Got bored today, so I went down to the Fairfield Commons to grab lunch and peruse the Barnes & Noble. Also brought my laptop in case I felt moved to write. I did, and produced a quick thousand words. Now I am typing up this blog entry and trying not to stare at all the hipster kids with their skinny jeans, Uggs, scarves, and too tight clothing. It is very hard. I already feel overly conspicuous just being here with my laptop.

Oh, great. Coldplay is playing over the satellite radio. Just kill me now.

Moving on. Must finish this quickly and get the hell out of here.

Work on the project of a novelish nature continues to progress at an agreeable pace. The other night I finally came up with a way to properly tie together the first chapter with the rest of the story. When I started writing PG a few weeks ago, the beginning was giving me a hell of a time. I’ve known the very first sentence for a number of years, and have had a general idea of what needs to happen in the opening chapter. In fact, I’ve written the first chapter several times before, but have never been satisfied with it.

So instead of agonizing over it for another month or year or whatever, I simply skipped the first chapter and moved onto the next chapter that I had a grip on. Once I did that, the words came out pretty easily. And then the other night, with most of Part One now sussed out, an interesting (at least I hope) and workable first chapter sort of sprung into existence in my head. I stopped making dinner, went over to the lappy, and spent the next hour transcribing what amounted to a braindump of ideas and notes. And then as I was writing those down, a number of thoughts and ideas on the middle and end Parts presented themselves, and I wrote those down as well.

I was damn well starving by the time I was finished, but very happy.

Now: time to leave Barnes & Noble before I start using scarves as murder weapons.

Just finished the edits on “The Earth Dies Screaming,” my new story about a merry invasion by inappropriately named Tripods.

Once I get feedback from a few people, I’ll make any appropriate changes, then start sending it out for publication. I’m thinking either Clarkesworld or Strange Horizons.

Update: Looks like it will be Strange Horizons as Clarkesworld is not accepting submissions till the end of September. Makes that choice easier.

JAB

So, some guys created a Myspace dedicated to STAR TREK INTERLUDES — replete with, of all things, a blog. Jesus, fucking losers. Anyway, some of it’s pretty good. Some of it is not. I leave you to decide.

JAB

P.S. – Looks like they’re attempting to and not very well succeeding at posting a new INTERLUDE at least once a week. Bastards.

Another story finished, prepped, and ready to be sent off — a task I will be performing tomorrow during my lunch break. Fortunately there’s a post office right down the road, so I don’t have to travel too far out of the way.

Perhaps this story — “It’s a Wonderful Death” — will be the one that gets published and then can deliver me out of obscurity.

Fingers are crossed.

JAB

Sometimes I think there’s something wrong with me. Yeah, I know I’m setting myself up with this one, but I really do. For example, I was working on Vengeance Interruptus, and I was trying to think of a word to describe something as translucent . . . except “translucent” didn’t come to mind. “Diaphanous” did. Now I was fairly positive that diaphanous is a word, but I wasn’t sure of its meaning. I at least figured I was using it in the wrong context. So I looked it up on Dictionary.com — which along with Thesaurus.com make up two of my favorite web sites, I might add — and here’s what I got:

1. very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent.
2. delicately hazy.

See? Who the fuck comes up with diaphanous first when trying to think of something transparent? Me, that’s who. It’s like I have some sort of nerd complex when it comes to my lexicon. Sheesh.

JAB

Yeah, I’m still here. Been taking a break from the blog somewhat, keeping busy and trying to get past this block on Thirty Well Spent. It’s like a wall went up between me and the story I’m trying to tell. Very fucking annoying. But I think I’ve overcome it, for the most part. I wrote a new Prologue earlier today, something completely new that I’m very satisfied with. This in turn lead to a renewed take on Chapter One, which I made some significant headway on.

Thought I’d share with you the new Prologue. Bear in mind that this is only a rough draft, so don’t feel obliged to point out every little niggling error you find. Though I’m sure some of you will.

(more…)

There’s been an update over at the Novelogue, bascially telling you that I’ve cast aside WordPress for Movable Type and my reasons for doing so. Let’s just say it was for a pretty cool and fortuitously timed occurence.

Also, since I’m not sure if I’ll be posting after this, let me mentionthat I’ll be in St. Louis from Friday through Tuesday or Wednesday for a much needed vacation. I plan on reading many science fiction novels while soaking up the sun (like in that Sheryl Crow song), doing some writing, and hitting on women. Should be fun.

Bon voyage.

JAB

Over at the ol’ Novelogue, you can now read the prologue for Thirty Well Spent, as well as the aborted first chapter.

I’m looking into setting up a mailing list for the Novelogue . . . just not very hard. If I stick with WordPress, I’ll set one up. But if I go with Typepad, like I think I will, then what’s the use? (By-the-by, WordPress, while easy to install, is a bitch when it comes to working with their templates, which is why the ‘Logue still has that minty-fresh, “just installed” look. I could learn how to do it, I’m just busy doing other shit that I don’t hate.)

In the mean time, stay tuned . . . .

JAB

I have a sideblog going on now, called Josh Bales’s Novelogue. Instead of describing what its about, I’m just gonna send you to the inaugural post, and you can read about it there. JBdN is still my main blog (or “online writing utensil” as Nate calls them), and it’s certainly not going anywhere. The Novelogue is an experiment, just like the Trinity test in New Mexico sixty years ago.

Here’s the link to the first post, entitled “Nothing Wrong With A Little Experimentation.”

JAB

Dear Tim Horton’s,

I’m not sure how to break this to you, but . . . I have a new favorite place to write now. I can’t explain it — just sort of happened, I guess. It first started a few days ago. This very attractive table moved onto the patio in my backyard. It had a cute little umbrella and comfy chairs. Anyway, it was in the evening, and I needed to do some writing. You just seemed so far away, Tim Horton’s, not to mention probably occupied by annoying teenagers. Then I glanced out back, saw the little table, and took a chance. Before I knew it, I was happily plugging away at Lappy.

And no, it wasn’t a one-time thing either. Not just a fluke I could pretend never happened. I went out today again,this time in the bright sun. The umbrella kept the sun out of my eyes and off Lappy’s LCD screen. Again, the words just poured out of me in heaping amounts of productivity. It was glorious.

I know this is asking a lot, but I’d like to still be friends. I understand that you probably don’t want to see me for a while. But maybe in a few months, after you’ve moved on and stopped hating me (and when the weather has become cold and unpleasant), we could hang out. Until then, good-bye.

Sincerely,

Josh