Pocket Fiction is back!

I've started doing Pocket Fiction updates again, with a view to uploading a more finely-polished product each Friday. I'm using different software again, something simpler: Garage Band '11, which is actually a downgrade. Turns out they took out the Podcasting functionality in the most recent version of Garage Band, and it's pretty darned good. I've had a play around with it, and I think it's generally better for me.

I've also made a recording booth in my downstairs walk-in cupboard; it's basically a plastic box with some foam in it. I've also made my own pop-filter out of a pair of tights and an embroidery hoop... it's pretty good! Didn't get a single plosive in the two short stories I recorded today, so it's obviously doing its job!

Also! I'm going to take a break from recording episodes of Poisonroot, for two reasons. One, it's difficult to jump-on at any point other than the beginning. Two, some of the writing is actually a little shaky, and I'm writing better stuff now. If, at some future point, people ask me to do the rest of it, I will record the other half.

For now, the podcast is available on the iTunes Podcast store, on YouTube and on my Tumblr. It'll be updated every week now that there's absolutely no excuse.

I'm actively looking for other authors who would like their work read out. As a guide, 1600 words is about ten minutes talking time, so if you've got something of about that length and would like it narrated, then fully linked through my blog, Tumblr, podcast and YouTube channel, drop me a line!

Final Fantasy XIV - Ceremony of Eternal Bonding

The Ceremony of Eternal Bonding between Kenshin Tenshi and Scarlet Moon was a quiet affair. There were four of us in the congregation, watching as Kenshin and Scarlet exchanged rings, drank from chalices and posed for screenshots – not photos, because Eternal Bonding is the ingame wedding ceremony for characters in Final Fantasy XIV, the MMORPG.

The Sanctum of the Twelve

Kenshin, real name Mark, was impressed by the depth of the immersion in the experience. “One word: Amazing. The quest has a rich deep history in it that makes it special, and the places they take you really make you see the game's world for its beauty.” To even get to the ceremony, your characters have to obtain Promise Wristlets, craft or purchase the rings and visit twelve locations in the game, each one tied to one of the pantheon of gods. “We sometimes stopped in the middle of it to take in the scenery,” Mark said. “They really did a good job.”

Friends you've invited are part of your customised cutscene.

Final Fantasy XIV’s stance on weddings has been refreshing; there are no restrictions on gender or species for Eternal Bond. In fact, the only criteria you need to meet is being on each others’ friend lists ingame. Mark and Scarlet, real name Mackenzie, hope that bonding their characters will deepen their relationship. “For me, it’s a sign of connection to the people on the game, whether they be your love interest or a very dear friend," Mark said.

Of course, nothing comes for free. Final Fantasy XIV has a healthy subscription, starting at £7.69/month, and devotees wishing for a more intricate Eternal Bonding Ceremony can opt to pay for it. The Gold level, giving you options for background music, clothing, a special two-person mount and gifts to give to your guests, will set you back $20, while the Platinum level, which adds another set of clothes for the bride and different decorations for the Sanctum, clocks in at $40.

“It’s an MMO. There is going to come a time where they will ask for more money besides subscriptions,” Mark points out. “The price isn’t bad either, since even attendees get something. For stuff like marriage or extra mounts? Yeah, I think it’s fair.”

The rings can be bought or hand-crafted for the personal touch.

“I think paying for content helps to get stuff like the Eternal Bonding. I mean, it kind of gives them a reason to develop something like this,” Mackenzie adds. “I chose the standard pack, but if I could, I would have chosen a higher tier.”

By far the sweetest things, available to all tiers, are the new embrace emote, and the rings which allow you to teleport to directly in front of your partner – just right for kissing distance.

For my character, Atys, it was a chance to dress up in my smartest suit and cheer on my comrades-in-arms, people I’ve fought alongside, and welcome them into the next stage of their friendship. And of course, just like in real life, to loom somewhere at the back of wedding photos.

Atys (centre back) is scarily like me in real life...

More CYAO - Decision trees

Here's a sample of the decision tree for my CYAO:

It's pretty complicated already... and this is at a point when the hero is only just getting to Dragonstone Keep, the main area for the game. It's going to be pretty complex by the end. Those black ones are deaths; four chances to be dead already, and we're barely out of the starting blocks. I don't know about you, but my favourite bit of the CYAO games I read as a child was reading all the deaths. Some just copped out, with a 'You are dead' script, but the best ones were a bit more flavourful. The larger one at the bottom is a placeholder for something like this:

"A goblin club catches you on the back of the head. The sudden pain is quickly replaced by a warm, wet feeling, and you sink into darkness. You awake hours later, your shoulders burning in agony. As you reach over to see what's wrong, you realise your arms have been removed. The smell of sweet meat cooking finds your nostrils. A goblin looks up from where he is sucking the flesh off your fingers, growls something in a guttural language and grins, displaying a mouthful of fangs. You are (mostly) dead."

Grisly, fun and something worth going through the decision tree for? Or would most people see the words 'You are dead' in bold and immediately flip back? I can't think that both Sue and I are alone in wanting to know all the gory details...

Choose Your Own Adventures!

It's ok as long as you kept your thumb in the page, right?

I remember whiling away the hours reading through the Ian Livingstone/Steve Jackson Fighting Fantasy books. They had green borders, wonderful cover illustrations, and the ending was almost always at paragraph 300. But I don't remember ever actually 'playing' one of them. Just reading through and assuming I'd won the fights, because it was fun to seek out all of the terrible deaths.

Then there were three stand-out series of video-game tie-in gamebooks, for Sonic the Hedgehog, the Mario Bros and Lemmings. I'm actually genuinely amazed that the first two have wikipedia pages, and that there were only two Lemmings gamebooks. I didn't just play those, I used to sit and trace the images. I can still draw a Lemming as a result of that book.

As a writing exercise, I'm trying my hand at creating a CYOA book, mostly inspired by those gamebooks of my childhood. It's complicated; thanks to this article by Karen Woodward, I'm using SimpleMind+ app on the iPad, which makes flowcharts fun and interesting to look at, and also simplifies it somewhat. I'm genuinely interested in inkle, a software for making interactive stories that are just a bit better than CYOA, as they feature sound, colour visuals and so on. I'm really interested to note that there are fighting fantasy games on the Nintendo DS and might see if I can check that out on my own 3DS.

Watch this space; I'll put the decision tree up as soon as it's finished.

I hope you had a great Christmas and that your new year has got off to a nice start!

Murder Matches - With Nana Li!

I've been wanting to blog about this for a while, but it's only just been properly finished - just in time for the weekend!

Murder Matches

by Nana Li and Steve Cook

Nana's idea for Murder Matches was a really lovely one to work with; a mystery in eight parts, designed to be picked up and read in any order. Each one needed to have a unique voice; they also needed to provide a series of red herrings, motives and gossip, while still dropping hints as to how the death of the Colonel actually occurred.

It was a really lovely challenge, and I hope people have fun reading them, and enjoy owning the spectacular artwork by Nana. If you're anything like me, the pictures will give each character an accent in you head as you're reading, as they did when I was writing.

Nana Li will be exhibiting at Thought Bubble this coming weekend, sharing a table with John Aggs in New Dock Hall, table 40.

Flash fiction set in Koru

Koru, one of the five countries that make up the continent of Ehrian. Although, that said, one that I'm thinking of changing the name of, mainly because that makes the spoken language 'Koruan', which is little too close to 'Korean'. Maybe 'Korun' works, or 'Kor'. 'Caw, listen to me speak my language'. Bleh.

Anyway! A bit of dunking in the politics of Koru.

General Sun-Ji looked out upon his empire, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. The sun was setting, painting everything in shades of blood; the warmth of the day had already begun to sink into the coolness of evening, and a faint mist was rising from the reflection pools in the shadows far below.

His son, still standing at the desk a few feet behind him, cleared his throat gently. “Father,” the young man said, “The staff are still in revolt. We must do something.” His plea echoed around the hard walls and floor, sounding empty.

“I have already put measures in place,” Sun-Ji said. “Soldiers have set up a perimeter, and the workers are being contained.” He half-turned and graced his son with a smile. “You worry too much, Mako.”

“They will fight.”

“They will die, then,” Sun-Ji said, turning back to the sunset.  Even at fifty, his back was straight and his shoulders broad. He closed his eyes and listened. Whoever had designed the Imperial Office had known his audience. Every movement, however slight, was amplified. There was the sound of a step, almost too tiny to hear, and the susurration of fabric moving against skin. The slightly uneven sound of Mako’s breathing, and underneath it, something out of place, off to the right.

Teaching Lows and Podcast Highs

Almost exactly as I predicted, term started and I dropped completely off the radar. Not a single blog post since September 1st, when term started. The truth is that the school I'm working at now has very high expectations and is also expecting the Inspectors any time soon. That translates to very late nights, working at the weekend, and generally not wanting to do anything other than vegetate in the evenings.

That's not entirely true. I play a bit of Final Fantasy XIV; it's fast becoming an escape from what I do, but this week is a prime example. The first time I was able to get on was last night, so it's not exactly taking up all my free time!

I've found time to do some writing. As well as continuing to work with Patrice Aggs, I'm collaborating with Nana Li on a project which should be finished soon. But it's not as much writing as I'd want to do, sadly.

I do plan to do NaNoWriMo, my second one this year, and the plan is to write Noctis Point during that month. Whether I actually manage to get the time is a question I can't answer right now. Work's getting busier and I'm getting more tired as we crawl closer to Christmas.

However, one thing I have managed to do is release a podcast every week, and a video on YouTube! I've yet to garner much interest, but that's to be expected. I think it's fairly niche, but hopefully eventually I'll just have been doing it so long that I get watchers/listeners through attrition. It's also incredibly handy; it's allowed me to spot several mistakes in Poisonroot, and also realise that I really don't like the first ten chapters or so. I should have rewritten them. They're a bit pants. Luckily, it picks up after that, almost exactly at the point where I started writing it as my NaNo two years ago. Funny, that.

I have found time to do some reading, namely 'Endgame: The Calling' by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton. It's the first part of an ARG (alternate reality game) sort of thing where there is a real prize of $500,000 in gold coins. Think Kit Williams' Masquerade or The Merlin Mystery (both of which, I know, date me slightly!). So far, it's fairly impenetrable to me, but that's because I just read it through like a normal book. If I really want to go for it, I'll need to sit with a notebook and actually try and solve some of the puzzles. There's a book signing next week in Waterstones, Piccadilly; I plan to ask the author why it's written in the present tense, which I find a little difficult to parse!

Hopefully it won't be another six weeks until I update this!