Wednesday, February 16, 2005

The title

So, all I needed was for one person to comment on my blog and I lost all drive. Actually, I don't think it's that big of a deal if someone were to steal my ideas. What is the chance that A) anyone is actually reading this spiel and that B) they themselves are writers of fantasy fiction and that C) they have so little scruples as to steal someone else's idea and pawn it off as their own. If you look at that way, there's nearly no chance that Ian's fears will come true.

So fine, I've convinced myself. I will begin to tell you about my ideas for a fantasy story... Tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

What? Two posts in 2 days?

Yeah. That's right. I'm here.



I have been thinking about this idea for a book for a long time. Actually, it's a trilogy. Actually, it's a fantasy trilogy a la LOTR. The idea hit me while I was taking a class on George Orwell and his thoughts on the Spanish Civil War. He claimed that that conflict was essentially a war fought as a preview for World War 2, totalitarianism and fascism vs. democracy. Each ideology picked a faction and supported it, all under the guise of aiding a nation under civil duress. Pundits and artists (George Orwell among them) could see that this was happening but the general populace didn't always understand the political undercurrents.



This intrigued me because it was a war strictly being fought for political reasons, the combatants of which didn't know or understand. And while this is true of many wars, it seemed especially poignant as the world became more modern and education more prevalent. It seemed more interesting that citizens and the world remained somewhat ignorant of the deeper ideological differences involved in conflicts and wars.



I have always been a fan of the fantasy setting. I learned to love reading through travelling to Narnia, Middle Earth, and Willy Wonka's factory. As an adolescent, I admired the work of Tad Williams, Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin. Since I decided to pursue writing, I've dreamed of writing the next great fantasy novel.



So this has been my idea. To take the classic fantasy elements, like elves dwarves and humans living together in general peace, and put modern government ideologies behind them. The elves become a pure democracy like Greek city-states; the dwarves are a form communism/capitalism (I know that doesn't make sense but trust me); and humans are a representative democracy like the United States. The antagonist in the story is a human determined to reinstate an ancient empire and rule with totalitarian authority.



At least that was the beginning, the idea has grown and changed very much over the last 6 years or so. To be honest, I have stagnated lately on shaping and growing this idea so I plan to use this blog to map out my story with more detail.



I'll be doing this mostly between 4 and 6 when Alfredo isn't here so he can't bitch. God, I love being paid to be creative.

Monday, February 07, 2005

I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya...

This is my first entry while a full-time employee of Bear Stearns. That's right, I am no longer a meaningless temporary peon ... I am now a meaningless full-time peon. I make copies (today I made double-sided ones, joy), I type things, and I continue to fool around on the net. The first week was kind of lame, my immediate supervisor was giving me shit. He is Alfredo, a portly puerto-rican ex-navy father of two. and I don't think he likes explaining things to me. I ask questions and instead of answering, he'll say things like, "You don't need to know that." Must be his military training.



Today, I got in to work a little late to the tune of most of the work I did yesterday had to be thrown out because it had the wrong date. And a co-worker told me that my immediate supervisor, i.e. Alfredo, was not happy with my work after the first week. Let me repeat something from a previous post. I DO THE WORK OF A MONKEY. This is not hard people. How can I do anything wrong? Am I really an idiot or is this like middle school which was so easy that I failed?