Tag: Writing

VIN26- The Best “Worst” Decision

~ S.M. Nolan ~ Leave a comment

We all have wishes. Skee-Lo had the most, at least in the publicized market. I had the second, but mine was written in words across pages invisible to all. Even if they hadn’t been, it was doubtful anyone would have found them. Even then, they’d never have enjoyed them.
It was simple mathematics, really. Take the amount of people in the world, multiplied by the amount of non-Skee-Lo wishes, then divided by each level of exclusion required to reach them.
In my case, that was invisible pages, requiring active readers, whom would not only ferret them out, but also enjoy them. Recursion that deep requires consideration.
But it happened. All of those infinitesimally small chances, and it happened.
What the fuck was I thinking?

Initially, It was from loss. Something I needed to do. Music had failed… sort of. Then, anyhow. I knew my body was too damaged and my spirit too wounded to do anything else. So, I tried to heal. Not knowing I was seeking to heal.
My dumb-ass went and put pen to paper.

For non-writers: the feeling of writing is intoxicating. It is more than a drug. It is like missing a crucial part of your genetic material and needing to supplement it with lifelong therapy. It is my theory that writers are Bodhisattvas: that we were the first to be reborn as Human, and needed to identify one another.
So, we began writing.
Only then, because we knew it would take lifetimes to make work, could we begin to understand that it was us, ourselves, that were the Bodhis now. Those old stories, their Buddhas, had already ascended the Godly realms. We were last in line, but richer for it, because we’d get to share all that extra time with the rest of this existence.
Righteous.
Wicked. Righteous.

The point I assume in this theory is that we are all building toward Enlightenment, Nirvana, or the Liberation from samsara. The cycle of Birth, Dying and Death, and Rebirth. It has put all of us, through the aforementioned, nearer to attaining that.
Seeing that, understanding that, is the way forward for Humanity and each of us as individuals.
Now, at every turn, the systems we’ve built around us to aid this are working against us. Justice is unjust. Corruption is purity. Fleas are jumping ship, yet the bridge isn’t burning. All the same, we know the waters are disturbed there’s a smell about there air. Something bigger is afoot.

Vermin fear predators.

I remember a story about a rally cry being heard in the distance at war-time. The village nearby immediately mustered its defenses and revealed its number. The rally never came. Days later, an army thousands strong had been amassed to encircle the village. They surrendered wholesale.
“Deception is the Art of War,” so sayeth Sun Tzu.
“Justice is blind,” retorts Lady Liberty.
Neither is wrong, yet others still bleed. It hurts somewhere. Deep. Even if we don’t care… we do. Even when we have every reason, rhyme, and conviction in the world not to, we do. Deep down. That is the condition: Human. The soul. The conscience. It is the effect of violation in that which is otherwise your norm and comfort.
No matter how comfortable you pretend to be with it, how much you smother it, it remains.

Becoming a writer was one of the best, worst-decisions of my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

VIN 22- Halls of The Universe, pt. 1

~ S.M. Nolan ~ Leave a comment

I started writing when I was about six. Doesn’t everyone?

As soon as I could pick up a pen, I began writing. My mother, an oldschool reader, subscribed to volumes of collections of fairy-tales as a child and filled the house with books until the shelves sagged. My father, though not traditionally “literate,” held true the written word enough to have learned most skill through self-teaching manuals.

Thus, the vein of story is pure and deep within me. It’s no surprise I became a writer. Though spending life attempting to please others is not the way to go, it does not devalue what you learn of yourself along the way. For me, that was fiction. Stories. Information. Then later, technology and science, truth and justice. Text. Words.

For words are power: true, eternal power.

What separates us from the so-called inferior boils down to language. One need only look to history books to see as much. Especially with regard to North American and European history, the barrier between “civilized” and “savage” was based upon whether one spoke specific languages– usually, those of whites, Caucasians, Europeans, and later, North Americans.

This extreme and prejudicial example is no less repeated in regard to anthropocentric– that is, Human-centered, views on Death, the Multiverse, and Nothing. The problem is, these views are subject to mob mentality as a result of their manifest by the group. Simply: Death, the Multiverse, and Nothing, are concepts too big for one person alone to understand and thus require the effort of the group.

Big jobs need more people. Simple enough, right? Right.

The catch, as always: this reality means the mob-mentality– or that state of chaos roused by inexplicable rage, fear, or inner turmoil, can also exist.

This is not seen in other animals. However, the reason’s likely a result of Human intellectuality placing them as ecologically dominant. It is quite possible, given enough Evolution, any remaining lineage of Earth-animal surviving alongside Humanity long enough would inherit its traits. Intelligence being its defining trait, would only increase the likelihood of that trait being made manifest.

Evolution would need only, as a result of the same naturally-selective processes, on social-scales, eliminate those traits. To do otherwise would avoid evolutionary paths-of-least-resistance, which is counter to nature’s tendencies.

In essence, if dogs or cats could live in large, intelligent enough groups, for long enough, they might too become as complex socially as Humans. Canids and Felidae alongside Homo sapiens in the halls of the Universe isn’t the worst idea, but it does require compromise on the largest scales of Human Ego.

Then again, maybe that’s the point.

Update from the Author

~ S.M. Nolan ~ Leave a comment

So, you may have noticed (or not) that July 15th has come and gone without much celebration on the part of the Logbook. Partially by design, and partially due to time constraints, I’m scaling back some of the site. Mostly, in the form of ending novellas (for the time being).

Though I love writing them, they’re much more time consuming and equivalent to writing books than I can afford to devote without further income. However, whilst doing one now, I’m incapable of the other.

SO, that means novellas are out for now. Books are in.

Fridays will become wildcards, like Mondays. Leaving the bulk of the content on Tues. Weds. Thurs. If that bums you out like it does me, you can buy one of my books or spread the word with Authorsmnolan.com. Only with that can I start to focus more on my work, and thus the site, in a professional capacity.

Though I intend to finish the series I’ve begun sometime in the distant future, their format and release are far too indeterminate for now. So, it is not so much so long to an era as it is see you later. Sooner or later, these characters will return and delight, thrill, or frighten again.

On the flip-side, I do intend to continue not only Short Stories, but also Vignettes and Poetry. So these three days (Tue, Wed, Thurs) are still filled. The various graphics will also eventually be altered to reflect the changes.

Beyond this, I still have other projects I intend for this site, but temporarily they are either on hiatus or delayed for the foreseeable future.

SO. AGAIN. Basically, I’m focusing on books and getting rid of serials/novellas for now. (Unless people begin to donate or support).

Much easier, right?

Now, BEHIND THE SCENES:

I’m working on a new fantasy-scifi world, fleshing it out bit-by-bit. Some of what’s posted will be canonical. Others won’t. Some stories may be subject to addition, others removal, based on what I feel best befits the world.

All of this will support other, larger works anchoring their “Worlds” via larger, lore-based events and reactions in specific timelines.

Basically what this means is, from here on, just about everything posted can or might be connected in someway. Otherwise, it will likely be obvious what is not based on setting or style.

TLDR: everything is chaos and logic has failed. Down is up. Gravity, anti. Dark, Light. Cats cleaning the dogs’ tails: whatever these omens portend, revolve the Tues, Weds, Thurs, mantra.

A Quick Raw One From The Author

~ S.M. Nolan ~ Leave a comment

Hi friends, SMN here to drop a quick update on some things.

First, I managed to get an updated version of The Omega Device put together and uploaded to Smashwords and Kindle.(available in the sidebar->) If you previously purchased my book from Kindle, it will now be consistent with the former edition. (or should update itself to be in the next day or so.)

Second, I’ll be adding an experimental thing this (or possibly, next) week. A Wednesday Vignette series meant to be more disconnected and expository. I felt I needed a catch-all for anything interesting I have/am writing to give a bit more content for you.

So keep an eye on that for WEDNESDAYS.

Last but not least, I want to say a huge thank you to new and returning readers and remind them to check out the other places I’m at. (also sidebar ->) The last couple of months has seen surges in my readership.

Normally, that kind of stuff wouldn’t mean much to people, but it does to me. So, I feel I should say again, “Thank you for everything!”

Especially nowadays, its tough to do anything creative for a living, but I know the traction I’ve seen the last couple of months means I’m headed in the right direction. So, I want you to know how much it means to me that you are all the cause of that.

Until next time,

SMN