Little Blue Cat Is Coming · 6:48am Jun 2nd, 2015
Little Blue Cat
Is Coming
There is a new Conversion Bureau novel coming. I am going to submit chapter one in a few minutes, actually. The novel is called 'Little Blue Cat' and it is a story that my spouse, Aedina (here on Fimfiction) has wanted me to write for a long time.
I am trying to work myself back into writing. I think I have reached a point where that is possible - my new avatar and user page banner should suggest that I have healed enough emotionally to become engaged again with artistic endeavor. That's a good sign, I think.
I still cough a lot, and my voice is far from perfect, but I have found that I can read, out loud, to Aedina again. Not as well as I once did, but it has become, finally, after two months, possible at all. That means I can edit my works.
Editing, for me, is reading out loud to her. Anything you can read out loud, that sounds good, will sound just as good to a person reading silently to themselves. It is a very old trick for getting a story well and truly polished. Read the story out loud to another person (important point there) and use their feedback and your own experience of reading to catch errors, misspellings, awkward phrases and more. It really works, very well indeed. It is how Stephen King, among other writers, edits his own books, with his wife.
The downside is, you have to have both a partner and a voice.
The cover art for the new novel is this:
Yes, princess Luna plays a big part in this one.
I dearly hope you will join me as I spin another tale. This book is a little different, you should be prepared, from my usual Bureau fare. I am not concerned with humans turning into ponies in this story, we don't visit a single Bureau, and the transformation isn't what you would think. It is a companion novel, one that expands on my previous works, such as CODE: Majeste and others... and no pony or human is the central character.
The protagonist, the hero, the central character is... a cat. An artificial cat, which you might remember from other stories of mine, a cat named Chang'e. Luna's little cat. This is her story, the story of Chang'e, the little artificial cat, with a nanotitanium-carbon spine and a quantum chipset for brains. This is the story of how she became Luna's cat, and how she helped some other characters in my stories. Not entirely willingly... she is, after all, a cat.
It also tells the story of what happens to all of the artificial intelligences in all of the Bureau stories, those by me, and by others, all those robots and machine minds that inhabit the Bureau future. Nopony seems to care about them. Celestia doesn't care, they are just metal objects. Humans don't care, they are just commercial products.
The machines care, but they don't have a voice - or a prayer - in the Conversion Bureau future, poor things.
Little Blue Cat.
(This link jumps directly to it, it seems to work even before moderation!)
Coming just as soon as it passes through moderation.
Please join me. It will be an unusual book, even for me.
- Chatoyance
Well alright!
Also liking the new avvie! Will be nice to see another tale of yours, and this time from the perspective of the AIs on the sidelines!
Nice! Of course, I still have to catch up on the old stories... Sorry that that's been taking so long, by the way; things keep coming up.
"I think I have reached a point where that is possible - my new avatar and user page banner should suggest that I have healed enough emotionally to become engaged again with artistic endeavor. That's a good sign, I think."
Agreed. :)
I find the bit about your editing technique interesting.
And the story... concept? Summary? Blurb? Thing also sounds interesting.
(Sorry if I'm a bit incoherent here; I got back from EFNW earlier today and am pretty tired.)
Woot! Cool on several levels. Go to it :)
Looking forward to it, especially if it has Luna in it ^_^
New story? Awesome!
Ever think about publishing on an alt?
Your name still carries a lot of negative weight and I have no doubt there's a bunch of people following you just to downvote bomb your stories as soon as they're published. :L
I wish I could upvote blog posts. Great to see you back and writing again, Chatoyance. I hope your voice recovers the rest of the way soon.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do...
3117740
I tried that once. The same insane obsession that drives the formation of entire groups with little to unite them save hatred for me also means I can never, ever start over, hide, or escape. They identify me by studying the art of my covers, or the way I use my words, and, of course, what I wish to write about.
Hate is madness, it never gives up because it is not amenable to reason. It is obsession, it is mania. If someone is willing to send death threats to my family, they are not going to give up because I use an alt. And they did not.
This will never be over until serious laws with teeth make online harassment within the United States (it is already illegal in many other nations) a punishable crime that website owners and users both take seriously. Alt accounts are no remedy against insanity that never, ever, ever gives up.
Glad to see you back! Hope life has finally started to settle down for yah.
Alright! Passed moderation, we are in business!
Good to hear your health is improving.
3117816
It may comfort you to know that the laws in the US actually do have teeth and people HAVE gone to jail over cyberstalking crimes. Unfortunately, you'll need a lawyer, and that can get expensive. :( The filings can't be done pro se.