Let's Go Back

(Yeah it's something like that.)

Let's Go Back

I know chapter 4 was a lot and I kind of want to explain it more and also explain more about the world Veritas takes place in. Pieces of this post may end up in the Lexicon.

As I created more back story this serial it strayed away from cyberpunk and into speculative fiction. But, speculative fiction is an umbrella term so, I think I'm okay.

If you haven't figured it out Veritas exist in an alternate history as well (it was news to me as well). In this history the the USSR never collapsed and the arms race never ended, which is why nuclear power is so advanced.

Part 1 of Chapter 4 gets into some of the political stuff I was talking about. I will admit the meat of the backstory was influenced by the earthquakes in Haiti and all the news coverage. Haiti is a poor country because of it's long history so, I had think what could happen to the US to make it similar to a 3rd world country. I was also inspired by a news story I saw about the Mexican Cartel. The amount of government corruption and control the cartels have is really hard to imagine. Anyway, the wars were the scenario I used to create a different kind of America.

One thing to remember is the Serial Wars happened 60 years ago at this point in time. So, it is their history but, it is a history that is affecting them today. Think about history affects us today even though we don't acknowledge it. There is a huge Asian population in California because Asians were immigrated to work on railroads in the 1800's. It happened 200 years ago but, it's something you can still see.

Gendercide

Gendercide is one of the more serious tropes I came across. At first I brushed it off as a plot point and thought of it as something from some lame 60's sci-fi movie but the more I thought about it the more I thought it would create an interesting social situation.

Joanna Russ is a feminist science fiction writer who wrote a lot of speculative fiction about male gendercide and female societies that didn't need men to reproduce. From what I understand if there were men they usually ended up getting killed by a woman ripping him apart with her bare hands So . . . Yeah.

Anyway, I came across another fictional story about nuclear war and how only the military survived and that's when I decided female gendercide made the most sense because the military is mostly men. That's how this whole idea came about.

Is it anti-feminist ? Maybe, I don't really know. I honestly had to ask myself what would really happen if there were significantly less women in this country ? Are we discounting men by saying they can't control sexual impulses ? It's always been interesting to me that in all the episodes of To Catch A Predator (I need to stop watching MSNBC) they have never caught a woman.

I will say I have no agenda in writing this so, take from it what you will.

I had kind of meddled with the gendercide for a while but, it is kind of hinted at in the earlier chapters with the way the women are treated so carefully. It is also hinted in chapter 3:

1. Alan says he went to Barnards Boy's School. Barnards is a womens' college but, with less woman some womens' colleges never reopened.

2. He says is he were ever so lucky to have a family.

3. He mentions that Sara could leave the West because she's a--. He never finished the sentence but he was going to say because she was a female she might be allowed asylum.

4. It's also the reason Alan tries to save Minnie when she falls even though he is tied up-- he is afraid she will die.

East v West

In my head the Former Republic of the Western States is fromWashington to California to Texas. It's unruliness and repuation is kind of a throwback to the "New Frontier" "Wild West" mentality. Here are the basic notes on the two countries :

Former Western Republic

* Controlled by Eastern Government Militia
* Called "Former Republic" because the East does not want to recognize it as a real country.
*Commonly called the Western Republic but referred to as "The West" "The LOLA" "Republic" it's inhabitants are called Republicans
* State lines don't exsits

Eastern United States
The Eastern United States expands from New York to Florida to Lousiana, it is basically just one big city. There is no green, it's just industry and covered by a geodesic dome (think epcot)

*Controlled by Eastern democracy
*Commonly called the Eastern States but referred to as "States" "The State" "The East." It's inhabitants are called Easterners.
*State lines don't exist so the city is separated into districts or sectors. Alan lives in the South District which is where Atlanta is.
* The term America is not really used anymore so, when they talk about the country before the split he calls it the State.

The Midwest does not exist anymore because the country's population is so small they don't need all the space.

Truths
The truths for Sara about the harmful Uranium testing and practices. Not to mention other government secrets she learned from her husband. The reason she mentions the Shift is because the Shift is why she had the "take no prisoners" attitude. She wants people to know she is not weak and she wont allow herself to be a victim.


Pomegranate
I'm surprised Lile did not call me out on this one. I mentioned Pomegranate tea in the prologue because I thought it was a kind of futuristic, trendy fruit.

I wanted to use a Greek words for the title (Veritas is the Greek goddess of truth) and I came across the story of Persephone and Hades. The reason Persephone has to stay in the Underworld is because Hades tricked her into eating 5 pomegranate seeds and if you eat food in the Underworld you have to stay. The last thing Alan drinks is pomegranate tea and it sort of symbolizes him staying in the "underworld" of the Western Republic.

This was very unintentional on my part.

Terminology

In this piece the term Deckjockey refers to someone who works in computer information and keeps the internet running. They write code and create all the internal parts of computers. It is also use to mean hackers.

Chapter 5
Now that I'm done with that mini dissertation on to the next chapter. I'm pretty much out of songs except for a few faves I'm holding on to so, it will be interesting to see what music I use next. It's funny I actually have a song for each character, I hope I can use them.

Chapter 5

Playlist
-1- No More Rain by Kylie Mingoue
-2- Down to Earth by Jem
-3- As I Moved On by Blue Foundation

Earth Day (Well, the day after !)

I'm sure I should have a million things to blog about but, I can't remember them right now. I did get started on the lexicon but, it is a big work-in-progress.

Music

I do have one thing to blog about. This whole story all of the elements and little things came from the song Eyes on Fire by Blue Foundation. Lile mentioned listening to the lyrics to this song a while ago and I did and somehow this story developed out of the lyrics. So, this was my "root" song in Pandora. Of course I did not account that that means all the music sounds similar so, I will be working on diversifying the playlist.

Chapter 4

This chapter is once again a short one that felt long so, I decided to cut it into two parts. So, if you want to read part 1 and then read part 2 later that may help it make more sense.

Chapter 4

Playlist

Part I

Sideways by Citizen Cope ( I wish they had an instrumental only of this song)

Part II

-2- When I'm Gone by 3 Doors Down
-3- Erase/Rewind by Cardigans

Happy Birthday Linda !

That's Fishy . . .
So, as I said in my last post there would be some little references to Kurt Vonnegut and that is what Jean and Minnie are. They are named after Vonnegut's Kilgore Trout (who is named after real life Theodore Sturgeon).

So, Jean is a man. His name is a play on the name of the fish John Dory. So, it's pronounced like the English name John although in my head it's more JA-n than j-OH-n. With an emphasis on the 'j'. Minnow is named after the fish as well. It is just their names I would not look to far into it. I have to say there are not a lot fish names that work as people names.

As far as other names I did play around with Sara Graces's name. I tried Cera, Sariagras, Sarah Grace.

Pictures

I only have pictures for some of the characters introduced:







Alan Gray


Based a little on Zac Efron's even features but, Tom Felton a little too.


Sara Grace

Based on Kate Winslet

Jean Dory

Imagine Jonny Depp with white hair

Minnow Dory

Ashley Greene. She is probably the actor who resembles my idea of a character the most.

What if ?

I have to say there are a lot of what if's that I take in consideration in writing this. Beauty Standards exist for a reason--because they are what some people find attractive and want in themselves. There are surgery's to open eyelids, lighten skin, fix noses that make a lot of money. I had to ask myself if people could choose how they look would they really want to be different. The answer in this scenario is no.

Music

I've always liked to type to piano music so, I will be incorporating some of it into this. I know a lot of the songs sound similar . . . I suppose I am trying to set a mood ? There will be a lot more diverse sounds as this goes on.

Chapter 3

Before I get to chapter 3 I do want to say a lexicon is in progress right now.

Chapter 3

Playlist

-1-The Meadow by Alexandre Desplat
-2-Precious by Minipop
-3-Hopeless by Breaking Benjamin
-4-I Love To See The Temple by Paul Cardall
-5-Pippins Song by Pippin

CranberriVodka's For All !

Cyberpunk ?

So, as I admitted to CranberriVodka in the comments she was right all along about the genre. Although technically I would classify this as postcyberpunk.

The Story

How did Shawna Harrison who writes about love, peace and friendship get to cyberpunk ? It goes all the way back to IVB actually. When I decided Mrs.Bennett was going to read a passage from Slaugherhouse 5 I started looking for the best quotes to use. Along the way I saw other Kurt Vonnegut quotes and remembered what a great writer he was, and how I loved his work. I thought to myself I should try and write something similar to his style.

Along my journey of studying up on KV's dystopian literature I came across the term cyberpunk--a sort of subgenre of dystopian lit and after doing some research on that, I decided to write a cyberpunk web serial.

Cyber what ?

Cyberpunk is a type of fiction by the genius writer William Gibson. It explores a lot of high tech. His books deal with an interconnective stream of information called cyberspace. Sound familiar ? Well, the crazy part is he wrote in the 80's before the internet was ever heard off.

Thanks to he and his writing partners donations to the creative commons I was able to read a lot of his short stories and novels online to help me understand what I was writing. His novel Neuromancer is called the "bible" of cyberpunk. I found it a little tedious so, a lot of my information I got from critical analysis/ reviews of it.

The cyberpunk genre is all about a near and relatable future. However the movement really is resigned more to the 80's which is why I say post cyberpunk

Muse, Inspire Me

I have to say this work, Veritas is heavily inspired by the CP movement and the writings of Kurt Vonnegut and William Gibson. It's more details than the overall plot, I will go ahead and list some from chapter 1 :

2081-- This is a refernce to Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron that takes place in 2081. The short film version is also called 2081.

Boston Atlantic Metro.-- Named after Boston Atlanta Megoloplis (BAMA) aka The Sprawl, the setting for Gibson's Sprawl trilogy.

William Case and Linda Gibson-- Are named after William Gibson himself and two characters ---Case and his girlfriend, Linda Lee (I freaked when I saw this) in Neuromancer. So no that was not a reference to that Linda Leigh.

Kyto and Kytocxin-- I came up with the name Kytoxcin first, after the drug Mytoxcin (mustard gas) which is mentioned in Neuromancer. I decided to just make the inventors last name Kyto after the first 4 letters. It's funny how it sounds Japanese.

Simstim-- Yeah, I stole this word/concept too.

Antique Paper Bills line (prolouge)that is from line is from a short story by Gibson and another Michael Swanwick called Dogfight.

Prolouge

I did want to back up a bit to the prolouge. I wanted to hint this was taking place in the future with a few little lines.

The fact that he is having a conversation, looking for sugar packets (i know random) and writing a letter was supposed to illustrate he wasn't driving the car.

I'm Still A Writer !

I did come up with some things on my own. I was inspired for the idea of Syndicates by MT Anderson's novel Feed. I got the name Syndicate because the RSS in RSS feed stands for really simple syndication.

As I mentioned in the comments, I really had to look to the past to decided how the future in this serial will look. I asked myself what hasn't changed in 100 years ? What hasn't changed in 1000's of years and if it did change is their still a version of it ? I mean people still perform Shakespeare they still listen to Beethoven.

For instance oral stories--epic poems--books--plays--radio shows--television--??(DVR, maybe ?)

Disclaimer #2 : Beware the Trope

In case you can't tell this will have a lot of Art Major Science like UL2 had some Art Major Law. I do a bit of research but, it can sometimes go over my head.

I know, I'm a trope addict but they are not bad things and have really helped develop the story.

Chapter 2

I really wanted to be far ahead in my writing before I post the next chapter but, at a certain point I get confused and almost blog about things that haven't happened yet ! Anyway I think I am enough chapters ahead to give you all a little more. I haven't really had enough time to set the scenery.

Chapter 2

Playlist

-1- Baptism by Paul Cardall
-2-May it be by Enya
-3- Colorblind by Natalie Walker

Let's Try Something . . .

Yes, I'm using that title so you know what that means. The newest web serial I am working on is called Veritas:Closer to Earth. I will go ahead and tell you not to look to much into the title. I will go ahead and say the Closer to Earth part comes from this trope and has no real significance except I liked the name of it.

As for the genre well, to be honest I don't want to say. I still want to see if someone still wants to try a guess. Either way I will tell you all in the comments and then in the next post I will explain how I got there (it's quite a long story). I'm not revealing the genre at this point because I think (and no offense, hon) when Linda revealed her genre everyone was expecting something macabre and scary (although I found LL quite bone-chilling--especially the end) so, I don't want to start any expectations at the very first chapter.

I am going to put a disclaimer on this whole web serial now : Any relations to real or living people or Cobalt employees it merely coincidental and I mean that. Any relations to fictional characters or people . . . should be seen as a compliment.

Other notes : I am having some issues with coming up with good images so, those may change from time to time. Also, the name veritas.yolasite was already taken so that is why it is at closertoearth. The numbers go with the songs and are added last , in case the breaks seem awkward.

Chapter 1

Playlist

-1- Possibility by Lykke Li
-2- Waking Dream by Natalie Walker
-3- So Cold by Breaking Benjamin

. . . Creeps Out From Behind Laptop

Music



There are lots of songs I didn't use in UL2 that I wanted to. I may use some of them in other things but, here is one I don't think will make it in so, it will be the music for this post. It is Edwin McCain's I'll Be. It would have been in chapter 8.

United Light 2



I have been purposely messing around with you all by making it seem like chapter 8 was the end of United Light 2. But, to be perfectly honest with you for all intensive purposes it is.



I like the first UL but, it was very plot-rich, very heavy and had a lot of interludes. And that came from the fact that I wrote as went along, not knowing where anything was going to end up. UL2 was a little different, similar to IVB I knew basically how it was going to end and I had an entire outline for the story. I thought it would be nice if I first shared the outline and then explain a little more about the story. I don't have them handwritten and scanned like Rowling does on her site so, I am going to copy and paste.



Outline (it's sloppy)

Outline

DR gets engaged

Jr gets summons

2

Meets tessa’s toddler daughter. Lawyers want her to settle, threatens says goodbyes to go south

3- life in the cult through discovery

3

Evidence is missing, sawyer thrown in jail for charges, Juliana is threatened goes to see Caine. When she sees her father he has note from Rhett.Julianafather losesfaith

Raleghs turn evidence is gone

4

JR arrested

Switches to Rhett&Dr.J. Goes to find DR&T

Tessa bails her out.

R&J Looks for evidence from tl.

Go to commune to find information. See it is the same. She goes to basement and draws on wall. You watched you said nothing.

Finds TL, living out of state

Finds tapes

Reluctant to give them

Get back to court J consideres buring them. Caine could kill her

Prosecuted

Forced into witness protection

4 years

As you can kind of see I did stretch 5 chapters into 8. In the original draft instead of Tessa coming in the middle of the fight between Daniel and Juliana she is the one who bails Juliana out of jail.

Also in the original Juliana goes into witness protection and can't see or contact her Dad or Rhett until Caine is killed 4 years later. When she comes back though she doesn't fit into their lives and she ends up leaving. I was going to go with this ending for such a long time but it felt too sad.

There were also a few more longer parts between Rhett and Dr. Johanseen about ethics. I was also originally going to write the court case but, that would have been repetitive since I showed the discovery. It would have also been crazy inaccurate.

Pictures

In an uncreative twist, Jennifer Caine is based on Jennifer Garner. Jennifer Caine has naturally curly hair like Sawyer but, she straightens it which is why she in her first chapter Juliana notices how perfectly straight her hair is.

Juliana & Hayley were based on these two unrelated pictures I found but, I could never photoshop them together well enough.

Rhett/Juliana

*I'm still loling over the let's get off this ship. That is why I need editors !*

There is a deleted scene (by deleted I mean I can't even find it on the desktop anymore) in about chapter 21, when Juliana runs away from Caine and Rhett follows her. He catches up to her and tackles her and then they start kissing. After I deleted that scene I knew that canonically speaking Rhett and Juliana would never have a romantic/sexual relationship. They have a bother/sister type relationship: more than friends, less than lovers if you will. I've also always known that they would end up having to go seperate ways in the end.

Now, does that mean Juliana couldn't move to Louisana or something ? No, anything could happen.

Another goal, I had when writing this was to remind the readers that Juliana and Rhett are both still teenagers and very young. That's why I included more things about their parents and futures.

I found a really great collection of images that went with the last picture I used and I could not decide which one to use. Anyway here are some more I wanted to go with.

The End

I struggled a lot with making this the end. Once I had it written I considered adding some chapters about Juliana in the halfway house or something but, it would have given the last chapter less of an impact. I never had any intentions of writing about those 4 years to be honest.

I wanted more than anything to give the other characters some space in the story but, I think I may save that for a future epilouge. This was supposed to be a Juliana/Rhett story and kind of turned into another ensemble story with the other cast members along the way.





I do feel a bit accomplished about this because it is over 20,000 words and I am pretty sure I wrote it in less than 30 days, even though I publish it on later dates.



What's Next ?



This would be the part where I show you the prologue for my new web serial but, I already did that so you all have some idea what is next. I am currently in between two titles right now for it, so I can't give the title just yet.



Like UL2 this story was outlined only, it is much more heavily outlined. I have a lot more layers of themes,metaphors,character motivations etc. going on. And it is expanding to a lot more chapters. I am very excited/nervous about it. There is no telling how long I will hold on to it and nurture it until I start posting,TBH. I haven't even created a website or graphics for it.



As a matter of fact, this new story is a lot different than what I usually do that I actually considered writing it under a pen name. I will also admit it is heavily influenced by a lot of things from tv,books,movies,politics,music, history,pop culture and more. I suppose in a way it's a bit of American Realism . . . a bit. I am in love with the songs I have in mind to use !



I realize none of that makes any sense to you all because you haven't read it but, it will.



In the meantime, I will be working for Cobalt, updating all the tags for the blog entries. Cobalt writers have been invited to attend some writing conferences (and speak a little on how our company uses web serials) so hopefully I can get some insights on making my web serials better. It is very different than my book writing/editing because I don't have a year to work on one thing I don't get to take things back or rewrite if I change my mind towards the end.



Anyway, I hope I get to talk to you guys again soon.



Shawna

April Showers

Cobalt

It is springtime (although it always feels like Spring in SoCal) around the office and we are all still adjusting to our new office spaces. Erik's Birthday was this past weekend and he went back to Pennsylvania so, I had some more office space which is always nice.

Our office is right near a McDonalds so my wallet is happy I am getting 1$ coffee's instead of 3$ lattes every 2 hours. Joel did bring an espresso maker he got a while back into the office but it turns out none of us know how to use it and he ended up breaking it. But, no worries us Cobaltians are getting our caffiene fix !

Chapter 7

There is one note I want to make on Chapter 7, there really is such a thing as cremation jewelry. It's not something creepy I made up and some of it is quite nice. You can even get some for your dog's ashes.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 is here

Playlist

-1- Sweet and Low by Augustana (I am trying to come up with a story for one of their songs I like)

-2- Come Down To Me by Saving Jane

-3- She is Love by Parachute (I've been holding on to this one forever)

Erik and Joel Aren't The Only Ones

Chapter 6

Alright so I know, I know this chapter was short like the others, I am working on it. This was one of the few chapters where there is a lot of subtext, more specifically with Rhett and Ricky (No, not that kind of subtext). In a way I was making a statement about the effects of violence on teens and kids. I'm not making any political argument but, as far as Ricky's character goes he is obsessed with the idea of violence but, he doesn't reallize the violence he sees as fictional. And therefore can't empathize when he sees real violence. That's why he doesn't feel guilty taping it. TLDR : Ricky is an example of someone who is desenstized. That is also why he can't fight, he lives in a fictional mentality and can't deal with a real violent situation.

Also a secondary note, Ricky looks up to Rhett (which is why he tells Rhett when Juliana tries to commit suicide) and that plays in a little bit too.

Chapter 7 . . .

It's funny at this point the sequel is over 20,000 words (excluding chapter 7) even though it does not feel like it.

Anyway this is another short chapter and in order to supplement that I am giving you all a tiny gift . . . A special preview of my next project. Writing my next work is still a big WIP, I am doing something totally different as far as the writing process. It is just a prolouge I've whipped up and I have excluded the title to add to the mystery. Both links are at the bottom with their playlists. Pick whichever one you want first !

I will admit I feel like I have ADD (like two of my lovely co-workers) trying to write both ULII and planing my new project. I jump from each one. Anyway let's see if you all can guess the genre now.

Chapter 7

-1- Down to Earth by Justin Beiber (I was going to use him or Jesse McCartney eventually)
-2- Make Me Better by Ne-Yo
-3-Carol of Bells by George Winston (love writing to piano music !)
-4-Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy
-5- Closer by Boyce Avenue
-6- Chasing Pavement by Adele (I'd skip the first 45 seconds)


Special Project

Don't look to far in to the song.

No Jokes Here

Blogging

As a writer I am not sure if I am more Stephen King or JK Rowling. In that Stephen King wrote a series and had no idea how it was going to end whereas JK Rowling worked from an outline from the very start.

This concept of United Light II was at first a coming of age story with the Rhett-Cortland love triangle but, that got abandoned once I started drafting RGGS. I wanted more substance so, it became about United Light still and it's after affects. I knew that Caine's lawyer was going to throw everyone in jail, create rifts and dust off all the skeletons. What I didn't know was if Juliana was going to jail or not. I'm not sure there is a logical reasoning why she didn't excpet for the very real fact that jails are overcrowded as it is and they often let people off with warnings.


On a side note, I am getting to a point in this story where some honest opinions are great.

Chapter 6

Here is chapter 6.

Playlist

-1-

Everything'll Be Alright -- Joshua Radin
Open Your Eyes -- Snow Patrol

-2-
Trust Me- The Fray