C.J. Moseley's Blog, page 168
January 29, 2014
ladyjeeves:
sharkchunks:
Simon Stålenhag
At a glance I…
At a glance I thought these were photos and slowly realised they weren’t. They incite intense curiosity in me and I dig that.
These are very cool, evocative images, remind me of the style of my old, now sadly passed, art teacher, Michael Collins.
January 28, 2014
David Tennant on the set of ‘The Shakepeare Code’
Ye olde…
David Tennant on the set of ‘The Shakepeare Code’
Ye olde jokes are ye beste jokes.
January 27, 2014
Ironmaster: Putting the Punk back in Steampunk.
I'm finding it very easy to write, which is always good. I had the same thing with the Teucoi chapters of 'Paradox War' when I was writing that (years ago now!). Some characters just seem to write themselves, they stick on plan and don't wander off on their own too much. Other parts come so much harder, but I do have one problem with the boys from 'Chierosyphon' - they are such potty mouths.
Back in the day when I worked in the industry, I would think nothing of peppering any normal sentence with a dense vernacular of ill-reputed Anglo-Saxon. Good hearty words, with robust earthy meanings all. Now I am a dad with two young boys who are growing up far too quickly, I find that I have great difficulty in justifying the use of these words in speech.
This leads me to read back some of the banter of the Chierosyphon boys and think, "bit much", even when it isn't. I find myself wanting to tone their language down, use "effing" as a swear word (which it actually seemed to be growing up in the 70s and 80s), but I think this is wrong. Punks should be young and care-free, they use their language to shock, to provoke, to emphasis. It, in short, for the characters, bad language is just language, they should use naughty words, they're naughty boys.
It is going to mean that the Ironmaster book is not going to be suitable for all readers, I just hope that the readers I get are more willing to accept the authenticity of the Punks rather than cringe away from the language.
So far the boys have played a couple of gigs and got a record contract (of sorts), but while they have revolutionary politics they haven't had the money for, nor exposure to, the underbelly of the world they are moving up into (no groupies yet and so far no drugs), but things are changing for them. As their music gains cache with the cool kids, they win both power and money (whether they want it or not), and that will expose them to the darker side of of the recording industry. Alcohol, drugs and sex are hedonistic pursuits that can snuff out artists who are not careful where they tread, or what they tread in. I find myself worrying for my characters and what I am going to put them through for the sake of a good story, I can't quite shake the feeling that somewhere out in the Omniverse the things I just imagine and write are actually happening to some poor idiots who just want to burn the system down with their music.
Hopefully I'll get more writing done at this huge pace over the next few weeks and I'll have the first-drafts licked in time for the Easter holidays (which will put me well on track for a Christmas release due to the incredible amount of time I will spend noodling the second and third drafts out of the first).
clara-impossiblesoufflegirl:
seerofsarcasm:
nesquiksand:
with-…
I don’t know if you guys know this or not but the girl and the sailor didn’t even know each other, the sailor was drunk and sexually assaulted her in the street and they got off the boat. history lesson. boom.
UM
NO
THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED
Upon hearing the news that the war was over, everyone was celebrating in the streets. The sailor was overwhelmed with the joy of the moment and grabbed a nurse and kissed her before they parted ways. She didn’t see it as a sexual assault, she understood that everyone was celebrating. And it certainly wasn’t simply a drunken act.
Stop trying to ruin this picture. It captures the joy of the end of a really awful time.
If I’m not mistaken, these two remain friends to this day.
You aren’t mistaken, they visit each other and their families and exchange christmas cards.
And this is him now:
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT PEOPLE. LORD
VJ day iconic photo is now ret-conned into predatory sexual assault. Victors write the history don’t they.
January 26, 2014
darklittlecorner:
(via Isaac by Kekai – Kekai Kotaki -…
(via Isaac by Kekai - Kekai Kotaki - CGHUB)
This may be the pinnacle of internet cool, cyborg soldier riding a tiger! How awesome is that?! Go on interwebs best that.
January 25, 2014
emergentfutures:
Here’s an amazing chart from Eric Sundquist at…
Here’s an amazing chart from Eric Sundquist at the State Smart Transportation Initiative (via Clark Williams-Derry and Andrew Gelman) about how Department of Transportation forecasters have dealt with the much-discussed decline in driving in America
Full Story: Slate
The sad part is that sometimes job was telling these lies. Poor, poor person. Imagine having to tell less for a science related job that tries to predict the future.
January 22, 2014
Illness again
We both agree that being sick is no fun at all. Although the worst of the stomach cramps have now passed, I still have to entertain my Eldest as the school has a no-returns policy for 48 hours.
Hopefully he'll be back at school tomorrow and I'll be able to finish the Steampunk short story "Chierosyphon", which should firmly reassert the Punk in Steampunk. In a literal musical sense in this case as Chierosyphon is the name of a band.
I've really been enjoying writing this book… it's more a collection of vaguely collected shorts than a true mosaic novel at the moment, which has lead me to wonder about the name, but I'll see how I feel about it after I've written the title piece (it's meant to be the longest story, a novella in fact), but some of the other Stories have got great Titles in their own right.
"Chierosyphon", "Beneath the Burning Sky of Bedlam", "The Death of Dangly Dan", "The Beast In The Rock", "Cognoscenti" and I still have more to write.
This is probably going to be a big book- but, unlike the Paradox War, I am not going to split it up. I'll just charge more for a truly epic read, I think.
Well that's the update, I should also probably start thinking about the next instalment of the Ironmaster game too… hmm… that Cognitive engine the party are building really needs some programming and some taboos…
January 19, 2014
January 18, 2014
brucesterling:
*Non-Americans should get hip to this useful,…
*Non-Americans should get hip to this useful, accurate diagram, because American acquaintances will probably misinform you that they elect their own representatives and senators
So cool so scary.
January 17, 2014
a bubble freezing at -10º degrees
I guess it’s cold…
a bubble freezing at -10º degrees
I guess it’s cold out!
