The First Time

I've wanted to do a blog post on this for a long time now. In light of some recent events, I figured it was about time I tried to put my thoughts into words. We're going to do a little thinking together, okay?

Alright. Think with me about the first time you heard a song. Pick one of your favorites and think about everything that went through your head as you listened to the lyrics and felt the music rush into your ears. Reflect on what was going on in your life as you heard it. What kind of emotions come back to you? What memories appear in your mind? How about the song itself? What about the song did you find so appealing the first time you heard it? Was it the music? If so, what about the music? Was it the beat? The way all the pieces came together? Was it the lyrics? If so, what about them? Did they speak to a situation in your life? Did they resonate with you on a deeper level? Did they teach you something? Take a minute to answer before continuing...

Reading: The Iron Wyrm Affair - Lilith Saintcrow

Lilith Saintcrow wrote a steampunk mystery novel that was published back in November. Thanks to Nano, I didn't get to read it, but I've finally found the time. The Iron Wyrm Affair presents an alternate London (which seems to be a big deal in steampunk...) in which magic has flipped the Industrial Revolution all around. Ms. Bannon is a sorceress in service to the Queen and her mission is to protect Archibald Clare, one of the great minds called mentaths. However, conpiracies killing off both mentaths and sorcerers may just get them killed, or it may just turn them against the Queen. Oh, did I forget to mention? The two of them can't stand each other.

The Inside Joke

Have you ever had the moment where something comical happens, and you never expected it to? And the people that saw it happen laugh whenever it's brought up, but anyone who wasn't looks at them and wonders what could possibly be so funny?

It's an inside joke, they say.

But that's just it. Inside jokes don't even have to be a joke or even funny. Sure they can make you smile, but it's usually from the memory of what happened or the knowledge of what it really means. This happens all the time with friends in reality, but a really unappreciated form of the inside joke is in writing.

Success

In all honesty, I have almost always had a very loose definition of "success" as it comes to writing, or in general. I've never thought in depth on what I would consider a successful life, especially when it comes to writing. I've always just wanted to write. Just wanted to get my ideas down on paper and get published. I never really thought past that point in life. But I can't turn down a challenge. (This whole post here is a challenge...)

To define what I see success as is a little strange for me. I really had to think about the details of what I wanted from my writing and from my life as a whole... I always just wanted "to be that guy whose name you say or whose book you mention and anybody, whether they read the genre or not would recognize what your saying. Perhaps not like J.K. Rowling or J.R.R. Tolkien but more along the lines of Christopher Paolini or Orson Scott Card. But I could now say I've decided. I will consider myself a successful person when I have managed a short (just because it's short doesn't make it easy) list of things.

Looper: Your Own Little Paradox

I'm a bit slow at the movie watching game, I know. But still, there are some movies that you see that afterwards you say, "I just gotta tell someone about this."

For me, that includes Rian Johnson's Looper.

I have this thing with paradoxes, especially time paradoxes. They're the strangest thing because even if you do understand them they'll never make perfect sense. This is why you don't often see the film industry dipping into paradoxes; the obvious analasys that if your movie makes no sense, you won't make any money. However, it was grand to see that there are such things as exceptions in the film industry. Looper did not disappoint.

The story is set in 2044, a near future where time travel is outlawed. Despite this, a mafia sort of organization has set up a method of murder which involves sending the victim to the past for the killers, known as "loopers," to dispose of them. It's simple and clean.

Read: The Lazarus Machine - Paul Crilley

Paul Crilley realeased this Steampunk mystery novel November 27th of last year. I pre-ordered it because it looked so interesting, and have been itching to dive into it since then. It has recieved glowing reviews thus far. According to the author, it's writing was heavily influenced by Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (whose original stories I will one day read). Due to my (rather hidden) fascination with Sherlock Holmes and Steampunk style mystery as a whole, I'm taking this book up on everything people are saying it has to offer.

What's New

A new goal. My 500 words a day challenge starts with the new year. A goal to meet and get me a novel made and finally say that I've written one. To finally say that I've accomplished something as a writer.

A new idea. However, what I didn't know was that I would be writing an idea completely unfamiliar to me and with characters whom I've never met before. It's a mixture of new and old ideas together, but the core of it all is new. And that thought both scares and excites me.

An old genre. Fantasy. How I missed the fantasy genre, whether I knew it or not. To be or not to be a Steampunk author was the question. The answer was yes. But I'm not ready for it yet. I haven't read enough yet. Haven't researched enough yet. I'm unfamiliar with the idea. It's a scary thought, entering into a new genre. So for my new novel, I return to old ways.