Writing a revolution

As you know, since two days after Ray Bradbury died I have been working on a story I conceived several years ago, in the form of a blog "written" by the story's central character. I'm creating the novel – perhaps novella will be a better word in the end – in the same manner Brian Wilson recorded "Good Vibrations" and Smile. The blog entries serve as modules of content to be rearranged into the final composition.

Especially early in the process but still somewhat at this stage, I may write a scene or part of a scene from the beginning, middle or end depending where the muse takes me on a given day.

On Wednesday night I printed all of the entries to date and sat down to put them in an order. I found with some satisfaction that this process is indeed telling the story that I wanted to tell oh-so-long ago. I thought it would take about 100 blog entries of 300-to-700 words each, and at Entry 75 I truly am about three-quarters of the way through.

This little sorting also identified what I have left unwritten to date, and that is an invigorating thought. Much as I wrote my earlier novella The Imaginary Bomb knowing how it would end and enjoying the ride from here to there, it's time to start writing the scenes that draw it all to that conclusion. And as these characters now write their own stories, I'm sure I sometimes will be surprised at how they reach their destination.

It is a time of civil unrest. An Earthian colony on Sirius 4 chomps against the bit of a colonizing force. Those who have chosen to lead a pioneering life in space did so because they desired independence and liberty. The ties to the old world were meant to be severed, not forged into strong cables. A revolution is inevitable – but one man, Raymond Kaliber, envisions something more than simply exchanging a far-off tyrant for a more local one.

I've set a goal of releasing a finished product on Dec. 15, which is Bill of Rights Day, the anniversary of a day when revolutionaries ratified a pact intended to protect individual freedom. In the meantime, the blog is a chance for you to get a sneak preview of the story and watch the process of its creation day by day. Check it out; we're getting to the good parts.

State of the Attic midsummer report

Looking north from the new "attic"

We are on track to complete the new house, with its new Uncle Warren's Attic, by early August. The outlook from our temporary quarters is remarkable! I do miss my stash and have not had an opportunity to visit it in its storage unit.

It is now two years since we started packing our belongings away to put the old house up for sale, and 10 months since we actually moved out. Ground was broken May 22 on the new place, and it's been quite an adventure watching it emerge from our dreams after all these years.

The plan is still to launch the "fall season" of Uncle Warren's Attic, the podcast, in the area of late September, or about the time you are getting accustomed to the new season of network television madness. I just gave another listen to the preliminary work I've done on UWA #78 and #79, and I'm kind of excited to reassemble the studio and get going again. But all things in their time.

I have not been standing still, of course, as you know if you've been regularly visiting the new blog, ImagRev: The Imaginary Revolution. There, the long-awaited followup to The Imaginary Bomb is unfolding in the form of Ray Kaliber's memoirs. Speaking of "years in the making," I have been meaning to tell the story of Sirius 4 independence since I wrote the first novel in 1988, since I podcast it in 2006, and since I published it in 2008.

It took the death of Ray Bradbury to at long last release the muse and get The Imaginary Revolution started. You may recall a false start or two, and you may even detect the rewritten sections from those early efforts, with some essential changes. I have been known to drop the creative ball over the years, but as sure as Buffalo Springsteen has reservations about being called "Buffy," I think this time the story will finally be told in its entirety.

First Ray has to finish his memoirs, and then the blog needs to be edited into more or less chronological order. He's tending to jump around in the time continuum as he decides what he wants to write about day-to-day. There's a lot of key moments this week as Ray completes his first month of entries.

Sometime this fall or winter – depending on when we conclude he's finished with the story – The Imaginary Revolution will appear in book/ebook form. Sooner than that, I'm planning a podcast version. Stay tuned.

I appreciate everyone who's been around during 12 episodes of The Imaginary Bomb, 77 episodes of Uncle Warren's Attic, 150 episodes of Ikthuscast, a small pile of books, a couple-three blog identities, and various other odds and ends. If you're liking what you see on ImagRev or hear from the Attic, I'd sure appreciate your sharing it with your friends. My main motivation is to entertain and/or express some big ideas, and I'd do it for a handful of friends or even just one, but the more the merrier.

UW Attic 47: The Charlie Francis Story

Who is Charlie Francis? He had some surprisingly tasty tunes on a series of budget albums in the early to mid-1960s, and a search for Charlie resulted in a surprise I should've seen coming.

In this edition, we hear Charlie Francis sing "A New Love," "Mountain of a Man," "Just Tell Me When," "Believe in Me" and "Little Girl." If you haven't heard the show yet and want to be surprised with me, don't click on this, the link I refer to during the story.

Also, the megahit "I Got a Crush on Obama," thoughts on creativity by Dave Slusher of the Evil Genius Chronicles, and classic Robot Theater from the legendary Illinoise! podcast by Just Pete and NASA Janet.

Last but not least, an unabashed plug for The Imaginary Bomb by B.W. Richardson, edited and published by moi over at Lulu.com.

Click on the podcast icon or this link to download, or just press play over there on the right.