… and no better music to do that than “Why So Serious?” from the Dark Knight soundtrack. This is the last full week I have to work, and then I get a couple of days off for National Midget
Face-Shooting Day. Another month and a half, and then it’s the big vacation for a week and a half (my birthday falls in there somewhere) and the release of Halo 4. So, yeah – I’m pretty jazzed up about the next couple of months. Even more so when the novel gets finished and sent off for the serious editing – I did find a bit of software online to help with the onerous part of edit: finding repeated words, clichés, etc. It’s called Smart-Edit and I tried it a couple of times. It works as advertised: highlights words used a lot, hunts down adverbs and clichés for you to decide which one gets used. A lot of useful stuff is out there, thank God I found it.

One of the issues I am having while plotting out I/O Error is the idea of emotion being shown-but-not-shown. The androids are made to be as human as possible, even to the point where they’re talking to each other rather than using wireless links to send data (a point brought up by someone in my writing group). They have varying levels of interaction based on their function: Gale is going to be the most ‘human’ out of the group because of her role in Guest Services. I’m thinking the least would be Selma in Engineering – not around humans that much and the ones she is around would be more interested in her as a machine than a person. Anyways, Gale can fake the emotions when needed and this is part of the conflict between her and the others. After all, when someone acts odd for an extended period of time – we try to put some distance between them and us (unless you’re a fan of the ‘Jerry Springer Show’, then its wedding bells and fistfights). The same thing with the androids, which leads me to the ending that would look great in the movies, but I’m still working on it in my head as far as getting there. I supposed the theme of the story is going to be ‘the outsider among us’. I think this project is going to be harder than the current project because with Rhona and Anya, I can show emotions (and that’s the crux of the conflict) easily with them. In I/O Error, they’re very polite and firm about what is protocol and what isn’t. The climatic meeting in the middle of the novel is going to sound more like a passive-aggressive Parent/Teacher Conference. I’m wondering if this is a good idea or not.

Anyways – I’m flipping my .mp3 player back to “Why So Serious?” If there ever was a sound for crazy, it’s the beginning buzz in the music. I played it on a loop when I was writing the final fight in the novel. I liked how the song was paced: moments of frenetic motion followed by patient stillness – which is how I imagined the final fight between Anya and her opponent (I don’t want to give anything away). Well, I should actually get back to that so I can finish it. I know that I am going to be nothing but unproductive next Tuesday. Have fun everyone.

Sincerely

Seething Apathy