Writing – Page 7 – Brian Fence

My Drink of the Day…

Magnesium Citrate

…is pasteurized sparkling saline laxative! Huzzah for magnesium citrate! I get to quaff this entire bottle at 16:00 EDT today in prep for the wonderful exploration of my innards tomorrow. Don’t worry; I have another one tomorrow morning as well, in addition to some pills. WEE! Or the opposite thereof.

At least my gastroenterologist has promised not to write bad things on my bum. Since he has me on a clear liquid diet until 15:00-ish tomorrow, I’m wondering if I should mix the cherry-flavored fizzy citrate with vodka and make a fancy cocktail called “Brian’s Royal Flush.”

Okay, enough with the digestive humor. Getting ready to release the dramatic conclusion (ooooh…) to “The Eighth Bible of New Egypt,” and unlike previous installments this one will be released on Halloween (Thursday), which is only a few days. Get excited, and worry not: the growling you hear is not a monster; it’s my stomach. *whimper*

FLUTTERBRI

As I type this update, I am currently wearing a pair of pegasus wings and My Little Pony ears. Yes, I’m pretending to be Fluttershy. I have a shirt and a long pink tail to pin to my bum, but I’m saving that for Halloween.

Flutterbri

Part four of “The Eighth Bible of New Egypt” has been released, leading up to its conclusion next week on the 31st. Spoooooooky! Be sure to check it out and give it a share. 🙂 Word of mouth is how I roll, kiddos, so, uh… roll with me and tell your friends!

Speaking of sharing, my friend Chris has started a freelance typography business, and having sampled his work, he knows his stuff! Be sure to check it out at palermo-stone.com.

Wuts Video Game?

BUSY WEEK! Housesitting, housekeeping, working, writing… I haven’t even played any video games! Ah! At least it’s Friday, and I did manage to get the third part of my October serial, “The Eighth Bible of New Egypt” up. (Check it out here, or start from scratch at part one.)

Other than that, pretty much no work has been done on Apprentice this week because I’ve been running all over the place, or oddly enough, sleeping. This weekend I’m devoting to relaxation and good wine and, hopefully, loads more sleep.

On the news front, I’ve been invited to give an author talk at the Ocean County Library! It will take place on Tuesday, 28 January at 7 pm. More details to follow (as they come, and as I sort out what I’m going to blab about for an hour…)

Anyway! Innocuous (word of the YEAR) blog post all sorted out. IT’S FRIDAY! Time to Bao myself up!

Eat Your October Serial!

That’s right, serial, not cereal. I’m pun-tastic this week, and you all love it.

We’ve had beautiful fall weather up until today; now, it’s hot and humid again, and it makes me want to throw a chair or a small goat out a window. Work on the book is still coming along (don’t worry; I got two thousand words in yesterday), but as October is my favorite month, and I love Halloween, I find myself mostly willing the leaves to fall and the weather to cool down.

A fellow author on Twitter, Joe Hart, is doing a bit of flash-fiction on his blog every day up until the 31st. As his is the genre of horror, he’s quite good at producing some really scary bits of prose. While I’m not nearly collected enough to work on the book AND produce something else every day, I’ve decided to do a serial, instead.

Each week leading up to Halloween, an installment of my upcoming short story, “The Eighth Bible of New Egypt,” will be posted. It’s hopefully a little bit of a departure from my other work (though perceptive people might make some connections) in that I’m going for a cliched, old-fashioned adventure themed around some death.

Sounds fun, right? In any case, the first installment is going live tomorrow, and I will no doubt spam the link everywhere, so come back and check it out!

2k and Some Unbitching

Neither rain nor sleet nor the bloody mucous of Consumption will stop a determined writer. Okay, I don’t have TB, but I sure feel like death served bleu on a nice white plate. Hack hack hack.

Still, I won’t be kept from writing! I stayed home today, but rather than wallow in bed and waste time with video games, I managed to hit my daily goal of 2000 words, meaning chapter twelve is almost done. It’s a really interesting chapter for me, because some weird stuff goes down in ten and eleven, and twelve involves cleaning up the aftermath. Basically, I’m making Lenna less of an insufferable bitch.

This is not for the readers’ benefits so much as mine. It was either give her a good shake up, or kill her. Really. Actually, I’m happy she has a moment to start dealing with her issues like an adult (now if only I could rewrite certain family members as easily, life would be even grander).

The drugs to stop me from coughing up my lungs may have encouraged this playful pastiche to Twilight (oooh, yay for big words!), but I couldn’t help but have a little bit of fun in a relatively serious chapter. (Don’t worry; this snippet isn’t in the actual book, and those who don’t get the joke… well, nevermind.)

/cast “Book Love” on Bao

I’ve made it no secret in my past several posts that I’ve been hooked — okay, I’m a junkie — on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I think it’s some sort of validation for how hard I worked as a white mage back in the days of FFXI.

Anyway, last night I told my Free Company (the equivalent of a guild, for those uninformed) that I was a writer, and they not only showed tremendous support but several members purchased copies of Librarian! If that’s not the magic of friendship, I don’t know what is, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t join the right FC.

Thanks, everyone!

PS — on chapter twelve! Eagerly awaiting beta-reader feedback!

Don’t Sleep Where You Weave

Consider this my PSA for the week. I’ve recently started playing Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and when I do get to play (read the internets if you want to hear about launch issues) I’ve been running around collecting various jobs and the like. Last night I became a level six Weaver.

FFXIV maintains a lovely site for the players and displays profiles of what your character is up to. Well, I was tired and logged out in a STUPID OUTFIT. *sigh* Now the world can see what a numpty poor Nivvy looks like. :/ (Check here if you want to see, too.)

In further news, or rather, moving on to proper news, after the big compilation last week and my birthday, I’ll be honest and say not much work was made on Apprentice. But that’s all right! That’s what server maintenance in FFXIV is for! Right? …right? Right… *sigh*

Also, less than a week left in Blighty, so if anyone wants to see me and grab one of the few books I have left (I think like two or three paperbacks?) let me know ASAP; I’m getting pretty booked up (no pun intended — promise)!

I am looking forward to getting home to the States, though I imagine that will wear off quickly. Happy birthday to me, because I’M GETTING MY MOTORCYCLE LICENSE. Booyaka.

xoxo

High-Waisted Jeans and Compilations

As the title suggests, yes: I’m wearing high-waisted jeans. These are, however, helpful in sculpting an absolute perfectly-shaped bum, so I am willing to suffer a little for the sake of selling more books (pics to come, I promise). In any case, when in London…

The weather has been beautiful, and despite my gamboling about the parks and imbibing all of Blighty’s ale, I actually have been productive. I’m wrapping up chapter nine of Librarian‘s sequel, Apprentice (webpage to come soon, too), and as the conclusion of chapter eight ends on quite a revelation about the NATURE OF THINGS, I figured now was a good time as any to start looking for beta-readers.

So if you read my blog and have read the first book, you know the deal. Hit me up, and I’ll send you the rough first draft of the chapters 1-8.

Anywho. Back to work (and wine). I’m getting ready for the production of an audiobook, so watch out! Soon you’ll be able to bitch about Lenna in your cars, trains, or as you drift to sleep at night with your device of choice in your ear.

Hunting for Dragons

Ah! It was so amazing to catch up with my former flatmate from Oxford, Megan! She’s my favorite dragon, and it’s gladdening to know that I can just pick up with her as though we’ve never stopped living together, even though it’s been… what, four years?

I had a very non-productive weekend (read: I did NO WORK ON APPRENTICE), but the market was lovely yesterday, and I had yet another delicious lunch. I WILL LOSE A STONE YET!

Heading back to Oxford this week, meeting up with some old friends, doing a SEKRIT SIGNING)… much excitement! I proooomise, however, to make sure I get some work done on Apprentice, as chapter eight is nearly finished and I’ll be proactively hunting for beta-readers.

Also, people are starting to finish up Librarian and the reviews are pretty nice! Check it out on Amazon!

Working Hard (Needz Visa)

Hello from Blighty!

I’m currently sitting in a local pub, drinking far too much beer and eating food less healthful than I should be. I justify this by walking over 5 miles a day, hitting up all the shops in London that I shouldn’t be blowing my royalties on.

That being said, I love pub writing, and I’ve now cleared that horrible hurdle of writer’s block that was chapter six of Apprentice. Clear sailing into chapter seven, and I’m pumping out about 3000 words a day so far (well, it’s only been two days, but stil…)!

Hopefully by the time I head back to the States (1) the first draft of Apprentice should be ready to be torn apart by my editor/beta-readers, and (2) the weather there should be less horrible.

Oh well, back to work! And to my UK fans, my short-run for signed copies of Librarian here are running out, so if you need one, make sure to track me down ASAP!

xoxo

Brian