Before & After & Inbetween

FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-29T19:04:37Z

current frontline: 195/206
Epilogue

The now merged epilogue lost at least four pages due to Omi having completed the tasks given to Subaru and being forced to have the meeting at Seishiro's house from the very beginning. (No, he is not happy about that!) Thanks to this, the elaborate detour to the harbor is gone (maybe I make it a sidestory sometime in the not-so-foreseeable future).

What remains is basically the Akechi/Ijyuin/Subaru/Kamui/Seishiro/TwinStarFuma showdown, which will also seen quite some drastic changes placing more focus on
1) Kotori's obit (the new reason why K&TSF actually appear on campus)
2) Nokoru pulling all the strings to keep everything Akechi away from Seishiro
3) Kamui's issues with the TSF *and* his mental leftovers from last year
and last (likely not least)
4) Kamui's aftermath visit at the house needs a redo to accommodate the required changes before (and to tie it better with the planned sequel).

Right now, I'm tempted to have another "office scene" thrown in, but I'm doing my utmost to refrain from that. No detours! Bad author! No cookie!

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-28T18:55:01Z

current frontline: 195/210
Epilogue

So far it looks as if

the Epilogues A & B will be merged

Su insists on having the meeting at home to begin with, so no cafe (to make a point about the changed situation)!

Omi finished his jobs, so no joint venture at the shipyard (too big a detour from plot)!

...a lot more to be done with the scenes at the campus (for accommodating the changes made in chapter 19. I'll determine those when I get there.)

So much for not doing a full rewrite on this one... *sheesh*

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-27T21:45:53Z

current frontline: 194/209
Epilogue

Yes, the overhaul of the dreaded chapter 19 is finally finished. This chapter actually saw major rewritings, rearranging the timeline and details of events, including additional scenes closing and refurbishing some of the plot threads insufficiently addressed in the old version.

( Most notable changes are )

Overall, I do hope that the Epilogues don't require that much of work. However, given the issues with the Kamui & co. I fear that hope will be futile.

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-22T19:07:07Z

current frontline: 192/209
within chapter 19

Yes, after all this time there is finally some progress in DeskSex. Unfortunately, its far from done. I'm not satisfied with the results yet. Which is - at least partially - due to the fact that I liked the original version as a scene, even if not as part of the plot. This is not quite a full page and still needs excessive work. But we're getting closer. Definitely. Even though I spend way too much time setting up my GoodReads account. It's so much fun (and such a time hog)! At least, my most recent reviews are finally all up, though the amount of my books entered is still way below 10%. :)

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Book Recommendation: Soulless by Gail Carriger

2012-01-22T11:26:31Z

Gail Carriger's Soulless is what you get when you mix a steampunked version of Georgette Heyer's Victorian society novels with Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

It's a delightful, tremendously entertaining read, I would recommend to everybody enjoying steampunk, paranormals, and Victorian romance. Actually, I'd recommend the book to anybody enjoying any one of those!

Instead of a summary, I believe it is acceptable to give just one small not-quite-direct quote to show what people going to read it are signing up for:

"Miss Tarabotti whacked the vampire right on top of his head with her parasol as he tried to extract himself from his newly intimate relations with the tea trolley."

[Links in the text above go to GoodReads]

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Goodreads account

2012-01-20T14:28:01Z

Noticing the amount of free time I spend on books (reading, reviewing, chatting...), I finally got myself a goodreads account to bundle and share my bookish activities in a more organized manner.

If you are interested, you can find me at http://www.goodreads.com/akk666akk

But beware, for an account established to achieve a more organization, it's still highly disorganized on my end! :-)

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Short Story Review: Assassin's Curse by Lindsay Buroker (4/5 stars)

2012-01-19T20:57:27Z

Assassin's Curse is a tough, short-paced short story adventure of the center pair of Lindsay Buroker's captivating The Emperor's Edge novel series. Fans of the series, especially A+S shippers, would not want to miss it! At least, I for sure loved every minute of reading it. :-)

Then why only 4 of 5 stars?
It's because Assassin's Curse suffers from a typical "established series in between short story illness": the indecision of whether to include all the details necessary for freshly visiting readers or to accept that it is an inbetween story catering to established fans and leave out the established background where it doesn't connect to the actual plot.
The result of this indecision are "info dumps" esp. in the first part of the story that are not enough for new readers to appreciate the characters (and their treats & quirks), while tempting an established fan to jump a few lines. Interestingly, the later part of the story doesn't suffer from this. Background details here (the supposed lineage of the current emperor, for example) are used skillfully as plot device and are also expanded to greater depth. Lovely so, I may add.

So much about style, but what about content?
It's not even 12.000 words, read yourself!
No really, I don't want to summarize a short story. It would give too much away imho. However, since only two of the five main characters star in this, I think it might be nice to have the other three say their thoughts about the events:

"Following heavily armed thieves onto a cursed island is not prudent." ~ Books.

"There's something wrong with a man, when it takes a shot to the back to make him hug a beautiful woman." ~ Maldynado.

"Whatever." ~Akstyr.

~~~

You can find Assassin's Curse here on Smashwords for example.

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-15T18:40:44Z

current frontline: unchanged

mainly for two reasons:

1. I played with my new phone (lazy author, no cookie, I know...)
and

2. I need to figure out what to do with the desksex scene in chapter 19. Right now, it feels off, because - let's face it - Subaru had (has?) major qualms about Mariko's role and while he took the decision to fight for his contentment, he's not the guy to just toss all related issues into the garbage bin on the other side of the street.
Get me right, I like the scene, it's needed in terms of symmetry with the previous events at the Sumeragi Estate (before & after, so to speak), so I want to keep it, but it needs to be connected with the rest of the plot - and right now it's not.
And there's still the report Subaru never got around to send to the Sumeragi later the day. I have this vague hunch that the solution lies in or with both details:
Subaru has to fret, has to write the report, and yes, I want them to deflower that desk! (Did I just write 'deflower' in relation to a furniture?! I have to stop reading Ai no Kusabi fanfics...)
Now, I just have to figure out, how to write that.

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New Hardware Squee - Samsung Galaxy Note

2012-01-13T18:43:56Z

Normally, I use my tech devices until they cease to function or are so outdated that they fail to perform acceptably in the contemporary world (exception: computers, but then, they are always too old, too slow, too-- *g*), when I got my Samsung Wave smartphone in early Autumn 2010, I pretty much expected the standard procedure there.
The Wave did virtually everything of a whole bunch of devices I used to carry around - MP3 player, calendar, and so on... plus a lot of things handy when doing most of your creative work while commuting: HD video playback, scanlations & other images, etc. pp. And thus I didn't look at new smartphones coming out most of the time.
Last week, I got hit over the head with an information that made me instantly hurry to find confirmation (and hardware specs):

The Samsung Galaxy Note comes with a Wacom pen for drawing and writing (when screen keyboard is not sufficient), plus it has a screen size almost on the way towards a small tablet (5.3"), enough real estate for full websites and therefore ebooks! I couldn't stop myself and plundered my savings...
...the two things I always wished my Wave could do: writing & epubs? I had to try that!

Well, I did and here's the

( new hardware squee - Galaxy Note: )

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-08T18:41:26Z

current frontline: 191/209
within chapter 19

Another scene of chapter 19 ("Seishiro spilling the beans") has seen a full overhaul - and a reshuffling of content with the previous part of "contemplative Subaru". I'm getting to the point where I feel I need to apologize to my readers (and lazurit1, who translated it into Russian) for the original version of chapter 19. Aside from the meetings with the minister, the emperor, and the Mori (and yes, Mariko and the lover's spat afterwards), this chapter sees a complete overhaul.

Even now, there's stuff left to do: most notably the desk sex and the phone talk at the end needs to be refined to the new condition.

Hangs head. I'm afraid my "How embarrassing"-icon will fade from heavy use.

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-07T17:29:19Z

current frontline: 188/209 (yes, back to 209 we are!)
chapter 19

This edit begins to feel embarrassingly like a rewrite (of at least 50% or so). Okay, less dramatic: it's more adding / revamping details to account for missed plot threads and continuity issues, but still... *whine*

On the plus side, this gives me enough new text to ~~mindfuck~~ entertain you all with a teaser:

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

"Why are you still here?" he asked, tiredly. "Sado is gone. You can move on now."

Yue shrugged daintily and smiled. "I don't want to. This is too interesting."

"But your unresolved responsibility is fulfilled."

"And I thank you for that. I'm sure Sei-chan's life is a lot easier now." Yue sounded amused. "If only with respect to his basement. The Sakura sends word that it accepts your claim, as long as his continuing service is unaffected."

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Realization: Emperor's Edge, Galaxy Rangers, TBX

2012-01-06T18:45:40Z

I've finally figured out why I'm that enamored with Lindsay Buroker's character Sicarius from her steampunk series The Emperor's Edge: he combines a personal background comparable to that of Shane Gooseman (Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers) with the sophisticated darkness of Sakurazuka Seishiro (from my current fandom Tokyo Babylon/X).

Damn, I wish more people were sharing my set of fandoms to savor that combination!

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-05T18:47:27Z

current frontline: 187/208
chapter 19

These are the parts written during the most stressful time of my doctorate and -sadly- it shows. I caught several problems with discontinuity (for example: Susumu's sword absorbs spiritual power and gets embedded in the Sakura. Is it save for the Sakura to have it stuck in its trunk? Shouldn't its Sakurazukamori be concerned about that, instead of wasting text space mulling about his professionally irrelevant private life?) already and am not yet done with chapter 19.
On the plus side: the result is a lot closer to the story I wanted to tell from the beginning
On the minus side: its discontinuity! That's dead-out e.m.b.a.r.r.a.s.s.i.n.g!!! Period!

Unrelated: I've found myself tweeting with increasing frequency (and quotes) about my current reading endeavors. It's fun and actually increases my reading attention, because I'm involuntarily looking for ~~mind-fucking~~ quotable lines.

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2012-01-03T09:57:18Z

current frontline: 180/208
chapter 19

The final scene of chapter 18 (Subaru feeding Sado to the Sakura) was a tough nut to crack. I spent almost five days rewriting 8 lines of text from scratch. It's got a slightly different feeling now, but is infinitely more clear as to what happens (and why). Continuing with chapter 19 now.

Unrelated side note: I managed to strain something near my right shoulder blade, resulting in symptoms close to a "mouse-arm". Ironically, I did so during gymnastics meant to prevent mouse-arms and other pains caused by repetitive movements. Anyway, it's getting better. For the time being, I use my Wacom graphics tablet as mouse replacement left-handed, felt awkward in the beginning, but is increasingly functional. I might even continue to do so. The pad on the left works a lot better with my desk layout...

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Book Recommendation: A History of the World in 100 Objects

2011-12-30T15:20:52Z

I Just finished Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects, ranging from the 2 million years old stone chopping tool to a contemporary credit card and a solar lamp (with charger).
This is easily the most entertaining - and enlightening - book on global history out there (global in the true sense of the word; though I miss Greenland and Antarctica)! I highly recommend investing your time in it. :-)

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2011-12-29T20:58:17Z

current frontline: 176/208

Another dead-out embarrassing causality issue found. The Mori was *NOT* generally informed about the joint venture-exorcism to happen in the Kokyo East Gardens, only Michiko got a heads up (under the radar), resulting in

Sakurazuka observers highly unlikely (requires comment when Subaru asks)

it has to come up how and why Michiko was informed about the goings-on, while still making sure she gets only a small bit of the picture in order to keep her role in Mori conference meeting afterwards intact!

the author feeling like a complete idiot (again).

Blarrrgh.
This is why working on FM in this stage takes eternity and then some.

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2011-12-28T19:18:59Z

current frontline: 175/208 - still within chapter 18, but making good progress!

Yes, it's one page less, because going to the not-so-well-disguised emperor could be condensed neatly.
And I had fun explaining Subaru's choices for the ofuda to call Yue to question *eg*, though - as usual - it's not quite clear who questions whom.

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weird coincidences in writing

2011-12-26T06:55:47Z

I just realized I named Seishiro's sons like the surviving Sakhalin huskies in the Japanese antarctic expedition of 1957, depicted in Nankyoku Tairiku, a series not even aired when I decided on the names.

However, considering his choice of "Pochi" as Subaru's nickname in phone chat, it's an oddly fitting coincidence, don't you think? :-D

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2011-12-25T17:33:34Z

current frontline: 171/209 - chapter 18

-- yes, there's another additional page due to the transition required from their talk with the minister of Home Affairs to the one with the not-so-well-disguised emperor.

Chapter 18 was one of the most worrisome; even as it is it's one of the biggest chapters, both in length as well as in content, and still it felt "clunky". A couple of things could be easily resolved by a few descriptive words or in one case even taking a step back and replacing five lines of repetitive dialogue with a short single sentence about what's going on, thus maintaining the initial speed of events. Still, some transitions just required additional stuff, like the scene above. Then the chapter *is* longer than average. So be it.

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Audio/Podiobook suggestions?

2011-12-22T17:31:12Z

I'm searching for a way to improve my pronunciation and listening skills in English. Since most of my movie squees are Korean or Japanese these days, I thought about audio (or podio) books, but am a bit of a loss as to where to find some with an interesting story (to keep me listening) and good speakers.
I'm currently listening to the podiobook of "The Emperor's Edge" by Lindsay Buroker, but I'd like to vary speakers not to get myself a dialect or a singly tuned hearing, so to speak.

Do you know of other good audiobooks (freebies or not)?
I'd love to get your suggestions.

In any case: please receive the season greetings of your preference. :-)

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2011-12-18T13:37:23Z

current frontline: 169/208
to be continued with chapter 18.

Yes, I'm finally done with Interregnum 6. As of now, IR6 is 4627 words long, of which no less than 2800 words a brand new, either expanding or replacing dysfunctional parts of the text. Most notable the scene with Akiko preparing to leave the Sumeragi estate, Akechi and his brother querying Nokoru about Seishiro, and Yue attending injured!Seishiro at home have seen significant changes and/or expansion. The Ameru Sumeragi, Mori, and Twin Star parts survived pretty much unscratched, though.

Wow. The Akechi part was as close a rewriting as I ever came within this editing. The amount of discontinuity I found with respect to the previous IRs and Akechi's role in the plot was jarring (and quite embarrassing, thank you). I hope it's resolved now.

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the UNDONE list Dec 2011

2011-12-15T10:31:07Z

A lot of people make a to-do-list for the seasonal event (vulgo: Xmas). Since I'm a contrary person, I find an undone (and remaining undone) list more useful.

season greetings cards

write a book review about Brent Weeks' Night Angel and Lightbringer trilogies

finishing this list

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2011-12-07T18:20:45Z

current frontline: page 165/208
within Interregnum 6.

Yes, it's still the same page in Interregnum 6, but it has 500 additional words now, because I caved (not beautiful like Lascaux, mind you) and worked "Yue in attendance" into the plot). I just need to show that the Sakura sent him for a reason (other than annoying Seishiro and lusting after Subaru)!

Two more scenes to edit in IR-6, but while Akechi @ Nokoru's needs some smoothing, it's still just smoothing not adding and the Kamuis' bit seems fine. So I should get on to chapter 18 soonish.

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FM-PMS (state of the edit)

2011-12-04T17:16:31Z

current frontline: page 165/208
within Interregnum 6.

Yes, you read that right. I'm still at page 165 in Interregnum 6, but the Family Matters pdf has now a page more.
The closure of the Akiko thread (a mere 280+ words) just didn't work the way it was presented originally. So I went back and rewrote it from scratch (give or take a few snippets of the original version and some lines from alternatives still in the scene dump). It's now 379 words long (and hopefully a lot clearer as to Akiko's motivations and personality).

...and I meant to write this three days ago, but was seriously distracted by the continuation of Lindsay Buroker's steampunk series The Emperor's Edge, followed by Maljean Brooks' The Iron Duke (no review, I read the German translation), and Brent Weeks' The Black Prism (captivating so far, but not sure it'll last. I loved his Night Angel trilogy in the beginning as well, but lost interest near the end of book 1. We'll see where the Prism is going. However, given that I hate garlic (the assassin's muncheon of choice) and love colors (the manifestation weapons in Prism), it's entirely possible that the Prism will have a different fate in my eyes.)

...have to stop, am writing parenthesized sentences (a.k.a. "word formulas") again. Until next post.

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Book Recommendation - Deadly Games (Emperor's Edge 3)

2011-12-03T16:24:06Z

Deadly Games is the third book in Lindsay Buroker's marvelous steampunk series The Emperor's Edge and quite frankly, I found it very, very difficult to write a review for this book without repeating everything I said about The Emperor's Edge in my previous review.
It's as fast paced, as character driven with dry wit and humor as the other installments of the series, and - at least for me - even more gripping than the previous Dark Current (though that might be partially due to road stories not being my preferred brand of tea and the fact that the character developments from the previous books come to -partial, mind you!- fruition here (no, I will *not* tell you, how. Read for yourself!).

Forced to also mention the downsides, I can list only two:
First, the book is too short (its 110100+ words were over much too fast), and
Second, it ends on a cliffhanger (no, two cliffhangers actually: there's the emperor's note and the labyrinthine developments!) that makes me itch for what comes next. I truly hope we don't have to wait too long for Empire Edge's continuation.

Deadly Games is available as ebook via Smashwords and Amazon.

[crossposted to Books]

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