Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Short work - recycled once more, hurrah!
Yes, I'm sure most of you have seen this already somewhere. I don't care. I'm tired of seeing three posts on the main page, so I'm posting most relevent work on here in an attempt to build up an archive base of some sort. Enjoy.
--
Green lights flew. The man had arrived here five months ago and hadn't left since. He simply sat.
The other crowd, those around the open terminals who drank their guava-chai-doubleshot-martini-lattes and chattered to each other and came and went as they pleased, took notice of him only at first. Now he was a fixture of the place, and had become as completely unnoticed as the flashing garish and pastel lights outside the nonexistent windows.
For he had become permanently - literally - fixated to the place.
He lived in a glass box, about the size of a cheap apartment on the west side, that was placed in the corner by the door. He rarely left his own terminal. He had no choice - he was hooked up to it.
He used the outdated drives for unknown reasons, the ones no one would dream of making anymore. The cold, concrete floor of the box was dusted with various ancient components, wires, pipes, dirt and grease. Like himself.
None of the cyb-yuppie patrons cared, of course. He was invisible now. And no one saw what he was fiddling with at the moment - a slightly rusting modem card, bits of green label still intact. He liked it because it had his name on it in strange symbols - Cefo. Cefo clutched it to his chest; he had found identity.
Identity.
Another of the wires attached to his temple snapped. Green sparks flew into the glass.
--
Dun dun dun. Melodrama, how fun!
--
Green lights flew. The man had arrived here five months ago and hadn't left since. He simply sat.
The other crowd, those around the open terminals who drank their guava-chai-doubleshot-martini-lattes and chattered to each other and came and went as they pleased, took notice of him only at first. Now he was a fixture of the place, and had become as completely unnoticed as the flashing garish and pastel lights outside the nonexistent windows.
For he had become permanently - literally - fixated to the place.
He lived in a glass box, about the size of a cheap apartment on the west side, that was placed in the corner by the door. He rarely left his own terminal. He had no choice - he was hooked up to it.
He used the outdated drives for unknown reasons, the ones no one would dream of making anymore. The cold, concrete floor of the box was dusted with various ancient components, wires, pipes, dirt and grease. Like himself.
None of the cyb-yuppie patrons cared, of course. He was invisible now. And no one saw what he was fiddling with at the moment - a slightly rusting modem card, bits of green label still intact. He liked it because it had his name on it in strange symbols - Cefo. Cefo clutched it to his chest; he had found identity.
Identity.
Another of the wires attached to his temple snapped. Green sparks flew into the glass.
--
Dun dun dun. Melodrama, how fun!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
John Dies at the End
(Or, Sheer Boredom Takes Over.)
Okay, now I'm just going to post whatever I can think of in an attempt to stave off death. This blog's death. For without sustenence, IT WILL SHRIVEL AWAY AND DIE, PEOPLE. Gah.
After this, methinks I'll post random pieces of the sci-fi-ish stuff I wrote while at Kenyon. That is, if I haven't conked out from NyQuil by then...
"John Dies at the End" is a madhouse caper of a horror/supernatural story, with elements of Lovecraft, Douglas Adams, X-files, surrealism, and god-knows-what-else. Although it's booklike in length, and partially in form, it's actually a completed serial started (and still found for free) online. An edited version can now be perchased in print through the website; however, the free online version seems to still be the most popular (I wonder why...). By David Wong.
Check it out: John Dies at the End
Okay, now I'm just going to post whatever I can think of in an attempt to stave off death. This blog's death. For without sustenence, IT WILL SHRIVEL AWAY AND DIE, PEOPLE. Gah.
After this, methinks I'll post random pieces of the sci-fi-ish stuff I wrote while at Kenyon. That is, if I haven't conked out from NyQuil by then...
"John Dies at the End" is a madhouse caper of a horror/supernatural story, with elements of Lovecraft, Douglas Adams, X-files, surrealism, and god-knows-what-else. Although it's booklike in length, and partially in form, it's actually a completed serial started (and still found for free) online. An edited version can now be perchased in print through the website; however, the free online version seems to still be the most popular (I wonder why...). By David Wong.
Check it out: John Dies at the End
Creation -> Inspiration?
Yes, I have returned from the land of the Rouss! I shall now attempt to light a match under the seat of this pitiful excuse for a party (how's that for a mixed metaphor?). Seriously, now, what would you all do without me? Tsk, tsk.
Here's your mission, should you choose to accept it...
Choose one of the following of my doodles (no worries, kids, lots to choose from). Use it as a springboard for a sci-fi/fantasy story. Post the results here. No length requirement, but must mention in post which picture was used.
Results due by midnight, September 1st! (Night of 31st, morning of 1st.)
And now, here are the pictures... *drumroll*
--
(Numbers 1-3, respectively)
(4-6)
(7-9)
(10-12)
(13-15)
--
And...go!
- L. W.
Here's your mission, should you choose to accept it...
Choose one of the following of my doodles (no worries, kids, lots to choose from). Use it as a springboard for a sci-fi/fantasy story. Post the results here. No length requirement, but must mention in post which picture was used.
Results due by midnight, September 1st! (Night of 31st, morning of 1st.)
And now, here are the pictures... *drumroll*
--
--
And...go!
- L. W.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Let's get this party started!
Alright, folks, she's up and running - now it can be whatever you want it to be. Post your writing, your ideas and things you're working on; suggest books, or new writing excercises; chat randomly. It's yours. Where do you want to take it?
One thing I'll stress, though, is the importance of feedback. Remember how important feedback is in our normal workshops? The same applies here. If someone's taken the time to write something, you should take the time to read it, and to share what you thought of it. This isn't a requirement, mind you, but it is expected.
I don't know how technologically proficient this group is (heh, that sounds strange talking to a bunch of sci-fi writers...), so I dug up and modified suitably a bunch of general information about using this page. It's rather long and banal, so if you already know how to use blogs/Blogger, you may just want to skip or skim over it.
- BEGIN LONG AND ABSURDLY DETAILED GENERAL INFORMATION SECTION -
If you've got any questions after reading this about using Blogger, check out the Blogger.com FAQ first - if you can't find the answer there, e-mail me.
Desvidanye, all, and good writing!
- L. W.
One thing I'll stress, though, is the importance of feedback. Remember how important feedback is in our normal workshops? The same applies here. If someone's taken the time to write something, you should take the time to read it, and to share what you thought of it. This isn't a requirement, mind you, but it is expected.
I don't know how technologically proficient this group is (heh, that sounds strange talking to a bunch of sci-fi writers...), so I dug up and modified suitably a bunch of general information about using this page. It's rather long and banal, so if you already know how to use blogs/Blogger, you may just want to skip or skim over it.
- BEGIN LONG AND ABSURDLY DETAILED GENERAL INFORMATION SECTION -
- At the very top of this page is a silverish bar. That's one of the search features. With this one, you can either search just the contents of this blog, or the contents of all the blogs listed on Blogger. To search, type in your keyword(s) in the white area.
- To the right of the page is a sidebar. That is the menu. The first thing it says is “contributors” - yes, I know it says this twice, I haven’t figured out how to fix that yet. This is the list of contributing members of this blog - when you join/accept your invite, your Blogger name appears in this field, in the form of a link to your profile. If, in your profile, you select the option to not make this blog visible on your profile, your name will still remain on the list of contributing members.
- Underneath the list of contributors is another search feature, which works just like the other one (except that it will search just this blog always).
- Underneath the search is a list of links under the heading “Last Posts,” with links under it. These links go to the latest posts. Clicking on one will display that post in the main window. This list will grow as more posts are added, and will eventually show the latest 10 days’ worth of posts.
- Underneath the “Last Posts” links is the heading “Archives.” After a certain number of posts are made, the older ones stop showing up under the previous section and go into the archives. These are labeled by month and year; this month’s posts will go into the “July 2006” archive section.
- Underneath that is the heading “Links,” with various related links under it. These links will display their contents in a new window. This list can definitely grow - just suggest something to add!
- Directly under this post, there are several links. One displays the time. Clicking on the "time" link will lead to a page with just this post on it. That is the "permanent link" page. Like the "last posts" section, the main page will only display the most recent posts. Linking to the main page to show a particular post may not display the post you want after a certain time; linking to its "permanent link" page will always show that post.
- To the right of the "permanent link" is a link that says "Comments (X)." This link will take you to a pop-up window. That is the comments page, which displays all comments on that particular post and gives you a link through which you can add your own comments to the post. Administrators have the ability to edit or delete posts, or delete comments.
- To the right of that, there’s a link that says “links to this post.” If another blog links back to one of our posts, the original post here will show the post that it’s mentioned in. It’s a good way to keep track of who’s keeping track of us!
- Last, but not least, there are two pictorial links underneath the “links to this post” link - one of an envelope with an arrow, and one of a pencil. The pencil only shows up if you’re logged in, and if you’re the author of the post or an administrator - clicking on it opens a window with which you can edit the post. The envelope is always visible. Clicking on it allows you to e-mail that post to someone else.
If you've got any questions after reading this about using Blogger, check out the Blogger.com FAQ first - if you can't find the answer there, e-mail me.
Desvidanye, all, and good writing!
- L. W.
Contributors
About Me
- Name: literaghost
- Location: Kentucky, United States
I'm a tumultuous culture-nerd with too much and too little time on my hands. I'm proud of my moxie and frustrated when forms won't render HTML. I like things that make my brain hurt, lots of freedom, and coffee in anything but the actual hot drink. I can't stand totalitarianism/dogma, Daniel Defoe, or excruciatingly long lists of statistics. I'm an activist, a devil's advocate, and a shameless heathen glamorpuss. (I'm also fond of playing with syntax, parallel sentence structures, and groups of threes, in case you couldn't tell.) I share a mindset, and a birthday, with Thomas Paine. I'm a rebel with a cause, and a redstocking without a card. Off-blogger, you can find me on BookMooch, LibraryThing, Flickr, and deviantART.