Tag: FirstDraft

Testing Meriwether Versions

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Long time followers might know I experiment with different scenes to test characters. I will sometimes put them out of place — like putting a werewolf in a hair salon — or try different versions of the character. Boundless is a new thing for me, with a whole new cast. The two main characters are Geneve, a Church Knight, and Meriwether, a fugitive from the Light’s justice. It’s okay, we love him anyway. When constructing Meriwether, I wanted to find out whether he feels better as a strong hero, or a disempowered one. Behold, two versions of a what’s-next chapter*. The first is strong Meri, who can conjure illusions without breaking a sweat. The second is Meri the lesser, who has a … rougher time. * These are first drafts, full of errors, inconsistencies, and other fuckery. Do not send Read More …

Honest Work (and an excerpt)

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I’m moonlighting with a great team at one of NZ’s premier government departments. They’re good people, doing excellent work, and made me feel right at home (despite my transitory nature and hobo stubble). I’ve kept the writing up a couple days this week too. Can I keep up the target of 5,000 words/day on the days I’m not at a Real Job™? I’m there three days a week, leaving two for lying writing. It turns out, yes. Yesterday, I minted over 5,600 words, and Today’s allotment was just under 4,900. I’d like to try writing during the Real Work™ days too, but things are too busy right now. Let’s see if that’s achievable once things settle down some. Since you’re here, how about a small excerpt? Here’s Chad and Saveria, at a megaplex in San Francisco. No idea if this Read More …

Rewriting The Fall of Reason

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I sometimes re-write chunks of work, because it sucks. Most of the time I do this once the first draft is finished, but on starting the finale in the Tyche’s Fallen trilogy (Tyche’s Crusade), I figured it was not what it needed to be. Because I like self-flagellation, I present you with both takes on The Fall of Reason. Neither of these are edited. This is horrible, horrible first-draft stuff (so bad, I threw one version out). But no writing is wasted! You get to join in the suffering with me. The Hard Fail Version “Ash is a nice shade of gray.” Nate pressed his face to the air car’s window, staring down at the streets of San Francisco as they scudded by. The city was still on life support. While buildings no longer burned, shipping new ash into the Read More …

Another Sample: Tyche’s Lost

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I’m pushing 45,000 words on Tyche’s Lost. It’s shaping up! To see how we’re getting along, I thought I’d introduce you to Forrest Blake. He’s a … survivor on Viukde Gamma, raised in a cultish society. It should come as no surprise the Ezeroc are behind it, which makes it a rough ride for our heroes, Chad and Saveria. Usual caveats. First draft. No grammar checking. Confusion reigns! I hope you dig it anyway. Inside the Altar, Forrest found undergrowth making its home. The space was blessedly free of vermin, but that was expected of a holy site. Gods wouldn’t allow their temple to be desecrated. He didn’t know which way to go. The air felt cool, the night following on his heels. Ahead, Gravedigger awaited. She was planning to kill his gods. He wound through the starship, finding a Read More …

A Sample of Tyche’s Lost

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I started the latest Tyche story today. If you want a totally unedited, rough-enough-to-sand-with sample, here you go. Saveria woke to the gentle hum of the escape pod. Light dappled the interior of the cabin. She lay on her acceleration couch, facing up. Her view of the outside world was limited to the aperture provided by the pod’s eight top windows. Half were behind her, but the other half showed green leaves, dappled with starlight. It’s called daylight. Her fingers found the clasps holding her in place. She freed them with a snap and clatter of fabric and metal. Her arm knocked against the acceleration couch beside her. Laying on the couch was a man. Lean, fit-looking, but he wasn’t familiar to her. Should she know him? They must have spoken to each other before getting in the escape pod. Read More …

Something Wicked

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I’ve started work on Tyche’s Demons, the first of the Tyche’s Progeny series. Here’s a real, real, like fucking real rough start. First draft, usual caveats apply: this is brain to page, and the brain is based on a fifty-million year old design. Be kind. Something Wicked Five minutes. That’s all it took from we’re having a good time to we’re going to die, horribly. El entered the bridge, swagger dialed up to eleven, and gave her second a practiced glare. “Price. Report.” “Captain on the bridge.” Price, for his part no stranger to the Captain of the Skyguard wanting a little bridge time, stood from the command couch and slipped sideways into Tactical. “Captain Roussel, sir. We’re about to jump into Paloma. Still nothing on scan.” Not that nothing on scan was a surprise. The Troy floated in the hard black, somewhere Read More …

The fate of us all

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Today’s #RichardWrites comes from Tyche’s Deceit. The Tyche has uncovered an alien nest … on the moon, yo. There’s a lot of bugs. I mean a lot of bugs. As the Tyche stalked across the hard black towards the moon, leaving mother Earth and the Torrington behind her, eyes looked out from the flight deck. The holo stage brought up hostile action, a storm of rocks leaving the moon’s crust. These were unlike those the Tyche had dodged back on Absalom Delta, dumb missiles thrown into the dark. These were guided, agile like fighter craft. They moved towards the Tyche, accelerating as they came, but without the telltale drive plumes of human craft. The Torrington appeared to take this in, and then the ship shivered and blinked away, an Endless Drive whisking her to safer waters. The aliens on the moon took in Read More …

Difficult Life Choices

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Today’s #RichardWrites features October Kohl, right after he’s jumped out of a perfectly good spacecraft (the Tyche) and landed in the middle of a warehouse that is on fire. Let me know what you think 🙂 It’s from the second book in Tyche’s Journey: Tyche’s Deceit. The side of the warehouse had been carved in with what looked like God’s own baseball bat, a nice straight line bored right through the middle. Plasma burn, looked like, or a couple of ‘em. Roof was off, hole in the side: not much of a warehouse anymore. He jogged into it anyway, carbine held low and ready, taking in the sights. There, one of the guys that looked like Abel, but with his arms cut off, which looked like Gracie had been through here and hadn’t been happy about the process. Next layer deep, there were Read More …

The Truth Never Hurt Nobody

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This week’s #RichardWrites brings us another snippet from Tyche’s Flight. Here, we have Nate and Grace, uh, I guess you could say, “Getting to know each other better.” It’s not all full sales over smooth seas when the Republic is on your heels. Usual disclaimers apply: first draft and all that. “Captain, I’m going to change your definition of ‘smooth.’” Grace let a little anger into her voice. Not a lot, but enough, just enough to salt the water, let it boil at a lower temperature. “This is about trust.” “You’re right—” “I haven’t finished,” she said. “Trust, it’s a two-way street. Where have I given you cause to think I can’t be trusted?” “There’s—” “That’s right,” she said, walking closer to him. Face to face. “Never. Here’s the thing. I’ve saved your ass twice now. Once, when a soldier was Read More …

Shore Leave

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Not everything in Tyche’s Journey is about death insects. Sometimes there’s a little R&R; time on a crust to unwind. When you’re the best goddamn Helm in the universe, shore leave needs to be a little more … special. This week’s #RichardWrites nets us a scene from Tyche’s Crown. Enjoy! When El woke, it was with a man’s warm arms around her. Warm, strong arms. Connected to a chest that, even in sleep, looked purpose-built. The smell of sweat and sex and after alcohol was around her, holding her tighter than his embrace. What the fuck was his name again? Johnson. Davison. Mendleson. Something-son. She was sure of it. El gave a lazy blink, taking in the room. Nice enough as far as these things went. Rented by the night rather than by the hour. Not attached to a bar — Read More …