2,676

(520 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Oooh.  Forgot about that.

Never Mind!

It is that website.   You should be brought to item 2739 (that's the last part of the URL).   Go down to the fifth paragraph, beginning '(Ponders)'.  What she said about Gaudy Night.

2,678

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Making progress  now with the Erevain chapters.  It's slow going because I need to immerse myself in it before starting, and that takes time.

2,679

(520 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

That's got the ZF 9-speed tranny.  I just did a little reading.  Seems it can give you delays on certain downshifts, specifically those that involve disengaging and re-engaging the dog clutch.  I also have to see if I can get print copies of some of the 'animated' diagrams on the Wiki-P page.  They move too durn fast.  4 planetaries (two nested) with multilayer friction clutches and brakes, plus the dog clutches.  Compact design that requires taking power off a gear on the side rather than via an output shaft.  Weight: a little under 200 lb (86 kg mass).  Seems like it's used on everything from Fiat/Dodge to Land Rover.

Let me know how you like it.

Oh, according to Wiki-P, Perth is at 36 degrees latitude (south) while Seattle is at 47 degrees latitude (north).  'nuff said!

On the coast, the thermal mass of the ocean moderates the extremes of winter and summer.  But yeah, it will get cool.  For safety, keep a couple of cheap blankets in the car trunk.  They'll also protect your knees when you go to change tires.

Buy good wiper blades.  The AANCO junk that gas stations have sold for years is just that--junk.  Car makers have been going to beam blades, and for replacements you can try Bosch.  They cost, but they'll last a couple of years and they keep working.

Modern car engines heat up fast to meet emission-control cold-start mandates.  In all but subzero weather you'll have useful heating in a mile or so.  Unfortunately, the Pinhead branch of the Federal Government has mandated that you can't have recirc and defrost at the same time, which means that when there is heavy wet snow falling just under freezing, you have to keep you windshield clear by taking cold outside air, cooling it further with the air conditioner (which will be on when you have the defroster on) and hoping your engine and heater core are big enough to get the defrost air warm enough.  Unless your driving a Caddy or a Bentley, they won't be big enough.  (And forget about it with a battery car.)

The link points to an article explaining, among other things, why a particular story is an extraordinary work of literature.  The story is definitely a commercial success and, on the analysis of the article's author, it is a masterwork of story construction as well as a recognized masterpiece in its genre.  It is -not- a formula novel.

Because it's still under copyright, quotations and such will have to be kept within the 'for study' Fair Use carveout--not difficult.

Hmm.  According to Weather.com, you shouldn't go below 50 degrees Farenheit for the next 24 hours.  That's not so bad.  It was close to 80 around here two days ago but with Himmicane Joachim lounging about, we're in the 60s here, going to the low 50s over the weekend, with plenty of rain to upset the end of the baseball regular season ... when there's no time for makeup games.

And I've got a ticket for the Pepsi Porch on Saturday, in about the least desirable corner.  It's the only part of the Porch that's under any overhang.  That will be a chillin' game.

If you want to study extant, published works (under copyright) I pass along  this recommendation.

Hope this isn't your new thread.

K, regarding your recent review: don't sea snakes have partial dorsal fins?

Further thought on my Dictates review: Are you getting Alda lined up in the teaze-Taz alignment?  What about Jaylene?  Tazar is used to working with her as one of the Wolves.  Their axis has to be effective.

2,688

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Again I have received an email about a new chapter (Janet Reid's Ch 10) before that chapter is available to me on the website.

My long-distance, blindfold diagnosis is a mismatch between the static aspects of your platform and software architecture and the dynamic sequence of actions--a workpiece/workstation flow glitch that may require explicitly delaying the sending of the message until the web servers acknowledge not only receipt but full processing of the new material.

But that, as I say, is a blindfold diagnosis.

2,689

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

You mean Genius Loci?  Like this (and the subsequent page)?

If you completely exclude both Fantasy and Romance, you'll narrow things considerably.  Randall Krzak has a thriller going.  His style is still developing.  Alkemi does mysteries.

Where do you draw the line between Fantasy and Science Fiction?  C. J. Driftwood's story qualifies, I think as Commercial Fiction even though it has paranormal overtones.  KHippolite's connected stories are science fiction (even the so-called Romances) but you may find them more god-world like than your taste allows.

Join a couple of likely groups and read the discussions; it will give you a sense of how the authors approach their stories.

Postscript: Knighthawk has a noir-humor thriller going.  Output has slowed a bit but you might find it congenial.

You had to spoil the mood, C. wink  Okay, if you can take the sort of magic that occurs in modest amounts in better fantasy, Seabrass has a good one going.  I've got one in an early stage, with a lot of parts scattered under two book headings.  Some of it really needs work, other parts are almost passable.  Amy_s has a wonderful group of linked novels in various (but very good) conditions.  It does involves attacks from The Three Hells and a few coarse imprecations (which Amy is removing) about a god's glowing manhood.

Why not read a few chapters that are on display here, see what you like, and see what other reviewers have said, and what you can  contribute?

It is polite, upon receiving a review, to reciprocate if you can, so in doing reviews you are inviting reviewers, too.

I suggest casting your net wide and then narrowing it down.  You'll be reviewing chapter by chapter, anyway.  I'm tempted to spill my own list of writers I watch for, but no ... I review stories I like because I don't trust my judgement on stories I don't.

2,693

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Amy, I'll reply to your review this afternoon.

2,694

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

corra wrote:

So, I was reading The Elements of Style, prepared to shake my head at the all-or-nothing rules and feel smug and skeptical ...

Some skepticism is called for, not the skepticisms of a natural doubter, but the care of a craftsman making sure that the tool fits the job.  A few of his composition rules best fit essays, but if you look at how they affect the result, you can see how the rules that the statements represent apply also to narrative.

And look again at the famous Rule 13.  Each clause, each phrase of the Rule illustrates itself!  It is a brilliant piece of writing, and of rhetoric.

Changing from a serit font to a grotesque font or vice-versa always helps.  Likewise from a closely spaced font to an expansive font.

The slather bread business isn't pimarily comedy.  It's character.

Or begin with KHA's staff and steaming cloak.

amy s wrote:

Fog still hung over the trees, thick enough to slice and slather over bread. The morning light might have a chance of burning it away, but that was going to be a battle worth watching. Kha turned away from the window and smiled to himself. Everything both beautiful and terrible could be described in terms of food. The blaze in the estate’s fireplace called to his bones. He wandered toward the heat. His magical staff leaned against the mantle. His cloak hung on the propped wood, steaming after a long night’s ride.


Kha reached toward the fire to warm his hands. After more than a year of waiting, he heard Airen behind him, voice cold enough to put out this fire.

“Ganolin, my love, step away from our guest.”

Try putting the 'blaze in the fireplace' part first, so you begin with Kha and some 'action' (really desire).  The circumstances of the desire can lead to the weather, and then back to food anv desire.

Sorry I haven't checked in in a bit.  I've been on the road, and I'll spend much of today on it as well.

You've invested a great deal in a Brythonic tale about a largely Brythonic world, and carried your readers along.  I recommend staying with it and making cautious, marginal changes to your style where there is strong and clear reason for change, and not otherwise.

From over there, it's as big as.  From here, it's a ripple of the past.  Isn't the whole issue here managing that distance?