Monthly Archives: Mar 2025

Escape Velocity Has Been Achieved and Craft Holding (Another Chapter in a Very Irregular Series About One Person’s Approach to Writing)

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A while back I took the step of announcing the start of a new writing project

On Outlining A New Writing Venture (A post with no reason other than I was having fun with it)

The exercise was conducted to make sure that having ‘gone public’ I had better well carry on with this venture, there having been numerous other attempts which had faded away. The announcement was a boost to ensure my momentum kept moving to escape velocity. This is problem A Panster will often encounter. The process of not working from a true outline, or several pages of notes, but instead relying on ‘something’ popping into the imagination, or being inspired by the last few hundred words while only having maybe the vaguest of ideas as to where ‘this’ is going. Such an outlook can lead to falling prey to Life’s Daily Distraction or an attack of the Existentialist ‘What Is The Point Of It All’, or worse ‘Oh Heck…I’ve done all this before with different names and locations‘   (More about that problem a little later on)

My dependable notion of ‘Never Waste A Good World Build’ once more came to my aid. The Narrative would be set in the world of my previous trilogy. The fact that I could not decide whether in the Past, Present or Future of the previous trilogy’s setting was at the onset of little consequence at least there was a backdrop. As the narrative progress ‘The Future’ seemed the most suitable, this was made easier by the fact that in this ‘world’ of mine, Time was a flexible quality anyway, and there was the good old dependable ‘Ethereal’ an elemental force which is all things to all folk but woe to those who took it for granted or tried to control or expunge it. In this environment Continuity was not really a problem; and as a bonus enabled me to possibly sneak in the spice of a Hidden or Forbidden History factor. I kept the same Empire, Religion and some of the more powerful agencies as this would be useful for later on as to who was keeping what History from who and naturally for some stalwart characters to uncover ‘Stuff’.   

Maybe it’s because of having strong stalwart women in my life; my wife of 51 years, two daughters, a granddaughter and daughter-in-law that I have always tended to place women at the forefront of my stories (also because it will annoy the heck out of those lesser males who object to strong women). Thus, as I started off, there were another three women being drawn into very unexpected situations, and meeting and bonding, even the rather same types as before; trouble? Not really; at the onset this suggested a link between the previous three books. Descendants? That might be stretching things a bit and requiring a lot of explanations out of character with the previous three central figures. No, what was required here was an element explored in the previous works- The Ethereal as a reactive force drawing certain types of folks together; this gave some of the more dogged lesser characters cause to explore into what was taking place and delve into that ‘Forbidden History’ and of course all reach different conclusions. That could be interesting, all manner of possibilities.

Now what was missing? Oh yes….

As usual I had forgotten a central plot. Yes, my BIG failing, getting so much wound up with the characters that their day to day events become the whole story, and whereas it is fun to write you can’t really expect folk to read an entire book’s worth, not in a fantasy background anyway.

Thus far though plenty of material to weave in….

1.One heir to a throne has to get married soon, two rival houses intending their daughters to be his bride. He is very agitated with the politics and takes a ‘gap’ to clear his head he goes out with a military border patrol; lots more politics there. Suddenly ambushed! Escapes! How will this work out? Will he survive and how will his character develop? (By the way there is an Ethereal link between him and the three central women characters- one that none of them really know about, him least of all. What kind of relationships?) 
2.Somewhere else in the empire a very determined fundamentalist branch of the state religion are working up to a crusade. One fellow in particular. Note, don’t make him a pantomime villain. Give his side of things. Also they HATE the Ethereal. And let us not forget that no group is free from the whimsy of factionalism.
3. Where most of the characters live. Lots of local politics between two princedoms and one independent Dukedom, the latter favoured by the Empire. Also folk lurking in the wings there either barely seen or only thus far mentioned in name.
4. Also there’s The Empire, well a writer can certainly work with An Empire’s shenanigans. 
5. AND – Of course The Ethereal and those forbidden / unknown histories.
6. AND EVEN MORESO – All the ‘stuff’ I mentioned above with the central characters.
7. Not to mention several lesser characters with promise to develop.  And a few loose threads that need tightening.
Also
8, 9 & 10 – As write I don’t know what they are, but they are bound to be lurking around somewhere.

Plenty to work with. In fact so much I detect another trilogy. Too much colour and potential to spoil with a planned layout. In real life Wars and Politics never go to plan. One theme I am using again, the three central characters being swept up in events. Like real Life.  

Also this is a first draft and a writer will know that’s a terrible version. There is plenty to be re-written, replaced, downright ditched. Onward- ever onward. To where I know not.

Gosh, this is fun….
Advice for Writers starting off and New Writers struggling……Keep all those scraps you have written or have buzzing around in your head, you never know when they will come in handy, get it down on paper or ‘doc’ and worry about the finer points later on. 

Out Here. Psychology, Perception and the Weather March #BlogBattle: Shiver

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In many a sober volume there is a detached and coherent explanation as to why and how we shiver with fear. Some of them indicate that high levels of adrenaline released into the body during times of extreme situations lead to muscles twitching uncontrollably hence seeming to shake or shiver with fear. There again other works would explain physiological reactions to anxiety can cause your blood to flow less efficiently and, therefore, leave you with chills.

I think about these explanations when on duty at The Pale Place. Everyone knows about The Pale Place. Even so you can be in the most secure location, far from where it holds domain and the idea of that ominous malignant unfathomable presence just being in the same world as you can slither up into your consciousness, implanting the terror like a sudden knife to the back or the chord dropped about your throat slowly tightening  its grip. We’ve all seen the effects. Folk stopping still in mid stride, eyes wide in panic, falling against anything to hold them up, clawing, gasping, weeping, caught in the instant when their defences gave way. Then there are the ones who are simply found, dead either in a desperate attempt to make the overwhelming terror stop or simply and maybe thankfully had their bodies just give up, and shut down.

Now my wife, a Lieutenant in the Civic Safety and Security Force, she’s a solid focused professional with a phlegmatic streak right down that lovely back. Even my war stories don’t seem to worry her. She’s got this great cure for the shakes and shivers, she simply picks up her side arm points in to my head says ‘If it happens it happens honey’ adds ‘poof’ then does the same to her own temple.
What a gal. When she’s around I always end up feeling safe.

In a tour of duty on the frontier with the Pale Place, fatalism will only take you so far. We in the Army’s Frontier Deployment Corps reckon fatalism leads to being too casual, gets you killed or worse, Taken. Some stay sharp like everyday is a training day mixed up with experience the equipment regulation clean and you can hear them mouthing The Litany of Calm but watch out for those who start to do it too rapidly; they are anything but calm.

I prefer the simmering feral rage. Defending my turf. Who were these things to come out of The Nowhere and try and take over our planet? There are enough damn worlds out there for them to park whatever passes for their asses on, without schlepping across the vastness of space to our little back water. I don’t give a screw how hard they are to kill or not knowing what they really look like; if I fire enough ordinance into that Pale opaque stuff they hide behind I reckon a few are going down. It’s not as if they’ve advanced that much this past year or so. And they sure as hell do not like those industrial size flame throwers we have now. I’d love to work one of those, scorching back the land. There’s this real high wavering whine you hear when those dragons are working; that’s the sound of victory that is, and then there’s this sugary smell afterwards. Mind you the smoke can be a pain. All in all though simmering feral keeps you hot and cool at the same time. A natural balance I reckon.

And here I am out here staring out at the wasteland between our fortifications and the wall of substance shifting between light mist and thick fog, colours going dark grey to the sort of mournful white you get on funeral sheets. Currently thinking about the last night spent with my wife. Going over every sweet little detail. Stopping the gloomy thoughts which starting hovering about when you look out at the Pale Place.

There’s the group just finished being trainees, nervous chatter, wide-eyed silence, or those trying their best to show they are tough and can handle it.

‘It’s definitely chilly,’

Someone always remarks about how cold it is ‘Today’. You can never truly be sure if they are talking about the weather or covering up. What makes that piece of judgement difficult is that the temperature is usually low about the Pale Place.

And you wait.

Somewhere far up the left flank there is the sound of weaponry; a little later the thick smell of the flame throwers drifts in with the threads of their smoke. Attention naturally swivels that way, orders snap or cry to concentrate to your front. Whatever is going on Up There is their problem. Keep your eyes fixed on your frontage. Watch for the change in the shades and thickness of the wall. Will do. I also concentrate on the dead tree a middle to long distance there to my right. Currently its dark dead outline is stark like a black marker on white paper, any dulling in that outline could mean a shifting of the mists and that They are moving, it could also mean a trick of the wind. You have to very discerning, particularly when an entire platoon might rely on your call.

That blasted smoke. The one drawback to those magnificent dragons. It’s stinging my eyes, just when I was trying to figure out something about the edges of the tree, my tree. I hope, or wish, or pray, or something that there’s more than one set of eyes on that tree.

Damn but it’s getting cold…..

A Real Man Speaks

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The Thinking ‘Kat: ‘Real’ Men

Now here is a commentary from a person who is a true Man and defines who is and who is not. And asks some pertinent questions of us who think of ourselves as ‘Men’
My addition to the subject is….
Those who do not respect women are simply biological males and stunted mental development. (And this stage I could get very vulgar- but that would be poor taste)

Carry on with your good work ‘Kat’!