Paul’s Blog

Writing prompt: Spare Parts

Sometimes I write a short piece starting from a writing prompt. One of those prompts was “spare parts”. The next short piece is what resulted from that prompt.

The ring.

Priscilla visited her friend, the gadget-maker. His name was Magdanovitch. Mags, for friends.

“Mags, you should clean up here. It still looks like a junk yard here.” Priscilla ran her finger over a table; her action left a clear line on the table and a dark grey stain on her finger.

“Cleaning up here is lethal. This entire place is my spare parts box,” Magdanovitch stated.

“You always say that.” Priscilla moved through the “spare parts box” and picked up a ring from a table laden with objects large and small. The ring was a simple golden affair with a nearly illegible inscription. “What’s this?”

“That? Oh, an invisibility ring I made. But it malfunctions.” Mags rummaged in a box and barely glanced at his friend. Priscilla was not bothered by that, it was typically Mags.

She wondered how a ring could malfunction though, so she slipped it on her finger. Immediately the entire room and everything in it became a grey, shapeless blur. No more table next to her, no more Magdanovitch and no box. She saw herself, her extended hand and the finger, but everything else had become a dull nothing.

“Mags?” Priscilla barely heard her own voice. It was as if she was talking inside a ball of cotton. “Magdanovitch?” There was no response. She called her friend’s name, as loud as she could, but it made no difference. She shrugged and took the ring from her finger. Immediately everything was normal again, down to the smudge on her finger.

“I see what you mean,” the girl said. She stared at the inscription one more time, before she tossed the ring back on the table. Then she looked for something to clean her finger with. “It’s probably a slip in the writing.”

“Yeah, that was my idea too,” Mags nodded. “That, or I used some crap gold. Come, I’ll fix us some tea. I have scones too.”

“Not the ones from last time, I hope?” Priscilla asked as she followed Mags to the door. Her last visit had been several weeks ago.

“No. At least I think not.”

I wonder… would you like to see more of these snippets?

Free vs. paid

Why am I giving my books away? Because yes, everything I have published so far is available for free.

Many people have asked me why I don’t charge money for my writing. “After all, it is your hard work that went into it, that should be rewarded.”

Well, dear readers and people who seem to be worried about my well-being, it is rewarded.

Not by financials, I agree, but by the sheer number of downloads that I see happening. Yes, I get a kick out of that. Now, that is all very nice, I hear you say, but kicks won’t keep you alive for long! Very true. For that I have my job. At this moment I have a nice job in IT and that pays my bills, my mortgage and everything else I like (and trust me, I like a lot!).

Will having more money make me… eat more, better or healthier? I doubt that, especially the more. Live faster or better? More doubts. Living fast is something I try to avoid, anyway. Write better? Hardly. I am happy the way things are now. Oh, certainly, I would love to be a professional writer and live off the fruits of my creativity in that arena, but I am realistic enough to know there are only few who manage that. Many professional authors get by just barely and have to take other jobs or assignments that pay better, to keep their life going.

No. I’ll take many downloads and constructive reviews instead, next to my daytime job. That way I am able and free to write what I want, when I want and how I want it. And judging from the feedback I have received on my writing, I am not doing that badly.

One more revelation: I collect quotes and proverbs, as they are often miracles of language-use and I adore those things. I chose this one as a good ending for this post:

“If you want to know how god thinks about money, look at the people that have it.”

Book review – The Last Page

Title: The Last Page
Author: Anthony Huso
Genre: Steampunk
Rating: 

Anthony Huso paints a very fascinating world in which royalty faces all kinds of challenges including a war, while alchemy and witchcraft (called holomorphy in this story) take an important place in the story.

During the first chapters I had a hard time staying focussed on the story, but once I got past that hurdle, the story pulled me into a vibrant world with intrigue, hidden agendas, dirigibles and myth. Rebels and a “love you, love you not” game made the book a very nice experience for me, which fed me with ideas for future stories as well.

The setting of the story is laid out very nicely, with plenty of space for personal interpretation of many things. The technology and other matters devised are good and in many ways refreshing and new. (For me.)

 

The sixth book…

Actually it is the eighth. But I already digress.

Yesterday the sixth book in the Hilda the Wicked Witch series hit the virtual shelves of Smashwords.com. Unbelievable that the first book appeared on Smashwords only in June of 2010.

This probably shows that writing Hilda’s stories is a fun activity for me. If it doesn’t, then please know that writing Hilda’s stories is a fun activity for me!

If you care to have a look, go ahead. You don’t have to worry about throwing your money away, because this book, as well as the previous five, as free downloads.