A sudden fiction thing that I’ve tried writing before. Never been particularly successful at getting the… whatever it is I’m trying to get, but that doesn’t stop me from poking at it.
I still don’t know what I’m going to do for NaNoWriMo…
While we walked he kept a hand thrust out towards the highway, thumb extended.
“Warding charm,” he said in response to my look. “We don’t want anyone to notice us while we’re out here; this makes sure they won’t. Virtually fool-proof except for the actual fools willing to pull over.”
“What do you do with them?”
He shrugged, his shoulders sliding oddly beneath the long coat. “Let them see what I really look like. Most of them assume it’s some bad acid coming back up or a warning from god or something and take off.”
“That’s who pulls over?”
He nodded. “Hippies and good samaritans; they’re both dying out, though, so it doesn’t come up much as it used to. The sixties were a pain in the ass.”
NaNoWriMo IV
Our demographic surveys indicate that many of you will be employed throughout October and November. Because work tends to interfere with the creative process, our team of negotiators have brokered special deals with your managers and bosses. For the next two months, any time spent planning your novel, writing your novel, or chatting online about your plans for writing a novel, will be considered Company Time and will be paid accordingly by your supervisor. Your employers feel that is the least they can do for you.
Also, they say you can print out your novel on the company laser printer when you’re finished.
I really wish I knew what I was going to write. My brain is all cloudy and befoggled.
Grammar
From Baen’s Bar:
On the use of quotations: Every stylebook I have checked agrees. The form should be:
“Is he ill?” she asked.
The question mark goes within the quotation marks and the “s” in “she” is lowercase. It is one sentence, not two.
In all styles I checked, the comma goes inside the quotation marks unless the matter inside those marks is a single word used as a term. Thus the sentence:
He called it a “term”, but I disagree.
is correct. But it is correct only in one style, APA, which is an ugly style anyway. Chicago allows it with the use of single quotation marks surrounding a term, though it recommends using italics; and everyone else says to put the comma inside the quotation marks.
The general rule is that commas and periods go inside the quotation marks and other punctuation goes inside _only_ if it refers to the matter within the quote. Thus you might get:
Did she say, “He is sick”?
Please remember when you are arguing over grammar that it is a very fluid thing. The grammar that was considered standard
in the mid-1800s is considered outrageous today. That is how it should be, since English is still being used by living people. And much of what we call grammar is really a matter of style, which is whatever editors decide it is.
Much of what you learned about grammar in elementary and high school is folklore. Almost every grammarian spends at least a page laughing over the silly rules your teachers gave you.
So when you argue over grammar, try to remember that there are very few, if any, hard rules. There are, however, quite a few “nonrules” that seem to generate a lot of heat. Most important, remember that the only reason for grammar is to
make it easier for the reader to understand what you mean. So if you have to break a rule, break it. Heck, I doubt that most of us are any good with rules in the rest of our lives. It seems silly to
become upset with them here.
For those who are looking for easy grammar books, I recommend two that have helped me: Bernstein’s The Careful Writer and the AP Stylebook. They are easy to use and also fun to read.
Some sort of conclusion…
I want to thank my sponsors for all their support. You guys are the best.
I want to thank all my readers. You helped me get through this thing, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
This effort, the money we raised for CapCURE, and especially Vayland Rd. are dedicated to my Dad, who’s dealing with goblins of his own right now.
You keep swinging, old man; I’ll keep handing you the heavy sticks.
~ Home ~
We got home with the sun coming up. Time was weird along the Vayland Road I guess; by the clock in the kitchen my part had been only about 24 hours. It seemed longer.
Dad was… well, no, he’s wasn’t alright, but he made it; he wasn’t talking about it much, and I suppose I knew why as well as anyone. It was just the way life worked and you dealt with it even when it got strange.
There weren’t happily ever afters, because it’s never really the end, is it?
~ The Talk ~
One of the real people walked up to him. He was limping, and had a
my
gun in his off-hand. There was a big stick in the other. Steven looked up at his face with its hurt eyes, and frowned. Familiar…
”It’s time to go home, Dad,” the young man said.
”I think that he will stay here.” Churkk’s voice was the same as always.
The other one glared. “His choice, not yours.”
”Or yours.”
The young man shrugged and nodded that he knew. Steven could feel Churkk’s surprise that he
Sean?
understood that much. He —
”Dad?”
Steven looked up.
”I’m here.”
is he?
”Can we go?”
do you dare?
Nothing.
do you dare?
Churkk chuckled into the silence. It sounded like someone with a collapsed lung. “Seems ‘e might stay with me.”
The man glared again. “He can do what he likes, but I’ll still cave your head in.”
“The end result ‘s the same. What d’you think, Steven?”
Churkk was doing more than asking. He could feel the needles pulling.
”You let him –”
”Sean.”
The young man jumped. “Dad? Are you–”
”Give me that stick.” Steven’s head was very heavy.
Silence.
”Give it to me.”
Sean did. One of the others behind him make a noise… not even a word. It was Churkk that finally spoke. “He understands, Sean.” There was a dry rasping sound as it licked its lips. “You’ll understand too, someday. Heh.”
”Damned if I will.” Sean said flatly.
Steven’s head came up.
Damned if I will.
Steven turned and swung, as hard as he could.
Sean almost killed a cow with this damned thing when he was fifteen; s’why he only got to use it around the bulls after that.
Steven only swung once. After that, everything was quiet.
~ The Fight ~
The morning didn’t come the way Steven thought it would. It was much noisier. There were screams and people hollering
dirt-eaterrrrrs!
and sounds like an echoing crack.
I know that sound. Don’t I?
Then his cage shook and one of the camp was leaning against his cage. Their beady eyes were looking straight in at him, but they were cloudy. Blank.
Dead.
It’s knife had fallen just outside the
not my
cage. Much easier than working the ties.
Moving very slowly, so that he wouldn’t have to argue with the other voice, he reached out for the tool and started to cut. The camp got quieter around him. The little explosions stopped
ran out of shells
somewhere in the middle. He got the gate open and pushed. Easy. He dropped the knife on the floor of the cage and crawled out.
A few feet away, three real people stood.
Churkk was right behind him.