Compromised, almost done

The story is nearly finished, and sitting roughly just under 14,000 words. While I can imagine a few extra scenes added to the story, I doubt that it would be a novel length per say. Why so short, you ask?

Without putting a finer point on it, because dragging it out wasn't working. The story is a precursor of sorts, where Gene Bukowski and his best friend are slowly incorporated into a clandestine arm of a multinational peacekeeping force akin to the International Security Assistance Force, if not itself but evolved into a bigger entity.

More importantly I want this to be about Bukowski; the main character. It is nearly finished, and a cover is being created by an artist.

Watch this space folks, but do so patiently.

Thoughts and musings about a work in progress

In my current work in progress I want to do two things:

1. Explore Gene Bukowski's past and the catalyst that had him decide to join the New Zealand Army, which was used as a springboard into the evolved fictional version of the ISAF.
2. Give you a hint of one of the antagonists that Bukowski and friends will be facing.

Admittedly, that's no easy task. When I first started the whole idea that has become Gene Bukowski in his current form, I never really figured why he joined the military in the first place. Sure, in Exit Strategy I gave off a pretty lame excuse that he went Army to peeve off his old man.Thinking about it now, the original idea wasn't that well thought through.

In Oranges however, I can't just put in a throw away idea. It needs thinking through on what would motivate a sixteen-year old to start on a road that would make him not only a badass field operative, but the person he grows up to be.

The other thing I need to consider is how do I go about presenting the same character in two separate story arcs?

Do I go simply start with a prologue where the main character is a teenager and end with an epilogue, where he's all grown up and kicking butt?

One of my all time favourite authors had another way, which he used in that awesome title to your left here. Every alternative chapter followed the main character's exploits as a RAF pilot during the Second World War, which fitted in nicely with the primary plot.

I should try that, me thinks.

Guest Post by N.M. Gillson about Oranges

I have asked my friend Nigel, the guy behind the awesome book Black Donald, to step in and talk to you about a story I'm working on; as he is one of my beta readers. I think it's important to see what others think about a draft, as it gives you objectivity. Anyway, this is what he had to say...

A Bukowski saga

Work is going to be understandably busy this week, and while I'm waiting to hear from the publisher and a couple of betas, I thought that I will focus on my main boy Gene Bukowski and his adventures as a member of an ultra secret special activities unit within a fictional version of the International Security Assistance Force set fifty to sixty years from now.

The first of the series of novelettes and shorter novels, essentially mini-novels ranging between 10,000 to 30,000 words, is Compromised. Here we see a snapshot of Gene being sent in to investigate if a certain former surgeon has been compromised by the Russians.

This will be followed by another short piece titled Backdoor Straight.

Yet another snapshot, which is currently in draft form.

This story features both Gene Bukowski and his best friend Tomasi 'Big Tee' Havili. Both have been sent to check on espionage being committed against the New Bata space elevator that is in the process of being commissioned for the local government.

Please keep in mind that these are short works.

The third installment will be Delta Virus. This one is equally in draft form and at present is unfinished. I am hoping that this will be a longer piece, but how long I cannot tell you. What I can tell you is that it will be set in Egypt and will involve Gene, and maybe another from the clandestine Covert Actions Reconnaissance Division, try and get a high ranking Egyptian flag officer out of the country.

As the story title suggests, it involves a virus.

Currently I have Gene promoted and quickly shoved into prison for breaking and entering, and perhaps a nice car chase and gun fight to make for a fast roller coaster of a read. More updates will be added to the blog as things progress, but these three will keep me busy for the next few months at least.

The fast and the awesome

So I went to see the new Vin Diesel movie, the sixth in the Fast and Furious franchise, last night with my brother. The basic premise being that Vin's character and his team of car racing buds were brought out of retirement to help put an end to another outfit skippered by a former SAS major-come-criminal master mind.

Look, I'm a big fan of Vin Diesel and his work; with the Riddick franchise the other of my favourites. I can say that the movie delivered in the entertainment side of action, thrilling car stunts and some of the best one liners Tyrese Gipson. There will be seventh installment of the franchise, so yay... can't wait.

On the good news though, Luke Evans was an awesome baddie.

Progress Report June 1

As things go, my writing has been going all over the place lately.

With my current submission, a Bukowski adventure by the name of With Prejudice, currently in the hands of a potential publisher, I have been spring cleaning my hard-drive and google drive. The end result was finding a perfectly good novella titled Oranges, a prelude to the Martian Independence War.

The novella is one of my earlier works, having it written sometime back in 2011 and involves an old character from my early play-by-email phase (which hasn't really ended, please check out Dark Frontier). Like the title suggests, it involves oranges and conflict.

Oranges, a prelude to the Martian Independence War is currently in the hands of two beta readers.

Then there is Compromised and Delta Virus.

Both titles are set in the Bukowski universe, and am understandably taking a slight break, as I need to think where I want to go with him and the premise creatively. What started out as an experiment with Exit Strategy and whatended up as my submission were great, but I need something more solid and character driven. I know that the genre that I have chosen to write this series in can do character driven narratives, just look at the stuff written by Jack Higgins and a few others; like Tom Kratman, Jeremy Robinson, Eric Meyer and a few others.     

Still, I know the basics of what it is that I want the stories revolving around Gene Bukowski and his friends to be.

I want the following:

• Action
• A well thought out plot that is pluasable in the near future, yet simple and thrilling to follow
• Drama. I'm not talking about soap opera styled drama, but like the day to day stuff you and I encounter.
• Near future realism. One of my biggest hurdles when first writing Bukowski's story way back then was when was it set; whether it be fifteen years from now, sixty years or a hundred years from today. I think this is the trick.One of my favourite comics and animated movies of all time was Appleseed, set in the near future with some awesome technology and cyborgs, amongst other goodies. Written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The series follows the adventures of ESWAT members Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires in Olympus. Like much of Masamune's work, Appleseed merges elements of the cyberpunk and mecha genres with a heavy dosage of politics, philosophy, and sociology.

The setting is therefore the most important here.

Whilst waiting and thinking, I have started doodling on a new idea. But that would be for another post.

when is fact really fiction?

Considering the crappy weather, and my helpers actually snowed under, I figured that it be fun to do something different this afternoon after work finished. I randomly wrote "mermaids" into the google search engine and watched what happened. Okay, so I deliberately typed in the word. I could have done it with "dragon" or "yeti", or any other random word associated with mythology. Consequently, I came across a mockumantory called Mermaids: The Body Found.

Okay, so they try and explain how mermaids may have come up, other than from the figment of some ancient mariner's imagination. Perhaps it was bound to happen. Mermaids had been part of folklore since the day some drunk sailor saw a manatee for the first time. In some cases, entire cities were founded upon a legend of a protective fish chick. Not that I'm ditching that.

As legends go that is cool.

"Why wouldn't we be mistaken for mermaids?"
"Oh, I dunno bro, cause we're awesome."

Take the legend behind the founding of Warsaw, Poland's capital city:

Feisty, beautiful and busty. Her image has bewitched millions, and you’ll find her film star looks printed on everything from flags to mags. But stop panting at the back. She turns out to be it, and it turns out to have a tail. Who is this godless Jezebel you ask? Well, none other than the Syrenka, the fresh water mermaid who’s been representing Warsaw since before you’d remember.

The first known mention of a mermaid as the symbol of Warsaw can be traced to a royal seal dated from 1390, though this one certainly wasn’t much to look at; depicting a hideous looking bloke with a dragons tail was as close as you’d come to seeing a marketing blooper in medieval times, so it’s no surprise that over the next few centuries this rather grim form was given a bit of plastic surgery – man was turned into woman, and the dragon became a fish.

The legend has been debated and disputed scores of times, and it’s safe to say short of inventing time travel we’re not going to become any of the wiser. Until that time content yourselves instead by familiarizing yourself with the myth. First off is the one you’ll find espoused within these humble pages; Prince Kazimierz, while hunting in the marshlands that are now Warsaw, lost his bearings and faced a night in the open. Miraculously, a mermaid emerged and guided the prince to safety by firing burning arrows into the sky. Warsaw was founded out of gratitude, and the mermaid adopted as its emblem.

Sourced from Inyourpocket.

Still, as a writer, the idea of trying to explain something like mermaids and dragons from a purely scientific perspective is intriguing. Entire stories have been written on the possibility of dragons being real, to Atlantis being found or that Jesus wasn't the one who died at the Cross but Judas, to name a few. It spurs the imagination.

My question however, why did people actually believe that mermaids existed due to some aqua lad theory, or some-such crack pot theory?

More importantly, why did Animal Planet air it?

I have just read this blog post that rubbished the whole mockumantory here, if anyone is interested. Well. okay, "rubbish" is too strong a word. Let me use another: debunk. I whole heartedly agree with him that the movie ought to have been aired on SyFy or some other similar channel, but on a science channel? Next people will be asking if crabs do indeed talk under water....

"But I sing too!"

Seriously, let's leave fiction out of scientific or natural programmes, as it can be confusing. People will really believe anything, especially those younger ones. I mean, isn't it bad enough that we tell our kids that Santa isn't real...?