Another 73º day today. Beginning to think I might need to throw the bones or consult the Norn about what’s going on. This weather is just downright unsettling.
So. Day 4. Everyone is going full steam along. Or maybe you’ve hit the first wall. You’ve abandoned your skeletal outline because the unexpected character did the unexpected thing and the story veered left instead of right and now the WHOLE DAMN THING IS CHAOS! CHAOS I TELL YOU!
Um.. or maybe that’s just me. I usually hit a bit of rough terrain after the initial few chapters, because my brain decides to throw a spanner in the works and suddenly I’m rejiggering the brilliant plan I had to fit in the even more brilliant plot twist.
Sometimes when I hit these snafus, I start building a few soundtracks to keep a theme of sorts. Music is kind of the glue that holds my writing together. The genre of music, the rhythms and the moods, all can calm the waters and keep the ship righted and following the right stars. Fight scenes need a certain tone, romantic scenes…well that depends on the TYPE of romantic scene, if ya know what I mean. Character building can be helped by specific songs as well. Theme songs if you will.
Mind you, I have just as many writer friends who insist that they cannot write to music with vocals because it’s too distracting, so your mileage may vary. Some insist that silence is the way to go (Not for me–silence just amplifies the ambient noise and with cats,…there’s a lot of “What are you two DOING!” that goes on.)
iTunes and Spotify are fabulous for building playlists. Maybe soundtracks are your thing. Or ambient sounds.
Whatever works for you, take a few moments out to think about it. Because if building a soundtrack helps build some personality traits for a problematic character, or adds some dimension or atmosphere to a location you can’t quite visualize, it’s as good a tool as any to combat the dreaded writer’s block or dry well of ideas.
So here’s today’s wordcount. Today I did 2113 words.
Weather: High: 71º & partly sunny. Heading into Fall with lovely chilly temps to follow.
I’ve been lax in my blogging, but I have a viable excuse.
I’ve started the submission process. Of course I’m tentatively sending out queries to agents first, parceling them out at a snail’s pace.
It’s kind of grueling and exhausting and nerve-wracking and, to be bluntly honest, I keep having to stifle the urge to abandon my efforts and run screaming.
It’s not that agents & editors are mean people and I expect them to return my newbie efforts with a slap and a scornful statement of derision. It’s that I have researched and read advice and done everything I can to fit my queries to the requested formats…and I’m terrified that with one badly turned sentence, I may have shot my chances of getting published. It’s the self-flagellating perfectionist in me that keeps making my chest tighten when I hit the send button. It’s still too early in the process to know whether I have done well or badly. It will be a few weeks before I get a rejection or, ::crosses fingers:: a request for a partial or, heaven hopes, a full MS.
But this is the process. I have it on good account from others far more well versed in publishing that it never really gets any easier.
It leads to second guessing your story. And wondering if you were a fool to pick up the pen in the first place. I read horror stories from various agents and publishers about receiving queries from people with egos & arrogance that would make Narcissus blush. At least in this situation, I am spared.
We’ll see. Hopefully my stories will find a home.
Of course, I’ve now headed into that scariest of second phases: My next book. Book One (When the Lights Go Down) is really the first book of a Trilogy. I have the second book well under way, though it’s not coming along as easily as the first one. And the third book, well…it’s been outlined.
On the non-writing front, Brian and I are still struggling to get our house ready for sale and get ourselves moved to Seattle. Considering the time of year, we are now having to move our plans to next year. (Trying to drive through the Cascades in winter in a Jetta? Yeah, Donner Party comes to mind.) We’re trying to paint the situation as more time to get things done, but we’re understandably dispirited. Still, nothing’s a done deal until we’re 6 feet under, so still we keep moving forward.
Speaking of the husbeast. He had finished a number of stained glass pieces. You can visit his website and I’ll give a heads up when the pieces are available for sale. It should be any day now.
And that’s the news that fit to print. I’ll be blogging more frequently now that I’ve jumped into the publishing process with both feet. Let’s hope I have some good news to report soon.
My earworm for the week: Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) by My Chemical Romance
Weather: High: 58º and RAINY. Like SEATTLE RAINY. Seriously.
It’s been rainy this week, but mostly a light drizzle. Today its been RAINING. With some volume and force. I love this weather, just not on a work day. I’d rather be home with the laptop, sitting by the window and letting the sound and visual of the rain falling envelope me while I’m writing. Sigh. But this is not to be, at least not today.
What sucks additionally is that my cube here at work has NO access to a window. I can’t even see the rain. Just the migraine inducing fluorescent lights over head (hisses) and the soul sucking burgundy walls of my cube. Which, thank the gods, are wallpapered in pictures of musicians, family photos and the Muses. 🙂 Oh and several snarky signs. Makes my life much happier. 🙂
Not recent, but you get the idea.
And no, my desk is not as messy as it seems. TRUST ME.
Laura Anne Gilman posted on twitter about how a proposal was using every bit of her history degree & added that she was glad she saved her textbooks. It’s funny how many writers I’ve spoken with have made similar comments. I’m a book pack rat and I’ll tell you, like Laura Anne, I’ve found more often than not that it’s been a boon. My college degree is something of a bizarre Frankensteinian mish mosh (I started out pre-med, then switched to communication. My electives are…well, ECLECTIC.) Needless to say I have a ton of biology, chemistry and statistic books nestled in among the mythology and esoterica. I went through a phase where I collected books on epidemics (The 1916 flu, the Black Death, Ebola outbreaks, you name it!). Then I started picking up books on genetics, both 101 and more advanced versions of the topic. Amusing anecdote: These were all for a vampire novel I was working on at the time. It’s still on the back burner and will hopefully see the light of day, so to speak, in the future. I also have a ton of books on the occult, supernatural and almost a library unto itself on paganism & witchcraft. (Kinda the go to area for me and the husband on the High Holidays. 😉 ) The reason I’m pointing all this out is that sometimes, the inter-webs may be the most convenientway to research things for your novel in progress, but I think we forget that we might have better sources in our home libraries, or the public libraries, or even in our own heads.
Wikipedia can be helpful, but honestly? Use it as a stepping off point. Try some books from the time period you’re writing about. If you’re looking for a neat little known fact about a place your setting your story, contact their chamber of commerce or the tourist center. Sometimes they’ll have brochures or fact booklets to add some color to your story. (Thanks to Terri Osborne for that one!)
Writing is one of those phenomenally unique endeavors where we can get source material from virtually ANYWHERE. So I guess what I’m suggesting is step away from the computer once & awhile and pester your local reference Librarian. Believe it or not, they actually wish MORE people would. And you might find out those old college textbooks have more interesting things in them than you remembered.
Some websites that actually have electronic copies of useful texts (Not pre-digested information) :
www.sacred-texts.com Has an AMAZING wealth of electronic texts on almost any area of religion, spirituality and philosophy you could ask for.
Project Gutenberg Another great source of electronic texts. (nearly 30,000 books here for FREE)
Sometimes reading the actual source text is more revelatory than someone else’s Cliff’s notes analysis of the text. 😉
So. Weekend is splayed out in front of me. In between going to look at bridesmaid dresses (OY!) and the usual housecleaning, I have a bunch of writing goals planned for myself. Also, next Friday is my 4th Wedding Anniversary, so I’ll be incommunicado on Friday and Saturday. Saturday night I’ll be handing out treats to the wee children. And NaNo starts on Sunday. ZOMG! I’ll be updating my wordcount here daily. Even if that’s all I post that day.
If anyone reading this wants to be a fellow masochist writing buddy, my writing handle over at the NaNoWriMo site is Fairygothmother.
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NOW PLAYING: Bleeder (industrial Strength Mix by Seb) — Zombie Girl
So I haven’t really posted much this week. Work has been a flurry of catch up and h0me life has been a rollercoaster of bad news and bad health. My whining, let me show you it.
Last night we lost power during the storm that rolled through, starting at 8:00 and finally getting it back at 5:30 this morning. Candlelight, me sewing and my husband scribbling away in his notebook caused me to comment: “Sigh. I love the 1800s.”
The ultimate bad news was that my husband’s uncle passed away. So we will spending a lot of time at wakes and the funeral over the next few days.
My writing brain has ground to a halt. I’m having difficulty constructing any semblance of coherent sentences. I’ve printed out the MS and am attacking it with highlighter and post-its. Re-writes were going do well… until I hit the wall.
I think in general between fighting off colds and having all this conflagration of stressful events has finally burnt out a few brain cells. The apathy has sunk it’s claws in me again. Hate when this happens. It tends to take a monumental effort to get back up out of this damn pit. I’m not wallowing, I’m just annoyed with myself.
So. Two weeks after getting the new Muse and Three Days Grace albums I’ve pretty much played them into the ground. And I’m still not sick of either. THe music on both has proven to be good writing tuneage. Especially the 3DG album, in light of how it’s corresponding to the story re-writes that I’m doing. Coincidence? I think not.
Ah well. Gotta dash. I’m hoping that once this weekend is done and some things are settled, my mind might proffer better blog content. Bear with me folks, I’m not always such a drag. 🙂
Weather: High: 77º & cloudy. I swear, Weather Gods, you’re getting to be a broken record. I can haz 60s nao pls???
So, as you can tell from the subject line, I’m gonna wax verbosely about music AGAIN. Can’t help it folks, it’s an obsession.
As I’ve gotten older, I’m finding myself less inclined to get defensive over the music I listen to or the bands I happen to like. Not that I ever really did, mind you. I do find, however, that I’m getting a little more easily annoyed with critics who dismiss a popular band out of hand, merely for their popularity, while trumpeting about an obscure band, merely because of their obscurity.
Music for me is always about personal taste. I honestly don’t believe anyone’s tastes trumps anyone else’s. I absolutely think that people can recommend or dismiss bands based on their personal opinion, but for anyone to state that their taste somehow supersedes all others because they can quote music theory chapter and verse? Well, they’re missing the point.
Music is not something that fits into neat little boxes.
It’s personal. It’s emotional. And therefore what resonates with one person will not resonate with another. As in most art, what music resonates for you will be what speaks to your heart, your philosophy, your culture and your experience. Joe Critic doesn’t have access to your take on those things, so his opinion, even if well informed, doesn’t have to proscribe your musical tastes or be a cause for defensiveness about what bands you follow.
My music library spans most genres, and probably contains at least 50% content that most people would describe as “guilty pleasures”. I find that most music I listen to with any kind of frequency resonates on an emotional level for me.
When I talk about the music cocoon, I’m talking about that headspace where the music envelopes you and creates an atmosphere that completely blots out everything else. It has little to do with volume, though loud is sometimes a good thing. 😉 It has little to do with complexity, because sometimes a simple piano ballad, if well done, can be as overwhelming as a full string section and layered harmonies.
Music is one of the few pure forms of escapism we have. It can transport you, raise your mood, give you energy, relax you or help you fall in love. It’s the literal soundtrack of our lives. Never apologize for what you listen to, and definitely never let anyone dictate what your tastes should be. You can always expand your listening horizons. Never contract them.
I love rock music as much as I love classical. And I love techno, industrial, classic rock, jazz, musicals, R&B and about every subgenre in between. I’m a song person, rather than a band or album person, though I do have some bands that have earned my unwavering loyalty. (I’ve been a Depeche Mode fan for 25+ years!)
Ultimately, music informs pretty much every word I write in some way. I have writing mixes for particular stories and particular characters. Music molds my writing. Permeates it in a very specific way. Because I write visually, every scene plays out like a movie in my head. And all movies need music. 🙂
Music is a cocoon. Something you can wrap yourself in, lose yourself for a while, and emerge as a changed person. It’s up to you whether you allow yourself the experience and how deeply.
So excuse me. Gonna go wrap myself up in some quirky prog rock with side dish of dark alt rock and commiserate with my muses. 🙂
Weather: High: 77º and partly sunny. WTF?! WEATHER GODS! It’s BLOODY FALL! How about some cool temps??
Have slipped in my blogging duties. Must get back into the daily habit. Though I do have a viable excuse for my recent lack of inter-webby presence. First, I’ve been fighting con crud, that lovely post convention soupςon of sinus congestion & raspy cough. Second, between bossless week, last week and teaching two a day classes this week, I’ve been a wee bit SWAMPED at work. Sigh.
So-::cracks knuckles::- Lets’ see what’s been going on in my demented world.
On the writing front, I’ve finally started the epilogue for “When the Lights Go Down“. Which is a small victory unto itself. Of course, I’ve also started some rewrites, which unearthed a rather vexing couple of plotholes. I’ve fixed the most egregious of the two, but the remaining one will require some rather fine tune adjustments throughout the manuscript to eliminate the minor mentions related to it. So…I have more work than I realized before I can get into the regular re-write function.
Also, masochist that I am, I’ve decided to participate in NaNoWriMo again this year. I figure I can use it as a sort of writing sorbet…to cleanse the mental writing palate before heading back into rewrites. If I use it well, I might be able to bang out a novella I can shop around as well. ::checks for jacket I can hug myself all day long in:: Yep, all set. November insanity, here I come.
On the home front, Bri and I have finally started the full court press to get the house in shape for sale. We’re also starting our job hunt in Seattle in earnest. I know it’s gonna be a tough slog in this current market, but I figure, between Bri and I, we have a wealth of work experience in a variety of fields. ( I just wish I’d kept my programming chops up to speed!) . Our current debacle is trying to finance new carpeting for the basement. (Yes, the samecarpeting we yanked up last yearafter our mini-flood.) We need to still get the outside of the house power washed, do some touch up painting, finish the yard landscaping, and then do a few thousand cosmetic things INSIDE the house. We’re hoping to have the house on the market come March or April, with an eye towards moving in the summer. We’ll see if our best laid plans come to fruition.
Music squee:
So I’ve obtained a crapload of new music and all of it has been just amazing. First off, got the new Muse album, “The Resistance”. There aren’t words. SO FECKING AMAZING. From soup to nuts one of the most brilliant albums I’ve heard in ages. It has echoes of Queen in it, but Muse has their unique stamp all over it. It’s prog rock, but lacking the usual pretentiousness that gets that genre mocked. It’s intelligent, and social commentary, and just massive in scope. There are straight ahead rock songs (Uprising, Resistance, MK Ultra, Unnatural Selection) , Quirky gems (I Belong To You/Mon Cœur S’ouvre À Ta Voix, Undisclosed Desires) and of course ZOMG EPIC ORCHESTRAL PIECES! (Exogenesis: Symphony parts 1-3) . It’s eminently listenable from beginning to end. And yes, it’s already embedded all over my writing mixes. (“Undisclosed Desires” has become Devon & Sara’s theme song. LOL!)
Here’s the video for “Uprising” , Zombie Teddy Bears & All!
Next I got the new Three Days Grace album, “Life Starts Now”. It BLEW ME AWAY. Seriously. These guys get dismissed out of hand by a lot of hipsters and indie critics and I just do not understand the hate.
Adam Gontier, their lead singer, has an amazing voice, and this time around, he gets to use ALL his range. The last two albums have been heavy on the dark hard rock they’ve made their trademark. This album feels a little more hopeful. And the music has just expanded creatively as well. 3DG are masters of the good stompy rock riff. They EXCEL at it. But Life Starts Now is riddled with experimental sounds, non-standard timings, pianos, strings, and harmonies using more than the standard chord structures. My favorite songs change day to day. Yesterday I was blasting “The Good Life” with it’s AFI-like choruses and stompy bass & drum rhythms. Today, I seem to be constantly queuing up “World Gone Cold” with it’s eerie chorusy-guitar intro and amazing vocals by Adam. (ETA: Apparently I’m not alone–the song is in the Top Ten on I-Tunes Rock singles already!)
Honestly there isn’t a bad tune on the whole damn album. The songs are brief, the longest barely nudging 5 minutes, but they’re layered thickly with sound and meaty guitar work. Barry Stock, the lead guitarist, has put down some amazing riffs all over the album. And the rhythm work from Neil Sanderson (on drums) and Brad Walst (on bass) is sturdy, yet takes creative turns as well. There are echoes of Alice in Chains here as well, but 3DG has definitely put their own unique overlay on them, making it something entirely their own.
For a third album, it’s a fantastic step up from a band that gets less credit than it should. (Of course, I might be a little biased, considering how much their music has played a hand in getting my book written. 😉 )
Here’s a vid of Adam talking about the recording of “Break“, the first single.
Also got the new : tatsu ep : from Faith & the Muse. Amazing as always. It’s a taster for their new album, : ankoku butoh : that will be released on Halloween this year. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT! (It will also come packaged with a DVD & book. Squee!)
Since there are few vids for F&TM, they posted snippets at their website. Click here to see “Cantus”.
They’re an amazing band!
Well I think that brings us up to date. OH and I FINALLY got our Writers’ Cabal shirts made. Here’s what the logo looks like:
So we’ve managed to survive our first Dragon*Con. And we enjoyed it so much that we’ll be returning next year. (Though this time around we’ll definitely be staying at a con hotel.)
so here’s the whole tale of the trip as I recall it.
Thursday:
After a late start, Bri and I piled into the car and drove to Atlanta. The drive wasn’t too bad until we hit hour #12 and started getting the drive madness that sets in about then. We had hoped to be in Atlanta by dinner time, but ended up checking into our hotel room (our WEE hotel room) at 10pm local time. After making the requisite phone calls and texting everyone to let them know we landed, we hooked up with our friends Heather & Chris who were staying at the same hotel for a late dinner and some fantastic convo. (BTW- Heather & Chris have a fantastic website here for their publishing company: Triscelle Publishing. Go check it out) Then it was off to bed so we could get some sleep before the festivities began.
Friday:
Up early for breakfast and off to Pre-Reg, Which involved standing in a very long labyrinthine line that got smellier as we went along, to get our Badges and con booklets. We were lucky! After hearing horror stories of 2-3 hour waits, we got through the line in a miraculous 45 minutes. Then it was off to panels!We lined up for a panel and while waiting in line, met up with two of my favorite online friends, Anne Marie & Kara. Wonderful to meet people I’ve only been able to converse with online. Then to the panel! It was a Farscape panel with Lani Tupu and Virginia Hey. Funny and gracious on both their parts, ti was informative and funny. We re-hooked up with Heather & Chris again after this panel and Heather and I headed off to some writing panels. First up was the “Vampires are the New Vampires” panel which was very informative.(Panel: Rosemary Laurey, Alethea Kontis, J F Lewis, Richelle Mead, Allan Gilbreath, Derek Tatum) Got to ask my first question about how to market a vampire novel in this ever expanding genre & received a lot of good feedback. A lot of authors that I am now in the process of looking up were on the panel and I got a nice insight on how different the takes on the genre have been fleshed out.
Then we went to get in line for the BSG panel. (There was an ongoing theme of standing in line for a lot of things! LOL) Met up with my long time friend Terri Osborne (author of numerous tie-in Trek novels & a soon to be published Stargate:Atlantis novel, in addition to her own line of “Realms Next Door” books.) Nice to see her after a couple of years. (She and I went to college together and have known each other for about 20+ years) So after a bit of geebling, we met up with Heather & Chris again for the BSG big panel. (Cast including Luciana Carroll, Kate Vernon, Mike Hogan, Michael Trucco, Kandyse McClure, and Alisandro Juliani) Very funny and nice to hear all the behind the scenes stories. We headed out to dinner with Heather & Chris then off to bed.Yes we’re that sad. Really wanted to stay up for the Abney Park gig, but between the drive and all the excitement during the day….my 42 year old body was not having it. 😦
Saturday:
Up early again for more writing panels. First up was “Time travel & Paranormal writing” which had Terri Osborne & Anna DeStefano on the panel. (The entire panel: Chesya Burke (M), Terri Osborne, Carole Nelson Douglas, Rita Herron, Anna DeStefano, Mari Mancusi) I was really happy I got to see Anna and talk with her briefly as we’ve conversed a bit on Twitter. She made sure we got a photo together as well. 🙂 Terri and I conversed briefly before the panel about the “Realms Next Door” chapbook that she’d brought along and then it was time for the panel. Great discussion on how best to utilize the mechanics of time travel in story telling, along with some great discussion on how the paranormal market is exploding right now. After this we took a quick run up to the Hyatt Concourse to catch the Faith & the Muse Acoustic set which was AMAZING. Back to another panel, this time on “Herding cats..er fictional Characters” which was a very lively discussion on character development. Gene Wolfe was on the panel and was at turns brilliant and hysterically funny. (Panel was Sandra Anglin Chastain, Kathleen O’Shea David, Rebecca Moesta, Janny Wurts, Toni Weisskopf, Gene Wolfe, Gary Raisor). I then ran off to kidnap my friend, author Phaedra Weldon ,from the Catalyst Games booth so we could meet up with the rest of the fangirls to see Abney Park’s acoustic set Since I’d missed their gig, I was NOT missing their set today. It was made of AWESOME! They performed a few classic tunes & a few of their own, and included a lovely mess of a cover of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” that has to be seen to be believed.
SEE? They’re awesome! After I got a copy of one of their albums that I was missing and got my Abney Park messenger bag signed by Kristina. Phaedra went back off to her booth and I floated on a fangirl cloud out to where Brian & Chris were holding places for me and Heather in line for the BEEG Farscape panel. Which was also FTW! Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Lani Tupu & Virginia Hey held a lively & funny as hell unmoderated panel. (I have some photos I’ll post later!) After this it was back to zee hotel and a lovely, if expensive dinner. Bri and I turned in for the night.
Sunday:
Up REALLY early for breakfast. Had a 10 am panel with Heather & Chris.. Bri’s first wasn’t til 11:30 so he met up with us later.
First panel was Paranormal Fiction & Urban Fantasy (Panel: Rosemary Laurey, Susan Sizemore, Jennifer Heddle, Jeanne C. Stein, Jackie Kessler, Heather Osborn, Mari Mancusi, Julie Kenner, Liz Maverick, Carol Malcolm ) Lively discussion on what the differences and similarities between the two genres, and how marketing is kinda fuzzy here. (Also realized my writing may lean more to PR rather than UF. Hmmm. ) Was very helpful for me & Heather (who is a librarian and runs into categorization problems as well)
Next up was Writing Paranormal Fiction (Panel:Dr. Bob Blackwood (M), Sandra Anglin Chastain, Gail Z. Martin (M), Christina Barber, Carole Nelson Douglas, Rita Herron, Jennifer St. Giles, Tracy S. Morris, Kat Richardson, Heather Osborn, Anna DeStefano, Laura Anne Gilman) This unfortunately was moderated a little too formally and was stuck in a very small room for such a large panel. But still, I got a comment in and got to FINALLY chat with my friend Laura Anne. While I was in this panel, Brian was attending a panel on Steampunk Attire for men . (WIBBLE) We snagged Terri, Heather & Chris for some lunchtime Sushi and had a nice chat. Then Bri, Heather, Chris & I were off to A Self-Publishing panel. We caught the last 15 minutes of the Copyright Law panel and I’m really glad we did. Good info! The self-Publishing panel was really informative and was more a compare & contrast of self vs. traditional publishing. We got a lot of pros and cons for both avenues, which was more than helpful.
After all this, Bri and I parted ways with Heather & Chris and were off to dinner by invite with Kathleen & Peter David. Wonderful dinner, wonderful conversation with a bunch of authors and friends & a hilarious MST3K-ing of the Dragon*Con Parade, which we watched on Dragoncon TV. After, we & a couple of friends went to the elevated platform overlooking the Atrium Floor at the Marriott, had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the people watching before heading back to out hotel to pack.
Oh! (FACEPALM) Before Dinner: I had my first real mortifying fangirl moment. Bri and I ran into Nathaniel from Abney Park in the little shop at the hotel. I was at first reluctant to approach him, because I didn’t want to be THAT ANNOYING FANGIRL. But, he was starting to leave and I blurted out “Nathan, can I get you to sign my bag?” (I fumbled the name, because nathan is part of his LJ & Twitter name…OY!) He was all “OF COURSE! but then realized he didn’t’ have a pen on him. But I did! So pulled out my cache of pens which I had rubber banded together, and pulled out the sharpie, which launched two other pens at the poor man. (Facepalm #2) He was absolutely lovely, and instead of being appalled at my shaking nervous fumbling, got down on one knee and asked “Fair Lady, may I sign your bag?” I giggled and replied” Please do kind sir…” He signed my bag, stood up and said. “Now I need a hug!” Which I was all too happy to provide. (Again, what a wonderful sweet guy!) I told him about us missing their gig in Seattle earlier this year and that we were moving to Seattle next year (Which I got a smile and a fist bump in response!) He made sure I knew when they were having their next show in Seattle and I thanked him and that was that. He left, I was mortified but happy, and hopefully he remembers me as the awkward but nice girl from the shop. Sigh.My husband spent the next 15 minutes reassuring me that I wasn’t a complete pratt. Double sigh.
Monday:
Up early for breakfast with Heather & Chris (Who I might just add fro the thousandth time are the LOVELIEST PEOPLE.) We said our goodbyes and piled into the car for the eleven hour drive home.
All in all it was a fantastic, if exhausting time. I got a ton of great advice and motivation for my writing. Met more wonderful people that I am humbled to call friends. Saw some fantastic performances & have definitely made the decision to attend again next year!
So Dragon*Con 2009, I enjoyed every minute of you!
Weather: High: 79 degrees with intermittent showers. Good writing weather.
Quick mention that Torchwood was FTW again last night. Unexpected naked Jack is Unexpected. 🙂 (Loved the cast commentary on that scene after the show. HYSTERICAL!) I’m probably going to wait on a proper review until it’s all done. (And considering the rending of cloth and gnashing of teeth in fandom right now, I think the last episode may be a barn burner.)
Was perusing a site that had a ton of writer’s Quotations and this one stuck out:
Being an author is having angels whisper in your ear – and devils, too. ~Graycie Harmon
Very true. We all talk about our muses in various ways. To some of us they’re a general concept- inspiration, a cache of ideas or something ethereal that motivates us. To others, they have a face and a voice: maybe one of our characters, maybe someone we admire, maybe even someone we are involved with in our personal lives. For me, when I talk about muses, it tends to be the latter.
When I write, usually one of the characters comes to the forefront, visually and vocally, in my head. I tend to write from a very visual place anyway, so casting the characters tends to help me SEE them in action as I’m writing. It’s not that fluffy thing of “My muse dictates and I write it down,” which makes for a cute T-shirt eptithet, but bad writing headspace. Muses are just stand ins for characters in my head. They do talk back and give me something to push back against when I’m putting together a scene or dialogue.
It’s more like I have a three dimensional artist’s mannequin that I can mold and shape and move at my brain’s whim. I know they are my creations, even if visually they may look like an actor or musician or model. That is just the outer shell. Everything they say or do or think comes from me. I just have them play the scene out in my head, then describe what I’m watching. The interesting thing that happens is sometimes, the action portrayed goes in a different direction than I originally intended, or, more perplexing, points out how the scene actually ISN’T working. Things like the protagonist can’t exactly stab someone if he’s carrying someone in his arms. Or if you have him backed up against a literal wall, odds on are he won’t be able to “turn and run” . Usually I’ll joke that the Muse took the wheel in that scene.
Another thing I do to help craft a character once I get his/her visual in my head is to create a music writing mix for the character. I used to actually burn CDs for this, but nowadays, I just create lengthy playlists in i-Tunes or for my i-Pod. Music helps me get in the right headspace to write a character. I also have scene specific playlists. I look at it as creating soundtracks for the movies in my head. For myself, music is instrumental in the process, but YMMV.
A lot of the time I feel like a fraud writing about writing because I have yet to get anything completed or published. All I can do in this blog is convey what works for me and what I’ve found doesn’t work over the years. Honestly, the best advice for me was found in the FAQ at Neil Gaiman’s site. The section “Advice to Authors” has always been helpful. It’s to the point and a lot of common sense. A lot of other authors, editors and publishers have fantastic advice as well. I highly recommend the #writegoal tag over on Twitter. Or check out some of the writing blogs I have listed to the right. Google Fu is your friend. 🙂
Been a while since I did an Irons in the Fire list.
When the Lights Go Down – 88K words completed, finishing last chapters. Editing pending. Query to be written.
Carrion Dreams, Book 1 – 33K words. Outlining rest of Book 1. Have Rudimentary outlines for Books 2 & 3.
Dark of the Mirror- 75K words. Gutting the last 1/3 of the MS. Needs to be rewritten. And intensive research needed for historical references.
All Things Fanged & Furry (Book 1) –25K words In overhaul. Needs a lot of fleshing out.
All Demons Dread & Dire (Book 2) — In Outline. What has been written will be scrapped. Plot needs re-working to seamlessly lead out of Book one.
Librarian Anthology– “Into the Stacks” — Need to finish last two chapters.
Second short story is in the works for this as well.
Untitled Sidhe/Norse Myth Urban Fantasy — Still in outline. Needs refocus on storyline. Maybe will be re-tooled as YA.
Also am toying with a couple non-fiction ideas, but not including them in the list until I can focus on them.
So wrapping up this meandering post with tonight’s plans: Torchwood Day 3, Leverage and perhaps another stab at the manuscript. Although I think with my complete lack of focus, this may be a vain endeavor. This weekend is already shaping up to be writing bootcamp, but I’d rather write and edit when my brain isn’t so hazy and stressed.
Weather: High: 83 degrees & sunny. (Nice and cool this morning, though!)
First off : HAPPY BASTILLE DAY! For no other reason that it gives me an excuse to drink some wine and piss off some anti-French right wingers. 🙂
Boss is out today at a convention in Detroit. In any other work situation, most people would be happy, but not me. See, I’m in tech support and when the boss is out, that leaves me in charge of about 100 people. And my job does not begin & end with answering tech questions. I have daily assignments that need doing as well. Too boring and whiny a story, but suffice it to say that it turns into a day long session of “Stop what you’re doing and work on MY PROBLEM!” With a divalike stomp now and then. Sigh. Occupational hazard. And Job security in a very twisted way.
Was excited to get an e-mail with a special download code for alternative tracks for Amanda Palmer’s “Who Killed Amanda Palmer?” album. They are amazing! Been listening to them non stop this morning. Can’t wait to get my hands on the accompanying book. 🙂
Am taking a brief break for lunch though the workload has suddenly doubled somehow and it’s already 2:30. So much for getting any writing done here at work today. SIGH. Sometimes being TechNinja in charge for the day has so many downsides as to erase the upsides.
Part of my job is not just IT Support, but also running reports, bulk scanning and any of a bajillion miscellaneous tasks that only peripherally fall any where near my job description. With the economy being what it is, there’s little to no chance of getting any additional help signed on anytime soon. Kinda sucks, but there you go. Job security, yadda yadda yadda.
And to add some MORE fun to my oh-so-thrilling day– We had a HUGE HORNET divebombing us in the office. Mind you we’re on the 9th floor of our building and not exactly easy to access. INSECT FALE! (I’m also deathly allergic to hornet stings, so yeah, I’m a little paranoid right now.)
ETA: WOOT! One of the brokers got it! Smushed the little bastard! (Yes, I know I’m being a bad Buddhist but dammit! I don’t have an epi shot anywhere near here!)
Day has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Called home to check in on the hubster and found that his dad showed up out of the blue to get started painting the windows out front. Sigh. It’s supposed to storm tonight, so let’s just hope the paint dries quickly.
On a writing note, I need to keep the tv off tonight and sit my butt down at the dining room table (i.e. The Writer’s Cave) and focus on the manuscript. My brain has been far too scattered to write anything with substance lately. I’m making word count, but when I go back an re-read it, it’s not flowing the way I’d like. I’m a very visual writer. If I can’t see the action unfolding in my head like a movie, the words don’t come out with any sort of clarity. I’m way too distracted right now, which would explain the dearth of decent writing.
Muses seem to have buggered off to the pub again, so I think I’ll need to corral them back in again tonight.
Ah well. Day is done, need to head home. Hoping we get those thunderstorms tonight. I’ll sleep better, in any case. 🙂
Nevermoreland 
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