach has put a link up for The Sheppard Chronicles that includes Peacemaker (now episode one) and the one I just finished. Go check them out, NOW!!! I don't see the follow-up installments having titles, they'll just be "Episode X" or whatever. I hope I can keep this up.

Approaching The Finish Line

2008-01-21T09:09:00.001-08:00

I know that I keep talking about being finished with the next installment of The Sheppard Chronicles, but I think I actually am. I finished revising it this morning and couldn't find anything else to add to it. I think that I'll do one more review of it for grammar and spelling and that will be it. I still feel like it needs something, but I could take care of that in another installment. We'll see.
Also, I hammered out a very rough new short story yesterday afternoon. I'm going to go over it with the red pen and see what comes of it. I think it has potential.

Published Again!

2008-01-14T07:07:00.000-08:00

Good news, friends, Severed is going to be picked up by my school's literary magazine. None of the others made it, but Severed is one of my favorite pieces, and I'm glad that it got some recognition. As for the second installment of Peacemaker, I know that you're all antsy about it. However, I have a feeling that I'm missing something, so I put it aside for a while to try and think about it and see if anything else would come to me. I'm going to print out a copy and read over it shortly, so hopefully it will be ready to go. I can't wait to start grinding out The Sheppard Chronicles.

Down To The Wire And Other Things

2008-01-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

The next installment of Peacemaker is in the final stages of revisions. Because I've never done anything other than self-contained pieces of fiction I'm having some people I know read over the piece to get some feedback. While I'm pretty happy with where the piece is, I'm feel like I could use some advice and constructive criticism. I hope to get the feedback soon and get the story up ASAP.
Also, I'm exploring some other story ideas right now. I've got a religious themed story floating around in my head that may be pretty interesting. I also have a loose idea about a Trotsky story. Basically, I have a very loose idea about a political dissident getting forced out of his country. After that, I don't know what to do. I'm tempted to get a few books on Trotsky and see if that will help me flesh it out.

More On "The Sheppard Chronicles"

2007-12-24T06:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I got all those pesky geography issues worked out in The Sheppard Chronicles, and I did it in a way that means I won't have to rework any of the geography in Peacemaker. Basically, the Peacemakers are going to work out of SubDistricts which are included in eight larger Districts, plus there's one central capital district (and the Badlands which more or less encircles all of the Districts).
The naming of the SubDistricts was a concern. I thought at first that I should do homages to certain Westerns, but then I figured out that the easy thing to do would be to just use names of actual counties from states I've lived in.
What really excites me about this is that I don't have to do any extra work, I just have to pick what county names to use, and that's always a good thing. Let's face it, people, work totally sucks and there's no need to more if you don't have to.
I printed out a copy of the latest installment and plan to sit down for a few hours at some point today or tomorrow and review/revise it. I hope to have this thing done in a few weeks, I'll let you know when it gets posted over at The Reading Room.

"The Sheppard Chronicles" Update

2007-12-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

Good news, friends. I've made a lot of progress on the second installment of Peacemaker. It's up to about 15 pages and around 6,500 words. The word count should increase pretty soon as I have to add in a few names for some of the new characters and I also have to fill in new Code provisions. A friend of mine suggested that I actually write the entire Code, but I don't think that I have enough time for all that. I mean, can you imagine trying to write an entire body of law? I'm just going to write it as I go along, I think that should work just fine.
Also, I'm working with the geography of the fictional world a little bit, which should cause me to fill in a little bit more about the government structure. I may have to make some slight alterations to the original story as a result, but it won't be anything substantive, it'll all be pretty minor. We'll see how it pans out.

Just Waiting

2007-12-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

No word as to whether any of my submissions to my school's literary mag were accepted. I should know in about two weeks. I'm hoping that Peacemaker, at the very least, will make it. I think that Severed should also get in, but I'm not too sure about it. I also don't think that the reviewers got what Withdrawal was all about. They didn't understand that humanity's selfish nature will doom it to repeat the mistakes they made on Hetra. How they didn't, I'm not sure, it was so damned obvious. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something.

Truck Is Up

2007-11-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

Malach put my latest up, "Truck". I managed to work the ending out, but Malach thinks I'm a redneck. Little does he know that my truck actually has a gun rack . . . Just kidding, it doesn't. I'm going to try to focus on The Sheppard Chronicles a little bit more now, I needed to get Truck finished to be able to work on it. I'll keep you all updated.

Hit A Wall

2007-11-10T08:34:00.000-08:00

First, Due is up. Go check it out. And now onto my regular post . . .
Well, the story about the truck has kind of died on me. I can't think of a decent ending for it, what I have right now just doesn't tie the whole thing together. It just kind of floats out in space and doesn't really do much of anything at all. As a result of this unfortunate problem, I'm going to push it aside and move on to something else.
The something else that I'm moving on to is a follow-up to Peacemaker. This will pick up after Bill Sheppard kills Vance Milligan and will be about what he plans to do next. FYI, he's going to do a whole lot of killing, a whole lot. It should be a rip-roaring good time. I think I'm going to make this an ongoing series. I'm going to tentatively call it "The Sheppard Chronicles".

Publication Issues

2007-11-04T10:44:00.001-08:00

First, Malach put up my most recent story, so go check it out. Thanks, Malach, for tolerating my crappy writing.
Second, I've been submitting some of my work to a literary magazine at my school and I've been having a lot of problems. While they generally like my stories, I think that they struggle to understand sci-fi writing, which is generally what I write. It's been pretty tough for me to sift through their comments. They don't really understand what it takes to create a good other world and care only about character development. It's interesting to see how narrow their "creative writing" training has them thinking, though.
They easily got Mirage, which is about college, but anything beyond that is hard for them. I've had difficulty explaining some of the aspects in Classification and Severed to them, specifically the sections that include descriptions of the universe. The job titles in Classification were hard for them (they didn't understand their purpose), as were the names of the departments in Severed (they thought that there were too many proper nouns). I don't understand what's so hard to understand about all that, but apparently something is fairly complicated about it all. They both are all part of setting up the world in which the story takes place, it's necessary plot development.
Any thoughts?

Status Update

2007-10-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Good news, friends. I finished the short story that my previous post was about. I ended up adding a lot more about the debate behind capital punishment and tried my best to do a fair job telling both sides of the issue. It was a lot of fun, I hadn't really written a story like that before, and I got some advice from a fellow writer friend of mine that was helpful.
I'm finishing up an old story about my Grandpa's truck right now. I started it over the summer when I was back home for a few days, but it sat until earlier this week when I decided I needed to finish it up. Shouldn't let a story like that just sit there.
Malach The Merciless should have the death penalty story up soon, so keep checking The Reading Room!

Rough Draft

2007-10-07T05:31:00.000-07:00

I'm going to go back and add some more stuff from court opinions about how the methods of execution are inhumane. This is just a skeletal outline. Let me know what you think.

Oh, it's currently untitled and I haven't done a grammar/spelling check . . .

They call it The Death Chamber. It’s one of Death’s many homes. Cold, calm, quiet Death. It’s the place that the living go to meet Death. After ordering a meal from the 28-day cycle menu, after showering two hours prior, and after meeting with family and priest, off the people go to meet Death. Cold, calm, quiet Death.

Fifteen days before their date with Death, the people choose how they want to meet Death. Option one is The Mercy Seat. The people sit on The Mercy Seat and the jolt sends them off to meet Death. The Mercy Seat, though, is a misnomer, there’s no mercy to it. It can make blood pour out of your nose and eyes. It doesn’t even always send you to meet Death the first time around. Sometimes you just wait until the Watchers, the people who watch you while you go to meet Death, notice you haven’t met Him yet and they send another jolt through you. Some people say that The Mercy Seat is inhumane and that it causes too much pain. Well, there’s a lot to be said for that. That’s probably why so few meet Death via the Mercy Seat.

If you don’t choose The Mercy Seat, you get The Cocktail. The Cocktail is a combination of three drugs. It makes the whole process look humane, decent, and orderly, but it is not. It makes it look as if there is no pain, but there is a lot of pain, we just can’t see it.

With the Cocktail, three drugs are injected into the blood of the people who go to meet Death. One knocks them out, the other paralyzes them, and the third drug finishes them off. All three work together to give the person a humane, painless way to meet death, if it works properly. You see, if the first drug knocks you out long enough, you won’t feel the third drug as it induces a heart attack and kills you. The second drug doesn’t really do anything, it just makes you lie still.

You’re probably asking if the first and third drug do all the work then why even use the second drug. Well, that’s the trick, and it all has to do with The Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat can be a real violent way to go about it all, and the Watchers don’t like to watch that sort of thing. Blood spurting out eyes, legs catching fires, and making the people sit on the seat twice isn’t something that the Watchers particularly like to do. They like making people go meet Death, but they don’t care to do it that way. The Watchers like everything to be peaceful, calm, quiet; the Watchers like a lie.

The Cocktail is supposed to be that peaceful way for the Watchers to feel good about what they do, but it isn’t, not without the second drug. The first drug doesn’t always last long enough, which means that the person going to meet Death gets to live the experience of a heart attack. But the heart attack doesn’t always kill. Instead, the person slowly dies from suffocation, which is a pretty painful and terrifying way to go. And if the Watchers saw it, then they wouldn’t have their lie, they would have to see what they’re terrified of seeing, and they can’t handle that.

So that’s why they have the second drug. If the person going to meet Death is paralyzed, he could be experiencing all kinds of hurt, but he wouldn’t be able to show it. If he’s paralyzed, he can’t move, he can’t yell, he can’t scream, he can’t do anything. And if he can’t do anything, it looks like he’s just going off peacefully to meet Death.

Just the way it should be.

New Project

2007-09-16T04:57:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a story that appears all set to turn into my first novel. I don't really want to write novels, I'm too lazy to stick at it, but when the story just keeps cranking . . . Anyway, I've had this idea in my head for about (4) years, so I've finally decided to sit down and write it. It's about a guy who makes a living pulling pranks for people on jerky co-workers, bosses, customers, etc. He has a son who is in high school who does similar work, but he's more of the beat-you-up type. He tries to teach his son the art of humiliation and is frustrated by his son's preference for the less-refined arts.
Anyway, the plot gets kicking when a Wal-Mart type prank business moves in. The main character hates it because it's cheap, easy tricks that don't take any talent or skill to pull off. There's no soul to it. So, he and his son go to war on the business. Father and son unite to commit several felonies and destroy their competition. All and all, it's a good time. I think I'll post a few sample chapters soon. I need to edit a few of them first . . .

The Blog

2007-09-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

This is a blog that I will use to showcase my short stories. My good friend Malach has provided me with a website for them, and I am very grateful for that. I will let you know when I have a new story up. I may keep you up to date on what I'm writing, too. We'll see. For now, go read my latest short story, Withdrawal. When you're done with that, feel free to read the other authors' works, too.