Aim For The Heart: August 2007

I've blogged in the past about this website on my MySpace page, but if you haven't had a chance to check out the new The Electric Church site, be sure to give it a try. It's an awesome example of how the Internet can work to make books a more interactive experience. It offers an Alternate Reality Game, which I first came across when the movie, A.I. was being promoted.

The book is due in September, and having already read it, I can say it's truly awesome. I plan to buy it the day it's released and read it again.

Here's the blurb from Amazon:

"In the near future, the only thing growing faster than the criminal population is the Electric Church, a new religion founded by a mysterious man named Dennis Squalor. The Church preaches that life is too brief to contemplate the mysteries of the universe: eternity is required. In order to achieve this, the converted become Monks -- cyborgs with human brains, enhanced robotic bodies, and virtually unlimited life spans.

"Enter Avery Cates, a dangerous criminal known as the best killer-for-hire around. The authorities have a special mission in mind for Cates: assassinate Dennis Squalor. But for Cates, the assignment will be the most dangerous job he's ever undertaken -- and it may well be his last."

I wrote the last page of my most recent work-in-progress (WIP) today. And I've almost narrowed down the genre of the book! Win.

I'm not done with the first draft; not even close. I probably have another 50-100 pages to write (12K-25K words) in the middle (at least three major scenes I know of). Draft #2 will add another 50-100 pages. Don't ask me why I work this way; I haven't a clue. But it works, so I do it.

Right now the story has no personality. It has a plot; it has characters--though if you read it, you'd think they were all schizophrenic, since personalities change on the fly--and it has setting. It still has a long way to go, but I'm excited to have something I really like.

Tell me all about your current WIP.

My five-year-old niece has her own email address now. She sent me an email the other day thanking me for having her over.

Aside: We had a family Wii gaming night last Saturday, and it was a big hit. My sister (the niece's mother) brought over her two controllers, and we played on our big projector screen. Everyone loves the Wii. Seriously. Everyone. My parents want one, and they've never wanted to play games before. My brother probably bought one for his family before the weekend was up.

Anyway, my niece, as I mentioned is five. She reads at about a third-grade level according to my mom. (My mom teaches children with learning disabilities, so she knows reading levels.) At two, my niece could read her letters. By three, she could write her name. Now at five, she's sending me emails she wrote herself on her own email address. (The way I understand the email account, it's whitelist contacts only, and all emails go through my sister for approval first.)

Oh, and the smartass part? We were playing Wii Sports, bowling. My niece bowls around a 195 on the game (Did I mention she's five?!) She walks by as her mom was getting ready to bowl, looks over her shoulder, and says, "I told you to use the 'A' button, woman!"

Everyone was laughing too hard to think about getting on to her for her mouth.

I remember seeing this first on Miss Snark's blog. I decided to use it on my website to show an assortment of books I've recently read. You can set it to show recently added books or a random selection from your library. Pretty nifty, eh?

OK, so the sun isn't really shining. In fact, it's storming again. And the birds aren't singing either, though the outdoor emergency alarm went off for its monthly test. But the bacon salt did arrive. Oh, yes, indeed.

And this stuff is good! I had the regular on a grilled cheese sandwich and the pepper flavor in my split pea soup. Now I should buy food solely for the purpose of adding bacon salt to it. It's almost enough to make me want to eat a baked potato. Almost. Not quite, though.