And we’ve almost come to the end. Generally speaking, endings are tough. You need to tie up as many dangling threads as possible, leave the reader satisfied that reading the book was worthwhile, and try to go out on a memorable high note without it feeling abrupt or forced. Let’s see how I did… So,…
Commentary 25: 25 Minutes To Go
One last blink to set things right, and our hero finally learns enough to know what has to be done. I sort of knew from the beginning that the story would more or less start and end at the bowling alley, and that comes to fruition here. Other tidbits: My wife’s favorite excerpt is the…
Commentary 24: 24 Hour Party People
We get a little time travel heavy at the start of this chapter as far as “rules” go, but later move into some hands-on fun as Local Boy revisits his origins with an eye on trying to undo them. Other tidbits: I admit the cliffhanger in the previous chapter was a bit of a tease…
Adventures in Customer Service
Yesterday morning I woke up to an email from Coverville’s Brian Ibbott pointing me to a blog post that referenced Timely Persuasion: Customer Service – Compare and Contrast (Most of the relevant content is crossed out – a good thing I’ll get to in a minute…) The owner of the blog had heard about the…
Commentary 23: 23:59 End Of The World
I’m stuck on an introduction for this chapter, so let’s just dive straight in: Nelson had served his purpose in the story, so putting him on the machine and making him go comatose was mostly just to get him out of the way. His fate is intentionally left ambiguous just in case he needs to…
Commentary 22: 22 Days
The path to resolution begins here, and the narrator finally has his long awaited confrontation with Nelson. Other tidbits: We learn that the only reason a paradox hasn’t occurred is because the old man is still “displaced” in time. Since the old man and the young narrator are the same person, time allows both of…
Jurors for Department 307
(Apologies for the off-topic post, but thought this might be my best option for getting the attention of my fellow Turner vs. Chevron jurors.) I finally finished reading Infinite Jest. Took far longer than I expected, mainly because it takes some getting into and I also read Timely Persuasion at least 5 times as part…
Commentary 21: Now We Are Twenty-One
Flashback to the future where everything started with the old man in this mythology heavy chapter. I really like the concept of the evolution of time travel covered here. And crazy as it sounds, part of me actually believes in the underlying “constant, subconscious messages from your future self” phenomenon that powers the time travel…
Commentary 20: 20ft Halo
Deja vu…or is it? We’ve come full circle…or have we? The answers start to come in the next chapter, but the stage is set in this short interlude. Other tidbits: We lead off with a scene very similar to the quick hospital trip at the end of Chapter 10. The major difference this time is…
Commentary 19: 19-2000
In real life, I finished up the previous chapter just before what was supposed to be my first date with the woman who is now my wife. Ended my Luxembourg writing day on a high note, saved everything, and gave her a call. The conversation: Me: Hey, how’s it going. Her: Not bad. Are you…