So, here’s the deal. I spent two weeks over the July/August transition brought down by a matched set of massive ear infections, which had me fevered, weepy and unable to chew. During which time, if I may remind you, I wanted to start writing Figurehead. Yeah. That went swell.
So now I’m well again, though my hearing is still slightly off, and I’ve written a bit on Figurehead. Except what I’m getting is Firefly-style rust-and-a-prayer sci-fi. Figurehead really, really needs to be shinier than that. Seriously, I cannot express to you in strong enough terms how much I am ending up with a Firefly knock-off. I’m quite upset about this. It’s not the first time I’ve had someone else’s story get a stranglehold over mine, but it’s never pleasant.
So Figurehead is on another temporary hold. I might get back to it in October or I might just save it for NaNoWriMo and go from there. In the meantime, I’ve got two things to get done:
1) Hammer out, in detail and with consequences aplenty, the special physics of the Figurehead-verse; I’ve got some ideas about hyperspace that I need to think about and how I might put the world through the wringer with them.
2) For the love of god, write something. If I don’t write and finish some fiction, I will actively lose my marbles; I’m already this close to smashing all the dishes in the kitchen in a fit of pique every time someone turns the television on. Do not interrupt this brain right now.
What I need in the rule department is not a restrictively detailed guide to everything, but a few hard, horrible rules I can inflict on the populace. I need conflict coming out their ears (everyone should have ear suffering right now, as far as I’m concerned). I’d also rather like to do some free writing, non-scenes, just to get some of the settings down on paper in a way I like. I want to feel the world in my bones and the fact that I don’t yet may be the reason why I’m getting this damn Firefly pastiche. I love the show, but that chair is already occupied.
What I need in the fiction department are words. Many and varied and did I mention many? I’ve got a short-list of possible short story ideas I’m working my way through. I’ve got a Sentence for a short fantasy whodunit featuring a world I’ve been wanting to write in for a while. (I’m getting notions of doing linked short stories exploring the world or having this be a side story for a novel; I have to keep beating on myself to WRITE THE DAMN THING FIRST.) In the wings I have kernels of ideas for two sci-fi stories, short and middling lengths, which will get worked on today. And I have bits and bobs floating around for the Oct/Nov SS*BB. It’s fairy tales and folklore and I’ve got an itch to retell the Frog Prince, possibly in space, but I’m undecided.
So that’s where things stand and why I’ve been quiet for so long. I am making an effort (admittedly, strictly in the contemplative sense, which is to say, useless) to post more snippets and background here from what I’m working on. My work has just been so wonky lately. Time to get back on track.