By Actual's Messenger...

Fresh off the keys, first draft chunk of Rubberman's Cage I just wrote.. it's confusing as heck out of context, but I SWEAR, it's not sci-fi!:

----------

Lenth tilted his head. “But isn't Messenger picked from the Providers? So couldn't you, or Gabe, or any Provider eventually become this... Actual?”

Contact smirked, and raised an eyebrow quite high. “Ah. Simple, yes?” He patted his gut. “I would make a poor Messenger, I think, if you're implying I have such a goal. But it isn't that simple. The Messenger becomes almost entirely removed from us. From our world. He travels beyond our realm, out beyond the Citizenry, and beyond places with no names before reaching the halls of Actual. And as removed as Messenger is from us, Actual is removed from him!”

Reaching up, Contact held his hand open, as if ready to receive from the great unseen Actual, by providence of his Messenger.



.

Echoes of Erebus Cahpter 2, Section 1.. reading and... ACTING! And a wig.

And makeup.

In other news, my site, http://www.ozero.ca is now equipped with a videos page, and the site is updated to include my WIP, Rubberman's Cage.

Echoes of Erebus prologue video... and a cat.

Fun experiment I filmed yesterday while I had the house to myself. It gave me ideas for other vids in the future. This vid is less than professional, but it was fun, and hopefully interesting enough to watch.

Oh, btw, the music that comes in now and then was cannibalized from a composition I did quite a long time ago, and probably released with 'Sonic Equinox' under my old handle 'onyx'.

The appeal of Zombies

My first book deals heavily in zombies, and the following two don't shy away from them either. It's understandable if at first glance, people assume I'm a huge zombie fan. I'm kinda not. If you read Lifehack, you'll find it's not like a typical zombie book or movie. Lifehack isn't entirely about survival.. about a quarter of the book plays like that, but can you name the last Romero-styled movie that escalated into airstrikes on a dragon?

Seriously, name one. If there's one I missed, I wanna go see it. Otherwise, I'll go on assuming Lifehack is unique in that aspect. (as well as a handful of other aspects, of course)

Still, when Jersey's "the Star Ledger" called out about "The psychology of ... Zombies!" I felt I had to answer:
----

When the hero of my first book [Alisia] first hit the page [as art], she needed a target. Not wanting to kill innocents, I thought, "Hey, what's a threat I can shoot the **** out of, and not feel guilt?" I considered robots, but zombies won out. Robots are too potentially powerful, and from a writing perspective, it's hard to draw a line in what they can do- and readers are likely to draw their own limits on what a robot can and cannot do. It's a far too easy fallback to say "Yeah, you just beat 100 robots... but now.... HERE'S ONE WITH A BIGGER LASER!!!! OOOOOOH!!!"

Zombies have limits, they are pretty well defined. Sure, now we have fast ones, but on the whole, if you see a zombie, you know what you're in for. Does that make them less of a threat? No, that's the trick. They're like you and me... that alone is a threat. And they're relentless, tireless, and hungry. The more you think of a person maniacally trying to bite into your flesh... at first you think of an angry little kid biting. Yeah, that can leave a mark... but make it an adult who wants more than to hurt you, and have the strength to tear parts of you away. To pull your familiar, comfortable body apart, bit by bit.

Now give this guy a couple hundred buddies that all want the same thing. Suddenly you're the last tray of nachos in the stadium.

Right now, guarantee for me that there isn't a zombie outside your house. There isn't? Did you look? Are you wondering? We know there isn't, of course there isn't. But doesn't a part of you want to give a teeny little glance? Did you smirk at your fence? How long would that fence stop them, you wonder? Hey, there's a mop nearby, would it... no, a shovel would be better.

Suddenly, you're casting yourself in a zombie survival fantasy. It's real enough that anyone can get wrapped up in it. When the musing is done, you chuckle to yourself, or thank that it's not happening.

It isn't, is it?

Did you look outside?

Just a quick peek? For me? We have to stick together.

Just finished "the Chrysalids". Oh, and here's a vid of me reading from a kiddie fairy book. :P

Mmmm, Chris salads.

Okay, I read Chrysalids way back when in highschool, in a "FORCED TO" capacity. I didn't remember much, I wasn't that into it, I had other things going on. I got about as deep into it as I needed to pass. I think. Heck, for all I remember, I may have moved before finishing it.

This was a bit over 20 years ago, just so y'all understand how my normally laser-accurate memory could be a tad foggy.

The student I'm hosting right now got forced to read it.. poor lass.. English isn't her first language, and it's doubtless that she got even less out of it than I did... but hearing her ask about it made me curious to go revisit it. I've been reading older stuff lately. Chrysalids, Catcher in the Rye, Dracula... but next I have a fresh book to read that I promised to review.. so stay tuned.

Chrysalids was way better than I remembered. A lot of that is certainly my maturity- the ability to grasp all the concepts, as well as the patience to not skim over it all. Not to mention my expanded exposure to the concepts of post-apocalyptia. The book would fit in well with a number of other works in post-apocalyptic culture.. which makes sense, as Chysalids likely established much the classic tropes.

Chrysalids is one of the few sci-fi books that was covered in school. (For all I remember, the only one.) That's a shame.. although I MIGHT have a bias. This book needs a movie. A good one, not the other kind.

In other news... FAIRIES!!!!