MCM's Blog, page 49
October 10, 2009
Fix Typhoon
#3D1D was a lot of work, but now the real struggle begins: turning Typhoon into a better book. I know you've all done a lot for me already, but I'm going to ask one more favour: help me diagnose problems.
When you were reading it, you probably had moments where you said "Oh dear, that made no sense." I can't always see where those moments are, and if they don't get fixed, it will ruin the experience for any future readers. So here's my request: tell me what didn't work for you, what didn't ...
October 9, 2009
3D1D Wrap Up
The best email I've found in my inbox today was from someone last night, saying "Jeez man, you haven't updated your site for a long time! Are you sleeping?"
No, for the last few days, I've been working on #3D1D (the hashtag is key!), a very grand experiment to write a novel in 3 days. There are lots of things that could have gone wrong, but only a few did. I hope you all enjoyed it, because it was one of the best things I've ever done. I borrowed the "liveblogging" term before, but I...
October 3, 2009
Schedule Change
Most of you already know this, but I wanted to broadcast the schedule changes for the upcoming week. They are as follows:
No RollBots recap today. I'll try and double up next weekend.
No Topic Tag Tuesday this week.
3D1D starts at 6AM Tuesday Victoria time (GMT -7 hours) and goes until 6AM on Thursday.
I may be dead by 6:01AM on Thursday
That's about it. If you have any questions, ask away. If I'm slow at replying, it's because I'm trying to prep.
Do check out the 3D1D site, and buy...
September 29, 2009
Topic Tag: Happy
Today's topic tag is, unlike previous instalments, aiming to be happy. With ideas from @quillsandzebras, @theamericanbook, @sharontherose, @mfeige, @mjgolli and @tenaciousN.
Joe's feet swung four inches off the ground as he sat on the park bench, watching the people scurry by. The oak tree above him was blocking most of the rain, but then a large drop landed on his paper bag, shocking him out of his daze. He brushed it away with his yellow rubber glove.
"'ello, sir," came a voice from...
September 28, 2009
3D1D: The Premise
Next Tuesday, I'm going to embark on a very intense adventure to write my next novel Typhoon in three days. To achieve this goal, I will need some help from you, and also a whole lot of structure. Here's the general idea…
A day (as you may have heard) is made up of 24 hours. I am going to set aide 4 of those hours for sleep, because I don't want to die midway through the event. I'll wake up at 6am and stop work at 2am the next morning (all times Canadian Pacific time). I will also need 3 ...
September 26, 2009
RollBots USA: 102 "Breakpoint"
This is your weekly behind-the-scenes look at RollBots episode 102 "Breakpoint", co-starring Rick Astley.
"Breakpoint" is the last script we wrote, and the second episode broadcast. It was originally coded 101a, because I was so used to calling the seventh episode "107″ and didn't want to learn new numbers. We added this episode because our previous 102 ("Wipeout") was not quite actiony enough, and we were afraid we might lose the interest of the audience if it played second. "Breakpoint" n...
September 25, 2009
RollBots Challenge Results
I'm sure you all remember about two weeks ago when I posted a challenge, saying I'd do wonderful and crazy things if RollBots got a certain level of ratings for its US premiere. I'm here to give you the bad news.
First, I want to make a few things clear: this was our first episode, and honestly, none of our potential audience had any idea what we were going to be. I know there's been a lot of knee-jerk reaction to how silly the show looks, and I saw quite a lot of negativity around the web i...
September 23, 2009
Fission Chips Concludes
It's been quite a ride, and now it's over. Or is it?
I started writing Fission Chips in May, back when I thought crowdsourced fiction was fun. Now I have a whole new appreciation of it, and how hard it can be to pull off. Even with my rather detailed notes on what happens and when, I was nowhere near prepared for the mess that followed.
You can go read it on for yourself, but also take the time to read the acknowledgements page at the end, because I need your help to finish this sucker...
I am special
Let me put it this way: if there were a contest with four prizes, and only two other people entered besides me, typically, the other two people would win twice. That's my luck.
But no more! No, tonight I discovered I have won a contest! But no ordinary contest, this one is for writing!
Yes, head on over to The Storyverse and read my short story about the strangest thing I ever bought on the Internets.
If you haven't been to the Storyverse before, well, shame on you. It is one of the best...
September 22, 2009
Topic Tag: Bumpy Wash
Today's Topic Tag is a threebie, straight from the brains of @quillsandzebras, @Tim_LRR and @kdnewton. I'll cover the suggestions at the bottom…
"You and I need to have a talk," said Pam, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and pulling her night gown closed. Wendy closed the lid to the washer and the banging started again, echoing through the small apartment.
"Sorry," Wendy said, lifting the lid a crack so it stopped spinning.
"You want to do laundry at two in the morning, switch rooms with me."
"S...
