Darkscribes Blog for Ikarus+Onesun

The report of my death was an exaggeration...

February 4, 2010 | No Comments Posted

Mark Twain, 1897...

Sadly, since the last time I checked in with you all, the reports for two others in my family circle were accurate... 

I was prepared for the short-term grief - it was the long-term numbness and depression that I didn't see coming until I had to literally be shaken out of it...  And the downturn in the economy wasn't much fun, either.  I have, thankfully, been able to keep working at my chosen profession throughout the craziness, but I haven't been able to be as selective about the assignments I take as I have been in the past.  Nothing to cry about though... at least I'm still keeping a roof over my head and food on my table - more than I can say for others I know.  At least, after long last, things are starting to get a little better...

So, I'm slowly feeling my way back into the writing game.  No promises on when anything new may be coming, but my level of interest has risen in the last little while (and thankfully, the interest from those people who are still reading my work, such as it is, seems to be at least measurable).  For a long time, I just haven't felt the itch - there was too much to do, and too little time, and far too little motivation.  But unfinished things have always bothered me, and I have a rather large, ungainly, sprawling pseudo-epic that is floating aimlessly out there like an empty hull tied up in an old, rusted-out shipyard, waiting to be fitted out with masts and salis, and lines and pulleys, and brass and mahogany... waiting patiently to be completed.  Because half a ship isn't a ship, just like half a story isn't a story...

I think it's high time I got my feet wet again, and made an attempt to get the old girl ready for her sea trials.  Stay tuned.

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.

Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell To Arms

Cheers,

IO

...What'd I Say?

January 3, 2008 | No Comments Posted

Heh heh, took a little more time off than I figured...

The holidays were great.  Mrs. IO and I had a very good Christmas, and we managed in spite of some pretty hellacious snow dumps to get around and see a lot of family and friends, some of which we hadn't had the chance to hook up with in a long time.  Been neglecting the writing for too long though, so I'm throwing myself back unto the breach again this week.  

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday (wait, it's Darkscribes - should it be more like "hope you had a bleak, angsty, holiday?).  But seriously, all the best to you in 2008, and I'm looking forward to reading a lot more great stories from you all!

IO 

Breaking Radio Silence

December 1, 2007 | 1 Comment

I have successfully concluded my contract.  My stress levels are slowly retreating back to normal now, and thankfully, it doesn't appear as if I've lost any hair or added any gray (at least not any more than usual).  Without going into detail, the work I do combines long periods of boredom with short bursts of manic hyperactivity, and I'm just coming off of a particularly hellacious manic period.  Now the boredom kicks in, but at this point, it's very welcome.

The good news is that after I finish decompressing (a complicated process which involves a comfortable couch, a case of Keith's IPA, and Hockey Night in Canada), I'll start working on Godchild 10.  I've got the visual playing in my head now, which is usually the signal that I'm ready to start putting words to page - erm, screen.  Look for an update sometime around the New Year.

Gotta go.  "Coach's Corner" awaits...

IO 

Work, Work, Work...

November 21, 2007 | No Comments Posted

One of the things that's good about being self-employed is that I occasionally have periods of down time where I can pursue more personal interests, things I otherwise wouldn't have the time for if I were doing the regular 9-to-5 thing like most people.

Right now's not one of those times.

I'm busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest right now, but at least the end is in sight.  My current project will wrap up on Dec. 1, and then I'll pretty much have the rest of the year off, with the exception of some prep work for my next assignment.  Unfortunately though, it looks like I won't be entering WAFFathon this year, since I'm under the gun now to get things together for the end of the month.  The good news is that Godchild 10 will have first priority once I finally get to sit down and devote some quality time to writing.  I don't like writing in small blocks of time, which is all I really have at the moment.  I need a good, lazy afternoon to really get rolling on things, and these have been rare for me lately.

And the Leafs shut out the Sens the other night.  Bastards.

IO 

Voila! 'E Ees Clean!

November 16, 2007 | No Comments Posted

I fixed "Ouch," so it should now be much easier to read - well, from a purely formatting standpoint, anyway...

The problem was that the site's HTML code does not recognize the "long dash," which is a character used exclusively by Microsoft Word (as far as I know), so it was replacing it with strange characters like quotes and question marks.  I used the Find/Replace function in TextEdit to replace all the long dashes in the story file with the normal short one, reuploaded the cleaned-up story file, and now it displays fine.  I'll probably avoid using M$ Word for future stories, so as to avoid the extra hassle.

At least you can all now read it coherently, before you proceed to trash it. 

IO