Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 57

WIP Wednesday #3: Stacking Words

A quick week, this week. Well, not quick–simple? Let’s go with simple. Nothing too strenuous, save the stacking of words, one atop the next. Good words, I hope, though I’ll settle for adequate. Three weeks in and I’m already lowering my standards. Probably doesn’t bode well.

I’ve hit 20K on my current project, which is well past the halfway mark. Another three or four days of work and I’ll have the first draft of Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra licked. Even better, I think I might’ve hit on a solid idea for the next story, should Meteor House be generous enough to invite me to contribute a third volume. Too, I’ve added a few new reference books to my stack for this project, including volume one of Win Scott Eckert’s Crossovers as well as Tales of the Wold Newton Universe, by Philip Jose Farmer and Win Scott Eckert. Both books receive my highest recommendations, and I encourage you to check them out.

I also managed to give a quick polish to “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide”, my contribution to Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu. I cut some words, added a few more, and fussed over the rest. I’m happy with it, by and large. It’s a tad indulgent in spots, I think–the coach ride across London Bridge was a bit gratuitous–but I’m satisfied. The Royal Occultist, Dr. John Dee and his apprentice, William Sly, investigate a mysterious plague in Shoreditch, and find themselves drawn into a plot involving the latest play by one William Shakespeare…if that sounds cool, why not back the Kickstarter?

Speaking of John Dee, I’m making plans to go see this exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians some time in April, if possible. I’m looking forward to it quite a bit. Fictional adventures aside, Dee was an interesting historical figure–cartographer, alchemist, possible spy…a man of many talents. In his spare time, he also fought Cthulhu. Cool, right?

I’m also still plugging away on The Sea-Leopard. A few hundred words a day, maybe a 1-2K a week, between other projects. Slowly but surely is the name of the game here. I’m not far away from being done, but paying work comes first in this, as in all things.

Simple, like I said. Anyway, that’s what I’m working on. Feel free to share what you’re working on in the comments, if you like.

Zibaldone #2: Black Swallow of Death

Here’s a trio of things from one of my commonplace books that I’m reading about right now, for no particular reason.

Eugene Bullard. Black combat pilot in WWI. Boxer. Musician. Elevator operator. Had a pet monkey named Jimmy. Known as ‘the Black Swallow of Death’. Probably some kind of pulp hero.

The War of the Bucket. AKA the War of the Oaken Bucket. Literally a war fought over a bucket. Also part of that whole sorry-ass Guelph and Ghibelline scene. Began AND ended with the Battle of Zappolino. Had a mock-heroic epic written about it.

Picatrix. AKA the Goal of the Wise. Four hundred page book of magic. 11th century, or maybe 10th. There’s a copy in the British Library. The original Arabic version wasn’t discovered until 1920.

My subconscious has a bad habit of making random connections–crashing together unrelated concepts until something fits. I don’t know if that’s what’s happening here, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Bullard, in particular, has been taking up real estate in the back of my head for a few months now. If ever there was a historical personage deserving of fictional adventures, Bullard is it.

Friday Freebie

Good news! Until the end of January, my Royal Occultist short story, “Hairy Shanks”, is available to download from Smashwords for free.

When a worker is savagely attacked in the Thames section of the London Tunnel Authority, Charles St. Cyprian, in his role as Royal Occultist, is summoned. He, along with his apprentice Ebe Gallowglass, are no strangers to the unusual and terrifying, but find themselves tackling something neither expected. A phantom of such savage power that it absolutely in no way is or was ever human…

Click the cover image to be taken to Smashwords to get your free copy. And if you enjoyed “Hairy Shanks”, consider leaving a review or helping spread the word. Every little bit helps.

 

WIP Wednesday #2: Ruritanian Romance

Two weeks and some change in, and I’m already looking for the EXIT sign. Since last week, I’ve managed to finish a short story, outline two more, nudge a novel towards completion and start a novella.

I managed to finish up the first draft of “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide”, my contribution to Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu–which is still looking for backers on Kickstarter, by the by–around Thursday morning. It’s roughly 8,000 words, but that’ll likely get pared down some when I sit down to edit it this weekend.

Regarding first drafts, be they short stories or novels or what have you, I tend to let them simmer for a few days before I begin hacking at them, deadlines permitting. The longer the better, really. It gives me space to chew over anything plot or character-wise that’s been annoying me, as well as time for the urge to second-guess myself to die down some.

I also started Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra, my follow up novella to Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows, this past weekend. Fogg has had his first encounter with a certain daredevil Ruritanian nobleman, and stepped hip-deep in the murky demimonde of Ruritanian politics. I’m about 8,000 words in and it’s smooth sailing so far. Then, the first 10K always is. It’s the middle bit that’s tricky, ain’t it?

Reference-wise, I’m utilizing Anthony Hope’s original novels, The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, obviously, as well as Philip Jose Farmer’s The Other Log of Phileas Fogg. I’m also using Eric Christiansen’s The Northern Crusades for a bit of background on the villains of the piece. And, of course, the resources of the Wold Newton Family site are an essential part of a project like this.

And that’s what I’m working on. Feel free to share what you’re working on in the comments, if you like.

WIP Wednesday #2:Ruritanian Romance

Two weeks and some change in, and I’m already looking for the EXIT sign. Since last week, I’ve managed to finish a short story, outline two more, nudge a novel towards completion and start a novella.

I managed to finish up the first draft of “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide”, my contribution to Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu–which is still looking for backers on Kickstarter, by the by–around Thursday morning. It’s roughly 8,000 words, but that’ll likely get pared down some when I sit down to edit it this weekend.

Regarding first drafts, be they short stories or novels or what have you, I tend to let them simmer for a few days before I begin hacking at them, deadlines permitting. The longer the better, really. It gives me space to chew over anything plot or character-wise that’s been annoying me, as well as time for the urge to second-guess myself to die down some.

I also started Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra, my follow up novella to Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows, this past weekend. Fogg has had his first encounter with a certain daredevil Ruritanian nobleman, and stepped hip-deep in the murky demimonde of Ruritanian politics. I’m about 8,000 words in and it’s smooth sailing so far. Then, the first 10K always is. It’s the middle bit that’s tricky, ain’t it?

Reference-wise, I’m utilizing Anthony Hope’s original novels, The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, obviously, as well as Philip Jose Farmer’s The Other Log of Phileas Fogg. I’m also using Eric Christiansen’s The Northern Crusades for a bit of background on the villains of the piece. And, of course, the resources of the Wold Newton Family site are an essential part of a project like this.

And that’s what I’m working on. Feel free to share what you’re working on in the comments, if you like.

Zibaldone #1: Swamp Sessions

Bit for a thing. I dig this stuff something powerful, you know? Especially when it’s happening in the motherland, so to speak. Nothing finer than Caroliner, especially when it comes to monsters. Who needs Bigfoot, we got us a gen-u-ine lizardyman. Even better than that mummy they brought to the state fair that one time.

That mummy was awesome though, no lie.

So, I never saw the Lizardman, though I had a rocking t-shirt with him (it?) on it when I were a lad. I miss that shirt. I passed through Scape Ore Swamp once or twice or half a dozen times before I moved to Ye Olde England, but all I got were mosquito bites. It’s foul old place though. A fen worthy of a hell-beast. Congaree is bigger, but Scape Ore is nastier.

The trees rise wild and the water is so dark it swallows up the light. Time stops in places like that, or at least slows to a crawl. It’s an easy place to get lost in, even if you’re just passing through. Maybe that’s what the Lizardman is…was…just something passing through, that got lost.

Anyway, I’m writing a thing for CRYPTID CLASH! It may, or may not, have a Lizardman in it.

The Shadow of Utopia

I have a weird relationship with Star Trek, as a franchise. I like more bits of it than I dislike, on the whole, but something about the Rodenberry ideal always grated. Something about the Federation always put my hackles up, though I can’t really explain why.

Maybe I’m just more of a Harry Mudd than a Jean-Luc Picard, you know? Gimme a ship and a dream, and I’d just wind up selling one or t’other to some poor slob on another planet at a sixty percent mark-up.

Which reminds me: if I ever wind up getting to write a Star Trek novel, it’s damn sure going to have some Harcourt Fenton Mudd, O.G., in it, possibly pulling some Ocean’s Eleven-style shenanigans. Also, there’ll be a Gorn in it, because who doesn’t love giant lizardmen?

In any event, of all the Star Trek stuff, Deep Space Nine was the one that I enjoyed most. So many characters, so much conflict, everything layered in brass and gray. It was the only series that really showed how much damn work a utopian ideal like the Federation would require, and how it could be skewed, stretched and even broken, despite (or because of) the best intentions of those who fought in its defense.

You had politics, espionage, moral dilemmas, war, religion…just a grab-bag of interesting ideas, explored interestingly, with repercussions that were felt across entire seasons. Good stuff.

Plus, Sisko punched Q right in the damn mouth that one time. That’s high quality television right there, I don’t care who you are.

Anyway, I say all that by way of pointing you to this swell write-up of Deep Space Nine by Max Temkin, ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 82.5 Hours’. It pretty much captures my feelings on the series, and if you’ve even a passing interest in such things, I recommend that you check it out.

WIP Wednesday #1: Tiger’s Heart

2016 is already looking busy. I say that with no small amount of satisfaction…’busy’ means money, after all. Potential money, at any rate. But isn’t all money potential money for someone? I think Lorenzo de’ Medici said that. Or maybe it was the Money Minute guy. Anyway, busy. 

Right now, my current work-in-progress is a short story called “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide”. “Tiger’s Heart…” is my contribution to the Jonathan Green edited Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu, which is still looking for backers on Kickstarter, by the by. It’s a Royal Occultist story, featuring the first man to hold the office–Dr. John Dee. Set in 1592, it finds Dee and his apprentice, William Sly, investigating a ‘plague of the mind’ running riot through the playhouses of Shoreditch and Bankside, and possibly involving a performance of a certain playwright’s latest work…

I’m about 3K words into the story and it’s coming along smoothly so far. I’m using a number of books for reference, including Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England, Benjamin Woolley’s The Queen’s Conjurer, and several by Peter Ackroyd, including London: The Biography and Shakespeare: The Biography. 

Besides “Tiger’s Heart…”, I’m also plugging along with The Sea-Leopard, my pirates-n-politics fantasy novel. So far I’ve cleared a cool 88K words, which is nothing to sneeze at for…seven weeks work? I tend to write between 10K-14K a week, on average, so that sounds about right. I have no idea how long it’ll end up being, though I’m hoping it won’t be much more than 100k.

After a wind up “Tiger’s Heart…” I’ll be starting work on a new Wold Newton-related novella for Meteor House, Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra. It’s a follow-up to my 2014 novella, Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows (of which there are a few copies left, if you haven’t gotten yours yet). Heart of Osra finds Fogg investigating the connection between a stolen gem and conspiratorial cult in Anthony Hope’s Ruritania, in the months following the events of War of Shadows. 

And that’s what I’m working on. What about you? Feel free to share your WIPs in the comments, if you like.

Super-Sounds for a Super-Detective

I’m pleased to announce that a good many of my Jim Anthony, Super Detective stories are now available for your listening pleasure, via Audible. Ranging anywhere from three to six hours, they’re perfect for long drives, train journeys or even the occasional jaunt by experimental gyrocopter.

The available works include my 2012 novel, The Mark of Terror, my two recent novellas, The Death’s Head Cloud and Red Shambhala, and two short stories, “Death in Yellow” and “The Black Bat at Bay!”, the latter of which finds the Super-Detective on the hunt for the eponymous vigilante.

These stories were immense fun to write, and I hope to do more in the near future, schedule permitting. I’ve said before that writing Jim’s adventures are as close as I’ll get to writing about Doc Savage, but it’s become more than that. There’s a rough sort of joy to a character like this–a billionaire newspaper magnate who can be hunting criminals through the streets of Paris one minute and testing an experimental sub in the Maldives the next. There’s so much potential for fun, entertaining stories there, it boggles the mind.

Anyway, all of the audiobooks are ably narrated by Bob Kern, whose gravelly tones lend a touch of class to the proceedings. They’re available from Audible. Samples are also available, and I encourage you to give them a listen, at least.

Zibaldone #0: Monster Miscellany

I have beside me, as I type this, a stack of commonplace books. Well, Moleskines, but it’s all zibaldone, right? Compilations of ideas, notes for stories (mostly unwritten, if we’re being honest), sketches, names, song and poetry fragments, directions, maps and whatever else I thought I needed to scribble down at a given moment. I scribble a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean an inordinate amount. 

I scribble when I’m on the bus, on the train, at breakfast, before I go to bed. Other people take pictures, I scribble. It’s automatic writing, only there are no ghosts. Or if there are, they haven’t said boo to me. Sometimes it’s just word-salad, other times its cross-indexed and neatly organized, as I gnaw at an idea from several different directions. One has nothing but overexposed pictures I scavenged from the bins beside automatic photo machines, back when I worked at a photo processing center. Yes, I asked permission. Yes, that’s weird. No, I don’t know why.

I should probably get rid of that one.  Probably bad mojo.

Anyway, in addition to the hard copies, I’ve decided to keep a sort of digital back-up zibaldone thing on this site. A monstrous miscellany, if you will. Scribbles of the damned, as Charles Fort said. Erratic entries, entered erratically. Once a week, maybe twice, depending on my research patterns. You might even be able to figure out what I’m writing about before I do…