A Bit of Poetry

The elusive muse of lines that rhyme

The poetic spirit that's hard to find

Made an appearance in this author's mind

And the following poem's what it left behind


 
Night Blade


 
A splash of red

     on darkest night

The tear of flesh

 in shadows bright


 
The sweetest taste

 across the tongue

No fresher breath

 'er through the lung


 
The thrill of death

 upon the wind

With silver glee 

 keen edges rend


 
Bright steel reflects

 the savage scene

Black hearts rejoice

 in primal scream


 
Deadly seconds

 and endless hours

The fruit of life

 the soul devours


 
A splash of red

 on darkest night

Marks the path of

 blade in the night

The Terrible Trouble With Titles

It is a happy day for a me when I come up with a title.  When "Collaborative Fantasy Project" changes to "Axel and Ajax Novel" and then finally to "Remember the Alamok," there is a rejuvenation. It's almost a new book; a book that you can imagine sitting on a bookstore shelf somewhere.  There's no longer that vague threat hanging in the air over the book; no more lingering doubt as to what you are working on.  When asked, "What are you working on?" I can reply with confidence.  "I'm working on 'Tough Target!'" or "Remember the Alamok." To me, giving a book a title is like stabbing that fluttering concept of a novel with a very solid and sturdy bowie knife! Until I pin it down, my book exists on many planes and I only can see the edges and not all the dimensions of it. It's like quantum uncertainty.  Does it exist or is it only a theory?  If a tree falls and no one hears it? If you don't open the box, is Schrodinger's Cat dead? Is a book without a title, really a book at all?
Having said all this, there apparently aren't enough titles to go around.  Even if you aren't trying to find it, odds are good that another book will cross your path and it will have already used your wonderful title!  Be not discouraged, though.  Just take it as a compliment and write on!

Madness, thy name is Me, Myself, and I...Or Is It Axel?

Welcome friends, foes, and ninjas! This is the first of what will hopefully be many posts.  Starting now, I am going to attempt to write and post thoughtful rambles about writing on a somewhat regular basis.

Know that all you read here is nothing more or less than the musings of a writer who probably should be sleeping instead of blogging.

Let's start with a quote about writing and see what comes to mind.

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."  ~E.L. Doctorow

Now a question. What comes first? The schizophrenia or the writing?

Though both are possible, I find the latter possibility to be more interesting.  That is, the case when writing leads to a  separation of personalities.
Before the writing begins, the personality is whole. Made up of many conflicting and different aspects, yet seamlessly integrated into the persona known as Me. The Master personality. My Me is Audra. Audra is my total; the sum of my mental parts. Once upon a couple of years ago, Audra decided to start writing a story and since all good stories must have one, she created a character. As they say, you write best about what you know best. And who do you know better than yourself? Thus, the first additional persona was born. A young woman by the name of Carmen Wesson took shape upon the paper. At first, Carmen was so similar to Audra as to make no difference, but soon enough, she began to distance herself from her creator. Carmen became the personification of a few choice aspects of the master personality. Now Carmen must exist within the creator's mind as a unique individual. So, when Audra writes about Carmen, to be most accurate, she must become Carmen, so as to write about what Carmen would so and how Carmen would react. Along the same lines, Axel Nightblade came to be. And many more will come as new stories are written.  
Muse this as you will and may you have as much fun as this writer did.

Another Alamok chapter!

Just finished the newest chapter for Remember the Alamok!  Check out an excerpt on the Alamok blog...

Purros Magos

Good news!  I just wrote another chapter of my dark urban fantasy novel (working title: "Purros Magos"---That's Greek, by the way.)
I'll get a page up for it soon!

Howdy!

You're now looking at the official writing blog of A.L. Brown.