Bhagwan @ Large

In the wee dark hours of the now

This last weekend I was in Las Vegas, getting to know and experience the culture of Horror writers. Not horror fandom, that I know all to well. But instead the creative methods and disciplines of those who purvey and portray that which goes bump in the night.

Why, you might ask? You’re a science fiction guy, you proclaim. You make video games, get back in your box!

Alas, I cannot. My fiction has been described as dark far too often, and some of my closest friends do not want to read my words on a regular basis. I have been known to say “I don’t write happy,” and it’s true that even the more uplifting of my short fiction has a serious edge to it.

Horror was the original category of storytelling. It’s one of the reasons I believe we evolved language in the first place, to express concepts besides basic hierarchical needs. It’s all well and good to relate the size and appearance of the bear, but to get across why you should be afraid of it takes art and imagination.

(You should, by the way. Because though most bears are pleasant, simple denizens of the wild places, they in no way recognize homo sapiens sapiens as a dominant omnivore. In fact, the only animal that instinctively hunts humans is a bear. The most efficient non-dinosaur predator of prehistory was a bear, and I’m still not positive that one’s not going to eat me as I walk to the bus.)

But I digress (seriously, BEARS). The markets I’m submitting to like my prose, but can’t really find a place for it among their standard offerings. Broadening my portfolio can only help get the words out, and in truth I’m relieved to find more monsters in spirit roaming the halls of conventions. Mind you, I’ll never stop writing about superheroes and spaceships, but now I can relax and let the darkness flow.

There are several such stories germinating in the festering madness of my mind right now. Tales so stark and uncompromising they threaten to chase away the two books I should be finishing when I sit down not to write. I’m afraid of one, and amused by the other. As I prep for next month’s big fiction gathering, I feel I’ll have a lot more to talk about than before last weekend.

Of course, imagine how much more productive a trip it would be if I could just finish the damn books.

Time to make video games. I’m fairly sure there are no bears in my office today.

They mostly come out at night. Mostly.

Hello, Summer

Sure, it’s a couple days early, but the cats don’t seem to mind.

Much.

I have one on my lap right now, whose presence has completely derailed what I was going to write. Silly, silly gato.

No-one is likely to care but me, but the page links at left are messed up right now. when upgrating this theme, they “came loose” from their locations, and I need to get them synced up again. No real biggie, but given the frequency with which I do not update, folks might be lonely for content I ignore on a regular basis.

Or not.

If memory serves, they should be the following:

http://www.bhagwanx.com/everything/ ‎

http://www.bhagwanx.com/rage/

http://www.bhagwanx.com/11days/

http://www.bhagwanx.com/writer/

(redirect to bhagwanx.com)

http://www.bhagwanx.com/wbaseball2010/

http://www.bhagwanx.com/yes-that-thing…you-were-a-kid

The cat has gone off to groom herself, leaving me free to type without sneezing (total lie, I just did). With a hypothetical batch of medical test coming up, I’ve decided to go back on the Bun. I’m talking bread, baby, pain be damned. I need to know what’s happened to my body in the last couple years, and if there’s been any sort of “improvement” in my condition. To whit, there’s a class of blood tests that more or less require me to eat something I know is bad for me.

CAKE.

Sandwiches are nice too. I would like to have some, yes I would. I bought bread for the first time in a year today, as well as pre-made pizza crusts. I’m not going to stop baking the “good” stuff, but for a while I’ll be adding in regular, glutinous goodness to my diet.

More in a bit, but I can say that I’m already feeling the effects in my joints. It could also be the two hours of drumming I did today in emulation of Ringo Starr. Only time will tell.