Robin Gilbert's Blog, page 3
July 11, 2011
Hopefully this inspires… "Athanor Forge" An alchemist shu...
Hopefully this inspires…
"Athanor Forge"
An alchemist shuffled through the dark,
From his lips fell a methodical hum…
Base metals burning, a sudden remark:
Conversi ad aurum!
First posted here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/595170-poem-thing-help
"Athanor Forge"
An alchemist shuffled through the dark,
From his lips fell a methodical hum…
Base metals burning, a sudden remark:
Conversi ad aurum!
First posted here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/595170-poem-thing-help
July 8, 2011
Unwanted GiftThe wife bought me a computer, all cables an...
Unwanted GiftThe wife bought me a computer, all cables and fancy keys,With a TFT, a Pentium 4 and some wossname DVDs.When I finally found the ON switch, at the back, out the way,I watched in awe and listened to the whirring CD... JK?Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to log on. What silly language is that?I'd have more chance mud wrestling the next door neighbour's cat.Press START, All Programs, click Office then Word.Oops, hang on... an Access Violation's occurred.There, that's better, I can type to my heart's content...Wait a minute... not sure where that last paragraph went.Now a box has popped up and I can hear a ding-ding-ding.ALT-TAB out be Christ. Chance would be a fine thing!"You have caused an error," it said, "Windows is shutting down."I could hear the innards sighing, the monitor gave a frown.I kicked the box which squealed aloud and made the speakers wince.Hope my letter's alright in there, I've not seen the damn thing since.So you can have it if you want, this perplexing Packard Bell.As far as I'm concerned? They can all go straight to hell.
July 2, 2011
On ... Fatal Revenant by Stephen R Donaldson Where o...
On ... Fatal Revenant by Stephen R Donaldson Where once the depth and richness imbued by his 'clever words' added mystery and excitement, now I read over them as if they're not there. I also prefer Thomas to Linden and find myself getting rather sick of her self-pitying whine. "Just get on with it, woman!" I hear myself thinking, usually when I'm skipping the latest short but random assortment of unpronounceable letters. (I've been putting together Seven Words of my own.)
I always feel the time travelling thread is a cop-out and dislike it in science fiction too. In this case, if you want to go back in time just go back and stop worrying about justifying it or have your characters worrying about breaking the laws of causality - you just sent them back in time for goodness sake, too late to be careful now! Sorry, the latent theurgy obnubilated within my information processing system is uncontrollably effusing.
Will I read the 3rd one? Yes. But only after what happened on the last page. Up until then I might not have bothered.
I always feel the time travelling thread is a cop-out and dislike it in science fiction too. In this case, if you want to go back in time just go back and stop worrying about justifying it or have your characters worrying about breaking the laws of causality - you just sent them back in time for goodness sake, too late to be careful now! Sorry, the latent theurgy obnubilated within my information processing system is uncontrollably effusing.
Will I read the 3rd one? Yes. But only after what happened on the last page. Up until then I might not have bothered.
June 30, 2011
Having promised an insight into my tropical building site...
Having promised an insight into my tropical building site garden I thought it about time I shared with you the secrets of cultivating one of your own. Of course, I use the word 'cultivating' quite wrongly.
You're going to need a cement mixer; everything revolves around this, if you'll pardon the pun. Add to this a strategically inconvenient pile of builders sand insufficiently covered with a holed and garish tarpaulin; allow weeds to grow through - you'll not have a choice. Alongside, proximate enough to mix and spoil, drop recycled chippings. Attempting to wall these 'ball bearings of death' behind planks unsuitable for the job will lend a wonderful, mysterious air to your site.
Scatter an assortment of wood, brick, tile and other plumbing and electrical fittings over poorly laid black weed suppressant matting. Finally, scatter generously with exotic weed seed. Behold.
You're going to need a cement mixer; everything revolves around this, if you'll pardon the pun. Add to this a strategically inconvenient pile of builders sand insufficiently covered with a holed and garish tarpaulin; allow weeds to grow through - you'll not have a choice. Alongside, proximate enough to mix and spoil, drop recycled chippings. Attempting to wall these 'ball bearings of death' behind planks unsuitable for the job will lend a wonderful, mysterious air to your site.
Scatter an assortment of wood, brick, tile and other plumbing and electrical fittings over poorly laid black weed suppressant matting. Finally, scatter generously with exotic weed seed. Behold.
June 24, 2011
I know I'm becoming "Australian by contamination" but the...
I know I'm becoming "Australian by contamination" but there's just something about the NZ anthem - when sung at the rugby - that makes the hairs on my neck stand up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_8DtGbXJs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_8DtGbXJs
June 18, 2011
The possums ate my post. :(
The possums ate my post. :(
June 12, 2011
BW1 DN done.
After days of editing, culling, slicing, for...
BW1 DN done.
After days of editing, culling, slicing, formatting, optimising and 'removing the self indulgences' I have, with the help of my masters, reduced BW1 DN from its original first draft of 95,000+ words, down to just one; "wickty".
Okay, its about 88,000 and I've uploaded every word, and a cover, to Smashwords and Amazon. Both sites are 'pending approval'; hopefully be ready for general consumption within 2 weeks, when wickty will be revealed.
Watch this space for more details!
After days of editing, culling, slicing, formatting, optimising and 'removing the self indulgences' I have, with the help of my masters, reduced BW1 DN from its original first draft of 95,000+ words, down to just one; "wickty".
Okay, its about 88,000 and I've uploaded every word, and a cover, to Smashwords and Amazon. Both sites are 'pending approval'; hopefully be ready for general consumption within 2 weeks, when wickty will be revealed.
Watch this space for more details!
BW1 DN done.After days of editing, culling, slicing, form...
BW1 DN done.
After days of editing, culling, slicing, formatting, optimising and 'removing the self indulgences' I have, with the help of my masters, reduced BW1 DN from its original first draft of 95,000+ words, down to just one; "wickty".
Okay, its about 88,000 and I've uploaded every word, and a cover, to Smashwords and Amazon. Both sites are 'pending approval'; hopefully be ready for general consumption within 2 weeks, when wickty will be revealed.
Watch this space for more details!
After days of editing, culling, slicing, formatting, optimising and 'removing the self indulgences' I have, with the help of my masters, reduced BW1 DN from its original first draft of 95,000+ words, down to just one; "wickty".
Okay, its about 88,000 and I've uploaded every word, and a cover, to Smashwords and Amazon. Both sites are 'pending approval'; hopefully be ready for general consumption within 2 weeks, when wickty will be revealed.
Watch this space for more details!
June 10, 2011
Vast and green, an easy start,Look within to find the hea...
Vast and green, an easy start,Look within to find the heart.Upon a rock, beneath a stream,See it shift, see it gleam.
