Mightier Is The Pen

Short Crust

Or maybe the thin end of the wedge!

Hello fellow adventurers, and thank you for your time – which I intend to save with today’s short epistle. I don’t think The Ares Gambit will be coming out via a publisher. I queried them, but it has been 9 weeks and I’ve sent a follow-up email to them to ascertain their position, but it isn’t looking good.

No matter.

Rejection is part of the game – it’s annoying, but you have to take it on the chin. I’ll be setting up my sci-fi epic to release on Kindle shortly, along with Draft 2 Digital if I can.

The sequel is still plodding along, but I’ve been distracted by a story about ‘knitted knomes’, which straddles about four genres, so Lord only knows what it qualifies as. Can’t query this publisher with it though, they don’t take fantasy/kids/YA.

Anyway, be on the lookout for posts about the upcoming release, I’ll be going to a cover artist soon – so should have something shiny before too long.

The Ares Gambit has been twenty years in the making. Time to set it free.

Have a great day Adventurers! 🙂

Casting Couch.

I’m motivated to write this today because of a recent Youtube video praising the film Predator (the Arnie one). I love that film because the star of the movie is actually the alien. It’s also Military Science-Fiction. Sort of.

Yes, it has Jessie “the Body” (and ex-Navy Seal) Ventura, a whole host of cheesy one-liners and biceps clogging up your eye as far as it can see, but it was so well directed, paced and written, that it became a truly ensemble film of triumph (even pyrrhic)against an implacable foe.

Let’s talk about that foe for a moment. The Predator was played by a gent named Kevin Peter Hall, chosen precisely because he was an actor that could work/act in a suit and for his size. At 7’3″ he made Arnie look like a hobbit, and was completely outside his normal, gentle role of playing Bigfoot in Bigfoot and The Hendersons.

He went on to reprise his role in Predator 2 (Danny Glover) again with amazing skill. I say skill because that’s what it takes when you only have body language to go on. Humans rely heavily on expression and vocal cues to understand each other, reading body language only as a sympathetic, subliminal conversation. Imagine now you can’t use your voice, or your face to express disappointment, frustration. It takes the ability of a man who works in a suit.

Contrast this with Darth Vader, where his posture and body language was stiffer, David Prowse didn’t do a bad job, because that role didn’t require something so vital, so primordial as the Predator and he had voice to say the lines (they dubbed him with James Earl Jones – which caused a bit of aggro).

So why bring this up?

Well, most of my characters in Ares Gambit wear powered armour suits and the biggest of them is a black guy called Albert Tyrell. He stands at 7’6″ and his suit has to be double the size of everyone else’s because of his build. He’s a terror in a fight, but an honest man who had his problems and overcame them, to discover the close friendship that only shared danger can bring.

I wanted Kevin Peter Hall to play him.

I wrote the character for him, and continued, even after knowing that Kevin passed away many years ago. By all accounts he was a gentle, soulful man. A humble, gentle giant who never complained about wearing half a ton of latex in the steaming hot jungle, who was patient and worked hard.

A professional in every respect.

Were that we all could be so.

Anyway, who would you get to fill your roles? Do you write parts for actors you’ve seen or who inspired you? Is this what leads to (sometimes terrible!) Fanfiction?! Let me know – and as always…

Have a great day Adventurers! 🙂

Art House

This blog is about creativity, and I’m subscribed to some very creative channels. Some of those deal in wordsmithing (yes it’s an Arronism) others deal in pottery, more in the craft of pens, pencils and oils to produce vibrant and stunning creations.

I have four thumbs and seventeen fingers when it comes to that stuff, but today, for a change of pace here on this blog, I’m hosting something made by one of our Adventurers! Polly is a friend and works for me in her role as Proofreader and she’s dug out a few decorations. Now, she’s a bit of a dab hand with needle and thread and she decorated her house.

Wait for it:

She knitted the house some time ago, but aren’t the lights, beadwork decorations and wreath cool? Look at the pinecone tree! Who wouldn’t want to have a Chaises-longues in this place – sitting by an open fire, watching the world go by…

Then plotting to kill everyone in it! 😀

Have a great day Housesitters! 🙂

Falling Forwards

Firstly, we have more Adventurers! Welcome, sit around, admire the finger-painting on the walls and feel free to hog the beanbags.

Been a rough few days in the briar patch and the troublesome rabbits that support this blog (my family, Polly, Ian et al) are under a lot of pressure, no doubt like a lot of my readers. I’m thinking of them and wishing them the best, always and hope that you (reading this) are doing well.

I’ve been rendered rudderless too for a few days – I literally just packed up the laptop and did nothing (I applied for a couple of jobs, but not heard back. I’ve stopped counting.)

After a decompression (not literally!) and remembering I’m supposed to be a writer, I’m going to be sitting down at the keyboard again, albeit tomorrow. I’ve cleared the decks for creative progress, so here we go again. I was fed up, but I can’t give up – it’s forwards.

On the literary front, my book is still being considered, but I’m sure that limbo will end soon. I’m bracing myself for rejection, but I still have hope that someone, somewhere wants a more accessible “Expanse-a-like” (even though the foundations of the Nine Worlds were written before that existed – but I digress), and so work on the sequel continues.

Maybe I can dole out books for Christmas presents? :p

Well, that’s all I have for now, just thought I’d check in with my fellow Adventurers! 🙂

Remember

Will you think of them Today?

Where the poppies bloom and sway,

And the young ones went to play,

In muddy fields night and day,

In their uniforms brown and grey,

Where in filth and mud they lay?

Will you do your duty and repay,

Those for whom danger was the way,

When even names were blown away,

From the soil and ash and clay?

Where the fear and anger stay,

And wind whispers words they say,

‘Will you remember us Today?’

– Arron Owen 2020.

“When you go home, tell them of us and say: For your Tomorrow, We gave our Today.”
John Maxwell Edmonds

Method in Madness

I was reading this blog by Mr Barry Lillie and you should go and check it out. He knows his business and so do his guests.

I’d come across the term before, but wasn’t sure exactly how Method Writing worked, beyond the idea it may be related to Method Acting, so I looked it up to eliminate this faux pas (I’m such a Chaises-Longues dwelling amateur!)

Now, I’m a hound for authenticity and verisimilitude, and this blog will go on and on about that, but a Method Writer I ain’t. I’ve got too much wrong with me. Primarily as a Science-Fiction author, (or even if we’re talking about disabled people/writers – but I digress) it’s easy to see this could be a problem, as I’m not an astronaut, a grizzled warrior of countless battles nor a spaceship captain, but I like to think my poor, long-suffering characters are Method Characters.

I think taking from ourselves as authors allows our cast and crew to be ‘in character’ all the time, and we get to play lots of different parts, to explore how good or evil we can be. Our perceived inadequacies or failures, what we deem to be wrongs we can only right in the universes we create, bleed into the flaws of our avatars (for good or ill).

Everything else can compensated for by research. I reckon your characters give the why, but your world gives the how and what.

You do research, don’t you? 😉

Anyway, that’s the Method I use to live in the future perhaps, or be those things I wish I could be – and why we, as authors, write about them.

The ghosts in our soul that drive us mad until we get them out on paper…

As always, have a great day Adventurers! 🙂

Just Do(n’t) It

I can’t afford Shouty LeBeef, nor do I want to pay him royalties, nor do I own running shoes named after a Greek goddess (Nike), so we’re just going to have to make do.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. When I frequented Twitter, I had several mutual followers, I followed them, they followed back, networking, all that jazz. One of them responded to a poll about what people used to write with and he said he used a pencil-pen.

Fair enough, I got what he meant, and said that I too used a propelling pencil. He thanked me for identifying it to him and we shared a little back and forth good humour, where I advised if anyone told him he was daft, I’ve been stumped too etc.

He then unfollowed me.

This taught me two things:

A ) I need to work on my tact (as I suffer from Wrong Time, Wrong Speed a little bit); and

B ) If you’re so upset by being told what implement you’re using, don’t be a writer.

I mean it. You can’t have a thin skin for this lark. If you think my tactlessness is enough to dent you that you don’t want to converse with me any longer, then God alone help you when the critics get going, or more immediately before that, rejection by agents/publishers (if you’re querying).

This isn’t the career for you if you can’t take being knocked back or down. I’ve been through that several times in my life, from physical and emotional bullies at school, some of whom were utterly wicked, to the professional bastards in the workplace, one of them so manipulative and absolutely f**king evil, my mental health was decimated and I nearly packed in my job.

I might have to lie on the ground for a bit sometimes, but in the end you have to get up and attack. (That might be just an Arron thing though).

And what about when people re-interpret your book and send you hate mail? What about crazies sending letters demanding you re-write your book because the characters they wanted to get together didn’t? (Like in Stephen King’s Misery – which I will wager good money was inspired from hate mail).

If you can’t take that, stop now and save yourself a breakdown or three. Over the past fifteen months, I’ve never worked so hard, nor have I experienced such a riot of mental and emotional battering.

By all means, pick up a pen/pencil (I got a twisty-propelling pencil as a gift recently and it’s fab!) or keyboard and explore your inner ruminations, get your creative juices flowing – after all, everyone has a book in them, but if you want to take this further and get your name on a shelf in houses you go into, be prepared to dig deep, because that’s what it will take.

It will take determination and perseverance, because you’re pushing a boulder that no-one might want, uphill to a place that might not like it, and you may not even get paid for your broken back (and some pleb will complain your boulder is in the way).

“So why do it?”

I ask myself that a lot. The only answer I have, is because I want to.

And if that’s not good enough, I should take my pencil and hide in a God-damned sofa fort and not come out.

Fortunately, it is. (As awesome as sofa forts are).

Have a great day Adventurers! 😀

War-too-loose?

No, not an Abba song, I don’t have the money to pay for the licence.

I was once asked how to write a (space) battle. The advice I gave was based directly on this quote:

The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.
Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Of Wellington

Basically this is the best advice to have. Your protagonist and supporting cast will, as the great General points out, see bits and pieces of the battle. The rest is just noise, sound and fury etc. If a historical battle, you should research it thoroughly and plant your protag and anyone they are with (or who is destined to die! Gulp!) in the right place for it, where it will allow the people you need to survive to do so and yet be in danger.

If a fictional (terrestrial) battle, you have your work cut out. A battle is a sum of many parts and as much as you might wish to pour all this stuff into the story, don’t. Infodumping is bad, and you should feel bad for it.

Bear in mind how far your battle will be from a town or city, what features are there – is there a river? What about a forest? What’s the weather like? You must be a general and think like one to have any chance of it feeling realistic. It will make things feel more realistic if your character is struggling to flee from cavalry by crossing the river your army used to protect its flank, giving the overall idea of panic and the army breaking apart.

These are all bits of the puzzle and your character will only piece everything together afterwards, if at all. Whilst they are in the fight – they generally will only experience what they can see and hear. This depends on their rank, education, technology, where they are on the battlefield, and how much they are entrusted with.

For example, Tom an archer from the Welsh Valleys, being rained on by Genoese Crossbowmen, will not have access to satellite imagery. All he knows is that his mate now has a bolt through his neck and someone wants to make swiss cheese out of him. The flags giving signals mean nothing, the written orders his Serjeant received are not just illegible to him, but they’re also in French and a score of the shouting is in French on either side.

He has no Godly idea that the battle of Agincourt is about to be a British/English victory. All he knows is that the river looks like he can cross it if he’s quick and the French cavalry are lining up kind of funny and he doesn’t want to be swiss cheese…

This also ties into POV discipline and it is something that I am now doing my best to identify and correct. You can start with an omnipotent view of the battle, but if you just go on about charges and rallies and all that stuff, you’re writing a history book – even a fictional one. Tie the POV down, make it visceral and sensual (by that I mean sounds, smell, sight).

My technique with battles is to cleave close to the Duke. Flavour the background here and there with what is happening – a battle is chaos after all, so think of a montage of one side getting killed, then another, things in the balance etc – and then concentrate on the survival (or not) of the protag and their friends.

As for skirmishes and low intensity conflicts, those can be a lot more flexible. Those can happen almost anywhere, but do yourself a favour and plot out a map – even if it’s a rough one. Again, know where the features are and where the fighting is, there’s nothing more annoying than realising your Martian Death Hounds are attacking over where you character just saw a crevasse thirty miles deep and wide. Unless they can fly too.

So how do you write the guts and gore? Do you think the Duke is onto something or is it a simple case of “Man hit man with stick. Woman threw stone” ? Let me know.

As always Adventurers, have a great day. 🙂

Hurtful Truth

Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.
– Samuel Johnson, collator of the first dictionary.

I don’t know how true this is for other people, but it’s certainly true for me. It has been brought to my attention by a friend, (you know who you are) that I’m so infatuated with the idea of being caught up in some bloody hideous struggle, or go on about weapons so much, I’m a bit of a warmonger.

Added to the fact I go on and on and on (yes Arron, we get it) about Mars, and write upon topics such as military science-fiction and lots of characters getting shot, I’ve had people roll their eyes at me! (You know who are!)

In my defence, I am in a very awkward niche. Due to factors beyond my control, I couldn’t follow the long tradition my family holds in service to the country, and had to content myself with working for the Government. (Shudder).

So why is this relevant?

Write hard and clear about what hurts.
– Ernest Hemingway

Good old David Morrell mentions this in his book The Successful Novelist. (What? It’s been about three months since I mentioned him, don’t roll your eyes at me!)

Anyway, to engage emotionally with readers, we must make our characters more than one dimensional heroes. They should have flaws, problems and worries. It’s how we get our readers to root for them. We draw so much from ourselves as authors that it is inevitable that we will influence our book with those humours. Vulnerability breeds protectiveness in the caring, and desire to toughen up in the stern.

You’re emotionally manipulating your audience into turning the pages, although I’ve gone on about that before. Anyway, that’s all I have for today, please don’t hesitate to drop a comment, tell me off for going on about Mars, or to stick my head in the fridge for a minute or two.

And as always, Adventurers, have a great day! 😀

Trouble An’ Strife

If you use a colloquialism or a slang word or phrase, simply use it; do not draw attention to it by enclosing it in quotation marks. To do so is to put on airs, as though you were inviting the reader to join you in a select society of those who know better.
– William Strunk Jr

A scathing introduction and cautionary word from Strunk. We would do well to heed him, however:

Today we’re here to ask and answer one burning question: How and when to use slang or dialect?

Short answer: Sparingly.

My answer: You can get away with it if you’re careful.

The reason this is on my radar at the moment is because I’m engaged on a few micro fiction snippets in a far flung future and the perspective I’m writing from is that of a space Ogre. First person Point of View with someone who talks in a dialect. Another writer wants to try first person POV from an space Ork, whose tropes typically speak like Cockneys (hence the slang at the top of the page) and was wondering how to balance it.

It’s hard. Dialect is shunned because it’s both tiring to read and write and, because the consistency is difficult to keep balanced. Do you turn every word into one with an accent or slang? How do you put across the subtlety of emotions within a character’s head and the nunce of their motivations if you can’t interpret them? After all, in 1st POV you’re sharing their skull.

I believe the answer is to try and tell yourself that the character may speak like that, but they don’t think like that. For example, I live in a region which has a distinct dialect and slang, but I think in received pronunciation (RP).

This allows you to have the character connect with the reader whilst allowing them to show of their origins and social environment, whilst imbuing that culturally authentic feel.

So that’s dialect, what about slang?

Slang is the sparkle icing on a cake. It’s done to add a touch of flair, but in my opinion, it must be built up, the way writer does set-up and pay-off. In addition, you have to be careful not to date your book. It must stand the test of time (an unforgiving measure at best). So today, using language that will get you down with the kids (especially appropriate for YA authors), will date your work quickly in five to ten years – although some word roll back into fashion, like “cool” and “rad” (the latter is a personal favourite).

For example, in my Nine Worlds universe, the slang is very British and revolves around toilet humour. Often, the characters will talk about “Brick/Bricks/Bricking”. What this refers to is the process of waste extraction from the power armour the soldiers wear. It is compacted and dried by the heat from the power core into a (yes, you guessed it) brick, which can then be disposed of.

This comes about naturally within the manuscript and once the reader is happy with it, you can throw in lines like:

“Do you want to bake the brick, or do you want to get to business?”

It’s logical, consistent and also funny, which ties it all together and like Strunk warns, does not draw attention to itself as slang. It also adds verisimilitude, because squaddies talk about that kind of thing all the time.

So can you use dialect and slang. Absolutely, just craft it into the writing, not as an add-on.

Anyway, that’s all for today, Adventurers. Have a great day! 🙂