Story edits and a new poem

My new sci-fi short story The Prototype is now on sale for $0.99. I went back and did another editing pass before putting it on sale to catch any last stray misspellings or other minor issues and also, there was one curse word I'd used four times that I'd decided to take out. So it's only in there once now. After all, my niece reads my work sometimes and she is very young, so I thought better of it and changed it.

I do not know what my new poetry collection will be called yet. It is still untitled but I have some poems in various stages of readiness. One in particular is nearly complete and I will share it here. This piece is copyrighted: All rights reserved.

The Trees of Lincoln Street

I remember the trees of Lincoln street.

Beneath their leaves I would sit.

A green isle of deep shade

on the merciless days of summer.

How grand they seemed

stretching from 4th to 1st avenue

like god-hands their branches were covering;

a refuge from a scorching sun.

But one day I came tripping by

and they'd all been chopped down.

Not even a mean stump remains.

Only rods, concrete and cones

and tracts of stinking mud.

No soft, green ivy underneath,

no place for the fluttering moths at night.

Nowhere at all to take in the breeze,

no place to sit and take one's ease.

The trees that were tall and great,

old and standing since forever,

they are gone with nothing left but dead land.

There is no shade from the heat on gray concrete,

which is why I no longer go down Lincoln street.

This poem was inspired by my experiences going down S.W. Lincoln St. in downtown Portland. I once hada white van and the engine blew a gasket so I had to walk to work in the mornings. This was when I had a schedule that required me to be at work before the buses were running. I would pass down Lincoln and see mice (and rats) running under this vast isle of trees down the middle of the street. There would also be moths that would flutter around these trees as well. During the summer, when I had to go back to work in the afternoons (I work split-shift) and the temperature would be in the 90's or hotter, those trees gave wonderful shade. I and many other people would sit on the benches near the isle and the trees were so big that they would shade the entire street on both sides from their isle in the middle of the street. Sometimes, walking down that stretch of Lincoln was like walking into a magical forested place; a different place. It really was magical. But progress demanded that they all be cut down. every last one. Progress, funny enough, demanded by the organization I work for - which shall remain nameless. But it really saddens me that progress and nature cannot seem to exist side by side.

Nature seems to always lose. In the short run, anyway.

About Rise of the Red King, Alchemy, New Lands and Poetry

I'm almost done with the outline to Rise of the Red King. There will be quite a few new characters introduced into this book. Some of the characters that you may be familiar with if you've read Cryptic Tongues will be traversing the Martian globe to other lands!

Lands and Peoples

New lands are being introduced such as Pallinona (the inspiration for this land in the Red World is early  medieval Italy) and Dyrland (inspiration for this land is ancient Germany. The peoples that live in this land, and one of them you may recognize from Schisms - Uwain - are inspired by the Germanic tribes, specifically the Teutons and the Franks.) There will be some serious conflicts between these two tribes, and other tribes will make an appearance as well such as a race of giants. Several, in fact. :o)

Some things I am exploring and attempting to write about in this current book:

Alchemy

In this particular book I focus more on the influence of alchemy, the issue of slavery, kingship and authority and gods and prophecy.

In these books alchemy is science and scientific endeavor. For most it is the investigation and examination of the physical constitution of matter and life through the applications of the states of birth, death and resurrection - alchemical endeavor, if you will. For some it is also a spiritual work, the seeking of perfection, either physical or spiritual. I do not go into the spiritual side of it or the occultic side except as it pertains to Black Alchemy, which in the books I am writing, is evil. You may have already noticed slight references to alchemical sayings and meanings in the book such as: "As Above, So Below." I don't go too deeply into these as the book is not about alchemy. It is important to remember that how I portray it in the story is not true Hermetic Alchemy or any other form of alchemy practiced in human history. It is my own cobbling together of different traditions and odds and ends I've read about. Some of it I've simply made up.

I have divided alchemy into three disciplines: White Alchemy, which is the study of practical and to a limited extent, spiritual alchemy to heal the human body, attain vital health and knowledge of the body and of the plants that can heal it. it is the study of herbal remedies, distillations, fermentations and concoctions or even surgery, primitive pharmacology and apothecary. There is a sub-discipline that White Alchemy shares with Black Alchemy, mentioned in the glossary of the second book. These are the physicians and nurses. The scions in their own way study this, in part. They call it herbal wisdom but they do not go in for pharmacology or surgery except to sew up already open wounds. They do have an apothecary and though it is rare some white alchemists have been known to go to the scions for medica materia when traveling anywhere near Gamina. The miraculous healing powers of the scions that do not come from herbs or other plants come from a Divine Source. Because of this, White Alchemists often see the scions' work as the pinnacle of what they want to achieve in White Alchemy. Other women in other cultures who do the herbal work and have the knowledge of herbs and plants that the scions do and have in the Red World are considered Wise Women.

Then we have Gold Alchemy. This is the purely practical art of making tinkering machines, creating technological advances, studying energy and motion and gravity and other natural forces and how to harness them, as well as turning base metals into higher metals. From this, metallurgy and blacksmithing and swordsmithing and many other crafts dealing with metals or chemicals and dyes have come. These alchemists tend to be very well off and highly talented in making new technological discoveries for the world around them or making beautiful and useful things for society. Theyare often employed in the military, banking and craft industries.

Then there is Black Alchemy. This is the dark art of science and there is a practical and a spiritual side to it. The spiritual side is the most important to black alchemists. Among the most powerful of their guilds, like the scions, they derive certain powers from a supernatural source. It is the study of power over others and many arts are employed to achieve this end. They have created ingenius ways of using poisons. Those who study it are often worshipers of the unnamed one and from him they derive their power. The unnamed one in the real world (our world) would be the devil. There is no gray area with these alchemists. Thjose who wish to study such things have no empathy for other humans beings or any living thing, for that matter. All things  must be consumed in service to one's god (the unnamed one) and the Self for power.

In Cryptic Tongues I explain in the glossary the two sub-disciplines in Black Alchemy. White Alchemists study one of them but for purely medical reasons. Only the most evil people study the Black because it is specifically studied to learn how to trick, harm and hurt others and exert pressure and power over those who will not bend naturally to one's will. The widespread practice of Black Alchemy during the decadent age before the fall of Assenna is why it was eventually banned in Hybron - along with all Alchemy. But this goes too far in the other extreme. Because of this Hybron went through a dark age. Alchemy, or science as I am using it in the books, is the study of knowledge, of matter and life. What you do with it and how you practice it is what matters, not the discipline itself. And isn't that true of many things in real life?

After all, just because someone uses something or has knowledge of it for evil ends does not always mean that that thing is evil in and of itself.

Machines

Wonderful machines will be explained. You may have noticed one of these machines showing up in the Secret Doorway Tales as well as a reference to an old sage, too. I like to plagiarize myself. I'm kind of like Sting when it comes to that. :o) The chilyabe or chilyabium makes a serious comeback as well as the special starmap or book of constellations that Rapheth took from the All Library in Rhuctium. Turns out that he's going to need it!

Anyway, I will be giving updates on things I'm writing about in this third book. I also want to mention something for the poetry lovers out there: I have five poems already written. Whether or not this new collection will have ten poems, I don't know yet. It may only have nine or eight. I haven't slacked off from that. Look for the poetry book later this fall. Don't forget that I have a new sci-fi short story out, The Prototype. Download it now while it is free. I will be trimming and making one more editing pass before next week. Next week it will be available at the usual outlets for $0.99! Also, don't forget the newest episode of the blueshifters is out.

That's all for now folks, have a great day!

Taking a Break

Well, summer is finally here and I intend to enjoy it. The second book in my Red World trilogywill be released in a few days and I need a break.

Usually what that means is writing poetry. For those that enjoy my poetry work I am working on some new work, different from what I've done before. A few months ago I penned about three poems. I'm still working on them. They will be taking a different direction. This time around shakespeare, Lord Alfred Tennyson are what I'm reading. I've also tried my hand a palindrome and I will probably write two of those for my upcoing poetry book. I find them challenging and quite a bit of fun, palindromes.

When it will be out? I am not yet sure. Perhaps by September. I'm not in a hurry. I don't have an idea for a title yet either but I've decided to write an update for those who enjoy my poetry for I know that it's been a long time since I've written anything. Anyway, enjoy the summer!