Filed under: Feedback, Science Fiction, Travel, Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: blogging, Cardiff, COPD, Dinas Maelor, feedback, Ffynnon Gybi, health, Helping Cassandra, immortality, jim downey, literature, Pennant Melangell, Pentre Ifan, Pistyll Rhaeadr, promotion, Science Fiction, Scrivener, Snowdon, St. Cybi's Well, St. Non’s Chapel, St. Seiriol’s Well, St. Winefride's Well, travel, writing, Y Garn Goch
I decided that I needed to go through and re-read the entirety of St Cybi’s Well so far, start to finish, just as a way to refresh all the different elements of it in my head and to get an overall picture. While I regularly bounce back and forth in the text to make sure I’m getting this or that specific detail correct, it’s good to get a complete overview now and then. Being at the halfway point in the actual writing (though with all the planning and prep work the book is more like 3/4 complete), this seemed like a good time to do it.
So over the weekend, I did.
I’m happy to say that I’m pleased with it. Perhaps to be expected, since I am the author. But usually I’m very critical of my own writing, and seldom think that it is as good as it should be.
Anyway.
A year ago I gave a preliminary chapter list, and said that I had about 23,000 words of notes and descriptions. Well, I still have the notes and descriptions (and I am still very happy using Scrivener for the organizational aspects), but I now have a solid 55,000 words of actual book done. Here’s the actual title list so far:
- Prelude: Cardiff
- Chapter 1: Pennant Melangell
- Chapter 2: St. Winefride’s Well
- Chapter 3: St. Seiriol’s Well
- Chapter 4: Snowdon
- Chapter 5: Ffynnon Gybi
- Chapter 6: Pistyll Rhaeadr
- Chapter 7: Dinas Maelor
- Chapter 8: Pentre Ifan
- Chapter 9: St. Non’s Chapel
And the title of the chapter I’m currently writing is Y Garn Goch. These are all real, actual places, and you can look them up online if you want. In fact, each chapter opens with a brief passage from an online site (cited) giving a description/history of each location. So far some of the ‘beta readers’ have really liked this , where others … haven’t. At least not so much.
Oh, speaking of that, I could stand to have a couple new people take a look at the book so far and tell me what they think. If you’re interested, drop me a note.
Just thought I’d share this little progress report.
Jim Downey
PS: Remember, there’s just until this Friday to get your bid in to be immortalized in St. Cybi’s Well!
Filed under: Alzheimer's, Argentina, Ballistics, Bipolar, Book Conservation, Connections, Depression, Failure, Gardening, General Musings, Guns, Health, Italy, New Zealand, Patagonia, Science Fiction, Society, Survival, Travel, Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: Alwyn, Alzheimer's, Argentina, bipolar, blogging, book conservation, bookbinding, care-giving, Communion of Dreams, depression, direct publishing, feedback, gardening, guns, Habaneros, health, Her Final Year, hospice, Italy, jim downey, John Bourke, Legacy Bookbindery, literature, New Zealand, Patagonia, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, travel, Wales, writing
This will probably come across as a little brag-y. Sorry about that. Not my intention.
The other day I got a phone call. For Legacy Art. The gallery we closed May 31, 2004. Yeah, more than ten years ago.
And after I got through abusing the telemarketer over this point, I got to thinking about the many changes in the last decade.
First thing I should say up front: I’m at a low point in my bipolar cycle, as I’ve noted recently. That means that my self-image isn’t all that great. This isn’t a debilitating depressive episode or anything — I’ve managed to continue to work steadily, as well as enjoy the usual aspects of life. So not horrid. But it is sometimes difficult to not focus on the things which haven’t gone well, and my own failings which are often a component of that. And one of those failings is a sense of not accomplishing much, of being lazy, of wasting my time and the time of others.
Anyway. I got to thinking about the changes in the last decade. And surprisingly, more positive things came to mind than negative ones. That fed on itself, and I found myself making a mental list of the accomplishments.
In no particular order or ranking: wrote two books (one of them as co-author). Most of the way done with another. Visited Wales. And Argentina. And New Zealand. And Italy. Wrote several thousand blog posts. Became something of an authority on small caliber ballistics. Wrote several hundred articles and columns for publication. Was the full-time caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s. Have done conservation work on something more than a thousand (that’s just a guess … may be closer to two thousand) books and documents. Made some great hot sauces. Raised, loved, and then said farewell to a great dog. Tried to be a good friend, and husband. Tried to help others when I could.
We all fail. We all have things we’ve done that haunt us in one way or another. Sometimes, those fears and demons overwhelm. Me, at least.
I may or may not be at a turning point in my bipolar cycle. But I’m glad that at least I can think of things I have accomplished. That helps.
Back to work on St. Cybi’s Well.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Augmented Reality, Connections, Kindle, Marketing, Promotion, Religion, Science Fiction, Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: Amazon, augmented reality, blogging, Communion of Dreams, free, Japan, jim downey, Kindle, promotion, religion, Science Fiction, St David's Cathedral, St. Cybi's Well, Wales, writing
Excerpt from today’s work on St Cybi’s Well. The scene is set here.
And because of those words, he did look down. And he saw a line. A wide line of darker grey stone which ran from the center of the West Front door to the pulpit. But there was something else there, as well. Something … deeper. Almost like water, shimmering. Somehow under the stone. Infusing the stone. Was it one of the absurd ley lines which St. John had talked about? But Darnell didn’t believe in those.
Or did he?
What did he believe, anymore?
“Look at it with new eyes,” Megan had said. “Try and see it as the believers see it.”
The believers? Or we believers? Did the distinction make sense anymore?
Did it matter?
He stepped onto the line.
Of course, it was like stepping onto any other stone. Solid. Hard. Dependable. Real.
He took another step, along the line of grey. And it was still solid. But now he felt something like a tremor run through the floor. He glanced up at the gorgeous wooden ceiling overhead, and remembered that it was there due to an earthquake which struck the area back in the thirteenth century. And he wondered whether the fault was again active.
But none of the others in the cathedral seemed to notice the tremor. No bells chimed in the distance. The carved panel depiction of the crucifixion high above did not sway.
He took another step, paying close attention. Again, he felt something. But it was less a tremor, and more a slight vibration, a springiness, like stepping onto a taut trampoline or a tightrope. There was a … strumming … but only in response to his steps. This wasn’t a ley line, at least not as he had understood it. It was, rather, a living path.
There’s about 12 hours left in this weekend promotion. About 500 people worldwide have downloaded Communion of Dreams so far … including, for the first time (that I can recall, anyway) 3 downloads in Japan. Pretty cool.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Connections, Science Fiction, Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: blogging, Castell Mawr, Craig Rhosyfelin, jim downey, Pentre Ifan, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, Stonehenge, writing
Been a while since I posted an excerpt. Partly that has been due to the fact that a number of different things have conspired to slow down my writing progress the last few weeks. But I finally seem to be making good headway again, and thought I would share a bit from today’s efforts:
Darnell nodded. “Sure. Now let’s take a look at that satellite map.”
He pulled out his phone again, tapped it a couple of times. Soon they were looking down at their current location centered on the map, with the resolution such that Pentre Ifan was off on the very left edge of the screen. St. John pointed at a slightly lopsided ring due north of Craig Rhosyfelin about the same distance from Pentre Ifan. “There. See?”
Darnell zoomed in on the image. The ring expanded until it was about half the size of the screen. It was actually a double ring of trees, bisected by a chevron of a single line of trees. “Yeah, OK. Not a perfect circle. Looks like it has a bit of a pinch on the east side, almost as if pointing that way.”
“Exactly!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t follow you.”
St. John pointed at the screen. “Points due east. That’s because before it was made into a hill fort, there’s evidence to suggest that it was a henge.”
“Huh.” Darnell looked at the image again. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“And I think that it wasn’t just any henge. I think that it was the precursor to Stonehenge.” St. John looked at Darnell, and there was a slightly mad gleam in his eye. “In fact, I think that the henge which was there was disassembled and then transported to Wiltshire and rebuilt as the structure we all know today.”
The site they’re discussing is Castell Mawr.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Religion, Science Fiction, Society, Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: blogging, excerpt, jim downey, Pentre Ifan, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, Wales, writing
Excerpt:
Eleazar considered, again reached up and laid a hand on the closest upright. “You said yourself: there are structures like this all around the world, built within the same time period. But they’re in completely different cultures. Cultures which had little or no contact.”
“So?”
“So, how likely is it that the mythology associated with Wales would apply to all those sites?”
Darnell allowed his hands to fall to his side. But he looked up again at the huge stone which almost seemed to float above his head. “Not very, I suppose.”
“Still, you have the gist of it. In some way, they are all connected. It’s just that the way of … understanding …” Eleazar stared at the stone structure, almost as though looking for inspiration “… of interpreting … has to be done within a given culture.”
“Understanding what, exactly?”
Eleazar looked from the stone to Darnell. Looked him right in the eye. “Miracles.”
Jim Downey
Filed under: Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: blogging, Dinas Maelor, excerpt, jim downey, Pen Dinas, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, Wales, writing
Excerpt:
He hiked over to the highest point, Pen Dinas, where now stood a large 19th century monument to Wellington. It was supposed to represent a cannon turned heavenward, but Darnell wondered whether it wasn’t also meant to suggest the horn of Maelor, the giant of legend who had made the hill fort his home. Darnell stood there, at the base of the huge monument, and enjoyed the views back towards the city, out over the sea, as well as inland. It was easy to see why the early Celts would have decided to settle in this place.
He closed his eyes, and for a moment tried to place himself back in that time. Relaxing, opening up his awareness, for a brief moment he thought he heard a voice, then others joining it, in chant. In that same brief moment, the darkness of his closed eyes was touched by a vision of fire, quiet low flames, which spun as though a wheel.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Brave New World, Connections, Expert systems, Feedback, Google, NPR, Predictions, Science Fiction, tech, Wales | Tags: AI, Amazon, augmented reality, blogging, Communion of Dreams, Expert, feedback, jim downey, NPR, predictions, reviews, Science Fiction, Seth, St. Cybi's Well, St. Seiriol’s Well, technology, Wales, Well Hopper, writing
There are over 70 reviews of Communion of Dreams on Amazon, and if you poke around online you’ll find a bunch more. In addition, I’ve heard from countless friends and fans about the book in private messages and chats. And one of the most common things people will note is just how much they like the character of Seth, the Expert/AI executive assistant for the main character, Jon. The book opens with Seth contacting Jon about something which has come up, and you can get a sense of how useful such a virtual assistant could be:
“Sorry to bother you, Jon, but you’ll need to come back immediately. Business. I’ve made the arrangements. Transport waiting for you in town, take you to Denver. Then commercial flight home.” Audio only. That meant a lot. Tighter beam, easier to encode and keep private. Security protocol.
He wondered if something had gone wrong with the Hawking, the experimental long-range ship undergoing trials, based out at Titan. That was about the only thing he could think of that would require his cutting short his first vacation in four years. No use in asking. “All right. Give me a few minutes to pack my things, and I’ll get started.”
“Understood.”
“And contact my family, let them know I’m on my way back. ”
“Will do. Anything else?”
“Not at present. See you when I get there.”
Of course, CoD is set in 2052, and there have been huge advances in technology which allow for a very natural interaction between a human and a computer.
What’s been fun for me in writing St Cybi’s Well, set in our own time (well, actually, in October 2012), is that I get to plant the seeds for the technology which then shows up in Communion of Dreams. And one of those seeds is an Android app which is a ‘virtual assistant’ named Andi. It’s er, not quite up to Seth’s standards:
Darnell sat there, scanned the blog post. As he read, the assistant repeated “The page you requested is displayed on your screen. Do you need something else?”
“Um, yeah. How about a map to St. Seiriol’s Well?”
“A map is now displayed on your screen. You are presently at the location of St. Seiriol’s Well. Do you need something else?”
“I’m not at the Well. I’m in the parking lot. Where is the Well itself?”
“I’m sorry, available maps indicate you are presently at the Well. Do you need something else?”
“Go back to the Well Hopper site.”
“Very good. The page you requested is displayed on your screen. Do you need something else?”
A bit annoying, eh? Well, the people who have been reading the early chapters of the book have certainly thought so. Which was exactly what I was going for. Because technology doesn’t arrive fully developed. It shows up in an early, buggy form, and then gets improved over time. Think back to when we all had dial-up modems: they were annoying, klunky, and expensive … but they also were very, very cool because they allowed us to “get online”.
Anyway, I had to chuckle over a story on NPR yesterday afternoon which reminded me of this. Here’s the intro:
We’re already giving voice instructions to virtual personal assistants, like Apple’s Siri. But artificial intelligence is getting even smarter. The next wave of behavior-changing computing is a technology called anticipatory computing — systems that learn to predict what you need, even before you ask.
Google Now, which is available on tablets and mobile devices, is an early form of this. You can ask it a question like, “Where is the White House?” and get a spoken-word answer. Then, Google Now recognizes any follow-up questions, like “How far is it from here?” as a human would — the system realizes you’re still asking about the White House, even without you mentioning the search term again. It’s an example of how anticipatory computing is moving the way we interact with devices from tapping or typing to predictive voice control.
It wasn’t a prediction on my part to see this development, rather just paying attention to the current technology and tweaking it a bit to fit into the alternate timeline of CoD/SCW. But still, kinda fun to see things going just the way I envision.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Connections, Feedback, Science Fiction, Wales, Writing stuff, YouTube | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Communion of Dreams, jim downey, Pistyll Rhaeadr, reviews, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, video, Wales, writing, www youtube
From near the beginning of Chapter 12 of Communion of Dreams:
“I found the reference that you asked me about regarding Mr. Sidwell and Wales.”
“Oh, really? That’s faster than I expected.”
“Well, as it turns out, there are quite a few scenic waterfalls in Wales, but only one that had an inn where someone lived during that time period. I’ve uploaded some images. Would you like to see them?”
“Sure.”
The first image that filled his sight was of a great waterfall, cascading over the top of a cliff in the middle of a shallow ‘V’ between two higher hills. The stream was narrow, white with spray around the edges. Oaks and pines grew on the sides of the hills near the falls, and there was some kind of archway of rock about two thirds of the way down. Near the foot was an old iron pedestrian bridge crossing the stream.
Seth’s voice narrated. “It’s called Pistyll Rheadr, one of the ‘seven wonders of Wales’. The drop you see there is about 75 meters.”
The next image was closer to the falls, taken, Jon guessed, from the bridge. Now he could clearly see the wonderful natural stone archway, and realized that the initial drop of the falls ended in a pool just behind that, then the water spilled out under the arch for another significant drop into the main pool below. From this vantage, the spray and splash of the water glimmered in the sunlight, coating nearby rocks, feeding the ancient moss that grew there. A path was clearly visible to the right-hand side of the falls, leading up the side of the mountain.
“This next image is taken from the top of the falls. The red structure you see below the falls on the left-hand side is the inn. I have more images, if you wish to see them.”
As Seth spoke, Jon saw the wide, ‘U’ shaped valley open out before him, the falls tumbling down and away in the right foreground. The hills on either side of the valley were lightly wooded here and there, but mostly given over to pasture. On the left-hand side of the image, a narrow blacktop road wound down the valley, echoing the stream’s flow. And there, as Seth said, was the inn.
“No, thanks, Seth, I think that’s enough. Pretty place.”
“So I understand.”
“I don’t see anything particularly noteworthy about it. But it sure seemed to make an impression on Darnell.”
Guess what chapter I’ve just started writing in St. Cybi’s Well. 😉
All water is graceful, be it a tear or a torrent.
Jim Downey
PS: new review up.
Filed under: Augmented Reality, Brave New World, Connections, Google, Humor, Science Fiction, StreetView, tech, Travel, Wales, Writing stuff | Tags: augmented reality, blogging, Easter egg, Google, Google Earth, Google Streetview, humor, jim downey, Llangybi, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, travel, Wales, writing, You Are There
An excerpt:
A very short distance down the road was another simple black and white sign which said “Llangybi”. There was a stone house not far past it, but no sign of a real town. Darnell kept going. He passed a few more homes and farms. Then he came to a split in the road and stopped, pulling off to the side in front of yet another stone house. There were some workmen on scaffolding at the near end of the house, doing something to the chimney.
Workmen? What workmen?
Why, these workmen. (It’s a Google Streetview location. You have to let it load, then activate it.)
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been doing a lot of double-checking of locations and descriptions using a variety of map tools. Google has made this very easy, between their satellite, Earth, and Streetview map apps. One thing I haven’t mentioned is that to amuse myself I have been including things actually caught in the Streetview images now and again, so that if anyone actually looks up a particular location I cite on Streetview, they will see what is described in the text. This has mostly applied to storefronts and the like, but also includes the occasional bit like the passage above — where a little later I have Darnell (the main character) actually stop and chat with these workmen, asking them for directions.
It’s a little thing which almost no one will ever discover, just my version of an Easter egg. And whenever Google updates the images used on these locations, they’ll no longer apply. But what the hell.
Jim Downey
*For those who don’t know of/remember the series.
Communion Of Dreams 