Holly Lisle: Writer

Three A.M. Wakeup: The NEXT Cadence Drake

Technically it was the thunder that woke me up, but the Longview story I’m writing now (#4, still without a title) had stirred up something in the back of my mind.

In Longview #4, there’s this game AI, you see. She’s really cool. Name is Retha.

And I got to thinking about her, and about other AIs like her in Settled Space, and then about Bashtyk Nokyd, and the future it looks like we’re building now.

And holy shit… Stuff started clicking, and I just finished putting together a concept for a radical rethink of The Wishbone Conspiracy.

Getting started on my Longview Hour now, but the fact that I lost a bunch of hours of sleep did not hurt my writing day at all.

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12 responses to “Three A.M. Wakeup: The NEXT Cadence Drake”

  1. Sylvia Avatar
    Sylvia

    Wonderful! So happy your creativity is running on all cylinders now. I’ve been buried in NaNoWriMo, lots of interference, struggling to finish. I tried my best to finish last night but couldn’t stay up any longer and had to go to bed. Then I had an odd, disturbing dream involving a baby! Today I was able to finish and validate. Was the baby in my dream my book? If so, I’m glad I had it, even if disturbing!

    Reply
  2. Tuff Gartin Avatar
    Tuff Gartin

    I haven’t woken up at 3am lately for anything but to pee. But very happy for you:) My ideas tend to wait until I’m in the shower the next morning, or during my evening jogs. But I do love it when the Muse is excessively forthcoming with ideas!

    Needing the Muse to give me the dang ending to my next short story right now. Muse is still on Thanksgiving Break I think! Rrrrr.

    Reply
    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Still more post-parathyroid-tumor-removal goodness. I’m back to having lost of nightmares, lots of dreams, and being flattened by story ideas when I roll out of bed (think stampeding wildabeests on the veldt).

      And my Muse asks your Muse, “What the most expected thing that could happen? And what if that happened, but caused the most unexpected result?”

      Reply
      1. Tuff Gartin Avatar
        Tuff Gartin

        Hopefully the nightmares end soon (unless you are enjoying them). Hate that for ya. But the story ideas are a huge bonus!

        My Muse needs to ponder your Muse’s question a bit. The reason for my struggle is that as I was writing my penultimate scene of my short story, my Muse delivered me a massive goodie about the way MC would actually react in a particular situation. MUCH BETTER! Much truer to her character and fit the intensity of her situation better. BUT, that little change occurs about midway through the short story and alters the rest of the story…in a great way. Except the original ending I had conceived no longer fits. I know where the ending needs to take place and I know the MC must bring down the villain there. But I have two pieces I’m trying to work out: (1) How can the MC get the villain (who she currently thinks is on her side, but must find out otherwise somehow) to that destination, and then (2) how can she bring him down. My Muse is being very stubborn with this information currently. Everything I think of sounds contrived or cheesey right now. I’m considering just ending it with something like “And MC convinces Villain to go to place where it all began and kills him somehow” and leave it at that and start revising and see if the revelation hits me then as I work through the revision process and see if I can’t get LUC to help me out.

        Reply
        1. Ava Fairhall Avatar
          Ava Fairhall

          Start writing it, the lightning will strike eventually. Alternatively, tell you Muse this cheesy excuse will be what is written in unless you come up with a better alternative. Or even better, ask your villain: what would make you go back to where it all began? And write down what you get. Then all you have to do is think of a way to get your MC to come up with one or more of those ideas.

          Reply
          1. Tuff Gartin Avatar
            Tuff Gartin

            Ah, the o’ fake-a-roo on the Muse. I like it.

            Your 2nd option is what I have decided to do. The Muse did deliver me something overnight last night…hit me in the shower this morning. I now have the villain going to the destination and I know how the MC is going to find out the villain is actually trying to kidnap her for ransom rather than help her escape the other bad guys in the story. So now I just have to figure out how the MC brings down the villain. So tonight I’m going to start doing your first suggestion (start writing it and hoping lightning will strike at the very end). I’ll get there!

            I appreciate your feedback and ideas Ava. I will remember the fake-a-roo strategy. Never tried that one before. Never had to up to now. Guess the Muse gets more and more stubborn as I write more?

            Reply
        2. Holly Lisle Avatar
          Holly Lisle

          I don’t love the nightmares, but they mean my brain is working the right way — for me at least. During the last many years with the parathyroid tumor, I didn’t dream. Didn’t have nightmares either.

          And the fiction-creating part of me got very quiet. Now I’m back to being bombarded by story ideas, back to finding story words flowing when I write.

          Now I’m back.

          Reply
          1. Tuff Gartin Avatar
            Tuff Gartin

            That’s awesome! I know that makes you do a happy dance every day you write now:) Makes me happy for you. And your readers are the beneficiaries!

            It is interesting how people are different. I rarely dream any more. Haven’t dreamed much since my late twenties. When I do, it will either be a nightmare or of a sexual nature (hmmm, does that mean my sex life is a nightmare?). But I will go months between either, then have 2 – 5 in a matter of a week or so, then months again, and the cycle repeats. I’m a very deep sleeper though, so I may be having them and not remembering them?

            Reply
  3. dragon Avatar
    dragon

    Sounds wonderful.

    Reply
  4. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    Aren’t 3am wakeup calls wonderful?

    Reply
  5. Deb Salisbury Avatar
    Deb Salisbury

    Cool! I love it when ideas click together. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Me, too. 😀

      Reply

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