Comments on "Joe" - Page 3

Argonaut · August 8, 2001, 21:57

Hey,
Sorry it took me so long to post this, but I had to find the time and sit down and read your posts properly and give them the attention they deserve.

It's AMAZING. Gripping, suspenseful and highly intelligent. I can't understand why you might have trouble finding a publisher.

PLEASE keep this story up, I love it. And I appreciate you keeping me updated too

Alinestra Covelia · August 8, 2001, 23:32

Hello all,

I haven't posted any follow ons yet, even though a week has passed, and that's primarily due to polishing ideas up before I post something. So far, I pride myself on the fact that my threads have only been altered for typographical errors and minor plot incongruities, and I don't intend to have to rewrite large chunks of verbal errors.

Right now I'm in upstate Connecticut visiting a burly cousin who's great fun to be with. Normal service will be resumed after my return to a computer I can politely hog all day.

Allie

Alinestra Covelia · August 11, 2001, 12:19

Another episode of Joe is up, and further confusion and naval mayhem.

senatus · August 17, 2001, 12:17

I confess that while I would love to see those lame hackers crushed under the iron heel - er, I mean re-enlightened and held protectively within the velvet glove of Yang, I'm rooting for Li Min personally.

And speaking of determined Datatech agent shouldn't that captured Datatech agent escape, by straining her nubile body against her restraints and somesuch IIRC?

Alinestra Covelia · August 17, 2001, 21:05

Okay, just got back from a shooting/hiking/sightseeing visit up north with a burly cousin and his adorable baby nephew.

Senatus: excellent memory!

Yes, the DataTech female probe should by all rights have escaped from the evil blandishments of Hu Man Bing before he got to the railway station, but you already know why she couldn't in this particular story. The reason is obvious - Joe is already being told in the third person and that would have ruined her plan. Well done for recognizing the parallel, though - I was wondering how long it would take for somebody to tie Joe together with my ancient fiction From Hiveria with Love.

Notice also that Hu gets to the railway station as before, but unfortunately the Provost is not there to sign any treaties. Nevertheless, he does meet up with a suitably grisly fate, which was earlier withheld from the reader during Hiveria.

And you might very well be backing a good horse in this particular race. Although I wouldn't bet on its performance over the whole Derby season, to strain a metaphor to breaking limits.

New episode up soon, maybe tomorrow.

Alinestra Covelia · August 18, 2001, 22:29

Right, now I've typed long episodes before, but this one took me by surprise. It's so long that Notepad (the program I type in) actually ran out of memory. So like some hefty piece of steak, this story has been cut into two and the first part has been posted. Expect the second part to follow soon, when I've finished writing it.

Alinestra Covelia · August 19, 2001, 00:35

All right, it's past midnight and the second part is written and posted. Woohoo!

I'm going to sleep now, like Li Min in the story. Except that I don't have my housemate's disembodied head with me...

Alinestra Covelia · August 22, 2001, 08:27

Right, two things in what I laughingly refer to as "real life" have happened, each with dramatic repercussions.

1. I passed my New York State driving test first try, which has made me feel good and has evidently justified my continued existence to my parents, and

2. I will leave my present accommodation and set up house elsewhere. Where exactly I don't know quite yet, but it should be good fun finding out.

I'll keep at Joe during this, but it may be a few weeks before I can post anything decent up. Stay tuned for more!

Alynzia · January 13, 2002, 05:34

I think, besides Michael Ely, Alinestra Covelia is the greatest SMAC writer like ever. That ain't meant as a criticism to anyone, because she has got an English degree and the rest of us don't.

She hasn't written for about five months, aren't any of you worried?

I've read Joe twice, from the top, and I've forgotten it. If I read it again I'll forget it before she posts anything more, assuming she is still alive.

Has anyone heard from her recently?

Alynzia.

Alinestra Covelia · February 3, 2002, 22:07

Woah! Feedback!

(Now why didn't I get email/messaging notification?)

Sorry about the brevity of my posts; various real-life things are cracking off and taking their toll on my free time. Fortunately, the major time-consuming task is over, and I hope that one of those many postgrad journalism schools will see fit to accept me into their ranks...

The other thing that's taking up my free time is an original sci-fi work that I'm hoping to get published. It's been in the planning for three or four years but I guess it can afford to wait a little longer

That, and my everpresent job search...

Well, I've started the next episode, so you can be sure of more Joe fic up soon - and believe me, the real-world events since the last episode have certainly given me some food for thought!

Allie

PS As before, when the new episode goes up, I will send out an email to everybody who has posted on this comments thread.

senatus · February 4, 2002, 00:06

Good to see you back; I was afraid you'd moved onto other things. I know well how life can... er... take a life of its own

.

I continue to look forward to your posts. Your portrayal of the Hive sets a standard for the degreee of factional "insight" that I've always wanted to emulate in Spartan Chronicles. Unlike in the SC, you are free to create the entire fiction world, and you've done a marvellous job at it. Please continue! More posts of "Joe", along with other major works like Raging Mouse's "Wizard of Chiron", are definitely worth looking foward to.

Hydro · February 4, 2002, 22:57

AC! Glad to see you’re back! Now we will once again be graced by your Hivean wisdom, and, if we are very lucky, another installment of your tour-de-force Joe.

Hydro

Alinestra Covelia · February 5, 2002, 02:53

:blushes:

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! It's really a lot easier to write this when you know there are some people out there for whom it makes a difference!

I'm almost done on the first post, which might go up sometime early Wednesday. I've also got a pretty clear and detailed idea of where the whole story's going to go from here.

By the way, I checked out on that ancient one-post story about Agent Hu and the DataTech female spy (the spoof From Hiveria With Love) but the forum reckons it's not there anymore. Has there been some sort of forum clean up while I was away?

Anyhow, stay tuned and I'll be back with more!

SixArmedMan · February 6, 2002, 23:07

At the risk of sounding like a groupie, I'd been waiting for the next few chapters for aaaaages.

Great stuff! It's still as engrossing as ever!

Alinestra Covelia · February 7, 2002, 12:01

Okay, everybody. I'm going to break with tradition and not send out emails (after all, you could just bookmark the Joe thread and get emails when it updates). But so far we've seen the international news response to the battle, and then afterwards the DataTech internal response.

I thought it might be fun to see the Hiverian reaction.

As you can see, sometimes it's just as much of a headache to be a victor as it is to be a loser in a battle!

Another note: next week being Chinese New Year, I'm going to be elsewhere. So if I don't update for that time, don't panic. I will try to get yet another post up before then, but I can't promise anything!

Mr. President · February 18, 2002, 19:30

I just downloaded Joe to my non-Internet computer for more leisurely consumption. Having tried to read it before and been distracted in the middle, I hope to finally reach the other end of this captivating tale.

I've written a couple of Alpha Centauri-related stories before, but the places and people in them rarely seemed as real as the ones in Joe. Maybe I need to get a brain first.

Alinestra Covelia · February 20, 2002, 01:28

Okay, everybody, I'm back from the festivities. Another episode is on its way, but might not be up for a few days or so.

Just posted to reassure you that I'm still here!

problem_child · February 22, 2002, 11:30

Hi Ali, looking forward to a reread of Joe with latest additions- and looking forward with Great curiosity to your own original sci-fi work.

Is it published yet? what were you thinking of calling it? and if not published can i help proof read it? i promise i won't disseminate it or try to pass it of as my own work or anything like that.

no really i mean it.

no but really though

Alinestra Covelia · February 23, 2002, 03:33

As the proud owner of not one, but TWO computers that won't work, I have to confess that updates might be a bit patchy (-ier) until I can get at least one of them fixed.

If it's any help to any of you, don't buy Hewlett Packard's Pavilion brand of laptops, especially the N5450 line. Their hard drives have a tendency to melt. As for the desktop, well it's a trusty old four-year-old so I can't blame it for resetting itself at random. I'll get it looked at on Wednesday.

As for my other sci-fi story, it's measuring in at around 30k words right now and I have barely scratched the surface, so only heaven knows if that will ever be finished, and whether it will be publishable when it is. I can't talk much about its plot or themes yet (partially because I'm not entirely sure about it yet myself!) but I can divulge the working title: Pearl of the Ebon Orb. As always in novel writing, the title is still only provisional at the moment. I might change it to something like Faschism or something.

I'm only thankful that I managed to evacuate everything off my laptop before it popped its clogs. Otherwise that would have been the whole sci-fi fiction down the drain, and Joe as well...

Okay, hope you like the update, and I'm going to try to get the follow up posted next weekend if I can.

Raging Mouse · February 23, 2002, 10:04

Yeah! Keep it up, Allie.

Alinestra Covelia · February 24, 2002, 10:35

Raging Mouse... I've just been reading your fanfic, The Wizard of Chiron, for the past few hours. From an unbiased point of view, I would say your fiction skills are impressive and accomplished.

From the viewpoint of a competitor, though, I am required to honestly say

"Damn you Raging Mouse you've taken all the good ideas already!"

PS I really mean that. You have no idea how much your fanfic has disrupted my plans for Joe.

problem_child · February 24, 2002, 13:15

Pearl of the Ebon Orb huh, *said with the quiet sceptisism of one who believes the talent but is always doubtful untill the full glorious work is revealed in all its- erm... glory*

Well, like i said, i look forward

.

Raging Mouse · February 24, 2002, 19:45

Quote:

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
"Damn you Raging Mouse you've taken all the good ideas already!"

PS I really mean that. You have no idea how much your fanfic has disrupted my plans for Joe.

Oh! I'm flattered!

It's a pleasure reading Joe, though; I think you manage to give the story a nice pace, whereas I feel I'm mincing mine merely to keep things short and readable! I don't know how you manage; you must have a better control over the storyline.

Alinestra Covelia · March 5, 2002, 01:32

Sorry about the slight delay, everybody. I know I did say "weekend" but the computer had a few problems. Speaking of which, my desktop has been fixed! :triumphant Allie:

A while back (like about a year and a half ago) one poster near the start of this thread said he hoped Everybody's Favorite Federation would make an appearance in the story. Well, I hope you feel the wait has been worth it.

More to come during the week, I hope. Now that I have a desktop in my dormitory, I have no further excuses!

Alinestra Covelia · March 8, 2002, 22:54

Another episode is up, and another episode it on its way. It would be fair to say that this whole story is heading for an extremely rapid progression of events.

Alinestra Covelia · March 9, 2002, 11:28

Yes, I know, I know.

Another one.

Alinestra Covelia · March 22, 2002, 00:14

Yet another one. I shall try to find time over the weekend to post more. I have more time available to me now, as I have just received word that my postgraduate studies applications have all been approved and this September I shall probably be headed for Missouri School of Journalism!

Meanwhile, I will go to eat some lunch. Hope you enjoy the story!

senatus · March 24, 2002, 19:45

Allie,

by any chance are you a fan of "Legend of Galactic Heroes"?

Alinestra Covelia · March 25, 2002, 01:22

"Legend of Galactic Heroes"?

*scratch head*

No, I'm afraid I've never heard of that one. Is it worthwhile? What's it about?

More Joe maybe tonight or tomorrow, after I've finished teaching my class.

Alinestra Covelia · March 25, 2002, 12:20

In the words of Queen Victoria concerning her prodigious offspring:

"Yeah, another one I guess"