Patrick Todoroff's Blog, page 34

Quote for the Day

“Not everything has a name. Some things lead us into a realm beyond words… By means of art we are sometimes sent – dimly, briefly – revelations unattainable by reason.”

― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Black: Yo Yo Sensei

Puts a new spin on the word ‘otaku’.

*sorry.

To Serialize or not to…

Serialize. That is my question.

Several thoughts:

1. I’m a Part-Time Writer

Full-time glass work commands a majority of my creative effort, on top of which comes family, friends, ministry obligations and Life’s usual responsibilities. I strive to write on a consistent basis. I’m part of a local critique group, a member of the Cape Cod Writer’s Center. I’ve got the obligatory notebooks in the car, in the workshop, on the bed stand to catch those random flashes, but fiction is more a pressure-relief valve than a job, and lately carving out time to get my head in a sci-fi space has been increasingly tough.

Serialization spreads out the obligation in manageable increments.

2. SHIFT TENSE isn’t complete yet

I know the second book is the hardest to write. People tell me I’m fussing with it too much. But the fact remains I’m still not happy with the novel’s end. I’m battering my head against the wall tying up the loose ends here. however, the first two thirds of the current manuscript are solid with all the major plot-lines firmly in place.

Serialization give me more time to work out in intelligent climax worthy of the story.

3. Serialization seems a better fit for e-books and the current spec-fiction market

See the earlier post on ‘Wool’ as an example. Serialized stories sell, hopefully build audience anticipation, and generally raise story/writer profile with frequent, compact, releases. With little additional expense/effort, I could release Shift Tense part 1 and 2 over the course of the next six months, release part 3 in the Fall, and have the full novel out at Christmas.

Serialization allows readers to sample the story and grants them the option to continue or cease with minimal cost.

4. Serialization kicks “Shift Tense” out of the house

I already feel like a schmuck, failing to keep my initial deadline. When I finished “Running Black” back in late 2010, I was positive my writing career would rocket into the stratosphere. (BRAAAAAAP! Wrong. Guess again, Pat.) Little did I know about the realities of self-pubbing, marketing, the writing process, juggling competing commitments, etc, etc. I still don’t know a whole lot but now I know more.

Serialization allows me to get the story out there to the readers who have been/are gracious enough to continue to buy my books.

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Oddly enough, an early version of ‘Running Black’ was serialized in monthly chapters on Matakishi’s Tea House, a gaming hobby site run by an excellent fellow in the U.K. He formatted the text, added images, and generally made it look much better than it was. It wasn’t until a substantial chunk of it had spooled into the aether that I started hammering out the full-length novel. I have plot arcs and characters for several other novels in different genres clamoring from scraps of paper and Word docs, but I’ve been ignoring them, restrained – right or wrong – by the weight of obligation. I understand the brute reality of ‘work’ in art and creativity. This isn’t all bunnies, hugs and muffins, but I’d like to get back to the challenge and adventure of story telling – the joy of it – rather than treating my time at the keyboard as another chore, fencing with guilt because I missed a deadline.

In the end, if a serialization experiment fails, I can chalk it up to experience and move on. At the moment, the option is under serious consideration and I’m trying to figure out the logistics of such a move.

Any thoughts or experience here?

Thanks.

Another TED Talk worth watching

As a disable person, I found this particularly interesting.

It’s not what you can’t do, it’s what you can do that matters.

Now that it’s done

I can get back to writing.

68.5″ wide by 54″ tall, I had ten-hour days and no weekends as the deadline was moved up. Panel was completed on time/on budget. It left the shop Wed evening for its home in a new Student Rec Center at a private school near Boston. Grand Opening was today. I’ll get installed pix some time next week.

Funny comment of the day

“Don’t talk to me about “Fifty Shades of Grey”! After reading it my wife wanted me to treat her like Anastasia.

So I got some Bolshevik secret police to shoot her family in a cellar.

And still she wasn’t happy.”

Little patches of “Wool”?

“Wool” has me and plenty of other self-pubbed writers itching to know if serialized stories are the way to go.

Four-minute clip on AOL:

http://on.aol.com/video/is-wool-the-next-hunger-games–517693672

Several fascinating things: first is his long-term success as a self-published author. Second was S & S’s concession on the digital rights. I know they’re going to push the print copy hard to get a return on their investment, but seeing as most of Mr. Howey’s money was made from e-copies, that’s A LOT of money they’re waving goodbye to.

Lastly, I picked up the Omnibus a couple months ago, and while the story is solid enough, it’s nothing brilliant or original. I’m happy for the guy, glad he’s rewarded for writing what he enjoys. I mean, at the end of the day, what do I know, right? I’m not fielding big money Big House offers.

I know the story and writing needs to be decent (or sometimes not) but this rags-to-riches tale has me wondering if serialized, uncomplicated thrillers are the way to go.

Like on TV.

The Real Question

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”

― C.S. Lewis

Lots of fur flying over the ‘correct’ Christian response to the current Marriage Equality debate, this during Easter season no less, a time when believers are reminded of a deeper, transcendent perspective and matters like Sin and Salvation, Mortality, and Eternity. Insert cliche here about forest and trees.

We have differing opinions on the matter but I genuinely appreciate my net-friend K. Coble, and her decision to put a reminder of the crucifixion on her FB page rather than a Equality sign.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” – Pilate. Matt. 27:22

Duck out of the line of fire of all the arguments, opinions, and accusations for a moment – that’s is the real question that needs to be answered. Not ‘Where do I stand on DOMA*?” When the good, the bad, and the ugly secrets of my soul are laid bare before a Holy and Just Creator, He won’t be asking about nationality, political or denominational affiliations. The current furor will be a footnote in a history book/ebook somewhere. Repentance, Faith, and Redemption will be the central issues.

“Go and sin no more.” Jesus Christ to the adulteress. John 8:11

I used the R-Word just now; Repentance. We can debate sovereignty, free will, response and responsibility, but the fact remains repentance is the first step to salvation, and the critical, lifelong part of anyone’s walk with Christ. The call to faith – defined here as an inner conviction that prompts an outward action – is nothing if not an imperative to change our mind “metanoia” and live in obedience to the reality of God as seen in Jesus’ Life, Death and Resurrection.

God loves all people, absolutely, but it’s clear He loves us despite our sin, our sheer unworthiness. (Example: Rom. 5: 6-11) Yes, Jesus went out of His way to affirm the value and humanity of all people; Samaritans, Gentiles, lepers, women, outcasts, demoniacs, but He never, not once, affirmed people in their sin. Sexual Immorality – of which homosexuality is one type – is a symptom of a much deeper spiritual isolation, brokenness and defiance. It is not an ‘unforgivable sin’ and it’s only an obstacle if it’s refused to be acknowledged as such, the same as any other transgression. The grace that forgives also transforms. Love is God’s nature; Salvation is His offer.

“Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” – Jesus Christ. Jn. 18: 36

Easter is the time Christians recall all Jesus went through to get us past our sin and inevitable death, and get us into His Father’s Kingdom, an eternal kingdom. Our hope is there, not in the systems and nations of this world. Yes, we should be passionate and engaged as citizens and neighbors, reflecting as best we can the Courage, Compassion and Convictions of our Lord and Savior, but I agree with Saint Clive, Jesus, and the writer of Hebrews: this present society and culture will pass away. The Perfect Kingdom is yet to come. God desires you, me, anyone who wants, to be there. The aim in the meantime is to freely extend the invitation made by Jesus Himself and paid for with His own Life.

Happy Easter. May God bless you with Grace, Peace, and the Comfort of His Presence.

* Defense of Marriage Act.

One in every crowd

Thought for the day from Seth Godin’s blog:

The fabled comedian is killing it at a club that seats 400. One guy in the back, though, isn’t laughing.

Miles Davis was shunned by a few people in the audience, even at his coolest.

The theater critic at the Times might not like this play, the one that made people cry and sold tickets for years.

And just about every blog post and book listing collects a trolling comment from someone who didn’t like it, didn’t read it or didn’t agree with it (or all three) and isn’t shy about speaking up with a sharp tongue.

For those people, the message from the creator of the work is clear: “It’s not for you.”

Unanimity is impossible unless you are willing to be invisible. We can be unanimous in our lack of feedback for the invisible one.

For everyone else, though, the ability to say, “It’s not for you,” is the foundation for creating something brave and important. You can’t do your best work if you’re always trying to touch the untouchable, or entertain those that refuse to be entertained.

“It’s not for you.”

This is easy to say and incredibly difficult to do. You don’t have much choice, though, not if you want your work to matter.

Faith to Blame

Imam: Because you do not believe in God does not mean God does not believe in – .

Riddick: Think someone could spend half their life in a slam with a horse bit in their mouth and not believe? Think he could start out in some liquor store trash bin with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and not believe? Got it all wrong, holy man. I absolutely believe in God… And I absolutely hate the fucker. – Riddick in ‘Pitch Black’

Actually, my first memory of God-blame in Spec Fiction was decades ago in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever. The Riddick quote is there only for pith’s sake. (And that I’m an otherwise fan)

There’s a long, tired tradition of characters crowing against the Creator from the moral high-ground of their personal indignation over injustice, suffering and horror. I stumbled across another just last night, in fact.

My issue wasn’t so much it’s presence, (like I said, it’s a common-enough trope) but that it was so blatantly disingenuous. The novel’s mythology/theology centered around the unspecified but nonetheless ‘strict’ worship of a Goddess, with a stereotypical cruel, hypocritical clergy manipulating a naive, devout flock. Then prior to a dramatic confrontation, our rugged hero launched into a soliloquy castigating God (male deity) as a lunatic Creator consenting to horrific exploitation in his name, somehow directly responsible for a personal tragedy, and who’s generally complicit in all suffering and anguish.

Wait… what?

Look, I get Theodicy and the ancient question of the existence of evil. People with intimate experiences, people who have confronted evil ask a profound and valid question. My heart can’t handle the everyday tragedies paraded on the news, let alone those that never make the top of the hour. My concerns here is with characters who otherwise ignore, despise, and disobey “God”, mock faith and devotion, yet throw Him up against the wall with impassioned fervency the instant tragedy strikes. They obviously ‘believe’, (why rage against a non-existent entity?) but God is their whipping boy, their scapegoat, an ironic justification for atheism.

Perhaps I’m being hyper-sensitive. Or getting snarky over inconsistent plot and characterization. What do I expect from a cheap, easy read by a non-believing author? Maybe I need to lighten up.

My problem is the gymnastics of self-justification. Flaccid logic posing as intellectually rigorous integrity, meaninglessness touted as profundity. I’m weary of the double-standard that approves certain ‘definite worldview statements’ yet denounces orthodox devotion as superstition. I’m tired of empty victories over straw men. I’m tired of faith enough to blame accompanied by recalcitrant conceit that won’t own it’s own decisions.

All the more reason to keep faith and Christianity explicit in my own work.

My studies in Speculative philosophy, metaphysics, and science are all summed up in the image of a mouse called man running in and out of every hole in the Cosmos hunting for the Absolute Cheese.– Benjamin DeCasseres