Reading, Writing, and Plate Tectonics

I made more progress yesterday with the Plate Tectonics simulator, almost finishing it.  I tweaked the variables and all worked well at a 256x256, 512x256 and 512x512 resolution.  Alas, I discovered that when the resolution is increased to 1024x512, certain parameters that are currently constants need to be changed, otherwise the results look clunky.  So I need to go back and turn six constants into variables, expose them, and update the UI so they can be altered by the user.  Probably another few days for release, because I'll want to run a lot of simulation cycles to be able to set decent defaults and provide recommendations for different setting levels.

My writing of The Forbidden Valley bogged down temporarily, but as I sit drinking hot cocoa, I think I know how to resolve the problem in the scene I'm working on.  I'd written ahead of that point, but hadn't been able to resolve the problem in that scene.  I think I have now, though, so snippets may be forthcoming again soon.

I read three novels yesterday: Loose Ends by John van Stry, and Scout's Law and The Fugitive Heir by Henry Vogel.  All three were a lot of fun and I intend to write reviews when I have a chance - including brief ones on Amazon.  I am also continuing with reading Lincoln Paine's The Sea & Civilization, a non-fiction maritime history, and have made it to just short of the one-third mark.  This is a long but engrossing work, but is definitely a slower read than the romps provided by the novels I mentioned at the start of the this paragraph.

Uncertainty

I'm a bit uncertain about where the story I'm writing is going.  Not the endgame, the finale, the climax, the conclusion.  No, that I have a firm idea of.  The Forbidden Valley is only a few thousands words long right now, but already a dead body has shown up that wasn't in there when I envisioned the story.  Dead bodies showing up is usually a bad sign, right?  Anyhow, the sudden and unexpected murder of the main character's contact in Jammu took me by surprise, and I'm the one writing the story.  How bizarre.  It has left me with a vague sense of uncertainty.  I will push through this confusion and find out who and why the man was murdered.

But now I'm not entirely sure if this is going to be a short story, a novella, or a novel.  My original intention was that this would be a novel, but I'm glossing over details like this was a short story.  Maybe I should go back and expand upon them?  I don't know.  The again there wasn't a murder in my original plan.  I'll figure it out once more of the story has been transferred from brain to computer.

There will likely be another post later, either another snipped of The Forbidden Valley or else something else entirely.

A Moment of Perfect Clarity

It was as if an endless vista had opened up before me.  It was like gazing out from atop a mountain and seeing far off into the distance.  The way ahead lay open to my view.

Grand Tetons reflecting in the Snake River

No, I'm not talking about an actual view, or even a view of a virtual landscape.  I'm talking about a story that was in my mind that I couldn't seem to get a proper handle on.  And then while I was walking down to the cafeteria earlier today, clarity came to me.  The concepts and ideas that had been running through my head for two days coalesced into a clear vision of. . . The Forbidden Valley!

So now all I need to do is actually write the darn story.

(Incidentally, searching for a photo for this post, I made a discovery.  I have many nice, clear photos of mountains.  I have many expansive photos from mountains.  Alas, none of the expansive views from mountains are clear.  Clouds and haze in every one.  And the distant portion of the views are also largely unnoticeable once the image has been shrunk sufficiently for the blog.)