Russell Kirkpatrick's Journal
What I'm Up To
15-Apr-2009
OK, enough ranting about selfish behaviour on the roads. What have I been writing?
Lots of stuff. I've written 50,000 words this year of a new sci-fi story I'm very excited about. While I dearly love fantasy, science fiction is my first love, and I've always wanted to write it. This is a near-future story with a myriad of twists, some hard science and some very interesting characters (including one actual, real, well-known living person who won't go away). It's the first spec fic story I've read to have a Samoan POV character. I'm having a great deal of fun writing it!
I've begun to plan a new fantasy series. This will be set in a completely new world, with different rules for magic. The scope of the series will be enormous, beyond anything even Erikson or Martin have done. I intend to paint this on the largest canvas I can find. This will be true epic fantasy, nothing held back, with characters who are lovable, bizarre, venal, heroic and exasperating. Two of my POV characters will be twins, and I will be exploring the bond between twins (my youngest brother and sister were twins, and they exhibited an uncanny bond when they were young).
I've begun writing my cartographic magnum opus, the book I've had in my head for twenty years. Provisionally entitled 'Radical Cartography', it explores the notion of what maps we'd have if for the last 500 years we'd spent trillions of dollars collecting data about things important to people rather than to governments, the military and colonial powers. This won't be a huge moneymaker, but it will be an intense labour of love. I intend every page of this lavishly illustrated book to be perfect. I have no idea if it will find a publisher, but that's not the point.
I'm working to finally finish the Bahrain atlas - there have been serious editorial and data holdups as the Royal Court reviewed the first draft. I'm hopeful it will be finished soon.
So that's that, apart from University teaching. What are you lot up to?
Well, I won't be making any noise at your mini writers retreat this weekend, because I'm stuck in NZ. Have a great time, he said sulkily.
The atlas sounds fascinating. I still think about the thing you did on mapping at Donna's (which was the Conflux 3 one) from time to time and the idea of the agenda behind maps, as opposed to them being objectively factual. I for one would love to see your magnum opus.
I'm currently mucking my way through draft two of the novel that you part read at Metung. The idea of the odana is becoming much stronger as I get a clearer idea of what it's really about. It's become a very biological thing, which is bringing in all sorts of great things - what do you do if your body is telling you to do one thing and your head another? Bit like me and exercise, really :) And finally, I get to write something I really know - the ups and downs of a woman's fertility cycle :)
Here's hoping that you find a publisher, because now I really want to read it.
Jo, that's encouraging. If I can get a non-cartographer interested, then I've got a real chance of interesting a publisher.
I did want to ask a question, totally unrelated though. My family is planning a holiday to NZ in September this year, North Island only. Any recommendations for "mustn't be missed" activities/sights? Remember my kids are under 10, so no extreme sports *grin*. We're probably going to be travelling in a campervan.
Jo, send me an email and I'll give you a list of things to do.
Who the hell is Peter Garrett?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_garrett
An interesting man!
Have I missed something in the ether, or are you still to complete your third instalment of Husk?