A Pause for Remembering

Hello World!

Your pardon, please.  I must pause in the story of creating my novel. Today I must share a familial story instead. It is the tale of this past year.

A year ago, I discovered an article on the Internet about Mom’s brother, my Uncle Don, now living in a retirement home in Florida. It gave the family an emotional lift, as Don had lost his ability to communicate verbally, and had barely kept in touch for some time. A well-beloved, soft-hearted joker of a man it showed Don with an adoring younger woman who remembered a good turn he had done her 60 years or so in the past. A flurry of communication among Mom’s family members ensued, and I printed the picture from the article on our Christmas card last year.

 In May, my husband Tom and I took a long-planned trip to upper New York State, where my mother was born. I wanted her to go with me and point out the Medina, NY sites she recognized. She could see her sister Jan and cousin Flo as well. But she felt the trip would be too difficult for her, so Tom and I went instead.  Mom’s cousin Ben was nearby for his granddaughter’s birthday which sweetened the trip. He had lived with us briefly when I was growing up, and we still felt a strong bond.

The trip was a success. Medina lived for me through Mom's tales. Ben and wife Elizabeth accompanied us, recapturing our long relationship. We visited Flo, pushing 90 years old, who enjoyed the occasion as much as any birthday. She was amazed at pictures of Mother -- how had she grown so old! Tom took a photo of us laughing together that portrayed the day perfectly.

We visited Aunt Jan and her husband Pete on another precious day. Needing a walker, she rarely left her little condo. But except for her shocking white hair, she was the same woman I had known as a child. Her voice and mannerisms reminded me of Mom, and she was pleased to see my pictures and hear about the day in Medina.  Jan was 90, and her husband 94.

Two months after the trip, in July, Mom heard that Flo had passed away. I was sad, but more for Mom, whose generation was dwindling, than for myself or the delightful woman I had met on my visit.  Yesterday, Mom’s call signaled a deeper loss. Just before Thanksgiving, Aunt Jan had been diagnosed with cancer, and she passed away yesterday morning – about six months after my visit.

Then Mom described how she had attempted to reach Uncle Don, only to find that he, too, had passed away earlier this year. Neither she nor Jan had been contacted. She had effectively lost her sister and brother in the same day.  He had been 91.

So now there is just my mom and Ben left of her generation. The five have become two – all too quickly. My sister and I are quickly becoming the older generation. How can such a thing be?

But I am blessed to have had that long-delayed visit. I grieve, but I am lucky to have known Mom’s family. As the pain fades, I'll revisit the memories, all tied up in a Christmas card and the photo of a laughing woman I met only once.

My Second Year at Write on the Sound (WOTS)

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I realized how long I've been blogging today when I recolled last year's posts from about this time of year. How fast the year passed! Amazing how much has changed in that time -- and how much remains the same. 

For instance, I'm attending the Write on the Sound Conference (WOTS) in Edmonds, Washington for the second year in a row. But unlike last year, this year I entered both the non-fiction and fiction contests. (Non-fiction is a new genre for me.) Last year I took a Friday intensive course where writers critiqued one another's writing. This year I took a workshop on the armature of writing story, a practical class with a whole new set of lessons (Wow!) Last year, I drove. This year, I'm depending on rides from my husband (not sure what that says about me, except that my muffler fell off my car.)

All in all, however, I am excited at the thought of all the workshops I will attend in the next two days. I can't wait to share the fascinating and helpful things I learn. Stay tuned -- if there is one thing similar about these two years, it is that I will be absorbing like a sponge. (Insert sucking sound here.)

More soon!

Breaks: An Important Phase

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Yes, I once again believe I have pulled out of my insidious addiction to Kingdoms of Camelot on Facebook and may consider myself a writer. I do hope I am correct this time. The promising part is that I am writing again, with the help of a new reader. (Thank you Terra, dear!) I crave the creative urge again, and occasionally my muse floats in and flies with me.

I am excited that Terra and I have worked through the first third of The Game together. I re-read and revise chapters I wrote back before addiction set in. She reads about two chapters a week answering questions on plot, characters, and her expectations of what is coming. Very satisfying feedback. (As Chris in my book would exclaim, "S-weet.")

And the bizarre thing? I cannot feel sorry about the "lost" writing time. I have learned an enormous amount about online gaming, made deep friendships, developed new skills (diplomacy, for example), and grown more than I ever expected. KoC was "just a game," but the people have been worth it all. And the time away has allowed me to see with fresh eyes, catching flaws I might have missed had the writing ontinued unbroken these months.

The upshot? I fully expect to finish The Game by year's end. I have more people interested in my novel than previously. The research into gaming and its community was a fabulous success. And I confronted long held but unexamined cultural assumptions and flushed them down the sewer -- a repeated theme in The Game. 

Once again, I experienced the process and the relationships as more important than the plan. Had I actually let that slip my mind? Nah. It is a foundational truth of my life.

Kingdoms of Camelot (KoC) Part III: Parallels with The Game

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Kingdoms of Camelot (KoC) has been seductive and addictive, has spiked my adrenaline and linked me into a community of new friends. So here’s the hard part. How do I duplicate all this in my novel, The Game? Is it possible to reproduce the allure of virtual gaming in the  real-life theme park of my story?

I think I’ll examine my four summaries on how KoC works in reverse order.

The fourth piece is easiest – community. My characters are all looking for connections. That the Game exists means that friendships will form. Plus, I encourage interactions between the local. and The Game staff through a system of rewards. The book’s in pretty good shape here.

You can’t have too many adrenaline spikes, but I have not neglected them. And with those that occur outside The Game, this is fine tuning rather than substantive change. Hopefully, awareness is all that is needed.

The first two aspects of KoC gaming – seduction and addiction – are those I must recreate in The Game. Of the two, addiction is more difficult. Yet for The Game to work, must draw people in and leave them aching to return over and over again.

I’ve been working, with my writer friend Lee Hallison, on developing the pamphlet that players in the story will receive as they enter The Game. It describes points, categories and levels of experience, and offers some hints.  Having my characters reference it for direction should help non-gamers understand what is happening..

The Leaderboard could dominate more, I suppose, though comments from my writing group tend to ask, “Why explore?” “Why continue?” Who cares about earning a score?” Why indeed? The seduction needs to precede the addiction – and I’m not sure yet how to strengthen it.

In kiosks, players can check what they’ve found and their points earned. If my characters make more use of these at first, they’ll be reinforced more often. Perhaps I need some additional way for players to discover their progress?

Though I sense layers of involvement on the horizon in KoC, they seem less adaptable to The Game. The vital elements must occur early on – make The Game more winsome, and draw the players into exploration. Their rewards will constantly encourage them onward.

Next stop – back to the book!

Kingdoms of Camelot (KoC) Part II: Adrenaline and Community

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In yesterday’s blog I began an analysis of factors that made the fb game Kingdoms of Camelot effective.  If I’m to  include them in my book, The Game, I need to figure out how to adapt them and weave them into the experiences of the characters.  I covered numbers one and two, so shall move on from there.

1              KoC is seductive.

2              KoC is addictive.

3              KoC spikes adrenaline.  Not long into the game, I was attacked! Already seduced into believing I was talented, and addictively spending hours online, I played in a zoney glaze. Suddenly, WHAM! My carpenter friend had me defend my castle and I wiped out my attacker’s entire army. Bound to my city, I wanted nothing more than revenge!  I counterattacked, waited for my troops to arrive, then cheered and shared the victory (see #4.) One U.K. player described his city as “his baby,” and I understood his possessive devotion. Build it. Protect it.

4              KoC builds community.  The best protection for your investment is an alliance (up to 100 people.) Our alliance has a particularly enticing chat. A new member from a different alliance recently told us, “I like experiencing the people all around me.” In chat, I help others, speeding up their building and research by tiny increments.  If they are fb friends, I can help again on their fb post. We send virtual gifts on fb, and receive several chances per day at winning magic spells. Webs of connection spread.  We forge connections as we pass the time in chat. Online communities are quite compelling. I love meeting people without visual prejudices kicking in. So I support this alliance – and the idea of losing these friends one day is totally unacceptable.

Which brings me to the end of part II of this blog. The hardest part is ahead. How can I use this knowledge within my very different novel to make my real-life game work? I guess I’ll just have to wait until I can read what I write in part III!

To be continued . . .

Kingdoms of Camelot Part 1: Seduction and Addiction

Hello world!

Yesterday marked two months of involvement with Kings of Camelot. A good time to distill what I’ve learned and gained (and lost) so that I can somehow infuse it into my novel, The Game. The what-have-I-learned part is easier than the distilling, so, for the sake of my own sanity, I’ll start there.

1. KoC is seductive. Early on, I had to discover what was expected. A list of “quests” set my goals, and a “might” score increased as I messed around. As the might score increased, I began to earn higher ranks. By following quests and points and ranks, I trained myself to be a better and better player. And always, the little rewards and awards kept coming, making me feel smart and competent (whether or not that was true).
2. KoC is addictive. I’m reminded of training my late cat, Caspia. She occasionally stood on her hind legs in anticipation of a treat, so I encouraged the behavior, until she always stood for food. Then, I enticed her to stand for longer, and finally had her do a string of “tricks” to receive her goodie – chase me round and round the divider between the living room and kitchen, run to her indoor cat condo and climb to the highest level -- squishing her chubby belly through a tight passage (making us laugh), until she stood on hind legs at the tip top, five feet above the ground, in anticipation of her reward.

Similarly, KoC’s reinforcement schedule trained me to give over bigger and bigger chunks of time. There is a city to construct -- structures to build. They take a few seconds at first, and it’s a small inconvenience waiting for them to finish. But each one needs eight more upgrades to achieve full usefulness. Each level means a longer wait, and they begin to require resources that you need to gather. So you learn to wait longer. And longer. Soon, you are spending all day online. Trained exactly to the game’s demands as surely as Caspia atop her cat condo. 

With that lovely image, I think I’ll stop for today. But do check back for the next thrill-packed episode . . .

A New Year's Resolution about Gaming

Hell world!

     Where have I been? Good question. November just sped along until travel and holidays took over.  And December? Well, that is today's story.

     The Game, my novel, is about people and cultures. But the setting is a theme park with real-life gaming (instead of virtual). Many writers treat setting as a character. My wonderful reader’s group felt that the setting wasn’t as well developed as my other characters. 

     Consequently, just before Thanksgiving I started playing a virtual game as research.  I hoped to make the novel more attractive to gamers – and everyone else.I joined a game through Facebook called “Kingdoms of Camelot.” Within a week, I was totally addicted. Hooked. Mesmerized.  And the fascination has not worn off. (ç Understatement.)

     I became accustomed to building cities and alliances and attacking enemies, and was drawn into the community chat. I met wonderful people there.

     A gentle chiropractor in ND.

     A one-time-bad-boy carpenter, struggling to find work in the damaged economy of southern CA.

     A boy with stunning leadership skills.

     A cancer researcher in Sweden.  

     A lonely lover in East Java.

     Two Lebanese college students.

     An Australian contingent, including a Kiwi.

     Canadians, folks from the UK. People from all over the world. Relationships forming and growing.

All of which is wonderful. Superb, in fact. And similar in many ways to the community that forms in my book.. It all came together!

     Only, I need to regain control of my time.  Balance this wonderful new community with my need to work. So that’s what I’ll do.

     My first resolution of 2011.