Life thankfully slowed slightly after the big holiday and the house project is at a standstill. We won't go into detail. My blood pressure needs a break too. Deep cleansing breath.
After five years, my first laptop was ready to be retired. It's now one of my work computers. I awarded myself with a new writing laptop. Writing and enjoyment only. No work. When I pick this little lightweight baby up, it's time for some brain relaxing time. NOT work. After figuring out how this newfangled thingy works...Windows 8 is a different world from Windows Vista, I discovered the Narrator. Woo. Shiny. It reads to me. Now, this is awesome because I hate reading out loud to myself, and as most any writer will tell you, reading out loud is a great way to edit.
With my computer reading to me, I was able to edit two of my shorts (now neatly organized into five folders: ideas / in progress / in edit / submitting / published) from my edit folder and move them to the submitting folder. That means my juggling act is back in full swing with two novels and four shorts seeking homes.
Onward to shuffling stories up the folder line toward a positive end goal!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2014 one word resolution
For the last several years, I've been favoring the simplicity of a one word resolution for the new year. It seems to work fairly well for me.
In light of a pretty craptastic one two punch at the end of 2013 of two friends dying within a month of each other, the realization that you've got to use every minute wisely came back to the forefront. That, and I've gained a few pounds since the last funeral I'd attended because my usual funeral attire was really darn snug around the waist. But I'm not so concerned about the weight as I am about making time to do what I enjoy doing. So this year I will still work my butt off (despite the irony of still having the weight of it), play mom taxi each and every day, and there will still be stress with the house building fiasco. But I will make as much time as possible to write.
It might not be good, but even under ideal circumstances, the spewing forth of garbage happens sometimes.
So this year, I will WRITE.
In light of a pretty craptastic one two punch at the end of 2013 of two friends dying within a month of each other, the realization that you've got to use every minute wisely came back to the forefront. That, and I've gained a few pounds since the last funeral I'd attended because my usual funeral attire was really darn snug around the waist. But I'm not so concerned about the weight as I am about making time to do what I enjoy doing. So this year I will still work my butt off (despite the irony of still having the weight of it), play mom taxi each and every day, and there will still be stress with the house building fiasco. But I will make as much time as possible to write.
It might not be good, but even under ideal circumstances, the spewing forth of garbage happens sometimes.
So this year, I will WRITE.
Friday, December 27, 2013
December Reading Blitz
With NaNo over and my brain fried from the even busier than the usual work rush before Christmas, I've decided to get some reading done. I need a little escape from reality.
Unfortunately, I stumbled upon some book crack while sifting through book donations and totally checked out of the real world for a little while. You have to appreciate a writer who can torture her men so well. I really enjoy the fact that there is an overarching plotline that pulls all the books together rather than just featuring romance stories from a shared world. Here's what I read in seven days:
Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon
And then I came up for some air and got some work, holiday shopping and decorating done and remembered to get some full nights of sleep.
My daughter handed me a YA book from her school bookclub that she really liked. I have to say that it's interesting fiction set in the 1860s based on some actual caged graves that the author ran across. The story kept me turning the pages at a rapid pace.
The Caged Graves by Dianne K Salerni
My Mother-in-Law passed The Town That Forgot How To Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey to me. She said it was "very weird". I have to second this statement. It is has a very Lovecraftian feel. While the first third moved rather slowly as we are introduced to all the pov characters, it gets rolling in the middle and entered the can't-put-it-down stage in the last third. Set in Canada, we get to visit a small town afflicted with a mysterious illness and some of the characters have really trippy scenes which described vivid detail. Of all the horrific images that are so graphically described (drowned bodies, decaying bodies, living dead bodies, psychotic wishes to murder people in great detail), I admit, the one that really grossed me out, was of a little girl picking her nose. Just euw.
Unfortunately, I stumbled upon some book crack while sifting through book donations and totally checked out of the real world for a little while. You have to appreciate a writer who can torture her men so well. I really enjoy the fact that there is an overarching plotline that pulls all the books together rather than just featuring romance stories from a shared world. Here's what I read in seven days:
Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon
And then I came up for some air and got some work, holiday shopping and decorating done and remembered to get some full nights of sleep.
My daughter handed me a YA book from her school bookclub that she really liked. I have to say that it's interesting fiction set in the 1860s based on some actual caged graves that the author ran across. The story kept me turning the pages at a rapid pace.
The Caged Graves by Dianne K Salerni
My Mother-in-Law passed The Town That Forgot How To Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey to me. She said it was "very weird". I have to second this statement. It is has a very Lovecraftian feel. While the first third moved rather slowly as we are introduced to all the pov characters, it gets rolling in the middle and entered the can't-put-it-down stage in the last third. Set in Canada, we get to visit a small town afflicted with a mysterious illness and some of the characters have really trippy scenes which described vivid detail. Of all the horrific images that are so graphically described (drowned bodies, decaying bodies, living dead bodies, psychotic wishes to murder people in great detail), I admit, the one that really grossed me out, was of a little girl picking her nose. Just euw.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
To Be Published: Taking a Breather
It happens that this one weekend I hadn't been stalking my inbox and that's when an acceptance arrives. Maybe this means I should take a break from stalking more often. Easier said that done.
Taking A Breather will be published in an upcoming issue of STUPEFYING STORIES. While I like all of my stories, this one was a favorite so I'm so happy it found a home.
And now it's back to cleaning up the house after a weekend of purging a kid's messy room and putting up the Christmas tree. At least I'll be smiling while cleaning.
Taking A Breather will be published in an upcoming issue of STUPEFYING STORIES. While I like all of my stories, this one was a favorite so I'm so happy it found a home.
And now it's back to cleaning up the house after a weekend of purging a kid's messy room and putting up the Christmas tree. At least I'll be smiling while cleaning.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Nano 2013 Progress - Wrap up
After reaching 40K NaNo seems like a downhill run. Writing 2 to 3K a day wasn't a problem. I reached 50K of new words on the 29th. After so many months of not having time to write, that felt really good!
The middle of this novel that had given me fits so many years ago just fell into place. It came in at 71,000 words - only 22K of which were written this November. The story still needs a few scenes and a good deal of cleaning up. Not to mention some seaming between the point I ran full force into last night and the ending I'd put in the there the first time around. The points meet up, but, yeah, need a little smoothing out.
I'm happy with the novel and the plot bits that I managed to pull together in my flurry of words. It's a simple story, which perhaps made it fun to write because it was so different than the last three novels I've wrapped up. This is one girls journey. The subplots are minimal. I'd like to get closer to 80k during the edits and polishing but we'll see where the story leads me when I get that far. I'm excited to finally introduce Sahmara to my crit group. Eventually. At least she's a lot closer than she's been for eight years.
There's a special feeling to finishing NaNo, but an even more special one to actually producing a completed story. Even if that story wasn't all written in one lump.
As to my first half of the month, Into the Blue could still work. It needs some time to percolate. Maybe even an outline so I can locate the ending and go there.
It's stalled out at the point that I've come to call "eating crackers" aka: stagnant. It's when my brain is overloaded with outside crap that eats up all my creative thoughts and turns them into drooling mush. I know what I want to write, but the words and flow just aren't there. And so, just like in last year's Jackson, my characters spend momental amounts of pages doing something trivial (which in that case was eating crackers) in the hopes that a brilliant flash of creativity will strike and the story will lurch back on track.
No flashes. Story go splat.
But all is not lost. As I learned this year, some stories just need time to work themselves out. Lots and lots of time.
Good luck to everyone still madly racing toward 50K today.
The middle of this novel that had given me fits so many years ago just fell into place. It came in at 71,000 words - only 22K of which were written this November. The story still needs a few scenes and a good deal of cleaning up. Not to mention some seaming between the point I ran full force into last night and the ending I'd put in the there the first time around. The points meet up, but, yeah, need a little smoothing out.
I'm happy with the novel and the plot bits that I managed to pull together in my flurry of words. It's a simple story, which perhaps made it fun to write because it was so different than the last three novels I've wrapped up. This is one girls journey. The subplots are minimal. I'd like to get closer to 80k during the edits and polishing but we'll see where the story leads me when I get that far. I'm excited to finally introduce Sahmara to my crit group. Eventually. At least she's a lot closer than she's been for eight years.
There's a special feeling to finishing NaNo, but an even more special one to actually producing a completed story. Even if that story wasn't all written in one lump.
As to my first half of the month, Into the Blue could still work. It needs some time to percolate. Maybe even an outline so I can locate the ending and go there.
It's stalled out at the point that I've come to call "eating crackers" aka: stagnant. It's when my brain is overloaded with outside crap that eats up all my creative thoughts and turns them into drooling mush. I know what I want to write, but the words and flow just aren't there. And so, just like in last year's Jackson, my characters spend momental amounts of pages doing something trivial (which in that case was eating crackers) in the hopes that a brilliant flash of creativity will strike and the story will lurch back on track.
No flashes. Story go splat.
But all is not lost. As I learned this year, some stories just need time to work themselves out. Lots and lots of time.
Good luck to everyone still madly racing toward 50K today.
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