Sunday, November 22, 2009

Fight Club - Earthbound Style

I just wrote the first true action scene of Earthbound. Sera gets a visit from another woman from her planet, and it quickly turns into a brawl. He's a selection from the fight scene...

Oriana licked her lips and leaned forward to whisper secretively. “And your mother? Celia, wasn’t it? Did she know of me, of my time with your father?”

Sera’s fists swung at Oriana’s face almost of their own volition, first the right and then the left. The right nearly connected, but Oriana’s forearm came up to block it. The left grazed the redhead’s chin, but then Oriana’s right fist came up to meet her chin.

She wasn’t certain, but it felt as if she’d just left the ground. She crashed down on a table, but it collapsed beneath her. Bottles smashed around her, and glass rained around her as stars danced before her eyes. Slowly, she picked herself up off the floor.

Her eyes blazing, she stepped forward to meet Oriana. If she truly was who she said she was, she’d had years to get used to this world, and she’d not just been through the pylons. On a good day, it might have been an even match, but now, only the fires of her anger gave her any chance.

They met with a thunderclap of punches, both striking each other with elemental energies behind their fists. Fire lent Oriana a heat that scalded as she connected her fists to Sera’s body, but Sera’s body was surrounded by a cushion of air that deflected some of the blow. Her own knuckles were wrapped in light that cut through the dimness of the bar like a brief flash of light across the sea when the sun finally dipped below the horizon.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Excerpt from Earthbound

Here's an excerpt from a recent chapter of Earthbound

As she fumbled with the folding chair and a device called a radio that somehow share music, news, and weather, she pulled Rob’s house key out of the small bag he’d given her. She’d only just put the key into the slot when footsteps came up behind her and a loud voice exclaimed, “Holy hell, is that my bathing suit?”

Sera spun around quickly and found herself staring at a girl about her age that bore a strong familial resemblance to Robert. The chin was similar, and the nose was a bit too large to be called pretty, but she had long, flaxen hair that was nearly as long as Sera’s own. A bag was slung over the girl’s shoulder, and her hands were on her hips in a pose that was definitely disapproving.

“What the hell?”

“Pardon?” Sera replied, once again feeling insecure about her ability to interact with this world’s people. At home, she’d not have thought twice about talking back to a younger girl who dared reproach her, but here, everything was different.

“Well, it certainly didn’t look that good on me.” Rob’s sister said wistfully, looking her up and down.

“I apologize for not seeking your permission to use your garment.”

“Eh, it was last year’s anyway. So who the heck are you and where did Rob find you? You’re certainly not his girlfriend. You’re too pretty,” Rob’s sister frowned at the fading bruises on her side, “although you do look as if you’ve been in a fight.”

“I am Sera, Rob’s friend.” She answered. She supposed it was only right that she identify herself, but it struck her as strange that people continually demanded to know her name without offering their own. “What do you mean by girlfriend?”

“The girl he’s sleeping with.”

“Oh. We are not sleeping together. He stays in the other room.”

“Psh. I knew he couldn’t get a girl like you. No way, no how.” The girl said smugly, shaking her head.

Sera laughed. Rob’s sister certainly didn’t have a favorable opinion of her older brother. She’d never had a brother, so she didn’t know how it was, but she’d had an older cousin, and she’d always treated him with deference. “He is a nice man, but we just met.”

“And already you’re wearing my old clothes and sleeping at his place? This, I’ve gotta hear.”

Monday, November 16, 2009

1 vs the other

Kind of interesting writing two books at once. On one hand, I have In-Roam 2, a story about a brooding badass with a foul mouth, a strong desire to whoop some ass, and some bizarre world-hopping adventure. On the other, I have a dramatic tale of 20-somethings with sexual tension, action, and some fantasy/sci-fi tones to it.

They're totally different veins, but both pretty fun. For the most part, I'm alternating weeks on each book, but Earthbound is coming more quickly, because I'm writing it by myself. In-Roam 2, I'm collaborating on with Levi Justice, so I wait for input and suggestions from him after each chapter or two.

I'll post something from In-Roam or Earthbound in my next post this week. Until next time...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

New Chapters Always Free

Just went for a couple more chapters in IR2. As always, it's available online at my homepage. Check the links to the right.

Some people find it odd that I just offer free chapters of books that are still in development. You get to see things as they progress, naturally, rather than waiting forever and seeing only carefully edited selections. I rarely delete chapters entirely, and even when I decide to rework something, I try not to do it from the ground up. Although, rewriting the first 8 or so chapters of the Sworn Lands to change the perspective from 1st person to 3rd person was a chore.

Anyway, I've always put all of my stuff up online. Hopefully, people like it enough to buy a book eventually. If not, there are no hard feelings about wasted time and money, right?

So, please keep checking out new chapters for Earthbound and In-Roam 2. They come out a few times a week, though lately I've been alternating weeks for which book I work on.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Updates to Earthbound

Kind of focusing more on Earthbound this last week, but I plan to hit In-Roam next week, especially over the wednesday holiday off.

As far as Earthbound goes, I'm definitely trying to ease into things. Whenever you have a character from another place, the whole newness can only last so long, but it's a cool phase as the character adjusts. Even in TV shows, you see this. Often, the interest in that character wanes as that character becomes more like everyone else.

The regular world through different eyes is not something I want to necessarily get past very soon. It's not that I don't have action planned, and there are definitely books where I hit the action in like the 1st chapter or two, but this one is more about the growing relationship between the two main characters, which will suffer and endure through strains both mundane and otherworldly. So, while action (hopefully great action) is planned, I don't mind walking easily through the normalcy of a regular life and this fish out of water's reactions to what we consider everyday.

See you next time!

Monday, November 02, 2009

Earthbound - Something Different

When writing Earthbound, I constantly have to put myself in the mind of someone not of our world. If an intelligent young woman from a place with technology probably around the Roman Empire level arrived in modern America, how would she cope? I think most intelligent people would pick up on some things very quick, even if they didn't understand the technology behind them.

Refrigerators, for example, shouldn't be that hard. They're cold. They hold food. Why does it work or how? Who cares. They keep food fresh.

Similarly, sinks and bathrooms shouldn't be too hard.

Technology devices like cell phones - good luck. Other than a few rote commands like pressing #2 and quickdialing, it would take a lot of practice to learn.

Of course, this is all supposing they could speak our language (which in Earthbound Sera can).

Anyway, I'm having fun exploring the mundane stuff about a college kid's everyday life from the viewpoint of an alien girl. Albeit, she's a hot blonde, but still an alien.