Oh No. I've Been ... Tagged!

So the evil Alaskan idea-generating dictator for life Stephanie Thornton tagged me yesterday with this mass of questions that I'm apparently supposed to answer. I figured "What the heck? It'll save me having to come up with any ideas for a day."

Also, apparently the rules state I have to tag more people, so here goes: Bane of Anubis, Rick Daley, and Anita Saxena? Go nuts.

1. What's the last thing you wrote? What's the first thing you wrote that you still have?
I'm currently dragging my feet on CALLARION AT NIGHT (stupid Chapter 18 is giving me headaches). The earliest piece of writing I still have easy access to is an abortive fantasy novel called JOURNEY THROUGH THE WIZARD'S KINGDOM. I think that got up to page 60.
2. Write poetry?
Very, very little. I'm a prose writer through and through.
3. Angsty poetry?
What's the fun in that? I'd much rather put fictional people through hell rather than write about my own angst. Not nearly as interesting.
4. Favorite genre of writing?
Have you looked at the content of this blog? Steampunk of course.
5. Most annoying character you've ever created?
Major Nicolai Drovgor, the ex-fiance of Moriah Rowani (protag of CALLARION AT NIGHT). He's not annoying to me -- I love writing him -- but he's annoying to her. Which is the point.
6. Best Plot you've ever created?
The main plot for The Haldor Saga is pretty cool if I do say so myself. Powerful magic, memories of past lives, and a kick-ass battle that nearly rips the world in half. Action movie here I come.
7. Coolest Plot twist you've ever created?
Remember how Moriah's mother disappeared? Yeah, she comes back. Coolest. Character. Ever.
8. How often do you get writer's block?
Every few months. Most of the time it can be unstuck by plugging away at the thing (or writing one of my cleanser pieces).
9. Write fan fiction?
I have an unfinished Harry Potter fanfic. It's archived over at SIYE if anyone's interested.
10. Do you type or write by hand?
Type. Definitely type. Sometimes I don't even print it out to revise anymore.
11. Do you save everything you write?
Occasionally. If something's so horrid that it just doesn't work in the context of the scene, then I tend to eliminate it entirely.
12. Do you ever go back to an idea after you've abandoned it?
Yep! CALLARION AT NIGHT was originally a short story called MORIAH, CHILD OF THE ROWAN.
13. What's your favorite thing you've ever written?
Definitely CALLARION AT NIGHT.
14. What's everyone else's favorite story that you've written?
That remains to be seen.
15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?
God no. I've included romantic subplots in my stories, but that's about it. And angsty teen drama bores me to tears.
16. What's your favorite setting for your characters?
I have to pick one?
17. How many writing projects are you working on right now?
Technically three. I'm in research for FUMO IRACUNDIA AEGYPTUM, slacking off on CALLARION AT NIGHT, and letting SON OF MAGIC sit for a bit before I look at it again.
18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?
Nope.
19. What are your five favorite words?
Antidisestablishmentarianism, Rosh Hashannah, exuberant, thermodynamics, and splat.
What character have you created that is most like yourself?
Thomas Caine, master artificer and engineer, from CALLARION AT NIGHT. He's much older than me, but shares my excitement about machinery and technology. We're weird, I know.
21. Where do you get ideas for your characters?
Everywhere
22. Do you ever write based on your dreams?
On occasion. There have been several unfinished stories based on my dreams.
23. Do you favor happy endings?
It depends on whether the story calls for it or not. If it's an unhappy story in general, then I feel a Happily Ever After ending isn't warranted.
24. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?
Definitely. I get annoyed with myself when I find missing words or clunky sentences too.
25. Does music help you write?
It varies. I write a lot at work where I can't play music, so I find the clacking of the keyboard helps me keep a rhythm.
26. Quote something you've written. Whatever pops into your head.
"My name is Moriah Esther Rowani, daughter of Archduke Alexei Brandon Rowani. I have recently spent a month and a half in the Itzcalian jungles, which are hot, sticky, and very, very messy. Add in my fellow passengers deciding to question me, and I am in an extremely bad mood, sergeant. So you will retract your improper statement or I will put a bullet clear through your brain and that of every one of your thugs." Moriah spoke very slowly into the soldier's pale face. "You will then release this man, return to the Lord Premier, and tell him that he is thieving scum not worth the muck on my boots. Do you understand?"*

* Said with her gun pressed to the soldier's forehead and five more repeating rifles trained on her. Yeah, she badass.

My First (Written) Story

I've always been subject to my imagination. Growing up as the youngest of three in a (slightly) off-the-beaten path portion of Upstate NY, where there weren't a heckuva lot of kids my age meant I had to entertain myself for long portions of the day. Now, my mother will dispute how off-the-beaten path we really were (our house was a 5-minute drive outside a mid-sized city), but she's not the one telling this story.

Because I spent a lot of time alone as a kid, I started making up stories. Matchbox cars became space explorers or adventurers, Lego structures were dark caverns and the castles of evil overlords, and, oh yeah, G.I. Joe battled the He-Man figures.

One day when I was but a wee nipper (9 years old), I came up with a story based heavily off the Goosebumps books I was devouring at the time. THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE, a first-person short story, detailed the discovery of a ghost who was killed by poisoned bread. The unnamed narrator of that story would soon evolve into a character named Jennifer Terry, who was the protagonist I wrote stories about through much of junior high and high school. Jen Terry also has a starring role in EMERALD MIDNIGHT, the lengthy short story that's so far sitting in a drawer and may eventually become an urban fantasy (there's druids and meteors in it, so I figure what the heck).

Then came the first unfinished version of what would eventually become SON OF MAGIC -- a book called JOURNEY THROUGH THE WIZARD'S KINGDOM (which was loosely based on a board game).

So what was your first written story? Are you embarrassed by it or proud? What was it about?

Steampunk in Time

Imagine my surprise when I flipped through my recent copy of Time Magazine and found an article about Steampunk.

That got me all excited because it meant the culture is making more headlines. But then I got a tad depressed because it appears Mr. Lev Grossman -- who wrote the article -- spent much of it glossing over a heckuva bunch of stuff in favor of instead talking to Scott Westerfield (apparently one novel in the genre makes you an expert).

Now, I'm not bad-mouthing either gentleman. I've worked as a reporter (like Grossman is) and it is all kinds of not fun. The daily deadlines you have to hit or be reamed out by your boss are like the Sword of Damacles hanging over your head with an evil imp waiting to slice the thread. I'm also not trying to say Westerfield's not an articulate gentleman who spoke very well about the genre. I'm quite happy with his comments in regards to why he wrote Leviathan as a steampunk novel.

I should be happy that Steampunk got a shout-out in a major publication like Time. As it is, I'm merely bothered by it being back matter (tucked away at the end of the magazine) and not somewhere center stage where it belongs. Not like I'm, you know, biased or anything.*

* And if you believe that I have a nice little bridge in New York to sell you.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive Part the Second

Yesterday I said I'd answer the questions remaining from Wednesday because I didn't want Part the First of these posts to be humongous. And today I come through on my promise.

From L.T.:

What inspired you to write steampunk? What do you like most about it?

The reason I decided to write steampunk is kind of simple. I say "kind of" because, well let's be honest, I'm a bit long winded.

When I first wrote SON OF MAGIC (the only finished MS I have worth looking at), I began adding certain elements like trains, steam carriages, and steam cannons that I'd seen in other fantasy stories and thought were interesting pieces of technology. The desire to write steampunk with all the accouterments came up when I was composing the first draft of CALLARION AT NIGHT (which was originally called MORIAH, CHILD OF THE ROWAN). I essentially decided "hey, I want to write something with more technology but not so advanced that it can be mistaken for urban fantasy. How about steampunk?"

What I like most about steampunk is that it allows me to play with the Victorian culture, something I like doing quite a bit. As scott g.f. bailey said in a comment at The Literary Lab, "AI is boring, but AI powered by a coal-burning engine and programmed by Edwardian gentlemen who drink brandy with Jules Verne? That's cool."

And yeah, I heartily agree.

Do you like hazelnuts?

Yes, yes I do. But not as much as cashews. Mmm ... cashews.

From Adam:

* How far along is Callarion at Night? How long have you been working on it?

CALLARION AT NIGHT is currently midway through Chapter 18. I'm having some issues working on that particular chapter though, which is tremendously bothersome. I've been working on it for (looking at a calendar now) eight months now. That's counting writing 21 chapters of an original draft, scrapping them, restarting it with 5 new chapters, scrapping those, and restarting it in the current incarnation. Also including a few weeks where I only wrote freelance articles, the period where I got married/went on honeymoon, and several busy earnings times.

* Is CaN your first novel-sized writing? What other fiction have you written, if any?

The original version of SON OF MAGIC (a book called ROSEFIRE) was my first novel-length fiction. ROSEFIRE's absolutely painful to read now. As for other fiction, I have a lengthy paranormal short story called EMERALD MIDNIGHT and an abortive flash fiction attempt called DEAL WITH A DEVIL.

* What are you thinking about writing next (if at all)?

A steampunk alternate history of the Final War of the Roman Republic, which is tentatively titled FUMO IRACUNDIA AEGYPTUM (translates to THE STEAM FURY OF EGYPT).

* Favorite book? Favorite video game?

I have several favorite books, so that's a difficult question to answer because it depends on genre. For example: my favorite Dean Koontz story is WATCHERS, I love everything that comes from Terry Pratchett's brilliance, and my favorite Stephen King novels are the Dark Tower series. See my problem?

My all-time favorite video game has to be Super Mario Bros. There's no competition for that game's place in my heart. Heck, it's the reason this blog is named what it is.

* Ninjas or pirates? (Yes, that question).

Ooo ... well ninjas are silent but deadly, so they have that going for them. But pirates have the whole ocean-going thing going for them. And they have cannons.

I propose a middle way -- the Ninja Pirate!

This was a lot of fun, folks. So much so that I'm probably going to repeat it when I get to 100 posts. Well, so long as I get more entertaining questions from my loyal readers.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive Part the First

Thanks for the questions yesterday, even the ones from two smartasses who shall remain nameless. First off, some random trivia that no one asked about*: this post's title is adapted from chapter 7, verse 7 of the Gospel of Matthew ("Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.")

My faith is a fairly big part of who I am as a person, which I won't get into here because ... well let's be honest .. that's not why you read my blog. I also tend to not discuss religion with people -- not because I'm afraid of offending them (I really don't care if people get offended by my religious beliefs or not. They're my beliefs. Not yours) -- but because I've done so much independent study that my answers tend to be much longer and more detailed than necessary.

And now onto the questions:

From Susan:

I want to know if you write anything other than steampunk. If so, do you research as much for the other genre?

I do have an epic fantasy trilogy on the back burner (SON OF MAGIC is actually book one). I've attempted to write paranormal fiction though, so I guess you can count that. To answer the second part of your question, yes I've done a lot of research for those stories. There's reams of notes about Renaissance Europe, Imperial China, and the Vikings (yes, the Vikings) that I've made as the basis for several cultures on Haldor (the world of SON OF MAGIC).

It doesn't help that I'm fascinated by history and discovering new things. I very much suffer from over-researching something, but I still maintain it's not my fault that history is so interesting.

From Stephanie:

If you sold your first book and got an advance of $7,000 (which you'll earn through in no time since your book has landed on the NYT Bestseller List), how would you spend that $7,000?

As it stands right now, I probably wouldn't do anything with it. Well that's not true ... I'd use the after-tax income to pay down my student loans (I hate having debt with the fiery vengeance of a thousand supernovas). Then again, my wife would of course have her say in how we spent that money as well. So my opinion doesn't carry that much weight.

All things being equal though, I'm thinking a weeklong vacation to Ireland. The Irish are easily my favorite people in the world (after all, I did marry a woman who's an Irish/French-Canadian blend).

From Renee:

You work a lot, and you write. So, do you have time for any other activities/hobbies? How is married life? All that you expected? What is your favorite childhood memory?

About the only other hobby I have time for (and this is an uncommon occurrence) is playing video games with my wife. Neither of us have much time for them as of late, even though she's excited for several games that are already out and some others that will be released in February.

Married life is ... interesting is perhaps the best word. My wife and I spent our first two years living very different schedules (and we still do), but the difference now is I get to see her every night when I come home. Which is a very pleasant change. I'm also lucky enough to have entered holy matrimony without any pre-conceived notions of what it was going to be, so I didn't have any expectations to either be fulfilled or disappointed.

I don't have one specific favorite childhood memory that I can point to and say "that's the one." Rather, I'll go with all the Christmases before my older brother and sister moved away. Those were always a fun time around the Delman household.

Since I don't want this post to ramble on, I'm going to cut the answer goodness here. No worries for the other submitters though -- your questions will get answers tomorrow.

Thanks for making post 75 a good one folks! You keep reading and I'll keep writing.

Oh and L.T.? The square root of muffin is doughnut. Thought you'd want to know that right off. ;)

* People who know me in real life know my love of random trivia well.

We Are Now Open to Questions

As an early Christmas present, and in honor of tomorrow being my 75th post, I decided I would open up this here blog to questions from my loyal readers (all 30 of you).

I'm willing to answer practically anything, which will have the honor of tomorrow becoming post number 75. If there are a lot of questions, I might even make this a running series (I can hear the groans now).

So tell me, loyal readers, what do you want to know?

On Primary Sources and Researching

Every history class I've ever taken has extolled the virtues of the primary source -- accounts from people who were actually present at historical events as they were taking place, or had access to people who were present at said event.

For example, the journal of a soldier who was present at the Battle of Antietam is worth more than a newspaper account of the battle, which is worth more than a history book written five years later, which is worth more than a history textbook written 100 years later. You understand my point, of course.

I was lucky enough to find Modern Steam Engines by Joshua Rose, which was originally written in 1887, and counts as a decent primary source for extant steam engineering knowledge of the period. For the period circa the 3rd Century BCE Siege of Syracuse, we have Polybius (c. 203-122 BCE), who had access to the survivors of the event and (thankfully) was the father of painstaking scholarly research and objective recording of history. Similarly, for the Final War of the Roman Republic (32 BCE - 30 BCE), the only historian who lived at the time was a Greek named Strabo.

Of course, knowing the names of the ancient sources can only take me so far. This is because probably 60 percent of what was written before the fall of the Roman Empire has been lost for a variety of reasons. Fire, war, age of manuscript itself; you name it, it's a reason for some source to have entirely disappeared.

Case in point: Ctesibius, the father of pneumatic science, wrote a treatise called On Pneumatics wherein his work on that topic was detailed. The text is completely lost, and remains only as a work referenced by later writers (i.e. Hero of Alexandria and Vitruvius). Because we don't have Ctesibius's own writings, there's no way to substantiate the reported theory that Ctesibius created a cannon fueled by compressed air, which would help tremendously with my steampunk aspirations in the aforementioned Roman war.

My historical-fiction writer pals know what I'm talking about (including those writing in Classical Athens, Ancient Egypt, and the Middle Ages), and I'm rapidly discovering that the best resources I have are contemporary scholars who summarize what fragments there are into useful information. Thankfully, we're living in a time when the engineering, science, medicine, and society of the period before the fourth century AD has been exhaustively researched by people who are leagues smarter than me.

Mr. Corby recently suggested The Archaeology of Weapons as a resource. The book catalogs weaponry used from the earliest archaeological evidence in existence all the way up through the knights. Tre useful.

So what about you, my fine blog readers? What do you find is your best resource?