Moe Lane's Blog, page 881
August 19, 2020
08/19/2020 Snippet, OMBUDSMAN.
Machinations!
Patreon!Morty didn’t bring any guys with him, either; but that wasn’t his style. Instead, he brought paperwork with him, which Bad Jack had started to notice wasn’t exactly the nicer option. You had to be careful about writing shit down. Just ask Yapper.
The Yapper business turned out to be something Morty wanted to bring up, too. “If you don’t mind, Director Steelman,” he said. “It’s a minor thing, for the moment, but I’d like to address it before it becomes a major one.”
“Sure,” said Bad Jack. “We can do that before my business.” Since my business is mostly gonna be me saying ‘Remember who runs this place, Ombudsman.’ Only, you know, all polite-like.
“Excellent.” Morty pulled out a few pieces of paper. “Mr. Joeson was very eager to avoid a noose after his conviction. He confessed to quite a few things, and made rather more accusations. Quite far-reaching ones, too.”
Morty looked up, catching and keeping Bad Jack’s eyes. “This is not a prelude to an accusation, an invitation for a bribe…” — Bad Jack surprised himself, and possibly even Morty, with his snort of suppressed laughter — “…yes, quite. And it is not even a veiled warning. Most of what Mr. Joeson told the Consortium is suspect.
“But some of it is not, so I have new orders from the Consortium to either confirm or disprove it. Despite Mr. Joeson’s best efforts, neither you nor your two immediate subordinates are under investigation; but there are members of your original staff who may — excuse me for saying this; who most likely are — guilty of serious violations of Consortium policy. I tell you this so that you are not surprised by the results of my inquiry.”
Bad Jack thought about screaming his response. Ten years ago, he might have. Ten years ago, I was a dumbass with more balls than brains. “All right,” he said evenly.
Reminder: The FROZEN DREAMS Giveaway Challenge!
Reminder: if I get ten sign-ups for a physical copy of FROZEN DREAMS at the Backerkit store, I will do a Goodreads giveaway of five physical copies. What a bargain!
:pause:
:crickets:
…Ehh, let me do one of those thermometer things. Haven’t done one of those in a long time, hey? It’s just not as much fun to run something like this when people don’t get upset when you succeed…
08/19/2020 Snippet, MORGAN BAROD novel revisions.
Ghosts!
Patreon!Morgan spent either a few bad hours, or possibly an eternity, moving through the ruins of New Brunswick. The MagTrak pushed its way through what looked like the aftermath of a modern battle; there were crashed helicopters and burned-out tanks and some truly terrible shapes burned on the ground and the walls. Night had fallen by then, and the shadows themselves seemed to flit and move when Morgan looked at them; whether from intent, or his own increasingly feverish imagination, he never knew.
And there were ghosts, perhaps? Nothing seemed to venture upon the Magtrak itself, but Morgan had a truly terrifying moment where he encountered the smashed remains of one of the maglev trains. Inside the shattered cars flickering white-grey wraiths endlessly replayed what appeared to be their last moments of life. Something about those repetitive movements unnerved Morgan, for reasons he could only feel, not articulate; or perhaps it was the fresher skeletons on the decaying carpets, some still holding swords and shields. If unwounded, Morgan might still have retreated from the scene; as it was, he was not ashamed to not stray too close to those drifting spirits’ blind gaze.
But he misjudged how close was too close; as he moved back from a visible spirit, another suddenly raised a loud keen and stopped its endless pantomime. Blind and slow it might have been, but it moved inexorably towards Morgan, who suddenly realized that navigating the passage without rousing another ghost or six might prove tricky.
What do I do? he thought as he tried to scramble away, hampered by his weakened state. The skeletons and swords bore mute witness to the potency of mundane weapons on this battlefield; or, more truthfully, their impotency. And in those first days Morgan bore no magical blade.
In the Mail: Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit.
Because why not?
Because I have nobody to play the Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit with, no time to play it anyway, and shelves of other TTRPGs already? Okay, sure — but aside from that?
Anyway, it looks pretty nice. Can’t wait for the video game! …No, seriously, I’m getting a little antsy. It’s been freaking years, man.
The first draft of the ANAGNORISIS mini-anthology (four books, 32K) is done.
I wasn’t really expecting to write about four thousand words today, but apparently that was a thing that happened. The next step is to get it out to readers with their red pens, obviously. I already have one volunteer; I would not object to more. I just need it done by this time next week. The sooner I have it back, the sooner I can plug it into Kindle Unlimited.
Email me or comment below if you’re interested.
August 18, 2020
‘The Mermaid.’
The Mermaid, The Clancy Brothers
Yeah, Soviet SFF was as dull as dishwater, too.
I’ve heard this song before; only the last time, the melody was Russian. From a document on how to make ChiCom science fiction movies:
To make strong movies, the document claims, the number one priority is to “thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping Thought.” Based on the Chinese president’s past pronouncements on film work, filmmakers should follow the “correct direction” for the development of sci-fi movies. This includes creating films that “highlight Chinese values, inherit Chinese culture and aesthetics, cultivate contemporary Chinese innovation” as well as “disseminate scientific thought” and “raise the spirit of scientists.” Chinese sci-fi films should thus portray China in a positive light as a technologically advanced nation.
Totalitarian government propaganda, in other words — and here’s a secret about totalitarian government propaganda: it generally sucks, with one major exception*. A better formula to create competent, yet soulless sanitized ‘art’ that will encourage an entire generation to recreate samizdat I have not seen.
…hopefully.
Moe Lane
*They can usually manage to come up with stuff worth looking at when the subject is “Kill the invading army actually on our soil.”
Unexpected Snippet, THE HOUSE.
Very unexpected; I was just trying to revise that one for ANAGNORISIS. But there needed to be a little more dramatic tension…
Patreon!When I came into the living room Alyx was indeed there (her younger brother had taken two, earlier, and was already asleep. Most of the children who took the candy would ‘crash’ early this night, for absolutely no conventionally detectable reason whatsoever). I imagined that she might have brightened ever so slightly as I entered; Alyx was naturally suspicious of me at first, but as the months passed she had decided that perhaps I might be a little trustworthy, after all.
It was that trustworthiness that I needed to take advantage of, if only for selfish reasons. I cannot abide dramatic scenes. “Alyx, please listen to me,” I said, holding the candy out. “Everything you secretly believe is true. The world really is full of the strange and uncanny, despite what your mother might think; and this really is a special night, with great and terrible possibilities. Adults lie to you about it because they prefer to remain blind.
But I will not lie to you. If you want to see, however briefly, the first step lies in you eating one of these candies. They will not harm you. In fact, I will eat one of your choosing, myself, if only you will eat another.”
She made me pick the one I was to eat, of course. After that, Alyx willingly took another and consumed it in front of me. As I left, she said, “Thanks.”
I turned. “For what?”
“You were lying,” Alyx said. “There’s nothing like what you said out there. But it’s Halloween, and you made me believe that there was for a moment. So, thanks.”
I came very close to smiling. “Well. ‘Tis the season.” I then made my goodbyes to Betty, and went back to the House. With any luck, I could continue the next step in my plan.
08/18/2020 Status, ANAGNORISIS Project.
Anagnorsis is the next, fast-turnaround project: a selection of short stories, about 32K words total (now with art!). I’m in the process of getting the second of the four horror stories formatted; the third will likely get done tonight, and the fourth will be expanded in the next few days. I will need some volunteers to read the blessed things in the next two weeks, so drop a line in comments if you’re interested. I’m trying to have this all approved by the time virtual Dragon Con comes around; they’re supposed to be doing a virtual dealer’s room, and what the heck, right?
In other news: somehow, the series of calls to my mother that started with my Do you done any spooky-looking woodcuts that I could use for the cover? has turned into her So I’ve done the preliminary sketch for the first story and I’ll get the other three and the cover to you next week. I… I do not understand how this happens. As I said yesterday, at no point did she disagree with me in any way about the limitations of the project; and yet somehow I found myself signing off on those limitations being removed. On the other hand, I didn’t fight too hard after I saw the preliminary sketch.
On the gripping hand; admittedly, it’s no longer going to be a $1.99 book.
