Writing
I’m Plotting… (Splintegrate & other updates)
Lizard Lair updates on work-in-progress Splintegrate, some useful craft tools and sites, and a stellar bookstore.
Welcome to Open Salon Readers!
Welcome to new readers from Open Salon, where New York Under Water just got made an Editor’s Pick.
The Lizard Lair as portal to “What If…?”
I’ve decided to nail down the thematic focus of my Notes From the Lizard Lair blog. This post talks about the three things I’ll concentrate on from here on out.
Emerging from my cave
I hit a wall with my writing, which is why I haven’t posted here for a while. I’m torn between plot dilemmas which need to be resolved so I can conclude my book, and the need to do more freelance work to take care of mundane things like bills. The problem with book [...]
Euthanize the Elderly: Trollope’s science fiction premise
Anthony Trollope’s overlooked classic “The Fixed Period” is a proto-science fiction work worth looking at today. It’s premise? That the elderly are euthanized society-wide when they turn age 68.
Of Things Victorian: the Lillian Story
I’m working on a prequel to an American historical story cycle. The prequel involves a Victorian Englishwoman, and has led me to some interesting byways of research in Victoriana. This posts discusses the synopsis of the Lillian story, and points to some Victorian resources I find interesting.
Life on Mars – Finale Fail
Life on Mars was a re-working of the hit BBC series of the same name. I thought it creative, unique, challenging – until the last 15 minutes of the series finale. In a heavy-handed act of juvenile storytelling, the creators managed to pull the rug out from under a great story arc, and leave us with a flat and unsatisfying ending. FAIL.
Continuity: staying in one (M)ainline
Thoughts on continuity in story worlds by Deborah Teramis Christian. Continuity in complex story universes is essential so that the story resonates as true. It is also a work of scribe integrity, of “seeing it there” so the author can “bring it here”, correctly. Challenges include the attention to detail needed, and the real need for serious tools to search and manage reams of notes and background material that chronicle these worlds.
Minor characters and interesting byways
Incidental people, events, and settings seem exceptionally alive to me in Splintegrate. They demand to be explored, perhaps in short stories or an anthology of shorts. This post looks at some of the vignettes that niggle and suggest intriguing story byways to me.
Rethinking Ancient Symbols. Part I: Color
In writing my novel, I came to a speed bump when it came time to describe symbols used in intel work. Neither colors nor icon forms have symbolic associations such as we are accustomed to in our own Earth-based culture. For instance, the color “yellow” does not imply “caution” to the Sa’adani observer. What symbols, then, to use, and why? This is part I of a three part post exploirng the use of symbols in my science fiction book Splintegrate.
