Final Status Update, with Unexpected Artwork and Revised To-Read Pile

In the end I didn't manage to write and post a chapter every day.  There were reasons for this that I won't go into to spare everyone else's sanity, but on the whole when I sat down and actually thought about it, I felt less disappointed in myself than I expected.

I finished the month with a total of 22 chapters that came in at a grand total of 54,366 words.  Considering that this means I missed eight days' worth of chapters I think it's not too bad!  I stumbled over the finish line on 1st May with a mammoth chapter of 5,124 words which contained some awkward scenes to write (not quite what I'd envisioned ending on) and now I'm taking a--well, I'd say 'well-deserved' but I don't know if I'd go that far--break before I carry on.

This means I actually have time to read for a while, yay!  In slightly less yay news, my to-read pile grew yesterday with another trip to Waterstones in Nottingham with friends.

I'm looking forward to actually playing Bioshock finally too.

The weirdest part of the whole writing experience was the sudden realisation of what happens to Alex and Milos nine years in the future in this alternate fantasy world.  Considering that in all of the 64 stories of the regular universe I've been preoccupied enough with keeping them in line and figuring out their past, I'd not had time to consider the future beyond a couple of months.  Realising what happens not just in the future of the current stories, but nearly a whole decade beyond has come as a bit of a surprise.

Unfortunately for everyone, there is also artwork.

I'm intrigued enough that once I've managed to finish these chapters I might start on this new development and see where it goes; half the fun of this AU is mirroring certain events from my main storyline (because I'm easily amused like that) so this would be hurtling into all-new territory for these boys.  Maybe by then I'll even have come up with a better title than the one it's already got (honestly, anything would be an improvement).

Maybe this time, however, I won't try to write it all in a month.  I'm not sure I could take this kind of experience more than once or twice a year.

As always, if you're curious about this ridiculous project and how far I've got, the links to the chapters can be found here, or at the top of the page under "Radial: Unravel - AU".  I did say it needed a better title...!

Friday Status Update and Music Musings

I'm now three days behind.  This isn't entirely a surprise to me--what really is a surprise is that it's only three days.  I'm currently rocking a grand total of 35,191 words spread over 16 chapters, so I'm probably doing a little better than I thought I would, even if I am still disappointed in myself for those three days.

Hopefully by the end of today it'll resume being two days.

When I write, I tend to have specific 'soundtracks'--collections of songs that remind me of certain stories.  Radial has one, Unravel has one (which in fact proved awkward when trying to narrow it down to average CD length for a challenge).  Even stories I've not mentioned here such as Arkadian and Chime have them: they both share The Killers' Day & Age between them, along with tracks by Muse and Fair To Midland.

This Alternate Universe doesn't have one.  A lot of the ones I associate with Alex and Milos are too contemporary to move across, and after I removed those I found I had very little left on the playlist.  So I added in music from Sonata Arctica (somewhat a mistake: I associate a few of those with another story too), Orgy and Our Lady Peace in the hope some of those would stick.

Nope.

I'm enjoying the music, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing that's firing off random ideas.  Sixteen is having the occasional Mood over which songs he does and doesn't want to play--there's a few that if I didn't see them on the playlist I'd think I'd forgotten to put in--and I can't find anything in my folders that is giving me the right 'feeling' for a fantasy story about an arse of a knight and his long-suffering slave (although it's odd how much does work for an arse of a government agent and his long-suffering genetically-modified subordinate).

So... if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be incredibly happy to hear them!  And if not... well, I'll be over here staring mournfully at Sixteen's screen and wondering why I can no longer string together a coherent sentence.  And with this post, I think I've proved that...!

Status Update, And My Ever-Growing "To-Read" Pile

I am one of those irritating bloggers who write entire posts in their head and forget every single part of it when it comes to sitting down in front of a keyboard.  Although I’ll admit that I’m only irritating myself when it comes to that.

I’m almost on target with my Ridiculous Writing Challenge, although I’m not quite sure how it’s happened.  It’s taken a lot of pointed musical hints from my laptop, who is possessed but can be helpful when he wants to be, but as of the 12th April I’ve written a grand(ish) total of 19,329 words and I’m a day behind for reasons I won’t go into.

Even considering I’m one day off target and that I’ve yet to write anything today, I wish I’d had an output like this during National Novel Writing Month.

The only thing is, when someone slow like me decides to do a stupid challenge like this, everything else tends to go by the wayside and as a result, I turned my back for a few minutes and my to read pile has stacked up like crazy.

Okay, yes, I’ll admit I may have had a hand in it since I am the one who bought it all, but it’s not my fault!  I can’t be expected to walk into a bookstore and walk away empty-handed, can I?  (And yes, that is the sequel to The Left Hand Of God at the bottom of the stack, because I do want to know what happens, but this book doesn’t smell as nice as the first one did by a long shot--I tested this on my friends in the store and they agree--so to the bottom of the pile it goes.)

Also, special mention to Bioshock: Infinite propping up Lydia Nexus there, because that’s what I’ll be playing the minute this challenge is up.  Or possibly before, depending on how long I can hold out...

Well, I’m ten chapters into this AU challenge now, I had to rewrite one half-written chapter to change the POV and the plot is still coming to me as I write (both useful--at least it’s turning up, albeit slowly--and incredibly irritating--I’d like to know what’s happening more than two days in advance) but as planning seems to involve me staring blankly at empty sheets of paper lately, I’ll have to stick to jotting notes and seeing what comes up when I do, although maybe knowing what towns are called beforehand would be a place to start.  As always, if you’re curious (or bloody-minded), the link’s at the top of the page.  I even managed to write a little smut--unfortunately for Milos--and there’s more to come (uh, no pun, even mildly, intended...).

Wish me luck!  Because believe me, I’ll need it...

Alternate Universe Month, now also known as Pax's Stupidity Month

Over at my favourite writing community, Runaway Tales, it’s Alternate Universe month.  Considering my ‘main canon’, the world I predominantly write in, is contemporary sci-fantasy (the nice--and much shorter--way of saying my main character, Milos, is a genetically modified elf who’s been forced to work for the government), this promptly gave me a headache.

I mean, when you’re already writing about elves, what do you do?  I thought about sci-fi, but most of my previous worlds are in that genre and I didn’t really want to rehash it for a sixth time (also, oddly, I’ve never been all that big on Elves In Space and I didn’t want to give Alex, Milos’s human superior--or so he’d refer to himself--an excuse to be a bigger dick than normal).  I even considered the comedy-drama of an anime/manga style gakuen, or school, setting, something I did for two of my sci-fi characters a couple of years ago, but although the idea of Milos and Alex in school uniforms was appealing I just didn’t feel inclined to go that way again.  I considered steampunk, but I’ve got another idea percolating on that (it takes a while for my brain to get its act together) and this would have just stepped on its toes.

Which somehow only left me with high fantasy, and another headache.

I’ve not written high fantasy in years and when I did, the worlds were devoid of elves or magic, although they did have a liberal helping of nosy gods and reanimated priestesses.  I’ve never been one for castles, although I love exploring them in real life, and my favourite eras of history aren’t ones involving chivalry (or the lack thereof) and knights.

I’ve got no idea, in fact, what possessed me.  But here we are: I’ve written two stories already and I’ve challenged myself to write and post something every day for April.

I think I’ll regret this decision.  I think I’m already regretting it, as I’m staring at my third ‘chapter’ and failing to get words to fall into coherent lines and wondering just when Alex sprouted a family his real-world incarnation most definitely doesn’t have.  I don’t even have the excuse of doing Camp NaNo.  I’ve just randomly decided to be stupid and set myself challenges I don’t think I can keep.

But even if I crash and burn in five days time--or even tomorrow--I’ll have written more in these three days than I did in the whole of the last month.

So maybe even random bursts of stupidity serve their purpose...

We’ll see if I’m still saying that next week!

(If you’re curious, it’s the tab at the top handily labelled as Unravel AU - Index and it should be updated every day. Should. But I’d be more than happy to take suggestions on a new name.  The entire damn thing needs a new name to be fair, but mostly because I can’t stop seeing the ‘Alternate Universe’ abbreviation as ‘Australia’...)