Chapter 7 is recorded. As a bonus I recorded a sneak peek episode of Emergence Ascended.
Check it out on Spotify!
Audible update
Character snapshot, Visual edition: Mark and Trina
It’s a character snapshot, but these two characters are equally important
together as they are apart, so I decided to lump the snapshot together. I
really enjoyed writing the relationship between these two. I really wanted to
express the kind of purity of love two people could share if they had the
freedom of innocence….
Mark’s beat-up Honda fishtailed around the corner of the driveway and then
skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust in front of the longhouse. Trina had
a white-knuckle grip on the dashboard as if she was holding on for dear
life. “Why do you have to drive like a crazy person?” she shouted, but the look
on her face was one of excitement rather than terror. “Umm, because
it’s fun?” he said with a chuckle. “Well, here we are. Let’s find the best
cabin before anyone else calls dibs.”
“Yeah, good call,” she said as she got out of the car and stretched her
back. “This is a cool place,” she said as she looked around, taking in the
layout of the place. “But geez, namaste much?” Mark chuckled at that last
remark. “Yeah, he was the poster child for hippies, I guess. That’s
probably why my dad and Grandad pretended he didn’t exist.” “I think
you might be cut from the same cloth, honey, ya know? A long-hair dropout in a
family of lawyers and doctors. You’re not gonna get rich, but I love ya,”
she said softly.
He walked over and put his hands on her tiny waist, and pulled her close to
him. “That’s how I know you love me. You’re not a gold digger. He
whispered in her ear, “That makes me richer than any of ’em.”
“I think this place is making you mushy,” she whispered back. He moved
closer to her ear. “It’s also making me horny.” Then he playfully swatted her
butt. She pretended to be mad and started to push him away but grabbed his
hand and started pulling him to the cabins. “Let’s go find us a cabin, my
‘mushy’ man,” she said and winked at him. He dared not resist as she led
him down a random path. “These cabins are all in good condition. I was
imagining something like sleeping in a dirty barn,” Trina said as she
peered into the window of a pleasant-looking cabin. “I like this one, but I
want something, ya know, a little more private.” “Anything for you,
love,” he said, smiling. “Yeah, I think Uncle Frank had a lot of time on his
hands and kept the place up nicely.”
They reached the end of the path at a cabin that seemed to be the farthest
from all the others. Mark walked up the few steps to the porch and opened
the door. “Should I carry you over the threshold?” Trina pushed past him
with a smirk. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, bucko,” she said
sarcastically.
“Well then,” he said with an exaggerated bow, “after you, m’lady,” then
followed her in.
Character snapshot, Visual edition: Frank
I’ve been playing with Artificial “Art” generators. Honestly, I am on the fence about how I feel about artificial content creation. While I am diametrically opposed to using AI to generate content on my blog or ANYTHING that I would put my name on as my own. But I do see value in using it as a tool to spark my own imagination. I feel AI art or other content can be used in the same way as writing prompts or thumbnail sketches to fine-tune an idea.
AI is a new and fun (sometimes frightening) technology that I am willing to explore. I wanted to know what it could do, so I decided to see how close it could get to my own internal visualization of my characters. I am also curious if you had a similar image in mind of my characters as you read my story.
The first thing I learned is AI art is NOT human art. (a relief, as a human, I don’t want to be deposed as an artist). There are things that it (in my experience) just can’t get right. Faces are number one. They are always a little “off,” a tad skewed, and more disproportionate than reality has to offer. And some of my descriptions go completely ignored no matter how I word them. (Again, proving that only a fool would rely on AI to make content that you would claim to be yours)
The image I described for Frank came out pretty close (but since Frank’s appearance and a few character traits are based on someone I actually know, it’s not perfect, of course, but it’s close enough).
An expert from “Emergence Collective.”
Still lost in his thoughts and even a little excited, he must have been
driving faster than he realized since he got to the hardware store in
quick time. It was good, though; the evening was going by fast, and the
store was about to close up for the night. He got out of his Volkswagen van
and pushed open the old door of the storefront. He only got a few steps
into the store when the cashier gave him an odd look. The young kid had spiky
black hair and a ring in his nose.
“Mister… you can’t come in here like that, sorry.” The young kid sounded
apologetic and amused at the same time.
“Like what?” Frank was oblivious to any reason why he should not be
there.
“Your feet, bro. You have to have shoes to come in; it’s a safety thing.
Might step on a nail and sue us or something.” A smile indicating laughter
was soon to follow was on the boy’s face by now.
Frank looked down at his feet and realized that he wasn’t wearing shoes. The
thick calluses on his perpetually dirty feet did not feel shoes in the
summer most of the time. He was an old hippy and stuck in a time warp.
Shoes were for winter when it was too cold to go without. He chuckled at
himself and smiled back at the cashier.
“Sorry,” Frank said with a bit of a giggle. He was not embarrassed by his
attire. Look at that kid; why should I be embarrassed by the way I dress?
he thought to himself, almost laughing out loud. Nonchalantly turning
around, he gave the cashier a nod goodbye and headed for the exit. He
only felt a little disgruntled by the situation since it was a wasted
trip. He did not have anything much to do anyway, but wasted gasoline was
wasted money.
Fundamental Habits
My first Computer was a Commador Vic20; yes, I am that old. When I first started using computers, I was taught a valuable skill. Save early, Save often. Repeat, forever. Keep in mind that I was never taught the reverse, which is to delete outdated versions and keep your files system clean and tidy. I still struggle with that, and it brings its own set of problems. My computer glitched over the weekend after I poured my heart into a particularly important chapter of my WIP, “Emergence Ascended.” Of course, I had finished the chapter to my satisfaction. I use autosave on my one drive, and up until now, it had been my go-to for “save early, save often,” and I relied on it. When I wanted to give my chapter a quick review, I opened the WIP, and everything I had written was gone. I double-checked save settings, file locations, time stamps, etc. but to no avail. I was left in shock; it was a great chapter and a pivotal part in the story.
Whatever the glitch was, it saved over an old file (chapter 4, of all things). I was lucky enough to randomly open that file (not the first I tried) and noticed a line I had recently written. I carefully copied and pasted it into the correct location. SAVED again, made a copy of the entire WIP, and saved it to an archive folder just in case.
My diligence in saving early save often but using automation that is not always reliable taught me another lesson to periodically clean out the old and make copies. Learn from me.
Audible update: Chapter 6
Today’s recording went well. I’m getting the hang of it, I think. Chapter 6 is a short one; I had intended to push through and get chapter 7 recorded this morning but ran out of quiet time. This is one of my favorites chapters, Frank and Barney meet and Frank goes spelunking. When I wrote this I referred to it as “The story of Frank”. The story of Frank is one of my favorite parts of the story. I think once we get into chapter 7 you might agree. Thanks for reading I hope you enjoy!
Workshoppin a scene
I am at a pivot point in the plot of Emergence Ascended. I thought I would workshop the scene and share it with you. There is no context yet. My goal is to catch the reader off, guard. If I decide not to include it in the novel, I just might keep it in my backpocket of flash fiction ideas. Let me know what you think (as always, my shoot from the hip, flash fiction ideas are NOT polished, so bare that in mind)
Content may be too graphic for sensitive readers (Im not sure anymore, I am so jaded I don’t know what is offensive)
The golf ball-sized chrome sphere appeared in the middle of the pine and seventh avenue intersection. It hovered silently and unwavering as a tractor-green waste management truck collided with it, punching a perfect hole through the length of the truck. Out of control, the dump truck plowed into the traffic ahead, tossing a few small cars aside as it ground to a halt. Another perfectly round hole pierced through the vehicle following the truck, and it, in turn, smashed violently into the garbage truck. In a desperate attempt to avoid the collision in front, the third vehicle braked hard and turned sharply. It slid sideways, the momentum carrying the car into the sphere, forcing the globe through the temple of the driver’s head like a hole punch. The sphere sat steady unmarred, with a mirror finish that made it appear innocent despite the carnage surrounding it.
Shocked at the scene, the onlookers quickly noticed the strange imperturbable object that had caused so much damage and bloodshed. One of the witnesses sprang into action in the seconds that followed the collisions. He rushed to the man with the perfect circle of gore just beginning to ooze out of his head, deciding in horror that there was no help, and looked into the back seat for any passengers that may need assistance. The body slumped over, its former owner no longer in control, and fell into the sphere still hovering inside the car.
There was no resistance as the body slid over the spere, causing a surgical swath nearly cutting the man’s head off as it passed. Stunned at the scene, the hero moved his hand to cover his mouth. His fingers were trimmed off neatly and cleanly as they brushed the sphere causing the would-be hero to cry out and vomit on the driver.
Monday quick post
It’s Monday again, and back to the work routine. Just a quick post today. Sadly no writing or recording progress for two reasons. The first is that I have had a cold (not Covid!) over the weekend, which kind of puts a damper on creative thinking; recording audio with a cold is a waste of time unless you want to hear me sneeze and sniffle. Second, it was my son’s 16th birthday, so we had a busy weekend for that.
I will leave you with a fun poem I wrote, Enjoy!
Audible update :Chapter 5
A quick update! Chapter 5 is recorded and I am almost pleased.The narration was a lot smoother (Im getting better at it) and the editing has improved. Thats why we practice folks. I feel that by the time I finish I will have it down well enough to Re-record it at a level that will be acceptable for ACX (audible format)
Check it out on spotify!
Painted into a corner
I had a productive weekend creatively. Chapter 4 of Emergence collective is recorded, and I got Chapter 24 of Emergence Ascended sort of almost finished, maybe. Yeah, I am a little undecided since it seems that I painted myself into a narrative corner plot-wise. I am stuck with a decision that will steer the story on two different paths. The two storylines converge in this chapter.
One of the issues and how I managed to do it is I am a seat-of-the-pants kind of writer where I do not outline the entire story. I have a plan about how I want it to end, and I wander with the story as I navigate my way to the ending. By wander, I mean that as I am writing a scene, even I do not know what is going to happen next. Sometimes I have epiphanies and inspirations that feel right but create other issues that I have to reconcile with the overall storyline. Like I did Saturday, On the one hand, I am very happy with my latest bout of inspiration (It makes sense for those characters), but it has created a timing issue with the plot and a sticky situation that I have to think about and finesse my way out of.
Yes, I know I am being vague about it, but I am hoping that you might be curious enough to grab yourself a copy once it is finished. Anyway, I will ponder this for a bit, and maybe I will come up with an elegant solution. On the optimistic side of the coin, I do enjoy a challenge; without them, we only stagnate and do not grow.
Thanks for reading!
Audible update: Chapter 4 in the can!
I recorded Chapter 4 of Emergence collective. Every episode I record sounds a little better, I think. The Audio quality has improved, and my edits are less clunky. At least, that’s how I feel about it. My reading skills are also getting better too. I still have a long way to go before I feel that it meets my personal standards and that of Audible.
Chapter 4 is where the story really starts to gain momentum. You can check it out by clicking the link below! If you enjoy it, be sure to subscribe to my Spotify channel to get updates on episode releases! Thanks for reading!
Hand-prints of Darkness 