Ancient Mythology: The Birth of Gilgamesh
Our exploration commences in ancient Mesopotamia, where the epic tale of Gilgamesh, inscribed on cuneiform tablets, provides a glimpse into the origins of human cloning. In this ancient myth, the goddess Aruru molds a figure out of clay, effectively cloning Enkidu, a companion for Gilgamesh. This mythological account reveals an early concept of human replication, foreshadowing the idea of human cloning that would later captivate the minds of modern scientists.

Ancient India: The Creation of the Prajapatis
Traversing the boundaries of time and space, we find ourselves in ancient India, exploring the rich tapestry of Hindu mythology. In the Rigveda, a collection of ancient hymns, the creation of the Prajapatis presents an intriguing parallel to human cloning. Prajapatis, often described as the progenitors of all beings, are said to have replicated themselves, giving birth to numerous divine entities. This notion of self-replication bears resemblance to the idea of human cloning, where genetic material is duplicated to create new life forms.

Ancient Greece: Prometheus and Epimetheus
Our journey takes us to ancient Greece, a land steeped in mythology and philosophical contemplation. In the myth of Prometheus and Epimetheus, we encounter a tale that alludes to the concept of human cloning. Prometheus, a titan, fashions mankind out of clay, shaping them in the likeness of the gods. While this account does not explicitly mention cloning, the act of creating humans from inanimate materials parallels the process of cloning, wherein genetic material is used to produce genetically identical organisms.

​Although the term "human cloning" might not have been explicitly mentioned in ancient texts, echoes of this concept can be discerned in the mythologies and narratives that span across civilizations. From the creation of Enkidu in Mesopotamian myth to the replication of Prajapatis in Hindu mythology, and the sculpting of humans by Prometheus in Greek lore, the ancient texts provide glimpses into humanity's age-old fascination with the idea of replicating life. These stories serve as a testament to our enduring curiosity and desire to explore the boundaries of our existence.

So, what did you think of this article compared to the previous ones? Full disclosure: this one was written entirely by ChatGPT (the information has not been double checked). As a Sci-Fi author, I'm facinated with the growth of AI and it's potential uses, and love to explore its possibilities. In future posts, any use of AI will be to support my own writing (I still want to do that myself), but I wanted to see what it could do. Perhaps I'll try agian in a year or two, and see if it's made any progress. 

Throughout all of those wants, two things have never changed: I’ve been an avid reader and writer. Everything else has been facilitating these underlying themes of my character arc. Storytelling is a long, spun-out, challenging, and yet immensely satisfying road. Even as you read this, synapses are pouring plot lines and bystanders are passing out from the sweet, sweet fumes.
 
I’d like you to join me as I build the Centricity Cycle, a post-post-apocalyptic series full of thought-catalyzing characters, electric espionage, corporate doom-bringers, and political machinations.
 
From Dread Orange you'll get:

• Musings on relevant books/technology/news
• Updates on my work(s) in progress
  
• For writers: advice to save you from the pain I experienced (and am experiencing)
• Moments of life in Japan & worldly adventures

 
Thanks for taking the journey with me and please share my content with those who’d also enjoy the ride.

​I’d like to give you look behind the curtain of this beta reading process and offer some advice to potential and current beta readers.
 
First, for those of you wondering, “What is beta reading?” the rundown is as such: After first-round editing but before the finalization of a book, an author asks a group to read the manuscript and give feedback. A quick description for a long process.
 
This group usually consists of between 5-15 people. More is sometimes merrier, but there are diminishing returns; we all know the adage about too many cooks spoiling the soup.
 
(How many cooks does it take to make a soup? Only one, if they’re big enough. Muhahaha…)
 
Having a variety of people in the mix is also better: die hard genre fans, casual readers, and other authors all representing a mix of genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds can help provide alternative perspectives, though the author is always keeping in mind their target audience. Some authors even seek out “sensitivity readers” if their books touch upon, you guessed it, sensitive subjects, for example LGBTQ+ issues.
 
Beta reading carries with it a certain amount of responsibility, with deadlines and content requirements. Because of this, authors often offer incentives like a mention in the acknowledgments, signed copies of the finished product, and high fives. Those are all awesome, but, as an author myself, I get other things out of it.
 
Being part of someone else’s creative process and connecting with other authors is a fun and rewarding experience. Also, beta reading teaches me to be a better writer since it’s often easier to see problems in other people’s work than in your own, which can then alert you to trouble areas in your writing. Basically, it’s one way to circumnavigate familiarity-blindness.
 
This does bring up a side issue in beta reading: professional bias. Readers tend to read differently than authors; they are seeking entertainment, emotion, escape, and something to do during their lunch break so they don’t have to talk to Brad from accounting. Can’t you see, Brad, that I’m reading, and don’t want to hear the saga of your mole removal?
 
Right, anyway, that’s readers. Authors can be pickier than the average reader, tripping up on inconsistencies, plot holes, on-the-nose dialog, I-could-do-it-better-itis, and other things that might be completely ignored by readers just looking for a good time. So if you’re an author about to beta read, pull your reader hat over your writer hat (cuz we all know that writer hat ain’t goin’ nowhere).
 
Jeryn’s Dagger was not the first book I’ve beta read for, but it was a project I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into, and my interaction with D.L. Young (David) were equally enjoyable, so this whirlwind of enjoyment inspired me to share.
 
When I got feedback on my feedback, I was over the moon:

“Thanks again for the amazing feedback. I’m going through the details again and I’m amazed at how many great points you made. I seriously believe you could freelance as a developmental editor.”
​-D.L. Young 

​Hot Looks, which I organize by chapter, are my first impressions. They often cover:

• Behavior Believability: Do character actions make sense, given who and where they are?

Example:  I felt a character was keeping secrets without a clear internal motivation and was doing so only to surprise the reader later.

• Consistency: Do environments and people retain internal consistency? Are there any instances of stuff-switching (yellow-flecked obsidian eyes to lilac irises on stalks, that kind of thing.) 

Example: The special properties of a device seemed to work differently at different times without explanation.

• Word/Punctuation Usage: Overuse of words and phrases. Everyone has their go-to vocabulary which can infiltrate a manuscript.

Example: The word “workaday” and an abundance of parentheses.

• Other "Huh?" Moments: Anytime I feel myself do a mental head scratch, even if it’s brief, I note what caused it.

 
With Hot Looks comments, I worry less about my own grammar/structure, especially on the first pass. Another thing to keep in mind is that Hot Looks can turn out to be inaccurate or a jumped gun. In many cases while reading Jeryn’s Dagger, I thought I'd run into a questionable moment only to have the issue cleared up a few paragraphs or chapters later. That’s okay, don’t delete them from your feedback; they’re still valuable for analyzing the pacing at which information is divulged, as in: are readers left in the dark for too long?

​This is the big picture: character and plot arcs, world building, pay-offs, and the like. To help in my own organization, I summarize in broad, chapter-spanning strokes what happens (e.g. Jeryn & crew travel to Planet X, pick up doohickey.) Problems with with this stuff can leave readers feeling dissatisfied but not sure why.
 
Examples:

• A character’s frequent whoopsies didn’t seem to fit with their position. Everyone makes mistakes, of course, but when their mistakes are often used to move the plot forward, it can be an issue.
• A character didn’t feel like they had enough agency. They spent a lot of time watching other people do cool stuff and pondering what what was going on.
• There seemed to be an abundance of instances where we were told how something in the universe worked, then shown right after, or vice versa.

 
Once I’ve cut down both the trees and the forest, I then take out my cerebral saw, hammer, and nails, and try to build solutions to the problems I find. These are only suggestions, to be used or not by the author.

Overview
A brief summary of my overall impressions of the book.
 
Characters

• What worked
• What didn’t
• Solutions

 
World/Universe

• What worked
• What didn’t
• Solutions

 
Chapter 1

• Hot Looks

Chapter 2

• Hot Looks

​And so on.

On the difficulty of accepting feedback​:
Good authors like D.L. Young understand that feedback is an essential part of the creation process. When you spend months or years creating your baby, it can be tough to avoid become defensive, throwing out excuses or accusations when that baby is criticized. But that’s not how you get better.
 
Not all feedback is accurate, applicable, or coherent, but someone took their time to produce it, and that shouldn’t be scoffed at. So even if you don’t use it, it is good to be courteous when you receive feedback. Also, don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions, but don’t expect the reader to fix the issues for you.

On giving feedback:
On the flip side, as a beta reader, present your criticisms in a constructive way. Simply saying, “this sucks” doesn’t give the author any indication of what changes need to be made. Even if your reasons are hard for you to pin down, describe those impressions as best you can, they will be very much appreciated.
 
Some phrases that might help if you’re having trouble giving even general reasons why you didn’t like an aspect of a book:

• “I get the feeling that something is missing.”
• “There doesn’t seem to be much going on or much accomplished.”
• “I’m not getting a sense of who the character is. I can’t even guess at what they might like to do in their free time.”
• “The ending felt rushed; I didn’t feel like the events were set up enough.”

I hope this was informative, and can help you as you set out to get beta readers, or beta read yourself.

For more information about D.L. Young, head to his website here.

Being stuck inside with little or nothing to do can take its toll, so I encourage you to create a routine, try to be productive, or at least stay busy. This is easier said than done with all the associated stress of the outbreak, but cutting off small slices and wedging them between moments of anxiety can push those moments farther apart. You don't need to read the whole dictionary in one sitting, but learning one new word every day can be rewarding (applied to whatever area interests you: cooking, quantum mechanics, etc.).

For me, exercise has been an important component of my routine. Given the $80-120+ prices of gym memberships here in Tokyo, I quit mine long ago and use free weights at home, but even if you don't have any equipment, there are lots of options, including these.

Stay safe!

Annnnnnnd done! I've finished the post-professional edit polishing of Centricity, clocking in at 137,000 words. I'm handing it off to my next round of beta readers and am now writing the blurb (why is 250 words more difficult than 250,000?!) and developing marketing materials. This is the silver lining of having little work: I'm getting in a lot of hours on novel writing. I've even made a rough draft of a map of the megacity setting, which I'll probably include in the book.

Dread Orange's Facebook page passed 6k followers and continues to grow. Thanks to all those who've joined, and I hope we can start generating more interaction. Below are some of the recent top posts (rights retained by respective owners):

I must apologize for the long absence of the newsletter; the blog/newsletter experience has been like overladen cargo jet bouncing on the runway trying to take off. Fortunately, the runway is as long as my willpower and motivation allows it to be, so there should be space to get this baby off the ground.

Let's begin with that elephant trampling through the room: COVID-19. Here in Tokyo, there's been some panic buying, with toilet/tissue paper and face masks taking the brunt. Japanese people tend to wear masks normally during flu season, so this double-up of demand has hit the country extra hard. I've also taken a jaw punch: Prime Minister Abe canceled all public schools for March, and as an English teacher at those very schools, a huge chunk of my work (and therefore income), has been wiped out. But hey, more free time to write. Speaking of writing...

2020 is the year Centricity comes out. Previously, I set my release date for April 2020, as that's when the Cyberpunk 2077 video game comes out (so as to hopefully ride the wave of genre interest). However, the game's release date has been pushed back to September 2020. This is lucky for me, as I think this added time will be well spent polishing Centricity to its full shining glory.

Editing on the book continues. Progress has been a little up and down. I made huge progress, then got stuck on a climatic plot point for the MC. Her story is the most complex, as it ties the others together as well as unravels a big conspiracy going on in Naion. 

One concern was that the MC was spending too much time analyzing and not enough time doing, so I've made her much more active, which upped the word count and the number of things going on. To counteract this, I've transformed two secondary plot threads into seeds for the next book, and this has been a big breakthrough, as it focuses her goals and will allow for a more complete ending. It will still be a complex story, but hopefully not confusing, one that can be re-read to find details missed the first time around.

Dread Orange's Facebook page passed 5.5k followers and continues to grow, so a big thank you to all who've joined. Below are some of the recent top posts:

Piping, neon, and geometric shapes decorated the space, looking like the cyberpunk aesthetic got run through an Easter egg factory. Pastel for days, is what I’m saying. There’s a stage where the maids/waitress dance and sing, and where you can take pictures of/with them, all for an extra fee.

The maids took our order, teaching us the correct gestures to use (hearts, cat paws, that kind of thing). They were friendly and did their best to use English. As we ate our sugar explosion parfait, we people watched. The other guests were all Japanese dudes, some smoking and taking it in like tourists, and others who appeared really into the super-cutesy childish behavior of the maids.

Maid cafe’s are a unique experience, and should you be in Japan, I’d recommend at least one visit. It doesn't have to be Akiba Zettai Ryoiki A.D. 2045 though.