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Story update.
2008-08-03 18:00No, I haven't written any new chapters for TQC yet - haven't in quite a while - so the one concrete thing I can offer in this update is that there's nothing new. The other concrete thing I can offer is that I'm not going to make any promises about when the next chapter will be written.
Nevertheless, "The Queen's Courtesan" is like that pain in your joint that just won't go away, and I can't stop thinking about it. I've got tons of ideas for the story and for related stories, but nothing to show for it yet.
My StatCounter statistics tell me that somebody in or around Mountain View spent about an hour and a half - and some 28 page views - reading the story this afternoon. What they thought of it, or what prompted their interest in the first place, is anybody's guess. (No referrer was recorded.) Anyhow, it's always nice, though a little scary, to see somebody taking an interest in this convoluted tale. Frustrating too, because I want to write more but I'm banging my head against a solid wall of writer's block.
The good news is, I'm starting to fill in a lot of the blanks about the Gilkesh people, their world, and their history. My long-term project is to draw up a complete history of the Gilkesh people, from stone age to space age. I've identified some of the major early tribes and their homelands on the planet Shakti, along with possible routes for some of their migrations. Next I want to sketch out a timeline for the major historical periods - Stone Age, Classical Age, Industrial Age, Space Age - and the principal developments associated with each. I'll also take a look at how Q'ormis and the Singularity cult arose and how they influenced events.
I understand the political structures of Shakti as having evolved gradually from loose tribal alliances, to city-states, to queendoms and empires, to entities approximating (but only approximating) the modern nation-state. In general, leaders among the GK arose through consensus and moral authority; the ability to form friendships and partnerships was valued, and having a large number of friends and allies was the most consistent status symbol in GK culture. (Sort of like LJ ...) Individuals who possessed charisma, good decision-making ability, and strong negotiating skills tended to become chieftains, queens, and empresses. However, during certain periods, hereditary monarchies developed which led to political stagnation. (This is one reason why the family unit is so important in GK culture: the requirement of partnering and co-parenting dilutes the biological mother's control over her offspring, and enhances cultural diffusion. This principle proved to be of critical importance in the royal houses.) Most nation-states in industrial-age and space-age Shakti are neither pure monarchies nor pure constitutional democracies but hybrids of the two, somewhat like modern Britain.
So that's where the Gilkesh universe is at. But as far as the story goes, I'm still stuck.
Oh well. Heiti dhu kayash! (That's life.)
Nevertheless, "The Queen's Courtesan" is like that pain in your joint that just won't go away, and I can't stop thinking about it. I've got tons of ideas for the story and for related stories, but nothing to show for it yet.
My StatCounter statistics tell me that somebody in or around Mountain View spent about an hour and a half - and some 28 page views - reading the story this afternoon. What they thought of it, or what prompted their interest in the first place, is anybody's guess. (No referrer was recorded.) Anyhow, it's always nice, though a little scary, to see somebody taking an interest in this convoluted tale. Frustrating too, because I want to write more but I'm banging my head against a solid wall of writer's block.
The good news is, I'm starting to fill in a lot of the blanks about the Gilkesh people, their world, and their history. My long-term project is to draw up a complete history of the Gilkesh people, from stone age to space age. I've identified some of the major early tribes and their homelands on the planet Shakti, along with possible routes for some of their migrations. Next I want to sketch out a timeline for the major historical periods - Stone Age, Classical Age, Industrial Age, Space Age - and the principal developments associated with each. I'll also take a look at how Q'ormis and the Singularity cult arose and how they influenced events.
I understand the political structures of Shakti as having evolved gradually from loose tribal alliances, to city-states, to queendoms and empires, to entities approximating (but only approximating) the modern nation-state. In general, leaders among the GK arose through consensus and moral authority; the ability to form friendships and partnerships was valued, and having a large number of friends and allies was the most consistent status symbol in GK culture. (Sort of like LJ ...) Individuals who possessed charisma, good decision-making ability, and strong negotiating skills tended to become chieftains, queens, and empresses. However, during certain periods, hereditary monarchies developed which led to political stagnation. (This is one reason why the family unit is so important in GK culture: the requirement of partnering and co-parenting dilutes the biological mother's control over her offspring, and enhances cultural diffusion. This principle proved to be of critical importance in the royal houses.) Most nation-states in industrial-age and space-age Shakti are neither pure monarchies nor pure constitutional democracies but hybrids of the two, somewhat like modern Britain.
So that's where the Gilkesh universe is at. But as far as the story goes, I'm still stuck.
Oh well. Heiti dhu kayash! (That's life.)
