Deliverance the Series

This morning, I successfully completed my second draft of "A Place Beyond" yeeha! So, now it can sit there festering a while, allowing the muse to work on it without my attention. And four seconds later, I launched myself into the first rewrite of one of my favourite stories I used to call, "Chronicles", or, "The Chronicles of Corvette Linneker" which will, I believe, be at least a trilogy. It is a clunky title, so I now call the series "Deliverance", and the first book in the series, "The Messiah".

Originally, it was going to be one novel. I had a number of good ideas and at the 60,000 mark, not one of my ideas had been incorporated, and I marched through to the end, knowing I had enough ideas for a sequel. Upon reading it back, it rekindled all the ideas I had at the time of writing it which was years ago. I am excited about the story and the characters, and perhaps some of it is because the main character, Corvette Linneker, is a little like me.

With The Badman off in the big wide world, it gives me a little time to play with my other novels. So, my plan is to do a rewrite of Deliverance: The Messiah, then write the second in the series called, "Diablo" and while that is festering, it's a final re-write for Mr Hat. I really need to write full time before my head explodes with all the stories and everything I want to say.

For now, I must comply with the world and go to work early and return late. I write only for an hour these days due to ongoing illness, which isn't much, but it is beyond my control and as such, frustrates the hell out of me. I love writing and will not be happy until I can do it at least 12 hours a day.

Windows 7: Still under Construction

After working all day with Windows 7 I re-wrote the post I made yesterday because many of the problems are now fixed and I can see the big picture.

Originally, I felt Windows 7 was nothing less than Vista with a face lift and an extra half gig of free memory which is nothing when you have three or four gig of RAM, although I would've liked Windows 7 to come with some of the options shipped with Vista and XP, namely, the classic start menu, the quick launch toolbar, ad the dvr-ms format for Media Center which is the one true reason I like Windows 7.

Windows 7 has no performance improvements, and the .wtv Media Center extension is annoying. There is an option by default to convert it to drms, then I use dvrms toolbox to convert it to mpeg for editing, but it's an additional step in the process I could do without, especially if I've recorded a number of programs and have to convert each individual file rather than a batch convert with the toolbox. I dare say other tools will come out to convert wtv to mpeg in the future, and let's hope there's some free ones.

Software is the main issue. My preferred firewall Emu OnlineArmor and my Rising antivirus are not compatible. I have only Nero 7 burner, and it keeps crashing. I want simplicity in an operating system. I would like to right click on a directory in Explorer to search for a file, I want media center to save in MPEG format, the classic start menu, quick launch toolbar, less system resources required, quick boot and shut down time (at least this last one was improved).

It would be good if Microsoft could spend more time on new architecture to make antiviruses extinct, so with the release of each new operating system, viruses won't work. I suppose there's a lot of money in antivirus products, but I think the consumer deserves it.

Verdict:
- Perhaps the last Windows system I will buy.
- Improved Media Center, but a bad idea to switch file formats.
- Looks nice but lacks functionality we are accustomed to.
- Uses less RAM, but no noticeable performance improvements.
- Windows 7: Vista with tweaks.

Ubuntu is the best

There's just one week to go until the new release of Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala. Each release keeps getting better, but I must admit that I do tend to stray with each new release, trying other Linux systems to see if any are better. But I keep coming back to Ubuntu, and am looking forward to downloading the new one.

I use an Acer Aspire One which works flawlessly with Ubuntu and Wine (an emulator which runs some Windows software like Microsoft Office) is okay, but slow. Recently, however, I downloaded a trial version of Crossover Linux which has better integration than Wine (and it seems, is quicker). It even runs Outlook 2007 which surprised me.

So, with the new release of Ubuntu, I am thinking of buying Crossover. Anybody have any experience with this software? If so, let me know! I am hoping that by buying it, I will no longer have to have Windows on my machine. I have all my personal files on SDCards which I simply take out and use on other machines, all Windows, and although the compatibility with my complex Word files is excellent with OpenOffice, I find Word 2007 difficult to replace. I own a licence, so it's not a problem installing it. The Outlook file is easy to have and plug into other machines.

If you haven't tried Linux, you will be surprised. The new user will find installation difficult, but people are willing to help. Give it a go http://www.ubuntu.com

No 'Was' Here

My first draft is a splattering of idea; something primal and badly structured regurgitated from the id. This creative vomit resembles a novel, but it needs a careful eye to go through and correct. I am talking, of course, about the muse at work on that first draft.

One of my main problems arising from the first draft is the lack of showing a story. Now, we've all heard, "Show! Don't tell!" It appears to be a cardinal sin; the number one rule of writing. It is a rule of thumb, but not the number one rule, at least, not mine.

The word 'was' appears in my first draft a few thousand times. It is the way my muse works. When he uses the word 'was', it is a sign he is telling me the story instead of showing it. It is a stone to be examined to make sure it isn't a jewel. At the time of writing this, I am reading a published novel which uses millions of 'was'. The prose is as ugly as a princess after an acid bath.

In my second draft, I re-write the story as it is mean to be, then I seek and destroy the word 'was', usually replacing the entire sentence. Here's one I read on the train today: "He opened the door and it was cold". Isn't that a terrible sentence? It doesn't even tell me what is cold: the door, or what lies beyond the door.

In the context of my paragraph, I rewrote it to say, "He opened the door. A wind cold enough to freeze a boiling kettle stabbed through his clothes." There's much more one can say, but it is better than saying, "It was cold". How cold must it be for a person to think it is cold enough to freeze a boiling kettle?

What about, "He was ugly and looked thirty years older than he was." No, no. What about, "He had a face like cracked concrete." More direct. No 'was', picture painted in an instant. In the book I am reading, it describes a simple bridge as, "The bridge was old". It would be so much better for the mind's eye to pick up on this 'was' and describe the bridge. How on earth does the character know it is an old bridge? "The bridge's support beams were as rickety as a pensioner's bones. The remaining slats were weather faded and broken and a brown intestinal rope snaked to the other side of the river."

Sure, we all see and describe things differently, but this essay is not about prose. It is about removing the word 'was' and replacing it with something better; weeding the garden, so to speak. The word 'was' is such a common word, easily over-used, and there is a place for it, usually in dialogue, and even that should be examined carefully.

Why not go through a story you have written and see how many 'was' there are. I find it easy to do a Find Replace in Microsoft Word, replacing the word 'was' with 'zzzzz'. Word will tell you how many replacements (remember to 'undo' the operation and it won't tell you about words containing the word was, ie,wash). If you have more than expected, go through your manuscript and look for the tell-tale 'was' word, replacing it with better material. It is called prose for a reason.

An update, dvd reviews, software, novels, and other stuff

There’s been a few large and small changes in my life of late. The in-laws from Sydney came up for a week which was good: we went fishing and got drunk most days. I had my usual bout of motion sickness the day after. Applied for a few jobs closer to home during a week’s recreational leave. We had a swimming pool installed with a new landscaped area, new fences around the property, and are currently undergoing extensions. I had never felt so healthy – then I started working again and from day one, started to get sick again.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a horrible illness. There are no definitive tests or cures. You can’t see it, so when you tell somebody you have it, they think it’s just that you are tired all the time. As sick as it makes me each day, my only medicine is literally, to ignore it. At least I’m not in bed 20 hours a day like I used to be.

My writing is still going well. I’m almost finished with my second draft of Animal/A Place Beyond. Haven’t decided on a title yet. I started submitting my novel The Badman for publication and I intend to finalise other novels with a view to finding a home with a publisher and a good agent. All good stuff.

I also heard on the grapevine that the new Microsoft Windows (Windows 7) will be released in under 10 days, and that students get a discount – good for me, because my college membership is still valid. I’ll post more details on that when I get it (I bought Office Ultimate 2007 for a fraction of the price).

I have stopped my ‘book reviews’ for a while because, well, I couldn’t be bothered – but I have started up the DVD reviews for no other reason than to imply that the recent spate of horror movies are getting worse, and the lower budget horror/thrillers are getting better. It will be good competition and good for the industry if this trend continues. Recent movies that suck include Splinter, Quarantine, Underworld Rise of the Lycans and Friday 13th. I am dreading the next Saw movie.

So, wish me luck with my job applications and submissions, and thanks for reading!

DVD Review: Subject Two (2006)

Adam (Christian Oliver), a medical student with problems (or a problem medical student) takes a job at an isolated facility for medical research. He finds himself at the home of one Dr Franklin Vicks (Dean Stapleton). The doctor murders Adam when Adam consents to take the job.

Adam is resurrected with the aid of nanobots, only to be murdered and re-resurrected multiple times. Dr Vicks records Adam's progress and improves his research with the results. The tagline for the movie is, "Death has its side effects", and it is apt that the movie predominantly focuses on such side effects.

I had never heard of this low budget movie before I saw it at the video shop. The DVD gives a clear indication that it is a Frankenstein story, but I think it is aligned more with Herbert West (Re-animator). The movie itself is a mixture of Michael Crichton, HP Lovecraft, and the movie "Flatliners". It also has a nice little twist at the end. There are some relationships with the Frankenstein story, for example, the name Dr Franklin Vicks, but I think such references are no more than incidental.

Dean Stapleton is a very good actor and has a good on-screen presence and I hope to see him in more horror/thriller movies in the future. I am surprised his resume is as thin as it is (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822949/). His character and the script were also good and included some good lines such as, "I'm sorry for shooting you. It wasn't very scientific".

Overall, and despite the fact that the concept is not new, it was a good movie and well worth seeing. The characters were interesting and portrayed good dynamics, although it was difficult to understand why a person would suddenly be so committed to following through the research if they are constantly murdered. I liked the fact that Kate seemed to be a means of escape but turned out to be a red herring. I can't say this about many movies, but the character's absence actually strengthened the story.

DVD Review: Splinter (2008)

Hailed as one of the best horror films in 2008, Splinter failed to deliver on the hype and keeps the horror genre at best, on a mediocre field.

When a husband and wife are taken hostage by an escaped convict, they end up locked inside a petrol station with a voracious parasite outside wanting to get at them. They are unaware that the parasite is already with them, transforming the convict into one of its kind.

Horror ... isolation ... creature outside trying to get in: I fail to see how this differs from the many hundreds of horror movies following what is turning into a trope. I have always said that a bad idea can be told well, but this isn't one of them. I had been looking forward to watching this movie and am not impressed at all by it.

It boasts six awards at Screamfest, including Best Directing and Best Special Effects ... what does this say about the competition? What on earth is happening to horror movies these days? The stories are bland, characters are weak and don't grow on you, the creatures are stereotypical or unimaginative, and the camerawork ... yeuch! I will not be watching Splinter again.

I watch horror movies by the dozen and the last couple of years have been disappointing. I recall only one horror movie I have liked over the last few years: The Mist (Stephen King, although I'm not fond of his literature). I especially don't like the camerawork in Splinter - I see no point in 'flickering' the picture to imitate panic (although it can't be as bad as the movie Gabriel!)

It is no wonder horror is not as popular as it should be. Come on! Better movies please!

Amused at the Muse

It is no secret that I strongly relate to the muse at work. I find it a
wonderful organism despite its reluctance to let me in on certain
secrets, you know, like THE STORY.

I have lost count of the amount of times I have sat down to write,
having no clue as to what is going to happen, turn the laptop on, and
watch as my fingers dance over those twenty six letters to construct THE
STORY. Sometimes I have plot ideas - and duly note them. Rarely are they
used.

The best moments in my writing life is when something so sudden and
unexpected happens which rocks, or a phrase that stands out, or a
metaphor which is as memorable as a chocolate girlfriend. Or best of
all, those Holy Mother ideas which slap you in the face with a fish. I
have nothing to do with these things. It is all the muse.

My muse is hard to please and is as hard headed as my wife. When I wrote
long-hand, it had to be a certain pen, a certain grain of paper, a
certain clipboard - much like George Stark in Stephen King's The Dark
Half, and probably like millions of other writers around the world.

I love the way THE STORY is constructed. It simply plays out in front of
me as I write. I only write for a few hours a day, but when I stop, I am
always thinking, "What's going to happen next! I can't wait til
tomorrow!"

I have illustrated in another article the splattering of ideas and THE
STORY in its first draft. There are mistakes. The muse is not perfect,
but for me, that first draft is why I love to write. It is the reason I
have innumerable first-draft novels in the cupboard. The muse vomits up
THE STORY and leaves me to it. The muse has given me rules to use when
writing but for the most part, it wallows in darkness and never comes
out to play unless I have a keyboard in front of me.

For these things, the muse is a wonderful and amusing creature.