083: Threshold
"There are as many translators as there are humans."
Spam agents are getting smarter. Heuristics have been developed which attempt to emulate living responses in the comment areas of blogs, mechanized schema which try to pass themselves off as human beings leaving content which can be considered appropriate. It's spooky to read something like the above comment and find that it very nearly fits with the discussion at hand (which, in this case, had been about the division of humanity from its pre-Babel state into a multitude of tongues). Or maybe they've just got some poor bastard who has the job of trolling the back lots of blogs and inserting commentary and providing links to porn and pharmaceutical sites.
We'll pretend that it's an automatic agent, an algorhythm designed to mimic human behavior, tiny Turing-esque machines churning up the Internet at the bequest of their Porn Masters. The porn industry drives technology, you know, and at this rate, it won't be long before they stumble upon AI. Maybe it's already out there, lurking behind the screen name of "LicksDogsBalls69."
I'm on Chapter 7 this week*, starting to work on the mystery. Liz and Markham have cut short their flight and are returning to the city in order to break the mystery before the agents of the opposition find them. Liz has begun her initiation into the arcane world and I've introduced the fortune teller.
I like fortune tellers. It's probably a weakness that I need to overcome, but until it becomes an eye-rolling cliche in the work, I'll happily insert one. If I don't kill this guy in the process of demonstrating how the monster works, he'll be a reoccuring supporting character which are handy to have.
So, yeah, busy last week, dealing with the mundane realm of familial visits and yard work. This week: back to the shadow realm. Crowley says of the Moon card: "This is the threshold of life; this is the threshold of death. All is doubtful, all is mysterious, all is intoxicating." That's where I'll be: crossing the threshold.
[*Chapter 13 actually. They're in San Francisco now. I'm getting closer to mad bike races through the streets.]
writing
This is a reasonably comprehensive list of my published work, both virtual and physical.
THE MISFIT LIBRARY
I am Nine of Thirteen, one of the members of the Misfit Library, a writing collective which puts out a quarterly journal of our respective work. We are scattered across the globe and determined to change the face of the planet one story at a time. The link above will take you to Misfit Central where you can acquire copies of the journal as well as read exclusive online material.
SYMBOLIC
I wrote a column for OPi8.com's Transmit blogs: journals of the new dark underground. SYMBOLIC tracked the novel I was working on, referencing the process and the research materials which mad up the backbone of the work. In addition, SYMBOLIC busied itself with ruminations and considerations on the nature of language and communication. And a wee bit of mythology. The first 100 entries of SYMBOLIC can be found here on this site as well as at OPi8.com.
LITERARY REPRESENTATION
I am represented by Scribe Agency as my literary agents. Please contact these gentleman if you have any queries about my work.