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.
Friday, December 27, 2013
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.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Nano 2013 Progress - Week 2 and 3
Day 13 - Work, mom taxi duties, meeting dry wall contractor, and family time = no time for writing.
Day 14 - So tired. Managed 1000 words before eyes demaned to stay closed. Word coutt: 19,004
Day 15 - Online write-in. Thank goodness. Word Count: 22,086
Day 16 - I planned to have most of the day to write. Bwhaahahah. Plan flew out the window. House stuff and work took over my day. Word Count: 23,070
Day 17 - Okay today I'm really going to buckle down and pump out the words. Oh but we have more paperwork to fill out for the house? And then focus flew out the window and it took me three freakin hours of slaming my head on the keyboard to get my daily word goal? Blarg! Word Count 24,746
Day 18 - Well the weekend sucked for writing and the story was like pulling teeth. I was more excited by the prospect of cleaning toilets than writing more of it. Stress level on other fronts is at an all time high. As much as I like this story, I need to give myself a break somewhere. This is where. I can go back to it when my percolator is again functioning correctly. Instead, I wrote a short story and then switched to working on my first NaNo Novel that I've always wanted to get back to finishing. Total new words for the month: 27,309
Day 19 - 26 - Life was too busy to even get in here to document progress. In summary:
I enjoyed my last weekly write-in not so much for the writing (of which I didn't get much done at all) but for the human interaction beyond work and house. I laughed, I laughed so hard I cried, ah, I so needed that.
I think I just might finally finish Sahmara's Sunset (my first NaNo Novel from 2006). I tried to dig into it a couple years ago and had most of the rewriting done up to chapter 5, but it had a gaping lack of a middle that intimidated me beyond words. Surprise! The middle is flowing this year. I guess some things just take time and my percolator was in for the long haul on this one.
The best NaNo decision was to switch novels. Words are flowing without the gnashing of teeth or bruising of my forehead. I'm actually enjoying what I'm writing. That's a huge step above last year and the first half of the month this year.
We're finally supposed to close on our our construction loan next week. OMG, what a long and stressful process. Also next week, a possible closing on the sale of our current house.
Writing has happened despite life also happening at a rapid pace. Current word count: 44,176. Reaching 50k looks to be on my plate after all. Maybe right next to some leftover turkey on friday. Wish me luck.
Day 14 - So tired. Managed 1000 words before eyes demaned to stay closed. Word coutt: 19,004
Day 15 - Online write-in. Thank goodness. Word Count: 22,086
Day 16 - I planned to have most of the day to write. Bwhaahahah. Plan flew out the window. House stuff and work took over my day. Word Count: 23,070
Day 17 - Okay today I'm really going to buckle down and pump out the words. Oh but we have more paperwork to fill out for the house? And then focus flew out the window and it took me three freakin hours of slaming my head on the keyboard to get my daily word goal? Blarg! Word Count 24,746
Day 18 - Well the weekend sucked for writing and the story was like pulling teeth. I was more excited by the prospect of cleaning toilets than writing more of it. Stress level on other fronts is at an all time high. As much as I like this story, I need to give myself a break somewhere. This is where. I can go back to it when my percolator is again functioning correctly. Instead, I wrote a short story and then switched to working on my first NaNo Novel that I've always wanted to get back to finishing. Total new words for the month: 27,309
Day 19 - 26 - Life was too busy to even get in here to document progress. In summary:
I enjoyed my last weekly write-in not so much for the writing (of which I didn't get much done at all) but for the human interaction beyond work and house. I laughed, I laughed so hard I cried, ah, I so needed that.
I think I just might finally finish Sahmara's Sunset (my first NaNo Novel from 2006). I tried to dig into it a couple years ago and had most of the rewriting done up to chapter 5, but it had a gaping lack of a middle that intimidated me beyond words. Surprise! The middle is flowing this year. I guess some things just take time and my percolator was in for the long haul on this one.
The best NaNo decision was to switch novels. Words are flowing without the gnashing of teeth or bruising of my forehead. I'm actually enjoying what I'm writing. That's a huge step above last year and the first half of the month this year.
We're finally supposed to close on our our construction loan next week. OMG, what a long and stressful process. Also next week, a possible closing on the sale of our current house.
Writing has happened despite life also happening at a rapid pace. Current word count: 44,176. Reaching 50k looks to be on my plate after all. Maybe right next to some leftover turkey on friday. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
NaNo 2013 Progress - Week 1
Day 4: Wrote a couple hundred words in the morning and didn't get a chance again until spewing out almost 2k at last night's write-in. WooHoo! Still behind though. However, that's pretty usual for me.
Day 5: Planned on writing in the morning as night is going to be busy. My plan was derailed with signing a contract for a short, receiving a rejection on another and then submitting it to another magazine on my list, and answering/reading regional forum posts. Darn you derailing writing related activites! At the end of the workday, I had to run to our Sunday write-in venue to sign contracts and get a key, then it was off to the used book store to drop off donations from Kickoff...and then to the store to buy supplies for the write-in and donations for the venue. Family stuff ate up my night. Ending wordcount:7282
Day 6: The bank's underwriters took hours of my day with all their extraneous needed details. I did manage to stop and get extra chairs for the weekend write-in and then got them and all the stuff that had slowly filled the back of my car loaded into the big van that will be transporting everything to the write-in. Then there was lots of work, dinner, followed immediately with a meeting with our builder. Then family time. Oh hey, there was finally forty minutes for writing. Go! Word count: 8003
Day 7: Got a couple hundred words in in the morning, then it was off to prepare bidding sheets for our silent auction this weekend. And, of course, work, and email subcontractors for our house. Had dinner with the electric contractor and then managed to get some words in. Word Count 9332
Day 8: Wrote a bunch of words. Worked a lot. Got bad news about our builder from our bank. Swore a lot. Word count 11,328
Day 9: Met with new builder. Got the unmarked creeper van loaded for the write-in tomorrow. I sure hope I come home with a lot less stuff. That van is backed. And its a big cargo van! Wrote a lot of words in the hopes of eventually catching up. Word count: 13,681
Day 10: Big write in day! Woke up at 4am and started thinking about all of our house drama. To sum up: Because we're within 500 feet of a county drain, we were notified we have to file a bunch of extra paperwork and pay more money for permits. This lead to discovering that the majority of our land is actually wetland. Thankfully this is not the area we'd planned to build, but we still have to pay another fee and file a bunch more paperwork because where we intend to build is right next to the wetland. ARG.
Left at 9:30 am for the write-in got set up, wrote about 2k, ate lots, had fun, and cleaned up. Got done at 6pm and then spent the rest of the night with family.
Day 11: Weekly write-in night. Had a busy day, but managed to get words in at the write in. Ending word count: 18,010
Day 12: Work, running around with kids, and then a lovely evening migraine. Word Count: 18,328
Day 5: Planned on writing in the morning as night is going to be busy. My plan was derailed with signing a contract for a short, receiving a rejection on another and then submitting it to another magazine on my list, and answering/reading regional forum posts. Darn you derailing writing related activites! At the end of the workday, I had to run to our Sunday write-in venue to sign contracts and get a key, then it was off to the used book store to drop off donations from Kickoff...and then to the store to buy supplies for the write-in and donations for the venue. Family stuff ate up my night. Ending wordcount:7282
Day 6: The bank's underwriters took hours of my day with all their extraneous needed details. I did manage to stop and get extra chairs for the weekend write-in and then got them and all the stuff that had slowly filled the back of my car loaded into the big van that will be transporting everything to the write-in. Then there was lots of work, dinner, followed immediately with a meeting with our builder. Then family time. Oh hey, there was finally forty minutes for writing. Go! Word count: 8003
Day 7: Got a couple hundred words in in the morning, then it was off to prepare bidding sheets for our silent auction this weekend. And, of course, work, and email subcontractors for our house. Had dinner with the electric contractor and then managed to get some words in. Word Count 9332
Day 8: Wrote a bunch of words. Worked a lot. Got bad news about our builder from our bank. Swore a lot. Word count 11,328
Day 9: Met with new builder. Got the unmarked creeper van loaded for the write-in tomorrow. I sure hope I come home with a lot less stuff. That van is backed. And its a big cargo van! Wrote a lot of words in the hopes of eventually catching up. Word count: 13,681
Day 10: Big write in day! Woke up at 4am and started thinking about all of our house drama. To sum up: Because we're within 500 feet of a county drain, we were notified we have to file a bunch of extra paperwork and pay more money for permits. This lead to discovering that the majority of our land is actually wetland. Thankfully this is not the area we'd planned to build, but we still have to pay another fee and file a bunch more paperwork because where we intend to build is right next to the wetland. ARG.
Left at 9:30 am for the write-in got set up, wrote about 2k, ate lots, had fun, and cleaned up. Got done at 6pm and then spent the rest of the night with family.
Day 11: Weekly write-in night. Had a busy day, but managed to get words in at the write in. Ending word count: 18,010
Day 12: Work, running around with kids, and then a lovely evening migraine. Word Count: 18,328
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