Into the Silence – Part 1
I’ve shared my thoughts on the election, the aftermath, and everything in between. Today there shall not be more words on the subject. Today is about creation, not destruction. It’s hard when times come to test the souls of men and women. It’s hard for me to watch continued news about brothers and sisters who are abused or destroyed simply because they are different. Although I will never stop the fight to protect them, I also need to realize that there is something else I can do that is equally helpful. I can create new worlds. New vistas, new places to visit which are not so very plagued by the realities which assault us. I know that in my own youth, I often times needed to escape into a novel in order to soften the blow of a rather rough and tumble childhood. I lost a lot of things while I was young, and having the works of so many incredible human beings who aspired to give something to the world even though it was an agonizing process. I can’t fix the problems of our society, but I can give men and women who are suffering a safe harbor to rest for a moment. To revitalize, to capture a second wind, and to head off into the fray. That’s what I can be.
My new story hasn’t truly materialized yet. I have so many insane ideas, so many interesting places where my mind likes to wander, that it’s hard to pin something down and fully flesh out the idea. Sometimes, a story which might seem amazing in my mind fizzles when it’s put to paper. Sometimes, an idea which might otherwise seem innocuous turns into something absolutely astounding. I’m pretty sure that I know the what of my new short story: The EM Drive Sometimes, when we see all the things going wrong around us, it’s hard to realize that some truly extraordinary things are being discovered all the time. Toilets made using material which is naturally water repellant, bringing untold benefits to sanitation and water conservation. Drugs which can cure even the worst of diseases, and scientific advancements which break the very laws of physics as we know it. Amazing times.
Pill and the Patsy was tons of fun, and one of my better structured stories. It had clearly defined settings, engaging characters, suitable amounts of action, and a twist which I felt lived up to the title I gave it. It’s hard to know sometimes how these stories will go for me, because I write them on the fly every time I sit down to do the next section. However, in this regard, I do believe I did myself proud. I can start to see my own voice coming through as I continue the act of writing. Repetition and refusal to acknowledge my own inadequacy have worked their usual magic: I’m getting better. That’s just a fact. My rewrite of Temple in the Stars looks almost nothing like the original story, written in these very posts. I’m also getting ready to sit down and rewrite the first section of the story prior to submitting it to my editor. I’ve made the rookie mistake of starting with exposition and world building. Something that a lot of authors do, I’m told. So I’m going to change the tone and pacing of the first thousand words or so, and then I should have the eight thousand words I’m looking for. This whole process is magical to me. I love it.
With further imagination,
Into the Silence – Part 1
In a laboratory setting which could brook no interference, under the most intense scrutiny imaginable, Physics as it had been designed, experimented on, and operated under for over a century met actual results which it could not explain. In a hard vacuum, without real explanation, a theoretical drive unit created thrust without repellant. Nothing like it had ever happened before, not in this setting. Not with as much care and attention that could be offered in the halls of NASA. The results were indisputable: Thrust had been achieved. Minor, to say the least, but even then that was simply a problem of energy output and efficiency of design. Those are things that could be engineered, once the principle actors had been discovered. Discovered they were, and the world was forever changed. The news wasn’t trumpeted from the heights, wasn’t shouted from the rooftops of the human imagination. It passed generally unremarked, met with heavy skepticism by members of the relevant communities. But the knowledge remained, and no one could have predicted just how soon it would change the fate of all humankind.
