A 2-chapter Glitch: AKA Having Fun

Darwood's about the throttle me, but Smitty's just shaking his head, knowing it would come.

After my burst of work on the book, I took a hiatus last night and part of today by writing the first two chapters of a new book. It was Max Barry's fault, as I just got my hands on another one of his books and it inspired me to head in that direction for the night.

I just finished reading Barry's Jennifer Government, which is a gem of sci-fi and politics. The only problem I had with the book is that is seemed to be set a good 20 years or more from now, but technology was apparently the same as it is today. That was very strange. But I let it go, because the rest of the book was so good.

Now I'm reading his Syrup, which is even more to my liking. Set in today's world with Barry's steady prowess in writing.

Tonight, I expect, I'll be back with Darwood and Smitty. Their story is fully outlined, and it's darned good. So no point in delaying publication.

Bangarang!

Darwood and Smitty are smiling now, because their story's on the move. All thanks to this blog and the worthy people reading it, of course.

I got to enjoy a few days out of town in the mountains of Montana, and between the vacation itself and the plane trip, I wrote more than three new chapters, adding around 5000 words to the bottom line. That puts us up at around 30,000 words ... and puts Darwood and Smitty into a whole new situation as [spoiler censored] by a unique, hand-held weapon of the future.

What the world discovered [spoiler censored] was dramatic enough, and literally stopped almost all world commerce. But in the next few chapters, they'll find out something even more astounding about the president, and it's going to throw things into an even worse spot than they are in right now. Stay tuned!

Where are the Sample Chapters?

I had a good question come in from one reader: Where are the sample chapters?

I mentor a high school student in writing, and she's written a pretty darn good short story that we're sending to magazines in hopes of publication. While waiting for a positive response from a magazine, however, she also sent the story in to some websites. Luckily, she told me before it was posted on any site.

And why is that lucky? Because getting posted on a website is -- technically, if not in terms of prestige -- the same as getting published. In this case, you've given away first publishing rights already. And those are something the magazine would want.

This is the same case with Darwood and Smitty. Can't really post sample chapters without potentially flushing some publishing options down the drain. So don't expect to see actual chapters posted on my website or blog.

A Summary of Darwood and Smitty

Ok, before we get too far onto this blog, it probably makes sense to explain Darwood & Smitty, so’s you’ll see why I’m looking at certain topics (for the most part) on the blog.

Darwood & Smitty – the book, not the primary characters in the book – is essentially a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi book set in 2045. Sure, there is a global government at that point, heavily influenced by the juggernaut corporations as well as by the heavy-hitting governments of the day. But you’ve also got interplanetary trade and politics going on as well.

The setting gives me a good chance to project today’s trends into the future, as all good sci-fi writers do. And of course it gives a terrific opportunity for political commentary, which just might show up once or twice in the novel. Oh … and don’t worry – no lectures. More like, observations and open-ended arguments, so’s not to insult the dear reader.

Ok, so with that background, you can expect to see observations of corporate and political issues going on today here in my blog.