Category: Awakenings

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A new webfiction podcast goes live!

So right now I’m listening to the first episode of the Webfiction podcast put out by the folks at Webcast Beacon, who’re the same people that brought us the Webcomic Beacon podcast.  I’ve read some stuff by one of the hosts, A.M. Harte (specifically, I’ve read her serial DarkSight and I’m awaiting the next installment), but not anything by MCM, who’s the other host.

I’m listening to it right now as I’m writing this post, and it’s pretty good.  I don’t listen to many podcasts (this, Made of Fail, and a couple on medieval and British history) but I think this one is addressing something in publishing that’s kind of important to address.  They make a very good point of stressing the fact that just because the entry level for webfiction is pretty low, that doesn’t mean the quality of work is low.  There’s some very good fiction out there–one of my current favorites is A Traveller’s Guide to Jovan by Ellipsis (it’s the one that I currently load up every weekend, eagerly awaiting the next entry into the story–I think it’s also the only story I’ve given five stars on the Webfiction guide, and I think I gave it a 9 or a 10 on Muse-Success).  Part of what’s neat about web fiction is that people are able to take risks.  There’s a lot of stuff out there that traditional publishing houses might not take a chance on, but is no less good than any book I’ve read from Tor or Orbit (and better than some that I’ve read from the even bigger houses, like DelRey, Random House, St. Martin’s, et cetera).

Some of what’s coming up in the webfiction circles I’m exploring actually dovetails a bit with what I’ve been reading at Stormwolf.com, which is Michael Stackpole’s website.  He’s been advocating electronic publishing, electronic self-publishing at that, for a while now.  The industry is clearly changing, and much faster than a lot of outlets seem to be able to keep up with.

It’s a glimmer of hope, though.  I no longer have to stress out about an agent wanting to buy my work or that my work fits into traditional niches.  The world of publishing is a lot different now, and it’s kind of interesting.

On this note, the trilogy that begins with The Last Colony may be released in ebook format when I get finished with the first book and get deeper into Ashes to Ashes, which is the second book of the series.  That’s still a little ways off, though.  Stay tuned for updates!

Work on Awakenings is going in fits and starts, better now than it was a few days ago.  Chapters will be getting longer from here on out.  As always, the link for the Awakenings site is http://awakenings.embklitzke.com.

Happy reading (and listening)!

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Strokes of brilliance?

First off, the Awakenings part of this entry–I’ve written the ending.  I know, right?  I’m probably months away in writing and years away in posting from the end of the whole story, which will quite frankly probably span about fifteen years of in-character time (much more compressed in the writing, I promise!  I really have no real intention of having days take up as many chapters as Day Zero did, I swear.), but I’ve already written the ending.

The ending, of course, sets up everything for the eventual sequel (which I may or may not start writing long before Awakenings has ended), Ambrose, which is about Lin, Thom and Marin’s son, and his eventual adventures in the world that his parents witnessed the birth of.

In essence, Awakenings is about not only survival, but witnessing the return of magic and wonder to the world–the reawakening of preternatural things that modern science could not understand and had almost managed to destroy.  It’s about figuring out what kind of power your inborn affinities hold and about how you can affect the world around you through the strength of your will.  It’s about friendship and love and starting over at the end of everything.  It’s about not giving up even though you want to, and the power of love.

I know where the first year will end, too, but the road to getting there is going to be fun (and maybe depressing, sometimes), to say the least.  I’m partway through the writing of Chapter 8, which will be hitting the site throughout July (it may run into August, but we’ll see what happens there).  I’ve got notes on things that happen throughout the storyline at large, but not everything has a set time frame.  Things will happen, I imagine, as the muse instructs.

I hope it keeps talking and doesn’t run off with Katie’s inner child to Tahiti, because that would be bad (though oddly fitting, since it’s conversations with Katie that made me write Awakenings in the first place).

 

Other random bits…

Finished reading Perfect Shadow by Brent Weeks.  If you have not read the Night Angel Trilogy, read it.  Then read this Durzo Blint novella.  It was simply awesome and I read it in…probably about two hours, all told.  Maybe three, but I was distracted by people.

Evil people.

 

And finally….this. (Mostly for you, Bits.  Consider it payback for Iridescent. Which is pretty much Thom’s song for Marin, by the way.)

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Another Awakenings update!

I’m now posting Chapter 4 of Awakenings and will complete the posting of that chapter tomorrow, then move on to Chapter 5 on Monday and a resumption of multiple PoVs for about a week or so before Chapter 6 takes us back into Marin’s dysfunctional brain (not that her brain is any more or less functional than those of any of her friends).  Chapter 6 will also finally get the story off of Day Zero (toss confetti and celebrate, they’ve survived the first day of the end of the world and the birth of the new).

For the folks who haven’t been exposed to it yet, take a peek.

On another note, I’m finally listed on not one, but three webfiction sites!  I’ve been listed on Web Fiction Guide (online novels, reviews), Novels Online, and the Web Fiction Wiki.  The direct links to my listing for the Web Fiction Guide and the Fiction Wiki are here and here.  It’s very exciting.

I’ve been advised by an old colleague from a past job (and current volunteer gig) that I should put up a Paypal donate button.  Still a little on the fence, since most of my readers at the moment know me personally.  If any said friends have thoughts on this, please leave me a note or poke me!

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Awakenings update – on to chapter 2

So the prologue and the first chapter of Awakenings are complete and posted to the Awakenings website.  The prologue introduced readers to the narrator for the first person segments of the tale, which will occur roughly every other chapter.  Marin Astoris was getting ready to move to the East Coast to begin graduate work when the world ended.  Seperated from her friends, she found herself alone miles from campus with no way to get back except her feet.

Chapter 1 took readers back to the university campus that had been Marin’s home for five years.  Six survivors climb out of the wreckage of a library at the heart of campus to find the world they knew is already dead.  The sky is red and fire lazily drifts down.  Whatever’s happened has already started to reduce the buildings around them to ruins.  Earthquakes and other tremors shake the ground.  Survivors slowly hook up with each other, some opting to stay, others opting to leave.  Many realize that something truly bad has happened, though few realize to what extent.

Three of Marin’s close friends, Kellin, Rory, and Drew, all realize how dire the situation is.  They can feel that the ley lines criss-cross the small midwestern campus are writhing, twisting and changing as the fragments of an exploded asteroid rain down onto Earth’s surface, changing the planet forever.  They set out on the grim task of checking parking lots and nearby M-45 to check the damage and to assess how many corpses they might end up looking for over the next few days and weeks.  Many still hold out hope that it’s a localized event, but these three know better, and some of the rest suspect the same.  As chapter 1 draws to a close, Kellin, Drew, and Rory are headed down to do a cursory check of some of the buildings on the north end of campus before they head onward toward M-45.

Chapter 2 resumes Marin’s point of view and narration as she stumbles up the highway back toward campus, with little memory of most of her hike.  All she is aware of is pain–both hers and that of the very fabric of reality–and a driving need to get back home to the university and her friends.

Chapter 2 will comprise most of the entries for the next couple of weeks and give readers a little more taste of the awareness that Marin, Kellin, and others have of their surroundings and things left unseen to the naked eye and unfelt by the unawakened.