Ah, distinctly I remember,
'T was a year ago November
I sat down to write a tale
Which would swiftly find a sale.
I looked up six hours later at the fragments I had penned--
Two beginnings, seven middles, and an end.
I was in no mood to be bored,
I took down my trusty keyboard
And began to type away--
What a job I did that day!
My muse provided all the inspiration she could lend:
Two beginnings, seven middles, and an end.
Just as I had suspected,
None of them connected,
But that's not what really made me so sore.
My grammar was elusive,
The end was inconclusive,
And one of the middles--I'd written before.
People ask me how I do it
And I say "There's nothing to it,
You stare at the sheet so white
And when your forehead bleeds--you write."
And there's ten long pieces for recycling I'll send--
Two beginnings,
Seven middles,
And an all-out last-gasp end!
This will hopefully end up as a triumphant roll call of commercial successes. For now it's just (still) a fairly short list of things I've actually managed to limp through to the end of. Of which I've actually managed to limp through to the end. Whatever.
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Written for a performance prose workshop in Bristol, who didn't think it lent itself to performing.
Written shortly after we moved here. A bit of exorcism.
My solution to the old who-do-we-get-to-be-President question.
A Nyrond story, co-written with Soren. In which Soren pays a bill, Zander promises the moon, and the whole thing snowballs.
A Nyrond story, co-written with Soren. In which Zander takes to the arena, Soren takes to his heels, and a hellrat takes to both of them.
A Nyrond novel, co-written with Soren. In which eight Nyronds descend upon a defenceless planet, and one of them is Tully.
An EVE Online story. In which Maleus Garamite strikes a blow for old-time spacing.
A D'niverse story, which starts from one of the wrong endings of the game Myst V: End of Ages, and in which I treat the entire matter of D'ni in my usual heretical manner.
A Blake's Seven story. This takes place after "Star One," and features the Nyronds in one of their first ever appearances in a finished tale.
A Blake's Seven story. This takes place mostly during and after third and fourth seasons, and forms my (fairly successful, if I do say so myself) bid to retcon the entire fourth season out of existence and put things back the way they're supposed to be. The final story in the trilogy, "Links," is still in process of completion, would you believe.
A Sapphire and Steel story, featuring the gap-year elementals. I've been trying to write this for some time, and may do more with them if inspiration ever strikes again..
An original story, set in a sort of Fieldingy-Peacocky imagined past. I like this lot; again, more may follow.
An original story, starring Thandreling the wandering bard, who more or less began as a D & D character and kind of developed.
Before there was Gestalt, half of them were the Truesingers. This story, and the song contained therein, is partly based on what actually happened to a band called the Dixie Chicks a while ago.
An original story, which I wrote For Publication, but which came out too short to be anything. Antonio Banderas and Jake Rorschon star in a tale of sorcery, intrigue and at least one very good ham sandwich.
More to come (eventually) - watch this space...
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