Wow. Been a while since I’ve done one of these. I’m up to my eyeballs in code and have some deadlines breathing down my neck, so have the first half of an attempt I made at a gothic supernatural horror short. Enjoy. [spoiler effect=”phase”] The hinges of the door moaned like the support beams of… Continue reading Canned Goods: Circle of Brimstone
The Underlying Theme
Courtesy Terribleminds, make with the clicky-clickly I think I was consciously putting this off. Not because the idea of establishing a theme for the novel is disinteresting to me, no. I just didn’t want to define a theme and then get preachy about it. I don’t want this to be the kind of story where… Continue reading The Underlying Theme
Watch LOST? Good. Now, get lost.
I really like the work of JJ Abrams. I’ve seen bits and pieces of his TV show LOST and I’ve liked what I’ve seen. I like that it makes people think, posits difficult questions to both its characters and the audience, and has a bit of an old-fashioned serial feel to it. I dig all… Continue reading Watch LOST? Good. Now, get lost.
Prototypes
There have been some interesting reactions to yesterday’s ICFN entry, which I may address later. For now, I’m trying to get the laptop’s graphics up to Azerothian snuff, and in the course of doing so, I’ve seen the word ‘prototype’ flash once or twice. That got me thinking. A lot of a writer’s drafts could… Continue reading Prototypes
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Avatar
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/avatar.mp3] Some of the best stories out there are simple stories that are well-told. A straightforward plot doesn’t necessarily make for a bad escapist experience, if there are elements of that plot that transcend its simplicity. Take District 9, for example. Aliens come to Earth in bad shape and they’re exploited by corporate douchebags. Simple,… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Avatar
Exposing Exposition
Say you have a story you want to tell. For argument’s sake, let’s further posit that this story doesn’t take place on Earth in the year 2010. It takes place in 2055, or on some other planet, or back in the Renaissance. Provided you’ve done your research or laid a good foundation in terms of… Continue reading Exposing Exposition
On Alien Assault Traders
Last month I discussed the possibility of helping people return to the nostalgic days of ferrying commodities from one planet to another in the darkness of space while shooting lasers at one another. The major problem with running pure Trade Wars is lack of a static IP, the necessity of having a box in my… Continue reading On Alien Assault Traders
You Are Your Work's Super-User
guest@blueinkalchemy:/$ make me a sandwich What? No! Make it yourself! guest@blueinkalchemy:/$ sudo make me a sandwich Okay. Eagle-eyed readers will see right away that I pretty blatantly stole that gag from xkcd, specifically from the unixkcd portion introduced on April Fool’s Day. I’ve done this for two reasons. One, I have sudo command lines on… Continue reading You Are Your Work's Super-User
A Good Head of Steam
Trains are pretty amazing, when you think about it. You’ve got several tons of steel on a couple of rails, and be it through steam power or electricity, this monstrosity of metal can speed along at quite a good clip. It carries quite a few people from one place to another, more directly than some… Continue reading A Good Head of Steam
For Doctor Mercury: Like Out Of Clockwork
His practiced fingers carefully lay one gear beside the other. This painstaking work has taken years. Designs, prototypes, failures, so many have come before. And now, he’s so close. Experienced eyes peer through multiple lenses on specialized spectacles to ensure every wire, sprocket and connection are exactly where they need to be. Within its bright… Continue reading For Doctor Mercury: Like Out Of Clockwork
