¦ dialling in from Sky Bunker ¦
09:42 GMT, Sunday 7th December 2008. I'm a little spaced out. I was up until 3A.M. this morning, working on Yellow Dawn, thriving on the creative burn of my Da Vinci method... each 15 minute power nap slipping me into a deeper sleep that was harder to shrug free from when the alarm went off.
I'm in a strange, slightly sullen mood. I'm restless and bored. Too much of a good thing, maybe? Too much of one thing: this laptop and Yellow Dawn this and Yellow Dawn that. I think this weekend I'm a victim of my own work ethic: which isn't, actually, a bad thing. I'll still be working, I'll still be producing new material... I'm just not in my usual blissful state of mind about it. Anyway, I'm going to pen a few words here and then bail out of Cosy Castle and drive into the city...park up by the Harbourside and find a cafe. The weather is divine. I'm on my first mug of tea of the day: a few minutes earlier I was sat in the Room With A View, just below the Sky Bunker, a large window with a low sill providing a superb unrestricted view across the East edge of the city to the sleeping giant of Dundry Hill. It's SUb-zero. Blue inverted bowl of a sky overhead. The most beatiful colour of sunlight...a rich golden light. Mist filling the various valleys that have carved their way into the topography. The sea of rooftops below my line of sight and descending away with the slope of the high hill I live on, look like something from a picture postcard... red tiles encrusted with thick frost... the view rapidly merging into the light mist to create a vast impression of shapes with no detail.
Hah! I'm feeling rather better having hammered those words out. A little creative prose away from the sterile scientific mechanics of Yellow Dawn systems. The guys came round yesterday for a session. It was slow, which was nice, and at least 40% of the day was taken up by enjoyable discussion of the 2nd Edition rulebook and suggested changes for the planned version 2.1
They left and I was left with a mountain of notes - any changes I make for version 2.1 need to be documented and released as errata / bolt-ons for all the people who currently have the 2nd Edition rules. It's a little tedious, but I know I have to do it. A solid Change control ethic.
Now the players are deep into Shadows of the Quantinex, they've just arrived in V_______. I'm seeing where I can improve the structure of the book, the way some of the information is collated and presented for GMs to make it easier for them to run the thing. So it's likely that NTODS will be on hold today whilst I complete the version 2.1 changes, and do a little literary surgery on Shadows of the Quantinex.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. *eyes the two handed axe propped against wall to his left* Think I might go and chop some wood today.
Oh yeah, The Mood has faded dramatically since yesterday. It's now on it's way out. "See you again in a couple years, maybe."
EDIT (16:13 GMT): brilliant trip into the city. I parked up by Dom's old place. Walked past the Arnolfini, headed up towards Park Street. I was going to go into the Cathedral to light a candle for Dad but there was a service on. I kept walking, and kept walking. I made my way into Hotwells, where I lived for 4 years after moving from Newcastle to Bristol. I've not been back there for... 14 years? The route there has been transformed by develoment...amazing modern urban structures crowding the edges of the river. In the beautiful winter sunlight it all looked fantastic. I stood outside the big old house but felt nothing... just a dull awareness I used to live there and memories without feeling of all the things that happened there. I made my way back along the rivers edge into the city and harbour district - past the Arnolfini, back to my car. I didn't bother getting a coffee. The walk cleared my mind and allowed inspiration to flourish. I've now spent the afternoon up here in the Sky Bunker, hammering out material and sticking to my Da Vinci routine. All good stuff.