The Fourth Law… coming soon

My  most esteemed colleague has completed the final cover art for my novel.  Good enough for the critical eye of my wife, good enough for me!

There may be one last minor textual revision… the Gods of Copybook Headings tend to hide where you least expect them.  However, I’m pleased enough with this version.  Has anyone every really read the first Harry Potter book?  Will I be called a racist if I pointed out that it was awful?  Grand ideas, but awful writing.  I feel that about my own work; it reads like the Gospel of Mark:  bare bones, no description, aching for more.  That’s what happens when you’re weaned on Visual Novels with a great artist to show your images.  I shall try to older next time.

Next time?  Of course I’m writing another!  What’s the point of a cliff-hanger if you don’t jump off of it!  Callie and her little son, Gary, with his most peculiar friend.  Lily, android Fausta, and Orloff setting out across country (yes; the horse’s name is Clyde) to find her.  The secret society of lightning; the open society of machine civilization… where’s the world going? won’t somebody tell me? are we all one?

Somewhere, back on Lily’s Path, in her tee shirt covered by blue jean overalls, Henge thinks… “I’ll help them…big sisters; big brother!”  Who will play this wild card?  Missiles fall in Memphis; a reactor fail?

I’ve no idea.

NaNoWriMo Threshold

50,122 words.  Validated.

The Fourth Law; also known as ‘Reynold’s Law;’  “A robot must do its best to learn to love human beings.”

Did I ever even post a link to this?  This world is now so tenuous to me, I don’t recall much, anymore.  Oh, here.

I’m not finished, actually.  Ai is back from being feted in Austin; we’d the Big Reveal about her family, but Lily was just happy to get a physical form of her friend back, even if it’s only for seven more days.

Then, of course, is the cliff-hanger ending that will force me to write the sequel.  Even my wife – who’s been reading as I write – knew that was coming.

As is, it’s a steaming pile of poo:  it needs massive editing.  I’d three editors for the story in our flagship visual novel, and two years later I’m still finding obscure errors.  Anyone wanna edit a currently 99 but soon to be 105 page story?

This also serves as validation for what I’ve told writers who’ve attended our “How to Make a Visual Novel” panels at Ohio animecons:  set irrational deadlines!  If you don’t, you will get nothing done!  Nothing!

Tired now; wife and kids at in-laws.  Gonna grab some cold turkey leftovers and watch anime in the basement.  Oh, that reminds me:  my novel’s ‘cover’ is a screengrab (at 2:35) from this video.  This was one of my triggers for this story.  Not the only one, certainly, but music tickles my soul to write.

Direxions 2 – Rod & Vanessa

[We originally conceived of “Hot Rod” as a one-off hentai (or, 18+) manga for release on something like the Fakku website. Then, of course, I started writing…and writing.  Suddenly,  I’d enough material for at least three volumes; as is my wont, I just kept finding out more interesting things about these new characters!  About this time, I attended a couple of panels about ‘Webcomics’ at a local animecon.  If we released two pages a week…well, then I’ve already enough material for months!  I can stop now!

Of course, I didn’t. I wanted to know more about Rod Blaine, 19-years old, seven months away from getting his welding certificate from a local vo-tech at a little city in the US Midwest.  He lives with his step-mother and step-sister…how’d that come about?  I wondered how an 18-year old girl like Vanessa Holt developed such an aggressive personality…because she’s only 4’10”?  Able to swing from a punching-rage to cuddly in seconds…why?

Mr. Deonne is preoccupied with some other projects right now, so I see this as an exercise for me to re-learn how to write in a non-visual novel style.

The excerpt below the fold takes place in the Spring on a late Saturday morning. After their karate class, Vanessa wanted to see Rod’s place, so she followed him home.  Note that this is likely PG…although I’d no problems if one of my kids read it]