An Argument for Escapism

escapism n. the tendency to seek distraction and relief from reality.

I hereby go on the record to (politely) disagree with the Oxford English Dictionary (’96 edition), because while I do indeed use many forms of media to distract myself from reality, I don’t do it to get ‘relief’. I am not depressed or stressed, I’ve not suffered any recent trauma and nor do I shy away from working a forty hour week or being with my family.

What I am, more often than not, is bored.

Split City Waltz

Goodness, it’s been a while. Do pardon the dust in here, but I thought I’d stop by to make a quick post about a story of mine that’s being released tomorrow.

Split City Waltz is a short LGBTQ novella starring the rather conflicted private investigator Allyn Morgan. Capable, curious, flirtatious and practical, she’s a really fun character to write about, and hopefully to read about too!

She’s been hanging around inside my head for a while now, but to be honest, I just couldn’t find a world to put her in. Thankfully, an anthology call over at Less Than Three Press helped solve that problem.

Living in London was always fun, and I miss it in a lot of ways – the fast flow and constant noise. And one of the things that always struck me about being there was how divided it was between the waking hours and the darker ones. It was incredible watching as one part of society headed indoors while another slipped out into the evening light.

It was as though the whole vibe of the city changed, as the tourists made their way back to their temporary beds and the locals came out to play after a hard day’s graft.

This novella was very much inspired by the idea that a single city can have two very different sides. In this world, London is inhabited by two very different societies – one basking in the new technological advances being used above ground, and another taking refuge from it in the former underground network below.

There are two types of people in the world these days; ones who feel safe knowing someone’s watching them, and those who don’t.

Allyn couldn’t imagine a world without the chip that rests just underneath the skin of her right wrist, while a mysterious hacker named Terminal couldn’t think of anything worse. This story is about what happens when they’re forced to work together.

The London of tomorrow is a city that couldn’t care less what you do – as long as everyone can see you doing it.

It’s available from tomorrow from Less Than Three Press, Smashwords, All Romance and more!

Click here for an excerpt and links to reviews!

All I’ll Ever See

From Sean Creamer’s ‘Crystal Castles’ collection, via hongwrong.com.

The world is very small.

It’s the bed you woke up in and the number of contacts in your phone.
The friends you meet for lunch and the TV shows you talk about.
It’s your mother reminding you of birthdays and the line at the bus stop.
Your most visited websites and the paper cut you didn’t realise you had.
It’s the ads you ignore as you cook and the song stuck in your head.
The characters you want to be and the ones you know you are.
It’s the faces of those who reject you and the words of the ones that don’t.
The light that flickers and the floorboards that creak under your feet.

It’s intricate and fragile.
Singular and certain.
It’s life.
And it’s the truth.

But it’s not the only one.

Black and White

“ No matter where you go, everyone’s connected. ”

– Lain Iwakura, Serial Experiments: Lain

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, photographed by QT Luong

The silent world around him was a dull, cloudy grey. Whatever colour had been present during the initial recording of it had been filtered out. It was hard to focus on any single detail, the inkwelled scene made to be poignant, but not studied too closely. Individuals were no longer blurred, to aid in his assignment, but their blood remained censored, as it was in the media. 

Backstory

Imagination by Mauricio Abril

After my mother read Henny Penny to me when I was little I spent the next few weeks sleeping with an umbrella over my head*. I’m not entirely sure how I thought that flimsy pink thing was going to protect me from the sky falling down; but I guess it was better than nothing. I was also so convinced that my teddys would come to life during the night, that I made sure there was always enough room for all of them on my bed. I think I used to worry that if I left one or two of them on the floor that they would feel left out. I hosted tea parties for imaginary aliens; I guess because I figured they’d have more interesting things to talk about than my dolls, who I knew didn’t get out much.

Bragging Rights

Screenshot via Star Citizen

“Okay, listen up,” says a voice in your ear. “As of thirty seconds ago you are the last remaining Bouncer pilot in this system. Reroute on vector 4.96 and await further instructions.”

Writing Resources and NaNo Prep: Creating a Story Bible

 

With NaNoWriMo a little under two weeks away, now is usually about the time I start thinking about which story I’m going to have a bash at telling. I’m kind of a mix between a planner and a panster, to be honest. I always like to start out with a plan (however basic and vague it might be), though plots and characters often end up changing dramatically as I write. But as I get started with my own prep, today I thought I’d share with you a template for my version of a ‘story bible’.

Creation

The Robotic Hermit

Surreal Digital Art from Rolan Gonzalez, see more of his work here!

Now sit here my love and watch, just watch. Watch as I stand apart but steady, arms wide open in invitation as our new world forms before us.

Feel the breeze across the skin of your cheek and know that I am conjuring a place so sublime you’ll shed tears for me once more. Listen to the sounds of a Universe all our own gasping into existence. Smell the new grass beneath and the fresh leaves above and know that never again will we be denied. Taste the clear waters that clash around us, that flow and bend and rain.

This place, this bright open space where no single man is yet King, is mine to mold and yours to protect. For we are done with smite and folly, done with jealousy and malice. We rise higher…

View original post 22 more words

Let’s Go Somewhere that Doesn’t Exist Yet

VR Paradise by Logan Kehoe

As a solitary sort, my happy places aren’t often that far outside my own head. And while there are a few odd rooms I love dearly, they don’t really make for a picturesque sort of landscape. Until I get a windmill of my own, my imagination will have to do. But this prompt made me think of something else as well – of our steady march towards commercial Virtual Reality (why yes, I am already saving for an Oculus Rift). So here, in all it’s blue lit glory – a visual representation of my future Happy Place.