More 2013 Wrap-Up Stuff... The It's All About Me Edition!

So, the last post of the year is another wrap up list. The one where I list my failures and triumphs during the year. Mostly it’s about failures.

Given my love of lists, I’ve decided to turn my year of writing into a list. So, yay for me. Boo for how short it is, only two items. 2012 was actually a pretty productive year, I suppose. Not really productive, but it at least appeared that way when compared to 2013, a year in which I accomplished almost nothing. Let’s review.

First, I worked on Total Depravity. I wrote the first draft of this story back in 2011. Very early in 2011, actually , it might have been late in 2010. Needless to say, I’ve been working on it a long time. This story started as an experiment, as I wanted to do an epistolary story. Then, I decided that it didn’t work that way, so I rewrote it from scratch. Sent it to some beta readers, then made revisional changes and thought it was, more or less, ready.

But something was nagging me about, something I dismissed. But when I sent it out for some edits, Andrew Leon wrote back a short critique and mentioned that he had a hard time connecting with the lead character.

And I’ve been in a downward spiral of self-doubt and pity ever since.

I’m kidding, but I did immediately see what he meant, after thinking about it some, I decided I needed a better opening, so I tossed what I’d written and started over.

From scratch. I reworked the beginning, then realized that some of those changes really alters the continuity of the story as I’d plotted it, so I had to replot as a result. I’m approximately halfway through the story concerning this. I’ve tried to add more emotionally resonant matter, and smooth out a lot of the continuity errors I introduced during my rewrites.

My hope is that the later portions of the story can stand, more or less, unchanged, as the payoff shouldn’t be altered too much. But I have taken my sweet time as a result. Currently, it’s only about 35k words long, but it’s been my wip for, more or less, 3 years now. Imagine if it were a full novel!

So, I’m pushing the completion date of this story back to Spring of 2014. Honestly, I’m thinking of selling it for $8 a pop, just because it’s been such a damned chore. Sheesh.

Second, I did write a first draft of a novel with demon hunters and demons. I was convinced that it was the most brilliant thing a human has ever conceived when I began, and was pretty sure it was derivative, childish, naïve, poorly written and all around a waste of my, and everyone else’s, time by the time I’d finished out November.

An excerpt of that is readable on this is available, btw, which is really just a way for me to fish for compliments, as I need external validation on such a repeated basis that I tend to want to smack myself.

I’m not 100% sure I’m going to continue with it. I think I will. Because I realize that the years are zipping on by at a furious pace and I don’t have much of anything complete enough to shop around to would-be agents, publishers, or fans.

Aside from that, I did, for the most part, nothing. A very quiet year for me, and one so unfulfilling creatively, that I ended up being pouty and annoyed for much of the time.

Damn, this isn’t even an IWSG post. Who knows what sort of self-pitying rant I could go on next time.

Year End List... The Best Books Edition!

Well, the week after Christmas is, traditionally, when the world goes list crazy while recapping the events of the year. As for me, I go extra crazy during this time because I love lists, and kinda wish there were more of them, period.

Like, when I go to the doctor and tell them I don’t feel well, I’d love to get a piece of paper handed to me that said:

“The 7 Diseases you probably have (or will be getting soon)!”

I took my vehicle into the shop last week because the missus was sure the brakes were going bad. I had a coupon for a brake inspection for $14.95 so I took it in.

The mechanic came up to me and said the brakes are fine, but here is a list of things I need to look at.

I was never so pleased to learn that my rear differential is messed up. Not because it was messed up, but because it was number 3 on a list. I had a list! Transmission flushing and replacing the self-sealing stem bolts were all there. It was heaven.

I had to stop myself from hugging the guy.

Oh well, since I already have my list regarding movies last week. Today I give you:

THE TOP 8 BOOKS I READ IN 2013 (by people that never visit my blog)

I added the disclaimer at the end because I honestly felt weird about including something in my list from 2012 from an author I knew when I didn’t include others I knew. Even though it wasn’t my intent, I felt it could easily have been insulting to others that were aware I’d read their works of fiction but decided not to include in my best of list.

Hence, my disclaimer. Just so everyone knows, I read at least 7 self-published/small published works this year that I thought were outstandingly good. And yes, I would probably have fit at least 2 of them into this list to make it a top 10.

And honestly, all of them would be included if I did a top 20.

But I’m not going to do that.

Also, I only read about 80 books this year according to Goodreads, that number is skewed somewhat by graphic novels and short stories I read. So the number of actual novels or novel-length works is probably closer to 50.  If I were to come up with a top 50 or something, it would feel a bit like I was just going to throw everything I read into this list. So, I decided, after reviewing all the things I read this year, that the 8 books below are worthy of mentioning to any would-be reader of fine literature.

8) The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To, DC Pierson:

I had this book lying around on my shelf for a very long time before I finally picked it up to read over Christmas. I was a bit antsy about it at first, because it was a) literary (shudder) and b) from a debut author.

Debut novels tend to be enjoyable, but flawed. In this case, that’s just what this was. The thing about it, though, is that I fell in love with this portrait of a nerdy kid that liked to draw. I immediately connected when he explained that he was complimented by fellow students, they always said he was a good drawer… not the thing you put clothes in at your home, but draw-er. It’s true! I must have heard that 100 times in school when I was a kid. I’m not an artist, I’m a draw-er.

So, yes, I was connected right away. Loved it. The story is about this nerdy kid and his even nerdier new friend… a kid that never sleeps. Period. They transverse high school together. I had a hard time putting this one down. It does have a bit of that thing that I sorta don't like as a rule, where it's the kid's first time experiencing a lot of things, and of a kid growing up a bit. But really, I was so enthralled, I didn't care. Loved this.

7) The Rithmatist, Brandon Sanderson:

Another recent read, it’s really taken heavily from the Harry Potter mold. I know magic school is a subgenre of its own, but this was one of the only ones I’ve read since Harry Potter that I felt like was a great story in its own right. I didn’t turn every page feeling like I was reading a rip-off, but instead was getting more and more engrossed in this fantastic world where 2 dimensional creatures drawn in chalk are trying to destroy the world.

Oddly, this was probably the book of his that I've been the least excited to read in a long time. The concept really didn't appeal to me at all. But, behold. Here is it on my best of the year list. Where some of the other things of his I read this year are not. 

This works. It’s amazing.

 

6) At Home, Bill Bryson:

Not a novel, but a history lover’s dream. As well as the trivia lover. I’m a fan of Bryson anyway, so I had a pretty good feeling I was going to enjoy this before I even picked it up. He writes so smoothly that even when he covers something I don’t personally find very interesting, it’s interesting. But then again, learning about the history of the hallway IS interesting.

Really, I can’t see how anyone can feel complete without having read this book.

5) Blackbirds, Chuck Wendig:

I discovered Chuck earlier this year and read this book in about 10 hours. More or less straight through. Then I ran out and purchased the sequel, and devoured it at about the same clip. I blinked, realized I’d lost a weekend, and then was happy to learn that he doesn’t have a backlog of 50 books that I was about to tear through over a few weeks like an addict on a bender.

Yes, I was very happy to learn that he’s relatively new to the game, despite my burning jealousy for how damned addictive his prose is, I’m a huge fan.

The author is also a bit internet famous, and is known as one of the more creative people on earth at cursing. He can turn an f-bomb into something as transcendent as a perfect slice of cake. The man’s a genius.

Ironically, this book is free through Dec 31^st. I had no idea when I wrote down my list. How about that?

4) You, Austin Grossman:

Similar, in some respects, to the nerdy boy story I have listed at number 8. This one is about a guy who gets a job as a game designer in for a mega-huge video game company during the late 90’s. A game company founded by a few of his high school friends. Those friends went on to make millions expanding on the games they created together during high school while he was off at college trying so hard to be cool and leave his geeky past behind.

Then, a decade after high school ended, he came back when his life fell apart and took a job at the game company his friends founded. He tried to solve a mystery he found hidden deep inside the games they were making in high school together that was placed there by the recently deceased genius that wrote the code that made his friends rich and famous.

Geez, did that make any sense? Anyway, also similar to Ready Player One, which I read this year too, but as you can see, since that one isn’t on my list, it means that I found this one much more satisfying a read. It also makes me think that I shouldn’t be slapping stars on everything I read as soon as I’m done. I gave this 4 stars at the time, and in retrospect, I think it might have deserved a higher grade from me. I really, really liked it.

3) The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch:

Think of Ocean’s Eleven meets A Game of Thrones. Locke Lamara is a con man that seems like he is always in over his head. Dealing with powerful gangsters and wizards and surviving on his wits.

Absolutely a book of genius. The characters are so well done, the scenes are packed with tension. I think this could be used as a model of perfect storytelling. From the prose to the plotting, this one had it all.

I also recently learned of the author's struggle with depression. And that the long gap between his novels in this series were due to his struggles to cope with the illness. Pretty inspiring story. As of now he's dealing with it marvelously and, thankfully for us, is writing at much more brisk pace.

2) Abaddon’s Gate, James S. A. Corey

Funny, I was so disinterested in the first book in this trilogy that I almost didn’t finish it. I got the second one super cheap when Borders went out of business a few years ago and waited a very long time before I bothered to read it.

And then it blew my mind.

So, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for this one to come out, and when it did, I was all over it. I read this one and felt like it was one of the very best books I read in 2013 (The previous one in the trilogy was my favorite book of 2012, just FYI).

This one might get a bump from me due to it being written right up my wheelhouse as a fan. It sort of ticks all the boxes for what I want in an awesome book. It wrapped up the trilogy wonderfully, and still managed to leave the door open for more (and a second trilogy is in the works. Yay!).

I’m also impressed because James S.A. Corey isn’t a person, but a collaborative effort of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and previously unpublished author Ty Franck.

Well done, Gents. I’m waiting for more.

1) The Passage, Justin Cronin:

My favorite book of the year? I don’t know, I did put it at number 1 here. So, there’s that. I really liked the top 3 books on this list a lot, and probably could shuffle them up and get a different answer from me at a different time. But as of the writing of this list, it’s number 1.

Why? Well, probably because it was so well written, yes, I did get tired of the word “Now” which was overused to an extent I rarely see in modern prose (Arthur C Clarke had similar issues with “Presently” in 2001. Another book I finally got around to reading this year). But then again, it was a very long book, and it does very little to diminish the greatness of the story.

Part of what I love is that the first third of the book could have been a novel in its own right. And the shift from the story of a little girl caught up in a government experiment is so gut wrenching and harsh. Once it’s over I’m ready to quit. Not because it’s not good, but because I’ve already been through the ringer, emotionally.

My wife did just that. She loved it, but quit. I stuck with it and found the second part of the story to be just as compelling, if set 90 years later.

This is a non-traditional story in its structure, and very powerful. I can see why it was released to so much hype a few years ago when it came out. It’s an amazing achievement.

And that’s about it. I’m sure there is much more to discuss, but as it stands, I’m about tapped out when it comes to writing more. Happy day everyone.

A Christmas Tale!

I have a story to tell for this Merry time of year. Funny thing… I was going to submit this as a Christmas themed story for Apex. They asked for a short, dark, sci-fi or fantasy themed Christmas story. The idea came to me, more or less, fully formed in my head. However, I could not cut it down to 250 words per the rules.

Then I missed the deadline.

So, then I had this story sitting here. I was going to submit it to Briane Pagel’s blog, since he takes story submissions now, but I realized it’d probably be mid Jan before this ever got through his submission process. Which I just assume is complicated, because most things he does are complicated, I think.

And of course, he, since he recently became, technically speaking, an editor (even if he says he will do no editing), then I am forced to assume he would reject anything I sent to him anyway, since that, apparently, is the main task that editors have, which is to reject me.

Anyway, below is my dark, sci-fi, Christmas story, which is, unfortunately, way longer than 250 words. But, if you read at a normal clip, you should be able to tear through this story in under 5 minutes.

Merry Christmas everyone. Happy Festivus, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, day away from the office, or Wednesday, take your pick:

I have 17 minutes left. You know, until the world ends.

The second hand on the clock by my desk moves silently, but I like the ticking sound, so I made one up in my head.

Tick tick tick.

I closed my eyes, counted the ticks in my head. And waited. They say, when our ancestors left the earth, that millions of people turned out to watch the launch. The ship, even in orbit, was large enough to dominate the night sky. It was a star brighter than any object visible aside from the moon. Thousands of colonists were there, entering into coldsleep. The best and brightest, each chosen for their skills, knowledge, attitude and health.

When those fusion torches fired up, the earthside lit up like the noonday sun.

Whatever, I’m not sure I believe any of it. It all sounds too… fairy tale-ish. I liked imagining what it would be like though, looking out a window at the earth tumbling far below, and seeing a whole city’s worth of people with lights held up to wish you well on your journey to the stars.

I might have slept. Because I glanced at the clock and there were only 12 minutes left.  It didn’t seem that long. Just a blink really, but five minutes disappeared.  

The room was dark, aside from the wall clock with the silent second hands and the tree in the corner. The bioluminescent fronds made itglow in greens and blues. Quite beautiful. That the silvery sap collected at the ends of the branches and solidified before they can drip down to the ground below, well, that was the kicker.

The trees were a Christmas miracle. A whole world, covered from pole to pole, with the most beautiful trees imaginable. Nothing else larger than a pinky nail appeared to live here. Not plant, animal, or structure of any type. Just a world of Christmas trees.

Tick tick tick.

When the colony ship arrived in orbit it had been traveling for nearly a thousand years. Things had gone to hell en route, and all the foodstuffs meant to keep everyone alive upon arrival we gone. We were barely holding on. Well, my parents were anyway. I was born here. After the arrival. I was the first local baby. They called me Nikki. You know, for Saint Nicholas.

So lame.

Nine minutes.

We arrived, or my parents did, and were forced to ‘live off the land.’ It was a scary time, and the colonists found forests full of these beautiful trees, decorated and waiting for people to come find them.

That was 13 years ago. We survived. In case you were wondering. The seed stocks took, the ground was filled with local biota that earth plants mostly ignored – and vice versa. We showed up near death, on the brink of cannibalism and madness. And found our salvation.

Four minutes. Tick tick tick.

To add one more thing to the mix, we’d made landfall a week before Christmas, ship-time.

The holiday immediately became much more popular. The trees were chopped and moved into people’s new prefabbed homes. The sap balls that looked like ornaments and the glowing needles that were just like lights.

Then, a week later, the Nguyen family came home and found the inside of their home destroyed. The place looked like a machine had exploded, the plaster and wood from the interior were splintered into pieces barely large enough to give a person a splinter.

Amy, their youngest, was in there somewhere. A laughing, crying, playful little girl one minute. And minced into organic matter so fine the next, that it took a few days to realize she wasn’t missing, she’d been mulched.

A few days later, it happened again with the Rodriguez family, they all died. All 5 of them.

Two minutes.

Half the colony was dead before anyone figured it out. They were looking for a murderous kid with a chemistry set. But that wasn’t it at all.

It was the trees.

The sap wasn’t sap, it was a sac of spores. When the tree begins to die, it pumps all of its remaining life into those sacks that dangle like silver bulbs from their glowing fronds. Some alien chemistry experiment goes on in there.

Then boom. Spores for everyone. They don’t release them into the wind, or depend on a wild animal to pick one up and carry it. They shoot the damn things out, like filaments fired from a grenade. They rip through wood, flesh, bone, even metal. The spores themselves are harder than diamond, they have to be, to survive the fiery blast from their birth.

Maybe its best to describe them as bits of glass and metal, they slice apart anything they touch, another evolutionary advantage in a world overrun with these things. On earth, trees would grow taller, reach for the sunlight with and block all the things underneath in a shadow that chokes them out.

Here though, in Grinch’s World, they just blow the shit out of each other, best guess, once every 18 years or so, give or take.

They kill everything that walks on land. Flies through the air, or breaths the air. Best guess is that there are approximately 120,000 of these things for every square mile of land on the planet.

There is no place to hide.

Twenty seconds.

When they all go, it’ll be like a nuclear winter out there, for the survivors, if there are any. Food crops will be ruined, all we’ve worked for for the past dozen years will be ruined. Sure, we can survive the hell week when the things all go crazy and start exploding, probably, but that’s just the beginning.

Any survivors will starve, turn on each other. That’s when the real nightmare will begin. These Christmas trees are made of alien wood. It’s less nutritious for us than regular earth wood would be.

And that’s all that’s here. Anywhere.

Time’s up. I look at the wall clock, seconds tick by. One, two, three.

I held my breath. Nothing. I looked away from the clock, towards the tree in the corner. The fronds were glowing, as were the ornaments, well, spore sacks. I’d never seen that before. It was hypnotic.

The colors danced inside the spheres, I couldn’t resist. It was hypnotic. I left my place by the desk to get a closer look. It called to me, this tree did. It begged for my help.

“I’m here,” I said, “I’m right—“

There was a flash, then darkness.

It's Time to Wrap-Up 2013

HEY EVERYONE! It's time to start wrapping up 2013 for me. If previous years are any indicator, that means I'll be putting out lists after lists for the next few weeks. If it were all me, I'd be putting up lists in every post. But I, being merciful, only subject you fine folks to it from time to time.

This time, it's movies. Movies are a tough thing for me at times, I do enjoy them, but at times I get the feeling that I'm watching the same one, with different actors, over and over again, when I got to the theater or see one on TV. Also, I don't watch that many, maybe a couple per month. I'm not sure actually, it goes in spurts. Nothing for a month or two, then sometimes two or three in a week. I just never know.

But. I've already heard so much talk about Superman and Star Trek and Iron Man and Pacific Rim and all those movies, and I'm not interested in talking about them myself. I'm not sure what to add. I saw most of the blockbusters that came out this year. I enjoyed them more than I usually do, as I think this year did a pretty decent job having decent movies at my cineplex. So as I started to compile this list, I thought it might be fun if I were to not include them in my year's best list.

That means I've arbitrarily decided that if a movie made more than $100 mil at the box office in the U.S., then I wasn't going to include it.

Doing so taught me one invaluable lesson: I didn't see many movies that weren't blockbusters. So all those flops that came out, like RIPD, or Riddick, I didn't see them. It also taught me a second lesson: I don't like many genre movies that didn't have big budgets. Because of the ones I did see, I did't like many of them.

That made compiling my list hard. I'll go ahead and note that all the movies I've listed here weren't released in 2013, so there's that. Regardless, here are my under-appreciated list of the...

TOP 6 GENRE MOVIES OF (Or, to be more accurate, that I saw in) 2013:

# 6) The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: $23 mil - is this even a genre flick? Well, considering how implausible some of the 'magic' was in this movie, then yes, I think it counts. This is really a movie about Steve Carell being mean, then being nice. But through it all is a competition between himself and Jim Carey's character, a more modern 'illusionist' that does gritty street magic. Think of it as a loose retelling of The Prestige, but with less death and more humor.

And not quite as good.

#5) Warm Bodies: Domestic Take: $66 mil - I was so dreading this, I was thinking it was Twilight, except with zombies. What I got was just a pretty heartwarming zombie story that was still entertaining in its own right. It did have a throughline of love conquering all and all that, but it was pretty well done. Good job folks.

It does occur to me that my super-low expectations might have played a part in my enjoyment, but, oh well, I've already formed my opinion. I can't undo that now, it's locked in.

#4) Trollhunter: Domestic Take (2011) $250k - This one has been talked up a bit now, it seems
like I blogged about it when I saw it - but I couldn't find my old post, so here it is again. Look, I'm not sure if I recall the details. What I remember of it is this: College students investigate bizarre circumstances, end up discovering Trolls are real and living in the Scandinavian forests. One of two found footage movies on my list. I think that's just because it's cheaper to make a movie that way. So I'm guessing it's the goto format for getting the most bang for your buck as a moviemaker. FX was great considering what I'm sure was a minuscule budget, and each encounter with the Trolls gets bigger and more dangerous, absolutely loved this movie. The cult following it has online is well deserved.

#3) Europa Report: Domestic Take : $125k - My first love in all spec fic in Hard Science Fiction. Now, Hard SF isn't a porn thing, it's science fiction that tends to be much more rigorous on the science aspect than most sci-fi. Movies like 2001, Contact, Europa Report... those all, despite having some fanciful flights of fancy, did put a lot of effort into getting the science right.

This movie, the second of the found footage type movies on this list, did not win any points from my wife, who hated it. It was a pretty somber movie, and could have done with more humor, way more humor, but for it's flaws, the sense of wonder it evokes in me doesn't come around very often. The FX were pretty great and the actors were all folks you'd probably recognize. It was a passion project from its creators and I thought it was amazing. But I only recommend this one for genre fans that don't need lots of action, but can let watch something paced more along the lines of 2001.

For me, it was almost perfect.

#2) Cloud Atlas: Domestic Take (2012) $27 mil - I know this came out last year, I can't remember if I blogged about this one either. Stupid memory. I think of movies as ephemeral things, and often forget about them altogether until someone brings something up, then I'm like, oh yeah, I forgot about that. For example, I wanted to add a movie to this list that I watched earlier this year about a Ninja that moves to the American West in the 19th century with the baby of one of his enemies in tow. I was going to include it here, but have no idea what the name of the movie was, or who was in it. So, if you know, insert that one just a step above Europa Report. Because that one was good.

So, where was I? Oh, this movie. I knew it was based on a book I didn't read, but other than that, I had no idea what this was about. It was intercutting a series of stories set in, I think, the 18th century, the 1920's (maybe 30's), the 1970's, Present day, a few centuries in our future, and one several thousands of years in our future.

Each time period involved the same actors, with their relationships with one another being different in each time frame (enemies in one, lovers in another, etc). This was a very different type of movie, and one that I think is way too complicated to sell in a trailer. If I had a complaint, it's that the larger, meta-story that I hoped was being told, doesn't quite pull together for me. I mean, there is a throughline in there, but even when I think about it, I'm not sure I connected all the dots. Nonetheless, it's a very, very, fascinating experiment in storytelling. I wish more movies were like this. I really do. Not this format, per se, but just that risk that was made in creating a movie like this.

As I told someone who asked me about it after I saw it, I said, 'that is the best movie I've ever seen that I never want to see again.' Hopefully, that makes sense so some of you. It was, after all, something in the neighborhood of 13 hours long. It's a tough slog of time. Even if feels like I'm watching something very special, it's still tough.

#1) The World's End: Domestic Take: $26 mil - Honestly, this is my favorite movie of the year, regardless of genre, budget, or receipts. For me, it's close to being the perfect film. I envy the person that gets to see this without already being aware of the concept, which was flashed all over the trailers and posters from the outset. I tend not to enjoy spoilers, because that immediately makes me want to say, 'oh, this is one of those kind of movies,' and then shoehorn it into a certain mold, which I then use to judge how well the movie did in measuring up.

But to just watch this, without a hint or clue of what is coming, for me, would have been about the best experience I think I would have ever had. I remember when I was a kid and even if we had cable, we only got to watch 13 channels. I saw more movies without a clue about what they were supposed to be about, just because I didn't have a choice, than I think I saw on purpose. I fell in love with things I might not have ever seen as a result. Now, you almost have to pick what you are going to watch ahead of time because you'd have to be insane to try to just channel surf to find something to watch. If I were to do that, I'd end up watching endless episodes of Pawn Stars or Bar Rescue.

As it is, this movie works wonderfully as a comedy, as it is terrifically funny, it works as a science fiction tale, because it makes sense, and it works as a coming of age story, because the growth of the characters, even if they are all in their 40's, is very touching. Even knowing that the movie was spoiled for me beforehand, I still fell in love with it. Yes, it is the final installment of the Cornetto Trilogy of films that began with 'Shawn of the Dead.'

Where I Ramble - Presumably About Being Old

IT'S 2013! When I was a kid, and I mean a pretty young kid, first coming to grips with the concept of numbers – not just learning to count, add and subtract, but of considering what numbers can mean. I think I already wrote in a previous post about my quest as a child to write ALL the numbers down – I used to try to think of the future. In 10 years, 20. In all my imagined futures I would envision myself as an adult, in a way that only a 5 or 6 year old can, and think of how great my life would be (eating cookies anytime I want, staying up past 8 p.m., being able to buy comics whenever I want… and yes, all those things are great).  

But in all that, I was never able to think beyond the year 2000. There was this fog in my head that started there and made thinking of what life would be like as a middle-aged person an impossible task. No, anything beyond 2000 was so far in the future as to be unknowable.

So here I am, 13 years beyond that fog of ignorance, and I’m still struggling with thinking of my life in the present tense. On occasion I’ll have these brief flashes of insight, a moment of perspective, that lets me consider my place in the world. I shiver at those times.

For example, I picked up a copy of 2001 a year or two ago. I’ve never read it. I’ve read Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and Childhood’s End. But I nothing else by him (as a solo author at least, I’ve read many of his collaborations – and although he collaborated with Stanley Kubrick for the screenplay to 2001, the novel is all Clarke).

So I grabbed it on my way out the door to work yesterday. I had just finished reading The Quantum Thief and wasn’t so sure what I wanted to start on next. I ended up not starting it because I’ve been caught up in the surprisingly excellent Gone Girl which is a mystery novel that my wife strongly recommended I listen to as I drive to and from work – I’ve since been spending lunch hours in my car, as well as looking for excuses to take a drive.

Now, I have The Sentinel at home as well, and I intended to read it first, as I’ve been made aware that that was the novel that inspired 2001, which of course Clarke rewrote, renamed and released with the same title as the movie.* 

It’s been a joke for so long that it’s stopped being noteworthy, but the story of 2001 is supposed to take place in 2001, more than a decade ago. What dawned on me the other day however, was when I stumbled upon the novel 2010 (the sequel) and realized that takes place in our past too.

Damn. The future is the past. Other people point his out on a regular basis. I know that on an intellectual level… but sometimes I’ll have a moment of clarity where it just punches me in the gut and it hits me in a whole different way.

ALL THAT SAID, it made me think of 2013, how incredibly old the child version of me would think I am,  and what I want to do with my golden years. Last year, I wrote a post of my goals and by all accounts I did not achieve them. This year I hope to finally embrace revision and editing and get all those 85% completed things that I have and finally wrap them all up. And that’s it. That way, should I die (because I'm old), then I'd have something there, rotting on a hard drive, that would let the people that are here k
now that I finished something.

Oh, there is one more thing, I've got an awesome novel idea that I’ve got to get done.

ONE OTHER THING - I there was a story on io9 the other day about music being composed entirely by a computer. Click..... HERE..... to read and watch a performance.

It made me think of two things. 1) I told you so (I wrote a post about this back in 2009 I think. It was very insightful). And 2) Computer written novels will be coming soon.

*That doesn’t happen too often, but that isn’t unprecedented, I know Steven Gould did that with Jumper. He wrote the novel, then when it was made into a Hollywood extravaganza, he wrote an entirely different novelization of the movie based on the novel… I think Disney’s John Carter also had a novelization, but one obviously not written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.