Memoirs of a Space Corsair
Aspiring.org goes international
Good day folks, or as they say where I am now dobry den (or ahoy).
I'm currently on holiday in in the beautiful city of Prague. Only been here a day, but the creative juices are flowing (get your mind out of the gutter I meant the intellectual ones). So far in MSC (Memoirs of a space corsair) we've not done much but there is our first proper space battle coming up, and some actual piracy - I'm going to base the world they go to fence.their ill gotten gains on the Czech capital I think. It makes sense, the more we leave where we came from, the more we try to capture the spirit of what we left... so in the future major colonies will be heavily influenced by their language/ethic groups in architecture and design. The architecture here is beautiful that it needs to be preserved in some fashion by the Czech speaking people 500 years from now.
I think it will be especially true of language/ethnic groups that lost much of their homes on Earth during the wars of 100 years from now. Well its war or catastrophic after affect of going over the green cliff (entirely depends how preachy I'm feeling when I write it).
Just need to break my current chapter and the show will really get going.
Here We Go Again…
I never meant for there to be so long between chapters, however, I kind of got stuck, so much going on in life. Of course work is the biggest drain on my creativity, but as I've mentioned before, it pays the bills, so has to come first.
However, there is a new first, and that is my beautiful niece Phoebe, born two weeks ago today. She's amazing - well amazing probably isn't the most accurate description so far she's learned to sleep, poop, and cry, but who knows what she'll be doing this time next week.
Also, I have a pretty significant problem which interferes with my ability to write for any length of time. I started with carpal tunnel syndrome a few weeks ago, it was, and still is, really bad in my left hand, however now my right hand has all the symptoms too. I know have tubigrip covering both my arms in an effort to find release.
Carpal tunnel snydrome kind of caught me by surprise, I never thought i'd feel pain like this - even know as I type everytime I stretch to hit a key the pain is there, but ther are times when its excrutiating, especially at night. I've known people that suffered, and heard of plenty more - but I always figured it was constant discomfort rather than pain.
It does mean the limited time, and energy I have in my life for writing his decreased considerably, because I can literally only write during times the pain isn't so bad.
I'm not giving in though, in a couple of chapters time, Memoirs of a Space Corsair is really going to take off, and get into the exciting adventures in space, and I fully intend to enjoy it.
Meanwhile, while the muse is with me, and I'm able to write I'm trying to get as much of chapter five done as I can, since its a day off work today, but back tomorrow.
Stop the presses! Shocking news, I love Technology says blogger with umpteen laptops and mobile phones.
I love technology - I really do. I love gadgets, I think gadgets make my life better – though I don't believe they make the world better (but that's another issue I'll sidestep). I can't help it, I'm a geek, it has to be bigger faster, smarter, and shinier than what came before. I want bells and whistles, I want it all. Yes, I said bigger – size does matter, I don't want a mobile phone the size an ants nut.
Doesn't matter with its a pen, a computer, or a phone - more technology is simply better, in my universe. Zero technology has its place, I mean sitting their doodling with an e-pen is kind of a waste, and drawing is better with a pencil on paper. That said, I have an Amazon Kindle, and it is all kinds of fantastic, and I don't feel the urge to go back to the printed word.
My point is, as I mentioned I love technology. However, in a strange kind of way I'm a traditionalist, I like my technology to be technological. I like that sometimes it requires a bit of brain power, some intuition, and a touch of luck to find my way round a piece of technology. I don't want a smooth easy user experience, if I end up with one, I'll only break down the veneer of civilisation covering the rugged peaks and valleys of performance that makes technology grand. I don't want easy, I want fun.
For me, its about fun – at the end of the day I don't need any of it, I could suffice with just the basics, even down to going back to pen, paper, and the printed world, I'd find myself happy enough at that. However, I do so enjoy new gadgets, new toys.
I've finally replaced my crappy Nokia 5800, I now have an HTC Desire running Android (which I'll be upgrading to Android 2.2 this evening, I'm far too impatient to wait for HTC's own upgrade of the operating system). Its an absolutely fabulous piece of technology – I don't even mind not having the things I normally miss in a phone (a physical qwerty screen, and resistive touchscreen). Okay, its not great for writing my Nokia E71 was, but it gets by, for short pieces, writing up ideas and such. I do feel kind of dirty, I'm not usually a Google fan (in fact I think Google are out of control, but those kind of things fix themselves in time, and my surrender to their mobile technology is hardly going to delay the downfall). Compared side by side with an iPhone (3GS, not 4, since I know no one with the new iPhone), and the HTC Desire wins hands down on all the bits that matter to me… and that really is the only measure that counts.
I did fancy the Motorola Milestone, but the new one is out soon – and I'm happy enough for the improvements to that to pick it up in a year's time when its cheaper. The first Milestone has a keyboard its true (major appeal), but its not the greatest writing surface, so figured I'd survive well enough just the touchscreen.
There are some things I do miss about the Symbian operating system, but Android isn't that different, its just as open and customisable – and it is firmly current generation, the aging Symbian system does feel old hat. Symbian^3 is out soon, and it looks swish (the whole N8 does), but for me, it hasn't come far enough from what I've seen of it. Who knows what Nokia will have out in a year's time, they look like to put out many phones, to match a whole host of needs – maybe Symbian^3 will come on in leaps and bounds, and it will leave Android and Apple with a massive headache as that hill they've been climbing to be a major mobile phone player suddenly becomes a lot steeper.
What I look forward to is the day we go buy our mobile phones from any company we want, and can then choose what operating system to have it on it. We're getting there, I hear tell rumours that Windows Mobile 7 might be installable on some Android devices, not sure if its vice versa or not. Of course, a model like that would lead to us having to pay for a phone, and the operating system, because licensing deals with manufacturers would go out the window.
In other technology news, my netbook is now at the point where its my perfect travel companion, its running Windows 7, has an extra gig of ram, and now has an extra large battery, combined with its existing smaller battery I can get quite a bit of time out of it between charges (between five and six hours), which is perfect for my holiday to Prague in four weeks time, and my following trip to the British Science Festival two weeks after that.
So yes, if you didn't get the message, I love technology.
MSC – Nordenskjöld – Slavery
Title: Memoirs of a Space Corsair – Nordenskjöld – Slavery
Author: Jonathan L. Lawrence (Sage/JL Legend on this blog)
Genre: Science fiction
Word Count: 6,796
Warnings/Spoilers: There is violence, foul language, and references other things that may upset the reader, including reference to (but not description thereof) of non-consensual sexual activity.
Credits: Everyone who reads my blog, and has put up with my failed promises of writing, and those following me on Twitter that put up with my Tweets as I was writing and editing this.
Disclaimer: This is entirely an original story, all copyright to this works, and associated works with these characters and the universe I have created belong to me (Jonathan L. Lawrence) and me alone. I do not sanction the use of my ideas anywhere else, other than for linking back to source, and fair use. Please go here to learn more about copyright: Copyright Service
Summary: This is the third instalment in a regular series I am trying to create, set some five hundred years in the future; it follows the trial and tribulations of one man as he tries to survive in a hostile galaxy. In the process, he will become a famous pirate with a cause, a corsair. Arsène Frassin recounts to us himself his life, and we are still early in his adventures. HE has survived captured by pirates, and life in captivity, now the next phase begins – slavery. The fourth chapter in this tale will be forthcoming, however enjoy the third chapter. If you’ve not read the earlier chapters they can be found at:
1st Chapter – Captivity Part One – Terrors of Space
2nd Chapter – Captivity Part Two – Induction
It was maybe an hour after I gave my rousing speech that the door opened. Chris Garland, Connor Wilde, Tim Murail, Garth Bruch, and Terry (I didn’t yet know his real name), all gathered by me, I was now the de facto leader of our motley group. We were waifs, captives of unknown people, some of us had served with me as labourers aboard the Reina del Mar, a luxury space liner, the others had their own stories, all of us had our horrors to bear. However an hour before we had declared ourselves survivors, and whatever was thrown at us with this door opening, after a month of captivity, we would survive, and eventually earn our freedom. That I swore to myself as much to the others.
We were currently held in quarantine with slavers, and the night before we had been told that today we would be sold. Slavery wasn’t practiced in the Epsilon Eridani system, which was home to a large number of us, and we didn’t really know what to expect, other than what we had read about, or seen in vids.
We had known the door was about to open, the light that came through the small window in the door had been blocked briefly. Now as the door opened, we saw a man stood there. Previously, the only outsiders we had seen had been masked, in case we carried an infection of some variety, but this man had no mask.
I recognised him immediately from his eyes though, he had pretty much been with us since we arrived from our capture and transit by pirates to this space station. I didn’t know him really, he had barely said a word, but at the same time, I did have an affinity with him, having been with us since the beginning.
“Out,” he said in English, but with an accent I didn’t recognise, but gestured us to follow him.
We did as we were told, we had no option, the previous night, we had acted out against a traitor in our midst, and we had seen how they dealt with us. I still ached from the repeated hits by some sort of club or bat that had shocked me even as it battered me. Connor too knew the terrifying effect of those bats, having led the violence and earned a beating following by a club to the head with one of those things. Fortunately other than pain, it didn’t seem to have lasting effects, or I would have dreaded what a blow to the head with one could have done.
As we stepped into the corridor, there were wash basins, and fresh overalls to change into. This usually happened once a week, but we had been through this yesterday - obviously we were to look clean and healthy before being sold in. Maybe it raised the price, we had been told by the traitor that fit and healthy slaves sold better, that is why we had had the relative comforts of our current cell.
A prison was a prison to me back then, but I must admit, it was a massive improvement on the month or so, we had spent in transit aboard the pirate ship that brought us to this station, there we had lived in squalid filth, with the only consideration to our wellbeing, a tube that fed a slop into a trough for us to eat. Here we had been fed meat and vegetables, given medication, been allowed to wash, and had a form of toilet to use, rather than just a corner of our cell.
All in all, looking back it may have been a cage, but it had its comforts. None of us knew what comforts, if any, would exist as we left this place.
Some site admin stuff…
Okay, I've been making some changes to the design of Aspiring.org. Its with good reason, I loved the last look - but it was getting a bit dull, worse it wasn't the most pleasant feed to read large bodies of text from. Fine for poetry, not for story telling.
I quite like the current theme, it seems a bit easier to read, but I will keep looking for that one pristine reading theme. I was tempted to find a plug in though, that allowed categories to have different themes set from the default. May be too messy for my liking though, I like a theme to run through, suits the Virgo in me.
Another change I've made is to install a plug-in that links a page to a category, and in a quick format lists all posts in said category. I figure this would be more helpful for storing the posts, plus I can build up the blurb (which I keep meaning to do), to help maybe get a hit or two off the search engines. You can see the one for Memoirs of a Space Corsair here. I'll hopefully be doing one for poetry too, just to make everything nice and accessible, and its listed in order of publishing (where as right now if you go to a category you see the most recent post - the two different views will hopefully suit new visitors, and returning visitors as they like).
Speaking of hits from search engines, most of my search engine traffic comes from people searching for 27th birthday poems, I wonder what they thought of mine when that turned up as the number six search result in Google. Actually my post is slipping a bit, it was third in the rankings, still it intrigues me though, and I'm wondering what will happen to my 28th birthday poem this September.
Anyway, just a quick admin message, hopefully a new chapter will be up tomorrow, if not then next Saturday. I was going to try and get loads written this weekend, however I was distracted by an amazing 24 Hours of Le Mans race, which I stayed up for and watched mostly from beginning to end (I think I clocked 20 hours, with two naps to see me through), and then of course an equally amazing (but thankfully shorter), formula one race from Canada. An absolutely fantastic weekend of sport, the only blip being a poor performance by England in the World Cup, but I'm not as into football, and not as excited as I usually am about the World Cup, so it didn't spoil anything. I'll also get some notes and thoughts about MSC written up - which I'm shaping into an authors commentary, over time.
Lastly if you have any problems with the new layout let me know, unless its to say I've no sense of style and/or colour, I already know but you can say so anyway.
MSC – Captivity Part Two – Induction
Title: Memoirs of a Space Corsair - Captivity Part Two - Induction
Author: Jonathan L. Lawrence (Sage on this blog)
Genre: Science fiction
Word Count: 7,863
Warnings/Spoilers: There is violence, foul language, and conditions of torture that may be uncomfortable for some
Credits: Everyone who reads my blog, and has put up with my failed promises of writing, and those following me on Twitter that put up with my Tweets as I was writing and editing this.
Disclaimer: This is entirely an original story, all copyright to this works, and associated works with these characters, and the universe I have created belong to my (Jonathan L. Lawrence), and me alone. I do not sanction the use of my ideas anywhere else, other than for linking back to source, and fair use. Please go here to learn more about copyright: Copyright Service
Summary: This is the second instalment in a regular series I am trying to create, set some five hundred years in the futures, it follows the trial and tribulations of one man as he tries to survive in a hostile galaxy. In the process, he will become a famous pirate with a cause, a corsair. However, we’re not there yet, first we must learn where our intrepid anti-hero comes from, this second chapter follows on directly from the events of the first, after being captured by an unknown party from the Reina del Mar, a luxury liner, and seeing many of his friends die, or be maimed, he know must traverse a new reality, and find the steel within himself to be who he must be to survive. The third chapter in this tale will be forthcoming, however enjoy the second chapter. If you've not read the first chapter, it can be found here.
As I wallowed, selfishly, in my own misery, after having dug for days through foul refuse, I barely even registered the jolt in the room. Chris did however.
"What was that?" he exclaimed.
"What?" I asked, only realising the jolt had happened after I responded.
"I felt it," Garth said, "The whole room bumped."
"What do you think it was?" Tim asked.
None of us knew, but we hoped it was the start of the end of our captivity. Whatever it was, for the first time since we had been locked up, it was a change to our situation not of our own making. We had been in our cell for weeks, during that time we had seen neither sight nor sound of anyone else, but the four of us here. We had been captured on the Reina del Mar, a luxury space cruiser, where we each of the four were labourers. With me were Chris (a good friend), and two others, Tim and Garth, who I wasn't that well acquainted with. I think, had things worked out differently, all four of us would have had a bond for life having shared the same hell.
If we thought that jolt was somehow exciting, half an hour later we practically jibbering hens as sirens went off.
"What is it?" we asked in various forms, as if more information would be revealed by repeatedly asking.
The siren paid us no heed though, it just kept going. It was a klaxon noise, a high pitched noise, followed two lower pitch noises.
It was Garth who recognised it first.
"It’s a docking alarm," Garth said, feeling a bit of confidence from how we suddenly all gathered round him, he was now the centre of our group, the man with the information.
"Go on," we urged him.
"Well back on the Reina del Mar, I do some work in the cargo hold when we docked at stations. That sounds like the buzzer that was used when the cargo doors opened," he said proudly informing us. "We must have docked," he added.
"Wonder where we are?" Chris asked.
Garth just shrugged, he had given us all the information we had. It didn't stop us speculating, and for the next hour, in fact that’s all we did.
Our theories ranged from the rescue we all hoped for by one of the major navies of this area of space, to the less certain prospect of one pirate ship in battle with another, that was now being boarded.
We had no real ideas, until there was another jolt, this one was much heavier, and definitely involved our area of the ship. We had the sensation of being moved, (something you don't really feel on a ship, due to the inertial dampeners in place, and the gravity plating commonly employed on large ships), with the occasional sudden jolt. We were sent careening across the room one time at a sudden sharp jolt.
After that there was nothing, even the sound of the klaxon was replaced by silence. By now were tired, smelly, dirty, bruised, battered and hungry, Garth had a nose bleed from when he fell. We were completely miserable and would have done anything to escape - only there was absolutely nothing left to do, but wait.
As it was, we only had to wait an hour (as far as I could estimate), before there was activity once more. This time noises came from the door, a stiff cranking sound, followed by a hiss of depressurisation.
MSC – Captivity Part One – Terrors of Space
Title: Memoirs of a Space Corsair - Captivity Part One - Terrors of Space
Author: Jonathan L. Lawrence (Sage on this blog)
Genre: Science fiction
Word Count: 6,192
Warnings/Spoilers: There is a bit of violence, foul language, and conditions of torture that may be uncomfortable for some
Credits: Everyone who reads my blog, and has put up with my failed promises of writing, and those following me on Twitter that put up with my Tweets as I was writing and editing this.
Disclaimer: © Jonathan L. Lawrence, 2010. This is entirely an original story, all copyright to this works, and associated works with these characters, and the universe I have created belong to me, (Jonathan L. Lawrence), and me alone. I do not sanction the use of my ideas anywhere else, other than for linking back to source, and fair use. Please go here to learn more about copyright: Copyright Service
Summary: This is the first instalment in a regular series I am trying to create, set some five hundred years in the futures, it follows the trial and tribulations of one man as he tries to survive in a hostile galaxy. In the process, he will become a famous pirate with a cause, a corsair. However, we’re not there yet, first we must learn where our intrepid anti-hero comes from, this first chapter is about his launch into space, and the terrifying consequences of his reach for the stars. The second chapter in this tale will be forthcoming, however in the meantime enjoy this opening salvo of what will hopefully be a long and fulfilling tale.
It’s been a hell of a life.
I don't know who will read this or why, maybe it will make this humble man famous, and infuriate those that mean my end. I do not know. I can only hope, a true account of my life leaks out, and pisses off those that seek to vilify me, more than my due anyway. In small acts of vengeance a wrong man can find comfort I guess.
I sit here writing this in relatively sanitary conditions, (compared with some of my other experiences), a prisoner of corruption and criminals, you probably know the type, the ones that style themselves as "leaders of men", the governments of this galaxy.
If this is the end, it’s been a hell of a life, and I wanted to tell my side of it.
My name is Arsène Frassin, formerly of Pôle Nord, Epsilon Eridani c.
I was born there sixty-four years ago, in the Spring of 2522 (or 392PC depending on where you’re from). My father was a bureaucrat, a port accountant, my mother a store clerk at our town's OriMart (a retail wholesaler). You might think, given the account of my life I am about to retell, I would have had a hard, or repressive childhood, but actually it was okay, until I ventured into space. I went to a middle of the road school, nothing fancy, but efficient, well meaning, and thorough, did well enough academically, though I would say that it left me completely unprepared for the realities of life – there are some things I have learnt you just can’t teach, but I wish they could have.
On our town habitat on Eridani c, near the poles (appropriately named Pôle Nord as I mentioned), most of the business and job opportunities revolved around trade, transport and administration. Areas near the poles are the easiest and most efficient to land ships, and have them take off again after. Even with the relatively light atmosphere and gravity of our small planet, this was important. My first job was with the warehouse retailer where my mother worked, however I soon found it wasn't the career for me. I tried to join the local civil service, however times were tough and they weren't employing, despite my father’s position (which was recognised for its importance). Staying in our home city was limiting, it was a specialised place, however all my life I had watched ships land and take off, ships that had drifted among the stars themselves, travelling from world to world, across vast distances.
That I knew, back then, was what I wanted to do. I wanted to sail through the vastness of space, see alien worlds, and become one with the stars. I really did describe it as such back then, the wonders of youth, the poetical vision. I could have sought employment in other areas of our world, my education was good enough to apprentice in a number of positions, but space filled my vision and my dreams.
The following year I was old enough (15) to accept a commission aboard a star liner, and I signed up straight away. Star Liners were huge ships, carrying masses of people, and tonnes of cargo, and they were always hiring. I was to be a cleaner, I reasoned, being smart, and eager I would quickly rise up the ranks, and such a lowly position wouldn’t hold me for long, so it didn’t matter as long as I was sailing. Again the wonders of youth at such an innocent view of life, optimism abounded as I ventured into unknown waters.
I had only a week to get ready after signing up before I was to leave aboard the behemoth ship. I bid my farewells to my family, travelled round, having meals with relatives that I wouldn't see again for four years (which was a "season", or the standard length of a single term commission aboard space craft back then).
The ship I was commissioned on was the Norstel Spaceways deluxe cruiser Reina del Mar, which was only a moderate size ship, but of opulent quality for its high fare paying guests, and more than big enough to make my eyes bulge as I watched out through a scope hovering in space as its shuttles ferried back and forth.
Another update – but good news!
Well the time has finally come, I'm going to actually show some brand new original writing on my part.
The first two chapters of my Memoirs of a Space Corsair are completed, and edited (though I offer no gaurentee to the quality of my self-editing, especially in the small hours of the morning). I've really gone for a bleak start to my characters adventures, and the third chapter will largely be bleak, though of course I can not keep it in such bleak a circumstance, I'm fairly sure if it continued into a fourth chapter, Arsène Frassin (my main character), would probably but aside his principles and simply off himself. He's been through a lot, poor lad.
Hopefully these first two chapters give you a hint of the potential in this boy, trapped by circumstance. It is the foundation for the character, and ultimately the whole series of stories I have planned.
Hopefully, once we move out of these initial chapters, each entry will actually work as its own short story, but feed into the overall plot I intend. However, I must admit, the first three chapters, and possibly into the fourth are sequential, and intended to be read as such. I want to try and keep a word count of between 5,000 and 10,000 per instalment, just because its neater than trying to read 30,000 words in a single posting, and more convenient for the style of writing I want to achieve. As we do move into later chapters, and each adventure is one instalment (albeit with the possibility of an adventure or two being split across two instalments), it should feel a bit more like the pulp fiction of the first half of the twentieth century. I suppose I should come up with a garish and extravagant cover or two to go with milestones in my story.
I am finding this project very exciting, and its been relatively easy to write (albeit in between work, and family), but I can honestly say, the editing has been a lot tougher. I'm sure if I were to re-read either chapter through right now, I'd probably find another hour or two of changes to be made. There is little time for that before the first chapter publishes, so I shall let it lie, plenty of time before the scheduler posts up the second chapter though.
I had to have a little think about the impact of posting a story online, just as with poetry, I want to share my creative works, but a part of you does wonder, what would I do if someone misappropriated my ideas? I've of course added "© Jonathan L. Lawrence, 2010", but also a disclaimer at the beginning, spelling out that this is mine, and mine alone. This may be overkill - however when I ran forum for writers, way back when, the issue of copyright did come up, and I can appreciate the wronged parties point of view.
I want to do a post on copyright, (I did do one previously, but it was more an idea, rather than a real look at the subject), and will probably do this week. I sometimes think copyright isn't really reflective of the time, yet at the same time, I want my creative works protected as I share it with the world. There has to be a balance somewhere, and maybe it lies with the creators rather than the law to find that balance. Of course I am, in my small, untalented way, a creator, so I'm biased.
Anyway, I hope you read and enjoy the first two chapters, and I hope not keep those that do enjoy it waiting with the third and fourth.
Au revoir,
Sage
P.S. Feedback, good or bad, is always welcome - it makes me feel important that someone felt enough about what I've written that they would say something about it. I am an egotist after all is said and done, otherwise I wouldn't be here. Plus, it might just help shape me into a real writer, then if I was ever published, I'd have to acknowledge your contribution - (bribery gets you everywhere, or it does in Arsène's corrupt world).
Writing Music Playlist Summer 2010
I'm a big fan of writing while listening to music, with the right music it can keep me going, and focused on the job. It was so effective last night I didn't stop writing until 4am, which was nice. Fortunately I'm on a week off, (yes, I know I had one of those this time last month as well, my colleague likes to tell me that I've got "More holidays than Judith Chalmers"), so I'm free to write at all the odd hours. Its quite liberating waking up at 2pm, and writing until 4am - or whatever other time feels right.
So, yes writing with music really does help me. Of course it has to be the right music, it can't be too exciting, or too catchy, and anything below three and a half minutes should be considered carefully - if the songs are changing too much you'll pay more attention to the change. Or I would anyway, but I am easily distrac...
Ooooh Diet Coke, thanks.
Where was I? Oh yes, I'm easily distracted. Back last year, I had planned to do monthly ten song playlists - but I got distracted, I also got writers block, so it never really happened. What I've done this time, now I'm writing again, is to make a longer playlist, and call it a seasonal writing playlist.
I've got quite a mix of music in my summer version, it’s mostly easy listening, rock, and alternative, with a touch of pop - it works well as background music, while still giving pace to help put fire into the writing process.
If you other suggestions for a playlist for writing music, long or short, feel free to add them to the comments.
Since I got Spotify, it allows me to share my playlist with people - so if you want to have a listen to my summer playlist, just click here.
Click more to see the playlist without Spotify
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Aug | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||
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