Easter eggs
Filed under Writing Journal on November 30, 2006
Tagged: Maiden of Pain, Relvan's Rescue
I finished up the second version of “Relvan’s Rescue”, my submission to Fantasist Enterprises Sails & Sorcery anthology. It is a very different story than the first iteration, though the basic plot is the same. Final word count was 6,997. I’ve sent it off to a couple beta readers for input on specific aspects. I plan to send it out the Monday before the deadline. It feels good to get done with time to spare. Now I can concentrate on wrapping up Secret Project #1, due tomorrow. 
There are a couple lines of dialogue during the climatic battle scene that pay homage to The Princess Bride. As I wrote the exchange, a sense of familiarity overcame me. I Googled quotes from the movie and decided to revise the wording so it more closely mirrored the exact phrasing. This isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this. There is a scene in Maiden of Pain where I inserted a slightly modified version of the famous line from Star Wars when Luke Skywalker enters Princess Leia’s prison cell on the Death Star. I love this way of paying tribute to the influences of my imagination.
November 30th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Aren’t you afraid that those who read such lines will think you are “ripping” off from the original source? That they may just groan and think, “Oh man, that’s from xyz book/movie, what a blatant plagarism/rip-off.” ??
Funny how if you pay homage to a particular character or place it isn’t looked down upon, but mimic a scene or dialog and it is (usually). I wonder why that is?
November 30th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
The context in which the dialogue is used is different enough in this story–as opposed to MoP, where it was used in a rescue scene–that I don’t think it wouldn’t be considered a rip off. Now, whether or not it will elicit a groan is another matter entirely.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:04 am
When can you tell us about the secret project #1?
Glad to hear you’re getting ahead of the deadline. I’m going to be sliding in undert he wire… I got a good start last weekend but need to finish this weekend so I can hand it off to my crit group. They’re good at tearing things apart.
December 1st, 2006 at 12:01 pm
Soon, I hope. I finally got the contract signed and sent in. I’ll check with the editor/publisher about release dates, but I have a feeling it may be after the first quarter of 2007 before I can say anything.