XTC Back Porch

AnotherSatellite

Hi.
One byproduct of my backporch/APE hiatus:

Between drafts of The Drowning God, I also wrote something much more Gothic and ornate:

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. It’s about 18k of crazy layered with Lovecraftian paranoid prose, teased with a dash of Borges, and topped with Stephen King/Michael Crichton “actual doc” verisimilitude frosting. Yum.

Read the first installment (another at the same site on the first Friday of each month). Shiver. Tell DM you want more Kendley.

XOXOXOXO
AS

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A porch is the only real reward you need after a long summer's day. — Shawn Sell

Herr Doktor Kauboi · Go 2 Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 25

Vielen dank fur ihr interesse an unseren produkten!

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miles aweigh · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject:

I enjoyed it and look forward to the next installment. I can't say it was scary after having read many of Lovecraft's fictions, but I enjoy the style and the problem of depicting what is TOO HORRIBLE TO EVEN SUGGEST.

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AnotherSatellite · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:55 pm Post subject:

miles aweigh wrote:

I enjoyed it and look forward to the next installment. I can't say it was scary after having read many of Lovecraft's fictions, but I enjoy the style and the problem of depicting what is TOO HORRIBLE TO EVEN SUGGEST.

Cool. I hope to deliver for you in installments to come!

_________________
A porch is the only real reward you need after a long summer's day. — Shawn Sell

spidermage · Wasp Star Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 4423

Well, I'm getting pissed tonight (can we still say 'pissed' on here?), so I'll read it tomorrow. It looks interesting at first glance though.

Care to elaborate on The Drowning God?

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AnotherSatellite · Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:35 pm Post subject:

In progress, but here are some bits from the pitch, being built in tandem with the novel itself:

Police in rural Japan think they've stopped a string of identical murders, but the detective in charge digs deeper to find the key to his own past — along with an ancient, sinister force: The Drowning God.

Events of The Drowning God take place in a dark and backward region of present-day Japan, in the shadows of the main island's central mountains where the rivers run north and nothing is quite as it seems.

There's subtext enough to intrigue Japanophiles, but The Drowning God was written for enjoyment without previous knowledge of Japan:
• Japanese words are at an absolute minimum.
• Detective TAKUDA, the main character and POV for the balance of the tale, keenly interprets meanings and motives, eliminating the need for lengthly exposition of Japanese language and culture.
• Character names are chosen for simplicity and ease of differentiation, and adherence to the Japanese habit of addressing individuals by title or surname makes it even easier for readers to tell the players apart.
• Characters are no more "inscrutable" than real-life Japanese. They are driven by universally recognizable needs and desires (no one "loses face" or "goes kamikaze").
Non-human characters, of course, may have less obvious motives…

I actually wrote "In the Red" as a between-drafts brain-cleanser, but now that it shipped off to Danse Macabre, The Drowning God is once again on the front burner.

Wish me luck. And perserverence. And brains.

_________________
A porch is the only real reward you need after a long summer's day. — Shawn Sell

AnotherSatellite · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:08 pm Post subject:

BTW:
Looking for a market for a, 8,000-word sci-fi short: mild dystopian allegory, a cast of grotesques, a literal spiral of chaos surrounding the main action, and a ghost in a box. Vaguely cyberpunk, but owes more to Richard Powers’s Galatea 2.2 and C.L. Moore’s “No Woman Born” than to Gibson. Not “smutty,” but it’s partly dependent on adult themes, and I’m unwilling to Bowdlerize it for submission to the bigger sci-fi mags. Any leads appreciated, by post or by PM.

_________________
A porch is the only real reward you need after a long summer's day. — Shawn Sell

spidermage · Wasp Star Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 4423

Where's part II, AS? Your public is hungry.

_________________
Jeezus, you dense Limey

spidermage · Wasp Star Joined: 13 May 2008 Posts: 4423

AnotherSatellite wrote:

In progress, but here are some bits from the pitch, being built in tandem with the novel itself:

Police in rural Japan think they've stopped a string of identical murders, but the detective in charge digs deeper to find the key to his own past — along with an ancient, sinister force: The Drowning God.

Events of The Drowning God take place in a dark and backward region of present-day Japan, in the shadows of the main island's central mountains where the rivers run north and nothing is quite as it seems.

There's subtext enough to intrigue Japanophiles, but The Drowning God was written for enjoyment without previous knowledge of Japan:
• Japanese words are at an absolute minimum.
• Detective TAKUDA, the main character and POV for the balance of the tale, keenly interprets meanings and motives, eliminating the need for lengthly exposition of Japanese language and culture.
• Character names are chosen for simplicity and ease of differentiation, and adherence to the Japanese habit of addressing individuals by title or surname makes it even easier for readers to tell the players apart.
• Characters are no more "inscrutable" than real-life Japanese. They are driven by universally recognizable needs and desires (no one "loses face" or "goes kamikaze").
Non-human characters, of course, may have less obvious motives…

I actually wrote "In the Red" as a between-drafts brain-cleanser, but now that it shipped off to Danse Macabre, The Drowning God is once again on the front burner.

Wish me luck. And perserverence. And brains.

Sounds wonderful.

It is tempting to say that, with your talent, you will not need luck, but I am willing to bet that, in the world of publishing, luck is hugely important (and I speak with all the knowledge and certainty of the truly uninformed).

_________________
Jeezus, you dense Limey

AnotherSatellite · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:32 pm Post subject:

spidermage wrote:

Where's part II, AS? Your public is hungry.

Coming first week of December, spidey, thanks for asking!

_________________
A porch is the only real reward you need after a long summer's day. — Shawn Sell

AnotherSatellite · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:54 pm Post subject:

spidermage wrote:

AnotherSatellite wrote:

In progress, but here are some bits from the pitch, being built in tandem with the novel itself:

Police in rural Japan think they've stopped a string of identical murders, but the detective in charge digs deeper to find the key to his own past — along with an ancient, sinister force: The Drowning God.

Events of The Drowning God take place in a dark and backward region of present-day Japan, in the shadows of the main island's central mountains where the rivers run north and nothing is quite as it seems.

There's subtext enough to intrigue Japanophiles, but The Drowning God was written for enjoyment without previous knowledge of Japan:
• Japanese words are at an absolute minimum.
• Detective TAKUDA, the main character and POV for the balance of the tale, keenly interprets meanings and motives, eliminating the need for lengthly exposition of Japanese language and culture.
• Character names are chosen for simplicity and ease of differentiation, and adherence to the Japanese habit of addressing individuals by title or surname makes it even easier for readers to tell the players apart.
• Characters are no more "inscrutable" than real-life Japanese. They are driven by universally recognizable needs and desires (no one "loses face" or "goes kamikaze").
Non-human characters, of course, may have less obvious motives…

I actually wrote "In the Red" as a between-drafts brain-cleanser, but now that it shipped off to Danse Macabre, The Drowning God is once again on the front burner.

Wish me luck. And perserverence. And brains.

Sounds wonderful.

It is tempting to say that, with your talent, you will not need luck, but I am willing to bet that, in the world of publishing, luck is hugely important (and I speak with all the knowledge and certainty of the truly uninformed).

Thanks, Andrew. I appreciate that. Odd to be starting a new side-job at this age, but very interesting to be getting back to what I always liked best: telling tall tales and asking you along for the ride.

Have sent story mentioned above to a reputable SF quarterly (monthly when I was a kid...), so back to The Drowning God as I wait for the response. Good editors send rejection slips as valuable to a writer as acceptance letters, so if these people think it's worth either one, I'll be satisified.

_________________
A porch is the only real reward you need after a long summer's day. — Shawn Sell