A Dragon Writes

Flip flop

2012-01-11T00:08:00.002-05:00

So I switched stories; I found myself at a bit of a wall on Spirit of the Hunt (the handwritten one) so I switched over to the sequel. It's a bit liberating to be able to just change stories when I get stuck, rather than being wedded to one and forced to keep writing on it.

I think that Spirit is stuck because I was writing past the ending; it was stuff I needed to write, I think, since it was important character development, but I don't know that it will end up being in the final piece.

It's fun to go back to the sequel; I love those characters so much. It has a bit of the feel of a YA novel, and I wonder if that's how I might market it. It might be a better first attempt than Spirit would! Who knows.

Gotta finish one before I can start thinking about what order I want to try and publish them in!

Tracking spreadsheet for #WIP500

2012-01-07T18:41:00.003-05:00

Because I'm writing offline, I'm finding it difficult to keep up with my daily totals. I'm writing them down, sorta, in my notebook, but I've been bad about it. I'm marking which day is which, but I don't want to re-count each time.

So I made a simple spreadsheet on Google Docs. See, I love spreadsheets... I'm not GOOD at them, but I love them. Eventually, I hope to have progress charts, reports, all kinds of things to show off how I did month-to-month and such, but for now, it's just the basics. I have it tracking your best day, how many days you've entered a count for, average words per day, totals, and the percentage of the total you've got so far.

I also have it flagging days you wrote under 500 with red, and over 500 with green.

Here's the clean copy so you can download it for your own use if you'd like to. Feel free to redistribute, edit, do whatever to your own copy. :)

My personal progress (which is terribly inaccurate for the first 6 days, because I kinda guessed based on G+ posts and what my totals are on Cara's site) can be found here.

I plan to continue adding to it as I figure out how to make Docs display the data in a useful way. I like charts.

Updated the layout

2012-01-06T12:02:00.002-05:00

As much as I loved my beautiful green background and rainbow plant life... I've been a little tired of looking at it, and it was just plain cluttered. So I switched to something cleaner and simpler, and a lot easier to read.

Fare thee well, beloved template... you've served me very well.

Good progress!

2012-01-06T11:17:00.003-05:00

Last night I got into the zone. I hit a good place in the story, full of angst and drama, and blew the #WIP500 goal out of the water. The 4th, I wrote almost nothing. I was so tired I couldn't focus, and only ended up writing about 150 words... but yesterday? 1500. SMOKED the total. That's a good two-day buffer on my 365 day challenge.

This 500 a day goal is proving to be very motivating for me. I'm not limited to a new work. Which is what I think torpedoed my NaNo this year... I didn't want to write something new. I have too may good WIPs to start something new. Being able to write 500 words on anything has been awesome.

So I think I'm going to write some more, and see if I can't write my January 6 totals even higher. :)

Right now, my FMC is angsting over her lot in life, not wanting to be a vampire (boo hoo, existential crisis) and the MMC is about to tell her to grow up. And it's going to be fun.

Stop doing that!

2012-01-03T17:14:00.003-05:00

Ready to tackle writerly things for the new year? Stop right there, and read this list. It's 25 things writers should stop doing, right fucking now. And these are things that are all over the NaNo forums, where people worry about this or that, anything to prevent themselves from actually writing.

I started #WIP500 last night. I hit right at 500 words, estimated, and finished before bed. The cool thing is I had a spot of inspiration, and thought of a spiffy plot twist that just might result in me being able to combine the two endings I'm battling in a way that's sensible and pleasing to me.

I wanted to write more today, but I've been so cold that my poor fingers couldn't hold a pen, and barely type. I spent most of the day snuggled under a sherpa throw and two cats, just trying to stay warm.

So what do you think... can I really write 500 words a day, every day?

Can I do it for the whole year?

I can... but will I?

#WIP500

2012-01-02T20:50:00.003-05:00

Joining a new challenge for the new year. I seem to do better with concrete goals to aim for (even if I don't actually complete them totally. So in the interest of that, I've joined #WIP500... the goal being to write 500 words a day. Not at all a hard goal... I can church that out in less than 15 minutes if I try. It'll take longer handwriting, of course... but I think I can do this. I've got about four WIPs that I need to work on, so this is the perfect motivation to do that.

I'll also be tweeting about my progress (or lack thereof.)

Let's do this thing.

For personal reference: 126.

So close, and so far away!

2011-10-29T15:00:00.004-04:00

We're down to two days now. This is one of the best parts of NaNoWriMo, to me. The anticipation, the nerves. I love it. The buzz on the forums builds to a positively electric level, so that you can almost feel the excitement.

I've been having a good season, so far, and I've even done a little planning. I don't think I'm doing a true outline, as I'd planned. See, I've decided on a retelling of J. Sheridan Lefanu's classic pre-Dracula novel, Carmilla. I liked the story, but was deeply unsatisfied with the ending, and I really disliked the wimpy female main character. There were so many questions left unanswered that I'd like to answer them! SO I'm spinning it with Carmilla herself as the main character, and a sympathetic, tragic figure.

I have been going over the original novel, and making character lists, and making notes. I had a friend over Thursday morning for coffee and writing chat, and he had a GREAT idea for the central conflict.

See, I'm wanting to give an original spin to the old story, and I think I've gotten it.

Today's going to be a good day, too, because tonight's the local kickoff. I LOVE my local group... such a fun group of people. I'm hoping to have some new faces this year, too! I've seen a few new people posting in the forums.

So this is all rambly, but I wanted to let you know I'm still alive!

Couch to 5k, Week 1, Run 2

2011-08-18T22:38:00.002-04:00

I DID IT! I did it, I did it, I did it, I did it!

It wasn't quite the traditional way; I ended up having to stop with 3 runs to go to talk to a neighbor (this is why I don't like to run on my street) but it actually worked out well. I was about to give up, because my ankle was screaming, but while I talked to her (for about ten minutes) I stretched and ran in place... the ankle stopped hurting, and I finished my last three runs!

I exercised for 45 minutes total (including the neighbor chat) and ran/walked for 1.9 miles! (That's according to my pedometer, the accuracy of which I doubt.

I drank plenty of water, and stretched afterwards after my cooldown walk, in the house.

I feel fantastic. I grinned like a total moron during my last run.

It was SO much easier. After two runs the first day, I was already panting and breathing so heavily, but this time, I hit run three, and again with the idiot grinning.

I feel so proud of myself. I can do this (and kept telling myself that during my runs. I had to coax myself to do this, a lot.)

Not Writing, but Exercising!

2011-08-16T10:07:00.003-04:00

I know this isn't writing related, but I felt the need to include it anyway. I mean, any update is better than none, right? I'll apologize in advance for the length of this update... it's actually two updates in one, lifted more or less straight from Google+.

I've embarked on the wild world of running. The UK NHS has a program called Couch to 5k... and I figured it was PERFECT for me.

My first steps into the world of fitness were abortive, but not for the reasons you think. I was all set yesterday morning, had my mp3 player loaded with my NHS couch to 5k podcasts. Got up, got Elisabeth ready to school, and discovered the gate had been left open, and our newest dog, Ozzy, was gone. So I spent half the time I should have been walking/jogging riding around. I gave up riding around in the car, and used a little dog logic about his past escapes and what I know of the neighborhood. I drove over to the next neighborhood (where there's an empty lot connecting it to ours that's infested with feral cats) and decided to walk there, calling Ozzy occasionally.

I got about 4 minutes into the 20 minute routine, when something bumped into my leg, and nearly scared the shit out of me...

...it was Ozzy. Muddy, shaking, scared, and happy as hell to see me. I put his collar and leash on, and walked for a few more minutes, but by that time I was too giddy and tired to continue walking, so I brought Ozzy home (muddying the hell out of my car's passenger seat in the process) to his worried Papa. By that time, it was getting too hot to be outside.

So it was a good and bad morning. Bad, because I didn't even get halfway through the first day's run, good because I found my dog, whom I was certain had hauled ass halfway to Atlanta and would have to be picked up by the pound to be found.

Stupid dog. I'm glad he's home, even if he spoiled my run. (And I did get 7 minutes of exercise in... that's 7 minutes more than I got the day before!)

After yesterday's abortive attempt, I decided to go ahead and start again today. Today went much better; although I did make a couple of mistakes. My first mistake was not properly stretching; I really started to feel it about halfway through. My second was forgetting my water bottle... I was REALLY parched.

I did good though, I got through 15 minutes of the 20 minute workout. I would have done more, but my ankle started to flare up (I had a severe sprain/broken foot bone a couple years ago that still bothers me) and I had to stop. It actually hurt so much by the time I got home that I had trouble driving.

But, I decided to join my neighbor who was walking to cool down, because I was still overheating and breathing heavily. We walked at an old lady's pace for a while, and I felt much, much better. I've only got a distant ache in my ankle now, and it didn't swell up, in the end. I'm probably going to take a break tomorrow, let it recover, and run again thursday, although I may walk tomorrow. I haven't decided.

Total exercise? about 6 minutes of running (60 second intervals) and 38 minutes of walking. 2754 steps on my pedometer, roughly a mile and a half total.

I'm very pleased with this.

Places I can feel the burn: My ass (woohoo!) calves, and surprisingly, my arms. I know a little bit about running/walking, and know about moving those arms. Once I get into running to where I'm not having as much trouble keeping up with the full routine, I'm going to get some arm weights.

Lessons learned: Stretch, you idiot! Don't forget your water! Don't forget to do a cool down walk. I knew that last one, but I wanted to reiterate it to myself so I don't forget.

I'm probably going to repeat week 1 until I can do the whole 20 minutes, whereas normally you'd do three week 1 sessions before moving to week 2. I want to do this right, so I don't give up.

Google+ has my brain.

2011-07-17T23:46:00.001-04:00

So I've joined Google Plus. Why is that being posted here, you might ask? Well, as it turns out... it's a writing community goldmine. A LOT of the MLs from NaNoWriMo have accounts there, and thanks to the efforts of some intrepid users, finding lists of them isn't hard.

I've expanded my circle of people I communicate with, and it's been actually quite stimulating to do so. I have discussions with interesting people, who do and say interesting things. I don't treat it like a Facebook clone, it's becoming something a little different. It's sort of a social blog... there's no character limit that I've found on share updates (statuses) so the brevity I so detest on Facebook isn't there. It's also attracted people who really don't care for social websites, so things just feel differently.

Hangouts are fun too, for inspiring you to write, word wars and the like. I can REALLY see it as being useful in November. I can't wait to try it out.

And if you feel like adding me, do so. I don't have to be as protective there as I am of my Facebook. (Thank you, Circles, and thank you, Google, for being so sensitive of our privacy needs). Just let me know who you are, so I'll know which circle to put you in. :)

The strangest motivators

2011-07-08T23:03:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I got started on Camp, and then stared. And stared. And stared. I couldn't make the words come. I just couldn't figure out where to go next. I'm breaking a cardinal NaNo rule, and starting with a work in progress, but I have too many good, salable pieces in progress to start yet another one that would languish unfinished, so I promised myself I would finish at least one before starting a new one.

So you know what the random bit of social engineering did it for me this time?

Livestream.

It turns on my webcam, if I want it (I usually leave it off) and broadcasts my computer screen in live streaming video. I've had quite a few friends stop in for a chat, and it's been really, really fun. Nothing gets me writing like knowing that someone is literally looking over your shoulder while you write! What's cool is in addition to allowing me to tweak things like mic input and camera, I can also have it set to stream what's going through my speakers, so I can share the music I'm listening to with my watchers!

Very fun.

I got the idea from Kit Fox on the NaNo forums... so you should try it out, and post your link there for the rest of us crackheads to watch! It's gotten me through my mad stuckness, for the moment, and I have forward motion. It's not GOOD motion, but it's moving. I've picked up my 2007 NaNo, Heaven's Bounty, and plan on adding it.

Man, I am a crackhead.

Ready for Camp!

2011-06-28T12:48:00.001-04:00

So Camp NaNoWriMo launches in a few days, and I think I'm ready. I have the marshmallows, the graham crackers, the chocolate bars.

Wait, I'm suppose to be writing?

Oh crap.

Umm... maybe not quite as ready as I thought I was.

Well, I am. I think I'm actually going to be participating as a rebel this time, since I have about four really good WIPs that I need to work on, and I don't have any fresh ideas for camp. I've got a couple, but they're just tidbits of ideas. The one I'm really wanting to work on is Heaven's Bounty, my (2008?) NaNo. It's actually pretty good. I love the characters, and their interactions, my only real problem is I'm a little stuck on the ending. I don't quite know how I want to end it! I think I'm getting close, but I don't know. See, I have a little confession to make:

I suck at endings. I mean, I tend to start and not finish so many novels that I have far less practice finishing them than I do starting them. So maybe that's what I need to focus on for a while. Either way, I'll be writing 50k during camp, and I hope you join me. We're launching this week, and I've had the pleasure of poking around on the new site in testing all last week, and it's so pretty and simple and awesome. I hope you like it!

So in the interest of a Camping theme, let's talk toasting marshmallows. Do you like yours on fire, or lightly toasted until golden brown? Do you like to eat off the outside that's been cooked and re-toast the innards? How do YOU like your marshmallows?

My, how far technology has come

2011-06-18T11:47:00.001-04:00

Right now I am testing my bluetooth keyboard link with my iPod. I think that if I take this with me to write-ins, I can actually do some mobile writing. I Just need to find a fold-down keyboard, because the mac keyboard is nice, but not exactly easily portable. I've heard that portable options exist. Now, my iPod is official Da Bomb. Mark 2. I decided about halfway through to post this to a blog, and realized that this is just perfect. As long as I have wireless (hey, it's not an iPhone) I can do anything my computer can do. Why do I own a laptop again? Welcome to the future, folks. This is reality. Next step? Those projected screens you see in all the sci-fi flicks.

Look ma, another plot bunny

2011-06-07T19:48:00.001-04:00

While I was working on my novel, I actually had a plot bunny. You see, the magic system is based on an elemental sort of thing, you know, earth, air, fire, and water. As I'm writing the climax, though, I'm finding some weaknesses in the system, namely that the antagonist has an opposing element to the female protagonist. Now, for the confrontation, it's fine, but it's left me some holes in the rest of the system that I need to plug.

So I plugged in elemental magic to Google, and started getting some ideas to work around it, and I think I've figured out which way I want to go.

I think I'm going to go with a revamped elemental system based on the Chinese elements; fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. I don't know if I'll keep that exact pattern, but the flowing nature of it, and the way some of it opposes the rest fits the story as I'm writing it better then the traditional european four elements.

It also gives me more potential for side plots and additional character classes/races. AND it gives me more ideas for the sequel to this one, possibly breaking through the block there.

I love it when progress is so profound.

Now, the children have gotten disturbingly quiet, so I'd better go make sure they haven't managed to finally kill themselves in their room.

A milestone reached

2011-06-06T22:07:00.004-04:00

Last night I accomplished something truly great. See, if you remember from posts past, I like to write by hand, and purchased a journal-sized notebook to write in.

Well, as of last night, I've officially filled it up.

That's right... It's DONE. Well, not the story, I'm still moving forward on the story, but the book itself is very full, and I've started on a second.

Just LOOK! Look at the beautiful, and so very full pages!

Umm... ignore the chicken scratch.

So with that done, I've got a backup book on hand, that I've already continued on. I removed the handy THIS IS MINE ribbon from the red book and moved it to the brown.

I'm even continuing the page numbering from 249. I'm at the climax of the novel, just at the beginning of the big confrontation, and I've got FORWARD MOTION. I can't wait to write tonight.

I think I'll go do that now.

crossposted to heatherdudley.com

BLARGH! I hate domain name propagation.

2011-06-01T00:10:00.003-04:00

Okay, so as you may have noticed in the previous post, I've decided to activate my parked domain name, and set up a word press blog there, and importing everything from here to there.

Everything seemed hunky dory, until, of course, I realized that a wordpress.com installation lacks a very key feature: plugins. As in, all those pretty, customizable wordpress widgets? No go. It also lacks some other key features I kinda need.

So I decided I'll activate a true hosting account with my other hosting service (used for other websites) that will cost more than $1 a month, but will allow me ultimate power.

Only problem with that? DNS propagation. For the uninitiated, this means I have to wait anywhere from 1-3 days for the entire world's nameservers to catch up with the change.

So heatherdudley.com is currently offline. However, you can access the plain wordpress blog at heatherdudley.wordpress.com until propagation completes. Hopefully, it won't take too long. It's just annoying me because the wordpress installation I set up on fatcow points to the domain name, so they have to catch up with the fact that I'm already pointing to their own nameservers. Sigh.

So, to pass the time, and hopefully leave you smiling, and waiting once again for my infrequent posts to show up on my pretty new domain, I leave you with a kitten attacking a puppy.

You're welcome.

Moving Day!

2011-05-31T22:07:00.004-04:00

After much thought, I've decided to activate my long-dormant domain, http://www.heatherdudley.com. I love blogger, but it's not as feature-rich as I could like, and it's time for me to move on up to a grown- CMS. One day I will, but until then, Wordpress will do.

I plan on moving my subscriber list as well, but until then, you can visit manually. I hope to see you there, and know that hopefully this will not be an interruption. It's not like there's that many of you around! Either way, thanks for reading, and I'll see you over there!

Progress and ruminations

2011-05-24T23:09:00.002-04:00

I've been working steadily on Hacker Dragon. I'm up to 21,667 words as of this very moment. I feel like that's a truly respectable total, since this time last week, I only had about 13,000 or so. I'm finding it's hard to get back into Drakan's head; I'm not sure what the magic mix was when I first wrote her. She's there, I can *feel* her, but I haven't quite reconnected with her.

I'm pleased with the work. She's mellowed, some. I think it's me that's mellowed, truthfully. I think I was in a very turbulent time in my life then. It's no less turbulent now, but I'm coping better. I'm not in the grips of post-partum depression, though its lingering effects still hang in my mind like the unwanted cobwebs in my bedroom. I know they're there, I know I need to get the broom, but I can't quite bring myself to do it.

Such is the nature of depression, I suppose.

But I'm enjoying what I'm writing. It's not Great Literature or anything, and I'm not sure I will pursue traditional publication with this piece; it's leaning towards romance, although it may pull away into a respectable sci-fi piece by the time I'm done. If it does stay romantic, I may try Ellora's Cave, or maybe just plain self-publishing via ebook.

I have NOT given up traditional publishing for my other works; I just don't know if the world is ready for this one. :) I won't know until I'm finished, of course. I've got roughly a month before the CreateSpace deadline, and I think I'd like to print this one with it.

I don't know. This is a very experimental book, for me. It's outside of my comfort zone, it's different, and I don't think it has mainstream appeal, but I think it may very well find a very loyal audience in a certain niche.

Who knows, though, after I get the original version out, it may end up very different after it goes through editing.

I love writing. I love the mystery of it, the discovery. I'm a very visceral writer, I take a dream and I give it reality, and I enjoy learning where it leads. I've never been much of a planner.

And that, my friends, is my scattered brain dump for the day.

Picking up an old WIP

2011-05-19T12:23:00.004-04:00

Mom cancelled on us, so I've got the whole day to myself. I've made two positive steps towards being actually productive.

1) Last night, I read over the piece I'm planning to continue. It doesn't suck, and although I think I need to back up and take the story in a different direction than it did from the last plot twist, I think I've got a good base, and some damn good characters to work with.
2) Just now, I opened Scrivener. I will follow this action by stopping to tweet about the action I just took, then make a blog post about it.
Hey, it's forward motion, right?

I think after that, I will move all of the text from the word doc I've got this saved on into Scrivener.

I've been trying to think of a new title, though. This piece is about a genetically enhanced computer geek who takes over a corporate network (think Shadowrun, but without most of the magical stuff.) just before another hostile organization takes over. This is literal hostility, including guns. She lets them take over, makes an arrangement with the leader of that organization, and is now playing cat-and-mouse with him. Romance ensues.

Quick bit of worldbuilding: Post apocalyptic thing, now humanity has a dual animal nature. Some are naturally more strong than others. Corporations rule the world (nah, I wasn't influenced by anything cyberpunk. I PROMISE.) Most people are regular animals of various sorts, some are myths. MC is a dragon, leader of organization is tiger (smilodon fatalis, to be exact.) It comes off less cheesy than it sounds, I promise.

Anyway, It's a sci-fantasy thing, heavier on the sci than the fantasy.

Current working title REALLY sucks: Hacker Dragon. Not the kind of thing I'd be proud to show off in public. So I have to figure out something different. I'd like this to be my CreateSpace submission, so I need a non-shitty title.

Now to figure one OUT. Any suggestions?

But I think I'll start working on my scrivener file first, so that I'm making more progress towards actually writing, rather than procrastinating with minutiae.

Brace yourself...

2011-04-09T21:52:00.002-04:00

I just turned off comment moderation. Blogger finally added some kind of spam detection; I generally like Google's spam algorithms, so I'm going to give it a try.

So hopefully, my beloved stable of commenters (all ten of you) can comment free of impediment. :)

Revising and Procrastination

2011-04-09T16:57:00.004-04:00

So I still haven't started writing yet. I think I've learned to take procrastination to all new heights, these days. I'll pick strawberries with the kids, play farmville, warhammer, go to the grocery store, but write? Heck no.

But a recent blog by Chris Baty has me wondering. What sort of revision efforts could NaNoWriMo help me with? He's asking for input on the kinds of revision tools you'd like to see.

Right now, we have the barest minimum. A couple of forums, the Critiques forum, and the Novel Draft Aftercare forum. Critiques is great, but only if you have something ready to critique. Aftercare is nice, but I'm not done yet.

I had a dream the other night. Apparently, my subconscious doesn't set its sights very high. I dreamed that I went to the mailbox, and my novel was in there. It was a paperback proof, had been retitled "Off the Shoulder" (I have no idea why) and was printed by the "Del Rey Discount Books" division. There was a contract in there... with a $1,500 advance written in. I remember the cover art being pretty cool, though.

I mean... really? My brain couldn't come up with NYT bestseller list, or a million dollar advance, or even a fully priced paperback? Oh dear.

I'm going to take it as encouragement, though. While I don't think Del Rey has a discount books division, I like the attainability of that dream. Million dollar advances are very rare-- but what I'm aiming for isn't a certain advance, or even the NYT list. It's purely, and simply, publication. My book, available in a bookstore near you, where I can go and front my books, and smile like an idiot while I point to it to the other customers and say "MINE!" while they back away slowly. I've thought (hard) about publishing some ebooks, but I still want the real thing.

So what are your writing plans? Are you writing for you? Are you revising something to be published? Going the self-publishing or ebook routes? Trying to convince the aliens in the back of your head that they can't destroy the planet because of your literary prowess?

Clever spammers

2011-04-05T10:29:00.008-04:00

While checking the spam filter on the Script Frenzy forums, I came across the strangest thing.
It was a polite, nicely formatted response to the spam filter feedback form:

Kindly post my comment I'm not posting spam.

Thank you very much and more power..God bless..

Respectively Yours,

Gaile Seive

This isn't unusual; I often get confused, amused, or even angry feedback from users whose posts have been erroneous flagged as spam. This one struck me as odd though, because of the content of the post. It was responding to a question about asbestos and heat... this person posted the following on the thread:

"Asbestos is said to be carcinogenic and it contains variety ofchemicals that enhance cancer cells.They may also come in differentforms and as they have said this may be the result of potential toxinsthrough inhalation,ingestion and even through food intake andcigarette smoking.That's why this is very dangerous for mostmen.Prostate cancer may be one of the outcome cause of this asbestoschemicals.There's a new review that suggests screening and catchingprostate cancer early will not stop fatalities from the disease. Theresearch culled data from 2 decades of records, and it found thatindividuals who got regular screenings for cancer of the prostate werediagnosed with and perished from the disease at the same rate as thosewho did not get regular cancer of the prostate screenings. This mighthelp you decide what method is best for you when you sign up for apersonal unsecured loan for professional medical costs."

Notice that last line? Yeah. It WAS spam. For a loan! How strange that the spammer took the time to politely tell me they weren't spamming!

Clever, clever spammers. You are no match for my spam stomping powers! And for those who are curious, yes, I banned this very polite spammer. With prejudice.

Spanish Engrish

2011-04-04T23:28:00.001-04:00

On the recommendation of a friend, I went and picked up some real Mexican hot chocolate... more specifically, handmade salvadoran chocolate tablets.

The short of it: milk, chocolate, and a cinnamon stick... boil and serve.

That's not the fun part. The best part were the directions. This is a direct transcription:

1) Dissolve one tablet of Salvadoran chocolate in two cups of milk or water.
2) Cook moderate fire. Constantly revolve.
3) Boil for one minute and retire of fire.
4) Serve hot

How awesome is that. You couldn't make this up if you tried.

Spanish Engrish

2011-04-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

Teeny tiny notebooks

2011-04-01T23:11:00.003-04:00

While shopping for party supplies today for my 3 year old's birthday part tomorrow, I discovered something that quite literally made me squee in the store.

Yes, the lady the down the aisle from me looked at me funny.

But that's not the point. Look at this.

Yes. That is my thumb. It's about an inch long. And YES, it is a lined notepad. A real one, with about 25 or so pages.

Wait, it gets better.

Thumb-sized composition notebook.

What's not to love? I had a fit over these. I'm going to carry them around in my purse. And I 'm telling my ML about it, because these would make epic goody bag stuff.

Playing around with ideas

2011-03-30T11:17:00.003-04:00

I've been toying around with the basics of my new plot; some changes will have to be made, naturally. One of the things that's been stumping me is the shapeshifter clan; their original location was a wild, unclaimed country inhabited by the usual big beasts, dragons, and generally inhospitable things.

While post-civil war America has lots of land, it doesn't have anything that quite goes by this description.

I've decided that my clan will need to become Native American; it makes more sense than an overseas transplant. I'd like it to be an eastern tribe, but it will have to be an original one... I don't want to butcher an existing clan or disrespect them. They'll thank me in the end, I think. Everyone does midwestern or western Natives, I think using one of the eastern tribe would be a nice change.

This will be an AU, so I am trying to think of ways America will be different with magic. My male main character, Gabriel, is the son of a powerful, very ancient vampire. Now, I can't imagine such a creature living happily in the wilds, so he'll probably be a European vampire. Perhaps Gabriel fled overseas to get away from his father's shadow?

I'm going to have to imagine a slightly wilder government; I'm thinking the Hunter's Guild will be some kind of quasi-governmental enforcement... sort of like marshals, but with special orders. Perhaps a special marshal offshoot?

So much to think about... so little time. Fade in is tomorrow night. I think I might spend today and tomorrow doing research, and see where it goes.

New twist on an old story

2011-03-28T11:13:00.003-04:00

I have a story I've been telling for a very long time. In its first incarnation, it was actually a Vampire Hunter D fanfic, although I didn't know what fanfic was at the time. Complete with a pretty blatant mary sue self insert in the classic sense. :)

Over the years, it's evolved into its own tale, a high fantasy about a shapeshifter and a Hunter from the Hunter's Guild. Set in my own, original world, Bethra. I've got maps and such. Problem is, the story itself has stalled... I know what happens in the major confrontation... but after? No clue.

Last night, I was lying in bed, half asleep and delirious last night, when a bolt from the blue struck me.

I'm going to pull the characters, the plot, and all out of Bethra (the world) and plop it into Earth. Post-civil war earth, to be exact. Alternate universe Earth, one where there are things of a paranormal nature (shapeshifters, vampires, elves, etc) as a standard part of society; the Hunter's Guild will be set up to fight rogues of whatever kind, sort of a quasi-governmental bounty hunter's society.

I don't know how it will turn out. But I'm suddenly very, very excited about this story. I'd been planning on participating in Script Frenzy as a rebel anyway (scripts aren't my art form, but I have to be on the forums anyway in my mod capacity) and I think I just figured out what I'm going to do!

Day 31: Finis.

2010-12-01T11:00:00.003-05:00

I did it. I don't know HOW I did it, but I did.

After a catastrophic weekend that sucked my motivation and drive completely out of me, I gave up. I quit, planning on not finishing.

Monday, however - something started happening. The story started to bug me, the characters started to pull on my coatsleeve, asking me what the heck I was doing. Then people on twitter started poking me, wanting to know why.

And I got emails. And forum posts and... wow. I didn't know so many people cared!

So I started writing.

Now, it was 5:00 PM my time, and I still had 10k to write. Then I got a challenge from the NaNoLanta ML, MattKinsi. If I won, he'd donate $10. Then more people started doing it.

Next thing I knew, I stood to raise something like $60 for OLL if I won.

I can't fail, with that kind of motivation.

So I wrote, and a wrote, and I WROTE. Dear lord, so much writing.

And something miraculous happen. After a solid day of writing, I managed to pull of 15k and win. With four minutes to spare.

How 'bout them apples.

So I dedicate this win to all of you who promised to donate if I won (and did!) If you check out the "Brought to you" page, do a search for "licking." That's the one MattKinsi did for me. ;) And no, I won't stop licking him. It helped me win.

Funny thing is? I'm only halfway through my story. So I'm nowhere near done. At least now I can get a free proof copy of it printed when I'm done. :)

Final Day

2010-11-30T13:08:00.001-05:00

I'm not done yet.

But I'm going to win. If it KILLS me.

The final run! 35k in 7 days

2010-11-23T23:22:00.002-05:00

So I'm sure you've noticed. I'm behind. WAY behind. I've hit a wall of depression (unrelated to NaNo) and lack of motivation, but today is the day that I'm going to break through it and write anyway.

So who's with me? Who is going to race to the finish?

Will you beat me there? ARe you behind? So behind you don't think you can recover?

You can. I've done 50k in 10 days. Sure, couldn't use a keyboard for a month. But I DID it. And I'm going to do this.

Even if I have to start a war to do it.

Let the games begin.

Day 10: Music and a Video (and not dead yet)

2010-11-11T02:28:00.002-05:00

I haven't fallen off the planet yet, I promise. I've been behind, as I'm sure you've noticed by my word count, but I'm working on it. Tonight, I've been listening to music. Articology, mostly. Then someone from the ML chat room (Thanks, Aquadeo) linked me to this beautiful video. I wanted to share it with you, because I found it soothing and inspiring at the same time.

I've skipped ahead a bit in my novel, since the part I was in was dragging, and it's moving smoothly again. In spite of myself, I think there's a romance blooming between Senator Eric Nathan Mason (yes, that's his full name, and I don't know why I know that, only that I do. I usually don't bother with middle names). I didn't want there to be a romance - while the merfolk society is bisexual, I didn't want that to be even of peripheral importance. I sense a possible love triangle here. ITt seems that the relationships will be more important than I meant them to be.

I'm pleased, though, it means the characters are coming alive, moreso than they have been previously. The week two slump may yet be defeated before the week is over. :)

Day 7: Even more behind, but a NEW COMPUTER

2010-11-07T23:59:00.003-05:00

Well, I didn't catch up today like I'd planned. But I have a good excuse; I know own a new computer. NOt only a new computer, but a whole new operating system!

That's right, I've purchased a new iMac. And it is wonderful on a scale I can't quite describe. It's taking a lot of getting used to, though, so it's delayed my writing. I've installed scrivener, although I plan to run a virtual machine so I can continue with liquid story binder, scrivener's giving a free trial, so I'll see which I like better.

I've done so much running around today between setting up the new computer, church, and doing laundry that I've run out of hours in the day. But now I'm feeling motivated, so I want to write, write, write!

Only problem is, I'm not sure where to go. I've got my girls in a hotel room, where Elisande will get a little more acclimated with the human world, but after that? Just how DO you go from the Atlantic to the Capitol Building?

I'm inclined to have her fortuitously discover a congressman in the park. But that would be a bit too easy. I dunno. I need to do something.

Day 6: Soooo behind

2010-11-07T00:36:00.002-04:00

So I'm behind. Part of it is a boring bit in the story, but mostly... life has interfered like whoah. Between the site issues and struggling to get caught up on moderation duties on the site, my part time job, being sick, the kids, and just plain being distracted.

But no excuses.

I'm still ahead of Chris, at least:

My goal for this weekend, though, is to be caught up on my word count. I'll be joining Chris, and many others, in this race. I'll need 11,669 words to be caught up. That's a one-day deficit of 4,933.

I can do that!

I think I can do it if I manage my time better. I'm bad about checking the forums AFTER I'm caught up on immediate tasks, and getting distracted by things that Must Be Done (translation, they can wait.) I'm going to set aside some designated writing times. I've gotten my favorite playlist re-created (I lost it when I switched from my Colby MP3 player to my iPod) and I think I'm ready to go. I can do this... Want to join me? Let's go for a 5k Sunday!

Day 3: Making progress

2010-11-03T13:28:00.004-04:00

It's slow, and slowed by the fact that I'm having to work on the site more hours than normal because of load times, but it's moving along. I've spent the morning working on site-related things, and running @NaNoWordSprints.

Unfortunately, though, I'm feeling terribly unmotivated to write. I'm going to catch up tomorrow, I think. I got a few hundred words, but I'm not feeling this scene. I might skip ahead to the Dramatic Stuff.

Day 2: The society evolves

2010-11-02T19:01:00.003-04:00

Okay, so before now, I've had this very vague idea of the merfolk society. I knew that males weren't fully humanoid, and were more like sea lions than fish or humans. I also knew they were "inferior" to the females. I swear this wasn't some repressed thing. It's just how the dream was. ;)

Well, apparently without a lack of opposite-sex intellectual equals, mermaids have essentially become bisexual. They mate with the males for procreation, but often form romantic relationships with their "sisters." Family bonds are not strong; mothers are called "matria" but most young, male or female, are raised in a communal creche.

The society lives in magically-shielded cities under the ocean. In the past, this has been fine, but as humanity's technology improves, it's getting harder to keep them away. The breaking point is coming; eventually they won't be able to hide anymore. There are cities worldwide, but it looks like the one off the American eastern coast is going to be the first to break the silence. When a pod of males is captured and taken aboard a commercial research vessel, the MC is sent to free them.

She does - spectacularly. So the silence is broken.

She and another mer will be sent to the mainland to try and broker peace, or else. The queen is pissed off, and not really interested in peace, only retribution, so time is limited.

And that's all I've got. I do know that negotiations will be unsuccessful, and war will result. After that... who knows? Maybe the merfolk will take over the US. ;) Maybe there'll be a rebel alliance.

Oh, and I have a Senator from somewhere named Mason. And the MC's best friend/sometimes lover is Aria, the land-spy.

Day 1 - Trials and tribulations

2010-11-01T16:54:00.004-04:00

Well, any of you who are frequent visitors to the NaNoWriMo website know it's down. Down something *fierce*. This wasn't as much of a problem last year, but we are experiencing record-breaking totals... at one point, we had over 16,000 people online at once.

It's just as frustrating for us as it is for you. The good news is, the tech team is on it,and working hard to get things back on track. Specialists have been called in, and things will work. We promise! In the mean time, write your novels, and hit that word count goal! I did a 15 minute word war with NaNoLanta and got 687 - I think I can manage to get 1667 today. It's funny, you'd think I'd write when the sites are down, but I worry so much about catching up on modding I don't. I write better when I don't have 50-something posts in the abuse queue. ;)

I did get a rousing good first page or so on my novel. An impressive opening scene with water knocking over secret service agents. I think we've got something here. :)

I got on the site long enough to post an excerpt. I also have it on very good authority that Liquid Story Binder will again be offered at a discount this November. Check it out from my sidebar over there... it's what I use to write my novels, and I can't sing its praises enough. Super flexible, bit of a learning curve, but worth taking the time for. It'll adjust itself to how YOU work - it doesn't require you to change how you do things.

So what are you writing this year?

2010-10-16T21:33:00.005-04:00

I've finally gotten my idea. I had a dream (which is where most of my story ideas come from. Mortuus Rex came from a dream) that fascinated me. It involved a mermaid, addressing Congress, demanding recognition as a sentient species, protection of "human" rights for all sentients, and demanding the cessation of unlawful experimentation on the males of her species in private corporate research.

And an idea was born.

I've been working on the idea in my head, and I've got a few points; I don't know how I'm going to get to that scene (for starters, I have no idea how in the world random Person gets to address Congress) but I know now that this mermaid will either escape from a corporate research facility, or break into one in an attempt to free her mate. I haven't decided which.

Mermaids will be very Amazonian; matriarchal society, warlike, and the purpose of my MC's trip to Capitol Hill will be to attempt to prevent war from breaking out. Before you start laughing about the idea of a primarily water-based race waging war on the US, think for a moment: what happens when your sea-traffic is disrupted? International trade would be affected, attacks on ports could be catastrophic for local economies, and widespread enough attacks would wreak havoc on the national economy. I could really have fun with it. In fact, just now I thought it would be awesome if I had her attempt to convince Congress to intervene fail initially, war to start (just so I can show just how much trouble a sea-bound race could cause) and they then decide to sit up and listen.

I've been researching on TV Tropes for ideas and tropes (warning, DO NOT click that link unless you're ready to wikiwalk... TV Tropes steals hours from my day on a regular basis) and I've decided a few things; I think my mermaids will be mammalian, which means no scales... which is kinda sucky, because my working title is Scales of Justice. Le sigh. I am accepting ideas for a new title, by the way. I'm thinking a more dolphin based mer-person.

I do know that I don't want the males to be strictly humanoid. Originally, I'd planned for them to be vaguely sea lion-ish, but given that I might want them to be dolphinoid, I might go with that. Or maybe the idea of a non-humanoid male might be a bit too squicky, so I might just go with traditional mermen.

I'm also playing around with the idea of the females having to go ashore to give birth in human form, which might solve the mermaid problem (TV Tropes warning). I think the primary setting will be Chesapeake Bay; the mermaid will be able to swim up the Potomac for the entrance into Washington DC. I think. I need to check my map for that.

I did have an incredibly generous artist from the NaNo Artisans forum make me a cover for my novel; it's really quite pretty. Simple, and I love the color. The Artisans have offered to make the staff covers, since we don't qualify for 30 Covers, 30 Days, so we miss out on the chance to get awesome covers made. They've really made some beautiful covers... be sure and check it out!

I need a new layout

2010-09-11T21:09:00.002-04:00

I love my layout. It's beautiful, it's colorful... but I've had it for years. I think I need a new one. I'm toying about with the idea of creating my own (I AM a web designer after all, it's not that hard) but if I can find on that suits my personality, I'll use it.

I dunno. I'll look around and see!

When it rains, it pours

2010-09-11T20:58:00.003-04:00

For the past week, I've been in a writing frenzy. I've picked up Pride of the Hunt, which I abandoned about halfway through NaNo last year, and even wrote several thousand words on Mortuus Rex; I haven't stayed up until 1 AM writing in months.

There's a change in the air; quite literally. I can feel fall coming, and with it comes my muse. I've programmed myself, over the last 9 years of doing NaNoWriMo, to feel writerly in the fall.

The forums get to buzzing, and now it's translated into writing motivation.

I've still got more to write on my handwritten novel. I need to focus on it, because my aim is to have it finished before November, but my other two stories (this is the prequel to Pride of the hunt, and is untitled) keep calling me.

Mortuus Rex has taken a turn for the darkly erotic; this isn't really like me, but it's been therapeutic. I'll probably plan on editing it harshly and toning a lot of the violence down. It's a damn good story, and I don't want it pigeonholed as erotica; that's not the point of the story. It IS a dark story (death and vengeance abound) but I don't want to get it lost in all the sex. Although the sex is awfully fun to write. ;)

Overall, though, I'm happy. My brain's buzzing with ideas, and this bodes well for 2010. Bring it, NaNo!

So it begins

2010-08-07T21:44:00.001-04:00

It's starting. The NaNoWriMo forums are starting to buzz. There's a few more posts in Character and Plot Realism, there's a few more private messages, the activity is ramping up in Games and Procrastination.

People are getting excited. Ideas are flowing, people are starting to ask if it's okay to start now... it's an energy that's difficult to describe. I have a unique perspective on things; I am able to see things from behind, where HQ starts sending out more planning emails, the MLs start posting more often in the private forums... it's just amazing.

NaNoWriMo is an event that's unlike any other. There's a freedom to it, a sort of rebellion against the traditional views of art and writing and creativity. Instead of a methodical, meticulous crafting of a masterpiece... it's a mad dash to the finish line, the end being more important than the means. Where no one cares if it's great... it's the accomplishment, the completion, the fact that you finished at all that counts.

There's a mad abandon that is absolutely infectious. I started dreaming of what I wanted to write, spawned almost entirely by reading the increased activity in the forums!

It's amazing, it's fun, and I love it. It's this energy that has kept me coming back every year, for eight years.

I think it's why, when other nonprofits sputtered and failed, falling by the wayside, NaNoWriMo continues to be supported by your donations. Why people love it so much that they'll chip in their $10, their $25, in a way that raises hundreds of thousands every year. (We still have more plot bunnies from our summer donation drive available!)

It's amazing. And I'm so amazed to be a part of it.

Writing by Hand

2010-07-14T16:18:00.007-04:00

I'm getting close to the climax of the novel, and the end of the journal I'm writing in, and I'm wanting to start entering it into Liquid Story Binder, but I'm so, so committed to finishing this in handwritten form, first.

You see, when I first started writing, I didn't have a computer, or even a typewriter. So I wrote by hand; even though my handwriting is atrocious (so utterly, utterly atrocious, as you can see in the picture) it was what I had.

When I started using a computer, my handwritten tendencies fell by the wayside, and I noticed that my prose actually sounded worse. I type SO fast that my fingers get ahead of my head, whereas with the handwritten work, it forced me to take the time to write it out, so my head stays well ahead of my fingers.

So went and bought a lovely little blank journal, and started writing by hand again. It's worked.

It's also easier to write distraction-free, since I can't surf the internet with a notebook. I lay down in bed, every night before I go to sleep, and write. Sometimes just a paragraph or two, sometimes, a few pages that keep me up until I finish the scene. Always something.

Here's my lovely little journal. Red isn't one of my favorite colors, ordinarily, but I really love the design of this one. I added the little brown ribbon as a sort of "handle", and also use it to distinguish mine from my husbands that he accidentally purchased independently in the exact same cover.

I scribble away, and feel so very writerly. The best part about it is that it fits in my purse, so I can take it with me wherever I go. I could write on the iPod touch, sure, but it would be tedious, and iPod would always be attempting to correct my spelling. Shapewriter's fun, but too difficult to use for any length of time. And I MUST have a Pilot Precise pen.I prefer V5, but ended up accidentally buying V7. Lines are thicker, but it still looks good, so I can use them.

So I need to finish out this novel, and one day, when I'm published and famous, this will be something I can show off at conferences as how I got my start. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to hock it on ebay for a few thousands bucks, eh?

One of those random memes

2010-07-14T11:06:00.001-04:00

The first batch of text I wrote gave me Dan Brown. I found that... uncool. so I chose a different blog post.

I write like
Vladimir Nabokov

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Unemployment means more writing time, right?

2010-07-06T17:25:00.004-04:00

So I got laid off from my sweet, awesome job. This sucks for the finances, but you know something? This means LOTS of writing time. I've been carrying my little red notebook around, scribbling, and I've written probably around 20k in the past couple of weeks. I'm rather happy with that. At the very least, I write for an hour or two before bed. Today, I've spent most of the day with the notebook in my lap, writing a paragraph here and there between distractions (It's very hard to write with a toddler and a preschooler around.)

I've really begun honing my writing process. I do better without the distractions of computers and the internet when I'm getting my initial ideas down; so a little leather-bound notebook is the way to go for me. It just... feels right. It's how I learned to write, it's how I've always done it. The only thing that sucks is it makes my arthritis act up. To the universe: I know it seemed like a funny idea to give arthritis to a teenager, but that was WAY uncool. If it hurts this much now that I'm in my thirties, it's gonna suck when I'm all old and stuff.

My mother showed me a book one of her customers had handed her. It made me hurt for the author; it was clearly self published, too. A no-name publishing house, based locally. What makes me sad about these things is they sell themselves short; I scanned through the book, and her writing wasn't that bad. It could have stood a little professional editing, but overall, it seemed readable. She suffered from the terminal "said" disease (you know, the inability to use the word "said" in dialogue.) and there were some rambling bits. I was impressed with the quality.

It's never a good sign, though, when the author is giving away the books in convenience stores.

What bothered me more than anything wasn't the fact that this author published her own book, it's that she created her own "publishing company" that advertises its services to other authors, and that she didn't bother to get a professional to design her website. She didn't even get a separate URL for her publishing company... it's just her own name. "authorname.com", you know.

Here's something I'll tell anyone: If you're not a professional web designer? Don't do it yourself, and don't hire a friend who doesn't do it for a living. As with any business, using a professional makes all of the difference. As a web designer myself, I can promise... no you can't do it on your own. It's not something just anyone can do, and do well. There are elements of design that will show your lack of expertise. Do yourself a favor, and pay someone else. The investment will be worth it!

That reminds me... I REALLY need to start working on mine! After all, I'm officially a degreed web designer now... as of June!

Anyway, now that I've rambled on enough, I'll wrap it up, and I'll keep you updated on my progress. Heck... I think I'll break out the camera and take some pictures of my notebook for you.

My mind works in strange ways

2010-05-29T15:39:00.003-04:00

I found this little tidbit scribbled on the back of an expired WIC voucher, apparently written in the waiting room while waiting for my husband's neurology appointment to be over.

A Watchtower sits on a coffee table in a doctor's waiting room. Slowly, it devours its tablemates,one by one consuming them, page by oage, occasionally splitting and leave a new copy of itself to replace the one it eliminates. One day, the receptionist dusts the plastic plants, and wonders what happened to all the Newsweeks, Time Magazines,and Woman's Days, and why there are fourteen copies of the Watchtower. The phone rings, and she scurries off. Why is a ragged copy of Bible Stories is glaring balefully up at the magazines from its upside-down vantage point on the floor beside the table.

She sets the book back on the table, the phone rings, and she scurries back into her office on the other side of the foggy sliding glass.

She doesn't hear the rattle of wooden legs, the tearing of paper, the flutter of fallen pages. The combined forces of the cannibalistic Watchtower are no match for the hard-bound strength of the Bible Story book.

The janitor grumbles about damn kids and their worthless parents as he sweeps up the tattered, torn remains of fourteen Watchtowers, scattered around the waiting room floor.

Elisabeth's Dream

2010-04-30T14:28:00.003-04:00

My four year old told me a story about a dream she just had, and I thought I would record it here for posterity (and for you, dear readers, should you want to see.)

"I dreamed about the skunks, and they were in the trash can. They were stinky. And they sprayed me, and it was really stinky. I told them to get out of my trash can, but they sprayed me. It was stinky. Those were stinky skunks."

I think the skunks might have been stinky!

I'm jumping ship... Sorry Firefox, Chrome, here I come!

2010-03-05T10:58:00.001-05:00

Google Chrome - Get a fast new browser. For PC, Mac, and Linux

You know, I tried Google Chrome right when it came out, primarily because I'm a HUGE Google fan, and will jump right on the bandwagon with just about any product they make, because they're Just That Awesome. I'm a major Google Borgite.

But I couldn't make the switch to Chrome, because while it was awesome, fast, and googlicious, it lacked one key feature: Adblock. I have gotten used to browsing ad-free, and I wanted to keep it that way.

So I sacrificed, and made do with Firefox's slowness because I needed to be Ad Free.

But now... NOW, Google Chrome has extensions! Extensions including AdThwart, which uses the same filters as Adblock does for Firefox!

Firefox, I love you, you were my first non-IE browser, and I will always have fond memories.

But you use over 100k of my existing memory, and that's simply unacceptable. Slowdowns, freezes, and random click and gray out the screen and load problems have reached critical mass. You take too long to load, and too long to shut down.

So I'm leaving you for Chrome. Oh, I'll probably still come see you from time to time as I moderate Freecycle groups, but I'm afraid that we'll have to just be friends. It's not you, it's me.

Okay, it's you. But I do still love you. Promise.

So what to work on now

2009-12-12T18:33:00.002-05:00

Now that I have (gratefully) taken my post-NaNo break, I'm ready to start writing again; however, this is the first time in many a year I desire to write with a purpose. You see, I posted a list the Year of Doing Big, Fun, Scary things forum, and on this list involves two primary goals:

Completing my 2009 novel, and completing my 2008 novel. I'd like to complete the 2008 novel for CreateSpace's free proof offer for NaNo winners. I've missed this offer (or the similar one from Lulu) every year, and dangit, I want this book in my hands, even if not published yet, for sheer vanity's sake.

Now, I'm struggling with the desire to finish my2007 novel, Heaven's Bounty. It's such a GOOD story, and now I've finally figured out where I want to go with it, after letting it sit for a year or two.

This is why I'm not a published author yet. It has nothing to do with the quality of my work; I'm convinced that my prose is as good or better than anything you'll see in Barnes and Noble. It's the fact that I don't finish novels, and therefore am unable to submit them for consideration.

So that's my goal for the coming year: to complete a minimum of one manuscript, and polish it well enough for submission to agents.

Not a publisher, mind you; Like Editorial Ass, I believe firmly in the power of agents to help authors in more ways than just finding a good editor.

But to do this, I have to not only finish a novel, but polish it well enough to put through my critique group, and then polish is MORE into perfection.

But now my dilemma is I have multiple novels that I want to work on. I'm going to finish them all, but in what order?

What I have:

1) My first love, my original. The Story that Had to be Written. I'm currently working on handwriting the second draft, which I'll then transcribe into the computer. This is the one I'd like to have for the CreateSpace offer.

2) The sequel to the previous one; I know, I know. In all fairness, I HAVE finished the first one, when I was 15 or 16... I know how the first one ends.

3) This year's. This one is the one about the widow who ends up as a Queen, and then has to take her husband's assassinated soul, memory, and skills and avenge his death and take back his kingdom. It's FUN, but it's lying fallow again, victim of 50k disease. Mortos Rex.

4) 2007's novel, Heaven's Bounty. It's a sci-fi piece about a winged bounty hunter who is captured, wing-clipped, and raped (dark stuff) and set free by her friends, then seeks to find the source of her deceased captor's freakish shapeshifting powers, powers her love also seems to possess. This one is so much fun, and the voices for all those characters have started up in my head.

5) Of course, Double Edged Sword, though a good chunk of it has gone missing. That's a hard one to write though, and when I get back to it, it's going to be like pulling teeth. Good story, just delicate work.

I dunno. I'm going to work on them all... but which first? My bones tell me I need to finish this year's novel FIRST. It's what's most recent in my mind, and dammit, it would be nice to finish a NaNo novel the same year I started it.

But Heaven is calling...

Looking for a great way to boost word count?

2009-11-21T20:44:00.001-05:00

The wildly popular NaNo Word Sprints are going on over on Twitter. It started out simple enough, with a couple of word wars on the main NaNoWriMo twitter. It's proven to be so popular that we've got a ton of people doing it, and I even volunteered to run a few myself during the day and when I'm writing. Before, it was just on the west coast time, which is exhausting for us east-coasters.

Most common is 10, 20, 30, and 40 minute word sprints. It's a great way to sprint through and get some fast words racked up and see how you compare to others. Some people are insane writers, one even managing to pull off over 1,000 words in just ten minutes! Most people write at a more reasonable, less wrist-breaking pace.

It's fun, and be sure and check it out.

Squeaky new OS, and writing progress

2009-11-18T21:24:00.001-05:00

A couple of days ago, I installed Windows 7 on my laptop. See, when I bought this thing, it had Vista on it, and I hated it. Oh, I could see the potential, but it's such a resource hog that doing anything was a big pain. Before I wiped it, it actually took ten minutes to shut down. We won't talk about how long it took to boot up.

Well, I found a deal online, where students with a .edu email address can get a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium or Windows 7 Professional for $30. For $30? Why the heck not. The reviews from friends who have used it have been good, so I decided to take the plunge.

Oh. Em. Gee.

It's what Vista SHOULD have been. It's fast, responsive, and shiny. It does cool things, and my laptop is running the way its specs say it should.

It put me a little bit behind on my word count, setting everything up, but overall, I've installed a LOT of operating systems (some multiple times) and this was by far the smoothest, fasted install and setup yet. I'm very impressed, and for the first time, I'm going to give Micro$oft props for not blowing yet another OS.

On the NaNo front, last night I broke 40k. My aim is 50k by the weekend, and to continue beyond as far as I possibly can. I'm getting into the meat of a new story, and things are really starting to roll.

I'm also competing with Snark.Gallant; we're running neck and neck, and I'm hoping to overtake him tonight. ;) Of course, he hasn't updated for the night, so the bastard has likely added a few more thousand. A worthy opponent indeed.

With great inspiration, I write

2009-11-15T16:49:00.002-05:00

Last night, I got inspired. You see, the night before last, I hada dream. It was a dream that hung with me all day, and I started thinking about it.

So I started writing. After a total 2.5 hours worth of writing? I'd jumped from 21,705 to 30,474. I hit my stride, and this story has exploded. It's not really related to my current NaNo, but I did the cheesy old trick of "meanwhile, in another part of the universe." This one, I fully expect to hit 50k before the month is over, so I'm keeping the words. To see my erratic performance this year, click the widget to open up my progress report.

I love this. This is how NaNoWriMo is supposed to feel. 8,776 words in 2.5 hours, so excited I can barely contain my enthusiasm or stop writing. I was up till 2 AM last night. That's what I missed. I will post an excerpt from the piece I'm working on, and tell you more about it as it gels soon. For now, I must WRITE.

Today, I'm about to embark upon the terrifying prospect of upgrading my computer from Windows Vista to windows 7. I found a deal that offers a copy of Windows Home Premium or Windows Professional to students for $30. So I've downloaded it, and now, all I have to do isfinish backing up the rest of my files. I'm uploading all my non-music stuff to dropbox (which, by the way, thanks to all of you who checked it out... thanks to those referrals, I now have 5 gigs of free storage instead of 2. It's going to take about five hours to upload all of my remaining photos, but they'll all be safely stored, and in no risk of erasure by the upgrade.

I'm moving all my music over to the desktop PC. It's got over 200 gigs... it can handle it. I love modern technology. I can't believe I'm sending over 12 gigs of music through the air to the PC nearby, while I sit here and type, and while I'm uploading pictures to another storage site. how awesome is that?

So I'm going to take advantage of my remaining hours of backups to write, write, write, and see how much further I can go.

And here, for your interest, is my progress towards my goal of 100k. I'm still a bit behind where I should be, but a couple more nights of writing like last night, and I should be caught up with no problem.

Let's see if we can't get a little less red in there, whaddya think?

Onward!

Signs I might be a computer addict

2009-11-09T18:23:00.001-05:00

I just bought a $50 mouse. No, seriously. In all fairness, it claims to give 15 months worth of battery time, so I should make up the difference in battery usage.

You see, my old laptop mouse has taken a beating. I've used it a great deal, and it gets knocked off the table a lot, so the right mouse button doesn't work well, and the left is starting to fail. It's also getting less responsive. So, the time came to buy a new one.

First, I bought a belkin from Target. Public Service Announcement: Do not buy belkin products. That mouse won't work without a mousepad, which is useless for a laptop! If It can't work on my couch cushion, I don't need it.

So I splurged on a Logitech M505 in a very nice shade of red. Not only is it stylish, it's Logitech, and you just plain can't go wrong with Logitech stuff.

So far, I like it. It's fast, responsive, and doesn't care if I'm using it on my jeans leg or the table.

We'll see in 15 months if it lives up to its packaging about the battery life.

As for NaNo, let's see.

I haven't written much in the past few days. I think the problem has been that my husband has been home all week, thanks to my injured foot/ankle. That does not make for a creatively-inclined writing environment. In fact, he's been here ALL. The. TIME. It's mental interference. So, I'm taking today off for schoolwork and such, and this week I'm going to hit the writing hardcore and catch up to my word count deficit.

Back up your novel, RIGHT NOW!

2009-11-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

One of the worst things that can happen to any artists is to lose your work to a corrupted file, a power outage, or storage device failure. It's happened to me several times, and now I back up my novel in several places.

1) I have Dropbox set up on my computer. It automatically syncs my files stored in its folder, without me even having to think about it. I can access it across multiple computers, or log in online anywhere I have net access. 2 GB free. If you get referrals (such as with my link right here) you can earn another full GB of free storage. They also offer paid accounts up to 100 GB, I think it is.

2) USB stick. I keep a 2 GB drive handy at all times. It's nice to have, but they're losable. In fact, I'm missing one now, and it's annoying me.

3) Google Docs - it tends to muck up your formatting, but it's perfect for writing from anywhere, and making backups. better to have to redo your tabs than to lose it completely, eh? It's also great if you want to share your writing with a few people for critique or collaboration.

4) Backup to another partition on my laptop.

5) Email it to myself.

Backing up is vital... I lost over 30k on my original NaNoWriMo novel, and I'm missing about 20k on the one from two years ago. It makes me very annoyed, and if I'd been more diligent about my backups... I'd still have it.

A little short on my daily goal

2009-11-03T20:11:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I bell a bit short of my goal. I'm at 6,026, and I was planning on being at 6,670 last night. That adds a bit more to what I need to have done, but that I can do. I managed to insert a gratuitous sex scene, but I think it's actually going to advance the plot a little; add some conflict early on (and not the kind you think, either).

Just to share a little, here's a short snippet of what I've written so far (in all its unedited glory). One of my MCs is an albino; however, I'm trying to make her representation realistic; albinos have serious vision problems, as a result of the lack of pigment in their eyes, and glasses don't help, either. So she's actually mostly blind. And magic hasn't automatically fixed it, either; her spells help, but are imperfect.

Anyway:

   Sara stretched and reached for the ceiling, trying to work the kinks out of her neck and back. She had been sitting for hours, poring over one of her beloved texts, nose to book, the only way she found it possible to read. The spectacles that should have been on her face were lying by the book. They gave her headaches, and they didn’t really help her much, anyway, but her instructors insisted she have them. They were mostly just fashion accessories at this point.

    “Still moldering away in this library?” Larath said,patting her on the shoulder and flopping noisily into the chair. The librarian glared as he scraped chair against floor and knocked three of her books onto the floor.

    “Larath, you need to be more careful!” she admonished, stooping to gather up the books.

    “Sorry, sis, I’m just not good with this stuff.” He thumbed through one of the tomes, sniffing and setting it down with a shake of his head. “Give me the sawdust in the salle over the musty dusty in here any day.”

    She shook her head. “You’re lucky you have me around, you know, otherwise you'd be a complete ignoramus. How did you even manage to pass your classes?”

    Larath grinned at her. “Easy.You helped me.”

    She rolled her eyes. “I shouldn’t have. Maybe you would have learned something other than how to swing a sword. Speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be practicing for your final practicum?”

    He shook his head. “I was supposed to, but instructor Elias managed to sprain his ankle, so the session was cancelled. I’ve got the rest of the day off!” he stretched and leaned back in his chair. He pinwheeled his arms wildly as the chair overbalanced and nearly toppled over, dumping him into the floor. He seized the table and steadied himself.

    Sara shook her head again. “You’re hopeless. Get out of here before you tear the place down, or get me kicked out of here. I’ve got to finish this.”

    “Nuh uh. I’m here to make sure you eat, young lady. A little bird told me yiou’ve been here *all* day, and haven’t stopped once for anything to eat. If you fall over from starvation, you’ll never have the energy to finish your exams. Or stay up to study for them.”

    She sighed. “But I just have a few more pages--”

    He grabbed her arm, closed the book, and pulled her up to her feet. “No way. You're coming with me, now, while lunch is still hot, so you don’t end up with a bowl of stewed leftovers.”

    Sara grabbed her cloak and slung it over her shoulders. She murmured a few arcane syllables, twisted her fingers, and pulled the hood of the cloak over her head. “Alright, alright, I’m going.” She let him guide her through the tables, thankful that this time, at least, she wouldn’t end up with another bruised thigh when some thoughtless ass forgot to push his chair under the table.

    “Sara! Sara!” someone called. She looked back to see the librarian’s indistinct shape, glowing, waving something high in the air. “Wait!” The librarian caught up to her, and the glow faded to see the blurry human form. She blinked to try and clear her vision, but the spell had malfunctioned somehow, and the blur remained.

    I need to work on that. Still not handling the far to near transition well, Sara thought to herself.

    “Sara, dear, you forgot your spectacles,” the librarian said, shoving the metal framed lenses into Sara’s hand. Sara smiled, swallowing the retort, and crammed the spectacles onto her face. The librarian smiled, and bowed, then scurried off to her desk.

    “I thought those didn’t help?” Larath said as they walked out of the library.

    “They don’t. No one seems to believe me when I tell them that, though, so they keep insisting I wear them. They give me a headache, but if I don’t wear them, the headache I get from the constant nagging to put them on is worse. So I close my eyes, or just grin and bear it.”

    “That is so cool. I wish I could see with my eyes closed,” he commented, holding open a door for her.

    “I wish I could see more with them open.”

NaNoWriMo 2009: First day's progress: slow but steady

2009-11-02T00:21:00.002-05:00

I didn't get as much of a boost as I was hoping for, this go round, but I've set a comfortable pace that I think I can actually maintain.

Last night's trauma left me with a pitiful start: 200 words by the time I went to bed. In all fairness, it was the Lortab that left me drowsy and unable to focus, that combined with general exhaustion from a long day and pain from the sprained ankle.

Today has been a frustrating day dealing with malfunctioning forums, although I have been incredibly impressed by their performance thus far. Failures to load aside, they're staying up and reasonably zippy, given that this is our highest traffic day, and in years past, this always meant CRASHING or completely unusable.

I wrote in drips and drabs, starting and stopping my writing timer so I could keep track of how much actual time I wrote. Most of it happened after 9, when the girls went to bed. Final results?

60 minutes of writing, 3,737 words total. I need 3,334 per day to reach my ultimate goal of at least 100k. My full goal: 100k or a complete novel. Preferably at least the former, combined WITH the latter. I'd really like a complete novel, more than a particular word count, so if I hit 90k and it's done, I'll be happy.

i'm starting the story slowly, with the interactions between my two MC. They're twins (don't groan, please). One is albino... but she suffers from the same maladies real world albinos do. She's damn near blind, and has to wear a cloak any time she's outside, or she'll get a severe sunburn. This is a fantasy, so she's learning to use magic to compensate, but it's imperfect, and she's definitely a bit handicapped.

Her brother is the protective sort, very outgoing and physical, she's introverted and academic.

I've also introduce the other MC, the third member of their Hunter's Triad. This thing really has a bit of a YA feel this first chapter, even though they're 22, because they haven't yet become Journeymen, and are still students. That's definitely not the focus I'm going for, though. They'll be out in the world and their age and student status will be left behind.

I'm trying to decide if I want three POVs or not... there will be at least two, Sara and Larath, but I'm trying to decide if I want to pull L'varen in. I guess it'll depend on how strongly he comes through for me. Right now, he's a bit more clownish than I intended. He'll get more serious, I hope.

Things are flowing smoothly, a good sign. I was already having trouble finding my characters last year at this point. They're coming through, and already feeling real.

A bit about them: They are both 22, and living under the shadow of very famous, skilled parents. Part of the point of this story is going to be them finding their own identity, outside of a famous family, and making a name for themselves. Sara is not as concerned with this as Larath; she's content with her books and her magic. He is more ambitious, and is determined to be a greater Hunter than his father, who is one of the best. i'm trying to design them to be not polar opposites, but complementary. They're close. I'm going to introduce more friction as the story continues, because I want their growing independence from each other and their parents to be a strong focus until the middle of the story, when it's going to become more about them dealing with the consequences of their family's past... through no fault of their own.

So, tell me about your stories. If you're doing NaNo this year, what is your novel about? What genre? How has your first day gone? I'd love to hear from you.

Of sprained ankles and Trick or Treating

2009-11-01T11:51:00.003-05:00

Yesterday started great. We went down to Cordele, GA to ride Thomas the Tank Engine (the real one.. full sized passenger train, not just the dippy little thing at Six Flags).

It was an absolute blast, although my husband almost had a seizure and the staff freaked and called the ambulance. It was more embarrassing than anything.

We got home, carved pumpkins, went trick or treating. All went well, until we left the last house, and started walking to the car to go to the next neighborhood. I put Elisabeth on my back, and lo and behold, a pothole grabbed my leg. I went down, candy and Elisabeth went everywhere and I started hollering... fortuitously, I fell down in front of a freakin' golf cart. They helped me over, and rode me down to my car, and Nathan came to get me and take me to the ER.

Four hours later, I've got a really bad sprain, (yes, crutches) I can't walk, can't do much but sit around.

Ah well. Necessity is the mother of invention, and it won't be that long and I'll be back on my feet. The good news is, this means I've got lots of ass time for writing and modding the forums. Naturally, I've done neither this morning.

Back to the grind.

Oh, and last night, I did manage to get 200 words in before the painkillers knocked me down.

Liquid Story Binder: Going on sale November 1!

2009-10-26T16:30:00.002-04:00

My favorite Novel writing software, Liquid Story Binder, is going on sale on November 1st for NaNoWriMo! If you've been around long, you know I love this software. It's unbelievably powerful, and includes so many features that it's dizzying... the best thing is, there's no one way to use it. You can use as much, or as little, as you like! I highly recommend this software. I've used it for the past two years running, and love it so much that even though I have a legitimate free copy given through giveawayoftheday a couple years ago, I'm planning on purchasing a full license this month through this sale. I love the program *that much* - this is not my recommendation as a NaNoWriMo staffer, but as a writer who has searched for a program that does what I want it.

I haven't learned to use all of it, but it's shareware, so you can use it free for 30 non-consecutive days, with ALL features intact, before you have to purchase a license to keep it working. The developer of the software really *listens* to his users, through his discussion group, and makes changes based on the feedback he receives, and is single-handedly the most responsive tech guy I've ever seen.

Excellent customer service, unique, matchless product... and a discount. What's not to love?

Chinese Whisperings - an Anthology in which a friend is published

2009-10-18T22:58:00.004-04:00

Everyone, I'd like to take a moment to plug something for a friend. Chinese Whisperings is an eclectic anthology of short stories that... well, it's awesome. You need to check out the site to see what's different. It's totally awesome!

It's really cool is that if you comment on the blog, you are entered in a drawing to win a free e-book copy of Red Book Reversed.

A dear friend of mine, NaNoWriMo's own LousyWriter13 (known to his family as Rob Diaz) is this week's featured author. You can check out the first installment of his story (an intriguing teaser, indeed) by moseying on over to the Chinese Whisperings blog. Rob's slaved hard over this tale, enduring last-minute rewrites, waiting on pins and needles for his turn! Check it out! (I'd appreciate it... and I promise, you won't be disappointed!

The gentle sound of smack talk and crying babies

2009-10-17T15:35:00.003-04:00

I think one of the important tools a writer needs is a place to write. This is something I unfortunately lack, completely. I chill in the living room, surrounded by children's toys with my feet propped up , and usually with the television on (sometimes, I can turn it off and listen to some music, but once my husband gets home, back on it comes.) It's usually cartoons, too.

right now, I've managed to get the TV turned off, but it'll be just a matter of a few minutes before he wants to come in and break the silence.

What I'm listening to right this moment is the crying of my 1 1/2 year old who is not interested in taking a nap, the twinkling bells and tinkling voices of a Barbie fairy movie in the 3 year old's room, and the non-stop cursing, smack-talk and endless explosions of Warhammer Online as my husband takes on the minions of chaos. Or something.

The best I can get, usually, is through my blessed MP3 player. It's a coby, not your most popular brand, but oh, how I love it. Plug in the ear buds, turn up the volume, and the cacophany that is my home fades into the distance, and I am allowed to write.

One of the things I want to do is get my dining room clear,and turned into a writing nook, a place for me to get away from the family. It's an enormous mess, though, so hard to get through. But I need to. I need to get out of this living room. It's a terrible place to try and write. I can't even retreat to my bedroom, since it's just as cluttered, and the baby's crib is in there, so if she's trying to take a nap, I can't get in there. I ache for the write-ins of NaNo... even a crowded coffeehouse is a fabulous place to write when you're surrounded by fellow writers, friends and nanoers. It's inspiring.

So tell me, what sort of writing environments do you have? Surely you're all not as nook-starved as I am?

So, social media websites

2009-10-13T18:29:00.002-04:00

I'll admit it. I've started using them. Facebook, sure. Twitter... well, let's just say I've got a lot of tweets. I'm discovering the power of these tools, and can definitely see the potential. For example, someone on the nano forums posted about twibbon, a way to add a cause ribbon to your twitter avatar... and within a few minutes of me posting and tweeting about it, several people had re-tweeted it.

That's what I call viral.

And that's just small stuff, compared to those who have huge followings. I've got less than a hundred. (Wanna follow me? Come on, you know you wanna.)

I also see how dangerous they are. Post some small detail, and instantly you could find it sent around the world.

Facebook doubly so; I have some of my husband's inlaws on there, and frankly, that's a little scary.

I'm contemplating creating a more public Facebook persona for my writing-related stuff. I prefer to keep my facebook to real-life friends and family... not real keen on adding a bunch of random people I don't know. I keep it as private as possible.

So what does this have to do with writing? Well, one thing I've learned in the past couple of years is that the publishing industry is changing... rapidly. The dynamics are changing. Viral marketing using social media like twitter, Facebook, even blogs like this one, are absolutely essential to success. Published author J.A. Konrath writes his blog about this very thing, and is trying tons of experiments to see just what he can do. A lot of his success comes from his own blood, sweat, and tears (and gas miles.) It's up to us, as wannabes, to be aware of these things, and start laying the groundwork now. And by not sabotaging ourselves before we even behind. Remember that as ephemeral as the Web may seem, with it's 140-character rambling thoughts, those memes, and facebook apps that suck away our time (I can say with pride that I have never used a facebook app, and I've blocked every one anyone I know has sent me), these things are NOT ephemeral. With the power of google, something can stay cached long after you've tried to delete it.

And any writing you've posted? You lose control of it. I know, it's protected by copyright, but that doesn't mean everyone will to respect it. And there's some debate about whether or not posting your work counts as publication; You can be certain any potential publishers will google your work and see what comes up. That's why you'll never find any of the work I intend to publish online; I want complete control over it until it's published. If I post something here? It's likely because I don't ever intend to DO anything with it, or have offered it as "free" fiction for your pleasure. If I get rich and famous and they want to make a book out of my blog... well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. You know, sometime around the time pigs fly.

So the point is, be aware of what you do online, on social media websites,etc. You never know when it might bite you in the ass.

Reasons I love Firefox

2009-10-11T15:28:00.002-04:00

I sat down and thought, "I wonder if there's an add-on that will let me open multiple links at once without having to hit the CTRL button each time."

So I looked. And lo and behold... there was. 20 seconds, and I'm drawing boxes around massive numbers of links in the nano forums and opening them in new tabs. WITHOUT having to click each individually.

That is awesome. you think it up...someone probably has, and made an add-on for it for Firefox. That's the power of open-source. Stable, powerful, and flexible. I refuse to use Microsoft products if I have any choice. Heck, if I didn't have the programs I do for Microsoft OSes only, I'd switch to Linux completely, too.

That's what I love about Firefox... it's SO much more than just a web browser. In fact... I'm posting this blog entry from within the browser itself, using ScribeFire.

100k or bust! (I promise. For REAL this time. Honest.)

2009-10-11T00:52:00.001-04:00

I have been wanting to double my wordcount goal this year. I said I was going to last year, but ended up damn near failing for procrastinating to the last minute.

So I made myself a nice motivational calendar.

I used an image from Moodflow - this website also has some lovely mood/ethereal music, if you're looking.

I created the calendar itself from scratch in photoshop. Overall, I'm really pleased with the results.

I think I'm going to use some of his other images to do some more. I'll probably do 50k calendars as I have the time.

Low-rez thumbnail: (Click for 1280 x 1024, 265.43 KB high-res version)

Oooh, a plot bunny - Want it?

2009-10-10T12:12:00.002-04:00

I had this idea on the way to the grocery store a few minutes ago, and it would be so fun... but I just don't think I can do it justice.

Someone discovers they have the ability to see digital data... as in, if someone sends a text message, they can see the contents, and watch it as it fires off through the air towards the nearest cell phone tower. They can see the broadcasts as they pass a radio tower.

It shouldn't take you much effort to see the danger of something like this to someone in today's digital age. The character is effectively blind, or housebound, since digital everything is well... everywhere. They certainly can't drive, and might very well live out in the middle of no where in an old farmhouse with no electricity just to get relief.

But we know you can't have a protagonist without conflict. ;) The digital age comes to them. Or someone wants them - probably the government, for the powerful ability to see and interpret the data. Imagine a spy who can break codes without any equipment, or who can eavesdrop on an official's cell phone conversations just by standing nearby.

This character would find themselves in the middle of a lot of unwanted attention. Now, where you want to go from there is up to you. Maybe they're running, trying to find a place to hide. Maybe they're looking for the ihghest bidder. Maybe they're loyal to their country, and are willing to do anything to help. Maybe they're just trying to learn to control their ability, or develop technology that allows them to filter it.

So the sites are down...

2009-10-09T11:04:00.002-04:00

I always feel a little bereft with that happens. Like I don't know what to do or something.

So I'll talk about this year's novel!

The title this year is Pride of the Hunt - It's the second novel of the series, possibly a trilogy. The first is Spirit of the Hunt, and follows the adventures of a shapeshifter nomad and a vampire. Don't worry, vampirism isn't a big deal, and dammit, I started this thing over a decade ago, so it wasn't cliche then. Anyway.

This story follows their children, twins Sara and Larath. Those of you who have roleplayed with me in Pern clubs may recognize his name. I borrowed it from this story. ;) Originally, they were albinos. In my old age, I am recognizing that this is ridiculously unoriginal, and the reason I did it in the firstplace was because it was cool... now there's no need for me to do stuff likethat because it's cool, since I'm so awesome as a writer. I'll probably cut that. I may have one of them albino, but if I do, it will come with all the attendant health issues. I'm leaning towards not, though.

Anyway, this follows them as they return to their mother's clan to learn more about their heritage. This will probably involve some kind of magical rite to give them access to the kind of powers she has or something along those lines.

On their way back, however, they encounter problems... one of their parents old enemies, bent on vengeance for the death of his son at their hands. Their father specializes in rogue vampires, you see... those who have started killing for pleasure, or who have otherwise violated the covenant the species has with humanity that allows for a peaceful coexistence.

Beyond that, I don't want to spoil you, but suffice it to say this will not be an easy struggle, and there will be Deaths.

Also appearing will be L'varen (you may recognize that name, too - same thing. he was my bronzerider at Azov, and transferred him to Cibryen for a time for a plot. Larath was the name of his dragon. Both names come from this story, originally) a shapeshifter of a different clan, whose magic is limited to only single animal forms, as opposed to their mother's clan, who have access to more. He'll be Sara's love interest, but I'm not focusing on their relationship as much as the familial relationships.

I'm actually looking forward to this. Now, I just need to push through and finish the FIRST book so I can work on this one. I do know how it ends, already, but I'd like to have it finished first before starting on the second.

NaNo Question of the Day

2009-10-03T17:32:00.002-04:00

Join me on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/Dragonchilde) to ask the NaNo Question of the Day... ask me a question about NaNoWriMo, and I'll answer it. Just add #NaNoQoTD to your tweet to help me find it!

Ask anything about NaNo... rules, history, popular topics... whatever you've always wanted to know! If I don't know the answer, I'll find one (or make it up!)

And the season begins!

2009-10-03T11:06:00.002-04:00

Launch went off beautifully. Our new cloud-computing systems have really held up very well, and in fact have made for a smoother launch than ever! bugs have been around, but nothing that drastically affects anyone's ability to surf the site! I'm absolutely thrilled.

I still don't know what I'm going to write yet.

At the moment, i'm working on a point-and-click development of a Live CD SUSE linux CD - for NaNoWriMo! I think it would be fun to have my own NaNo OS, you know? If it turns out really well, I'll offer it on the forums, too (Man, I love Linux.)

I've got more site-related stuff to juggle, so I'd better get back to it, but I'll post a longer, more detailed blog later. Until then, I leave you with this:

To Meta or not... that is the question

2009-09-29T09:51:00.002-04:00

Well, today is the day we're scheduled to relaunch the NaNo website. I'm excited; I love the feel of a freshly-wiped forum, that new-forum smell. Just like your NaNo each year, the forums start with a clean slate, too!

I still don't know what I want to write. I've thought about writing a meta-novel, a piece about a NaNoWriMo mod. If I did that, I could count all my forum posts fromNovember in my word count! It would be a mind-numbingly boring piece. However, I could do evil things to my least-favorite spammers. That would be a plus.

I've also toyed about with asking my husband to decide what I want to write about this year. He's always got good ideas, but he's just not a writer, so his execution sucks. He tried NaNo once. Got 1500 words, at least. That was kinda neat... I wish he'd do it with me.

I've thought about invoking the Zokuto clause this year... I mean, I've won several times, one year in just 10 days! I have nothing left to prove. ;) I'm also not an ML anymore, so I don't feel compelled to stick tot he rules. However, I wouldn't feel right validating, and frankly, I want to legitimately win every year. I'm just too damn loyal to nano to join the ranks of the rebels! It wouldn't feel right to me. I mean, I've spent so much time telling people on the forums "yes, you DO have to start from scratch, no, you CAN'T write 50k words and claim a win." that it would feel hypocritical of me to not stick by the rules. Having to set an example and all that.

Oh, the burden of responsibility!

Who knows. You're lucky... you get to see my thought process as I write it. not everyone gets that view!

Macon Telegraph is NOT smarter than a fifth grader

2009-09-20T20:19:00.001-04:00

I opened today's paper, and read through, to find a horror of a level that leaves me damn near speechless. On page 1E, the main headline for the main article of the Life and Style page, this abomination:

Please note that this is an actual scan of the paper I am holding in my hand right now.

I really... this is just mind boggling.

Macon Telegraph, spellcheckers are not an appropriate replacement for actual editing. A mistake this glaring would be bad enough in text, but in a headline?

I'm sorry, but this is simply unacceptable. I'm used to seeing this crap on internet forums and YouTube videos, but a professional newspaper? Just because you're supposed be writing at a fifth grade level doesn't mean you should be making fifth grade grammar errors.

The Midnight Disease: first 60 pages

2009-09-18T21:32:00.001-04:00

Wow. That's all I can really say. This book is utterly fascinating. It's written by a writer and a scientist, and aims to look into the science behind the drive to write, and writer's block. So far, it's mostly talked about hypergraphia (the compulsion to write) but it is continually tying it back into "normal" writerliness. It's incredibly fascinating, and I've already learned a lot. There's a good bit about temporal lobe epilepsy (something I believe my husband suffers from) so this is even more interesting to read.

So far, I am going to highly recommend this to anyone who might be interested in the human brain as it relates to being a writer. It's truly amazing.

Beautiful decay

2009-09-10T19:36:00.002-04:00

These are such inspiring photographs:

http://www.viceland.com/wp/2009/04/battleship-island-japans-rotting-metropolis/

I love old, decaying buildings. I even created a blog photo project to display my own photos, but alas, two small children make it hard to drive around and photograph these old buildings. I've already lost one of them; one down the street was knocked down and is being redeveloped. I really wanted pictures of that one, I remember before it was abandoned, there was a sign in the yard about piano lessons. I imagine someone died.

Abandoned buildings are rich playgrounds... Downtown Macon is full of old abandoned places like that. Such stories, so much to imagine. Maybe I'll do that some this November to see what is inspire for my NaNo. I still don't know what I want to write. I'm not stressing. Best one I've done yet came from nothing, started on November 1.

The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain

2009-09-04T21:39:00.001-04:00

I found this book on Amazon, and thought I would order it and see what it was all about. The reviews are very good, and it involves a layman's look at the neuroscience behind writing, and includes some personal anecdotes from the author when she was dealing with depression and writer's block. I'm a scientist at heart, and love this sort of thing, so I thought it would be an interesting read. A Like-New hardback copy cost me a whopping $6, so I figure it's worth the risk. At worst, it'll be boring and it'll take me forever to read it.

I'll be sure and review it and let you know how it turned out. this could be veeeery interestink.

Wow, a new month?

2009-09-03T10:21:00.001-04:00

It's September now... which means it's time to ramp up for NaNoWriMo.Behind the scenes, it's getting frantic as we prepare the site for relaunch, rush to deal with the increased traffic flow to the site, coordinate our efforts, and in general behave like a bunch of screaming lunatics.

And that's just me. I imagine it's even crazier on the OTHER side of the country!

With the coming of September, it's time for me to think hard about what I'm going to write. Some years, I try to plan, but I usually fail the more I plan. this year, I find myself in the unique position of having a WIP. So do I continue it during November, set aside my momentum and do something new, or do I rush to finish it before November and start NaNo like you're supposed to, with a new project?

I mean, I've proven I can do NaNo. It's not even really a challenge anymore... I mean, I've done my 50k in 10 days before. (I don't recommend it, by the way. My wrist hurt for a month after that.) I keep saying I'm going to double it for 100k, but I've always gotten lazy the closer I get to the deadline.

Not to mention, I don't actually know what I want to write. I have thought about taking the characters from my steampunk novel from last year and sticking them in a different story. I love them, but the story I tried to write wasn't the right one for them. I wound up abandoning them halfway through and starting on the one I'm working with now.

I dunno. I can join the ranks of the rebels and not validate this year, but that just seems... wrong. I mean, if it's not NaNo, it's not NaNo, you know? But then again, what do I have to prove?

Oh, the angst.

A time for every purpose, under heaven

2009-08-31T22:25:00.001-04:00

Today, while standing out talking to the Schwann's delivery man, I felt a cold chill against my spine. The sun was still hot on my face, but that little chill breeze spoke to me of fallen leaves, crisp nights, clear skies and teenage angst behind a tattered building at church.

Fall's always been a magical time for me. As a child, the season's change meant camping in North Georgia, camouflage and walking sticks. Carving walking sticks has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Dogwood makes a great walking stick, with fascinating multicolored streaks if you so desire.

In my high school years, it meant breaking out my favorite leather trench coat and being moody. I tried to be angsty, but honestly, I was too happy a kid to pull it off. I did moon over one guy, though. Oh, I had such a crush. But he had a crush on my best friend (no, he loved her. With undying devotion.) So we would sit behind a dilapidated building behind the church sanctuary, he would talk abuot her, and I would commiserate, though I never told him who I was mooning over. Such tragedy.

He eventually married a woman with a kid.

Fall was always the time my imagination has soared the most. From the days of imagining my wolf familiar running alongside my bus, or me spreading my wings and escaping from the school playground bullies, to my much darker fantasies of torture and rape. Fall has always stroked my right-brained tendencies.

This fall's light change, and ever-so-slight temperature shift, has done it again. I think that's why I've been finding it so easy to write. It's just the right season.

It's my time to write.

Writing every day

2009-08-28T09:43:00.001-04:00

I can hear your groan a mile away. This is not new advice, right? Yeah, every writer blog you've ever seen tells you that. It's good advice, but you've already heard it.

Well, I'm not going to tell you to. Because you already know. What I will tell you is how this advice has started to transform my life!

Seriously, I've been suffering from insomnia for the last year or so. A lot of it is because of my lingering post partum depression (PPD, to the uninitiated.) Some of it eating habits (Why yes, I'd love a coke at 10:00 PM!). But the primary cause is staying up too late on the computer. There was a study done recently linking computer screen time to insomnia. My husband told me about it, and it makes sense; the light emanating from the computer screen interrupts your natural biorhythms. So I figured... why not. Let's cut out the electronic lap-teat and see what happens.

I don't have any good books around right now, so I pulled out my blank journal, the one I've been half-ass carrying around with me all the time with intentions of writing.

I wrote 20 pages in two days.

That was four weeks ago. I've only missed three nights, and that was due to unavoidable medical issues. I've gone from 24 pages to 92 (as of last night.) I'm sleeping better, my back hurts less,and I'm a lot less grumpy. More importantly, the only time I've seen 3 AM has been when the insomnia left me tossing and turning in bed AFTER I wrote.

It feels good. I've actually loved sitting in bed, with my husband, him reading a book, me listening to my MP3 player and scribbling like I did when I was a poor teenager with no computer.

Best of all? No email to distract me from my latest WIP.

Now that, my friends, is good news indeed.

Steampunk art

2009-08-24T21:26:00.002-04:00

I met with a local steampunk artist today. She makes steampunk jewelry, and she does really pretty stuff. I wanted to see some of her pieces in person, so I met her for lunch. Her stuff's so nice I wanted to share with you guys. Here's her stuff: Dream Steam. I can vouch for the quality of her work. She's VERY good. If you're looking for that perfect piece to complete a steam punk costume, or you just want something very unique for every day use... this is the place to get it!

Writing and Music

2009-08-24T12:31:00.001-04:00

Music is one of those things that just seems to go with writing. Like peanut butter and jelly, or peaches and cream, or Fred and Ginger. Combine music with writing, and you can transcend the ordinary, stimulate your sense, and inspire your mind.

But how that music affects your writing is as different from person to person as different foods taste to different people. (Hmm. I think it might be lunch time... all these food references!)

One of my greatest inspirations comes from one of the strangest places: industrial techno. I started listening to is while writing Hacker Dragon. The gritty, visceral nature of it has proven to given me a very strong motivator for my writing; not everything, but I never write a battle scene without it! Not all industrial, either... I actually have a penchant for the German stuff. Front Line Assembly is actually one of my favorites.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's Enya. Seriously. I love Enya. She goes back to a part of me that's been writing for decades. She can keep my brain flowing, without intruding on my words. Gentle inspiration without overflowing. Marie Brennan (Enya's siste), too, has that effect.

Hearts of Space often provides me with a random assortment of unexpected gems. Sometimes, it's total crap, weird new-agey lame stuff, but occasionally there's some really spectacular stuff. I used to listen to Hearts of Space on PBS with my dad... there are dozens of recorded tapes of HoS programs around this house. Black, with tiny hand-made labels in my dad's neatly scrawled, cramped hand, and lovingly taped on the front. I love those tapes. Even though the quality is deteriorating now, it still brings back fond memories of staying up until midnight on Sunday to listen with my dad. Music is a tactile thing, for me. Some people have olfactory memories. I never really have. Mine are auditory.

Music can stir memories that translate into powerful scenes when I'm writing.

What kind of music inspires you?

Free (non) Fiction - Honey, I'm home!

2009-08-22T01:41:00.004-04:00

Many thanks to Violet, whose blog inspired me to write this piece. Special mention to Danie, who has been writing faithfully in her blog and sharing fiction as well. What good is a writing blog if indeed no writing appears? If my friends can do it, so can I! I'm going to start sharing short pieces from time to time, what subjects, I don't know. Whatever takes my fancy. Maybe nonfiction, maybe something from life, but it'll be all creative prose. I haven't written poetry since I won the Young GA Author's contest for a poem I wrote in the 7th grade and my 8th grade literature teacher thought it would be fun to analyze my stuff. Ruined poetry for me completely. No, there is no symbolism in that star. It was just a star, dammit. Okay, I lied. I'll share that poem for you. I wrote it in 7th grade, and I happen to think it ain't bad.

Glimmering Beauty

Glimmering beauty,
shimmering sight.
Bathing our world
in its beautiful light.

Flickering in,
Flickering out.
Dance in the sky,
spread yourself all about.

Falling down,
for all to see.
Flickering out,
after dancing with glee.

Little one, little one,
so high, so far
Don't you know
you're a shining star?

This is the only poem I ever wrote that I liked. I never wrote another one after this. (Thanks Mrs. Held! I appreciate that! No, really! Oh, and you ruined Les Miserables for me, too. I can't even stand the sight of the posters.)

That had nothing to do with anything. Anyway. Here you go.

This is not fiction; it's a blow-by-blow retelling of about four hours ago. Harrowing experience, it was! But I survived! Let me tell you the tale...

****

Thunder rumbles outside the window. I glare at the slats of the back door, but the storm was not impressed. "Well damn. I guess I'd better get moving before the storm gets bad." My friends and I had already procrastinated enough as it was. I wave and than them, and left the bright, cool apartment for the oppressive heat and dark.

The sky above flashes, nearly blinding and deafening me as a few fat drops of rain splatter on my treasured hand-made card. I press it to my chest as I fumble in my purse for my keys. The flashes of lightning are near constant, illuminating the dark, heavy, low-lying clouds in the night sky. I jump in the car, thankful I'd made it before the bottom dropped out.

I triy to call my husband, but no answer. Must have fallen asleep. I'm not running that late. Maybe he's just catching a smoke on the back porch?

I stare up at the sky. Another blinding flash of white-hot light crawled across the black sky, reaching twisted fingers over me, a plasmic creature aching to seize my dirty car and fry me.

I jerk the wheel, nearly slamming into a curb in my inattentiveness. Eyes on the wheel, stupid.

The sky never stops moving, never stops flashing and belching its anger overhead. The fat drops of rain come faster as I take the curve of the entrance ramp a little too fast in my haste to get ahead of the storm before it overtakes me.

A huge gust of wind blasts the car, nearly knocking me into a creeping semi in the left lane.

Uh oh.

Rain inundates my poor car. The duct tape half-covering the driver's side window doesn't keep it all in. I take off my glasses and try to wipe the droplets off, succeeding in nearly rearending the guy in front of me as I stare down rather than out.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I put my glasses back on my face, and grasp the wheel firmly at ten and two. I lean up and stare out of the window, trying to see between wiper swipes and locate the reflective bumps on the center line, since the paint was covered by the deluge, reflecting too bright street lights instead of the faded stripes.

I slow to a crawl, not noticing the flashing blue lights behind me when a cop came up, because I was too low to see the rear view mirror.

I signal and shift to the left lane, letting the officer pass. I'm under the speed limit, so he can't be waiting for me. Sure enough, he slides past, and then pulls off over the hill where another set of flashing blue lights indicates either a motorist in distress, an ill-timed bust, or something else entirely.

The road is invisible. Several times the car hydroplanes, just a bit, pulling me too close to the edge of the road, the guard rail and rumble strips threatening and warning me of the danger. My night blindness is getting worse. Every little car dealership's overlit parking lot blinds me as I pass.

Nearby, a bolt of lightning strikes a telephone pole, leaving my ears ringing and my eyes blotched in negative colors. I panic and pulled into the right lane, but it clears in a few seconds. Fortunately, no one was nearby to be a victim of my momentary blindness. For future reference: Driving blind is not a good thing.

I veer around the curve of the I-75/I-16 split at a whopping forty miles an hour.

As if a curtain was pulled back, the rain clears, leaving a dark, slick road reflecting more street lights and my windshield wipers squeaking and protesting at the sudden lack of wet. I turn them down, and lean back against the damn driver's seat. Thunder is still rumbling, lightning is still flashing, but it's behind me, not above and ahead of me. I don't make it far, though, before the rain catches me again, but this time the road is prepared. No more huge puddles of rain that haven't had a chance to drain off.

It's a little easier as I pull off of the interstate onto the sharp round curve of the exit. Every car is actually going slow for once, cautious in the downpour, instead of the usual willy-nilly oblivious driving I'm used to around here. The rain fades again, foiled by my sudden change in direction, and I can actually speed up to Pio Nono's limit of 50 miles per hour.

I make it into the driveway as the fat drops of the front catch up to me. I seize my "shit" from the night's activities, clutch them to my chest, and duck through the rain across the three feet from my car to my front step.

Safe!

Wind chases me through the door, following by wet grasping droplets of rain catching the heels of my shoes. Triumphant, I slam the door a little too hard, and yell, "Honey, I'm home!"

To plan or not to plan... that is the question

2009-08-22T01:11:00.001-04:00

Every year I have ever planned for NaNoWriMo in anything other than a vague, general sort of "this is the idea" I've failed. If I outline, plan, plot, do dossiers and stuff... I fail.

If I get a few character ideas, a few plot bunnies, the occasional odd plot point... I win. Usually in record time. (Current record is 10 days. I do not recommend it. I had my wrist in a splint for weeks.)

I sorta want to plan, but I'm currently working on a novel that's been around forever. I want to continue with it, I don't want to lose it. I'm in love with these characters, with this story.

I think I may do something with last year's steampunk characters... the story fell flat. They were good characters, but I did not have them in the right story, I'm afraid. Happens from time to time.

I think I may do something new. To keep me in this world, and not too far in the future, I may work on the sequel. It's actually written with my MC's children (Albino twins. I KNOW, I know... they probably won't stay that way, but in all fairness, I was 17 when I came up with the idea.)

I've got a few title ideas: The current one: Spirit of the Hunt. The sequel: Scion of the Hunt or maybe Song of the Hunt.

I promise. No violent rape scenes like in 2007.

To plan or not to plan... that is the question

2009-08-22T01:10:00.001-04:00

Every year I have ever planned for NaNoWriMo in anything other than a vague, general sort of "this is the idea" I've failed. If I outline, plan, plot, do dossiers and stuff... I fail.

If I get a few character ideas, a few <a href="http://pics.livejournal.com/pernwebgoddess/pic/0010tk9d/g120">plot bunnies</a>, the occasional odd plot point... I win. Usually in record time. (Current record is 10 days. I do not recommend it. I had my wrist in a splint for weeks.)

I sorta want to plan, but I'm currently working on a novel that's been around forever. I want to continue with it, I don't want to lose it. I'm in love with these characters, with this story.

I think I may do something with <a href="http://writing-dragon.blogspot.com/2008/10/plot-bunny.html">last year's steampunk characters</a>... the story fell flat. They were good characters, but I did not have them in the right story, I'm afraid. Happens from time to time.

I think I may do something new. To keep me in this world, and not too far in the future, I may work on the sequel. It's actually written with my MC's children (Albino twins. I KNOW, I know... they probably won't stay that way, but in all fairness, I was 17 when I came up with the idea.)

I've got a few title ideas: The current one: Spirit of the Hunt. The sequel: Scion of the Hunt or maybe Song of the Hunt.

I promise. No violent rape scenes like in 2007.

Grammer illogic and fun sentences

2009-08-20T23:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks to my friend Richard, I now have been reading over the joys of the English language.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. (Grouch Marx)

For example: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. No, really, it's an actual, grammatically correct sentence.

There's also: Rose rose to put rose roes on her rows of roses. That's a fun one, but not quite as mind bending.

Now, you can really start playing with the English language when you break out garden path sentences. These fun little bits are perfectly correct, but lead the reader down the wrong path of logic, forcing them to back up and parse the correct meaning of the sentence. Syntactic ambiguity makes for some really fun

Some examples (culled from Wikipedia):

The old man the boat.

The man returned to his house was happy.

The government plans to raise taxes were defeated.

The farmer threw the cow over the fence some hay.

Comedian Mitch Hedberg was a master of this sort of ambiguity; his short, clipped style, distinctive speech pattern, and tendency to take advantage of syntactical ambiguity made for some classic jokes.

"I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long."

I wish I had the skill for these kinds of Enlish shenanigans, but alas, I do not. All I can do is turn a poetic phrase now and again, and share the joys of the masters who CAN with you!

Testing Scribe Fire

2009-08-20T10:21:00.002-04:00

I'm testing Scribe Fire, a Firefox add-on that's supposed to let you update your block from within your browser. I tried Deepest Sender, but that's primarily a livejournal client, and I need one that updates both LJ and Blogger. So far, I like the interface on this one; it just opens a window beneath the browser site you're looking at, so you can blog about whatever you see there, if you want, or just not be interrupted while you do.

So far, I like it. This may help nicely when I'm working NaNo site and need to update this blog.

The dragon awakens from her slumber

2009-08-19T13:27:00.002-04:00

Did you miss me? I missed me. It's been almost a year now, and it's about time for NaNo season to come! We're gearing up and making big changes to the site.

In even bigger news, though, I've finally broken through my nearly one-year dry spell! I bought a nice blank journal book, and have been writing by hand. I'm up to page 72! the story is going well, and it's an old favorite.

Keep your eye here, I'm working on some amazing updates for my blog, including a new look and feel, twitter updates, and more!

I won

2008-12-02T18:46:00.003-05:00

I did it.

Barely. I was writing right up until 11:50.

The gauntlet is thrown

2008-11-21T14:36:00.001-05:00

As some of you have no doubt noticed, I am woefully behind. My deficit is such that I'm struggling to keep ahead... no motivation! NaNoing with two small children has proved more challenging than I thought. I haven't written a word in days. In fact, the last increase in my count came from the validator, not writing more words!

So, my friend Lousy Writer 13 has challenged me. If either of us should fail to win this year's NaNoWriMo, we get to publicly mock the loser in the Shoutouts forum. Notwithstanding family emergencies type stuff, naturally. Any such circumstances will officially call off the competition.

We are formally announcing this challenge so that we can't back out for lack of accountability... public humiliation is the best motivator, from time to time.

And should we both fail? Well, that's going to mean it's up to YOU guys to mock us mercilessly, since it would be awfully hypocritical to mock each other for what we failed to do!

He's got the lead... who do YOU think'll get there first?

Day 9 - behind

2008-11-09T22:39:00.003-05:00

Good lord, I suck. I'm behind, for the first time in what, three years? Something like that. As you can see, I'm working in fits and starts. Two or three days i've written nothing. I've got an hour and 15 minutes left in this day, and I haven't written anything.

I think it comes from having beaten the challenge so often, and in record time, that it's just not a big deal. I'm going to win... I know that, and it gives me no reason to rush.

I have nothing to prove.

With that said, I'm starting to enjoy this story. Characters are starting to come alive, and some of them are really taking on a life of their own. I have a mystery going, and I'm not sure where it's going to end up-- this is why I don't like planning. Half of the fun is discovering where the story is going. I am really enjoying myself this year. I'm not as frantic, and I'm sure my husband is glad of that.

One thing I didn't anticipate was how much harder it is to write with two small children. With one, I could just plop her in a playpen, or write during naps. Right now, there's always something going on. Being forums moderator hasn't taken much time away (I spent the same amount of time last year doing it on a volunteer basis without all the cool tools) . Doing write-ins is hard with a baby. Last year, Elisabeth was two, and the year before, one... so she wasn't in the wiggly non-walker phase Rebekah's in now. It's definitely a challenge.

I'll manage. Off to get in my word count before midnight (and I may fudge my time zones a bit to get it on my graph under the wire. Naughty Heather!

Day three, much frustration

2008-11-03T11:09:00.002-05:00

As usual, the site is painfully slow. It hasn't crashed, which is, I suppose an improvement, but honestly, I think I'm more easily annoyed by it these days.

My novel is coming out like pulling teeth. Not having a real plot does have its disadvantages. I'm spending so much time being annoyed at the site that I can't really focus on my novel. Unlike most folks, I don't have the option of not going to them. :) Stupid paycheck, demanding I work for it!

Another part of it is that I've been doing this since 2002... I completed it in 10 days, one year. It's not like I have anything to prove! If it weren't for being staff, I'd really only be there for the people. That's what makes it worthwhile.

I think I'll get back in the groove soon. The story is starting to gel. I'm taking my time. Write-ins will probably help. I wasn't able to go to Saturday's because the baby had a stomach bug.

NaNoWriMo 2008: Day 1

2008-11-01T23:55:00.003-04:00

Title: Edge of Sanity

Wow. This is the first time that I’ve really worked with LSB more than a few minutes. It's a powerful program. I'm absolutely loving it! There’s so many neat tools. I really need to spend a little more time working on it, but not too much... I think once I get things settled, I’ll be able to really get a lot of inspiration from it.

I did some image hunting; I found a bunch of great steampunk stuff that’ll help. I also found what I want my cover art to be of.

I’ve established three characters. The truthsayer, the enforcer, and a weaponsmaster... I'm not quite sure who she’ll be, only that she’ll be a little bit crazy. I want her to be my foil for Morgan. His complete opposite. Not love; just a foil. His female negative image.

I’m a few words shy of my word count goal for the day, but I think I’ll have little trouble making it up. I mean, come on... I'm the super writer!

My current count for the day is only 1,491. Definitely under goal. I've got so much to gel in my head! I think once I get the bit in my teeth, I'll be full steam ahead. Lord know if the site continues to be painfully slow, I'll have plenty of writing time. I think my entire region is ahead of me in pure word count! I've spent a lot of time planning and thinking and plotting though... my caution will serve me well, methinks.

More brainstorming

2008-10-30T23:06:00.002-04:00

I stayed up until 4 AM the other day reading Girl Genius... and the more I think about it, the more I think I'd like to try my hand at steampunk for this novel. The big ship that they use to ship off the poor people could be a steampunk-style airship/zeppelin sort of thing.

I think it would be fun to try, have some automatons, that sort of thing. I'll need to research the whole steampunk think a bit more.

Sponsor my NaNoWriMo challenge!

2008-10-29T01:02:00.002-04:00

Okay, so now marks the first time I've ever done this.

I'm going to ask you for money. :) Okay, okay, it's not for me... it's for the NaNoWriMo Young Writer's program. I'm asking you to sponsor me on NaNoWriMo - my goal is $250. I want to do my part to help meet that 10% of Wrimos who have donated, but I really can't spare it on my own. It's our tenth year, and I've only donated ONCE.

This is a crying shame.

So I'm asking you for help!

Please consider sponsoring me... any amount. I am so passionate about NaNoWriMo and the Young Writer's Program, and one day, I hope to enroll both Elisabeth and Rebekah in the program. I can't do that if it's not here. ;)

LJ luvs NaNoWriMo

2008-10-23T19:37:00.002-04:00

Livejournal will be making donations to the NaNoWRiMo Young Writer's Program on behalf of its winners, $1 per winner, as well as donating 50% of the proceeds of its NNWM-related v-gifts to the cause.

If you have a Livejournal account (or don't) and will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, please, go sign up!

Plot bunny!

2008-10-20T12:34:00.004-04:00

Last night, I had a dream, and it gave me an idea for my NaNo!

I'd talked with a friend about maybe doing a sort of fairy-tale retelling. I want to do a male protagonist this time (I always do females), and I thought the story of the Firebird would be something fun to use as a plot framework. I may still incporate some elements of it.

Last night, I had the COOLEST dream... and I think I'm going to incorporate some of it into my story.

There will be a Truthsayer... someone who is capable of absolute recall (think eidetic memory) and who is considered absolutely trustworthy... you don't call a Truthsayer a liar. The punishment for a Truthsayer lying is immediate execution. So they walk a fine line... they get conditioning that eliminates the ability to lie, but they can't just go around telling absolute truth, so they learn to omit. Talking to one is like talking to the ultimate politician. ;) Only a court of law can force them to answer questions, though.

There will be an enforcer... the law-enforcing counterpart to a truthsayer. Based on a truthsayer's word, an enforcer can enact judgment and sentence in one person for some crimes... again, there's a lot of conditioning going on, etc.

There will be a conspiracy to eliminate a large portion of the poor/"useless" population, and it will involve a large spaceship. The captain of this ship has to get rid of the enforcer and the truthsayer, because if they report back, then his life/fortune is forfeit.

At some point, the enforcer will say or do something illegal... which the truthsayer will have to report.

But through their trials, they become friends/trust each other, that sort of thing. The enforcer will ask the truthsayer to not report. The truthsayer may or may not... but if he does, he will have to actually wipe the action/conversation from his memory. Because if he remembers, and is asked, he will have to report it.

I love dreams. I get all my best ideas from it.

Political post

2008-10-09T14:18:00.004-04:00

As a general rule, I try to keep my writing blog separate from my politics, but this piece was so beautifully written that I just had to share... I'm an Obama supporter, so before you click, be aware. :) This is NOT anti-McCain... simply pro-Obama. It was written by a white, conservative, right-wing Republican. The words are well crafted, which is one of the reason I chose to post it here... I hope I can inspire people like this one day, with the written word.

Obama Will Be One of The Greatest (and Most Loved) American Presidents

"Great presidents are made great by horrible circumstances combined with character, temperament and intelligence. Like firemen, cops, doctors or soldiers, presidents need a crisis to shine.

Obama is one of the most intelligent presidential aspirants to ever step forward in American history. The likes of his intellectual capabilities have not been surpassed in public life since the Founding Fathers put pen to paper. His personal character is also solid gold. Take heart, America: we have the leader for our times.

I say this as a white, former life-long Republican. I say this as the proud father of a Marine. I say this as just another American watching his pension evaporate along with the stock market! I speak as someone who knows it's time to forget party loyalty, ideology and pride and put the country first. I say this as someone happy to be called a fool for going out on a limb and declaring that, 1) Obama will win, and 2) he is going to be amongst the greatest of American presidents."

This article articulates, beautifully, why I'm voting for Obama. I think McCain would be an adequate President. I think he would do his best, and I think he wouldn't be nearly as bad as Bush. For all that he has agreed with Bush in the past, I really think he's smart enough to avoid those mistakes. However, we don't need an adequate President... we need a great one. And I think Obama will be that President. I really do.

Getting some ideas

2008-10-05T23:32:00.003-04:00

Well, NaNoWriMo 2008 has begun. The sites are launched, and the official countdown has started.

I have an idea, sorta. More like a scene. It's an old warehouse... abandoned, empty, maybe some old factory-type equipment lying around. In the middle, sits a woman, kneeling, hands on her knees, looking up towards the ceiling, eyes close. Maybe. She's wearing a long, black leather trench coat that's carefully arranged so she's not sitting on it. Her face is tattoed, a geometric squares and triangles pattern that creates a lattice frame from her cheekbones to her widow's peak, and running down to the middle of her nose.

It's cold, and you can see the breath in the air.

Beyond that... I know nothing, not even genre. I'm inclined to think sci-fi, but I dunno yet.

On your mark, get ready...

2008-09-23T01:06:00.003-04:00

Well, the NaNo site is now in lockdown mode. What does this mean for regular users? Until October 1, no posting. You can look and browse, but no more posting or commenting. On October one, our spiffy new site and forums go live, clean and shiny, ready for 2008!

What does this mean for me?

Bug stomping, working, moving, and backing things up that I might need when the site relaunches. Moving forums, adding moderators, answering questions, and prepping myself for my very first NaNoWriMo as staff!

I'm so excited, and a little scared, about this year. It's my first year since 2003 not being an ML, and my first time doing NaNoWriMo while getting paid for it. ;)

There's lots of fun stuff, and this is NaNoWriMo's tenth anniversary. The poster is gorgeous, the t-shirts are fun, and we've got so many new, fun things ready to go!

Writer for hire

2008-08-02T21:47:00.003-04:00

I've decided to venture into the world of Freelancing.

What shall I be doing, you ask?

Well, writing, I hope. I would love to be paid to write; after all, it is my passion, my art. So I shall. I shall be applying for various positions. Blogging first; I'm online daily, and love to post, and while I haven't been writing much fiction, I've been writing in various journals and blogs. While much of what I've written is private, I have written every day for many moons.

So who knows, dear readers; I might be the next big thing in the blogosphere. ;)

In addition, I will be starting a web design business. No, I can't claim credit for this layout. As much as I love it, is not mine. I'll be making one of my own anyway. But I am a designer by trade and education, so I will be undertaking web design work.

Now, to piece together my scattered portfolio...

Write Every Day

2008-07-22T13:05:00.001-04:00

You hear this advice a lot. And up until now, I didn't think I was following it; after all, I went through a six month drought of zero fiction.

The thing is, I have been writing! I write every single day, sometimes thousands of words, just not on what I would consider fiction in any way. I write journal entries in my livejournal, posts on forums, emails in my duties as NaNoWriMo forums moderator... every day, my hands are on the keyboard, tippy-tapping away. I log many, many hours a week at the keyboard, writing.

So I'm already in the habit. Now I just have to turn a fraction of that energy to actually writing creatively!

Getting into the habit

2008-07-20T23:52:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to make myself write every night; no set amount of words, or even a forced bit of prose... just editing, writing, or maybe just opening the file, adding a few tabs, correcting a few typos, that sort of thing. Anything to get in the habit of opening my work and doing it. The novelty of loading LSB on my thumb drive is interesting, which is keeping me at it.

Wrote a few lines, edited a few things, and finished reading the first 30k or so. ready to move forward... once I remember where I was going with it.

Feeling like writing

2008-07-19T20:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I did some editing on DES, so I'm going to continue the trend today... maybe even work a little more on the story itself. I seem to have misplaced a large portion of the novel (it's probably on my other laptop, the untrustworthy dinosaur) so I may continue it without reading beyond what I have so far.

I'm really liking Liquid Story Binder, and I'm about to go hunting for some pictures of my characters. Maybe Whelan, or my friend Lindsay's stock photo gallery. I'll have to poke around.

GOTD: Liquid Story binder again

2008-07-18T20:01:00.004-04:00

There's only about seven hours left on the download, but I wanted to share; retail, this program is about $50, and is filled with powerful features including dossiers, image and music stuff, tons of things.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ - Liquid Story Binder
http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com/index.html - developer's website

I downloaded it the last time they gave it away (sometime last year... October, I think?) but then switched computers.

Today's snippet:

2008-06-16T22:37:00.001-04:00

It's not fiction, but it's writing. I still feel the fire in my belly from it. It's true, as far as I know. I feel that this message needs to be spread as much as possible.

There is a woman, on babycenter, who is suffering from an abusive marriage. I don't know her; I've only known of her existence for a matter of days, not even weeks. But my heart breaks for her, breaks for her children, and my blood boils at the thought of the slithering snake of a man who has torn this woman down to almost nothing.

She thinks it's her fault. Everything she writes about him is "he says". He controls her every thought, he belittles her, he hurts her, and he has her convinced that she's the one at fault for being a NAG!

Get that. A nag. It makes me want to bite something.

And now, presumably because he has been reading her posts and supportive comments from her friends here, he has presented her with a "separation agreement" that grants him full custody of their children.

No one has heard anything from her since. And it makes me want to find his ass, and rip his spine out of his anus.

Maybe it's the dragon in me.

What sort of person sets that kind of example? What sort of person tears a mother down so that she will endure that kind of abuse out of some misguided attempt to provide better than she had? What has he done with her that she has so little self esteem left as to believe that she actually deserves it for having a "bad temper", a temper that even she admits he deliberately provokes!

I hate people. I've never been so worried for someone I don't know in my life.

Honey, if in some off chance, some wild, crazy moment, you manage to read this, please listen to me. Listen to me as a total stranger, peering in the window of your house, watching this man flog you with his tongue while your children watch and learn that this is normal.

For their sakes, get the hell out. Get a lawyer, don't sign anything, and get the hell OUT. Your children deserve a father who respects their mother. Your children will learn that this is normal, and when they grow up, they will think this is what is right. Do you want your son to hurt someone like this? Do you want your daughter to take that kind of abuse?

You've got the same fire in your belly I do. You're a mother, like me. LET IT OUT. Stop listening to his lies and manipulations, and show him your fangs. Show him he can't control you anymore, and save your children. Because no one else will.

Long time no see

2008-06-15T19:37:00.004-04:00

Well, after an entirely too long hiatus, I've decided to come back. I was inspired by my friend Danielle, whose 63-consecutive day blogging streak continues unbroken. And it makes me feel like poo.

So I'm going to start back writing, and break my dry spell... I haven't written a word of fiction since November 30, 2007. Not good.

So. Now I'm gonna write. And I'm gonna write here.

http://creativewritingprompts.com/ - Here's where I'll start to get back into the groove.

#302

It's dark in here. Why does it always have to be dark? I mean, I've always thought of myself as a good spoon. I do my job. I put up with other people's crap. Would it kill you to brush your teeth before dinner? Just because I don't have a nose doesn't mean I can't smell that halitosis.

I like it when I'm set out. The dining room is gorgeous. Love the drapes, by the way. They really offset the gold in the chandelier. Well. I guess you can call it a chandelier. You must have paid at LEAST twenty bucks for that thing, right?

So now I'm chilling out, here in the dark, wondering when someone's going to bother to flip the damn switch. That lasagna has been on my back for days. There's something crawling around below me, and honey, I KNOW there's no way in but that front door, so please do something. This stinks. I'd rather have three day old cake splashed on my face than have to smell this.

I hear you out there. Laughing. Talking. Ignoring me.

I work hard for you. I sit in that dusty drawer day after day, I deal with your foul breath, and I take food to your disgustingly unclean mouth. Granted, whoever does your cooking really knows their stuff, but that's no excuse.

Just. Turn. On. The. Dishwasher.

Please?