I compiled a list to keep me on track of all my projects that pertain to writing, and I thought I'd share it. On BZP: - Co-host the Ambage - Keep up with SSCC reviews - A long list of "to-reads" - Plan and write Nothing Destined with AZBlue and Tekulo - Post The Last Avatar Elsewhere: - Write a series of mystery puzzles - Script a comic series for an artist - Collaborate on a tongue-in-cheek article on gaming - Write an article on detective fiction - Coordinate a writing club In Life: -
Tekulo, AZBlue and I will here be brainstorming ideas and discussing details for the upcoming epic we will be collaborating on. Therefore the comments included herein will contain spoilers. YE BE WARNED. Team logo. What do you think? Huh? Huh? Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith
You make lemonade. Opportunities are funny things; they call them chances because, indeed, opportunity relies a little upon chance. At times they'll come when you least want them, at others they won't come when you do. And they always say when an opportunity presents itself, seize it; I say, present yourself to an opportunity and let it seize you. As an example, the other night I was toying with a dismembered Phantoka Makuta body and observed non-sequitur to my brother, "Has it ever happened
. . . It's a little slice of heaven secluded in an unassuming pocket of the world I never before ventured to. I've lived in this town most of my life, and never been there. Now I'll never go to another bookstore. My pickings: By Agatha Christie: They Came to Baghdad The Blue Train Mystery The Labors of Hercules The Secret Adversary The Secret of Chimneys Murder at Hazelmoor The Witness for the Prosecution and other stories Cat Among the Pigeons Curtain And: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
This is the result of my first Ambage Write-off. Just managed to finish in the fifteen minutes allotted. Theme: Passion Twinkle, Twinkle The fading sunlight shimmered on her dancing hair, turning her raven-black head to an aureole to frame her cordate, angelic face. I swung my short legs off the edge of the bench as we leaned back, laughing at the joke I had just told. “Patt,” she giggled, “you’re such a dork.” I grinned. “But I’m an amusing dork.” She tossed her head, and the
A great misfortune has this day afflicted the world. I think we can all agree that there is nothing to do in the face of such woe as this but to lament affectionately and honor the deceased. On this day has taken leave of the mortal world one arachnid by the name of Theodore; that's right, that aforementioned spider, one of the insect kingdom's wisest of creatures, one of the most misunderstood forms of life, and one of the most tragic losses to befall this planet. But let us bow to his valian
The Year in Review: Writing In brief calculation I have written upwards of fourty short stories during 2012, most of which were flash fiction, some of which climbed above five thousand words. In the Jungle, which I assure you is not a songfic based off "Wim-o-weh," is my top choice for the best short story I wrote this year. As far as story, it has been compared to Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and I myself compare it to Tarzan of the Apes in an inverted way. As far as st
I don't watch much television, and this year has held little broadcast significance for me. However, those ways in which television was meaningful to me were especially meaningful, so I will make note of them. This year I was introduced by my best friend to The Legend of Korra, with which I immediately fell in love. I began watching Avatar: The Last Airbender posthaste, and well before Korra had run its whole season I had beheld the grand spectacle that was the Last Airbender finale. This is a
In checking my notes I found, rather to my disappointment, that I have read little over twenty novels in the past year. Not a very significant number at all, and not a very satisfying one, but there you go. Nothing can be done about it now! The past cannot be changed. But that is the point of this reflection, is it not? Evaluating the past to better plan for the future. To Kill a Mockingbird is easily the best novel I've read this year. I believe I already reviewed it some months ago in early
Another year of my life nearly written! And as this chapter draws to a close, it is time to review my own work, as any good writer should do. I'll begin in superficial ways. First, filmographically. I'd say it was a pretty good year. I've seen plenty of great films, new whether to the world or to me, or old by various definitions. Let's take a look at some of the highlights. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D. This remains my favorite of the Star Wars saga, and the three-dimensio
And now, my friends, the time has come to ponder what this past year has been to my life. It has been one of the longest years of my life, and one of the most difficult, but I cannot call it the worst. Nor can I call it the best. It was not bad, and it was not great, but it was good. There are many things upon which I can look back with joy, and those which I can look back upon with remorse, as well. That's life, though. I've changed so much in the past year. I guess that's what happens in t
For the past few weeks, cradled gently in the center of a modest web, an arachnid has hung in my writing window. I have watched him, day after day, week after week, setting upon the prey that flies unwittingly into his net, or rocking in the breeze. I have seen the dew drops hang from each glistening strand in the growing sunlight. I have watched the great care with which he tends his home, strengthening and expanding it diurnally with fresh threads of silk, or carefully cutting loose fallen lea
Last time I'll plug this, I promise. The Second Death, Kindle eBook, is free now through January 30th. Get your hands on it now and it's yours to keep forever, yours to read any time your Kindle is handy, and yours to review if you happen to feel munificent and eloquent. ;D Just be sure to let me know so I can give you proper thanks. All right, I'll say no more on the subject. At least not any time soon. Thanks again! Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith
Is it January 12th yet? All right, well, there were formatting issues that delayed matters. Amazon recently altered their system without updating their guides, and that led to complications. But all is well now; and The Second Death is now for sale! It can be purchased here. It is for sale exclusively through Amazon right now, and for Kindle alone; which means that if you don't have a Kindle or an iDevice with a Kindle application, you won't be able to read it--yet. But it will be available
As the cover lifts off the precious pages, among the first things you see in any book are the various credits. It is only fair, therefore, as a first order of business to give credit where it is due. For my Premier Membership I owe my thanks entirely to GSR and his giveaway. The drawing ended, as GSR explained to me, with my name in the fourth slot, and there were only three prizes. However, after over two weeks of inactivity and failure to claim his prize, one of the winners was disqualified, a
My second entry and I'm already logging inanities? But this caught my eye, and I just had to share it. Looks rather familiar, does it not? Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith
The detritus of an Ambage write-off isn't always pretty. The theme was "pathfinding," a forecast of the contest. I this day wrote my two entries and submitted them. Though by the rules of the contest I am permitted a third, I rejected this story due to a lack of love for it that, if you read it, will be understandable. That said, I did in a small way enjoy writing it; though it was a bittersweet feeling as would accompany any writing taking place in the constraints of fifteen minutes is wont t
The Book of the Dead The fading sunlight imbued the upper reaches of the bland gray stone with a gold tincture. The shadows stretched away from my window, as if running away from me. I felt like shooting the sun. But I knew even I couldn’t make that shot. Besides, it was behind me. I was peering across the crowded street to the rooftop garden where a young man lounged in his undergarments, reading a book. I hoped, for his sake, it was a good one, worthy of his final moments. As I took
That's Buddy, Sally and Mel from The Dick Van Dyke Show, not to mention a bit appearance by Alan Brady. Danny Thomas also appears, and later Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies. Okay, but how was the movie? Without giving anything away, it's about Charlie (Morey Amsterdam) and two female co-workers going into the book business, and getting mixed up in an espionage intrigue and a bank robbery. Basically, this is what they did before animated talking-animal movies came into vogue, only better
And now that my reflections are over, how better for a writer to end a year than with a story? This is, in a way, a sequel to Polychromatic Frowns; it can be called such, at any rate, because it is of the same style. And so here it is, the last words I shall pen in 2012: Sanguine Goodbyes I lost the only girl I ever truly cared about today. I gave her everything. I gave her all the time I could spare and all the help I could offer and all the love I could give. But it wasn't enough fo
One of my favorite quotes from the novel: Writing requires understanding, if not comprehension; to feel if not to know; and that most important faculty of the human mind, born of understanding and comprehension and feeling and knowledge and experience and intuition and much else: great judgment--but better to say, prudence. I don't know if I would say that writing requires genius; granted there are many geniuses in the history of literature, no doubt. The only requirement, however, is clev
Beautiful; and very eloquently put. This is very much how I feel about literature. It is a magic indefeasibly real. Is fiction as fictional as the word suggests? I think not. It may be intangible--yet, in some ways, it is now. It is the world that exists beneath ours, the mirror that reflects the truth of our lives. Sincerely, Nuile: Lunatic Wordsmith
Those crazy Ambagers are at their writing-off again. This theme was "Rainbow." Polychromatic Frowns Rainbows make me want to cry. Surely you’ve seen one. Surely you’ve seen how dreary they are. They’re big frowns plastered across the sky. And their bright colors are incongruently cheerful. It doesn’t make sense. It’s illogical. Irrationality in nature makes me want to weep. The frown itself is bad enough. It makes me want to frown. But the colors mock my woes and make me want to cry.
