Useful Saurian Phrases?

Or maybe just a way to insult someone without them knowing it?

Here's how to say the three phrases left by the commentors.

For Tiff: And your point is?

Translation: Koebae checkuh dulvee shool?
(long e, short a - short e, short u - long u, long e - school without the c)

For Camy: Bite me!
(Please note, this is not something smart to say to a Saurian. You DO NOT want them to bite you.)

Translation: Nirt dine! Or if you wish to make it a command: Nirt'Dine!
(short i separate from the r sound - long I, silent e) (Command: same as before but with a clipped "eh" between the two words and no pause aka: Nirt'eh'Dine)

And for Steve: Who left that time machine on my sofa?
(I think it was Scott)

Translation: Do jilatim men mekin kitark goch rukote dinevee?
(long O - short I, short a, Short I - Short e - Short e, short i - short i, AR like Bark - short u, long o - long I, silent e, long e)

And how would you use these in a conversation? Easy you burst wildly into the living room and shout:

You: Do jilatim men mekin kitark goch rukote dinevee?

Kids/Spouse/Friend/Parent: *Blank and befuddled stare* Huh?

You: Koebae checkuh dulvee shool?

Kids/Spouse/Friend/Parent: What kind of gibberish is that?

You: Nirt dine! *Grab time machine and storm out of the living room*

Tune in next week for more Muze Cheechae Ork Saurian!

Forward Progress

Bit of an update on my writing life and what's going on there.

Been fairly busy this past week. As far as my first book is concerned, I've been working on getting it into the rounds. One query is off, and a proposal is nearly finished. Lots of waiting will quickly ensue. :)

The sequel is progressing well at this early stage. I got a 600 word synopsis put down for it so I know what I'm doing. And have the first scene done. This is shaping up to be a rather dark book, as the consequences from the events in book 1 play out. Plus there is a big twist in this book that I've been waiting to get to ever since the idea for this story emerged. Gonna be lots of crazy stuff going down, but have to do the work to get there first. I've also got the framework down for four new characters, not quite sure on their personalities yet, but they have all come through some hard times.

Anyway, enough of boring you with my hum-drum writing life. Check back later today and I'll post the phrases left in Monday's comments in their Saurian form. And will have a review of Kathryn Mackel's outriders up soon as well.

Saree Larkime!

Learn to Speak Saurian!

Freak out your friends! Dismay your Parents! Drive yourself to the loony-bin! For today's little foray, here's how you would quote John 3:16 in Saurian (not in actual-Saurian alphabet).

John Chae:Tovaktrk

Glozm VorTolKo trm sarreeim vor soreevo men sorko kannueim vor to koebae tol chomve sorko, men dasto doe mrjil slovo sorko ol thow oytok, seena tifil wow larkime.

So feel free to use this next time somebody asks you to quote this iconic verse! Or paint it on a big board and take it with you to the next big sporting event to give a classic witness a new twist. ;)

Or if you want to frustrate people just write this on a board:

Dul thor thow tu cheechae nivail.

And when they ask you what it says, you can honestly answer: You do not want to know. :)

Do you have a favorite phrase you want to learn to say in Saurian? Post it here and I'll translate it and put it in the next "Learn to Speak Saurian" entry.

What hangs on a wall, is green, and whistles?

Movie Review: MirrorMask

If you're looking for an weird and twisted fantasy movie to rent, might I recommend this new picture from Jim Henson Productions and director Dave McKean. Here's the official summary:

MirrorMask centers on Helena, a 15 year old girl in a family of circus entertainers, who often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother's major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world - the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it's up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she's in a dream, or something far more sinister.

This movie is filled with interesting and quirky characters both at the circus and in the dream world, that really give a sense of mystery and insanity to the world born from Helena's own artwork. One thing I love about it is how Helena never really questions the world she finds herself in, but simply goes along with it, from escaping the shadow by riding a book to thwarting a sphinx's riddles with one of her own (that Bilbo Baggins might have been proud of).

One of my favorite sequences comes a bit over half-way through the movie and involves one of the sweetly creepiest renditions of Close to You I can ever remember hearing.

Overall, this is a bit like a darker, more twisted Alice in Wonderland or Labrynth and if you liked those, be sure to give this one a try.

One Last Word on the Krikicho

Just to kind of give some closure to the whole world-building series here's one final post.

With the timeline, geography, some basic social ideas and the physical characteristics down I've gone as far as I can without a story to build the rest of the world around.

While I've been putting all the above stuff together, various ideas and images will have been popping into my head about what kind of story would be a nice introduction and overview of the race.

For the Krikicho I was thinking a nice short pirate story would have worked well. In a world where there was an ancient high-tech civilization that got wiped out leaving some stores of technology and knowledge behind, a thriving privateer/tomb raider/profiteer type of culture could easily arise.

So I was leaning toward telling the tale of a young privateer Krikicho and his run in with the forces of that expanding empire. Something of a classic formula that would give me a format to explore more of the precise social aspects, the tech used, and other such things. Getting to see the world on a much closer scale.

Someday I'll get around to that story. Just too much to do and not enough time. :)

Any quick questions before we leave the Krikicho behind and head off to Sauria and other mysterious lands?

The Beast is Returning

Hey everybody.

ok so it's been over a month since my last post, and the poor Krikicho are hanging out wondering what's going on.

Unfortunately they are going to have to hang out for a while longer. I am doing a bit of re-prioritizing and am putting all extra-stories on hold right now so I can focus on the sequel to my first finished novel Starfire.

What's that mean for this blog? Well just means that the focus will shift a bit, but that it will hopefully be a bit more frequent in updates, as I track my efforts to get Starfire published, and explore my process of writing the sequel.

Plus I'm still going to try and post reviews of books & movies that catch my interest. Won't be an every day type post, but I will commit to putting something up (even if it is just a "Learn to Speak Saurian" post) at least three times a week.

Until next time,

Sare larkime!