Vanished into the Clouds (zombie mashup)

(I have chosen to submit the beginning and end of the lost chapter of the Tale of Genji, Vanished into the Clouds, which comes after Chapter 40. In most editions it left blank, as they are based on an old manuscript form where the chapter is left blank with only the title. This is because the chapter was considered too heretical to leave about, and when that copy was made, it was omitted. I wish I could take full credit for it, but alas, I could only offer a poor translation. I have used the names from the Seidensticker translation. In it, Genji decides to use forbidden knowledge which he gains from the many sages to travel the path that Izanagi did to the land of Yomi to get Murasaki back. However, in the process he raises Izanami to full vengence, and her and her servants wreak havok on the lands, rasing the dead and being problematic. Over the course of the chapter, Genji lives up to his oft ommitted destiny of cleanser of the land in the same fashion of his ancestor Ameterasu, ultimately purifying himself and Izanami in the process, and performing a great sacrifice in holding Izanami in check for eternity, thereby letting the world flourish.)

Vanished into the Clouds

In secret, Genji had spoken with the holy man who visited in the twelfth month, about knowledge not spoken of. The clinging of a spirit can cause it to languish beyond where it should. Though Yugiri had taken charge of the memorial services twelve months before, Genji had made his own. Now the holy man confirmed his suspicion, that Murasaki could be brought back, if one were to travel the paths that Izanagi walked, in the veil of clouds beyond the world.

Genji made his silent preparations, not even letting the third princess know of his planned travels. Gathering his meagre supplies, donning a black conic hat, saffron jacket, black trousers and crimson cloak, he set off towards Yomotsuhirasaka, leaving only a single poem written on pure white paper to be delivered to Karou.

“In the darkness of the mists beyond the lands

The comb shall reveal the platter placed for her still full”

Such was the glory of the shining prince that none would confront him about walking the forbidden way, towards death. His eyes sparkled like those of a phoenix. Onward he marched, first to the shrine of the sage in the hills to the north who had known her first all those years ago, who was said to know the way.

After, he continued on towards what for lesser men would have certainly been doom, to Hibasan to roll back the boulder. The foul vapours were unleashed, but even amongst them lingered the sweet smell of blossoms.

Traveling into the dark, he danced the path, to not disturb the inhabitants. He dared not light anything, less they befoul him. His movements were such perfection that even these lost demons and gods could not touch him, but only sit in wonderment.

There in the depths he found her, his poem to Karou being revelation instead of desire. But there he also found the mother of the islands.

….

….

And so, after all that had happened, his saffron jacket stained as crimson as his cloak from the blood of those raised from death by the shikome and the shikome themselves, he stood facing the mother of the islands. Even her skills could not best him, even as she struck down and raised the dead to fight him. He was quick, the most glorious mortal ever to live.

As she gazed upon him, the impossible happened. Where the first man failed, the bright Genji succeeded. Her countenance lost the maggots, and became sweet.

“Oh bright child of the Sun forgiveness is undeserved,

But something I will accept from you that I would not from the spearbearer.”

With all he had lost, he had found the path of Kannon. The relentless hordes of Yomi had burned away desires from his form, so that all of the many indiscretions of his life were burned away. In a final sacrifice, he took the lady’s hand, her form returning to that like life. Together, they retreated into the darkness that was dark no longer, past the clouds and bright Genji walked the earth no more.

A Challenge!

As of today, we have a new contest.

It's a literary mashup sort of a deal.

I want you to take a classic work of literature, and add zombies to it.

Points will be given for the best title. Points will also be given for the best short excerpt from that book. Lastly, points will be given for the most shocking juxtaposition.

Contest ends on March 1st.

I am the judge of this contest. The prize will be revealed later this week.

Start your engines.

This contest is the first part, by the way, of a larger series of contests. Points will carry over. More details to come.

Start mangling the greats!

Submit!

Just a heads up on this call for submissions. These people could not possibly be making this easier for you. So do it. Do it.

SUBMISSIONS FOR ESCAPE CLAUSE

This is Ink Oink Art Inc.'s first annual speculative fiction anthology.

If you're looking for this, you probably know that the proper website is down today-- but here is most of the pertinent information.

Escape Clause:

Who we are: a predominantly, but not exclusively, Westcoast anthology of speculative stuff—fiction, poetry, and art. We’re published by Ink Oink Art Inc. and edited by Clélie Rich. Our splendiferous cover is by Thomas Anfield, and our interior illustrations by Lee Tockar. Our writers so far include award-winners Eileen Kernaghan, Linda De Meulemeester, and Rhea Rose. We’ve got space left, and we’re looking for new friends. Original unpublished work only, my lovelies.

What we want: short fiction (2000 to 5000) for which we will pay $200; and poems up to 50 lines in length, for which we will pay $50. We’re looking for character-driven pieces; for whimsical, absurdist, elegant, horrific, heart-felt, energetic, sad, scary pieces; for hard sf, sf with a bit of give in it, fantasy, and everything in between. Pick one or all of the above. If you’ve put your heart into it, we want to see it. Just respect the word limits.

How we want it: one story per submission please, or up to five poems; as an attachment only (not in the body of the message) in either Word or RTF, with your name/[PTY or FCT]/title in the heading, and send it winging through the ethers to escapeclauses@shaw.ca

Reading period: January 15th to February 28th 2009.

That is all.

I'm sort of a big deal....

Hi gang. My life is crawling back to the land of normal now. I'm more or less settled into my new job, and more than halfway through my secret novel for G. I'm still having a blast writing it. With these things falling into place, I have been considering the months to come.

First, the whole shortlisting thing.

I am really happy about it, but I'm also pretty realistic about it. It's very flattering to have placed so high, but I don't actually know what it means as far as my career. People have been very kind in their congratulations, and people do seem to really like Silver Bullets. I like it too, which is nice. I don't very often look back on something I've written and read it with much pleasure. I guess that's pretty common. With this book, I can see what's wrong and how to fix it, but, basically, I think it's a good book. So that's great. However.

People have very often said "Congratulations! What comes next?" The truth is that I just don't know. Bullets is something I'll be back to work on in about a month, and that will take a little while to revise and expand. IF I even should expand it. I'm not sure I should. It might be best as the anchoring novella in a linked story collection. What it ISN'T is the first book I want to see published. For one thing, it's half a sequel to my much longer book, which still has no title I'm happy with.

I mean, what comes next for me is shopping THAT book. Which still has some issues I can't seem to resolve. What I hope is that there is an editor out there who will see that the book is basically sound, and have the ticket to help me fix the things that are clattering a little.

I've been calling the book Now England Sees, and I think it is a good book. I think it could be better, but I don't know how. It's frustrating as hell, at least in part, because Bullets is going to be so fucking easy to fix.

And I don't know if having placed in 3 Day is helpful or not in shopping it. I don't know how prestigious the contest is, and if shortlisting carries any prestige at all. I don't know if people will be all like "Well, can I see THAT book?" If they were, I don't know what to do.

Because I love my first book the way you love your kids. I think it's good, and all that, but mostly I love it because that was the one that clicked for me.

I have tried and tried and tried to write a novel since I was eighteen or so. Lack of discipline was part of the problem, but that wasn't all of it. I was having trouble managing the structure and pacing, and with my self-censor. Now that I finished the first book, the words have just NOT stopped coming. Writing Bullets was, though crazy, by comparison like a walk. That is also true with the book I'm doing right now.

Something in me has switched to on. Writing novels is something I can do now. Yay!

So, if nothing else, the first book gave me that. But I want people to read it.

So, what next? I don't know. I don't know the BUSINESS side of writing very well, and I need to bone up on that, clearly.

I'll be documenting all of that over on Fishclock as I go through it.

And now the second thing: This place.

TextFIGHT is a good thing. It's a place we can all hang out and shoot the shit about what we do. Contests can and should happen, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Feel free to start them, feel free to do just about any damned thing here. Post contests, all of that.

And let's try to grow the community. With this in mind, may I ask, is this site too hostile? I mean, I thought it came off as tongue in cheek, but maybe we're spooking people away. On the other hand, maybe that's keeping the prissy people out. I'm okay with elitism to that extent.

Hell, I don't know. I'm at a crossroad.

New job, new life chapter. I'm coming off this moment that feels like a victory, and, truthfully, I'm less sure what to do than ever.

So, I'm asking for guidance. Tips, hints, all the rest. I can't promise to take them, and I may even disagree. Please don't take this as me being ungrateful. The dialogue matters. We might even disagree and argue. Your attempts to persuade me will likely be good for everyone in any case.

This site and this little gang is one of the little things that I am genuinely grateful for. And I need your thoughts.

What next?

Congrats to Ryan

I know I should wait until he's had a chance to check his e-mail and post a post of his own and all that jazz, but I'm too psyched. Waiting is not an option.

Ryan's 3-Day Novel was an Honourable Mention. I believe that means that he's made the short list. Which I also believe means that he and G "tied" for their 3-Day Novel efforts.

I don't know how this works within the roommate dynamic, but I'd say it's damned good news.

So, congrats. Congrats. Congrats!

Here's the link with all the winners.

The finale of the telling stone

This is what I had as the orthodox interpretation of the telling stone. It is made effectively in two parts. The first part is on the larger figure in the centre, who is an important cultural figure in these engravings, and then goes through an explanation of the telling stone itself.

The Nature of the First (from the "Pack Within (seventh edition)" 2003)

The First (the Progenitor, the pack within, the undying, the flaming eyes, the fire crown) is an interesting figure. The First is the one of the D. habilis that is truly alone, and may not exist. The first is in some ways a god to the people. The stories say that it was generations before others of the people awoke. It is thought that they are all descended from the first, from clutches of clutches he sired in his wily travels. Some accounts seem to hold that the first invented everything, and that all innovations of the people are stolen from him. A common theme is that the first is immortal, for he is to crafty to be killed. It seems to be a thread that D. habilis did not die of old age, but all met violent ends. Therefore, one who can evade all threats cannot die.

The first, being this solitary figure, is both saviour and villain to the people, a force of nature. He is both saint (providing all of the tricks the people have) and bogeyman (he stalks even the people, and he is the greatest hunter). The people seem to hold that seemingly unnatural deaths are from him creeping up and attacking without anyone seeing.

The first is often depicted with a neck ornament (which goes unexplained), and a halo/crown of fire about his head, which is also unexplained, but could be that he has dominance, thus this is the reason that his eyes cannot be met. This crown makes him obvious in illustrations even when he is not labelled. He is usually depicted larger than the other figures, but this is thought to be convention rather than fact, as some of his tales have him fitting in perfectly.

The typical translation of a story of the first and the people reads halfway between an Anansi story and the story of Prometheus. The first is the most clever, and so has all that is good. One of the people gets into a trick war with him, and with great cost manages to steal one of the First’s many secrets. Usually they overcome him with teamwork, though personal cunning is also stressed. Innovations, or tricking the First if you will, is a sign of leadership competence. The story of Fire Trap is one of the pack tricking the First, and is close to the Promethean tale, except Fire Trap returns to the people to live with them, as the first cannot go against them all. That is another common motif, how alone the people are in danger from the First, and must match their wits against a god, but together they are safe.

There is one innovation that the First never has attributed to him. That innovation is the “Fire Within”. It seems to be an object of some form that the First fears. What it is has been speculated on wildly, but it is one of the most potent items used by the people. However, they primarily seem to use it on one another. This story is repeated time and time again. Both of these stories are the central tales of the telling stone, the tale of the Fire-Trap and the tale of “Fire Within”, and are the most common motifs. They are the best stories about the people overcoming the first, and becoming the people, unafraid and strong.

The Telling Stone (traditional interpretation, Occam and Giles 1983)

1. Fire Snare steals from the First

The First was lonely, for he was alone. All others of the Packwithout did not understand. He bred upon them, but always it came without hope. That is until Fire Snare. Fire Snare was the second, though the Packwithins did start to appear at that time as well.

Fire was used by the First to startle the Packwithouts, driving them away from the great kills. This let him feast, taking the best for himself. Fire Snare was not afraid of the fire, but that did not the stop the First from driving her away anyways. Fire Snare, like all of the Packwithins, was driven from the Packwithouts, and therefore needed to fend for herself. However, other Packwithins started to appear, and Fire Snare made them her pack.

With more mouths, tactics were needed. Fire Snare earned her name by snaring fire from the First, and bringing it to the people, though it singed he plumage to do it, and earned her the enmity of the First, such that all treasures would need to be plucked from him forever after.

2. Snare

Snare was the first census taker, as well as the stealer of the snare from the First. Before Snare, like in the time of Fire Snare, the Packwithins were driven to the winds, individuals driven away, cautious, in pain, in hiding, lesser beings. Snare was sent by Fire Snare to go get a new tribe for them.

Snares were made by the First, though the Packwithins did not recognize why the false vines were made. Snare took them and used them to catch the young, to unite them. With fire from Fire Snare and rope from Snares, the Packwithins were able to first thrive. Snare was said to have captured one giant and 2 scores of the Packwithins, giving rise to the first conclave.

3. Firewithin

Firewithin is a tale that does not include theft from the First, for the First does not understand firewithin. Firewithin developed his namesake alone. Whatever it was, when it was wielded, the first was driven away. This stopped the First from raiding the Packwithins as hard as he raided the Packwithouts, as they now could keep him away.

The story of Firewithin also kicks off a lineage, where Firewithin sired Rat Snare

4. Rat Snare and Needle Rat

Rat Snare was a great matron to many broods with her consort Needle Rat. Together, they began to seriously use the “Rats”, sewing them into capes, and catching them, as they saw the first do.

The greatest of their lineage was Fire Tooth.

5. Fire Tooth and Giant Firewithin fell 2 giants and 3 score Tenontosaurs, to feed the Packwithins

The numbers of the Packwithins was growing large, and there was not enough to eat. Fire Tooth, with his warclub and armour, and Great Firewithin, with her sword fashioned from the jaw of one of the great predators stepped up to save the Packwithins. Where no kills could be made before, these two slayed many of their food, saving the people. They called them up somehow, and are thus remembered.

6. Three Feathers slays Giant Tooth

Giant Tooth was some form of large predator, like a Tyranosaurid. He had taken to eating the young of the Packwithins. Three Feathers, who earned that epithet by daring to steal three feathers from the tail of the First, managed to save the little ones. He decapitated Giant tooth, letting the young run free. Three Feathers is notably shown wielding a spear the majority of the time.

7. Armour Fang

Armour Fang is thought to be the Alpha when the Telling Stone was made, possibly even the one who made the stone. This is the only mention of Armour Fang on any of the stones, and so it seems that it was boldness that caused Armour Fang to be added, Armour Fang claiming that they were like the near godlike beings elsewhere on the stone, who performed basically miracles. Obviously, this ended up not being the case. All of the other figures feature elsewhere, usually many other elsewheres. Not Armour Fang. The exaggerated appearance also cleaves to this interpretation, as they are probably attributes of greatness being applied to this figure.

7a. The Graffiti theory of Armour Fang

The carving style presented by the figure Armour Fang appears different than the others engravings in the telling stone. Some would suggest that the stone was carved over time by many hands, and this is true. If we were dealing with human carvings, this would be much easier to determine. However, the patina of 100 million years erases much of the ease of telling relative dating of the carving that we can do with our items.

One theory overlooked is that the carving of Armour Fang was done later and illegally, where he defaced the artefact by writing that he was here, a student scribbling in the margins. That would explain the exaggerated appearance. The question becomes why he wasn’t carved off then. Perhaps no others were audacious enough to carve the stone again. Perhaps it was discarded, as a secondary tool, not the great item we hold it to be in their culture. However, the graffiti theory does nicely lessen the importance of this non-important figure. Maybe the boldness of writing it was what earned him his names amongst the people.

7b. Armour Fang as Fire Sling

A common figure missing from the Telling Stone is the figure of the Fire Sling. Other stones have occasionally shown that many of the names of these beings change during their lifetime. Giant Firewithin has been shown on two other carvings to once be called Fire Rat, only to have that struck off. Fire Sling is a much rarer carving than Great Firewithin, so the lack of these transitory carvings are quite possible.

Fire Sling stole a new type of warfare for the people. Carvings show them hurling fire at their foes, or perhaps just flint or the like. Maybe they are like us, where fire is seen as power and destruction. More so, as they saw it as captured lightning. Fire Sling was known to lead a powerful band of the Packwithins as the culture developed.

The proposal that Armour Fang is Fire Sling mostly comes from some of the sharing of exaggerated traits by the pair of them. Both exhibit the large crest, and despite the protestations of others, this crest is carefully carved in all renderings, including the telling stone. The other reason for this attribution is that instead of downplaying the importance of Armour Fang, relegating him to being a vandal or upstart, it is important to recognize that he was likely important, and see how this was lost. Perhaps Fire Sling was known by many names. Other figures have had small lists of names given to them in the carvings as well, often depending on context. Perhaps Armour Fang is what his followers called him deified, but that did not catch on. Armour and Fang are found consecutively in some of the written period works. It is questionable if this simply means warfare or the like, or if he became a greater cultural hero once our knowledge of their communication declines through lacking the visual clues.

Critics Wanted

I'm posting a snippet of something that I've been thinking about for a long time, but I have just recently gotten the balls to start writing. I have a chapter written, and I wouldn't mind if any of you would eye it over and let me know what you think. Read through the snippet, and if it's something you think you might "get" then let me know and I'll e-mail you the rest. If you're not interested in the genre/style, then no harm no foul.

Cam smiled wryly enjoying her own secret joke at what Daphne had said. The truth was, she was never wrong when she read palms. That, more than anything, was why she had shied away from that aspect of her business. She could do the other stuff, tarot cards, runes, and psychic readings, but she was simply a queen of bullshit at those. Palm reading was her gift, but she had grown tired of telling people to get their head’s checked only to have their software fry them mere weeks later. She learned the hard way that people went to palm readers for entertainment’s sake, not for any sort of insight.