Month: September 2014

WP 1: Perfect Kid

~ The McKraken ~ Leave a comment

I decided to start doing some Reddit writing prompts to help streamline my writing. I tend to be a bit verbose. This was and is my first attempt at it. I forced myself to write it quickly and tried to limit my length to match the attention span of the average Redditer. It still a bit long but I’m getting better. For a sleepless 3 AM story it turned out ok.

The Writing Prompt

“Far in the future, parents now purchase the traits of their perfect child. They decide everything from intelligence to looks. Better qualities cost significantly more money. Tell me about the imperfect life of the most expensive child ever born”

My Response

I glanced down at my doodle in progress while professor Gaul prattled on about one number or another. Every circle perfect, not a single smudge marred the penciled shading, and every flaw perfectly calculated. Da Vinci himself would envy it. Surely someone would buy it for a few bucks at lunch. Three more just like it and mom could stay home from work for a night…maybe.

“EDWIN.”

With an annoyed sigh I raised my head to face the front of the class. Professor Gaul had always been a problem. In English I flashed my winning smile, in ethics my BS prose could sway any debate, in science I just had to spend one lunch a month helping out in the lab, but Gaul wanted my attention. Something I simply refused to give. I knew more than he ever would, why should I waste my time with him? Another needlessly complicated problem awaited. “Glad that you’re still with us Edwin. Now would you mind solving the problem on the board since you obviously already know it seeing as you’re not paying attention.”

“Obviously.” The kids close enough to hear snickered and Gaul glared. I had mumbled too quietly for him to be sure, but he knew all the same. He just couldn’t do anything about it. For the first time this month I scanned the board. Chapter 4! How had he only taught to chapter 4? He wanted me to do his job. Not this time. In my mind I built the problem, saw the models and graphs, and bit by bit I whittled down to the answer. Not even complicated. “3 plus or minus 2i.”

Gaul’s nose crinkled and his brow creased, but you can’t punish a kid for being right. Even if he thought I cheated he couldn’t prove it. “Well smart ass why don’t you show the rest of the class how you came up with that.” He extended the chalk and waited, impatiently tapping his foot.

I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to show a step by step method that would get you to the answer, but completely miss the point. Why parrot the cold methods of the old and dead when the answer held so much perfection and beauty? I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Instead of the line by line step ladder expected I started to draw the concept from my head. Not half way through the first curve he pushed me away from the board. The cloyingly sweet scent of his cologne filled my senses. No man should ever wear that scent.

“I’m sick of you cocky attitude. I want you out of this classroom. I don’t care what the Dean says I’m failing you.”

I stood in shock and anger. It didn’t really matter. I could test out of this class, the next class, and the next class. The doctors gave me the ability to memorize entire textbooks in mere days and the artistic mind to visualize concepts with ease. That perfect memory allowed me to speak six languages, to debate politics with senators, to handle complex problems and their solutions in my mind, it allowed me to remember the first argument my parents had when their fixed loan rate hadn’t been so fixed, to recall the faces of every agent that dragged my father away to work off his debt, the exact brand of whiskey on my mother’s breath before her first night in her new job, the ability to match each scent on her the next morning to those that called themselves my mentors, and the sense to know it was all my fault. Tonight marked the second Tuesday of the month; the day before that cloying sweet scent would linger in the kitchen while mom made my breakfast with her head hung in shame. She shouldn’t feel that way; she did what she could, what she had to. She just wanted me to be happy and to bring my father home.

Chalk dust began to fall from my clenched fist. Not tonight. With a quick flick of my wrist I turned that line on the board into a middle finger before mirroring the image with my own hands. Professor Gaul turned a new shade of red and charged me; just like I planned. With ease I side stepped before burying my knee into his groin. I couldn’t hide my sneer when he slumped to the ground. At least he would be icing it instead of using it tonight.

The class cheered as I walked out the door. Why wouldn’t they? I helped them cheat, I made them laugh, and I got them in and out of all sorts of mischief. They loved me. Everyone loved me. Everyone except myself.

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Just an update

~ The McKraken ~ Leave a comment

Hello, just a quick update on this page. I’m still stumbling my way though the web design so you will see me make one of each of the categories of posts I’m intending to do over the next week or so. On the plus side I only marginally screwed up the site mapping. It should work for you readers, but I completely pantsed it on my end.  I can manage though.

Hopefully in the future I will be less scattered in my posts…or more so. It will definitely be one of those two. Anyway just as a preview I guess I think I want to make four major types of posts-

Blog: Self explanatory, just the blog like ramblings about things that seem mildly interesting.

Writing Prompts: I need to start learning to parse my writing and this seemed a good way to do that. I want to try to semi regularly participate in Reddit’s WritingPrompts and post the fruits that aren’t too embarrassing here.

Project Updates: This might break into sub categories later. This will showcase/update my actual projects such as Blood and Whiskey, Picture’s Worth (working title), and my short stories. I may even post the current one (yet to be named) when it’s finished. For those following my Facebook page this will be pretty same same for a little bit.  Sorry.

Miscellaneous: Pretty much what this is. Site updates and Distractions

At least that is the initial plan, but if this is anything like my well thought out and detailed pre book outlines I will end up doing something completely different by the end. Expect the first WP post later this week.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Welcome I Guess

~ The McKraken ~ Leave a comment

Hello to everyone who may have stumbled onto this page. I’m sorry to disappoint you. This is not the page of a great scientist or some famous author or even the page of a mildly interesting pseudo celebrity. This is the page that I chose to sit on while I write my novel. A series that will probably never see the light of day, but that won’t stop me from trying. At first I just allowed this page to lay idol, but it seemed like such a waste. I don’t like waste. There is enough of that in my life already. I waste food, energy, and time. At least this time waster will give a small, lonely url some purpose in life, even if just existing is all it ever amounts to.

For weeks I have debated its future and purpose, and to be honest I still have no idea. So for now it will just be a place for words; words from a hack of a writer trying to keep from going crazy. Editing is a long slog of a process full of disappointment and frustration. I spend hours staring at the words I individually typed into my computer, and sometimes they disgust me. Now don’t think that I am negative. It’s a first draft that I wrote at break neck speed; of course it’s terrible. Slowly the words will flow onto the page in an order and cadence that is pleasing to the eye and mind, but right now it’s a mess of inconsistencies, errors, and elementary writing. Every now and then I need an escape from it, and what better place to run to than to a website based on the novels future name. A mini vacation from what it is now to the place that it will one day be. So welcome to Blood and Whiskey.

What to expect here? Now that is an interesting question with no real answer. My guess is for the moment this will be a blog for updates and my jumbled musings about life and writing. Most likely I will pose questions to the aether when I am stuck (never expecting an answer) or maybe time lines and landmark completions. Perhaps random story ideas or maybe just whatever schlock that is running through my head. Eventually I may add drawings of my beloved characters and locations. (Step 1: learn to draw….Step 3: profit?) Definitely interesting tidbits I may come across during research. Above all this will be my sanctuary of sanity. A way to help me overcome my fears of people seeing my ideas and art. That is my fear though. That one day someone will see my idea, and pull it out from under me before my poor manuscript ever sees the light of day. Or maybe the royal and malicious will simply judge it and squash it’s razor thin slice of hope before it ever gains the self confidence it needs to survive. I know, however, these are silly fears. Thus this.

For all who choose to read or stay, Welcome. To all that travel here I hope you can at least glean something interesting from this. Hopefully this will be my outlet that keeps me focused and keeps me from quitting. I do intend to update at least once a week with something. Although it might just be my favorite cat photo that kept me from doing actual work. But be warned. My grammar is awful and spelling errors will be rampant. Sorry about that.

Edit: This site is still under construction.  Hopefully I will get it all pretty designed soon.  I’m planning on keeping it updated anyway though.