Rome Didn't Burn in a Day

Chapter 8

2004-11-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

The entire formula is a function of whether the square inch in question is skin or nylon, and if it is nylon, what then is the true texture of the square inch hidden beneath it?—Steve Martin, ShopgirlSomewhere, a small dog started barking. As is so often the case with small dogs, there was nothing that could be seen, heard, or sensed in any other way by man. It is a matter for debate whether or

Chapter 7

2004-11-04T22:46:00.000-05:00

And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made. And the sign flashed out its warning, In the words that it was forming.—Simon & Garfunkle, “The Sound of Silence”The restaurant was dimly lit and the atmosphere was smothering. It was busy at this time, packed full of people and the sounds of busy mastication. There was also the babble of many people talking all at once, with the

Chapter 6

2004-11-03T11:07:00.000-05:00

A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life to be thankful for a good one.—Marjorie Kinnan RawlingsAfter wandering the streets, Ryan and Josie had come to a stop in front of a house. It was more of a ground-floor apartment, really. This is where my brother lives, Josie said. Ryan nodded. They stood around. I’ll just knock, shall I? said Ryan. He stepped up and knocked

Chapter 5

2004-11-03T07:52:00.000-05:00

Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.—Joseph HellerRyan awoke with a start. As most people do when they first wake, he experienced a moment of great existential uncertainty. Who am I? Where am I? Oh gods, where did this lampshade come from? Luckily for Ryan, though, it was limited to wondering how this blanket had gotten on him.

Chapter 4

2004-11-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.—Ursula K. LeGuinScrod came into view. It wasn’t much to look at. The only reason Scrod existed was that there needs to be a point X between points A and B so people Y don’t have to go the long way around, by C. It was twilight by the time Ryan and Josie plodded into town. They had been

Chapter 3

2004-11-02T18:17:00.000-05:00

Pity the atheist, for it's so very hard to blaspheme against something you refuse to believe in.—Anon.After stopping to get supplies, Ryan and Josie hit the road. The edge between Forque and the desert was well-defined. Here, a marketplace, life, civilization. A foot beyond, howling emptiness. Ryan stopped on the edge and stood. Nothing could be seen on the horizon, which itself was flickering

Chapter 2

2004-11-02T17:16:00.000-05:00

Now Zeus was a womanizer Always on the make But Hera usually punished her that Zeus was one to take—Cake, “When You Sleep”It was morning. Ryan got out of bed, what was left of it, anyway. He walked over to the rough window, unbarred the heavy wooden shutters, and opened them. Light, red as a battlefield, streamed in from the bloody sunrise. He narrowed his eyes in the glare. “What are you

Chapter 1

2004-11-02T07:18:00.000-05:00

A man walks down the street It's a street in a strange world Maybe it's the Third World Maybe it's his first time around—Paul Simon, You Can Call Me AlHere, a desert, shining in the moon; there, a figure, walking the trail, dust rising up at each step. The figure reached the edge of town. By the light of the pub that dominated the entrance to the town, the figure became recognizable as a man.

Prologue

2004-11-01T17:09:00.000-05:00

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.—H.P. LovecraftWhere did the gods come from? Many men had tried to answer this question, and the only answer they really found was that it's not a question to ask in a building that doesn't have a grounded roof. The current accepted theory, however, hypothesized by men who knew

Dedication

2004-11-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

I get by with a little help from my friends: Gus V, the ubiquitous Quiggy, Benner, and the rest of the crew. And, of course, none of this would have been possible without my favorite u-tensil.

Information

2004-10-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

If you're interested in how I did the Read more! links, as I know at least one of you is, well, the answer lies in Blogger Help, specifically here: How can I create expandable post summaries?. There are some other extremely useful articles, like How do I post a book?. I definitely recommend Bloggers as intent on site design as I to spend a li'l time browsing. It's pretty cool.

Functional

2004-10-25T15:22:00.000-04:00

Okay, I think this blog is done for now. From this post on, that Read more! text will take you to the rest of the post. I figured that... since I'm going to have to be writing entire chapters, it would make the main page pretty much unnavigable. This shoud help. I did some writing the other day, and I figure that to slap out 2000 words will take take me about three hours.

Test

2004-10-25T14:08:00.000-04:00

Testing something to make it cleaner... This will work, please?

Another One Blogs the Dust

2004-10-23T16:08:00.000-04:00

Dustjacket, that is. It looks like my good friend Quiggy here has created a blog for his novel. Good luck to ye, lad.

Progress Report

2004-10-21T21:25:00.000-04:00

I am currently working on making chapter outlines for the novel. I've done chapter one's, and I should be able to get some quality time in over the weekend. I'm really getting psyched for this. That's up, by the way, not out.

Testing...

2004-10-20T19:48:00.000-04:00

Ah one, two, ah one two three fo'!