Timewaster's Guide Archive

  You have to ask yourself if those "real goals" are for our benefit.  In my opinion they are not.  They are so the top 5 or 10% can maintain dominion and control over the rest of us unwashed masses.  They are so companies like British-Petroleom, Dutch-Shell and other US friendly companies can have no-bid contracts to siphon off billions of dollars of another country's resources.  Like they did in southeast Asia, and Central and South America.  So that companies like KBR, Halliburton, Blackwater, and Bechtel, to name a few, can have cost-plus contracts to fleece the American people out of billions of dollars.  Money better spent perhaps on say the abysmal education system in this country.  For example, they rent out 5-star hotel compounds in Kuwait or elsewhere and lease, LEASE mind you,  fully loaded S.U.V.'s for each and every employee over there at $7,500/month to sit in said compound parking lot because most of those employees do not have to leave the grounds to do their jobs.  This so that the companies can charge the US taxpayer more money and make more profits.  They have little or no oversight by any governmental body.  Apparently, a few million dollars a year for the CEO's were not enough to fill the umpteen swimming pools at there umpteen multi-million dollar mansions across the globe.  

  I am truly grateful for the service that the men and women of the armed services do, but I, for one minute do not believe they are fighting for my freedom, my safety, or their country.  Before anyone blows up at this and gives me the usual diatribe about protecting us from some unknown\known threat let me explain.  I am just as likely to get shot by some random criminal as I am to die in a "terrorist" attack.  If the so-called leaders of this country were truly worried about Nuclear attack or WMD we would be more concerned with N. Korea, Pakistan, India, or any other country that posses such weapons, not Iraq.  Iraq was the straw man, the paper tiger, easily pushed aside with little actual danger to anyone other than the men and women they sent over there to be targets.  I do not doubt for a minute that most over there and around this country believe they are fighting for Mom, baseball, and apple pie, but the truth is that they have been lied too, just like everyone else.  The main goal for policy-makers, both liberal and conservative, is to maintain control over the worlds most valuable finite resource, Oil.  They made this clear when they first called the Iraq Invasion, Operation Iraqi Liberation, O.I.L.  Talk about the Freudian slip of the century.    

  Suddam was an evil SOB, yes, and he was our evil SOB for nearly two decades.  The gassing of the Kurds in the 80's  Bush and the like were so quick to point to as evidence for invasion, had made in the USA on the canisters. (Not literally).  When the UN and international community wanted to condemn Suddam for his actions, the US, along with Israel, ran blocker in the Security Counsel to prevent that from happening.  

   As for the whole atrocities being just military versus military, what about places like Nicaragua, where many of the same people in charge now directed forces to attack "soft targets" like food collectives and health clinics.  Those were definitely not military targets.  This is after a UN Security Counsel resolution was vetoed by the US which would have called attention to the atrocities going on at the behest of US handlers.

 I guess the long and short of it is just this.  I am so sick and tired of most American's thinking this country can do no wrong.  That it is only torture if it is done by someone we don't like. It is only aggression when it is done without our approval.  It is amazing the amount of things the government does in our name and for our protection.  

"If the Nuremberg laws were applied today, then every Post-War American
president would have to be hanged."
- Noam Chomsky

Well, I don't know if I can provide an answer, but I feel that as long as you have a good story and that it is well laid out then the voice\style thing will come with time.  Kinda like working out, you build muscle and strength the more you work at it.  As for "Your" voice, I think of it like the Buddha thought of truth. "Hold to the truth within yourself as to the only truth."  Hold to voice within yourself. . ., and to paraphrase, only you can tell your story. 
  Besides, look at some of the dross that sells nowadays, and that should make you feel a little better.  I think if your goal is to tell a good story that says something important to you the selling part will take care of itself when the time is right.  Of course, you could just look at what sells and rehash that.  You don't have to be good at it.  Look at all the crappy pop musicians and authors out there, they sell like crazy.

I don't know about all mormons being jerks, but are all jerks mormons?  I think according to my college logic class the first part cannot be true and the second part could be true, and if it is true then there sure are a lot of mormons in the world.  I am a jerk, sometimes, does that make me part mormon even if my mother was not?  Please don't ban him, he is funny (well admin responses are)

First off, thank you to everyone for their help.  I am assimilating some suggestions and forging new paths in regards to suggestions that opened the flood gate in my mind.

  As to Eudalmoniac's questions.  Some users are disappeared if they are not going along with the program, this is dealt with through a planned story\character arc.

I am still tinkering with the government dynamics. Propaganda, status quo, loyalty reward, ego kinda all swarm together to make a very tedious power structure.  Plus, a little regal intrigue is at play here, like that found in those history books.  Having a history degree kinda helps with that, and I thought after I got done those books would just gather dust. 
 

i know it has a little star wars, mistborn type feel, but I am really trying to use that as a vehicle to show that position and\or power will corrupt.  Plus right now the book I am writing will focus on the freeing of the conquered territory with an eye toward the complete revolution.  Of course, who said the resistance would win in the end.  Don't really know yet.   What about the magic system?

   I have been kicking around this idea for a few months now.  I have quite a bit of world building done, but need some feedback.  Afraid maybe too cliche or is something that has already been done. 

   First the setting is a newly established Empire based on family-line rule, very Egyptian God-king like.  The ruling family has been in power for about 500 years, but has just consolidated power about 10 years ago over the western half continent with the invasion of the country that the series starts in.   The continent is split in two by a jungle that has never been crossed.  The Empire has controlled and manipulated history since taking power, so much of the history that is known by the public at large is skewed as is the knowledge of what is currently happening.  The people are somewhat free, but only nobles own property(land).  Nobles are only ones who  can use magic.  If a peasant manifests a magical power he is bought off and made a very minor noble subservient to a higher noble with better lineage or he is killed.
 
   There is no hero of legend or prophecy of a chosen one.  IMHO, already done by far too many, far better than I.  Also there really isn't any big bad except for the evil of the human heart\mind.  The whole power\position corrupts theme.

   Our heroes are part of a resistance movement looking to start a revolution that will overthrow regime.   The cell the story focuses on, there are many different cells located throughout the Empire, include a father and daughter, a former soldier of the empire who has walked away from the military b\c does not agree with philosophy of the ruling class.  One member of another larger humanish race called the Vansyr, which have been used as slave labor b\c of their size, and for other reasons that wont be revealed now.  There will be others that come and go, but that is the many core and the main POV characters aside from the Emperor and maybe a few key bad guys don't know exactly yet.  Their methods are pretty debatable as to the right and wrong.   Resistances has just some pretty basic tenants, but the method of following them are open for debate amongst cell members.

     The magic system is based on Elements of fire, earth, wind, and water.  (I know very cliche)  however, magic is used only through a focus object which is created through meditation, i.e a ring, etc. nothing bigger than a bracer, and wielding of  the magic requires physical contact with the focus object.  Each Elemental(working name for magic users) is gifted what I am calling the users "Elemental Gift" which is a weapon formed by the elements. The Elemental senses this gift after they manifest their powers and they must traverse the "trials" which are designed to lead the user toward their destiny.  The trials are different for each user as is the type of weapon their gift will take.  The weapon is the main source of magical power.  Magic is limited and personal. (sometimes the right pressure exerted at the right time will have large consequences is another general theme)
    The Elementals are broke down into five types.  Some only use one power, which have specific attributes and then one type that uses all four powers, however they are not as strong in any of the four powers as someone who uses only one power.  each weapon has a name and seems to have a personality but is not really alive, more like a sensation.

   I think that wraps it up with out giving away too much plot and story.  Does it sound like a path i should explore further?  Does it sound like something you might pick up and read or does it at least peek any interest.  Does it sound too video gamey?  Any suggestions, critiques?  Too much cliche?  Feel free to hammer away.  Have a few very rough chapters in need of editing and a lot of outline that i will pass along if you email me (See my profile).