See?

I told you the episode would go up properly today. Good thing we didn’t bet money! (Well, it’s too bad I didn’t bet any money…)

Next installment this coming Monday.

This abruptly short news post brought to you by oh my god I have so much writing to do aaaagh and by Colgate, which makes toothpaste.

grumble

Yes, I know. I forgot to post part 2 on Monday. I wish I had a useful excuse (Ninjas! Mafia! Extreme Thyroidal Distress! Er…) but really, I just forgot. We’re working really, really hard to get Edge of the Universe up and running, and it meant that I suddenly looked at the calender and said “Oh my God, it’s Wednesday? Really? On purpose?”

So, sorry I didn’t get the episode up on Monday.

Look at the bright side! Very short wait between episodes this week, since the next one goes up tomorrow.

“Oh yes, it’ll probably go up in a shambles late Sunday night,” you say. Not so! For I have already put it into the system with a time-stamp and it’ll appear tomorrow, unless someone steals the internets out from under us all. In which case, we have bigger problems, viz., how shall we know what Britney Spears is up to?

Anyway, you, for your part, go read. I, for my part, will go write the gobs of fiction that I need to get done by June 1st.

You’re going to love Edge of the Universe. You really are. Assuming we can get everything together on such a short deadline, June 1st, you’ll all be made happy. (Er. I really, really hope.)

Right. Off I go!

God in the Machine…lives!

What gives, says you?

I’ll tell you, says me.

Last time through, doing God in the Machine got pretty hellish for me, as chronicled through the news items below. Frankly, I was trying to do waaay too many words on a weekly basis (having become uncomfortable delivering just an installment every two weeks, thinking that it was far too slow for the story).

That, combined with having a newborn baby in the house, shut me down right quick. And that’s ancient history.

So here we are, months later, well into 2008. God in the Machine is back, hopefully for good this time.

- In June, it moves to its own server, with its own custom interface.

(Because it will become a part of Edge of the Universe magazine’s lineup, EotU Magazine something I’ll talk about more here, as the time gets closer).

- Two installments a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.

(of about a thousand words, but I’m not above running a little over, if it feels like a better place to break. No mid-sentence breaks here.)

So, that’s what’s up here!

…

Now, the next question you have is….why are you starting over from the beginning? And the answer is, it’s been eight-something months since any content was posted here, longer since the first episode came out. Plus, I want to use the eight or so episodes already written as a buffer. In this new delivery system, putting up the material already written gives me time. It means I start out way ahead of myself, and can hopefully keep an impressive lead. (And since this serial will have an automated delivery system when it moves to its new home — meaning you won’t be delayed in reading the next piece, if I happen to be gone — this will really help keep everything flowing smoothly.)

Of course, if you haven’t read any of this before, then there’s no concern for you. In that case, just enjoy reading it twice a week and be assured that, behind the scenes, I have a large backlog of material.

Oh, last thing. Spread the word. Doing something like this only works if its read. I can promise you now that I’ll never-ever-never charge any money to read God in the Machine online like this. You get the whole story for free. All I ask is, you drop a line to interested friends and say “Here, I think you might like this.” I’m still certain that word of mouth is the best system of advertising there is.

I think that’s all I’ve got. Off I go, then. Next piece of the story goes up Monday!

Boom, clatter, crash, crunch.

Well, that’s it. Sorry, folks.

I always hoped to wind up in the same category as Stephen King one way or another, although this wasn’t quite how I planned it. Now we have both abruptly ended an online serial story. But for different reasons.

I won’t go on and on about it. My logic tracks pretty easily (it can be seen hesitantly tracking over the course of weeks, over at my blog, CarrPeeDiem. So I will state my points quickly and succinctly.

1) The internet is the future of short fiction, and serial fiction. Absolutely. I’ve gone on at length about that elsewhere, so here I will just state that it’s true as gravity, as inertia, as David Bowie (?).

2) Serial fiction is a delight and a challenge, and also a game best left to someone who is not me. That is to say, someone who does not have a newborn son (a job in and of itself), as well as an urgent need to sell his writing.

3) I am writing a novel. Starting November 1st, I am writing two novels, in addition to the newborn son business.

4) I am older than I was when last I wrote online serial fiction. This was a good education, an excuse to exercise nostalgia, and a realization that I can no longer quite do what I used to. Many reasons, all boring.

5) The Big Point: When I first started the robot serial, it was because I couldn’t figure out how to tell the story in any other way. Last week, I figured out how to neatly tell it in one novel. Today, I realized I could tell it in three novels comfortably, without any sacrifices, and probably sell it too.

6) When I started rumbling about number 5, all of the sensible people in my life were supportive and pointed out that they had, in the first place, wanted it done as a novel and that perhaps the serial was a bad idea. (You may thank them, if you wish. Lori Basiewicz can be thanked over at her blog, The Commune, and thank you notes for Carrie can be left on my blog, CarrPeeDiem.

7) I wanted to stop before I started hating the story. It shows through that I was getting exhausted. I don’t hate Loeb and Max and their story yet. I don’t want to wind up there. If I hate it, I will never write it again. If I stop now, take a break, work on other things, then come back to them, then I can tell their story happily.

…

Sorry folks. It’s a crap thing for me to do, and I’m more than a bit ashamed of it, but it’s what I’ve gotta do.

Feel free to comment unkindly at me, or e-mail me. Thanks for reading six episodes. When it becomes booked, I hope you enjoy it there too.

Take care. — Pete

Just a reminder

Hi, folks. This is just a super-quick note to remind you that there’s no episode today. We’re on the new schedule. The next episode (part three of the current story) comes out this upcoming Friday, October 12th. That’s my mom’s birthday, for those of you wondering. Now you know.

The fact that I had this almost-two week break between episodes is wonderful. I’m excited to work on the series again (I was really burnt out during the last episode). The fact that I’m on this two-week schedule gives me time to step away and write other things, and time to make sure each episode is written properly and done on time. This is a good thing. You may not get episodes as fast, but I think you’ll get better episodes.

I am in a frantic finishing mode right now, trying to finish my Rome novel by November 1st. This year, for the first time ever, I’m giving this National Novel Writing Month thingummy a shot. In November, I’m writing my next novel. It’s about 100,000 words long, it’s totally different from everything else I write, and it’ll be a challenge. Thanks to the two-week-Robot-schedule, you won’t be missing episodes…and I won’t have to drink heavily or take narcotics! Yay!

Take care. — Pete

Voice, Echo, and Silence: Part Two

Okay! So! Let’s break it down.

Good News: Episode 6 is now out! Part two of Voice, Echo, and Silence.

Bad News: It’s shorter than I hoped.

Good News: But it’s out!

Bad News: It’d be longer, but it was handled badly by me, because I realized halfway through that I’m more than a little burnt out.

Good News: But it’s online, so you can read it now!

Bad News: It’s also going to have a Part Three, because there are pieces of the story I didn’t address (I was tired enough, I just forgot). So it’ll have a third part, of equal or longer length.

Good News: Said third part, you will eventually get to read!

Bad News: By “eventually,” I mean October 12th, when I do my big switch-a-roo to every other week, as well as Fridays.

Good News: It’ll probably read better, because I can spend some time resting, writing other things, revitalizing, and come back with some brainpower instead of the vegetation that’s up there now.

Bad News: Nah, that’s it. I just wanted to keep the rhythm going.

Enjoy the episode! (or else…) — Pete

No news but the big news

This’ll be a long post, so I’ll offer up a quick basic rundown before I go into more detail:

Important point 1) Episode 6, Voice, Echo, Silence, Part 2 will NOT be out this Monday. It’ll come out Tuesday afternoon. I’m sorry about that, but it’s harder and longer than I thought (they all seem to be). It’s already getting late Sunday night and Monday is done full-up with Doctor’s Appointments, errands, and all sorts of family matters. There won’t be time to finish it.

That’s the biggest thing. The rest of the important stuff (and it’s very important) is as follows. Key is the Schedule Change

Voice, Echo, and Silence: Part One

Episode 5, Voice, Echo, and Silence is out…and yes…it’s a two-parter. The story’s gotten really complicated, and it’ll flow a lot more comfortably from a reading standpoint if I give it up in two parts. This is actually why it took so long for me to write.  It was a tricky one to begin with (they all seem to be, from a story standpoint), but it’s a good one. I hope you like it.

Read on for Schedule News:

News, News

Same old, same old. Here’s the news. I’ll keep it brief, and why that is, is news too.

1) Episode 5…has suddenly expanded into a two parter. Possibly a three-parter, depending on what happens next. I’m going to try to keep it to two.

2) Episode 5 is 98% done, but a plot realization (rather than a plot change) slowed me up a bit.

3) Also slowing me up very badly is food poisoning. It’s impressive I’m sitting up to post this.

4) Ugh.

…

I’m going to bed, that’s that. I’m hoping tomorrow that I’ll be a little better off and able to finish up episode 5 for you. You’ll like it, promise. It’s way interesting. If I don’t manage, though, then I do hope you’ll forgive me if it doesn’t materialize until Tuesday. No pitch forks, please! Well, except at the moment, when it would be a blessing… – Pete

Episode 4, out now!

Hi, folks. I’m sorry this one was so late. I just now finished. I’ve been working on it almost non-stop since eight this morning, and it’s now six in the evening. And that’s after a lot of work on it all week. This was a hard one, but a very, very important one. This is where the introductory story ends, and we start launching properly into the story that’ll take us through a lot of the rest of the series. Big episode.

I’m exhausted. So you’ll pardon me if I don’t say much more. I really hope you like it!  — Pete