Tag: Books

Runeclock – Treasure

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

The green-guards Jak and Kanley lumbered onto the gazebo like a stork and a penguin. The two friends quickly scanned the Midway, but saw neither their young quarry or the danger that lurked between the garish-colored booths of steel and light.

The children regrouped and followed Crim’s lead faster and faster towards the great wheel. The golden sun was beginning to set and it’s fire showed the great bones of the Ferris Wheel stark-skeletal as they approached.

The steel-touched boy lead them to a tall booth right near the base of the Wheel. It was shuttered and dark. His rust-flecked hand sparkled in the late sun as he held it up in caution. The scatter-wag band of children, bandits, dogs, mysteries and wonders as one crouched behind a tall sign advertising the Wheel’s wonders as they watched.

With practised ease, Crim popped a latch with his metal hand, and slithered up inside the booth. A few breaths later and he emerged, triumphant with a battered cardboard box.

Crim came into the circle of the others with his treasure, and proudly displayed it all to see. There were more than a few toy ray guns, but also several action figures of various type painted in eye-scorchingly bright color. A gargoyle, a green knight, a tiny man riding a beetle, one ridiculous figure that carried a sword far too large for the plastic arms to bear the weight.

The steel-touched’s eyes sparkled. “Regular haul, ain’t it? Proper.”

Runeclock – Biggs and Wedge

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

[Just a little snatch from Runeclock that I wrote today and liked. Surprisingly, all this time playing hooky and writing this thing gave me a nice boost on The Riddle Box — I think I’m going to start viewing Runeclock as my ‘writing warm-up sketch’ every day, like I see a lot of illustrators do on the Tumbles. Nice five page burst on RB yesterday, plus incorporating a short story I wrote for something else put me at 82 pages in the draft! I know I have a lot of distractions coming up, but I still want to be at 100 pages by the 10th of August, the International Holiday of Arbitrary Deadlines.]

 

The odd group of children chattered and gamboled in the gazebo’s shadow. They began to make slow progress towards the Ferris Wheel, but the sugar-arguments made them lag and stall like a herd of dizzy turtles.

Jak and Kanley ran through the Fair, despair and anxiety nipping at their heels. Interestingly, the Sgt’s punishment of choice was to have his pet terriers, Despair and Anxiety, nip at the heels of soldiers that displeased him.

“We’re never going to find them,” the portly guard moaned, nearly caroming off a passing cotton candy stall.

“We will, we will.” Jak insisted. “We just have to figure out where kids would go. Where do kids go?”

The fat guard did not answer, but continued to pant as they ran. After a few moments, he worked up the breath to speak again. “Jak, I know we’re in trouble, but I’m about to split my sides. There’s a gazebo right around the corner. Can we please, please stop for a moment and catch my—-our breath?”

“I don’t know, Kanley.” the tall guard whined.

“It’s tall! It’s tall! We can get a better view of the Midway.” Kanley insisted.

Jak nodded his assent, and the two guards made their way in the direction of the gazebo.

pop

In the middle of the children, a red node appeared. A light on the top of it pulsed a bright sun-flare yellow.

Runeclock – The Ferris Wheel

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

[Hey, remember that book you’re working on — remember that?]

[Yeah.]

[You seem to be spending a fair amount of time on this side project. Shouldn’t you…?]

[SHUT YOUR FACE.]

The Ferris Wheel waits, a grand circle enclosing the horizon.Even the children who have never been to the Fair can recall the grand spectacle when it is operational. A thousand lights and the turn of the wonderful machine.

The Midway leads to the Wheel, a hundred blind alleys and elaborate devices of fun and excitement that could hide a furious overweight green-guard and his allies.

“Of course it still works,” Crim laughed. “It’s robot-steel, nothing can break robot-steel. And we’re going to get a bunch more closer. The toy cart with the unlocked door, where I found all my stuff. It’s right at the base of the Wheel.”

“Must. Get. Toys.” Mark’s hands clutched the air with desire.

The portly guard pounded through the streets of the Fair after the children, but soon lost them. He leaned against the side of a Funnel Cake stand and panted and wiped runnels of sweat off his brow. The silver name tag on his shoulder gleamed, the name “KANLEY” neatly etched.

Two more guards pounded into view. A tall, lanky man who was a friend — and a broad, bearded man who was not.

“Kanley, you alright?” his friend asked with diffident concern, trying to avoid the anger-fueled gaze of the bearded man.

“I’m….fine….Jak.” Kanley panted.

gal-oktoberfest10-jpg“Fine. I’ll show you fine.” the bearded man, who was his superior officer, slammed a hand into Kanley’s shoulder. “A Rune-discharge? Here?!? At a bunch of ragamuffin children?”

“I’m sorry sir. There was a cat, and the running, and I thought…”the fat guard began.

“You thought nothing. Like you always do. Private Jak. Pull up your fat friend, Private Kanley, by the buttons if you have to, but get moving. Find those children. They have no idea the danger they are in. We must find them, and find them now and remove them from harm’s way. If they encounter the Target…” the bearded man pulled the communicator from his right breast and barked into it. “All units, scramble. 5-8 minors have been spotted in the Fairgrounds, must be detained and removed to safe distance. Priority One. Keep an eye peeled for the Target, and don’t take any risks – but we have to get those damn kids out of here on the double.”

The anger-gaze turned back to Jak and Kanley, the latter weakly tried to snap to attention. “You’ve put those children in danger with your incompetence, Private. We’ll speak more of this at the barracks. But remember, nothing will save you from me if anything happens to those children. Dismissed.”

“Yes, Sgt. Towerlock!” the two guards cried in unison.

The green-guards moved quickly, eyes darting as they searched the Fair. Hands checking their runes at every dark alley, at every can that rattled in the wind. They did their best to cover the vast area of the Fair, but they were stretched too thin.

They feared to find their quarry, and they feared that they would not find the group of children that had wandered into the fair at the most inopportune of times.

“Hey, look!” Nora pointed. “A node!”

A blue Observer Node appeared, a few short steps away from the gazebo.

The Danger of the New Shiny

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

So, instead of focusing on the rough draft of The Riddle Box this week, or drilling down on the lines I have to memorize for Hamlet, or just conserving my energy for the crazy roadtrip we have this weekend or the move I should be packing and planning for — I decided I needed a further distraction. Like a new collaborative writing project with my friends.

YEAH!

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I Need Reviews!

G. Derek Adams2 Comments

lightbulb

On Amazon, on Goodreads, on Facebook, scrawled on butcher paper and taped to the side of your car.

Those of you who have already finished reading — please take a second and post a review online. Even if you had problems, especially if you have legitimate criticism. I’m starting from zero promoting the book, and my best ally is word of mouth. This is the quickest and easiest way you can help me – especially with an Amazon or Goodreads review. It helps boost the visibility of the book, and helps new readers make an informed decision.

Negative reviews are no problem — what you hated about the book may be the thing that convinces a new reader to give me a shot.  The initial word of mouth from the book’s release has officially subsided, and now I need to dig in for the long haul. INCREMENTAL GROWTH, BABY. So, if you’ve read the book — please, please take a moment and click some stars and type a sentence or two online. You do that crap on the regular anyway, right?

And, now on to some more unprofessional behavior, tinged by desperation.

I have copies of Spell/Sword to mail out. I will send it to your house. TO YOUR HOUSE. [US only, please.] I can also hook you up with the Kindle version if that’s your preference. If you read this far and you want to give it a shot, just drop me a line in the comments and I’ll get one shipped out. Do I want a review in return? Absolutely — but you can make it as mean-spirited as you desire.

I know the hustle’s hard, but we gotta enterprise, the carnival

-Wyclef Jean

Back to the Airwaves

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

This is one of my innumerable ‘Hey Blog, What’s Up Old Friend?’ posts.

As is obvious from yesterday’s post, I’m dealing with a lot of grief. My mom passed last week and that post is all I really want to say about it for a while.

Segue from Maudlin to Shameless Self-Promotion — ACTIVAAAAATE.

Stanley Spudowski always elevates the mood.
Stanley Spudowski always elevates the mood.

Fellow fantasy writer C.B. McCullough wrote a lovely review of the book, and it makes me feel like punching the air while riding on the hoverboard from Back to the Future II. I’m going to return the favor and review his work The Path Less Traveled.

Progress on The Riddle Box continues — I met my goal of 30 pages last week, and dagnabbit I’m going to buckle down today and at least write five more.

Pleasant Discovery

G. Derek Adams1 Comment

It’s always a treat when you stumble upon a new facet of the characters you’re writing.

I’ve been with Rime and Jonas for a while now, through Spell/Sword and in

Phil Noto
Phil Noto

their far, dark future of Lodestar. As every writer must, I know a lot about them. More than I’ll ever subject the reader to, more that would remotely be germane to the narrative. But still I can be surprised, and find out something brand new about my protagonists in the process of writing.

I’ve been working on Riddle Box, the second book, and it’s a murder mystery. It’s completely different from Spell/Sword structurally, and purposefully puts the kids in a radically different situation than the first book.

Today, I discovered that Rime is a huge nerd for mystery stories.

I mean, me too — but Rime is a pretty sour sort, and can be a moody jerk. It is positively delightful to watch her get jazzed up about solving the mystery of The Riddle Box.

What’s next? Am I going to find out Jonas is an opera geek?

Name of the Knight

G. Derek AdamsLeave a comment

Enough people have finished the book to start asking me some pointed questions about it.

Questions like:

1. Wait, what?

2. Is it RHYME or REE-MAY?

3. What’s all this about Jonas being a murderer?  Say it ain’t so!

4. You do realize that the ogre’s name changes in Chapter One?

Artist - Bruno Vergauwen
Artist – Bruno Vergauwen

5. Wait, you killed them? Why are you so horrible?

To which I respond:

1. Dude, I know, right?

2. It’s RHYME, like ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.

3. Not telling. Yet. Keep buying books, suckers.

4. [hides in a barrel]

5. Dude, I know, right?

And a couple of people have also asked “So, Jonas keeps mentioning his Master, the knight he served. What’s his Master’s name?”

Here’s the fun part. I have no idea.

Names are very, very important. The best ones appear, fully formed in the savannah of my mind — or I fall upon them like wild beasts in the tall grass.

And I haven’t caught his Master’s name yet.

I know the shape of their story, the gleam in the old man’s eye — but not his name, not yet.

Isn’t this great? It’s like Spell/Sword is spoiler-proof.