ROW80 - Early Wrap Up

Tomorrow is the end of A Round of Words in 80 Days, however, since we report on Sundays and Wednesdays, I simply shift my whole 80 Day effort a day earlier; start on Day 0, which is a Sunday, and end on Day 79, which is a Tuesday -- to be reported on Wednesday.

Which is today.

This has been one crazy writing dare. This summer, I piled two efforts on top of this one: The Clarion Write-A-Thon, and my Blog Story Experiment.  That led to one of the more productive summers I've had in a while, but it also meant that I have been going continuously -- with overlapping efforts and dares -- for a very long time.

So I don't even care what the ultimate count is, of minutes or words or chapters or whatever the heck I was counting for this dare. (I changed methods several times.)  For those of you who are counting, here are the counts for the last three days.  Tuesday night's numbers are guestimated. I forgot to set timers and given that everyone in my life seems to be having crises right now, I was thoroughly distracted.

• Sunday Day 77 - 290 minutes.
• Monday Day 78 - 60 minutes.
• Tuesday Day 79 - 80 minutes.

The Misplaced Hero is still on track for being complete on September 27, with a "credit cookie" on October 1.  I don't yet know when the ebook version will be available.   Since I've been doing some editing as I go, and most of it has had "Drawer Time" I should be able to get a good editing pass on most of it even before the story is done posting.

Really Tired

The thing that has been most exhausting about this is that writing a story live, for the blog, with deadlines, both energizes and demands: I want to work and I have to work.  Both.

And that takes you to a whole different level of work. (It also didn't help, I think, that my day job schedule changed, and all my work is clustered at the beginning of the week, when I have deadlines....)

What this hasn't been is remunerative.  My book sales have dropped off to nothing.  But I don't care because it's better to be poor and energized.

Even so... up to now, I have been writing a story here on the blog that doesn't have much relation to my other books.  In particular, I don't have any other book in this series available for sale, and my other books are in other genres.

However, I hope very soon to have The Misplaced Hero available as an ebook, for those who didn't want to read it online as a serial.  And the next story will be the sequel to a book I've already published.  We'll see if that makes a difference this fall.

However, my bigger goal will be to slowly develop the audience for the blog.

That is, while I get a lot of writing done, but not marketing or anything else.  Everything I write here will be available later when I am ready to bother with other things.  I have always been a great believer in building the momentum first.

I'll talk next Sunday about my upcoming goals for fall, and the next ROW80 round will start on the following Sunday. (Or, technically, on Monday the first, but I start early.)

See you in the funny papers.

Misplaced Hero - Episode 39

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

Episode 39 - Rozinshura vs. The Plot

by Camille LaGuire

Rozinshura hardly paid attention as High Commissar Vshtin greeted him effusively.

"Kosha!  My kinchura!" the commissar cried, and he took Rozinshura by the shoulders and gave him a kiss on each cheek.

They were not kinchura -- that is, not close -- though they had been kinchin, back in the First Revolution.  Rozinshura had been an awe-struck boy, fetching water and carrying messages for the band of men who led the revolution.  Vshtin had not been so much older, a young professor who out-shone the old men with his cold but clear ideas about how to use bureaucracy to make anarchism work.

But now it seemed the cold intellectual had learned to be a politician, smiling and flattering local officials... or perhaps he was just nervous of those around him, and seeking an ally.

Rozinshura might have been flattered in other circumstances, but just now, he could only think of one thing:

There were three dozen security men on the platform, crowding around, and listening to everything they said to each other.  Who knew if they could be trusted?  Perhaps some of them, but if there were a coup planned, perhaps none.

Vshtin had his own bodyguards, wary men dressed just like him in cloth caps and canvas coats. They could probably be trusted, but there were only four of them.

Rozinshura needed to change the odds.  He needed an escape, a fortified room, a bunker, something to separate them from the others.

Rozinshura needed a car.

A car had only so much room; with Rozinshura, Vshtin, a bodyguard, and Tralkulo driving, there would be hardly any room for enemies.  The odds would be even enough for a short time so Rozinshura could speak.

And a car could flee, if that turned out to be best.

So Rozinshura smiled and dissembled like a flattered official and then said quickly:

"You will want to see the Ambassador, of course. He is injured, you know, but doing well."  Then he shouted for Tralkulo to get the car and turned back apologetically to Vshtin.   "My leg.  I am very slow on foot."

"Perhaps you should stay behind, then," said one of the security officers with a sneer.

"No, no, Colonel Sochir," said the High Commissar.  "This man stopped a runaway caisson with that leg. Have respect."

Rozinshura looked closely at Sochir. His name was one of those on the list, set aside a little by itself, as though it were important.  The man studied Rozinshura just as shrewdly, and then gave a little nod of respect, and began to gather his men to provide security for the short trip to the inn.  And Rozinshura heard him tell one man to drive.  He planned to take control of the car when it arrived.

It took longer than expected for Tralkulo to get the car.  Rozinshura filled the time by starting his report to Vshtin. He listened for the rattle of the old engine, in hopes of beating Sochir to the car.  But then just as he heard it, he also happened to see something else.

Down the road, two figures stepped out of the shadows and made their way along the road.  It looked like Pookiterin and the old drunk.  Or almost like them.  Rozinshura squinted closer, and in a moment everyone was looking at the two figures who quickly disappeared down a side road toward the river.

"Was that Pookiterin?" said Sochir, suddenly distracted from his plans.

"I think so," said Rozinshura.  But then another figure appeared, in a drab brown uniform.  But he walked with excessive price -- upright, strutting -- and there was no mistaking him.  "No, I think that's Pookiterin."

Sochir jumped down the steps to get a closer look.  Rozinshura took advantage of the distraction to launch himself down the stairs and greet Tralkulo as she jumped out of the car to greet them.  He tried to hurry her back to the driver's seat, but she paused to stammer out an apology.

"I am sorry I took so long, Kinchin Captain," she said.  "There were two security men who tried to take the car from me.  But they were drunk so I was able to push them aside."

"Security men?" said Sochir, who had now returned. He looked at his own men, who shook their heads and looked surprised.  "Who were they?"

"They were Pookiterin's men," said Tralkulo.

Sochir took a sharp breath and glanced at his own lieutenants and then at Vshtin.

"This is not...," he stammered.  "This is not... right, Commissar."  But then he pulled himself together.  "Pookiterin has behaved strangely lately."  He glanced uneasily at Rozinshura as if unwilling to say much in front of him.

"That is true," said Rozinshura. "He has been behaving strangely. Perhaps you should investigate."

Vshtin said, simply: "Go."

Sochir nodded his respect and took some men with him.  Vshtin sent the rest ahead to the inn to meet them.  Then he and Rozinshura and two of the bodyguards got into the car.

"Now," said the High Commissar, "what is it you wanted to tell me in private?"

"Someone wants to kill you," said Rozinshura.  "Tomorrow, with a bomb, in Marvu."

"Then it is good that I am not in Marvu.," said Vshtin slowly.  He thought a moment and then nodded to Tralkulo.  "Let us take the long way, so you can tell me more."

---

Stay Tuned for Episode Forty: "The Skin of His Teeth"

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

---

The Case of the Misplaced Hero -- now available as an ebook at major online retailers, including:

In most ebook formats at Smashwords, plus Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Apple iBookstore.  (Coming soon to Sony.)

Now also at Amazon's international stores: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan.

Sunday Update - and Coming Attractions

It was a mistake to shift this blog back into gear before I was done with Misplaced Hero, and while the day job was shifting into high gear, too.  It isn't beyond what I can handle, but too many tasks are piling up on the sides.

So for the next two weeks I am suspending the Tuesday post, turning Wednesday back into a ROW80 update post, and giving you a much more shallow Friday post. (I will do the Daring Adventure Stories "4th Tuesday" post, and announce it here.)

A Round of Words in 80 Days Update

This Segment's Progress:

Wednesday Day 73 - 204 minutes.
Thursday Day 74 -120 minutes.
Friday Day 75 -155 minutes.
Saturday Day 76 - 170 minutes.


So... while I've been doing too much blogging, what have I been neglecting?

First, I need to prep The Misplaced Hero ebook.  I also wanted to experiment with audio, and maybe record one episode. It could even be a kind of "book trailer." (I've been thinking of doing Episode 5, when Thorny jumps into the river.)

I also need to get ready for the next story, Test of Freedom.  I started Misplaced Hero off the cuff, as a fun experiment.  But this fall it's no longer an experiment, so I need to do more in the way of prepping the art style -- which means doing a bunch of drawings.

I also need to take advantage of the fact that Test of Freedom is a sequel to The Wife of Freedom: the first book I self-published two years ago.  A book which desperately needs to be revisited and updated.

So I need to read it over and reformat it to new standards, and write new "end of book" notes (directing people to the online sequel).

And as long as I'm working on reformatting and uploading, I might as well work on updating a template and general workflow I use to format ebooks, so I can update my other older boks.  Also update their end-of-book notes.  And, of course, redo the covers at a higher rez so that Apple will be happy.  That's going to be a long process, but it's best to take the time to set up the workflow and templates now, to make it all easier later on.

Finally, one of the other things I've been neglecting are the little touches. My mind is often too preoccupied to do things like come up with a decent title to a post or episode. (See note for Episode 40 below.)  I also think my blog posts themselves are suffering from a lack of focus.

And that makes me wonder if I should talk about the Writer version of Dave Ramsey's "Debt Snowball" when I come back to full blogging in October.  You can learn a lot about managing your time by applying the principles of managing money.


This Past Week's Posts:

• Monday - Episode 37 "The Run For The River"
• Tuesday -Story Notes - Miscellaneous Thoughts On The Misplaced Hero
• Wednesday - Writing the Online Novel - intro
• Thursday - Episode 38  "Sword To Sword"
• Friday Favorites - Agatha Christie's The Five Little Pigs

Coming This Week on the Blog:

Monday - Episode 39 "Rozinshura vs. The Plot"
A man with a limp - and a secret - needs a car.

Wednesday - ROW80 Round 3 final wrap up post.
Technically, yeah, it's a day early, but I generally start a day early too, and the rest of the darned dare is committed to Sun/Wed updates.

Thursday - Episode 40 "Currently Untitled Ep Finishing up Alex's Fight with Pookiterin"
The name says it all.

Friday Favorites - The Ever-Evolving Top-Ten Movies List


See you in the funny papers.

Friday Favorites - Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs

One of the great things about Agatha Christie is that liked to use plot formats as a challenge to keep things interesting for herself.  She wrote novels almost the way great short story writers would write short stories, each an experiment in concept or story-telling.  She did this not only with standalone books like Ten Little Indians, but also in her series work.

Some of these little experiments are real gems, though many are forgotten. I only recently stumbled across the Poirot tale, The Five Little Pigs.  I think this story deserves to be better known, but I suppose the charm of the story is more intellectual than most.

It's the story of a cold case.  Sixteen years earlier, a woman was convicted of murdering her husband.  She herself died in prison soon after the conviction.  Now her daughter, who had been a tiny child at the time of the murder, comes to Poirot and asks him to look into the case.

The subsequent story is almost like a dossier.  Poirot interviews all the investigators and lawyers, then the five principle witnesses of the case (the "five little pigs"), and then has each of those five principles write a first person account of the murder.  Then he visits them each again with a follow up question.

The interesting thing about this story is that what we get is the same story told over and over again 15 times, by 10 different people.  And each time, we see deeper into the story, and the lives of the characters.  And each of the witnesses, separately, give us a view of the others; how they were then, how they are now.

So it starts as a plain puzzle story, intriguing intellectually but cold emotionally, but by the end, you drawn into the lives of these characters, caring at last for them all, wishing that this would be like Groundhog Day and that the end of the story could change if only the characters could learn from the revelation.

Perhaps that description makes the story sound better than it is, though.  Certainly this isn't high literature.  And the characters, as with most Christie, are stylized.  But I think her sharp psychological insight into motivation and evil is at its prime here, and she has a lot of fun using them as red herrings too. I certainly came to care about even the most disagreeable of the characters, which is, imho, a feat.

See you in the funny papers.

Misplaced Hero - Episode 38

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

Episode 38 - Sword to Sword

by Camille LaGuire

Alex stepped out of the alley and made his way along the road.  The shadows were long and he stuck to their darkness until he was as far as possible from the alley, then he stepped forward and drew the sword.

It made a sharp metallic ring as he drew it, and Pookiterin turned immediately, his own sword raised and at the ready.  It was a wicked-looking thing -- ornate and heavy, and slightly shorter than the sabre Alex carried, but with both a sharp point and an edge.  He didn't know where Pookiterin got it.

"Who are you?" called Pookiterin. Alex stepped more fully out into the light.  Who was he?  Zorro? The Avenger? The Scarlet Pimpernel?  Alex had no idea. He had no real identity.  Then a line of poetry hit him -- probably Thorny's influence.

"I'm Nobody," he announced and tilted his head. "Who are you? Are you nobody too?"

Pookiterin looked him over, and recognized his own uniform.  And then he sneered, and glanced up and down the road as if looking for others, or maybe traffic.  Seeing none, he turned his back on Alex and stalked across the road, to the opening in the fence which led down to the river.

"That's no way to treat an armed opponent!" called Alex.

"You're nobody," said Pookiterin, without looking at him.  His eyes were studying the shadows where Thorny was lurking.  Alex had to distract him before he spotted the professor.

"Well, I did take your uniform," Alex said.  Alex circled around as he spoke, hoping to force the colonel to look away from where Thorny was creeping along in the shadows.

"And I've got your sword," he continued, taunting on while Pookiterin said nothing. "Well, the girl actually took it from you, but I've got it now.... And you don't care?  Is there something wrong with this sword?"

Pookiterin clearly wasn't into swashbuckling banter, nor did he see Alex as a threat.  Maybe Alex was too far away.  He circled back into Pookiterin's line of sight, and then lunged at him, picking up speed as he went.

But just then, as Alex thought he was going to have to run the man through to get his attention, Pookiterin saw Thorny.

The colonel lurched forward, his attention like a laser on the old man in the shadows. The moved took Alex by surprise, but he managed a backhand slap at the colonel's rear end.

The man wheeled around, his sword swinging down and around in a move which Alex merely dodged rather than engage.

And it was then that Alex registered that Pookiterin had been running with the sword raised high, like he was going to bring it down on Thorny's head. Not like he was going to capture him or take him hostage.

"You're trying to kill him?" said Alex.

Pookiterin answered with another thrust, this time coming up from below as if to gut Alex.  Alex beat the blade aside and then, his blade being low itself, he jabbed at the man's knee.

Pookiterin lept back and parried in one fluid motion that said the man had experience with a sword.
But then he turned and raced again toward Thorny, who ducked behind a rain barrel.  Pookiterin's blade chopped into the barrel like an ax, and stuck there just long enough for Thorny to roll away out of reach.

Thorny was unarmed, harmless. And this guy was trying to kill him.

Alex would have run him through, if the man hadn't also thrown himself to the ground, rolling and pulling his sword free in one motion that pulled the empty barrel over and rolled it into Alex.

Alex shoved the barrel back at Pookiterin.  The colonel was now cornered in the opening of the alley.  Alex called to Thorny.

"Run.  Hit the river now!"

Thorny scrambled off.

Pookiterin kicked the barrel back at Alex, and Alex shoved it back again.

"Forget it," said Alex.  "I won't let you have him."

"I will kill him," said Pookiterin, his voice suddenly flat and quiet with determination.  "I will cut him to ribbons."

"Why?" asked Alex as they continued to shove the barrel back and forth.  Pookiterin made it to his feet.

"Others have let my superiors down," said Pookiterin.  "But I will not.  I will do what no one else can do, and I will be commended for it."

"You're doing this for a gold star?"

"Yes, for a general's star."

And then, suddenly, Pookiterin attacked.

He slashed at Alex's face, and only missed taking out both eyes because he misjudged the length of the shorter, heavier blade.

Alex rocked back and couldn't even get back en garde before Pookiterin leaped up to the top of the barrel and used his momentum to roll himself forward.

As he leaped nimbly to the ground, Alex revised his opinion of the man's competence.  He might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer... but he knew how to use the sharpest knife.

And just now, as Alex barely parried a flurry of slashing strokes, he wasn't at all sure if challenging the man to a duel had been such a hot idea.

---

Stay Tuned for Thirty-Nine: "Rozinshura vs The Plot"

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

---

The Case of the Misplaced Hero -- now available as an ebook at major online retailers, including:

In most ebook formats at Smashwords, plus Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Apple iBookstore.  (Coming soon to Sony.)

Now also at Amazon's international stores: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan.

Writing The Online Novel - intro post

Because I'm throwing myself into the world of serial fiction for the next year or so, I've decided to start a new feature/topic for my non-fiction posts called Writing the Online Novel.

Online writing is a different beast than what fiction writers are used to. For the most part, it's closer to journalism than to books. Books, and most fiction magazines, are immersive reading.  They're designed to be read without distraction, for the reader to submerge his or her consciousness into the story.

Because of this immersion factor, the audience for a book is very conscious about its choices.  They aren't just paying for the book, they're making a major time and attention commitment to it.  They shop for books deliberately, looking for something special, which they will consume later, when they are ready to dive in and lose the world. The book must be worth that time and energy commitment.  This makes them more attuned to genre and category and other boundaries.

The web, on the other hand, is more like a newspaper; lots of different things on any page, meant to be skimmed, full of everything from sports scores, to comics to commentary, along with the news and features, and ads.  People approach newspapers and the web with a more "consume it now" mindset. No commitments involved at all. It's just skimming and browsing and killing time.

Which isn't to say that readers don't dip more deeply into some things, but that's not the point of screwing around on the internet.  The point, more often then not, is to see what's going on.  Right now.  You skim through headlines and feeds and aggregators and social media, to see what catches your interest. You don't know what you're going to find.

And it doesn't always matter if you find much.  You may feel completely satisfied with your experience just skimming the first paragraphs and summaries, and catching a few cartoons or LOLcats, or a video of an otter doing a back flip, or seeing the weather or sport scores.

So readers on the internet aren't looking for the same kind of exact experience they look for in a book.  After all, we've already filtered out the bad stuff by sticking to things we like and trust: we subscribe to feeds, check out certain sites, follow friends and people we find interesting. And because of that, we can leave ourselves open to a wider range of experience than we do when we're shopping for books.  We are less conscious of boundaries.

The experience of the online writer is a little different.

We have to make the same commitment to everything we write, whether the reader is just skimming or engaged in full-out commitment. It's the same time-consuming work, and burns up the same high level of brain energy.

So we writers tend to see online fiction the same way we book fiction.  It's just delivered differently.

I think we need to start looking at online fiction -- particularly online novels -- is a medium unto itself.  It has its own audience, its own requirements, its own modes and problems.  And even though serialized fiction, and newspapers and magazines have been around for centuries, this version of the form is new in a whole lot of different ways.  There is no beaten path to help us figure out how to do it right or gain an audience ... or make a living.

I'd like to explore some of these issues and report what I've learned, so I'll be posting this Writing the Online Novel series irregularly.  The topics will cover everything from genre to cliffhangers to episode length to SEO and making money.  Some of these posts will be useful to writers of regular fiction, and most of them well be helpful to blog or web writers of any kind.

I hope they'll also be interesting to readers in this strange new world.

See you in the funny papers.

Story Notes - Miscellaneous Thoughts on Misplaced Hero

In the New Blog Order, the second Tuesday of every month is devoted to "Story Notes" -- that is, talk about the fiction you see here on this blog.  A kind of "behind the scenes" look at it -- what inspired it, trouble I'm having with it, how I wrote it, or what it means to me.

This is the last such Tuesday for the current blog story -- The Misplaced Hero -- which looks like it will run until October 1.  (For a total of 42 episodes, plus a credit cookie.)  So that being the case, here are soe rambling thoughts on what's going on behind the scenes:

Deadlines are Hell

Other people all around me are having problems which I can't do anything about, but it's still managing to eat up all my time. Yesterday was nearly a wash.  I should have had all day to get the next couple of episodes done, but I only just managed to get Monday's episode in because I stayed up until 3am.  And I had to get up early.

But that's the nature of deadline writing.  You've just got to do it.

I would not have posted yesterday's episode if I hadn't been able to move the story along as it should be moved, but it did what I needed.  I am unhappy that I didn't have a chance to make one more pass for Thorny's point of view.  He really should be more present in that episode, but I managed to hit the major points with him, and I don't know that he would be saying much.  But he is now more or less sober and awake and reacting to what is going on around him.  His mind is beginning to function.

Endings Are Hell

Actually, I love to write endings. I get on a roll and things start tumbling out, but they take a lot of shoving and mental work.  There's a lot to tie up and pay off.  There are both big and small revelations -- and frankly, the little, subtle payoffs and revelations, to me, are the best part.  And they are hard when your mind isn't up to it.

But pulling it all together is what storytelling is all about.

And pulling it all together in under 700 words is nearly impossible at this point.  I let this episode run long - more because I didn't have time to tighten it than because it needed more space -- and I may let a couple of subsequent episodes run longer. Oh, not loads longer.  But if they run as long as 1000 words I won't worry. (I expect 800 and some actually.)  Those, however, will be longer because they need to be, not because I don' t have time to edit.

The action finale has got to take two episodes, and I'll bet I could bust it into three, but I'd rather not.  I'll do them long if they need it.  I need two more episodes with Rozinshura to tie off that subplot, and bring both plots together.  And then a final capping episode for Alex.  And then... the credit cookie!

I love credit cookies.  They're a cross between a teaser, an epilogue, and just some silly little treat.  I'm thinking of this as a little more like a Marvel credit cookie, which addresses some unfinished threads which will be handled in the next story, next summer.

So that's six episodes - ending October 1.

When Character Are Smarter Than You Are

Since the pressure is on (and my brain is off) I've been tempted to postpone a number of issues (information, plot lines) to the next story for next summer; stuff in Rozinshura's thread and Lina's thread, in particular.  But I have to bring the surface stuff, at least, to a satisfactory conclusion.

That's what's giving me the most trouble.  I've needed to know Rozinshura's plan... and he doesn't seem to have one!

And that's not like him.  Not like him at all.  It's like he's getting dumber as I get more tired.

So that's a lesson: When you are writing about characters who are smarter than you are, you have to be on your game.

My brain is tired, and I've put him in a situation where it's not clear what to do.  He's surrounded by people he can't trust, who may or may not be prepared to commit mass murder. And it's his job to make sure that trouble doesn't break out in his district. But he has to say something because that's his duty, too.  My instinct as a writer is to hand him a convenient and coincidental opportunity -- have circumstances cut him a break.

We writers do that all the time.  With proper set up, it can be effective -- leave a gun on the mantlepiece in Act 1 so the hero can find it in Act 3.

But here I have the problem of a character who is always thinking and strategizing.  Always.  And my brain is too tired to do what he does, so his main strategy seems to be hoping for the writer to leave a gun on the mantelpiece for him.

I'm thinking like a writer and not like a district facilitator with decades of experience, whose policies are so successful they've written him into the Revolutionary Handbook on Bureaucratic Practices.

While he'll certainly take advantage of any opportunities fate hands him, he's Awarshi: he doesn't believe that fate hands anybody a break when they actually need it.  Fate has a nasty, ironic sense of humor.  Rozinshura is not going to wait for what fate hands him.

Also, as a writer, I try to use what few brain cells I have to be clever, but at this point, I need to be less flashy and more effective.  He knows that.  I don't.

So....

I'm a little behind because I stopped to do some of this decisive and rational thinking.  He told me his plan at last, and we'll see how I can carry it off, especially since I have some not-so-convenient complications to weave into it.

In the meantime, as I look forward to the coming scenes, I was pleased to see that both Alex and Pookiterin are upping their game too.  Pook may be a pompous and incompetent ass, but put a sword in his hand and a chance for promotion in his heart... and he steps up.  I made him up for this story, but I may have to figure out a future for the guy, now that I know he has potential.

But now I've got to get some sleep, because Thursday's episode is still in exploratory pieces, and I really do have to pull this one off right. (If necessary, it will have a really boring illustration.)

See you  in the funny papers.

Misplaced Hero - Episode 37

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

Episode 37 - Run For The River

by Camille LaGuire

Though they could see the river from the high road beside the railroad tracks, there was no direct route through the tangle of houses and walls on the hillside between.  They wove to and fro among the houses, listening for sounds of pursuit behind them.

Alex had no idea how the ring actually worked, but he wanted to get to the water while you could still see reflections, just in case they were necessary for the magic to work.  Besides, there were soldiers and security guys all over.  They needed to just get out of there as fast as possible.

They came to a dead end, and then another dead end, and then, suddenly, there was another road.  And the river was on the other side of the road.  There was a wall blocking access just there but further along the wall gave way to a fence, and you could see that there was access to the river below.

But just then a lone figure hurried along the road.  Alex and Thorny pulled back into the shadows.  They almost didn't recognize the man, who was now dressed in a sloppy uniform -- probably the uniform Alex had discarded.

It was Pookiterin.

He trotted long, determined and wary, carrying an ornate sword.  It wasn't as long as a sabre or as heavy as a cutlass, but it looked wicked as it glinted in the twilight.

He stopped at the spot where you could go down to the water, and scouted along, looking down at the boats and across the river.  Then he turned and looked up and down the road.

He must have heard when Alex told Lina he was headed for the river.  And now he was waiting for them.

Or not.  After a moment he crossed the street, as if he were going to search among the tangled alleys among the houses.  Good!  He was starting at the other end, so maybe they could sneak out while he searched.

Alex gestured for Thorny to stay put and slipped out further to watch where Pookiterin went.  For a moment the man disappeared as though going up an alley, but then Alex saw movement.  He'd have missed it except that the sky still reflected on a wall further on, and Alex could see the man's profile, waiting in the shadows.  He wasn't searching the alleys.  He was watching for them.

Just then there was a glint of steel and Alex could see the sword again.... And suddenly Alex knew exactly what he needed to do.

Alex took a deep breath and pulled back into the cul-de-sac. He pulled Thorny along with him.

"Thorny, listen. I need you to do something."  Alex slipped off the ring his aunt had given him.  "This ring is what brought us here.  It's magic.  That's why my aunt told me to wear it and go jump in a lake."

Thorny stared at the ring.  Alex wasn't sure he comprehended what Alex was saying, but the man took the ring and squinted at it.

"I need you to wear it," continued Alex, "so I don't lose it in the fight."

"Fight?" said Thorny with alarm.

"I'm going to have to distract Pookiterin so we can get to the river.  I'm going to go... challenge him.  Then you run straight for the river and jump in. Got it?"

"No, I don't got it," said the old man.

"I know it's hard to understand, but just trust me.  Wear the ring, and jump into the water, and it will take you home."

"I've got that," said Thorny.  "What I don't got is what about you?  If I jump in without you, you'll be left behind!"

"Don't worry about me--"

"I'll worry about you if I like!"

"Professor, I'm supposed to be here. I'm from here.  I'm an misplaced hero, remember?  This is my place.  And it's my duty to get you home.  So don't argue."

"But...."  The old man scowled at the ring, and hesitated.

"Thorny, you've got to escape now, while you can.  You got no money, no place to go, no papers, you don't know the language.  If you get stuck here, they're going to shoot you for being a spy."

Thorny still stared at the ring for a moment, but then suddenly he slipped it on.

"All right," he said.  "All right, but you come along if you can.  For all we know, I'll end up in some other world altogether.  I don't want to be alone there, and sober too."

"Good!" said Alex.  "So here's what we're going to do...."

---

Stay Tuned for Thirty-Eight: "Sword To Sword"

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

---

The Case of the Misplaced Hero -- now available as an ebook at major online retailers, including:

In most ebook formats at Smashwords, plus Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Apple iBookstore.  (Coming soon to Sony.)

Now also at Amazon's international stores: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan.

Sunday Update - and Coming Attractions

Somebody loves me in the UK!

My sales are slow enough overseas that when someone decides to buy one each of all my books, you can see it in the stats.   This causes the inevitable neurotic author reaction "I did something right? What'd I do? What'd I say?" which in turn tends to frighten the cats.

So thank you anonymous person over the sea!

In the meantime, now that I'm tracking everything I do for this blog, I'm starting to see just how much work it is.  Right now I'm working 20 hours at the day job, and 20 hours at home.  I don't have any trouble at all hitting that 20 hour time target when I include blogging and art.  Not at all.  As a matter of fact, I'm leaving things out, because I forget to keep track. (Also, I mess around too much online, so I don't reward myself by counting it in the tally even if it's business-related.)

This week I did a lot of artwork, though.  More than maybe I should have.  I do want to move to doing as much of my own art for blog posts as possible -- and I want to have art for everything -- so that does take time.  However, in some ways it is not stealing time from writing because I do a lot of the artwork while listening to TV.  This brings more time into the fold.


A Round of Words in 80 Days Update

Wednesday Day 66 - 196 minutes
Thursday Day 67 - 295 minutes
Friday Day 68 - 240 minutes
Saturday Day 69 - 180 minutes

Which makes for about 22 hours this week.

We're moving in on the final sequence in the blog story now. I haven't really written tomorrow's episode yet -- just kind of roughed it in as I move on to the next few.  I want to see the pacing and where it is going.

The last episode may be on October 1 -- but that will actually be a "credit cookie" or teaser into next summer's story.  The actual story will conclude on the last Thursday in September.  I think.

My next consideration is when to start Test of Freedom.  It will either be Oct 8 or 15.  I myself don't need a break between stories, since this next one is already drafted.  But I might want to take a week for transitional posts -- maybe a "story notes" wrap up for Misplaced Hero, and set up posts for Test of Freedom.

We'll see. In the meantime, here's the review/preview:


Last Week's Posts:

• Monday - Episode 35 "The Cussar Sword"
• Tuesday - Miss Leech and The Yard, #1
• Writer Wednesday - In Control
• Thursday - Episode 36  "Finding Thorny"
• Friday Favorites - The Casablanca Test

Coming This Week on the Blog:

Monday - Episode 37 - "The Run for the River"
Alex and Thorny find their escape blocked.

Tuesday - Story Notes
Some miscellaneous thoughts on The Misplaced Hero.

Wednesday - Writing The Online Novel, Introduction
Online fiction has a number of unique issues.  This is the start of a new series of posts -- to be published irregularly -- of thoughts and observations on online novel writing.

Thursday - Episode 38 - "Sword to Sword"
Alex gets down with swashing some bucklers.

Friday Favorites - Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs
A favorite lesser-known Poirot story.


See you in the funny Papers.

Friday Favorites - The Casablanca Test

Just so you know: There are probably twenty or thirty flicks on my top ten movies list.

I've been thinking I need to start working through them here in the Friday Favorites.  I've also been thinking that I need to do a series on the movies referenced in The Man Who Did Too Much, (which features a sleuth who probably has sixty or eighty movies on her top ten list).

And, as Karla says in that book, "You can never go wrong with Casablanca."  So here we go....

Casablanca is, arguably, the greatest motion picture of all time.

It's a freaking shame that it hasn't made it to the top of the AFI list. It is the one constant on my top ten list.  It's always there sitting at the top.

I understand why it gets overlooked by movie geeks though.  Besides it being too universal, and too popular to be hip, there is another really important reason.

It's pretty obvious that Casablanca -- unlike, say, Citizen Kane -- got lucky.  The most brilliant aspects of the film were not planned. It was not meant to be an art film. It was just a gestalt of having so many talented people working on what should have been a slick Hollywood pot-boiler, and the story just happened to resonate with an intense, and universal, situation going on in the world.

But resonate it does.

"The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

This is, in essence, the theme of Casablanca.  There are things more important than you.  More important than your fear or your emotional needs.  More important, even, than your life.

There are even things that are more important than love.

This is a universal truth, not just in the movies, but in reality.  There are times when your little problems -- the things that matter so greatly to you -- just don't matter at all when seen in the larger context.

And that's what maturity is.  Understanding that is what it means to be a grown up.

The reason Casablanca is the greatest movie of all time is because of the incredibly textured and nuanced layers exploring this theme.  You usually only get that level of nuance in artsy flicks which are not accessible to the ordinary viewer. You certainly never get that kind of nuance with such a strong high-minded message.  Generally, as one of the great Hollywood moguls once said, "if you want to send a message, call Western Union."  A message usually derails a movie, and kills nuance.

Casablanca managed it by not doing it intentionally.  It was the product of magic.

All of those talented people were working on a Hollywood potboiler.  The message and nuance came because the world around them was coming apart.  Their lives were soaked with perspective on what really mattered and what didn't in the world. The horrific reality was on their minds with everything they did.  It was on the minds of the director, the actors, the writers, the script girl, the grips.  The audience, the producers.  And all their friends and family members.  All on the same wavelength.

Nobody knew what was going to happen in the world, and that just resonated with the fact that nobody on the picture knew how the story would end. They wrote four different versions of the ending.  And they didn't know which one they would use until the they filmed it.  And that ending was right, because that's what was in their hearts.

"The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

That just soaked right into the picture, right through their fingertips.

And because they weren't trying for that message, the movie gives full and glorious flower to the problems of the little people. We see dozens and dozens of little people throughout the movie.  The young Bulgarian couple, the pick pocket, the second-largest banker in Amsterdam.  Struggling, surviving.  We see Rick's pain, and Ilsa's fear.  We see the woman's disappointment that her diamonds won't bring her enough money.  We see the desperate resistance man shot before the picture of Petain.

And we see them in full measure. No stinting on how important these things are to those people, but also no exaggerating them.  We see at least as much funny and silly as grandiose or sad.

All of this little reality, sets us up.  It gives us a sense of the bigger picture, so then when they pull the standard Hollywood emotional manipulation scene -- when the one guy who sees the world's problems as more important than his own triggers a patriotic display -- it's more than just a Hollywood scene. It's real emotion. It's earned emotion.  It's a revelation.

But it's also pure Hollywood.

That kind of gestalt -- where every layer of the artistry works together like clockwork -- is not something you can try for. It just happens.  For most of us, as artists, we just have to write the story about the problems of three little people, and hold a mirror to life that we hope illuminates a corner here and there, and we hope that some how it will rise above.

And sometimes it does.

I will certainly write again about Casablanca, about the technique, the humor, and yes, the nuance.

See you in the funny papers.

Misplaced Hero - Episode 36

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

 

Episode 36 - Finding Thorny

by Camille LaGuire

As soon as Pookiterin hit the ground, Alex jumped forward to snap the padlock shut -- to keep the guards inside.  Then they dragged the colonel into the space behind the next building.

The plan was pretty simple.  Alex and the colonel were about the same height.  They'd take Pookiterin's uniform, and Alex would pretend to be an officer newly arrived on the train.  That should be enough to fool the drunk guards.  He'd question them to find out where Thorny was, and send them away.

They stripped the unconscious colonel of all his clothes down to his long underwear.  Silk underwear.

"Very revolutionary," said Lina.

"I'll need the sword," said Alex, as he finished changing. Lina, who'd been porting the sword around like a prize, looked doubtful.

"Why?" she said.

"Because it's a part of the uniform. It'll look wrong if I don't have a sword.  And you look wrong as an ordinary soldier carrying it around like an umbrella."

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Well enough," said Alex.  "But I won't need to."

Pookiterin stirred, and they paused.  Lina handed Alex the sword, and took up a belt of the uniform Alex had discarded.  She tied the colonel's hands, while Alex slid the sword into it's scabbard.

"Listen, I meant to tell you," said Alex. "The captain has your book.  He knows it's important too, so he might have read the note."

She looked up and then back toward the inn, thinking.

"I'll help you get it back," said Alex.

"No, no," said Lina firmly.  "You have to help your friend."

"All I have to do is get to the river.  We've got... transportation there.  I can come right back."

"Don't bother.  I won't be here," she said.  "I am a bandit, remember?  I have my own kinchin here."

"You do?"

She rose and looked at him with a frank smile. 

"You helped me very good," she said, and she leaned forward and kissed him, quickly.

"You're... welcome," he said, but she was already headed back to the shed. She scooped up the keys and unlocked the padlock.

One of the guards tumbled out, so Alex had to go into his act.  He shoved the man back into the shed and shouted at him.

"Who are you?  You are a disgrace!"

The other guard was asleep across the top of a box.  Thorny was prone on the floor, and for a moment Alex feared he was hurt or dead, but then he moved.  He was only tied up.  Alex marched over and shouted at the sleeping guard.

"I am Colonel Sanders!" he said.  "We have an emergency. Take the car which is fueling at the train station and meet Pookiterin behind the inn, by the stable.  You will wait for him there."

"But the prisoner," said the first guard.

"I will take charge of him!  Now, spushta!"

He chased them out of the shed, and then ran back to free Thorny.

The knots were very tight.  He used Pookiterin's sword to cut the gag, carefully, so as not to accidentally slice off an ear or anything.

The old professor spit and coughed for a moment once the gag was out, and then with a dry moaning voice began to speak.

"I thought I was going to die.  I thought I was dead.  I thought I could write poetry!"

"You were right on every count," said Alex.  He got the ropes cut, and then pulled the man to his feet.  "I'll explain later."

"Is this explainable?" asked Thorny incredulously.  "If there is an explanation, I'd like to hear it.  I didn't think there was one."

Before Alex could explain, Lina called urgently.

"There are soldiers outside."

"Don't worry," said Alex.  "We're in uniform. We can walk right past them."

"They'll find Pookiterin!" said Lina.  Alex peeked out the door.  She was right. The soldiers were getting close to where they'd left the colonel. "I'll distract them!"

She raced out of the shed, calling to the four soldiers on the road.

Alex wanted to call her back. Those soldiers were so close to Pookiterin, that a single moan would find him... and then Lina would be recognized.

But the longer Alex delayed, the more chance that she'd be caught.  He took Thorny's arm and the pair of them marched out of the shed, and down the road.

As they turned down a narrow and steep road that went to the river,  Alex glanced back.

Lina and the soldiers were out of sight.

---

Stay Tuned for Thirty-Seven: "Run For The River"

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

---

The Case of the Misplaced Hero -- now available as an ebook at major online retailers, including:

In most ebook formats at Smashwords, plus Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Apple iBookstore.  (Coming soon to Sony.)

Now also at Amazon's international stores: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan.

Writer Wednesday - In Control

As a writer...

You don't control your readers.
You don't control your sales.
You don't control your reviews.
You don't control your word-of-mouth.

You don't control what other people decide to think...
...about you.
....about your work.
.....about the world.
......about self-publishing or the publishing industry.
.......about spelling, or tense, or word choice, or subject matter.

You don't control your reputation... No, make that, you CAN'T control your reputation, no matter how hard you try.

All you can control is what you write.

When the things you don't control distract you, you take your eye off the ball.... and then you lose control of the only thing within your power.

Keep your eyes on the prize, folks.  Don't get distracted.

See you in the funny papers.

---

Progress report for "A Round of Words in 80 Days"

Sunday Day 63 - 240 minutes (approximately - kept forgetting to set the timer)
Monday Day 64 - 95 minutes.
Tuesday Day 65 - 75 minutes.

Miss Leech and The Yard #1 - Crime Is Not A Game

A cozy mystery comic strip, sort of like Miss Marple, as seen by Inspector Slack....

Some of you will have already seen an earlier version of this month's strip, because I posted a scan of the original art before. However, I thought I should start with this one because it shows the essence of the series: Inspector Stride just wants to do his job without interference. Miss Leech sees crime-solving as a competitive sport.

I'll be posting these once a month, on the first Tuesday of every month.  (Miss Leech and The Yard #2 is up!)

See you in the funny papers.

Misplaced Hero - Episode 35

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

 

Episode 35 - The Cussar Sword

by Camille LaGuire

It was a good thing that Pookiterin caught sight of his reflection in a window just before the train pulled in.  His mustache was lopsided!  The girl had cut it when she stole his sword.  He shuddered with humiliation.

He could not face his colleagues with half a mustache!  And if the train were carrying his enemies... that was all the worse.

He pulled out his grooming kit and hastily trimmed and pruned the remaining hair.  The light was poor in the dusk, but the reflection was clear enough to see it was presentable.

The train pulled in while he was trimming, but he paused to brush away loose hairs and straighten his collar.  The act of grooming was always calming for Pookiterin.  When he looked good, he had confidence.

He flicked some dust off his sleeve and reminded himself that, whatever had gone wrong in the capital, he could blame that clown Rozinshura for everything that had happened here.  The man was a known liar.  If he said anything about the girl, everyone would assume it was a lie.

The first officer off the train was Colonel Sochir.  Though Sochir was a rival, Pookiterin was thrilled to see him; it meant he had not been arrested.  Things might have gone wrong, but there was no disaster.

Sochir spotted him from the platform, and rushed to greet him.  He drew Pookiterin aside, away from the others.

"Is Argoss alive?  Has he spoken?"

"He's alive. I have him hidden away. When I heard Vshtin was coming, I thought it best to wait for orders."

"Good man! The plans have changed. It is now critical to blame this on the Cussars, you understand?"

"Yes, kinchin. Of course."

"Has anyone else spoken to him?"

Pookiterin hesitated.  It would be best not to hide the fact that Rozinshura got involved.

"We had some interference from the district facilitator--" he began.

"These facilitators are always impudent," said Sochir.

"Indeed," said Pookiterin, warming to the story.  "This one is worse than most.  I had to detain him."

Sochir paused, and then nodded with a smile.

"Excellent. Yes. I will deal with him.  In the meantime, you have an important duty."

"Yes, kinchin?"

"You must kill our spy.  Get a car, take him up the mountain to somewhere near the wreck, a little ways away so people will not wonder why they didn't find him." Sochir paused to signal to an officer. In a moment the officer returned with a long package wrapped in newspaper.

"This is a Cussar sword," continued Sochir, quietly, so others wouldn't hear. "You must kill him with this. Hack at him like a savage, and then drive it in deep and break the sword, to explain why they left it behind."

"Is that... necessary?" said Pookiterin.  He was not fond of blood work, though he could make his drunken guards do the job....

"It is absolutely necessary, kinchin," said Sochir sternly.  "We can salvage everything if we can blame this on a Cussar plot to inflame relations between Imperia and Awarshawa.  But if we fail to blame them, then we are all at risk.  We are counting on you, Pookiterin.  You must do this right!"

Pookiterin clicked his heels and gave a sharp nod of acquiescence.  He took the package and headed back toward the shed.  He was a dizzy and a little sick at the thought of this duty, but it was important.

There were soldiers all along the tracks, busily unloading supplies from the cars.  He hardly noticed them, even when a pair of young soldiers separated themselves from the rest and carried their heavy sacks along the path just behind him.

As Pookiterin reached the shed, he had convinced himself that this duty was so critical it would certainly lead to promotion.  It was a job only a truly loyal man would do.  He would not fail!

He leaned the bundle with the sword against the wall of the shed, and fished out the keys to the padlock.  Just as he unlocked it, though, something large and forceful -- like a sack of flour -- struck him from behind, and he bounced violently against the wall of the shed, and fell to the ground unconscious.

---

Stay Tuned for Thirty-Six: "Finding Thorny"

First Episode | Series Intro and TOC | Story So Far | Previous Episode

---

The Case of the Misplaced Hero -- now available as an ebook at major online retailers, including:

In most ebook formats at Smashwords, plus Amazon's Kindle Store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Apple iBookstore.  (Coming soon to Sony.)

Now also at Amazon's international stores: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan.

Sunday Update - and Coming Attractions

REMINDER: before you are impressed with the minutes listed below, I'm treating this blog as a JOB, and therefore everything I do on it, including typing these words, counts.

But yeah, it is a lot of time.  I have been pushing because this coming week is when I go back to the daily posting schedule.  (That is, daily on weekdays.  That's when traffic tends to be highest.)  I accomplished some good things this week:

• I am patching in the rest of The Misplaced Hero.  Getting all the exploratory writing in as much as possible so I'm ready to roll.
• I did a bunch of future blog posts.
• I finally figured out the right approach to a key scene in a future Starling and Marquette mystery.  
• Reading! I actually did reading (though not on the clock -- I don't count reading for that).
• Finally knuckled down and worked on the final artwork for the Miss Leech comic strip. That starts this week, so it's about time.  (Still got the dialog and lettering to do.) 

I did NOT do as much as I meant to do on the artwork for the rest of Misplaced Hero, and though I like the work I did on the episodes, I didn't get as far ahead as I'd like on the upcoming episodes for this week and next.

There are, however, two days left in this long weekend.

This week's progress for A Round of Words in 80 Days:



Wednesday Day 59 - 225 minutes
Thursday Day 60 - 45 minutes
Friday Day 61 -240 minutes
Saturday Day 62 - 300 minutes

That's about thirteen and a half hours or so. Which is about right if it's a 20 hour a week job -- and this is the "long" half of the week. (It's also the half which has more free time.)


This Past week's posts:

• Monday: Episode 33 "Alex Captured"
• Wednesday: Organizing the Blog - The Tickler File
• Thursday: Episode 34 "The High Commissioner Arrives"

Coming This Week on the Blog:

Monday - Episode 35 "The Cussar Sword"
Pookiterin gets his orders.

Tuesday - Miss Leech and The Yard, #1
The first installment of the cartoon adventures of a little old lady sleuth, and the policeman who wishes she would go away.

Wednesday - In Control
When you try to mess with things you don't control, you neglect the things you DO control.

Thursday - Episode 36  "Finding Thorny"
Alex and Lina come up with another plan.

Friday Favorites - The Casablanca Test
As Karla Marquette says, "You can never go wrong with Casablanca."

See you in the funny papers.