Yes, I’ve finally finished novel #6 in the 8 part series I’m working on. And I know that those of you who can count will find only 5 novels published on this site in toto, and will probably think that I’ve slipped a gear, or at least that I myself can’t count. Take it from me, though, this is novel #6. I was working on novel #5 at the same time as I worked on this one, and #5 lost out in interest to this one, because this one had a lot more to say for itself early on, and so got ahead in life. #5 novel will be out as soon as I can manage it, and will also be slotted into the lineup, in its proper place, I hope having gotten a lot more interesting to me (and therefore one hopes to you too!).
In the meantime, you probably want to know something as to what novel #6 is about, its title, so on and so forth. Well, it’s called Abyss of an Attendant Lord, and it’s a short novelette. It’s also an academic satire, and those of you who know how much time during my life I have spent in academia may wonder (as of course you have a right to) just how much is fictional and how much is based on fact. Let me say that I have done no deliberately unkind portrait-painting, though I have teased now and then, here and there. I have relied on comic types for “the unkindest cut of all” sorts of remarks. The action is such as could conceivably happen in any large university prone to committees and academic groups foregathering, though of course many an English major will say, “Just when and where did any English department manage to get so much clout for itself in these science-and-technology ridden days?” Let me answer to that caveat that this part is a sort of pipedream, though of course I am far from wishing to cast aspersions on the science and technology folks as some of my characters do; in fact, “Big Bang Theory” is one of my favorite shows on television, though like Penny, I rarely understand much of the technological vocabulary. What small amount of technological verbiage is in the novel is from the same pool of university dialect and jest as the writers of “Big Bang Theory” have borrowed from, too. My basic reaction to any kind of debate is a sort of “Now, why can’t we all just get along?” sort of attitude, so peaceable am I in person. But never mind that! Let’s have a little fun with our differences. I do hope that all my readers will be able to have a fun time with the book, as I had a great deal of fun in writing it. And with respect to all those who may feel that they are singled out for attention, I can only answer, as did the main character in “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” on television a good thirty or forty years ago. She asked for anyone in her audience who felt they had had fun poked at them to stand up, and lo and behold! a major portion of her audience stood up! These are faults and foibles of all of us from time to time, and I include myself in that number, so I hope you will enjoy laughing at all of us. And please, let me know how you felt! From time to time, someone reads a novel or some of my poems on the site, but mostly people don’t seem to comment. Comments of a polite variety, whether positive or not, are always welcome. So, let me know what you think!
creativeshadows 
As it a series, are the stories designed as stand-alone or they reference each other for ongoing plot points? If the latter, may we have the sequence so the stories are read in their proper order.
Getting Book 6 out before Book 5 happens to many writers; it’s why the prequel was created, after all. Stephen King just wrote a new book in the ‘Dark Tower’ series that fit in between Books 4 and 5, which annoyed this former collector of the series =P
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There is absolutely no plot connection between the stories at all; the connections are purely symbolic, through the eight family signs of the “I Ching”: father, mother, eldest daughter, eldest son, middle daughter, middle son, youngest daughter, youngest son. The stories are not even predominantly about the character in the I Ching family that each novel has for its symbol, so you see, the symbols only mean something to me. For example, in “Tales of Lightning and of Thunder,” which has the eldest son for its symbol, the main point of resemblance is that stormy weather and thunder and lightning are symbolic of the eldest son in the I Ching symbolism, and so in the novel, there are many scenes where Jason, the main character, is in or is exposed to a storm. Yet, he is also Jason of Greek mythology, and dies in a manner symbolically similar to that character. The first novel centers around an older man and woman (Dot and Charlie), but Charlie is a temperamental older man, so in a sense he is like the much respected and loved father symbol in the I Ching. There’s more to it than that, but those resemblances in just those two I’ve described should give you an idea about how I proceeded. There are a lot of items of color symbolism, things I picked up from reading the I Ching for years and years, but you really neither have to know the I Ching or believe in it to enjoy the books; I just put it in to please myself, just as some writers think a book is only good if the writer concentrates more on fulfilling his own destiny and preferences than he does on what might “sell.” I’d love to sell, I have to say, but in the meantime, I’m just playing with words and pleasing myself! Now that I’ve probably bored you totally, does that explain some of it?
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Yes, that explains a lot of it =)
I understand the use of symbolism. I have plenty of that running through the ‘Big Project’, as it is all based on historical civilisations and eras. The most prominent symbolisms will be in Book 6.
I find to a point you need to write on your own preferences. Enthusiasm for your subject matter comes through in the writing, and it definitely helps with reader immersion, which will help ‘sell’ =)
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