Ais's Blog - Posts Tagged "icos"
Captive Prince to be published
I am kind of a moron on goodreads so perhaps this is not the sort of thing I'm supposed to be blogging about here? But I don't care because I'm SO EXCITED about this!
Captive Prince by S.U. Pacat (or freece) is going to be published! In ebook format (with sextras) and in paperback (sadly without said sextras).
Check freece's announcement at lj for more information...
I was really excited when I read that. For whatever odd reason, I read very little original slash fiction. As in, next to none. The only original slash book I own is one I randomly bought at a used bookstore and I never read online (because it was one of those pay-for sites, I think).
So this will be the first series I've actually been following online with an author who I think is a wonderful person and who writes an interesting story and where, now that it's going to be published, the very idea of it makes me exceedingly happy-- mostly for the author but also as a reader. I've never read and enjoyed a story online before and gotten to see the transition to print/ebook. So very exciting!
It's funny that I like Captive Prince so much because slavefics are really not my thing generally, and freece also writes with very little emotion/emotional attachment in most of the series which is also not generally my thing. But the story is well done and with the way it has grown over time I've become a definite fan of it.
Of course, this just makes me wish we could get to publishing even more... Honestly, the only reason I even have that on my To Do list is because people have been asking us for years and it's important to me to try to give back to interested readers as much as possible after they've taken so much time out of their lives to give to us by reading our story in the first place. If it had been up to me, ICoS never would have been shared online in the first place (because I didn't think anyone would read it/care), and I most certainly wouldn't think anyone would ever actually want to OWN it. What is this craziness. I don't even understand.
But then, when I think of it from the view of Captive Prince + publishing = me @ 8D!!!!, I do understand lol
Captive Prince by S.U. Pacat (or freece) is going to be published! In ebook format (with sextras) and in paperback (sadly without said sextras).
Check freece's announcement at lj for more information...
I was really excited when I read that. For whatever odd reason, I read very little original slash fiction. As in, next to none. The only original slash book I own is one I randomly bought at a used bookstore and I never read online (because it was one of those pay-for sites, I think).
So this will be the first series I've actually been following online with an author who I think is a wonderful person and who writes an interesting story and where, now that it's going to be published, the very idea of it makes me exceedingly happy-- mostly for the author but also as a reader. I've never read and enjoyed a story online before and gotten to see the transition to print/ebook. So very exciting!
It's funny that I like Captive Prince so much because slavefics are really not my thing generally, and freece also writes with very little emotion/emotional attachment in most of the series which is also not generally my thing. But the story is well done and with the way it has grown over time I've become a definite fan of it.
Of course, this just makes me wish we could get to publishing even more... Honestly, the only reason I even have that on my To Do list is because people have been asking us for years and it's important to me to try to give back to interested readers as much as possible after they've taken so much time out of their lives to give to us by reading our story in the first place. If it had been up to me, ICoS never would have been shared online in the first place (because I didn't think anyone would read it/care), and I most certainly wouldn't think anyone would ever actually want to OWN it. What is this craziness. I don't even understand.
But then, when I think of it from the view of Captive Prince + publishing = me @ 8D!!!!, I do understand lol
Convergence, the ICoS!verse story that died
I'm a little sad about a story I stopped awhile ago. Little known fact(?), around the time Sonny started writing After Midnight I actually had an idea for a story set in the ICoS universe too.
It was called Convergence. The two main characters are a cop (male) and a journalist (female).
There are a few reasons I didn't get very far into it but one of the biggest reasons was I highly doubt it would end up with any slash in it (I don't foresee any relationships at all) and I didn't think anyone would read it because of that. So after writing a few different scenes to test it out I pretty much gave up on the whole thing. I knew it would only discourage me to release it and have no one care about it, and I didn't care enough about it to keep writing it only for myself.
So it died.
But I randomly remembered it today and decided to pull it up and skim some parts of it. The story is basically about a journalist at a rag who doesn't always believe conspiracy theories are just theories (Genna, mentioned briefly in a side story) and a Sgt who specializes in gangs in Lexington PD (Vincente, name would be changed). While being her typically nosy self, Genna starts looking down paths that may be better left untouched, and may end up bringing Vincente along for the ride.
I have no idea if I'll ever end up writing more in it or not but since I had it up anyway I figured, what the hell. I should probably talk about ICoS-related things on this blog at some point and this is something I don't need to worry about spoilers for.
---
Here's an excerpt just because:
"Sgt. Salerno," Genna said, perking up as soon as she saw him.
She stood up from the crappy plastic chair next to a table that was otherwise never used. Vincente often wondered where the city got the furniture they provided. Sometimes he thought it must have come straight from a thrift store and that, usually, it should return there.
"What do you want?" he asked bluntly, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Access to the non-public on this case--" Genna said immediately, holding up her palm panel with an 8-digit case control number on the screen.
"Not gonna happen," Vincente cut her off flatly. "Talk to the PIO."
Genna made a face and dropped the palm panel to her side. "Costes won't give me shit. You know that."
"Tough luck."
Vincente turned and started to head back toward the secure door. Genna snatched a hand out, catching Vincente by the shirt sleeve.
"That could be considered assault on a peace officer," Vincente commented and Genna snorted.
"Remind me to apologize to the wrinkles on your shirt later. You didn't think I'd let you go that easily, did you?"
Vincente looked over his shoulder at her with narrowed eyes. "Did you miss the part where I can tell you to pack sand since all media requests go through the PIO?"
"This isn't a media request," she insisted.
He scowled. "It isn't my job to cater to looky-loos."
"It kind of is," Genna said with an amused quirk of her lips.
Vincente turned his back on her and strode toward the secure door, muttering under his breath. "Christ's sake. I'll deal with you later."
"What's that?" Genna said loudly as the door to the lobby opened and a man walked in. "Did you just threaten me with your taser?"
"What?" Vincente demanded, irritation climbing into the realm of outright aggravation, and turned around to see Genna staring at him intently.
"Now what was that website again for IA complaints..? Oh, no matter. I know the form's right over there..."
The man tried to subtly peer around the corner of the main desk to watch them. His subtlety was called into question even further when he pulled out his phone and stared down at the screen but then held it tilted awkwardly away from him.
"Hey," Vincente barked, causing the man to jump and look up with wide eyes. "Nothing to see here. And next time, pretend you're on the damn phone. Only a moron wouldn't be able to tell you're recording right now. You'll get yourself killed if you try to pull that shit on the street."
The man immediately fumbled with the phone and threw it into his pocket while MacGillivray hung up the phone and called out, "What can I do for you?"
"For fuck's sake," Vincente grumbled under his breath as he turned back to the secure door. "He's gonna end up the next DOA. Thank God I don't work Homicide anymore."
MacGillivray pressed the buzzer and Vincente yanked open the door, glancing over his shoulder at Genna who watched him expectantly.
"Well? Come on then, Little Miss Police Brutality."
She smirked and followed behind him. "Hey. It sells."
"Because it's all you people bother to sell," Vincente retorted.
Genna only shrugged.
He walked down the hallway, his long strides taking him far enough ahead of her that she had to half-jog to keep up. As he passed the day shift sergeants' office he saw Elias smirk at the sight of Genna. When he walked into his office and saw Val still lounging around, her delighted grin only irritated him further.
He swore to God, sometimes it was like working with a bunch of gossiping old maids.
"Get out," he ordered.
"Oh of course, Sarge," Val said with an innocent glance between Genna and Vincente. "Right away." Her shoes thumped when they hit the floor and she stood, smiling at Genna as she passed.
"Ms. Brooks," Val greeted her with a nod.
Genna nodded distractedly, holding her messenger bag closer as Val passed. Genna was always guardedly protective of whatever she had in her bag. Vincente was the only person she seemed to trust in the department, ever since he'd been assigned the case of her sister's disappearance. It wasn't like he'd found the woman, though. So her blind faith in his abilities was a mystery.
Once the door was shut and Vincente had dropped into his uncomfortable government-issue chair with the on-its-way-to-being-broken back, he looked at her pointedly.
"What's so important?"
Genna moved over to the desk but remained standing rather than taking the seat Val had vacated. She held her bag close to her side and frowned at Vincente, all the spunk and stubbornness briefly leaving her as she watched him uncertainly.
After a few moments of staring at each other, Vincente snapped, "What?"
It wasn't like he had anything else to do. Of course he had all the time in the world to play the staring game.
"I hear you're looking for the cop killer," she said finally.
It was called Convergence. The two main characters are a cop (male) and a journalist (female).
There are a few reasons I didn't get very far into it but one of the biggest reasons was I highly doubt it would end up with any slash in it (I don't foresee any relationships at all) and I didn't think anyone would read it because of that. So after writing a few different scenes to test it out I pretty much gave up on the whole thing. I knew it would only discourage me to release it and have no one care about it, and I didn't care enough about it to keep writing it only for myself.
So it died.
But I randomly remembered it today and decided to pull it up and skim some parts of it. The story is basically about a journalist at a rag who doesn't always believe conspiracy theories are just theories (Genna, mentioned briefly in a side story) and a Sgt who specializes in gangs in Lexington PD (Vincente, name would be changed). While being her typically nosy self, Genna starts looking down paths that may be better left untouched, and may end up bringing Vincente along for the ride.
I have no idea if I'll ever end up writing more in it or not but since I had it up anyway I figured, what the hell. I should probably talk about ICoS-related things on this blog at some point and this is something I don't need to worry about spoilers for.
---
Here's an excerpt just because:
"Sgt. Salerno," Genna said, perking up as soon as she saw him.
She stood up from the crappy plastic chair next to a table that was otherwise never used. Vincente often wondered where the city got the furniture they provided. Sometimes he thought it must have come straight from a thrift store and that, usually, it should return there.
"What do you want?" he asked bluntly, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Access to the non-public on this case--" Genna said immediately, holding up her palm panel with an 8-digit case control number on the screen.
"Not gonna happen," Vincente cut her off flatly. "Talk to the PIO."
Genna made a face and dropped the palm panel to her side. "Costes won't give me shit. You know that."
"Tough luck."
Vincente turned and started to head back toward the secure door. Genna snatched a hand out, catching Vincente by the shirt sleeve.
"That could be considered assault on a peace officer," Vincente commented and Genna snorted.
"Remind me to apologize to the wrinkles on your shirt later. You didn't think I'd let you go that easily, did you?"
Vincente looked over his shoulder at her with narrowed eyes. "Did you miss the part where I can tell you to pack sand since all media requests go through the PIO?"
"This isn't a media request," she insisted.
He scowled. "It isn't my job to cater to looky-loos."
"It kind of is," Genna said with an amused quirk of her lips.
Vincente turned his back on her and strode toward the secure door, muttering under his breath. "Christ's sake. I'll deal with you later."
"What's that?" Genna said loudly as the door to the lobby opened and a man walked in. "Did you just threaten me with your taser?"
"What?" Vincente demanded, irritation climbing into the realm of outright aggravation, and turned around to see Genna staring at him intently.
"Now what was that website again for IA complaints..? Oh, no matter. I know the form's right over there..."
The man tried to subtly peer around the corner of the main desk to watch them. His subtlety was called into question even further when he pulled out his phone and stared down at the screen but then held it tilted awkwardly away from him.
"Hey," Vincente barked, causing the man to jump and look up with wide eyes. "Nothing to see here. And next time, pretend you're on the damn phone. Only a moron wouldn't be able to tell you're recording right now. You'll get yourself killed if you try to pull that shit on the street."
The man immediately fumbled with the phone and threw it into his pocket while MacGillivray hung up the phone and called out, "What can I do for you?"
"For fuck's sake," Vincente grumbled under his breath as he turned back to the secure door. "He's gonna end up the next DOA. Thank God I don't work Homicide anymore."
MacGillivray pressed the buzzer and Vincente yanked open the door, glancing over his shoulder at Genna who watched him expectantly.
"Well? Come on then, Little Miss Police Brutality."
She smirked and followed behind him. "Hey. It sells."
"Because it's all you people bother to sell," Vincente retorted.
Genna only shrugged.
He walked down the hallway, his long strides taking him far enough ahead of her that she had to half-jog to keep up. As he passed the day shift sergeants' office he saw Elias smirk at the sight of Genna. When he walked into his office and saw Val still lounging around, her delighted grin only irritated him further.
He swore to God, sometimes it was like working with a bunch of gossiping old maids.
"Get out," he ordered.
"Oh of course, Sarge," Val said with an innocent glance between Genna and Vincente. "Right away." Her shoes thumped when they hit the floor and she stood, smiling at Genna as she passed.
"Ms. Brooks," Val greeted her with a nod.
Genna nodded distractedly, holding her messenger bag closer as Val passed. Genna was always guardedly protective of whatever she had in her bag. Vincente was the only person she seemed to trust in the department, ever since he'd been assigned the case of her sister's disappearance. It wasn't like he'd found the woman, though. So her blind faith in his abilities was a mystery.
Once the door was shut and Vincente had dropped into his uncomfortable government-issue chair with the on-its-way-to-being-broken back, he looked at her pointedly.
"What's so important?"
Genna moved over to the desk but remained standing rather than taking the seat Val had vacated. She held her bag close to her side and frowned at Vincente, all the spunk and stubbornness briefly leaving her as she watched him uncertainly.
After a few moments of staring at each other, Vincente snapped, "What?"
It wasn't like he had anything else to do. Of course he had all the time in the world to play the staring game.
"I hear you're looking for the cop killer," she said finally.
ICoS as a romance novel
He was a slave to the overbearing, monstrous world of the Agency, kept far from the light and removed from his native homeland of China. A beautiful, broken man with a tragic past and a life filled with violence and pain, he never believed he would amount to anything more than the Sin for which he was named.
Until one day a young man came into his life-- graceful, gorgeous, intriguing--who captivated Sin's heart at the first glance of golden eyes. But the young man didn't fall to Sin's infamous demeanor the way so many had before-- he neither feared nor desired him! The challenge he made! Sin's exquisite loins burned like wildfire for this young man whose power of bewitchment surely meant faerie blood ran within his veins.
But the mysterious young man has an atramentous past that has kept him shackled in spirit -- and his suicidal insouciance may prove too great for even Sin's unprecedented power to overcome.
Their tempestuous hurricane begins as an impassioned affair. Beautiful and dangerous, they burn for each other like the light of a hundred thousand million suns, but they may find that their greatest enemies aren't from without but are instead FROM WITHIN.
---
Wow you guys help me, I really can't make a dramatic enough romance-novel-style-summary and in my attempts to add suitable drama I made it too long.
I'm kind of sad about this.
Also I like how I left Boyd unnamed for some reason XD It's just an entire book with him always referred to as "young man."
WHAT IS THIS CRAZINESS ABOUT??, you ask?
I WILL NEVER TELL!
(0.1 seconds later:)
On a TSP chat probably 1-2 years ago we were talking about how ridiculous romance books/covers are and then I said I wanted a het romance style cover done for ICoS because I thought it would be hilarious. Eternityras did most of the art; djabea and I did the background (including amazingly well done stick figures running around panicking and/or on fire).
You're happy I posted about this, aren't you? Your life would not have been complete without this awesome cover.
PS: I had this line in the fake summary and removed it because it was making things too long-- but the imagery amused me too much to leave it out of the entry:
Their hearts had never been caught before, even if their bodies had, and now this infamous Sin had set his sights on the sin he wished to commit: to deflower himself upon the young man's sturdy rod.
TAKE THAT SONNY. STURDY ROD. I'm totes writing that in the next sex scene btw.
"And then XX impaled himself upon YY's sturdy rod, the turgid member quivering at the height of attention as it was devoured by XX's erotic insides..."
research love
wow I really love researching. It's kind of silly how much I enjoy it.
It's so fun to have a 'need' to be met (such as, "I need a location that fits ___ criteria" or "I need to figure out where this picture was taken") and then go crazy with Google trying to track things down.
Some examples of fun times with google can be found at behind the scenes at the icos tumblr.
But that's really only the google maps side of things.
There are all these other sides-- for instance, there was a scene in Fade (chapter 9) where I actually looked up what stage the moon would be in on that future date at that location to be able to accurately describe the sky both in Pennsylvania and China.
For those curious, in Pennsylvania on February 10, 2024 sunrise will be 7 am and sunset 5:30 pm; in China near Harbin on February 11, 2024 sunrise will be 6:43 am, sunset 4:53 pm. Then of course there are all the distance calculations (The areas we chose in China and Pennsylvania are exactly 12 hours apart; 9:13 pm on May 4 is 9:13 AM on May 5). Flight is about 13 hours between the areas so that was how we figured out how to describe the setting and the status of the sun in China and in the US.
Or in Afterimage with all the globetrotting we looked up locations and length of time needed to travel between by plane, walking, car...
There are places that could probably stand to use more research to be even more accurate, but we also have a dystopian alternate future so some things we purposely do our own way.
Anyway, I'm sure everyone does all this research too but sometimes I have to geek out on it because it's so fun. And I figure other research geeks may like to geek out by reading an entry about it as well. At least, I know I'm enough of a geek that I would read someone else's research entry lol
It's probably for reasons like this that Mythbusters is one of my favorite shows ever.
It's so fun to have a 'need' to be met (such as, "I need a location that fits ___ criteria" or "I need to figure out where this picture was taken") and then go crazy with Google trying to track things down.
Some examples of fun times with google can be found at behind the scenes at the icos tumblr.
But that's really only the google maps side of things.
There are all these other sides-- for instance, there was a scene in Fade (chapter 9) where I actually looked up what stage the moon would be in on that future date at that location to be able to accurately describe the sky both in Pennsylvania and China.
For those curious, in Pennsylvania on February 10, 2024 sunrise will be 7 am and sunset 5:30 pm; in China near Harbin on February 11, 2024 sunrise will be 6:43 am, sunset 4:53 pm. Then of course there are all the distance calculations (The areas we chose in China and Pennsylvania are exactly 12 hours apart; 9:13 pm on May 4 is 9:13 AM on May 5). Flight is about 13 hours between the areas so that was how we figured out how to describe the setting and the status of the sun in China and in the US.
Or in Afterimage with all the globetrotting we looked up locations and length of time needed to travel between by plane, walking, car...
There are places that could probably stand to use more research to be even more accurate, but we also have a dystopian alternate future so some things we purposely do our own way.
Anyway, I'm sure everyone does all this research too but sometimes I have to geek out on it because it's so fun. And I figure other research geeks may like to geek out by reading an entry about it as well. At least, I know I'm enough of a geek that I would read someone else's research entry lol
It's probably for reasons like this that Mythbusters is one of my favorite shows ever.
....are you kidding me?
So we were just compiling each book into individual documents in preparation for streamlining/much stronger editing for eventual self-publication, and WTF GUYS.
For what is currently released for Evenfall, Afterimage, Interludes, and Fade through chapter 33:
1,595,047 words
3543 pages, Arial 12 & not formatted
....this is not even including any back or side stories.
1.6 million words?
Really?
And over 3500 pages NOT FORMATTED? Right now it's single spaced with an extra space between paragraphs. Once we make it all double spaced and no breaks between paragraphs it's just going to get longer.
jfc. We have a lot of editing to do XD
For what is currently released for Evenfall, Afterimage, Interludes, and Fade through chapter 33:
1,595,047 words
3543 pages, Arial 12 & not formatted
....this is not even including any back or side stories.
1.6 million words?
Really?
And over 3500 pages NOT FORMATTED? Right now it's single spaced with an extra space between paragraphs. Once we make it all double spaced and no breaks between paragraphs it's just going to get longer.
jfc. We have a lot of editing to do XD
AU sex scenes/poll...
I like how we're planning all these random AU porn scenes but the ones that might need to be worked on in book we're like "Bahhh I don't feel like writing this!"
Right now, I am putzing around not writing shit I should be writing...
We're going to end up doing a secondary poll in the near future, guys. We want to see what would be voted as top picks for the less "obvious" pairings. (Don't worry, the top 3 from this first poll will be written-- we're just curious to see what OTHER scenes people would want).
But this will mean there's at least one new addition to the mix: Doug. Possibly more. We're still in planning stages of pairings.
I'm talking about this poll btw in case you didn't see it: http://poll.fm/3vt7t
There's one we probably want to write no matter what (if we're not burned out on sex scenes by the time we get through the 6 chosen between both polls) but I want to see if it's something people would vote on anyway.
PS: What are the point of tags? Do they work like on lj? I get confused by how it doesn't provide me a list of previous tags I've used so I have to sort of just remember... which makes me believe I'm doing something wrong.
Right now, I am putzing around not writing shit I should be writing...
We're going to end up doing a secondary poll in the near future, guys. We want to see what would be voted as top picks for the less "obvious" pairings. (Don't worry, the top 3 from this first poll will be written-- we're just curious to see what OTHER scenes people would want).
But this will mean there's at least one new addition to the mix: Doug. Possibly more. We're still in planning stages of pairings.
I'm talking about this poll btw in case you didn't see it: http://poll.fm/3vt7t
There's one we probably want to write no matter what (if we're not burned out on sex scenes by the time we get through the 6 chosen between both polls) but I want to see if it's something people would vote on anyway.
PS: What are the point of tags? Do they work like on lj? I get confused by how it doesn't provide me a list of previous tags I've used so I have to sort of just remember... which makes me believe I'm doing something wrong.
Research related to Fade ch 40
*****NOTE!!!! This entry contains major spoilers for Fade ch 40! Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled!!!*******
I'm on a livejournal group called little_details -- it's a pretty cool place where you can go and ask questions about specific things you haven't been able to find answers to in your research so far.
I noticed a request today that I happened to know a lot about due to recent research (about medical procedures that would follow the injury Boyd had in Fade 40).
I wrote a long reply with a compiled timeline of information based on what I'd learned in my own research and included some of the many sites and links I'd found. After I finished, I realized I didn't want to lose the information for the future, and thought it was possible someone out there might be curious about what DID go into the follow-up that isn't covered between Fade 40-42, and the epilogue.
Here it is below if you're curious.
SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! The spoiler tag isn't working for me for some reason so I can't hide it!!!!
ENUCLEATION. Note that the person was asking about what medical procedures would be expected following the loss of an eye. This was my response:
I was recently researching this actually and this is what I found, along with links to sites that have photos. The term you need is 'enucleation' for removal of an eye.
Once the person's eye is injured, the doctors will determine whether they can keep the eye or whether it has to be removed. I think the preference tends to be toward keeping it, however depending on the severity of the injury they might remove it. One reason they sometimes remove is people can have sympathetic reactions with their other eye, in which their good eye will go blind due to the bad eye being blind. Also, some people experience pain in their eye that never fully goes away. After a point, they have to determine whether quality of life is worth keeping their eye, when they can't see out of it anyway.
If enucleation is the way they'll go then this is the timeline (compiled from timelines/info from various sources)
**enucleation surgery takes 1-2 hours
**at the time of the surgery, they place an orb implant in place of the eye into the socket. This will never be removed. It is basically an orb which is about the size of the eyeball but doesn't go out as far as the normal eyeball did, so that a person can't fully close their eyelid on its own, and you can see a bit of white/red of the orb (depending on how recently their surgery was, I believe)
**most patients have a bad headache for 24-36/48 hours after surgery. they have to take a Tylenol every 4 hours to help
Note: He may have bloody tears for a bit after the surgery-- this is normal.
**the patient has to wear a compression bandage over his eye for 5 days (I have seen one or two sites that say 48 hours but I think that was for kids)
**he will have to have his eye checked 5-7 days, 1 month, and every 6 months after surgery.
what he's NOT supposed to do following surgery for 10-14 days:
**lift more than 10 pounds
**strain or rub his eye for up to 14 days following the surgery
**run the shower on his operated eye for at least 10 days
**bend forward to do things
**wash his hair with his head bent forward
**sustain any knock to the eye
he SHOULD wear glasses or an eye shield for protection when going out.
he will not be able to see full eye movement of his artificial eye in the mirror with monocular vision. the only way he could ever see that is if he videotapes himself straight on, looking in all the directions.
**He will have to take oral antibiotics for a week as well. also, later when he gets the pressure dressing off, he'll have to use eye drops and other medications for awhile-- including oral and topical antibiotics.
**2-6 weeks post surgery (and honestly most places said 6 weeks), he would be able to look into getting a prosthetic eye. those are usually painted to look like the normal eye. when a person is wearing it, typically people can't tell or might think they have a lazy eye. minor movement of the eye, like during conversation, works well, but larger eye movements like suddenly looking to the side might have a lag in the fake eye responding.
**the fake eye is basically like a really giant, really thick contact lens which is placed over the orb implant. that orb implant will never be removed.
Note that most places say to remove the artificial eye as little as possible, so as not to contaminate it. As far as I can tell, most people leave it in for long periods at a time. As a result, for instance when he wakes up from sleeping, it would still look like he has both eyes.
However, for times when he does remove the eye, it functions like a contact lens. The artificial eye includes the iris and pupil but also a large portion of the white of the eye-- it's larger than the opening in the eyelid and fits over the orbital implant. I would have to check again how it's stored when not in the eye but I think it was something similar to how contact lenses are stored.
((Note for ICoS readers-- Boyd leaves his artificial eye in a lot so in the epilogue, for instance, it was in when he woke up and walked over to Hsin. However, for similar reasons as are highlighted below, he often wears the eye patch when he's going to be in crowded areas or when he just feels like it. He does have scars on and around his eye from the knife wounds.))
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
some things people mentioned who have lost an eye and/or what the sites say is common:
**while enucleation is actually a very safe surgery, emotionally it's difficult for people to first get used to the idea of losing an eye
**eventually he will be able to drive-- outside of 20 feet, everyone sees as if they have one eye anyway
**he may experience some weird things at first, like thinking someone else is there when he sees his own hand reaching into sight from his blind side
**he will have to learn to turn his head a lot more often in order to account for the lack of peripheral vision on his blind side
**it's pretty scary/upsetting for people at first but they grow accustomed to monocular vision within the first few months
**some people take several months or a year to adjust to monocular vision, and have a hard time doing things like even going up steps etc because of lack of depth perception, but some people said they had zero problems and adjusted immediately
**some people never get over feeling upset about it but most people said that after awhile they don't even notice they have one eye, and most people who meet them have no idea they have an artificial eye either
**one guy said that usually he wears his fake eye when out but he will accidentally bump into people on his blind side-- he's found that wearing an eye patch makes people more sympathetic/less of a jerk because of this. (as a side note he mentioned he found it is surprisingly popular with the ladies. but usually he doesn't wear the eye patch)
There was also one teenager on a military site forum I found who said that he'd been fired from his jobs before because people learned he had one eye. He had stopped telling people about it and they assumed he just had a lazy eye and would get hired, but then later when they learned the truth he would suddenly "not be needed anymore." Whether there are extenuating circumstances to his situation, I don't know, because there are protections in place for those with disabilities, however we all know there can still be violations of peoples' rights regardless of said protections.
RESOURCES:
This is a really good blog entry by a woman who lost an eye-- she has visuals to show how she puts in her artificial eye: http://preppymeetsredneck.blogspot.co...
This explains what I said in more detail and also has pictures: http://www.rbsociety.ca/ntreatment.html
Check also http://www.beltina.org/health-diction... which, again, has photos and explanations of the surgery etc.
I recommend also artificialeyes.net for post-surgery information
Regarding stab wounds:
Article: http://lubbockonline.com/stories/1029...
Stab wound to the left eye and surgical repair: http://www.anatomicaljustice.com/cmi_...
These are stories of people who have had eye loss and could help you get a better idea for what your character would be going through: http://geelen.com.au/stories-of-eye-l...
The American Foundation for the Blind also has a message board which has a lot of information from people: http://www.afb.org/messageboards.aspx
This is a previous little details question which was related to stab wounds in both eyes and had good comments: http://little-details.livejournal.com...
There's also http://www.losteye.com/driving.htm -- that's where I got the information on driving but you can find more information at that site.
In addition, there are a number of sites out there which are for companies that make artificial eyes or eye patches, and they might have more forums, message boards, or About pages that have even more information. And there are a lot of surgical sites that show you in detail how enucleation surgery is performed, what to expect, and so on. I left out a lot of the links I had for miscellaneous real life stories and articles because I thought it might get to be too much.
I'm on a livejournal group called little_details -- it's a pretty cool place where you can go and ask questions about specific things you haven't been able to find answers to in your research so far.
I noticed a request today that I happened to know a lot about due to recent research (about medical procedures that would follow the injury Boyd had in Fade 40).
I wrote a long reply with a compiled timeline of information based on what I'd learned in my own research and included some of the many sites and links I'd found. After I finished, I realized I didn't want to lose the information for the future, and thought it was possible someone out there might be curious about what DID go into the follow-up that isn't covered between Fade 40-42, and the epilogue.
Here it is below if you're curious.
SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! The spoiler tag isn't working for me for some reason so I can't hide it!!!!
ENUCLEATION. Note that the person was asking about what medical procedures would be expected following the loss of an eye. This was my response:
I was recently researching this actually and this is what I found, along with links to sites that have photos. The term you need is 'enucleation' for removal of an eye.
Once the person's eye is injured, the doctors will determine whether they can keep the eye or whether it has to be removed. I think the preference tends to be toward keeping it, however depending on the severity of the injury they might remove it. One reason they sometimes remove is people can have sympathetic reactions with their other eye, in which their good eye will go blind due to the bad eye being blind. Also, some people experience pain in their eye that never fully goes away. After a point, they have to determine whether quality of life is worth keeping their eye, when they can't see out of it anyway.
If enucleation is the way they'll go then this is the timeline (compiled from timelines/info from various sources)
**enucleation surgery takes 1-2 hours
**at the time of the surgery, they place an orb implant in place of the eye into the socket. This will never be removed. It is basically an orb which is about the size of the eyeball but doesn't go out as far as the normal eyeball did, so that a person can't fully close their eyelid on its own, and you can see a bit of white/red of the orb (depending on how recently their surgery was, I believe)
**most patients have a bad headache for 24-36/48 hours after surgery. they have to take a Tylenol every 4 hours to help
Note: He may have bloody tears for a bit after the surgery-- this is normal.
**the patient has to wear a compression bandage over his eye for 5 days (I have seen one or two sites that say 48 hours but I think that was for kids)
**he will have to have his eye checked 5-7 days, 1 month, and every 6 months after surgery.
what he's NOT supposed to do following surgery for 10-14 days:
**lift more than 10 pounds
**strain or rub his eye for up to 14 days following the surgery
**run the shower on his operated eye for at least 10 days
**bend forward to do things
**wash his hair with his head bent forward
**sustain any knock to the eye
he SHOULD wear glasses or an eye shield for protection when going out.
he will not be able to see full eye movement of his artificial eye in the mirror with monocular vision. the only way he could ever see that is if he videotapes himself straight on, looking in all the directions.
**He will have to take oral antibiotics for a week as well. also, later when he gets the pressure dressing off, he'll have to use eye drops and other medications for awhile-- including oral and topical antibiotics.
**2-6 weeks post surgery (and honestly most places said 6 weeks), he would be able to look into getting a prosthetic eye. those are usually painted to look like the normal eye. when a person is wearing it, typically people can't tell or might think they have a lazy eye. minor movement of the eye, like during conversation, works well, but larger eye movements like suddenly looking to the side might have a lag in the fake eye responding.
**the fake eye is basically like a really giant, really thick contact lens which is placed over the orb implant. that orb implant will never be removed.
Note that most places say to remove the artificial eye as little as possible, so as not to contaminate it. As far as I can tell, most people leave it in for long periods at a time. As a result, for instance when he wakes up from sleeping, it would still look like he has both eyes.
However, for times when he does remove the eye, it functions like a contact lens. The artificial eye includes the iris and pupil but also a large portion of the white of the eye-- it's larger than the opening in the eyelid and fits over the orbital implant. I would have to check again how it's stored when not in the eye but I think it was something similar to how contact lenses are stored.
((Note for ICoS readers-- Boyd leaves his artificial eye in a lot so in the epilogue, for instance, it was in when he woke up and walked over to Hsin. However, for similar reasons as are highlighted below, he often wears the eye patch when he's going to be in crowded areas or when he just feels like it. He does have scars on and around his eye from the knife wounds.))
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
some things people mentioned who have lost an eye and/or what the sites say is common:
**while enucleation is actually a very safe surgery, emotionally it's difficult for people to first get used to the idea of losing an eye
**eventually he will be able to drive-- outside of 20 feet, everyone sees as if they have one eye anyway
**he may experience some weird things at first, like thinking someone else is there when he sees his own hand reaching into sight from his blind side
**he will have to learn to turn his head a lot more often in order to account for the lack of peripheral vision on his blind side
**it's pretty scary/upsetting for people at first but they grow accustomed to monocular vision within the first few months
**some people take several months or a year to adjust to monocular vision, and have a hard time doing things like even going up steps etc because of lack of depth perception, but some people said they had zero problems and adjusted immediately
**some people never get over feeling upset about it but most people said that after awhile they don't even notice they have one eye, and most people who meet them have no idea they have an artificial eye either
**one guy said that usually he wears his fake eye when out but he will accidentally bump into people on his blind side-- he's found that wearing an eye patch makes people more sympathetic/less of a jerk because of this. (as a side note he mentioned he found it is surprisingly popular with the ladies. but usually he doesn't wear the eye patch)
There was also one teenager on a military site forum I found who said that he'd been fired from his jobs before because people learned he had one eye. He had stopped telling people about it and they assumed he just had a lazy eye and would get hired, but then later when they learned the truth he would suddenly "not be needed anymore." Whether there are extenuating circumstances to his situation, I don't know, because there are protections in place for those with disabilities, however we all know there can still be violations of peoples' rights regardless of said protections.
RESOURCES:
This is a really good blog entry by a woman who lost an eye-- she has visuals to show how she puts in her artificial eye: http://preppymeetsredneck.blogspot.co...
This explains what I said in more detail and also has pictures: http://www.rbsociety.ca/ntreatment.html
Check also http://www.beltina.org/health-diction... which, again, has photos and explanations of the surgery etc.
I recommend also artificialeyes.net for post-surgery information
Regarding stab wounds:
Article: http://lubbockonline.com/stories/1029...
Stab wound to the left eye and surgical repair: http://www.anatomicaljustice.com/cmi_...
These are stories of people who have had eye loss and could help you get a better idea for what your character would be going through: http://geelen.com.au/stories-of-eye-l...
The American Foundation for the Blind also has a message board which has a lot of information from people: http://www.afb.org/messageboards.aspx
This is a previous little details question which was related to stab wounds in both eyes and had good comments: http://little-details.livejournal.com...
There's also http://www.losteye.com/driving.htm -- that's where I got the information on driving but you can find more information at that site.
In addition, there are a number of sites out there which are for companies that make artificial eyes or eye patches, and they might have more forums, message boards, or About pages that have even more information. And there are a lot of surgical sites that show you in detail how enucleation surgery is performed, what to expect, and so on. I left out a lot of the links I had for miscellaneous real life stories and articles because I thought it might get to be too much.
Evenfall 3.0 by 2014, and Ais author blog
Evenfall v3.0 is officially in the works. We are in the process of editing Evenfall to make it more in line with the other books and to address some of the things we'd like to streamline.
When Evenfall is finished, we'll move on to editing the rest of the series.
When will it be done?
Evenfall will (hopefully) be done by New Year's 2014. Assuming our schedules don't go crazy in the meantime. And we can rock it like it's 1999 on the designated editing weekends. We'll be sure to let everyone know if we rock it closer to the 1890's and get pushed back on the timeline.
We don't have dates for the other books.
Will it still be free?
Yep :)
Will anything else change?
Indeed it will. As pretty much any reader of In the Company of Shadows/ICoS has probably noticed, the books are long. So in the process of editing the books, we will also reformat each book into two volumes. This will make each volume closer to a normal length book for easier reading pleasure. (And maybe help some of you get more sleep in the initial reading of the series. Can you convince yourself more easily in the middle of the night NOT to go to the next volume the way it never seems to work not going to the next chapter? Only time will tell ;p)
Right now the plan is it would still say which book it is.
For instance, Evenfall Volume 1: WORDS, Evenfall Volume 2: We Has Them.
(The titles will, of course, not be those. Probably. I'm about 60% certain on that.)
But what about publishing?
From the start, it's always been important to both of us that ICoS remain free. Because of that, we only want to switch to a new model when we both feel comfortable with it. Which, for both of us, equates to being able to afford professional editing as would occur in an official publishing situation.
We are keeping the idea of publishing it open because readers have asked for that. We apologize for the delay in being able to provide you with that, but when the time comes we want to be able to give you the highest quality possible for your money.
Which isn't to say that the series sucks now or that we won't be putting a lot of effort into editing and streamlining it ourselves to the best of our ability. It's just to say that we'd like to get some professionals to side-eye it pretty hard as well, so it can be as close to perfect in our eyes as it will ever get.
Any other important news?
You're awesome. Just in case you didn't know.
Oh yeah, and to tide you over in the meantime, I started that author blog dealie I was talking about the other week. So far I only have information from ICoS up but eventually it will expand to other stories and excerpts I'll be working on as well.
Find it for your viewing pleasure at The Inner Workings of An Ais (easily found at aisness.wordpress.com). You can start at the welcome post or the about page for an explanation. I tried to find a design that was mobile-friendly. It seemed to load decently on my phone so hopefully it will on yours also.
Incidentally, if there's information you're curious about that you don't see there and don't remember seeing elsewhere, let me know. I'll see if it's something I can post.
Please remember to keep any spoilers behind a spoiler tag just in case. Thanks for being lovely :)
When Evenfall is finished, we'll move on to editing the rest of the series.
When will it be done?
Evenfall will (hopefully) be done by New Year's 2014. Assuming our schedules don't go crazy in the meantime. And we can rock it like it's 1999 on the designated editing weekends. We'll be sure to let everyone know if we rock it closer to the 1890's and get pushed back on the timeline.
We don't have dates for the other books.
Will it still be free?
Yep :)
Will anything else change?
Indeed it will. As pretty much any reader of In the Company of Shadows/ICoS has probably noticed, the books are long. So in the process of editing the books, we will also reformat each book into two volumes. This will make each volume closer to a normal length book for easier reading pleasure. (And maybe help some of you get more sleep in the initial reading of the series. Can you convince yourself more easily in the middle of the night NOT to go to the next volume the way it never seems to work not going to the next chapter? Only time will tell ;p)
Right now the plan is it would still say which book it is.
For instance, Evenfall Volume 1: WORDS, Evenfall Volume 2: We Has Them.
(The titles will, of course, not be those. Probably. I'm about 60% certain on that.)
But what about publishing?
From the start, it's always been important to both of us that ICoS remain free. Because of that, we only want to switch to a new model when we both feel comfortable with it. Which, for both of us, equates to being able to afford professional editing as would occur in an official publishing situation.
We are keeping the idea of publishing it open because readers have asked for that. We apologize for the delay in being able to provide you with that, but when the time comes we want to be able to give you the highest quality possible for your money.
Which isn't to say that the series sucks now or that we won't be putting a lot of effort into editing and streamlining it ourselves to the best of our ability. It's just to say that we'd like to get some professionals to side-eye it pretty hard as well, so it can be as close to perfect in our eyes as it will ever get.
Any other important news?
You're awesome. Just in case you didn't know.
Oh yeah, and to tide you over in the meantime, I started that author blog dealie I was talking about the other week. So far I only have information from ICoS up but eventually it will expand to other stories and excerpts I'll be working on as well.
Find it for your viewing pleasure at The Inner Workings of An Ais (easily found at aisness.wordpress.com). You can start at the welcome post or the about page for an explanation. I tried to find a design that was mobile-friendly. It seemed to load decently on my phone so hopefully it will on yours also.
Incidentally, if there's information you're curious about that you don't see there and don't remember seeing elsewhere, let me know. I'll see if it's something I can post.
Please remember to keep any spoilers behind a spoiler tag just in case. Thanks for being lovely :)
Starting ICoS? Wait a little longer...
If you're interested in starting In the Company of Shadows, you might want to wait a month or two. We're in the middle of editing and are mostly done with Evenfall. We will re-release Evenfall (still for free) in ebook format when done. We're cutting out about 1/3 of the word count-- rest assured that this isn't taking out anything significant to the plot. Actually, most of it is unnecessary narration or repetitive wording-- and some of it is improving upon existing scenes.
After Evenfall is done, we'll be moving on to the rest of the series. But we'll probably release Evenfall as soon as we can since it's the most egregious.
The books will be available here and at our download site, www.inthecompanyofshadows.com
Keep in mind-- we are editing this ourselves this time around. It will NOT be professionally edited, it will just be a lot cleaner than it was before.
However, if we ever self-publish this (our plan eventually) we will get it professionally edited.
TIMELINE?
Hopefully Evenfall will be re-released in the next month or so. The post-Fade anthology, 1/27, also should be available in the next month or so.
*****ALERT ALERT ALERT******
BELOW EXAMPLES CONTAIN SPOILERS!!! I tried to use the spoiler tag but they don't work on blog posts for some reason. Skip past the below pics if need be.
If you want a visual of what I mean about tightening up the story, here are two screenshots Santino and I recently took:
(click here for fullview)
and
(click here for fullview)
After Evenfall is done, we'll be moving on to the rest of the series. But we'll probably release Evenfall as soon as we can since it's the most egregious.
The books will be available here and at our download site, www.inthecompanyofshadows.com
Keep in mind-- we are editing this ourselves this time around. It will NOT be professionally edited, it will just be a lot cleaner than it was before.
However, if we ever self-publish this (our plan eventually) we will get it professionally edited.
TIMELINE?
Hopefully Evenfall will be re-released in the next month or so. The post-Fade anthology, 1/27, also should be available in the next month or so.
*****ALERT ALERT ALERT******
BELOW EXAMPLES CONTAIN SPOILERS!!! I tried to use the spoiler tag but they don't work on blog posts for some reason. Skip past the below pics if need be.
If you want a visual of what I mean about tightening up the story, here are two screenshots Santino and I recently took:
(click here for fullview)
and
(click here for fullview)
Chat recap: ICoS, 1/27, Evenfall Director's Cut, and more
Last weekend we did a chat for anyone who had questions about ICoS, Evenfall Director's Cut, 1/27, or more.
We saved the transcripts of the morning and night chats, and also pulled out all the questions/answers for those who didn't want to read the whole transcripts.
IMPORTANT!!!! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL OF ICOS OR 1/27! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Still here? Okay. Here are a few of the Q&A's:
1/27
*Is Kassian really in love with Ryan?
Ryan nailed it when he called Kassian out, but Kassian really does have feelings for him and wants to be with him. It isn’t as fully developed into being “in love” as he thinks it is yet though.
*Owen/Jeffrey arc: how will their story progress?
Owen and Jeffrey will both be in the sequel so their story will progress there. (Note: this wasn’t mentioned in chat but one or both will likely get POVs in the sequel)
On a side note, Jeffrey and Ryan both transformed. It was interesting in 1/27 that their stories were reflective of each other with somewhat similar themes, and that they said almost the same thing about nerds and power or lack thereof, because those stories were written completely separately from each other. We each wrote one of them and hadn’t discussed the plots with each other. We had no idea there was such a similarity until we put the anthology together and saw the same theme popping up with both of them.
SEQUEL:
Tell us everything about the sequel!
We had talked about a sequel but it didn’t come together until writing 1/27. We were talking about all the new groups, like Rift (the VR group), the Knights, the Jacobins, how the characters would react/interact, and the sequel just sort of came together.
The nerds will have a much larger role in the sequel. In fact, Ryan’s line to Kassian fits well for the theme of the sequel: A fieldie is nothing without his nerd.
In the sequel, part of Ryan’s story arc will be realizing he is a force to be reckoned with on his own. He has power, he isn’t just a helper. Part of his issues with his self-esteem and not believing someone like Kassian could want him is that he was always the support guy, the helper guy, the sick kid, etc. No one at the Agency saw him as someone with power.
Also, the only teaser we’ll give: DARK SIDE.
*Will Ryan be the main POV in the possible sequel, or will Boyd and Hsin still be the main characters? (and related question: how are you going to write the sequel if Kassian and Ryan are both Santino’s characters and they have POVs?)
There will be multiple POVs. Ryan will be the main one, Boyd will also have one. Hsin may not have a POV but he is still a main character. The POVs will be a bit more balanced like it was in Interludes (as opposed to Evenfall which was much heavier on one POV) but it will be a continuous story like Evenfall, Afterimage, and Fade (not episodic like Interludes).
*Will there be new characters joining the Lexington Defectors group?
There will be some new characters in the new organization and at the Agency. One of the new characters is actually going to be a bit star struck by the idea of the Lexington Defectors. They made quite the reputation for themselves at the Agency. They’re legends now.
EVENFALL DIRECTOR'S CUT:
*How is the Evenfall edit going?
Pretty well. We set a date for ourselves to release it on May 26. That would be the free version that is just edited by us. We will then slowly start working on a version that would be for pay: a more professional edit that would likely include bonus content and extras which would then be self-published, to include both ebooks as well as paperback/print copies. There is no deadline set for self-publishing. As we plan it, even when the for-pay version is available, there will still be the free copy for those who can’t afford or access it.
*Where is the split between volume 1 and 2 of Evenfall: Director’s Cut?
Volume 1 ends after the briefing before Monterrey, volume 2 starts with the bus ride where they’re both hot and pissy.
******
To read the rest (there are a LOT more questions!) and find the links to the full chats, go here: 4/5/14 S&A Chat Recaps, at my tumblr blog
We saved the transcripts of the morning and night chats, and also pulled out all the questions/answers for those who didn't want to read the whole transcripts.
IMPORTANT!!!! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL OF ICOS OR 1/27! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Still here? Okay. Here are a few of the Q&A's:
1/27
*Is Kassian really in love with Ryan?
Ryan nailed it when he called Kassian out, but Kassian really does have feelings for him and wants to be with him. It isn’t as fully developed into being “in love” as he thinks it is yet though.
*Owen/Jeffrey arc: how will their story progress?
Owen and Jeffrey will both be in the sequel so their story will progress there. (Note: this wasn’t mentioned in chat but one or both will likely get POVs in the sequel)
On a side note, Jeffrey and Ryan both transformed. It was interesting in 1/27 that their stories were reflective of each other with somewhat similar themes, and that they said almost the same thing about nerds and power or lack thereof, because those stories were written completely separately from each other. We each wrote one of them and hadn’t discussed the plots with each other. We had no idea there was such a similarity until we put the anthology together and saw the same theme popping up with both of them.
SEQUEL:
Tell us everything about the sequel!
We had talked about a sequel but it didn’t come together until writing 1/27. We were talking about all the new groups, like Rift (the VR group), the Knights, the Jacobins, how the characters would react/interact, and the sequel just sort of came together.
The nerds will have a much larger role in the sequel. In fact, Ryan’s line to Kassian fits well for the theme of the sequel: A fieldie is nothing without his nerd.
In the sequel, part of Ryan’s story arc will be realizing he is a force to be reckoned with on his own. He has power, he isn’t just a helper. Part of his issues with his self-esteem and not believing someone like Kassian could want him is that he was always the support guy, the helper guy, the sick kid, etc. No one at the Agency saw him as someone with power.
Also, the only teaser we’ll give: DARK SIDE.
*Will Ryan be the main POV in the possible sequel, or will Boyd and Hsin still be the main characters? (and related question: how are you going to write the sequel if Kassian and Ryan are both Santino’s characters and they have POVs?)
There will be multiple POVs. Ryan will be the main one, Boyd will also have one. Hsin may not have a POV but he is still a main character. The POVs will be a bit more balanced like it was in Interludes (as opposed to Evenfall which was much heavier on one POV) but it will be a continuous story like Evenfall, Afterimage, and Fade (not episodic like Interludes).
*Will there be new characters joining the Lexington Defectors group?
There will be some new characters in the new organization and at the Agency. One of the new characters is actually going to be a bit star struck by the idea of the Lexington Defectors. They made quite the reputation for themselves at the Agency. They’re legends now.
EVENFALL DIRECTOR'S CUT:
*How is the Evenfall edit going?
Pretty well. We set a date for ourselves to release it on May 26. That would be the free version that is just edited by us. We will then slowly start working on a version that would be for pay: a more professional edit that would likely include bonus content and extras which would then be self-published, to include both ebooks as well as paperback/print copies. There is no deadline set for self-publishing. As we plan it, even when the for-pay version is available, there will still be the free copy for those who can’t afford or access it.
*Where is the split between volume 1 and 2 of Evenfall: Director’s Cut?
Volume 1 ends after the briefing before Monterrey, volume 2 starts with the bus ride where they’re both hot and pissy.
******
To read the rest (there are a LOT more questions!) and find the links to the full chats, go here: 4/5/14 S&A Chat Recaps, at my tumblr blog
