A Twinkling Singularity
Something is not original simply because it's the opposite of what everyone else is doing -- even if it does seem like that from the outside.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-28 12:00:00 No comments
In his introduction to the Gormenghast books, Quentin Crisp noted that originality isn't a matter of being contrarian, but about finding and expressing something that is entirely yours. Something is not original simply because it's the opposite of what everyone else is doing -- even if it does seem like that from the outside.
Seducing Down The Door
Artists can't talk people into or out of things that they weren't talked out of or into to begin with. They can only seduce them.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-27 21:00:00 No comments
The title is, for those who are not the noiseophile that I am, swiped from the John Cale collection that turned me onto his work to begin with. I loved the title, and it kicked around in the back of my head for a long time as a title to swipe for something long-form. Hasn't happened (at least, not yet), but the title has attached itself to a train of thought worth unpacking on its own.
Flight of the Vajra: Behind The Scenes With 'Flight Of The Vajra', Pt. 3: The Influences
How everything from 'Dune' and 'Tron: Legacy' to 'Cowboy Bebop' fed into 'Flight Of The Vajra'.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-27 12:00:00 No comments
(See all entries in this series here.)
In the previous installments of this series, I talked about the many-years-long path Flight Of The Vajra took to congeal from several different ideas I had for it. Here, I'm going to talk about some of the other properties and influences that fed into it and shaped it.
Music: Machine Gun (Peter Brötzmann)
You know how Woody Guthrie has THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS on his guitar? Peter Brötzmann's reeds should have signs that say THIS MACHINE KILLS, PERIOD.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-26 21:00:00 No comments
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You know how Woody Guthrie has THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS on his guitar? Peter Brötzmann's reeds should have signs that just say THIS MACHINE KILLS. Period, full stop. I say this knowing full well I've backed away from the aesthetic that the harsher and more uncompromising the art, the more "true" and "real" it is. But then I put on something like Machine Gun and come halfway close to believing it all over again. It's like the result of a dare: Someone said to Brötzmann and his seven buddies, go make a racket that ought to clear the room, and instead it pins everyone down and has them clamoring for more. Here it is. You're welcome.
Flight of the Vajra: Behind The Scenes With 'Flight Of The Vajra', Pt. 2: The Idea
How 'Flight Of The Vajra' took shape from a few ideas about what a far-future setting would look like, including materials sciences and belief systems.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-25 12:00:00 No comments
(See all entries in this series here.)
Back in Part One of this series I described how the germ of the idea for Flight Of The Vajra came from a while slew of disparate project ideas that never came to fruition. The core of the idea, though, came from a completely different direction.
A Megaphone Of One's Own
Reflections on something like 25 years of blogging.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-24 12:00:00 No comments
I think I started blogging, if that's the word that applies to what I was doing, in 1996 or so, when I first got an io.com shell account. I know I started blogging around 1999 or so, when I bought my own domain name and began filling it with content generated by ... ColdFusion? And then Microsoft FrontPage, and then Movable Type, and now a CMS of my own devising. I was a DIY guy all the way, even if that wasn't what I would recommend to others. And I've learned a few things along the way.
Flight of the Vajra: Behind The Scenes With 'Flight Of The Vajra', Pt. 1: The Origins
How my novel 'Flight Of The Vajra' began as multiple unreconciled attempts to write a "big and bold" space opera.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-24 12:00:00 No comments
(See all entries in this series here.)
Somewhere along the line, I think I made a pledge to myself to try writing at least one story in every genre I can get my hands on, until either I run out of genres or I myself run out, period. Among the bases I've already rounded include space opera, and that in what I hope is a big country way. But boy, did it take a long time to get there.
(Note: Some of this has been rewritten or taken from a previous post I did on this subject, so there is some duplication of material.)
Welcome to the Fold: Behind The Scenes With 'Welcome To The Fold', Pt. 8: The Soundtrack
The soundtrack for my novel 'Wecome To The Fold'.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-23 12:00:00 No comments
(See all entries in this series here.)
With each book I write, there's almost always a soundtrack of some kind to go with it -- music to match the mood and tempo of each scene. That said, I find I almost never listen to the music in question when writing or editing the scene in question, as I find that too distracting; there's other music I have specifically for the writing process.
Odds are you can find most, if not all, of these by way of your friendly neighborhood music streaming service.
Infinimata Press: Projects: Give It Away Now, February 2021 Edition
Want to read one of my books for free, along with a bunch of others that might be interesting? Check out my currently running promotions through ProlificWorks.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-22 21:00:00 No comments
Want to read one of my books for free, along with a bunch of others that might be interesting? Check out my currently running promotions through ProlificWorks:
Welcome to the Fold: Behind The Scenes With 'Welcome To The Fold', Pt. 7: The Themes
A discussion of the themes in my novel 'Welcome To The Fold', and how they are embodied there.
By Serdar Yegulalp on 2021-02-22 12:00:00 No comments
(See all entries in this series here.)
Last time I posted in this series, I talked about the characters, major and supporting. This time around, I'll run down some of the major themes in the story as I saw them.
See earlier posts from February 2021
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