I bet you have wondered why I have not posted an Audible update lately. That project is on pause. It has been challenging to get clean recordings, and the amount of editing made the project bigger than it should have been. It is much work for a crappy outcome. OK, I was getting better at it. You can still listen on Spotify to my progress at narrating; the sound quality was also improving. (It was pretty cringy the first few episodes.)
So I was recording in my dining room; it is wide open to the kitchen and living room with vaulted ceilings, so everything echoes, and (5 cats) are noisier than they should be. So, I am waiting for a space to carve out for a permanent recording area. In the next few months, I should have a niche to call my own, and I will resume recording then.
In the meantime, I continue to chip away at Emergence Ascended, on chapter 30, with just over 50 thousand words, so I am nearing completion. I started my research on the ghost story I am writing next. I have been corresponding with a paranormal investigator group in the UK, so I look forward to some spooky tales to flesh out my insane idea. If you are or know a ghost hunter or paranormal investigator, send them my way!
Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog; feel free to leave a comment or drop a “Like” my way; I sincerely appreciate it.
I am making good progress on “Emergence Ascended” (the sequel to “Emergence Collective.”) I am getting close to the final chapters and I couldn’t be happier. I am working with an Artist, Nora Ravenhorn for some digital art. Here is an image of Serenity Gates, one of the characters in “Emergence Ascended” (click the picture for a link to her Facebook)
I have mentioned in previous posts that when I am writing (or drawing), I create rule sets to maintain continuity in the world I am building (or the picture I am drawing, a style is a rule set for me). In Emergence collective and its sequel Emergence Ascended, there are rules to the world that may not be spelled out in the story. It’s mostly for me to keep the story’s vibe the same throughout. I tend to be scattered, and ADD doesn’t help, so the rules are a coping mechanism to keep things straight in my scrambled egg brain.
In the Emergence world, I have several seemingly unrelated philosophies that guide the story. Remember that I am not a shaman, Guru, or theoretical physicist, so the crap I come up with may or may not coincide with actual science, religious or spiritual facts, beliefs, or practices. It’s pure fiction. The framework for these stories is based on String theory and my imaginary connection to spiritualism, where vibrational energies are the heart of reality. In string theory, everything that exists comes from infinitesimal vibrating strings. When the strings vibrate at different wavelengths or frequencies, that defines the particular matter or energy and makes things like quarks, protons, atoms, molecules, etc. In some spiritual philosophies, the world(or reality) is also vibrational energy that governs things like love (positive vibrational energy) or hate (negative vibrational energy), whether you are healing or decaying in your spiritual self. Consciously or intentionally, maintaining a positive vibrational frequency (spiritually) will shine out and radiate love, light, and positivity that others will be attracted to. Conversely, suppose you are radiating a negative vibrational frequency. In that case, you will attract negative entities that thrive on those frequencies and encourage negativity in your life to reinforce the negative energy they are consuming.
Karma (in my world, though I don’t point it out expressly) is that convergence of positive and negative energy. To me, Karma isn’t a spiritual point system where if you do something good, you get points that you can cash in, in life or the afterlife. Or if you do something terrible, you will lose points, and maybe something bad will happen to you. In my rule set for my story, Karma is the balance of positive or negative vibrational frequencies. Like attracts like. If I keep vibrating in lower frequencies, those things that also reside there are attracted to me and vice versa. Doing “Bad things” (although a cultural distinction can be made for what is considered good or bad ) is merely a matter of vibrational patterns. Altruism is regarded as one of the higher frequencies, but your choice in how altruism is displayed can be a negative frequency, depending on your intention. If you help an old lady cross the road, for example, that is a good thing. But if you did it to be noticed doing it, so that whoever saw you doing the “Nice thing” will see you as a good or nice person; that act of altruism is corrupted by your selfish, negative need to be seen as being nice (Bad karma dude). It’s a slippery slope, and the balance of your spiritual frequencies is constantly wavering back and forth.
Ok I think I am rambling and none of this probably doesn’t make sense, but when I am writing the Emergence series, this stuff all plays its part in the back of my mind.
Thanks for reading! Leave me a comment or ask a question, there is extra Karma if you give me this a “Like”
So as I mentioned before, I have been stalling on Emergence Ascended. When I started, I had the gist of the story in my head from beginning to end (sort of). I had a rough map, at any rate. Sometimes I write myself into a corner or (as the reader is) wonder what will happen next (that’s where I need to be clever and creative), but sometimes I get stuck. There were a few possible plot directions I could go, but one way led to a problem, and the other leads to another issue. Trying to find the best possible solution without sounding derivative or a bland ending, I had to give it some serious thought.
Well, I had an epiphany. I had all the elements in place, but for some reason, my dumb brain took a minute to sort it out. I Passed the bumps in the road and am ready to finish the 3rd act. As I am primarily a discovery writer, I do not usually outline; I have an idea and go from there. But After my epiphany, I decided to jot it down to keep my thoughts in order. Maybe I am evolving my writing style.
Here is a question for the other writers out there. Have you ever written the end, last chapter, or whatever before you finished? Then connect the dots? How’d that go?
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Chapter 33 of Emergence Ascended just a tease. Sadly the Audio gods are angry, and my plans of recording more chapters of Emergence ascended went the way of the Dodo (with fewer feathers.) Still in the plans I might try to squeeze it out after work, if I can fine a quiet space. I have been considering dropping chapters of Emergence Ascended right here. Any interest out there or should I wait for the book release?
I am getting to the end of “Emergence Ascended” (my current WIP), the sequel to “Emergence Collective,” which is very exciting. I am probably the slowest writer in the world since I should have finished this book 6 months ago, but I am chipping away at it. It’s funny that while I am writing, I have to stop myself from daydreaming about the other stories in my head. I added a few more paragraphs to my short story Phantom Black (I’ll post that next), but also I am working out some details for my next book (no title yet). In the next book, I go back to my favorite Genre, Horror. It’s a ghost story, but there is a direction I am taking that requires a lot of moving pieces to work together all at once for the idea to make sense. I am also going to take a completely different approach to my writing. The dreaded outline. With some bonus pain, being character development prior to even starting. I had read somewhere about an approach to fleshing out characters by making a grid, in which each box in the grid describes a character trait or behavior and how those characters interact with each other. There is more to it, but that is the gist of it. I have some other character generation ideas that I am going to integrate into the new writing process too. Anyway, I have been having fun playing with the plot and character decisions with the ghost story instead of finishing my WIP. Oh, and some short story ideas.
I posted a part of this story idea before, but I tweaked it a little and thought Id share. This story is a slow burn in the back of my mind. I am compiling some of my short horror stories into a book called “30-minute shivers”.
Phantom Black.
Phantom Black
The scientists fiddled with the device with excited banter, enthusiastic about their apparent success. The device looked like an over-engineered paint spray gun. One of the scientists adjusted a setting on the machine, causing a pleasant harmonic tone to emanate from it. The other scientist poured a black viscous liquid into a small vat attached to the instrument with tubes, hoses, and electrical connections. The first scientist starts speaking into a recorder, taking verbal notes with a shaky, excited voice. “Four-thirty two hertz to four forty hertz seems to be the correct resonant frequencies to properly align the filaments. We have achieved approximately….” He looks up at the other scientist and nods slightly, prompting the missing information.
“Ninety-nine point nine, nine percent.” The other scientist reads off of a computer monitor in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Yes, right. Ninety-nine point nine, nine percent of photon absorption.” He continued, “We have found with the increased amplitude and voltage, the harmonic frequencies will correctly align the carbon nanotubes vertically, giving us an additional twenty percent efficiency.” He said, his voice still quivering with obvious exhilaration.
The scientist that poured the fluid into the contraption turned to a wall with a stark white square painted across its surface, then began to spray. A five-foot blob of black paint appeared on the wall. The scientist had to stop at that point as vertigo overcame him, and he swayed on unstable feet. To look into the blackness was to see a complete void that lied to his brain and made him dizzy as if falling into a never-ending hole.
He set the sprayer down and stumbled to the other scientist, that was busy monitoring the equipment. He laughed as he walked drunkenly back to the monitors. “I can’t believe it! I felt like I was going to fall into it for a minute!” he said, finally reaching the desk where he could grab hold and steady his feat.
The beam of light pierced the veil.
Like an ugly knife wound tearing a rough, misshapen hole in the darkness. The light touched the creature’s tentacle, a warm tingle drawing its attention. Confused and curious, it extended its tentacles, reaching, feeling the jagged edges of the opening. It wrapped its tentacles around it with more confusion about the nature of this new thing in its world, then examined the edges, feeling its solidity. Reaching in and gaining purchase on the inside surface, it began to pull itself through, marveling at the warm tingly, yet slightly stinging sensation on its skin.
Tentacles wavered through the opening, touching the air and feeling the strange tingle of the light. As it pushed deeper into the new expanse, it could feel a vibration of sound emanating from inside this new space. It waved a tentacle sniffing the air, searching for the source of the vibrations. With so many new sensations, the creature grew eager and more curious. It pulled itself through the hole, sniffing and feeling.
With their backs turned away from the black painted surface, the scientists quickly prepared their device for the new round of testing; the creature probed a tentacle towards them. The probing tentacle extended toward the sound vibrations and detected a unique sensation that triggered a biological response; Hunger.
The tentacle wrapped around one of the scientists and pulled closer to the creature. Strange and delightful sensations came from it. It was warm and squishy and made sound vibrations that pleasantly tickled its senses. A warm gush of liquid poured out when it was pulled apart, metallic and salty. The creature pulled the pieces into its beak-like maw, enjoying the warm salty, and chewy sensations. It was intoxicating. Its first taste of this new food unleashed an unapologetic yearning for more as it felt the nutrients provided a near-explosive growth.
I decide to go ahead and do the commentary on my audiobook on Spotify. If you are interested in hearing me ramble on and attempt to share my ideas and feeling about “Emergence Collective,” there is the bonus episode now on Spotify, in addition to chapters 18 and 19.
As I look back, I can see how far I have grown as a writer in just the last year. (Ya know, when I actually started to get serious about it). Narrating the book has taught me so much more than I anticipated that it would, and to be honest, I didn’t think it would be any more than me reading aloud. But as I read, I see a lot that I can improve on, namely the overall structure. It hadn’t occurred to me when I was writing it, that my chapters are very short, (I don’t know if there are rules or anything concerning chapter length) but now I see that. The story still flows well and I am happy with the overall story. I think that “Emergence Ascended” is much more concise and smoother. the flow is better and I think I have a solid handle on the pacing. If you have read “Emergence Collective,” you should be getting excited about the sequel. I am nearing the end and I am getting excited (sort of) about the editing and final reviews. If you want to beta-read it, let me know!
In the meantime, check out the latest episodes on Spotify. Please comment/like or you can simply just say hi at Hello@hand-printsofdarkness.com Be sure to follow my Spotify page to get notified of the latest episodes!
Do you remember the Twilight Zone episode “Time enough at last”? Where the bookworm survives the end of the world and can finally read as much as he wants with no interruptions? Yeah I feel for him. but my case is for writing. If you can know me I am consistently inconsistent with my personal projects. So I missed a week or so blogging, (And writing in general). I did managed to get chapter 13 recorded, but not the re-record of 14 (because of the weird interference sound in the recording), I published it anyway. I got 15 through 17 finished yesterday so there is progress.
I have been thinking about Spotify and the role it is taking in my blog and writing. So far, I have not been very vocal, aside from the narrating and a quick intro. I have been wondering if I should lean farther into it more as a podcast and less of a platform to read my book.
I have also been speaking with a music artist that I like about using her music in the podcast (intro and outro music). I have received permission. Now I just have to learn how to do it. Of course everything I want to do falls into the category of ” Now I have to learn that thing.” Of course a will let you know the progress of that new project.
“Emergence Ascended” my WIP is going slow, I admit that I am stalling just a bit, I am still trying to decide the direction of a couple very important characters and of course that changes the end of the story a bit. I am a discovery writer,make this shit up as I go so even I do not really know how it is going to end. I have and idea where I want it to go, but as the story takes a life of its own it could go very different that what I had planned. Thats is fun for me too, as I am also and eager audience waiting to find out what happens next. (makes for good introversion, as I am constantly entertained by myself). Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog! If you like it, feel free to comment or like it!
Glad that’s over. This blog is about my writing, so I try to not bring my work or home life into it (Boring, right?) But sometimes, it had a direct effect on my writing, so here it is. I had a very stressful week at work. I work in aerospace (Boeing, Space X, Blue Origin, etc…), and in aerospace, there are several governing agencies in place to ensure quality standards are maintained. Primarily the FAA and NADCAP. NADCAP is the National Aerospace and Defense Accreditation Program. This accreditation is very important; without it the shop would not be able to make parts. Anyway, after 3 days of diligent scrutiny, I have successfully passed the audit with barely a scratch. It was a near-flawless outcome that entitles me to “Merit,” meaning that we are successful enough to get a six extension of our audit schedule. So I am basking in the afterglow of success!
What all this has to do with my writing is that I can now focus without the distractions of work. I am sure I am like most creatives in that if there is a lot of stress in the background, it interferes with creativity. Other good work news is that I am rebuilding my staff to pre-pandemic levels and I do not have to take up the slack anymore. No more overtime and weekend work! All that being said, I look forward to getting some writing in!
As far as my Audible recording project goes, there is a snag. Of course, as I mentioned before, I recorded the wrong chapter last week and had intended on recording the correct one on Sunday (chapter 13) and re-recording 14 because I had some weird sound quality stuff that I want to correct. My son gave me his cold again. I could have recorded, but I wanted to spare the audience the sounds of my sneezing, coughing and other unfortunate vocal issues. Next week? That is my plan! Stay tuned. If you like listening to the story so far, but are eager to know what happens next, check out the book on Amazon!
Hand-prints of Darkness 