So, as I haven't updated in a little while, I figured it'd be a good idea to post something.  Here's a silly little post-apocalyptic story I started writing using some prompts from my critique group.  I'm really not sure where to take it from here, except that I originally titled it "The Snake Man's Betrayal," which might indicate something.  Not really sure.  Any suggestions?  Let me know!

....................

When the Snake Man came to the walled town of New El Paso, he brought hell with him.  My guards allowed him in just like they always had and I thought nothing of it at the time.  The residents paid me a good tribute to give them adequate protection and they did love their monthly reptile fights.

I went out to meet him as I always did.  His monster of a truck came rolling in through the gates, its pipes belching black smoke and its bed teeming with sidewinders, the image of a rampant cobra painted on the side.  The kids ran out as the truck pulled to a halt in front of the only hotel in the town.  My hotel, as it happened.

He opened the door to his truck and stepped down, his leather boots, hat and vest gleaming in the piercing orange sunlight.  The children made a little ring around him that was soon joined by some of their less agile parents.  The kids loved him and always wanted to hear his stories about gathering and training kingsnakes, rattlers, geckos and gila monsters as he traveled the blasted wasteland between here and the ruins of Dallas.  The women were drawn to his tanned complexion and his many tattoos.  Some of the men, too.  Most of them called out to him, vying for the best slabs of lizard meat they could buy off him in exchange for water, gasoline and, in some cases, bullets.

Most everyone else were just anticipating the fights that evening.  The early betters would always swarm the truck to see what he’d brought in for them to watch fight for its life this time.  I’d get my cut from them.  I always did.  Sure, a few folks had tried cheating me out of my take over the past few years.  Usually, after my enforcers caught them, they’d string them up from the juniper tree outside the walls and wait for the buzzards to get them.  Or worse.  These days, the coyotes could grow awful big.

Me, I had business with the Snake Man.  But being the dutiful leader I am, I waited until my people finished most of their early purchases and gawking before I moved towards him, my chair giving off what had become its signature grinding noise as I rolled forward on its treads.  My small entourage followed a few steps behind.  The townsfolk gave way when they heard who was coming.  They always did.

The Snake Man looked me up and down as I approached.

“Crowley,” he said, tipping his hat in greeting.

I came grinding to a halt, readjusted my glasses and lit a cigar.

“Gonna be a good fight tonight I hear, my boy,” I said, scratching my five o’clock shadow.

“You bet, old man.  Always the best for New El Paso.”

     “Good.  Good.  And I think such loyalty should be rewarded.  I have a proposition for you.”

     “Any chance I can take a load off first?  Maybe get a bath?”  His gaze drifted to a couple of the whores in my entourage, who dutifully smiled at him knowingly.

     “I’ll have Amber here get your room ready and draw a nice, warm bath for you.  She’s getting real good with backrubs.”

     “I’d be much obliged.”

     I snapped my fingers and Amber and a couple of the others started moving back toward the hotel.  As the Snake Man went to pass me, I grabbed him by the arm.

     “But I want to run something by you first, hombre.”

     “Okay, Crowley, what gives?”

     “I want to talk about a more permanent arrangement between you and me.”

     “Our arrangement isn’t good enough as it is?”

     “I’ve always been a man of vision, as you well know.  And I hear tell of another town that’s sprung up near where Las Cruces used to be.  Desperation, they call it.”

     “I know it,” the Snake Man said guardedly.

     “I hear they’ve started moving gunpowder through there.  Dangerous business, that.  They could hurt themselves.”

     “What are you driving at, old man?”

     “I think they’re the kind of town that could benefit from the same kind of safety I offer my people here.  So, I’ll be sending some men up there in the near future.  And I’d like you to be my ambassador.”

     The Snake Man began to shake his head.  “I’ve got plenty of my own business to do.”  He tried to move toward the hotel but I held him in my iron grip.  That was one good thing that had come out of the loss of the ability to use my legs.  It had done wonders for my upper body.

     “You haven’t even heard my offer, boy.”

“Is it worth it?”

“You bet your scaly ass it is.  I’m not going to be around here forever.  I have one daughter, but she hasn’t got the tar to make it as Numero Uno around here.  And I’ve got about a dozen yes-man lieutenants who’d all drink themselves under the table before they could make any kind of a command decision.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I gotta spell it out for you, Snake Man?  I’m offering you the key to the city.  Stick with me and put your rather particular talents and your baddest reptiles at my disposal and you can be heir to the throne.  Or the empire, if we do this right.”

I smiled broadly.

“What do you say?”

And that's it.  Anyone have ideas as to how this should go?  Let me know.

Somebody gave me a writing prompt out of the blue so I'll see if I can do something with it...

The boot dropped slowly to the ground from a height of about 100 feet.  At least that's what it seemed like.  Karen couldn't really tell how high up she was any longer.

The sky was a shifting tableau of mottled colors.  The Beast stared down at her, its massive eyes unblinking as it continued to grasp her in its giant hand.

Why did this creature always come whenever she took the pills?  Why couldn't she simply hallucinate that the ground was swallowing her or that the trees were singing like a normal drug addict would?

The Beast lurched around and began walking back towards its lake, dangling her now-naked feet just above the trees.  The higher branches scraped against the bottom of her legs painfully.  She tried to focus on the shifting colors in the sky to calm herself.  They turned in a kaleidoscopic fashion.

Her breath, shallow as it was, caught in her throat.

There was something different in the sky this time.

A streak of grey was spreading forward, making a dark line across the restless canvas of colors above.  What was it?

The Beast trod on towards the lake's edge as the front of the line began to resolve itself into a hard, triangular shape.

A plane?

No.

A missile.

Karen began to struggle in the enormous monster's grasp.  The rumors were true!  They HAD been watching her, just waiting for her to slip once more into her drug-induced state and act as a beacon for the colossus that now carried her.

The deadly projectile was growing larger, heading right for their position.

And now, the Beast was wading into the lake, its greenish amphibian skin glowing with a reflective sheen.

"Run!" she croaked, her voice barely audible.  Her lungs ached as she tried to draw in enough air to shout a warning to her hulking companion, but its vise-like grip on her rib cage prevented it.

She closed her eyes tightly as they sank downward together.  The Beast would enable her to breathe beneath the lake's surface as he had many times in the past, but it would make no difference this time.

"Get... away!  Please!" she said, but her voice was barely above a whisper.

A loud roaring sound came from above and a terrible, hot wind began to blow.

The last sensation she felt was that of her bare feet touching the water.

And then the world imploded.

(Hmm...  A bit strange and morbid perhaps, but an interesting exercise nonetheless... Thanks to Maria for the writing prompt!)  :)

Hi, folks.

You may have noticed my posts have been getting a little more haphazard in their scheduling.  This is because things about my creative life seem to be changing and I'm not certain what shape they'll be in when they finish their latest slow morphing sequence.

Most of my creative energies over the last couple of weeks have been podcast-focused.  The Great Debate! continues apace and I'm starting the work on episode 2 of the Every World News.  Nothing else seems to have advanced yet.  I may decide to rework some things -- I may change their media entirely.  I'm not certain yet.

What I have realized is that if I want to start working as a freelance writer/editor in the mean time I'll need to get some nonfiction articles written so I'll have samples available.  So, I'm looking into starting YET ANOTHER kind of blog, which will have a couple of purposes: 1) to produce writing samples and 2) to get me used to writing every day.  Maybe if I can get enough momentum up, I can get some more done with the fiction projects as well.  One can only hope!

This is, of course, provided that I still end up with enough TIME to do all of this.  I still haven't found a regular job yet and am getting to the point that things are going to become a bit desperate if a "day gig" is not secured post haste!

More as this situation develops.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am proud to announce that the podcast I was referring to as Project Geek Onion has now been released!  It's true name is The Every World News Podcast and the first episode is now available!  Feel free to check it out at:

http://www.everyworldnews.com/

If you like comedic audio and speculative fiction, I hope you'll like this.  :)

Still Interviewing.
No Luck on the Horizon.
But Will Continue.

Project Geek Onion
Nears Completion. In One Week
It Should Be Ready!

My New War Pig Shows
May Soon Receive Sponsorship.
Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

Still Writing Debates.
Come Visit the Facebook Page!
It's New and Shiny!

And That's About It.
More Updates as They Happen.
For Now, That Is All.

So, this is interesting.  This journal appears to be wandering into the middle of the week.

Still doing more podcasting.  The recording for Project Geek Onion is coming along very nicely!  I'm hoping to get it all recorded this week so that I might be able to release it next week.  We shall see!

I also now have a job interview.  Unfortunately, it's still call center work, but at least in this case it will be internal stuff instead of dealing directly with the public.  We'll have to see how that goes.  It will, of course, impact my projects, but I'll be doing my damnedest not to let it interfere too much!

I also have finally set up a Facebook page for The Great Debate! so if you're on Facebook, you may wish to check it out!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Great-Debate/245294720383

So, this week looks a lot like last week.

More podcasting stuff.

I'll actually begin recording for the first episode of Project Geek Onion this week and soon its real title (and accompanying web site) will be revealed to the general public!

As soon as it's ready.  (crosses fingers)

In the mean time, still writing Debate scripts and trying to line things up for the Miniature and Card Game podcasts.

Still no sign of a "real job" yet - hopefully unemployment will continue long enough for one to materialize!  (crosses toes)

Ahaha.

Right.

Looks like I missed a week.

Well, the good news is that I've been busy doing a lot of writing and editing.

The bad news is that none of it has involved the short stories or the novel.

It's pretty much all been podcast/internet radio stuff.

The script for the first episode of Project Geek Onion is nearly ready.  I just have a couple more pages of material to write -- if that -- and I can start casting.

I've been doing a horrendous amount of audio editing because it seems my projects are becoming slightly more ambitious.  I had a guest voice in the most recent episode I recorded for The Great Debate! and I've started recording and editing interviews for a new War Pig Radio show called War Game Spotlight (and its sister show, Card Game Spotlight), which I've just been informed is now airing!  It's pretty much just me sitting and chatting with miniatures and card game enthusiasts.  Not something I'm an expert on in either case, but I figure it'll help fill the programming gap for the time being.  :)

Ho there!  I will deliver my report now!  Now I say!!!

I have been writing a good deal this week though not on my short fiction projects which is bad but on podcast projects which is good.

Hmm.

I am nearly finished with Project Geek Onion's first episode.  Yes, the first episode, which when complete will mean that I have completed it and then I will be able to say I have completed it although I could say it now but now it wouldn't be true so I will wait to say it until it is true and then I can say it truthfully!

Hah!

I am also working on yet another internet radio project for War Pig because I have lost my mind.  It is a miniatures show where I sit and talk to someone about miniatures and he tells me what I do not know about them which is a lot because all I know about them is that they are usually smaller than people but it will hopefully be very informative even though there is a lot of editing involved.  But still, my mind has gone and I have not been able to find it because I have looked everywhere and it is nowhere to be found.  I am not sure where my mind has gone but if you see it please send it back to me via e-mail or snail mail because I miss my mind a great deal and would like to see it again and will be very happy if it should appear in my mailbox and will cry out in abject joy because my mind has returned.

Hooray!

I wasn't able to take care of as much this week, mostly because I had a relative pass away.  Trying to get back into the swing of things, though, as I think there's been at least some progress.

I have recently been receiving a number of signs from people that have led me to believe that it is absolutely imperative that I keep writing, so that is what I intend to do.  :)

I got feedback on what I've written so far of Luxury Theft and I think I can now see the advantage of bringing something half-finished to a writing circle -- it means I can make the changes I need to make to it without going completely into reverse!  The comments I received have helped a great deal in helping me with some fundamental conflicts in the narrative -- with any luck, it'll make it a much more solid piece of work than it otherwise would have been.

This past week was actually more productive than usual!

Aside from continuing on with the podcast, I was able to get up to a little under 4000 words on Luxury Theft.  I've also submitted the first 15 pages of it for writing circle critique.  I've dumped my character into a difficult situation and I'm still trying to work out how to get him out of it.  Hopefully more ideas will present themselves soon!

I've also begun working on a Secret Evil project, which for the time being I'm giving the code name "Geek Onion."  All I can say right now is that when it's done it may possibly be a second podcast.  It's a more ambitious undertaking than The Great Debate, though, in particular because I know I'll need a bigger cast than just me to get it done.  That also means I may only be able to get it out once a month (considering the fact that I'll still be doing TGD at the same time) -- I'm hoping I might be able to shorten that to every other week, but we'll have to see how this first one goes!

Well, here we are again.  The tail end of another week disappearing down the drain along with the potential to have made some kind of writing progress.

(Sigh)

Actually, there WAS a little bit of progress -- in this case, it was on Luxury Theft, which is now up to over 1700 words.  How did this happen, you ask?

Well, it's like this.  I've decided to finally dive in and set a daily word count goal.  It's what all the cool writers are doing, so I figured I'd give in to the peer pressure and try to make it work.

My word count goal right now is not very high -- only 100 words -- because I need to ramp up to it, I think, getting used to writing more and more as time goes on.  And, of course, I typically end up writing more than 100 words per day, which is the idea.

This goal, though, is likely going to be overshadowed a bit by the fact that it's come time once again for me to submit something to my writing circle for critique.  So, I'm going to try to get the first draft of Luxury Theft done by next weekend.  If I don't make it, I'll be submitting the first chapter of Blind Warrior Cult instead.  But I am hoping this will give sufficient impetus to get Luxury Theft finished.

We shall see what happens!

Not a lot happened this week largely because I had a family emergency and had to leave town for a little while.  I did get another episode of the podcast out, though.

The interesting thing is that when I was out of town I had the opportunity to read the entirety of "More Than Fiction" out loud to someone and found some more things I'd like to fix, so I'll be doing YET ANOTHER EDIT on it.  Hopefully this will be the last one before I try to get it out the door (once I've figured out HOW to "get it out the door...").

More as things develop.

Well, it appears that ConCarolinas filled my entire field of view this week, so I wasn't able to get a lot of writing done.  I did just finish another podcast episode today, however.

At the con, though, I did a good deal of networking for the podcast and I went to a couple of writers' panels.

The first of the two I attended was called "From Outline to Epilogue" and had to do with the process of getting a book written.  The writers on the panel each went over the basics of how they get a book written and it looks as though the majority of the ones who attended don't use outlines, but try to just write stuff "by the seat of their pants."  I threw out a question about getting from plot point A to plot point B and the funny thing is that for the most part they seemed to agree that the best thing was to do a Raymond Chandler -- basically, whenever they get stuck, have something off the wall happen and then write around it from there.  I may need to try this.

I think that for me the problem has mostly been getting myself to actually sit and write.  Then when I get to that point, my brain likes to wander off.  And all I've usually got in my head at that point are a few vague scenes -- nothing concrete.  I'm thinking one possible technique might be to try to set up the plot a little bit more the way I do with RPGs, essentially throwing situations at my characters and seeing how they react.  Kind of like the Chandler method, I guess, only with a little more planning.  Hopefully, I'll be able to try that -- if I can get myself to put finger to keyboard (and about that -- funny how I'm doing it NOW, for this blog, right?).  The trick may just be going ahead and starting to do it without thinking about it.  Kind of like sneaking past myself to get it done.  The trouble is that I have a rather observant and paranoid guard in the "watchtower of the mind" and getting anything past him is a royal pain.  Maybe I should try getting him drunk.  That worked before...

Nah.  That way lies Hemingway.

The second of the two writing panels I went to was called "Creating Gods" and had to do with creating and putting deities into fiction.  It was pretty fascinating stuff, though they did tend to get stuck on the subject of offending people in real-world religions for quite a bit.  When they discussed what they do to create and insert deities into their work, for the most part it looked like they went with the idea that unless the religion they're working with has already been established before they start writing, they pretty much let it form when the need arises for one.

So, what this means, if I'm reading it right, is that more often than not, writers advise that the best method for getting a book done is to just make it up as you go.

Does that make sense?  I guess it does if you look at just diving in and writing whatever comes to mind as a way to keep the process going.  As a champion procrastinator I can appreciate the convenience of that approach.

The problem I personally encounter, though, is one of not knowing what to do to keep my brain from getting bored and switching to another channel once I've started the work.  I need to work out a technique for that -- preferably one that doesn't involve spending any money on drugs or therapy.

Or that leads Hemingwayward.  Because while my liver and I aren't quite on the best of terms, I'd still like to keep it around if I can. 

The illness seeps through the veins and sucks away the sleep.

It pounds upon the head and removes all sense and understanding.

When encountered amidst life distractions of various types, it arrests all that one tries to do.

Its sits like the hag upon the chest and stares down into the eyes of the writer, drawing away breath by breath all semblance of order, reason and sanity.

And the writer cannot look away, nor can he do aught but cycle through waking and sleeping, hoping to hit upon some medicine that will drive the beast from him and allow him to create once more.

Until the recovery begins, allowing the writer to rub his eyes and look about to see that his creations remain at a standstill.

But at least he got the podcast done this week.