what is the thing?

The call of the pen is strong, and I am bound once more to spend some time in writing.  Here's what's on the docket:

August:  31 Plays in 31 Days
September:  Blog Every Day in September
October:  Prepare for NaNoWriMo
November:  NaNoWriMo (2 books planned)

I don't have much experience writing plays, so I'm pretty darn excited.  As always, it's fun to stretch the muscles and see what I can come up with.

My first play is titled A Poor Imitation.

You can keep your eyes on this space for my plays, such as they are.  I can also provide a bit of explanation.

"A Poor Imitation" is inspired by the Mongol Invasions of the 13th century, particularly how they were explained by Dan Carlin.  I really wanted to write about the entire process of executing thousands of people in the course of a single day -- when some cities were taken, each warrior had a quota to fill.  I wanted to write in terms of machinery, but I wasn't sure how familiar a 13th century Mongol warrior would be with the idea of mechanisms and automata, so I turned to nature's least self-interested machine, the ant.  But as much as we try to make ourselves like them, we can never be as perfect as that.  So much else gets in the way!

I don't think I entirely nailed the idea I was going for -- the ending feels a bit abrupt, but I hope it's a little chilling.  And I had fun writing the dialogue.  All in all, I think this is a very successful start!