Blog Without A Name

Monday

So, we’re going to the movies, to see “Jupiter Ascending,” which has generated the most polarized reviews of any movie in recent times.  I’m thinking that because it’s (by description, if not by definition) a Science Fiction Romance, not a Space Opera, not a Space Adventure, (not, ahem, Guys Blowing Things Up) that the people who are expecting those things — because science fiction! — don’t know what to do with it, and so they can only trash it.  The people who love it, love it for things that sound SFR-y to me — Cinderella chassis, lots of hunky guys to choose from, a Choice between Personal Happiness or Destiny. . .

We shall see.

In the meantime, the wind is still blowing HARD, but the sky is blue, the sun is out, and there’s no snow in the forecast until Wednesday.

Almost summer.

* * *

Progress on Alliance of Equals
53,093/100,000 OR 53% Complete

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The week in review

This has been Quite the Week.  Though it’s early days yet, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it may well get the nod as Worst Week of 2015.  In fact, thinking about it, I’d prefer that.

So, recapping for those who were busy digging out of snowstorms, or, yanno, having a life, this was the week that was:

On Sunday, I pulled a marathon session and finished the taxes, sat with Mozart, and tried to think of Another Way

On Monday, having failed to find Another Way, we said good-bye to Mozart

On Tuesday, korval.com vanished from the internets, and much of Steve’s time over the following days has been dedicated to solving that problem, which is stupidly complicated, and has not yet been solved.  We have received word that Progress, for some definition of Progress, is being made, so, perhaps, someday soon, korval.com will reappear and I’ll be able to get my mail.

Much of my time over Wednesday and Thursday involved trying to remove snow from the roof over the deck, which appears to be not quite adequately pitched for the demands of an Extra Snowy Maine Winter.

Friday, was also partly about snow removal, and battening down for THE BLIZZARD that was to begin in Maine on Saturday afternoon and continue through to Monday morning, after dropping up to 24 inches of new snow on our heads.

. . .and now we have hope that this week will be considerably better than last, because. . .

THE BLIZZARD has blown itself out, even as I type, leaving, perhaps, two inches of snow in its wake.  We may have some Wind for the rest of the day, but no more snow.

So!  That’s what’s been going on at my house.  What’s been going on at yours?

 

OK, that? Was no fun at all

Given that we here at the Confusion Factory are now laboring under a Blizzard Warning, we had one more go at trying to move the snow off the roof of the deck.  This method involved affixing a plastic jug half-filled with water to 100 feet of rope, whaling the jug over the snow peak on the roof (it was gratifying to find that, after a couple a false starts, that I still have my throwing arm), and then dragging it back through, thereby breaking up the snow and allowing it to Fall. Off. The. Damn. Roof.

This actually worked.  To a point.  Not, alas, to a useful point, and there were those long minutes during which it looked like we were not going to be able to retrieve our instruments.  We finally achieved that, and it must be said that some snow did come off the roof during the recovery process.  A great deal of it fell down inside my Number Two Jacket (the one without the hood) and into my only pair of Real Winter Gloves.  My blue sweater was roundly soaked, as well.  On the other hand, the new boots kept my feet dry, and my purple striped Smartwool ski socks kept them warm.

During this frenzy of activity, we flushed a turkey out from beneath the deck.  A rather skinny turkey, I’m sorry to say.

We did have a nice, sunny day to work in, though there was a sharp breeze that brought the balmy 9F/-13C down to -10F/-23C.

Well.  It is winter, after all.

The blizzard, by the way — we’re under a Blizzard Warning, which is what started all this — is supposed to start tomorrow-Saturday, noon-ish and blow itself out by Monday morning, around 7 a.m., after having dumped 18-24 inches of snow on top of the 40 or so inches already covering the landscape.

At this point, we’re just going to have to hope that Todd built the deck roof out of titanium.

Trooper and Sprite showed moral support for our efforts against the weather by staying inside and making sure that the blue chair didn’t make a break for it while our attention was elsewhere.

This chair ain't going NOwhere
This chair ain’t going NOwhere

On writermind and what comes next

So, in reference to the latest PSA, someone asked this, seemingly simple, question:

Uh, you DO have one more “Theo book” coming along some day, don’t you?

The answer to this question is. . . not simple.  Not only is it not simple, I’m not certain I can adequately explain what we’re attempting with this sequence of five books, of which Dragon in Exile is the first.  Possibly, I could explain it. . .less disjointedly. . .to another writer (who isn’t Steve), but readers and writers are separated by the fundamentals that bring us together:  writers write; readers read.

So, I’m going to try to explain what we’re doing; apologies in advance if it makes no sense as you read it here.  We trust that the execution will be more illuminating.

. . .

Steve and I are now embarked on the writing of, as stated above, a sequence of five novels.  These five novels, in their entirety, are the. . .sequel, if you will, to I Dare and to Dragon Ship, in particular.  Discerning readers will have noticed that there are many people in play, and many. . .unsettled situations left at the end of those two novels.  You will also notice that there are several. . .Big Problems still on the board to be solved.

Solving those Big Problems is going to take the combined talents of All of Those Characters.  (Even Rys, who, when “his” book was pitched, was never intended to survive his redemption.) Theo, for instance, can’t solve All the Problems by herself.  Theo doesn’t even know what All the Problems are.

(We, ourselves, don’t see Theo and her adventures as being a spin off books.  In our view, Theo is very much entangled in the troubles that were introduced in Agent of Change, and which have only gotten more tangled since.)

The only way that we can proceed, being the writers that we are, is to continue as we began, and braid the character and story arcs until we reach the Thrilling Conclusion.

What this means is that it’s extremely doubtful that we will be writing a one character/one problem novel within the Five Book Dash.  The reason we pitched five intertwined novels is that we knew we couldn’t reasonably cope with all the necessary characters and arcs in one novel, and to write another Theo novel at this point in the Universe. . .would be cheating.

So, we’ve broken the characters and the problems out into sets, all aimed at the Thrilling Conclusion.  Some characters will move through several novels.  Some will vanish on a mission, and not be seen. . .for a while.  This will probably produce some very odd books and some folks will grow impatient with us for writing endless stories where “nothing happens”.  (Just got our first reader review of Dragon. . . in which the novel is described as being an unending series of lunches, tea breaks, and dinners in the snowy summer of Surebleak.)  We expect to see some readers lose patience.  We hope that most of you will stick with us.  We really think that we can pull this off, and that ultimate arrival will be worth the journey.

. . .that’s all I’ve got.

And now I need to go to work.

 

PSA: Dragon in Exile

Dragon in Exile is not — that’s NOT — a “Theo book.”  I’m pretty sure we said that, several times, but apparently some folks missed school that day.

Alliance of Equals is also not — that’s NOT — a “Theo book.”  Maybe if I start saying it now, people will catch on by the time the eArc comes around.

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled blog.

Well, no, actually, we don’t.  Maybe tomorrow on the regularly-scheduled blog.  I’m kinda tired, tonight.

 

Back at so-called Real Life. . .

Many thanks to everyone who expressed their condolences.  Your kindness is much appreciated.

Today was about putting away the detritus of Doing Taxes, packing some books to mail, and trying to shovel snow off the roof of the deck, because there’s approximately five hundred and thirty-three tons of snow up there, and while Todd built it to withstand a Maine winter, I’m pretty sure we’re approaching its reasonable load-bearing capacity.

Now, the problem with raking the roof is. . .it’s ‘waaaaaay up there.  Also, I can only rake the side that is directly over the steps.  Mount Snowplow defends it from a frontal approach.  And a large fall of snow in front of the basement door defends it from the back.

Possibly, yes, I could climb over the rail and stand on Mount Snowplow, but I deem that a tad risky.  It may bear my weight.  Or it may bear my weight for a while.  If I break through, there’ll be no getting me out until autumn. If I miss my footing and slide down the wrong side, I’d either have to scale the Mount on its smooth side, or lay down on my belly and swim across the snow like an otter, alllllll the way around the base of the Mount until I came to a place where it’s possible to climb over the berm, to the driveway.

Also, I don’t do ladders.  At all.  Never mind ladders unsteadily braced on snow and ice.

Which leaves standing on the steps, heaving the rake repeatedly up to the roof and dragging buckets of snow down onto my own head.  Yes, yes; it’s a comedy act.

It’s also relatively futile.  I’ve raked off the snow I can reach, but there’s plenty too much up there, and no way for me to disturb it enough so it will start moving, say, down the slope of the roof, and off , adding to the consequence of our temporary mountain.

Gah.

In other news, Steve is still struggling with the disappearance of korval.com, and attempting to make it appear again.  Very sorry for the continued bouncing mail, and other inconveniences.  If you have written to either of us at a korval.com address, and have gotten a bounce message, best to send again, to our gmail addresses.

It remains eerily quiet in my office.  I keep glancing over to the corner that Mozart frequented most during the last few months — and it’s empty, of course.  The lack of his presence is almost a presence of itself.

Tomorrow, I am turning off All The Things, and Shutting All of the Doors so I can work.  I’m  starting to get very cranky with regard to not working.  *glares at universe*

And, to make up, at least a little, for the tone of this post, I offer you two coon cats in a box too small for one — and good evening.

Dad and daughter, napping.
Dad and daughter, napping.

Notice of Technical Glitch

Alert Walkers Along the Internets will perhaps have noticed that korval.com has vanished from the ether.  You may also have gotten a Notice of Permanent Failure on mail sent to a korval.com eddress.

This is the result of an oversight during the Crazy Times immediately following Steve’s heart operation and the subsequent closing down of SRM Publisher.  One of us somehow forgot to properly notify a registrar of an address change for the site.

Steve is working on fixing this.  In the meantime, we ask for your patience.

 

Mozart of Kennebec, March 1, 1998 – February 9, 2015

Mozart
Mozart

 

We let Mozart go today.  He was just shy of his 18th birthday, and had shared 11 of those years with us.  He was a good friend, gentle, and interested in all things, even That Reading Thing, which he had to learn to care about.

The house is very quiet tonight.

I will ask people not to post the Rainbow Bridge poem.  We’ve read it many times, by now.