2,576

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

The latest chapter, Turning Point, is up. This follows Joseph during and immediately after the battle up in space, led by Apollo. He's still in South Haven following his kidnapping. Billie's true nature is revealed.

I am just flying through these chapters compared to my usual pace. I have one chapter in Act II that needs a complete rewrite, but the rest of the book will probably roll out at about one revised chapter per week or two, which is a good thing, because I am sick of writing this story. It'll be 7-8 years total on one book. Sheesh.

I want to move on to my book about the Antichrist plotting to seize control of the Vatican, based on the short story I wrote a while back.

Quick, go read!
Dirk

Thank you, KLvK. That was my original idea. A simple reward for people who go out of their way to give an exceptional review. No one else would be involved. Just me and the reviewer.

Sol, I know I asked about this once before, but was wondering if you'd consider it again. I have over 900 points and would love to donate some to my better reviewers as a thank you for the extra effort they put in compared to those who just drop 5 inline comments. It seems like this would be a feature you could add that wouldn't affect those who don't want to use it, so it shouldn't get in other people's way (e.g., an optional numeric field next to the Save Reply button). However, I suspect others are in a similar position as me and might use it, too.

Thoughts?

2,579

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Forget reading. Write!

2,580

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

Thanks

2,581

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

njc, your Galactipedia entry about the starlanes and time travel is up as chapter fourteen.

2,582

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

The Attack on New Bethlehem chapter is up. It's an updated version of the same chapter from v2. The original battle in this chapter was total crap, so I moved some of the book's final battle here (from the Caligula! chapter). I didn't want to do two large battles since that would just be repetitive, so this one is short. A bit heavy on telling. Please let me know if it's too short and what you would add. Also, please let me know if I need to say more about battle chess. It's really just a treaty-permitted way of ensuring limited, fair fights, rather than having battles escalate into all-out war.

Quick, go read!
Dirk

2,583

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

My Galactipedia entry for the starlanes (my version of hyperspace) is up as chapter 14.

This entry makes use of njc's initials in FTL and time travel equations developed by Professor R. Hinkley. Apparently, there's a mysterious link between the equations.

Quick, go read!
Dirk

2,584

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

The chapter "The Havens Explode" is up. It's a modest rewrite of the same chapter from v2. Major changes include Joseph and Paul being kidnapped and the reintroduction of the little girl who briefly ended up in Joseph's head before I punted her from the last draft. Here her name is Billie, named for TNBW user Bill K. who inspired her, and she has a very different personality that will soon horrify Joseph.

Quick, go read!

Thanks
Dirk

2,585

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

What about female guards? Guardswoman? And what if it's both men and woman? Still use Guardsmen?

2,586

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I need to rehash something. I have several guard forces in the story, referred to as the Royal Guard, the Praetorian Guard, and the Elite Guard (to replace the Candidatii, which I dislike). Rather than constantly refer to these guards as "members of" or "officers of" the Praetorian/Royal/Elite Guard, I was considering simply referring to them as Praetorian guard(s), Royal guard(s), and Elite guard(s). So, the entities are always capitalized (e.g., the Guard), but the members are always lowercase (the guard(s)). Is that enough of a distinction to be clear? Another option is to simply refer to the individuals as Praetorian Guard(s), Royal Guard(s), and Elite Guard(s) and allow the reader to figure it out from context. For ambiguous cases, I can always be explicit. Seabrass uses City Watch and City Watchman.

Thoughts?

2,587

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Congratulations.

2,588

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Wow! Impressive. Most impressive. Obi-Wan has taught you well.

Very helpful.
Dirk

P.S. Why aren't you teaching writing courses?

MrBillyD, I suggest posting your request for reviews to the Premium group as well to get the largest possible audience. This group is small and you may not get enough feedback.

2,590

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Peony. Welcome to the site. I have a sci-fi (space opera) book called Into the Mind of God up on the site, as well as a mystery/thriller short story called Connor. I noticed you haven't posted anything yet. You'll find a lot of people here who would be glad to give you feedback.

2,591

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

The design of the guards' helmets is straight out of Star Wars.

2,592

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

When I reverse translate that, I get emperor of Japan.

2,593

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

More searching turns up koutei as the generic version of emperor. So Baka Koutei is the martial art, which Apollo thinks may mean mangled testicles.

2,594

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Idiot is baka.

K, any idea if either of the following two words is correct for (generic) emperor (i.e., not the Japanese emperor): mikado or koutei? Wiktionary says mikado is emperor of Japan. I got koutei from a Romaji translator, but neither wiktionary nor Google recognize it as emperor.

2,595

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Looks like emperor is mikado.

2,596

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

K, do you happen to know what the Romaji word for emperor is?

2,597

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

The plot thickens. I can translate something humorous (e.g., "idiot emperor") to Romaji, then have Apollo incorrectly translate it to mangled testicles. Only actual Japanese speakers or someone willing to try translating it will know. My Romaji translator doesn't seem to reliably generate a word that Google recognizes as emperor, though.

2,598

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I like foe, but broken foe is too straight. Mangled foe, on the other hand, may be too demented. I found a Romaji translator. It translates broken foe to koware ta teki and mangled foe to hason shi ta teki. I use the name several times in one chapter, so shorter may be better.

On a whim, I entered crushed testicles and got oshitsubusa kougan. That gave me the idea to make up a reasonable-sounding Japanese word that Apollo's research suggests "might" mean mangled testicles. That leaves the actual translation unspecified.

2,599

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Naming contest. I need a name for the nasty martial arts invented by the demented Samurai. It's actually based on real Israeli military fighting techniques, meant to inflict maximum damage as quickly as possible. I originally called it Glorious Death (something after Worf's heart), then changed it to Banzai, but I find that name too silly (K says I told you so). Whatever the name, it still needs an element of tongue in cheek. A real Japanese word might be good. Maybe one of these days Google will implement English-to-Romaji translations to play with. Anyone know what the Romaji word for bitch slap is? :-)

2,600

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

How about a new chapter from you, K...