Tomorrow is getting crowded, so I thought I'd post the drabble pictures today instead. Hope no one minds.

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This photo inspired two drabbles. They may be read alone, but may be read as companion pieces, too.

Photo Four

The Master

He watched the flywheel throw off sparks. This project had been labored over five years, so far. When it was complete, he’d have an iron dragon capable of holding tens of legions of supernatural troops. It wasn’t going to happen soon; he would have to husband his resources.

Turning, he looked at the lead golem stoking the boiler. He estimated this one would last another year before the heat of the boiler reduced him entirely to liquid through transpiration. Cheap casting cost and the creature pulled double duty: manpower and metal for his machining. He congratulated himself on his thriftiness.

The Slave

Heat and flames billowed out of the boiler in front of him. Liquid metal crept down the lead golem’s back; a drip pan under him to collect the effluent. His master would fashion it into ammunition. All shift long he was literally sweating bullets, mundane bullets for human targets. He would be replaced by a silver golem on the next shift, silver bullets for use against supernatural foes.

He was a living, if inorganic, being. To cut pieces off him was painful. The sweat off his back, though, came cheap to his master, if not to him.

The flywheel hummed.

Oooh. Neat idea, Sail!

Eta: and well executed. I was so floored by seeing a supernatural device I hadn't come across before that I almost forgot to say that.

It was different for me, too. I usually dwell in the realm of the personal to me. It was fun to try and step outside me and into the heads of the very far out other.

For those who write extended (book length) non-fiction, a great resource I wish I'd found earlier is Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction--and Get It Published [link] by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato.

If your are writing an extended non-fiction work (a biography, a political argument, a book like Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or "Guns, Germs and Steel") it is full of useful stuff. It assumes you know how to write on a micro level, but goes into structure, argument, them, narrative tensions, ways of keeping or losing credibility with your readers, how to break writers block.

Even much of the stuff on how to sell your book is helpful in writing. She shows how the same stuff you use to win a contract can help you focus on what your book is about, where you want it to start and where you want it to go. If your book is information dense, it shows how to avoid the MEGO (mine eyes glaze over) factor. If you have ton of fascinating material to share, it gives tips on how to pace it so that you don't overwhelm your readers, and so that they not only enjoy the great stories, but can see why you are telling them and why they should keep reading.

Some of her examples are political, and she is well to the right of Buffista norm. I recommend sucking it up, hitting your head against a wall a few times if you have to. Then keep on going. Because the information is really useful. And most writing information out there seems geared to fiction writers and journalists. This is one of the fee good resources I've encountered that will be useful specifically to those writing extended non-fiction

(Maybe some of the tips for biography writers could be useful to novel writers as well. Just a guess though.)

The sweat off his back, though, came cheap to his master, if not to him.

This is a lovely line, and would be evocative even without the context. Making it literal rather than figurative is just cooooooool.

Photo 10

He had the wrong shoes for this job. There wasn't much call on Wall Street for work boots. The man behind the counter had barely looked up as he pushed the information on where to report through the opening in the smudged glass. He was only interested in one thing on the paper himself: $20 a week. The shoes had cost twice that. He had hesitated to spend that much, but his boss thought snappy dressing encouraged investors. "They'll last a lifetime," the salesman said, but they had only lasted through his old life. His new life would ruin them.

[link] Picture 4

In 1963, my new brother-in-law was talking to Dad about the new women's liberation movement, and he started on about how wives and mothers should stay in the home like they always have.

In the kitchen, Mom started laughing, but I heard her muffle it in a dishtowel.

Brother-in-law looked halfway between embarassed and annoyed. Dad just smiled, got up, and pulled a framed picture off a shelf. "Yes, son, they've always just stayed home."

Photo #7

Of course she would rather be at home, taking care of her babies and her house. Naturally. Assembling work is boring, the same thing over and over again, nothing anyone would choose to do. But it's important. It could be her husband who needs that transfusion and every bottle could be the one to save his life.

That's why she has a spring in her step when she sets off to work in the morning, why she hums through the day, why she's proud of her low error count and high speed. What other reason could there be?

I like that, t.