Fresh failures

Well, that would be two recent projects that just don’t have what I think is needed for prime time.

First, the song I was working on as an experiment where folks write the lyrics in a certain genre to a song of mine they never heard… I tried to make something of that last week and the initial takes just felt awkward. It’s not for the lack of Chris and Sandy’s lyrical talents; rather, I just couldn’t find a way to make either of them work well. Close, but no banana, as they say. It ended up feeling as if I should be doing less, rather than more, on the lyrics front. And my mind is blank for what would work, if you can believe that crap.

As an experiment, it was fun, but I don’t think anyone would thank me for putting the result out with their name associated. So, I’ll let it rest a bit and see if I either get a better sense of rhythm and flow to the lyrics, or if I come up with some of my own.

The other experiment that feels wobbly is the longer-form writing I was taking on. It feels like a red-headed stepchild of my writing family and, while I still like the premise behind the tale, I’m not happy with the results so far. So I’ll bin those for the time being as well and come back to it after a break to see if I can make something of it starting from scratch.

For that, I was reworking my girl in scarlet theme. Instead of a giant talking cat named Wolf (in earlier iterations), I was exploring a AI-capable drone and a companion named Winter (folks may recall that name from other efforts along these lines. Toss in a fantastical near-future apocalyptic setting, a smuggler who goes by Gary (whose birthname is much longer and doesn’t sound at all like Gary), and a need to get from the South of Tacoma to the North of Seattle through the remains of the sprawl everyone calls “The Warrens”, and you get the basic premise. Oh, and the girl in crimson (did I say scarlet?) is “special”. Not magically so, but… erm… technologically so.

And you can’t go around the Warrens — because, reasons — and no one really wants to go through the Warrens — again, because reasons. But Gary (remember Gary), has been given an offer he can’t refuse by Winter and Circumstance, although he doesn’t do escort missions. Normally. And Gary has his way of going through the Warrens because, well, that’s what he does for his living.

Those efforts aside, I also need to do some research for one of my twins. She recently decided she wanted to learn herbalism, so I have to find her resources that are age-appropriate for someone in their tweens. If you folks have any suggestions for tween-centric medicinal properties of wildcrafted herbs, let me know (even if I have to take her down to the herbalist to pick up the ingredients). I have enough old knowledge to keep her safe from her own concoctions, but my books are far too technical for someone in her age group.

Well, that’s that then. I’ll keep my eye on the upcoming road trip and for a decent copy of Pinocchio, if I can find one. Because… reasons.