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Chatting with Jamie Fessenden
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I actually download a copy of Tiddlywiki and keep it in a folder on a thumbdrive. I keep meaning to set it up on a server somewhere, where only I have access to it, but I haven't done that yet.
It gives a whole new meaning to Bobbit *g*.
Sue wrote: "It gives a whole new meaning to Bobbit *g*."Yes. Fortunately, she was just a baby bunny and didn't do any real damage.
Damon, now that you've mentioned it, I spoke to Erich about having a wiki or something on our server here for me to keep my notes on. That would be better.I once lost all the notes and text to a novel I'd worked two weeks on, because I dropped the thumb drive in a parking lot somewhere. Having it on a server where we could make routine backups would be good. Plus I could access it everywhere.
Erich, if it isn't immediately apparent, is my anchor to reality. If it weren't for him, I'd spiral off into orbit and get lost in space. :-) He's in awe of my creativity, but I'm in awe of his ability to keep the household running and fix problems without going off the deep end (where, admittedly, I spend a good deal of time). :-)
My husband is the same way. He makes sure I eat and sleep at regular intervals.
Damon wrote: "My husband is the same way. He makes sure I eat and sleep at regular intervals."Exactly. What would we do without them? :-)
Okay, here's another excerpt from my cyberpunk story "The Dogs of Cyberwar" soon to be released by Dreamspinner (not exactly sure when). I removed an obscenity or two, because normally my writing is sprinkled with them, but this is a public forum. Also, the editors haven't worked this over yet, so all typos are my responsibility.
Jamie wrote: "Perhaps. But that reminds me of a story....When I was 19 and living with my first boyfriend, I got it into my head that, for Easter, I needed to get an actually bunny rabbit. (Michael already..."
I shouldn't laugh...no laughing! LOL Sorry, Jamie
EXCERPT "The Dogs of Cyberwar" -- PGThere was no possibility of spending the night in the abandoned building Luis had encountered Connor in. Luis assured him that Torres would send people to check the place out, when Luis and his companions failed to return with the netrunner. But the gym had sleep capsules in a room off to one side of the locker room. These were “rooms” just big enough for a person to crawl into and sleep. But they were comfortable enough, and provided access to the Net, which Connor would need in order to finish the job he’d contracted for.
But when he swiped his wrist across the reader and the door swung open, he discovered a new drawback to having Luis for his bodyguard.
“Is that big enough for both of us?” the Latino asked, peering into the capsule.
This took Connor aback. “What? No, not really. Can’t you get your own?”
“I don’t have any money,” Luis reminded him.
Jesus. Just how much was this deal going to end up costing him, on a regular basis?
“I suppose I could rent you a capsule,” Connor said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. The capsules were pretty pricey.
“That’s all right,” Luis replied, “I’ll just keep watch out here.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You have to sleep.”
“If I’m locked in another capsule, I might not hear, if somebody comes after you.”
“It’s not like I get attacked every time I try to sleep,” Connor protested. But he could see from the look in Luis’ eyes that this argument wouldn’t get him anywhere. Luis had decided that Connor needed to be protected. And that meant not leaving his side, apparently. “So your idea of being my bodyguard is pretty much what other people would call a ‘stalker’?”
“Don’t you think your bodyguard should be nearby, whenever you need him?”
“If I have to , are you going to come into the stall with me?” Connor asked him, irritated. “No, don’t answer that. We’ll save it for a surprise. In the meantime, if you’re going to be like this, you might as well just get in the goddamned capsule with me. They’re big enough for two, if you don’t mind being snug. But leave everything you don’t need in the locker.”
Following his own advice, Connor stripped to his underwear. There certainly wasn’t going to be room in there to undress, if Luis was inside with him. The one thing he brought in was his cyber deck.
Luis followed his example and stripped to his underwear, though he insisted on bringing his gun with him into the capsule.
Connor prayed neither of them rolled over on it in the night.
It was pretty cramped, when they were both inside and the door was locked, but thankfully the capsule had air-conditioning. Not that Luis smelled bad. In fact, once he was stretched out beside Connor, his chest at about the level of Connor’s face, the Connor found that he liked the faint masculine musk Luis seemed to radiate. The scent was clean and held a trace of the generic liquid soap available in the gym shower, but it was unmistakably manly.
It was impossible for their skin not to touch, in this close space, but Luis didn’t seem to care. When Connor glanced up at his face, he found Luis looking at him thoughtfully with those beautiful dark eyes. Not for the first time, Connor wondered whether Luis was gay or straight. So far, he hadn’t given much indication – unless the fact that he had a strong desire to make himself subservient to another man was a sign.
“Um…just so we’re clear about this,” Connor began, uncertain how exactly to phrase the question, “Are you…expecting sex out of this arrangement?”
Luis shook his head, smiling at his discomfort. “No. Although I did my time giving hand jobs for money, so if you want me to get you off…”
“No,” Connor answered quickly. Luis was certainly not the first guy he’d known who’d resorted to prostitution to get by, so he didn’t fault him for it. But he didn’t want some guy helping him “get off,” if the guy wasn’t enjoying it himself.
“So you don’t like guys, then?”
Luis shrugged. “I guess I don’t really care, one way or another. If I like someone, I’ll them. It doesn’t matter if they’re male or female.”
“All right. That’s cool. I generally just like guys, myself.”
“Muy bien.”
That seemed to end the discussion. Connor wasn’t certain if he liked the fact that Luis had left the possibility of sex open. This guy was already complicating his life. If they started around, it would get even more complicated.
He decided to change the topic. “So, if you liked what you were doing down in the L.A. Co-op, why did you come up to the FreeCorp Consortium?”
“Everybody’s starving down there,” Luis answered. “I heard that people were better off, up here.”
“If you can get into one of the corporations,” Connor amended. “Otherwise, you’re just a bottom-feeder, like the rest of us.”
“So I’ve been learning. Torres and his gang were the best deal I’ve found, since I got here.”
“With your fighting skill, you might be able to get into a corporate security company,” Connor said. Since the city police were privatized, back when he was a kid, corporations started hiring their own security forces. Connor didn’t mention his low opinion of these thugs in uniform. There were no laws to prevent corporate security from executing netrunners or torturing them for information. “You're a good enough fighter to get a job with Failinis. They also hire out private bodyguard for execs.”
Failinis was, by far, the worst of the security organizations. They were a branch of Fomor Micro, which was the most powerful corporation in FreeStates, and they'd pretty much driven most of the others out of business. Their name was borrowed from Celtic mythology -- the dog of Cu Chulainn, which Connor had always found particularly ironic. His real name -- which he never used -- was Cullen, and his father had once told him he was named for Cu Chulainn.
Sick bastard.
Luis smiled at Connor and lowered his head to the pillow they’d be sharing. “I already have a job as a bodyguard.”
“I can’t pay.”
“Just feed me. That’s all I need.”
“And a ‘purpose’?”
“I want someone to protect,” Luis said, his voice beginning to sound sleepy. “I don’t like being the bad guy. Is that wrong?”
Connor sighed. “No, it’s not wrong. But you realize you’re protecting someone who steals and destroys data, don’t you? I’m not exactly a ‘good guy,’ myself.”
There was no response, and Connor glanced up to see that Luis had drifted off. Asleep, there was something innocent and childlike in his beautiful face. Of course, Connor had to remind himself, this was the man he’d just seen cut two men into tiny pieces.
Moria wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Perhaps. But that reminds me of a story....When I was 19 and living with my first boyfriend, I got it into my head that, for Easter, I needed to get an actually bunny rabbit. (Mic..."
That's okay. I was a dumb kid and should have watched out for her when she was crawling around down there.
"That's okay. I was a dumb kid and should have watched out for her when she was crawling around down there."Still, I'm sure it was a bit of a shock. Lesson learned, I would guess...lol.
And your cyberpunk story sounds intriguing.
Lesson learned? Hmm. I'm not sure I'm smart enough to learn anything from that. :-p Wear body armor when you have pets, perhaps....
Jamie wrote: "Lesson learned? Hmm. I'm not sure I'm smart enough to learn anything from that. :-p Wear body armor when you have pets, perhaps...."Laughing over here at the thought of your body armor! Specially designed for those pesky bunny pets. ;p
Lou wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Lou, the environment of New England is frequently a big part of my stories. My first film, and all subsequent horror stories I've written since, take place in a fictional town of Dun..."I think it was a manor house, more than a castle. The last Fessenden to live there was a woman and she married a french man and moved away. Now there are supposedly two possible locations where it could be, but nobody knows for certain. It's somewhere in Kent, in England.
My first film, "The Sacrifice," is available on DVD on Amazon, though I don't recommend buying -- it's pretty crude, from a technical standpoint. "Boundaries of Attraction" is the one I'm most proud of, and we haven't yet put that on DVD. You can see trailers here for Boundaries and the sequel to Sacrifice (still in progress):
http://www.dunkirkstudios.com/
The link to the left called "Packing" has the complete short, but it's pretty grisly, since we made it for a horror festival.
Jamie wrote: "Lou wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Lou, the environment of New England is frequently a big part of my stories. My first film, and all subsequent horror stories I've written since, take place in a fictional..." Wonderful. I just checked out Boundaries of Attraction. Yeah, I'd love to see it when it's available. Nicely done, and looks like a great story.
I'd love to make movies as well as writing, but i think that's well out of the question for now. Maybe one of these days, but at the moment i'd have to be crazy(ier) to take on more ideas.Jamie wrote: "Lou wrote: "Jamie wrote: "Lou, the environment of New England is frequently a big part of my stories. My first film, and all subsequent horror stories I've written since, take place in a fictional..."
Hey Jamie, et al. Just stopping in to wave 'bye. This has been a great chat!
Jessica wrote: "I'd love to make movies as well as writing, but i think that's well out of the question for now. Maybe one of these days, but at the moment i'd have to be crazy(ier) to take on more ideas.Jamie ..."
Boundaries took a year of our lives, planning and gathering all of the cast and crew we needed, plus it cost about $8,000. Filming took 9 days, round the clock -- we lived and slept on location. It was worth it, but films are a LOT of work.
Hey, Just got in from work. It looks like you had a great day here.
Not bad, how are you? I really enjoy your excerpts.
Thanks! I figured those would be more interesting than posting ones that have already gone out for "We're Both Straight, Right?" or other stories that have already been released.
BTW, I'm now typing on Erich's laptop. My own got infected with a trojan while we were talking, when I clicked on a news article. That's the second time this week, which is annoying, but at least I know how to get rid of the accursed things now. My laptop is currently doing a virus scan, just to be on the safe side. Ugh.
Such is the life of an artiste! Nice chatting with you today Jamie. best of luck on your latest works!Jamie wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I'd love to make movies as well as writing, but i think that's well out of the question for now. Maybe one of these days, but at the moment i'd have to be crazy(ier) to take on mor..."
Well, it be six o'clock, mateys! Ar! (Not that I've yet written a pirate story.) So it's time for me to go.Thanks for showing up! It was a lot of fun. If anyone has any further questions, they can post them here and I'll get to them when I see them.
Otherwise, you can check out my blog at http://www.jamiefessenden.com
Thanks again!
Jamie wrote: "Actually, I do. I go online and do searches for the type of person I'm looking for, dredging up photos of models (and occasionally celebrities) who look like the characters. Then I add them to a ..."