Latest Articles:
- Mac: You don't have access to / on this server
- Debugging cucumber scripts, cucumber and devise authentication
- Comment left on review for Feeble Paradox
- Heroic Failure on the 13th of November
- Ok, I'm not perfect and I still get angry - but still try to deal with it
- Tumbleweed Interview Candidates
- TDD is effective if you look at the right things
- Ballmer not the darling of the stock market
Archive
March 2010
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
March 2000
Tag Cloud:
Stats:
- Entries = 358
- Notes = 35
General Links
Archive Fragments: Finally I get to finish something
When I was searching around for a second income the other week I realised that I have a lot of things around that I can sell multiple times, as in I have something like four novels I have written over the last 20 years or so.
My magnum opus is called Archive Fragements and is about 200 pages long, I've been writing it off and on for ever, usually in sustained bursts of a month or so's free time and then going back to it after a year or so, editing that material, and then writing some more.
I've decided that I'm going to self-publish this using lulu (I'll probably also pay for an ISBN so people can order it from places like Amazon), after I have revised the current draft, and use some targeted adsense and this blog to promote it. I think I will also release an electronic copy of it under the Creative Commons non-commercial share-alike licence, probably on Feedbooks. While some extra cash is welcome I'd also like people to read the damn thing.
It also tracks my internal journey as a Buddhist over the last 10 years, to some extent.
I had the idea for a site where you could roll your own version of Archive Fragments by either using a random number generator where you set the seed for the numbers or assembling it in what you felt was the best order, plus adding new material of your own if you wanted to. This would all be Creative Commons NC, with me as the final arbiter on any commercial stuff (benevolent dictatorship being my favoured model, and paying lawyers fees to whiners not). I was trying to do this first and realised it was a waste of my time and much better just to finish folding the little paper boat and let it go downstream.
I've spent most of my waking time over this bank holiday editing the book ready for publication. I think some of the writing is pretty good, and some not. I feel excited about what is an interesting adventure and have more projects I can look at in the future if this one pans out.
I need a picture of a bleeding hand for the cover, preferably one that looks like it can easily be painted on a flag or banner, for reasons that will become clear if you ever read the book.
Archive Fragments: The back cover
We find ourselves at some undetermined time in the future "after the revolution" looking through the eyes of Jay, an adjuster who represents a vague computer system called WorldNet. It uses him as a check and balance to ensure that its decisions are correct and humane. As part of this he also catches and punishes people who misuse resources. Jay believes that he is an amalgam, a person who committed terrible crimes and was punished by having other people's memories forced into his head until he gained a sense of empathy and understood what he had done. The implanting process leaves particular marks on the body so everybody knows that he was, himself, adjusted. He is trying to atone for what he did by helping and preventing others from committing crimes against the commonality.
In Jay's time there is an historical figure known as Odine. She was one of the architects of the revolution and quotes and musings from her many writings appear at various places in the book. Her story (or parts of it) are in the narrative. She became a national hero after she persuaded a child abuser who was above the law to end his life and was accused of his murder. She was also made, this time by people hunting for wisdom, on or around our current time frame. Her rise to fame and influence was the beginning of the process that resulted in the society that Jay lives in. This event is known as the Attack of Common Sense.
As the book progresses we get pieces of Jay's attempts to unravel the mystery of a priest drowned in his font and flashbacks from the fragments of other people's memories that are stored in his brain. They range from being a PoW in the Second World War, to suffering from a weak heart in hospital, to nearly drowning in a kayaking accident. Jay discovers many things about himself, and is pursued by the shadowy figure of Kervas, who helped make Odine.