Main news of the week was of course the collection of short stories I released as Pure Escapism: Volume One. I can’t say as how it has taken off like a house of fire, but it is early days and there hasn’t been much in the way of advertising its existence yet.
On the positive side I have had a couple of nice things said about it, which was very encouraging.
Work for the second volume is well underway – perhaps not as quickly as I had hoped, but certainly on schedule for a release in June.
The companion for the Eleventh Doctor in the next seasons of Doctor Who starting next year has been announced and it is…drumroll…Karen Gillian.
Who? I’d never heard of her, but she is a relative newcomer to the game, so that is hardly surprising.
Steven Moffat spoke highly of her in the BBC press release announcing her appointment though.
Seems they are going for a ‘younger’ look to the next Doctor – sort of reminds me of a clip from Stargate from episode 200 (though I doubt it will end up like that parody.)
As a writer, one of the things I really want to accomplish is to be able to give characters stirring, inspiring speeches – the kind tvtropes refers to as the Rousing Speech. The kind that can turn the tide of a battle or just make you sit back and go ‘wow’.
There is a bit of a one that makes an appearance in The Bronze Man, but as I’m still learning the craft it isn’t up to level of some of the ones that inspire me. In time perhaps.
One of the best ones for me is the Rooftop Scene in Bladerunner, given by Roy Batty. It is made even more memorial as the lines came from the actor, Rutger Hauer, who felt the lines in the script were lacking. Not your typical rousing speech, but one that really works.
Shakespeare was of course a master of the written word, and he can not go without a mention. There are many to choose from, including the stirring Band of Brothers speech from Henry V.
Elizabeth I in reality gave one such speech at Tilbury in 1588, before the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It may seem a little dated to us, but certainly fits the bill.
And then there is Tolkien. Lord of the Rings seems packed with them. From Sam, to Aragorn, to Gandalf, to Theoden.
Sam’s speech at the end of the Two Towers.
Aragorn’s speech at the Black Gate.
Theoden’s Speech at Helm’s Deep
Theoden’s speech at Pelennor Fields – in the book this is actually Eomer’s speech, but it was given to Theoden in the movie.
Any others that you find inspiration from?
An update on yesterdays post – the Night Elf druid bear form skins are now available for view. All I can say is once more I’m glad I’m a Tauren and not an elf.
Cat forms are coming next week – look forward to seeing how much they have improved the Tauren cat form.
One of the things I do when I’m not writing is play World of Warcraft. Not as much as I used to, but still enough.
I am certain the game is making me get OCD, what with all the mounts, and achievements and vanity pets and tabards I have to get…
I am Horde – always have been, always will. My main is a Tauren Druid, which shouldn’t come as a surprise given how often Minotaurs crop up in my writing – though that predates playing WOW by many years.
I have been a Feral Druid since the start, which is a kind of druid that shapeshifts into a bear or a big cat to fight. The problem is that since game release the models have never changed – every druid, no matter their level or equipment, looks the same.
Finally, after four years of waiting, that is about to change. New skins are coming and the previews of the Tauren Bear Form have been released, with cat form to come later.
My Tauren is white skinned (and you may have run into a couple of those in Pure Escapism…) and, according to what we know so far, I should end up with the new white skinned polar bear form, and should also end up as a white lion. All very exciting.
It appears that volume two may be completed quicker than I initially expected. That is mainly because the four stories slated for it so far had already been started prior to volume one being completed. May even be ready to go in a couple of weeks.
While I do have plans for what will be in volumes three and four, so far they are little more than names and plot ideas, so it will be some while before they will be ready to go.
I’m debating on whether to add a fifth story to the four so far already selected for volume two – they are liable to be shorter than those in the first volume and I am wondering if a fifth is needed to approach the length of the first volume.
Just a quick idea of what is coming in volume two;
Cara’s Choice will be appearing in volume two, with the first parts re-edited and improved. It is an Urban Fantasy serial that will appear as long as I keep putting out volumes of Pure Escapism, following a young lady who finds out there is more to the world than she realised, and the characters she falls in with.
The Hall of Black Trees is the first of what I call the Primal Tales, set in a wild, uncivilised world full of dangerous monsters and relates the meeting of Braega the hunter and Tudhala Ramal, a small Huatti lizardfolk, whom Braega’s people call Newts. These two will appear in ongoing, but unrelated stories.
The Village returns to the core world setting and will be something a bit different, set way back in the transitional period between the stone and copper age. It also ties together the early Maedari and the Aracan, being much closer in time to the story told in Cahuac and the Sun than The Bronze Man. It follows a young Maedari boy, Muric, as he travels to the Aracan down of Mitlocan and sees wonders he could never have dreamed of.
The fourth one planned is a stand alone sci-fi story, Ray and his Human. It is a story of off-beat humour, decidedly not serious, following the android Ray and his human master Harold, when their ship breaks down in deep space far from any help. This story came to me on Christmas Eve during the three hour drive to visit my parents, the plot unfolding as I thought it over. No idea where it came from, as its unlike anything I normally write.
I’ve made Pure Escapism available at Smashwords as well. I’m still working out how to format it there correctly, but the PDF from there will be inferior in design and layout to the one that can be downloaded here.
The main reason to make it available also through there are to garner a wider audience and make it available in other forms beyond a PDF – it can be downloaded in formats for Kindle, Palm readers and Sony readers as well there.
Just a quick note that a slightly updated volume one of Pure Escapism has replaced the older version – nothing major, just a bit of tidying up and formatting, as well as PDF bookmarks added.
Came across the following article at Strange Horizons, an online SF magazine, about what they don’t want to see more of – basically story ideas they have seen submitted too often.
I am fairly certain I’m not guilty of any of them, at least not recently.
A few examples from the list;
# Scientist uses himself or herself as test subject.
# Evil unethical doctor performs medical experiments on unsuspecting patient.
# In the future, criminals are punished much more harshly than they are today.
1. In the future, the punishment always fits the crime.
2. The author is apparently unaware of the American constitutional amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, and so postulates that in the future, American punishment will be extra-cruel in some unusual way.
# White protagonist is given wise and mystical advice by Holy Simple Native Folk.
Now that the first volume has been completed, time to look at what the future holds.
I have a notebook full of ideas that will fill two more volumes already. Some are stand alone stories, others are parts of groups of tales, centered around certain characters, events or times.
Cara’s Choice will be making a return, as part of an ongoing serial in future volumes. That had been the plan all along when it went into hiatus, but it just took longer than expected.
There will be further myths from the Cahuac Cycle showing up, relating the ancient myths surrounding Cahuac and his deeds.
There will be more stories from the Book of Deeds, relating tales of great Maedari heroes during their bronze age struggles against the Chelosians.
Nhaqosa the Minotaur will make a return as his wanderings take him across the dying world he finds himself in, and perhaps beyond…
And finally there will be a series called Primal Tales, set on a wilder world, home to more primal creatures, magics and events.
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