Christopher B. Wright's Blog, page 28

Curveball Back Issues Edited, Updates Coming Soon

There has been a lot of behind-the-scenes activity on the Curveball serial. Some of it has been for Issue 26, which I need to finish up... er... very soon, but a lot more of it has been for Issues 1-24.

I'm working on collecting Issues 13-24 into a Curveball Year Two book. Part of that was getting them actually edited, and I figured that while I was at it I might as well get Issues 1-12 edited, and re-issue Curveball Year One with all-new, cleaned-up text.

But wait... there's more.

I figured...

Over on BBC Two

Over on the Pen and Cape Society website I've written an essay on writing combat in fiction, called And Now a Fight: Writing Combat in Fiction. If you're interested in how I work through fisticuffs, that's about as close an explanation as I can manage in under 5,000 words. :-/

An Apology For Irresponsible Social Media Behavior

This is a pretty minor thing, all considered, and if I were to just move on and keep it in the past there's a good chance it would be forgotten and done with. But the way we handle the big stuff is usually based on the way we live our lives day to day, and I'm not happy with something I did today, and I feel I owe the person I did it to an apology that is at least as public, if not more so, than what I did. Which is what this post is all about.

Way back in 1996 (when I started Help Desk) bein...

The Chains We Forge In Life, Part Four

The Hotseat

“I'd like to thank you all for joining us tonight. Tonight is a very special night for us on The Hotseat, for tonight we are joined—rejoined, really—by a man who was a guest on our program in the very early days of our broadcast. He has agreed to appear tonight as our guest, and does so fully understanding—indeed, having experienced firsthand—our format and expectations. I'm your host, Jacob Lynn, and I'd like introduce you—again—to our guest: Senator Tobias Morgan, welcome back to...

The Chains We Forge In Life: Part Three

Thorpe Island, Present Day

They stand on the tarmac of a small but undeniably modern airport, squinting as their eyes adjust from the dim light in the cargo plane to the bright sun shining overhead. Off in the distance they can see a cluster of buildings bearing the logo of the Thorpe Technical Institute—formerly the R&D branch of Thorpe Industries, now a wholly independent entity in its own right. On the other side of the airport is a beach with white sparkling sand. Off in another direct...

The Chains We Forge In Life: Part Two

Little Dresden Freedom House, January 7, 1984

“First thing you have to understand: I'm not anyone's leader.”

Roland is lean almost to the point of emaciation. He has no body fat at all—just lean, pale skin and ropy, knotted muscles. He wears a dirty white tank top shirt, black jeans, and heavy work boots. His hair is cut short and dyed green. His face is angular with high, sharp cheekbones; blue eyes peer out from underneath thick dark eyebrows.

CB has seen him somewhere before. He can't place...

The Chains We Forge In Life: Part One

Airborne

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.” -Jacob Marley, A Christmas Carol

The Thorpe Industries supersonic cargo plane looks more like a space ship than an airplane. At least, it does to CB—it's an argument he'd briefly had with Robert, back in the old days, starting when he made the offhanded observation about a prototype design. Robert had taken it upon...

Issue 25: The Chains We Forge In Life

Story: Christopher Wright
Cover: Jamie Robertson
Logo: Garth Graham

Triple Helix: Part Fifteen

The Fourth Horseman

CB forces himself to breathe. It’s hard—mucus keeps filling his lungs, and he’s constantly coughing and gagging, trying to take a clear breath, but he finds if he focuses on breathing it's easier to handle everything else: the fever, the chills, the pain shooting through his gut. Focusing on a very basic act of survival allows him to move everything else into the background.

It doesn’t solve the problem, though: Plague is killing him.

“I didn’t even have to try this time.”...

Triple Helix: Part Fourteen

Deus Ex Machina

Richter’s eyes narrow as he recognizes Jenny. He says nothing, but eases into a defensive stance, watching her carefully.

He thinks it’s going to be a repeat of last time.

Jenny doesn’t jump in swinging—Richter has, for whatever reason, given her a moment. She takes it, allowing herself to catch her breath, then she too eases into a defensive stance.

Focus, Jenny. Don’t forget how good he is.

Ready.

Go.

She feints with her right, swings hard with her left. Richter ignores the f...