More on The Swordswoman and its book report

I like to think, somewhere underneath it all, there’s a little bit of The Swordswoman in Otherness: Rift. Granted, I like to add in more characters and have many points of view and I tend to stay in this world, but add lots of magic and mysterious phenomena, but underneath it all, it was that book that got me fascinated by fantasy and parallel worlds and thinking outside of the reality of this world. The usual sword and sorcery, dragon books were too far from where I wanted to be.

As an added bonus, when I found the Swordswoman book report, I also found the very first book I’d ever written. It was for school, bound in a cardboard and shelf paper cover (probably an arts and crafts component in combination with the creative writing one), and I got a resounding A on it, but what’s more fascinating is that tucked away with it was a complete character and world outline…and a sequel I’d written just for the fun of it.

Seeing those extra pages reminded me of a time when I first started thinking that maybe someday I’d like be a writer. It also reminded me that since that first book, I really did keep writing for pleasure one way or another. Sometimes fiction, sometimes more like memoir in my journals, but never letting longer than a month pass between entries or stories…even to this day.

If I can muster some nerve, I’ll post that first book here… I’d even illustrated it! It’s called The Fighting Four, it’s sequel, The Engaging Eight. (Yes, even back then, I was good at bad alliteration [see Orgasm Fairy by Ashleigh Raine. I wrote all of the bad erotic poetry in the opening scene…one of my many hidden, brilliant, useless talents.])

According to the title page of The Fighting Four, it was written in 1986. I was in 6th grade. About 12 years old.

That was the same year I wrote The Three Witches From The Planet Zebtron. I am still trying to find Zebtron again, but in the mean time, I’m enjoying the other treasures I’ve unearthed while in my quest for my first story… See, even back then I was mixing genres. No romance yet, though. But I hadn’t really discovered boys yet, either. That’d come a few years later.

…And include my best friend Jennifer, a troll, a flying sword, a now cult classic movie, a whole lot of imagination, determination and a bunch of miscellaneous scribblings that to this day I continue to find folded amid other unimportant schoolwork. Yeah, The Swordswoman happened for me in 1986, followed by The Fighting Four and various little stories until the genesis of Talisman Bay with Jennifer in 1989.

From then on, everything was somehow connected either to Talisman Bay or used elements of it. Read Otherness: Rift. and then Lover’s Talisman (being re-released from Samhain Publishing in January, 2008) and tell me about the similarities…

Boomtown Tale update!

After hunting frame after frame through Boomtown, I collected three where I’m clearly visible. There may have been a few others, but I blinked and missed them…

About a month ago, I went on a rampage, searching through all of my DVDs to find the ones I’d worked on, but had yet to hunt for screen captures. I pulled out Lords of Dogtown, Smokin’ Aces, 13 Going on 30 and Serenity (for goodness sake!), and put them in a pile next to the collection so that all I had to do was pop them in my computer, go to the scene(s) I was in and snap some captures.

Of course, that pile is still collecting dust.

However, also around this time, I updated my Netflix cue with all the shows I was on but didn’t have captures for. Let me just say that it’s a damn good thing I can’t get another DVD until I send back the ones I have! That is how I was forced (yeah, my arm was twisted, it was so horrible to have to find some time to watch some entertainment rather than building in Second Life or answering email or writing another scene…just horrible) to gather up these captures.

So horrible, I’ll likely blow the dust off that stack of DVDs real soon so I can post some new screen captures (of course, only if there’s a frame or two of me that isn’t on the cutting room floor).

More Cancan Leeloo!

I found some more pics of me and the rest of us Cancan girls from the Lux After Dark halftime show of the 2006 WorldCon Costume Masquerade.

The following pics were on a website with Danny Low‘s photography of all the costumes. Thanks a million, Danny!!!!

This was definitely an experience I will never, ever forget. First, just being in the room with so much talent. I learned a lot about sewing and costuming throughout the whole adventure.

Gotta have a shot of the girls with the legs, of course. We’re wearing cancan dresses for goodness sake! It’s virtually impossible to resist holding them up.

This was the final tableau of our big dance number recreated backstage for the photographers. You can’t really see, but yeah, I stretched out so much that I could sit with my chin on my hands, elbows on the floor between my outstretched legs. This took months. Granted, I was pretty heavily into yoga by this time, so it was an extension of something I was already working toward. However, yoga is not done in a corset, but Cancan dancing is and it was a whole new ballgame to get that flexible despite my innards being compressed.

Once again, yes, I know I look nothing like Mila Jovovich and this pic is proof! But I did have a wonderful time and I did keep my costume. Leeloo will be returning someday. I don’t know if she’ll be doing another Cancan, but she’ll definitely cruise through a few conventions over the years. So much time and effort went into that costume, I’d hate to let it languish in my closet.

Revisiting my childhood…well, pre-young adulthood

Revisiting my childhood…well, young adulthood

My dad had been collecting and reading science fiction books since he was a kid. He still blasts through them at an alarming rate. He never wanted to write them, though, just read and read and read and read.

Sometime around fifth or sixth grade, I asked my dad what to read. I’d been introduced to Madeline L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey and of course J.R.R. Tolkein by this point in school, but I didn’t know of any others I might like.

Dad’s book collection was monstrous although most were stored in boxes rather than on shelves. We’d had a basement in our old house, but after moving, my dad had to give up the bookshelves in favor of boxes in the garage because very few houses in California have basements. At least not where we’d moved.

Anyhow, “I want to read something science fiction, Dad.” I interrupted him from one of his Ace Doubles. “What should I read?”

“Well, there’s a lot of books out there. What do you really want to read?”

“I dunno. That’s why I’m asking you.” I figured if I had the same taste in books as my dad, I’d probably never have to buy a book ever because I’d just work my way through his library. (Yes, I have always been cheap, but I like to think of it more as ‘making the best of what’s around’.)

“Hmmm… Well…” He thought on it for awhile. And then awhile longer. “Let me see what I’ve got that you might like.”

It took him a while of hunting, but he produced The Swordswoman by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. “I think you might like this. You seem to be more into fantasy and I just don’t have a whole lot of that, but this one, I think you’d like.”

“Thanks Dad!” I took the beat-up paperback (I don’t think Dad ever bought brand new books, in fact, I think he still gets all of his books at thrift stores and flea markets!) and shut myself up in my room.

I read The Swordswoman in about a week.

And then was assigned a book report for school, so I read it again.

After that, the book was stored with my growing collection in my closet for a few years before being swallowed up and overtaken with romance novels a few years later when I discovered Jude Devereaux and the used book store that had moved in about six blocks from home. I don’t know what eventually happened to that copy of The Swordswoman, but I do recall the cover falling off and the book breaking in two halves at the spine. It’d been thrashed when I got it and continued to decay as I grew up.

I’ve looked to replace my copy a few times since then because I remember that book being, like, the best book I’d ever read, but I couldn’t remember who’d written it.

Until last week. While sifting through boxes of some old stuff of mine (hunting for an old story I’d written), I found that book report! And jumped with glee because now, the next time I was in a bookstore, I could look for it.

Well, that time came while I happened to be at Powell’s Book City in Portland, OR. I was in town (dragged by Jason) for a few days and was staying a couple blocks away. Even though I wasn’t going to the convention with him, he figured he’d offer to bring me along so that I could get some writing done.

I did.

And I got to start reading The Swordswoman by Jessica Amanda Salmonson and it is every bit as good as I remember. Complete with a little romance in it, too. And the copy I found at Powell’s is in way better shape than the one I’d read years ago.

Yay!

Blue Root, technology and change

There’s a peculiar thing about writing a near future novel… If you’re not careful, technology might change before the book gets published.

I wrote Blue Root in early 2004. At the time, I didn’t know about Teledildonics yet. The ultimate in sex toy geekery. In fact, Jason found it somehow and sent me a link. I was beside myself just to see that I wasn’t the only one thinking about remote controlled sex toys. Just the other day, I found slashdong.org and was awe-inspired. I mean, I could totally write a sequel to Blue Root now. So many great new ideas!

Also, back in 2004, I didn’t know what a blog was. I barely knew what a forum was. Yeah, so I was a little behind the times, but still, I wrote variations of them into Blue Root. Well, that’s not entirely true…I had to go back and put in correct terminology for the nebulous ideas I’d sorta written about. Still, it was another thing that I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one thinking about and could see how it was supposed to be done. I know, I know, sometimes it really looks like I’m living in a box. Well, I’m a writer…I live in my own little world(s).

I wrote Blue Root for fun. It was kind of a joke that I took pretty far and had a whole lot of fun with to the point where my friends were amazed and astounded at times that an idea that seemed so small could be so big.

As the last few years have gone by, I’ve watched as Second Life got bigger. At the time I wrote Blue Root, I didn’t know about Second Life or any other virtual world for that matter. If I had…well, I really could’ve had a field day! Much of the book would’ve still been the same…but different. There would’ve been more possibilities to play with and that would’ve been awesome. In fact, it was through Second Life that slashdong.org found me. There’s even programming now for toys hooked up through SL. How freakin’ amazingly cool is that?!?!?!

I dunno. I just find myself blogging right now, thinking about all the cool shit that’s happening that I never could’ve imagined. I suppose this is why Jason likes science fiction so much. Me, I just happened to like the idea of an upgradeable, programmable sex toy that could almost take over the world. That idea is what I explored and found it funny at the same time. Blue Root is the product of that fascination…and a whole lot more than I bargained for!

Booth 59 on Publisher Island

In Second Life, I go by the name Twyla Briggs. I’m still learning the ropes, but I just set up a booth on Publisher Island. #59 to be exact. It’s in view of Book Island, too. I put a phantom castle on the front. You can’t miss it.

Beyond the castle is Tayna’s Chronicle Room from Otherness: Rift. How nifty is it that anyone can write a book and then create its world in Second Life? And, like, walk around in that world? Good golly, the possibilities are endless and I look forward to doing Ashleigh Raine books there, too.

I had tons of fun scouring SL for props and scanning various things in my Real Life repertoire (aka stashes of precious junk) for correct textures. The castle image on the front of my booth is actually 3 photos from various vacations in England. Yay! For re-purposing vacation pictures!

My favorites from the whole experience were seeing the big ol’ book laying on Tayna’s table, Tayna’s tea cup and Twyla’s crystal ball.

In Otherness: Rift, the book is called the Rede. Right now, in SL, the Rede is just a simple object. I have much planned for it in the future. Much more than what’s in the novel I wrote…because, well, I can play with it more in Second Life!

While Tayna’s tea cup isn’t exactly like any of the ones she drinks out of in Otherness: Rift, it’s close. Plus, it was the first thing that was given to me (thank you, Weasel Gough), so to modify it was also kind of special. It started as a very simple, white cup of black tea. I transformed it into a celtic-patterned cup of green tea. Feel free to stop by my booth and copy one for yourself. I left the drinking script in it, so your avatar can enjoy!

And finally, Twyla’s crystal ball. Well, that’s a sort of funny thing. I’d gotten a box of miscellaneous lights that included some particle balls. None of them were quite right for my idea of the ball Tayna was using to scry in Otherness: Rift, so I opened up the script to see if I could figure out how to modify it. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I kept changing numbers until I got the right colors, the right movement and the right speed. My husband was so shocked, he helped me build a base for it from scratch. What a fantastic learning experience.

I look forward to many more builds and such in Second Life. Say hi if you see Twyla Briggs!!!!

Virtually Living

I enjoy exploring Second Life as Twyla Briggs, but for some reason I hadn’t considered having a presence there until recently. Sure, I always figured I’d collaborate with some of my friends (they’ve already got a lot going on), but I hadn’t dreamed of doing something on my own…y’know, like figuring out how to build stuff.

Well, the time has come. I have booth #59 on Publisher Island and I gotta do something really cool with it. I mean, like, really, really cool. ‘Cause with the quality of what my friends do and have done, I gotta present something at least respectable. I’m married to Fallon Winnfield, for goodness sake. Visit Manoa. You’ll see why I’m feelin’ pressure!

And I don’t want his help, either. Advice, yes, but I wanna learn this myself. My goal is to have him come to me asking how to do stuff, not always the other way around. I want my friends to be surprised that I did so well first time out.

When physical light is introduced in Second Life, well, I’ll be even more motivated than I am now. Once upon a time, I was a theatrical lighting designer. I still read books on the history of stage lighting just for the fun of it even though I haven’t done a real stage show in several years. I miss lighting. A lot. So, to have the opportunity to do it in Second Life without renting fixtures, dimmers, miles of cable, a light board and then having to load, hang and focus it all myself using a ladder that’s probably too wobbly and short…well, you get the picture.

Right now, SL lighting isn’t physical. There are no shadows unless you manufacture them yourself. I’m too lazy. I wanna point a light at something and have the shadows happen naturally like they’re supposed to. To me, that’s one of the things that makes light so beautiful: the give and take between what is seen in the light and what is unseen in the shadows.

Can’t get enough of Cancan Leeloo?

The other day, my husband asked if I’d posted any pics about my adventures doing the Cancan while dressed as Leeloo from the Fifth Element…which turned into an internet expedition to see if anyone had posted other since last I looked. We’d had a camera meltdown and couldn’t take pictures of our own, so we’re depending on the great ‘net to provide what would’ve been otherwise lost to us.

I’d already posted some pics from Hazel (here and here). But I’ve found more since then.

For the record, yes, I know I look nothing like Mila Jovovich. She’s awesome. I, however, am not so much. I might someday get to be as awesome as she is, but I was certainly not while at WorldCon 2006 dancing the Cancan in an outfit I’d built which had been inspired by the one she’d worn in The Fifth Element. I’m not a dancer and likely never will be. But there was still much awesomeness in the experience I had. If nothing else, it serves well as a conversation piece.

Now for a new pic…

I found this one posted on Flickr by dragondawn. I don’t know you, but I thank you!

While wearing a cancan dress, I just had this strange compulsion to flip it up. I dunno why. It’s just one of those things, I guess. It’s a dress that’s made to be held up, so why not? Life’s too short not to live a little…

Blue Root, or Would You Like To Connect?

You see it in the middle of the banner at the top of my site, but what the heck is Blue Root, right? Why would I give away a whole novel for free?

There’s a lot of reasons, but mostly because I want it published and it’s a hard sell to traditional publishers, so I gotta go an other-than-traditional route. It’s a real genre-mixer, even a genre-bender. The science is pure fiction. The romance serves the science as much as the characters involved. The whole darn thing is a corny, slapstick comedy. What the hell happened?

More importantly, why not just shelve it and cut my losses?

Because writer friends of mine keep asking me what’s up with it, where it’s being published and are shocked to find out that no, it’s not going to be released in paperback or even ebook from a publisher who was willing to take a chance. They enjoyed it so much that they still ask after having read it over a year ago and hadn’t forgotten it.

Sure, it’s got some first-book-itis, but a lot of the things in it are being tackled today. Teledildonics comes to mind. Bluetooth-enabled portable computer devices. The iPhone.

I just don’t think I should let Blue Root rot on my hard drive any longer. I should share it with the world…or at least anyone who visits my website.

So here it is. For some light reading including a networkable, programmable sex toy, a wimpy villain who reeks like garlic, a semi-self-aware A.I., a cat named Trouble, a rekindled romance and a whole lot of sex-crazed, living zombies, read Blue Root.

I just set myself up on Twitter

I get very busy quite often. Sometimes, this blog seems forsaken. That’s not the case anymore because if nothing else gets updated, I plan to Twitter. That means that the little section of the sidebar under my picture will frequently change.

I might mention what I’m doing at that very moment, what I’m about to do or what I’ve already done. Sometimes, it’s boring and sometimes, well… it could get interesting.

I sometimes do a lot of unrelated things in a day…after all, that’s when I’m at my happiest, so I’ll do my best to share.

For instance, one of the things I could’ve twittered if I’d gotten set up about a month ago would be: After pairing my phone with a Lamborghini Gallardo while I was at a stoplight, I realized it was too early to call anyone.

Or from last week: I am hunting down pics of myself dressed as Cancan Leeloo so I can post them on my website.

(Yes, look for those soon!)

In fact, I’m gonna go do a new one right now: Drinking High Mountain Ginseng Oolong tea that doesn’t taste like shit.

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