The Rough Draft, She Is Done!

I be finished with my WIP! Yay! :-)

I just checked and saw that I started this sucker back in mid- to late-September; at that time, I thought it would only take a little over a month to get to this point.

Yeah, right.

So let's see: There are 60,000 words, a change in title (from Cats of Manhattan to Crossed Paths), the beginning of Diego's POV (3rd person), an idea about how the Bastet Society deals with cursed people who've been attacked or killed without having to bring in the cops...and some other ideas I've jotted in my 3-ring binder.

There will be plenty of revisions along the way, but I'm going to put this story away for a few days and concentrate on short stories. I'd really like to get back into that; I'd like to bring some shorter pieces to light, and see if I can sell them.

Well, I've got two to work on, with another still percolating in my brain. I'm sure I'll write about them here at some point (maybe in the next couple of days), but for right now, I'll just say have a happy and safe New Year's...and don't take any rubber chickens! ;-)

The Rough Draft, She Is Done!

I be finished with my WIP! Yay! :-)

I just checked and saw that I started this sucker back in mid- to late-September; at that time, I thought it would only take a little over a month to get to this point.

Yeah, right.

So let's see: There are 60,000 words, a change in title (from Cats of Manhattan to Crossed Paths), the beginning of Diego's POV (3rd person), an idea about how the Bastet Society deals with cursed people who've been attacked or killed without having to bring in the cops...and some other ideas I've jotted in my 3-ring binder.

There will be plenty of revisions along the way, but I'm going to put this story away for a few days and concentrate on short stories. I'd really like to get back into that; I'd like to bring some shorter pieces to light, and see if I can sell them.

Well, I've got two to work on, with another still percolating in my brain. I'm sure I'll write about them here at some point (maybe in the next couple of days), but for right now, I'll just say have a happy and safe New Year's...and don't take any rubber chickens! ;-)

So What the Heck Have I Been Up To?

The wonderful Lesia asked where I've been. It wasn't until I noticed the last time I blogged before today (was it really December 8th? Egad!) that I had to wonder myself.

Well, not really. Heh. ;-)

Anyway, I have been writing. I wrote a couple of short stories, and I'll be working on them to see if they're worthy of sending out (something I haven't done in a looooong time). I've also got an idea for another short, but the opening is giving me fits; I know the obvious thing is to write past that and go back to it, but since it's set in the past (about 1919), there are certain things I want to describe (without becoming too wordy and boring) about the character and the milieu. I'm going to let the idea germinate in my brain a little while longer, as it's apparent a few things need to be worked out.

As for my novel...I'm just about done! So it looks like I'll finish this thing by the end of the year (my original goal was about a month ago; what was that old saw about the best laid plans? ;-)). I picked up a notebook computer yesterday (yay! Thanks for the money, Mom!) at Staples, and, once I was set up, I just cooked. Ooo, the words just flowed. But then, this morning, I skipped my workout because something bothered me about the way I ended it yesterday, so I whipped out the notebook, deleted a few things, and rewrote the ending.

I then decided to add in what I think will add immeasurably to the story: Diego's voice (3rd person). So I wrote a scene where he arrives to find what he thinks are two dead bodies. Jackie fought the demon just before, with the end of her scene being that she's waiting to die (and wants to die, because she's in such pain). The fight scene is kind of crappy, but that's what rewrites are for. :-)

I also did another scene in his POV in the prior chapter, where he's racing after Jackie and the demon, dodging traffic on the main drag in my old hometown (and let me tell you, the main drag is just as clogged with traffic as it ever was). He gets stuck behind an SUV with a flat tire, and no one will allow him to go around.

Yeah, tension. And besides, I wanted Jackie to fight the demon alone. After all, this is her story, and she's the one who's supposed to be strong enough to deal with the demon or the "entity," as a couple of the characters are now calling it.

But I digress. I'll be moving on to the last chapter in the story--at least how it stands right now. I'll have to go back and put in Diego's take on things, but the index cards will allow me to slip in those scenes pretty seamlessly.

The writing part of it is another matter, of course. ;-)

So that's where I'm at, writing-wise. I'm just on the cusp of finishing this novel thingy.

Oh, and Lesia? You'll notice I've included my email address (tee hee) like you suggested in the Miss Snark You Tube video. Actually, I should have thought of that a while ago, although you will notice that it has [at] instead of @ just so none of those bandwidth-sucking spiders or bots can harvest my email address. Thank goodness yahoo has a bulk folder so I can just empty most of the viagra/Nigerian scam/gas card dreck can be easily dispensed of.

Have a nice and safe New Year's everybody! :-)

So What the Heck Have I Been Up To?

The wonderful Lesia asked where I've been. It wasn't until I noticed the last time I blogged before today (was it really December 8th? Egad!) that I had to wonder myself.

Well, not really. Heh. ;-)

Anyway, I have been writing. I wrote a couple of short stories, and I'll be working on them to see if they're worthy of sending out (something I haven't done in a looooong time). I've also got an idea for another short, but the opening is giving me fits; I know the obvious thing is to write past that and go back to it, but since it's set in the past (about 1919), there are certain things I want to describe (without becoming too wordy and boring) about the character and the milieu. I'm going to let the idea germinate in my brain a little while longer, as it's apparent a few things need to be worked out.

As for my novel...I'm just about done! So it looks like I'll finish this thing by the end of the year (my original goal was about a month ago; what was that old saw about the best laid plans? ;-)). I picked up a notebook computer yesterday (yay! Thanks for the money, Mom!) at Staples, and, once I was set up, I just cooked. Ooo, the words just flowed. But then, this morning, I skipped my workout because something bothered me about the way I ended it yesterday, so I whipped out the notebook, deleted a few things, and rewrote the ending.

I then decided to add in what I think will add immeasurably to the story: Diego's voice (3rd person). So I wrote a scene where he arrives to find what he thinks are two dead bodies. Jackie fought the demon just before, with the end of her scene being that she's waiting to die (and wants to die, because she's in such pain). The fight scene is kind of crappy, but that's what rewrites are for. :-)

I also did another scene in his POV in the prior chapter, where he's racing after Jackie and the demon, dodging traffic on the main drag in my old hometown (and let me tell you, the main drag is just as clogged with traffic as it ever was). He gets stuck behind an SUV with a flat tire, and no one will allow him to go around.

Yeah, tension. And besides, I wanted Jackie to fight the demon alone. After all, this is her story, and she's the one who's supposed to be strong enough to deal with the demon or the "entity," as a couple of the characters are now calling it.

But I digress. I'll be moving on to the last chapter in the story--at least how it stands right now. I'll have to go back and put in Diego's take on things, but the index cards will allow me to slip in those scenes pretty seamlessly.

The writing part of it is another matter, of course. ;-)

So that's where I'm at, writing-wise. I'm just on the cusp of finishing this novel thingy.

Oh, and Lesia? You'll notice I've included my email address (tee hee) like you suggested in the Miss Snark You Tube video. Actually, I should have thought of that a while ago, although you will notice that it has [at] instead of @ just so none of those bandwidth-sucking spiders or bots can harvest my email address. Thank goodness yahoo has a bulk folder so I can just empty most of the viagra/Nigerian scam/gas card dreck can be easily dispensed of.

Have a nice and safe New Year's everybody! :-)

RIP, Gerald Ford (1913-2006)

Yeah, yeah, I haven't blogged in quite a while (not that I haven't been doing any writing in the interim :-)), but I thought I'd start with something a bit different today.

And how, you might ask, does this particular entry tie in to writing? All I'll say is that President Ford came through the town I grew up in (on his way to give a speech in another town, lol), with all the schools in town being closed for half a day.

Of course I lined the main drag along with other people, simply because, well, how often do you get to wave at a President (and he did turn and wave my way).

So, again, what's this got to do with writing? The only thing is that I'm setting my current WIP in my old hometown. I might--might--have a character mention something about Ford going through town. It depends on whether such a thing is warranted.

But now on to the man. He was thrust into the spotlight or limelight (use whichever you prefer) to try to deal with the mess the country was in at that time: Watergate, inflation, the ending of the Vietnam War, President Nixon resigning. It wasn't exactly a happy time to live through, but President Ford came off as a decent guy. He bumbled, he stumbled, but somehow...with all the junk swirling about at that time, he was a stabilizing factor for the U.S. Whatever politico decided to tag Gerald Ford to take the place of President Nixon...well, they got it right.

He was an old dude when he passed away. I'm glad he lived as long as he did, and may he now rest in peace.

RIP, Gerald Ford (1913-2006)

Yeah, yeah, I haven't blogged in quite a while (not that I haven't been doing any writing in the interim :-)), but I thought I'd start with something a bit different today.

And how, you might ask, does this particular entry tie in to writing? All I'll say is that President Ford came through the town I grew up in (on his way to give a speech in another town, lol), with all the schools in town being closed for half a day.

Of course I lined the main drag along with other people, simply because, well, how often do you get to wave at a President (and he did turn and wave my way).

So, again, what's this got to do with writing? The only thing is that I'm setting my current WIP in my old hometown. I might--might--have a character mention something about Ford going through town. It depends on whether such a thing is warranted.

But now on to the man. He was thrust into the spotlight or limelight (use whichever you prefer) to try to deal with the mess the country was in at that time: Watergate, inflation, the ending of the Vietnam War, President Nixon resigning. It wasn't exactly a happy time to live through, but President Ford came off as a decent guy. He bumbled, he stumbled, but somehow...with all the junk swirling about at that time, he was a stabilizing factor for the U.S. Whatever politico decided to tag Gerald Ford to take the place of President Nixon...well, they got it right.

He was an old dude when he passed away. I'm glad he lived as long as he did, and may he now rest in peace.

Persistence

I've seen the trailer in the movies and on TV for the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" (yeah, I know; my anal retentiveness had a field day with that one ;-)).

Anyway, the gist I get from this movie, without having seen it as yet, is that here's a guy with his son - down on his luck, out of a job. At one point, he's shown sleeping in a car with his son. He finally gets a chance to make some money and thus provide for his son. I'd guess he also learns how strong a person he really is, in that he doesn't give up until he's achieved his goal.

Such should it be with writers who want to be commercially published.

I hadn't been writing anything for about two days (bad me! bad me!), until an idea for a short story formulated in my brain. I sat and wrote quickly, finishing most of the rough draft in about 30 minutes (I actually finished the last part of it a little while later). It's way too long at 5,000 words, but I think it's a decent story about a lonely woman who's had glory in her past as an actress. She's been forgotten by most of the masses, until a stoner (this is set in 1969, heh heh) asks entrance to her home, with a magical crystal he received from a really groovy chick...

Anyway, before I decided to write this, I thought long and hard about my perceptions of the "Happyness" movie. Not only that, I remember reading somewhere about a man who wrote a novel and wanted an agent; it took him something like 10 years to get one interested in his book. I assume he must have gone through quite a few revisions with it, and from time to time must've doubted whether he was a fool to keep on the agent trail.

He was not, obviously.

The thing is, a lot (if not most) of this is not just going to fall into your lap. Sure, there are the occasional Christopher Paolini happenings (15 year old writes book; parents self publish; teen goes on a book tour financed by his parents; either an editor or editor's kid of big commercial publisher happens to go to one of these tours; teen's book and subsequent ones are signed to publisher), but this is a rare thing, which is why such events are reported all over the place.

But for most that dream of being published, it's a lot of hard work. Getting the idea down on paper, deciding which words that succinctly and entertainingly get the story across, deciding on character names, etc. Unless all of this comes naturally and unobtrusively to you, this is not something that can be hashed out in a couple of weeks or even a month. Learning what works and what doesn't in telling a story in an entertaining or thought provoking way is something that's ongoing.

Securing an agent or a publisher is the same thing: writing and polishing a query or synopsis (or both!), checking endless times to make sure your story stays in the right POV, checking for typos, etc. It's not easy, and it may take years before fruition.

As for my short story, I'm hoping it'll see publication in a fantasy mag at some point in time. That might never happen, due to me being a chicken about submitting it (heh) or because the editors at mags don't care for it, or whatever. That's okay. I've decided I'm going to be like the guy in the movie and the writer who took 10 years to find an agent (and finally get his book pubbed): I'm going to persevere until I can't take it anymore, until I've decided that I have nothing else in me to write. If that takes 10 years (God, I hope not ;-)), then so be it. But I've decided I've got to do this now, because it's a creative pursuit I really enjoy.

Like I always say: Don't give up - keep writing!

Persistence

I've seen the trailer in the movies and on TV for the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" (yeah, I know; my anal retentiveness had a field day with that one ;-)).

Anyway, the gist I get from this movie, without having seen it as yet, is that here's a guy with his son - down on his luck, out of a job. At one point, he's shown sleeping in a car with his son. He finally gets a chance to make some money and thus provide for his son. I'd guess he also learns how strong a person he really is, in that he doesn't give up until he's achieved his goal.

Such should it be with writers who want to be commercially published.

I hadn't been writing anything for about two days (bad me! bad me!), until an idea for a short story formulated in my brain. I sat and wrote quickly, finishing most of the rough draft in about 30 minutes (I actually finished the last part of it a little while later). It's way too long at 5,000 words, but I think it's a decent story about a lonely woman who's had glory in her past as an actress. She's been forgotten by most of the masses, until a stoner (this is set in 1969, heh heh) asks entrance to her home, with a magical crystal he received from a really groovy chick...

Anyway, before I decided to write this, I thought long and hard about my perceptions of the "Happyness" movie. Not only that, I remember reading somewhere about a man who wrote a novel and wanted an agent; it took him something like 10 years to get one interested in his book. I assume he must have gone through quite a few revisions with it, and from time to time must've doubted whether he was a fool to keep on the agent trail.

He was not, obviously.

The thing is, a lot (if not most) of this is not just going to fall into your lap. Sure, there are the occasional Christopher Paolini happenings (15 year old writes book; parents self publish; teen goes on a book tour financed by his parents; either an editor or editor's kid of big commercial publisher happens to go to one of these tours; teen's book and subsequent ones are signed to publisher), but this is a rare thing, which is why such events are reported all over the place.

But for most that dream of being published, it's a lot of hard work. Getting the idea down on paper, deciding which words that succinctly and entertainingly get the story across, deciding on character names, etc. Unless all of this comes naturally and unobtrusively to you, this is not something that can be hashed out in a couple of weeks or even a month. Learning what works and what doesn't in telling a story in an entertaining or thought provoking way is something that's ongoing.

Securing an agent or a publisher is the same thing: writing and polishing a query or synopsis (or both!), checking endless times to make sure your story stays in the right POV, checking for typos, etc. It's not easy, and it may take years before fruition.

As for my short story, I'm hoping it'll see publication in a fantasy mag at some point in time. That might never happen, due to me being a chicken about submitting it (heh) or because the editors at mags don't care for it, or whatever. That's okay. I've decided I'm going to be like the guy in the movie and the writer who took 10 years to find an agent (and finally get his book pubbed): I'm going to persevere until I can't take it anymore, until I've decided that I have nothing else in me to write. If that takes 10 years (God, I hope not ;-)), then so be it. But I've decided I've got to do this now, because it's a creative pursuit I really enjoy.

Like I always say: Don't give up - keep writing!

A Quickie

I wanted to offer a thanks to those who commented on my Thanksgiving entry. I hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as mine.

Laura, thanks for the encouragement. I had no endo pain on Thanksgiving (stress, maybe, but no pain, thanks to the herbals I'm using). I'll have to check out your book - thanks for the link!

southernwriter, I hate you. ;-) Just kidding. :-) Actually, I had an aunt who had no pain "down there," either. My mother had pain up until she had my oldest brother (who's 50 now - yikes!). Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

Buffy, it's not a bad thing to not have written something in your blog about Thanksgiving. Meh. It just felt like the thing to do. Besides, I didn't think I'd be making any entries for a little while. Imagine that! :-) But thanks for commenting, and I hope your holiday was nice and unhectic!

As for my writing...I'm almost up to 50,000 words, and am up to (I think) Chapter 18! I did a marathon session this past Sunday - about 5,000 words or so. I typed for an hour or so, got away from the desk, then went back and typed for another hour.

Worked for me.

Oh, and the reason for that session? Hubby and I went to the 212 on Monday, to stand in line in the cold...to get Enya to sign a special release CD! Woo hoo! She's so sweet; surprisingly, I wasn't fazed by the spectacle of meeting her. I shook her hand and told her how nice it was to meet her.

Hubby, also surprisingly, was dumbfounded for a moment; he was so cute! Especially when he tried to talk ("Um, you can hand Enya the CD cover now, so she can sign it" I said to a befuddled hubby). Then we made a day of it, heading over the Empire State Building, to the 102nd observation deck. Then it was down to the first floor for some yummy microbrewed beer and a touch to eat before heading over to Port Authority.

Don't give up - keep writing!

A Quickie

I wanted to offer a thanks to those who commented on my Thanksgiving entry. I hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as mine.

Laura, thanks for the encouragement. I had no endo pain on Thanksgiving (stress, maybe, but no pain, thanks to the herbals I'm using). I'll have to check out your book - thanks for the link!

southernwriter, I hate you. ;-) Just kidding. :-) Actually, I had an aunt who had no pain "down there," either. My mother had pain up until she had my oldest brother (who's 50 now - yikes!). Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

Buffy, it's not a bad thing to not have written something in your blog about Thanksgiving. Meh. It just felt like the thing to do. Besides, I didn't think I'd be making any entries for a little while. Imagine that! :-) But thanks for commenting, and I hope your holiday was nice and unhectic!

As for my writing...I'm almost up to 50,000 words, and am up to (I think) Chapter 18! I did a marathon session this past Sunday - about 5,000 words or so. I typed for an hour or so, got away from the desk, then went back and typed for another hour.

Worked for me.

Oh, and the reason for that session? Hubby and I went to the 212 on Monday, to stand in line in the cold...to get Enya to sign a special release CD! Woo hoo! She's so sweet; surprisingly, I wasn't fazed by the spectacle of meeting her. I shook her hand and told her how nice it was to meet her.

Hubby, also surprisingly, was dumbfounded for a moment; he was so cute! Especially when he tried to talk ("Um, you can hand Enya the CD cover now, so she can sign it" I said to a befuddled hubby). Then we made a day of it, heading over the Empire State Building, to the 102nd observation deck. Then it was down to the first floor for some yummy microbrewed beer and a touch to eat before heading over to Port Authority.

Don't give up - keep writing!

The Thanksgiving Entry

Live...from New Jersey...it's...!!!!!!!

Um, oh, no. It's probably not a good idea to start this this way. But then again, I just had to endure a loooong 'splanation of something or other during a departmental staff meeting. The woman is very nice, but apparently she can drone on for some time, and she chose this time to do so.

Ah, me.

Anyway, after looking over a couple of online workshops, I've decided to go with one of the free ones, but not until after the first of the year (and after my current paid one runs out in December). I think I did the critiquing thing a little too early; I enjoyed critting others' stuff, but as for my own...some of the comments, while diplomatic, cut me the wrong way. I stepped away from that particular workshop (which I have no problem recommending, BTW) a few months ago, did a couple more crits back around May or so, and then never went back.

My bad.

Once my current WIP is done, and I'm starting the revision process, then I'll join this other online crit group. I like the way it's set up. And although I still get to pick and choose what I want to crit, it'll be sent to my email address instead of going to the website to do it. (Sounds silly to decide something like that on some technology thingy, but there it is.) And, yes, people have had their shorts and novels published, so I'm not worried about that.

But enough of that.

So...what am I thankful for? When I clear out the cobwebs in the brain and insert some smart and "stay awake" cells in there, I realize quite a lot of things.

I'm thankful to be alive.

Now, it's not as if I was involved in a serious car accident (thank God). I do have an on-going medical illness called endometriosis. I gave up on doctors giving me anything useful that would help me. Hysterectomy? Two surgeries is enough (and the hysterectomy would probably induce other problems, knowing my body). Birth control pills? Tried that - no. I'd been off the pill for many years, was put back on it after my last surgery back in 2002; when I'd say something, I'd have to concentrate hard on what I was saying, or I'd forget what I was saying. I was going nuts, wondering what the hell was wrong (well, besides the endo, which leaves scarring all over the abdominal region; this is a result of "that time of the month," with everything not being flushed out of the body).

I finally read an ebook which described my symptoms exactly. I got rid of the pills, and have been on a search ever since to tame the abdominal pain. At least, thankfully, I'm not bowled over with pain, which was a problem taken care of in my first surgery in 2001 (remember 9/11 that year? Yeah. My follow up was the day after that.). But I still have bouts of pain.

All I can say is...I think I may have found something that will work this time. This, in connection with being careful about caffeine and chocolate (too much of either seems to aggravate the pain a lot) and few other things, may offer the control I'm seeking.

I'm not looking for a cure. But if I can keep the pain to a slight twitch three or four times a month, then I'll be satisfied. (And those of you with babies, be very thankful for your lovely little and big ones; I strongly suspect I never conceived because of my endo - all that scar tissue does not make for a nice place for an embryo to do its thing.)

Enough of that pity party. (What, you're not at that stage? I must be doing something wrong. ;-)) Suffice to say, after having some cola last night, this morning wasn't the greatest, but things are smoothing out right now. That's why I'm hopeful for this latest herbal stuff I'm taking, because 1) a woman put together the formulation and 2) It's specific to the problems of endo and fibroids.

I'm thankful to be writing.

I do have one pubbed credit to my name, but that was three years ago. Gads! I'm hoping this time around, in between taking a break from the rough draft and diving into the revisions, that I'll do some other writing: I have a subscription to Realms of Fantasy, and I'm really enjoying the shorts in them. Which got me thinking that maybe I should try that again, and instead of giving up after a couple rejections, to just plow on. Well, I'd have it critted first.

But, yes, I'm thankful to be writing. My day job is mundane typing, a lot of the usual memos and 200-page plan documents (don't even ask). Writing fiction takes me away from that mundane existance (my hubby would pipe in that he takes me away from my mundane existance, and I'd have to agree :-)). It gives me a chance to create interesting characters, to twist things around, to have fun with ideas and names and all sorts of stuff. Can it be a drudgery? At times. But it's a chance to let my creativity blossom, it gives me a chance to unleash the fun and ideas inside of me. And if others like what I've written...all the more fun and satisfaction.

I'm thankful for both of my families and for my co-workers.

Yeah, I'm lumping 'em all in; you got a problem wit' that? ;-) Anyway, co-workers are like family, simply because those of us in the corporate spend so much time with them. All the more pleasant, then, when they turn out to be friendly and funny and helpful, which almost everyone here where I work is.

My family? Well, except for my mother, I don't really get to see my side of the family all that much. But I'm thankful for them because they had to deal with my temper as I was growing up (just ask my mother; she really should've smacked me upside the head a few times for the fresh way I spoke back to her). My mother's really sterling, handing us "Care packages" when hubby and I weren't bringing in a hell of a lot of money, and just being a general help. My mother's sweet and tough and generous, and makes the best damned perogies on the planet! (So there.)

My hubby's family? Have you ever watched an episode of Seinfeld? It's something like that, minus the shallowness. My "married family" is loving, rambunctious, loud, helpful, obnoxious, generous...oh, and did I say loud? ;-) One of hubby's sis-in-law's has a soft voice, and can barely be heard above the ruckus when all the siblings get together (the police are always alerted ahead of time, just in case). Sweet, low-key, innocent me? I was shellshocked the first time I met my then boyfriend's family.

But I got used to it. I figured out early on that if I didn't want my words of wisdom or dreck to be lost among the crickets, I'd have to raise my voice a few decibels. That mission was accomplished very early on.

And my mother-in-law? No, I'm not going to let loose a torrent of mother-in-law jokes because it doesn't apply here. She's as sweet and tough and generous as my mother.

I'm thankful for helpful writers and agents and editors.

Why? Because they're giving of their time to help me, an aspiring writer. It doesn't matter if it's just an encouraging word or three, an interesting insight, or something else. All of these people - whether they're involved in fantasy, SF, romance, whatever genre - deserve my thanks for whatever help they've decided to give.

I'm thankful for my hubby.

Where do I start? (I'm not being flippant.)

There was a time when I felt totally inadequate about not having a child. I'd dreamed about it in my teenage years, wondering how I'd handle that (at the same time wondering if I'd ever get married in the first place, lol).

But it never happened. My first surgery was bladder surgery, and the doctor told my hubby that there was a lot of ugly stuff in there; fortunately, not cancerous. Then the second surgery, to deal with all the scarring elsewhere in my abdomen.

Prognosis from the doctor: Unless you want an ectopic pregnancy, forget about having kids.

She was right, of course, but it didn't hurt any less. I plodded along at my job and in my usual life, then started writing. One WIP that I've put aside but will come back to was written at this time. I poured all of my grief into one of the characters in that story.

Anyway...I'm fortunate in that my hubby doesn't look at me as a baby machine, and that he's not into the whole "carrying on the name" bit. Because if he was, he probably would've dumped my ass a long time ago.

But that didn't happen...because I have such a warm, loving, understanding hubby. His only concern the entire time was that I was okay. And he didn't care one whit about the baby thing. He has me, and that's all he cares about.

Well, he likes his beer, too, but that's another story... ;-)

He's my best friend, my lover, and if I can ever get over keeping a lot of my feelings to myself, he'll become even more of a confidante than I consider him to be.

I'll be writing some time this afternoon; hopefully, I'll finish the next chapter. Oh, and I've decided, in my revision, to add another POV character, except this will be in third person instead of first person (the Diego character is a bit flat at this point; my fault, but I feel he's an important person, esp. since Jackie is depending on him). Diego isn't giving Jackie any sort of reason to believe in him other than he's ruggedly good looking and took care of her big-ass wound in the first chapter (she could have bled to death). But, for now, I'll be concentrating on first person, because I feel it works, and I like Jackie's voice.

Don't give up - keep writing!

The Thanksgiving Entry

Live...from New Jersey...it's...!!!!!!!

Um, oh, no. It's probably not a good idea to start this this way. But then again, I just had to endure a loooong 'splanation of something or other during a departmental staff meeting. The woman is very nice, but apparently she can drone on for some time, and she chose this time to do so.

Ah, me.

Anyway, after looking over a couple of online workshops, I've decided to go with one of the free ones, but not until after the first of the year (and after my current paid one runs out in December). I think I did the critiquing thing a little too early; I enjoyed critting others' stuff, but as for my own...some of the comments, while diplomatic, cut me the wrong way. I stepped away from that particular workshop (which I have no problem recommending, BTW) a few months ago, did a couple more crits back around May or so, and then never went back.

My bad.

Once my current WIP is done, and I'm starting the revision process, then I'll join this other online crit group. I like the way it's set up. And although I still get to pick and choose what I want to crit, it'll be sent to my email address instead of going to the website to do it. (Sounds silly to decide something like that on some technology thingy, but there it is.) And, yes, people have had their shorts and novels published, so I'm not worried about that.

But enough of that.

So...what am I thankful for? When I clear out the cobwebs in the brain and insert some smart and "stay awake" cells in there, I realize quite a lot of things.

I'm thankful to be alive.

Now, it's not as if I was involved in a serious car accident (thank God). I do have an on-going medical illness called endometriosis. I gave up on doctors giving me anything useful that would help me. Hysterectomy? Two surgeries is enough (and the hysterectomy would probably induce other problems, knowing my body). Birth control pills? Tried that - no. I'd been off the pill for many years, was put back on it after my last surgery back in 2002; when I'd say something, I'd have to concentrate hard on what I was saying, or I'd forget what I was saying. I was going nuts, wondering what the hell was wrong (well, besides the endo, which leaves scarring all over the abdominal region; this is a result of "that time of the month," with everything not being flushed out of the body).

I finally read an ebook which described my symptoms exactly. I got rid of the pills, and have been on a search ever since to tame the abdominal pain. At least, thankfully, I'm not bowled over with pain, which was a problem taken care of in my first surgery in 2001 (remember 9/11 that year? Yeah. My follow up was the day after that.). But I still have bouts of pain.

All I can say is...I think I may have found something that will work this time. This, in connection with being careful about caffeine and chocolate (too much of either seems to aggravate the pain a lot) and few other things, may offer the control I'm seeking.

I'm not looking for a cure. But if I can keep the pain to a slight twitch three or four times a month, then I'll be satisfied. (And those of you with babies, be very thankful for your lovely little and big ones; I strongly suspect I never conceived because of my endo - all that scar tissue does not make for a nice place for an embryo to do its thing.)

Enough of that pity party. (What, you're not at that stage? I must be doing something wrong. ;-)) Suffice to say, after having some cola last night, this morning wasn't the greatest, but things are smoothing out right now. That's why I'm hopeful for this latest herbal stuff I'm taking, because 1) a woman put together the formulation and 2) It's specific to the problems of endo and fibroids.

I'm thankful to be writing.

I do have one pubbed credit to my name, but that was three years ago. Gads! I'm hoping this time around, in between taking a break from the rough draft and diving into the revisions, that I'll do some other writing: I have a subscription to Realms of Fantasy, and I'm really enjoying the shorts in them. Which got me thinking that maybe I should try that again, and instead of giving up after a couple rejections, to just plow on. Well, I'd have it critted first.

But, yes, I'm thankful to be writing. My day job is mundane typing, a lot of the usual memos and 200-page plan documents (don't even ask). Writing fiction takes me away from that mundane existance (my hubby would pipe in that he takes me away from my mundane existance, and I'd have to agree :-)). It gives me a chance to create interesting characters, to twist things around, to have fun with ideas and names and all sorts of stuff. Can it be a drudgery? At times. But it's a chance to let my creativity blossom, it gives me a chance to unleash the fun and ideas inside of me. And if others like what I've written...all the more fun and satisfaction.

I'm thankful for both of my families and for my co-workers.

Yeah, I'm lumping 'em all in; you got a problem wit' that? ;-) Anyway, co-workers are like family, simply because those of us in the corporate spend so much time with them. All the more pleasant, then, when they turn out to be friendly and funny and helpful, which almost everyone here where I work is.

My family? Well, except for my mother, I don't really get to see my side of the family all that much. But I'm thankful for them because they had to deal with my temper as I was growing up (just ask my mother; she really should've smacked me upside the head a few times for the fresh way I spoke back to her). My mother's really sterling, handing us "Care packages" when hubby and I weren't bringing in a hell of a lot of money, and just being a general help. My mother's sweet and tough and generous, and makes the best damned perogies on the planet! (So there.)

My hubby's family? Have you ever watched an episode of Seinfeld? It's something like that, minus the shallowness. My "married family" is loving, rambunctious, loud, helpful, obnoxious, generous...oh, and did I say loud? ;-) One of hubby's sis-in-law's has a soft voice, and can barely be heard above the ruckus when all the siblings get together (the police are always alerted ahead of time, just in case). Sweet, low-key, innocent me? I was shellshocked the first time I met my then boyfriend's family.

But I got used to it. I figured out early on that if I didn't want my words of wisdom or dreck to be lost among the crickets, I'd have to raise my voice a few decibels. That mission was accomplished very early on.

And my mother-in-law? No, I'm not going to let loose a torrent of mother-in-law jokes because it doesn't apply here. She's as sweet and tough and generous as my mother.

I'm thankful for helpful writers and agents and editors.

Why? Because they're giving of their time to help me, an aspiring writer. It doesn't matter if it's just an encouraging word or three, an interesting insight, or something else. All of these people - whether they're involved in fantasy, SF, romance, whatever genre - deserve my thanks for whatever help they've decided to give.

I'm thankful for my hubby.

Where do I start? (I'm not being flippant.)

There was a time when I felt totally inadequate about not having a child. I'd dreamed about it in my teenage years, wondering how I'd handle that (at the same time wondering if I'd ever get married in the first place, lol).

But it never happened. My first surgery was bladder surgery, and the doctor told my hubby that there was a lot of ugly stuff in there; fortunately, not cancerous. Then the second surgery, to deal with all the scarring elsewhere in my abdomen.

Prognosis from the doctor: Unless you want an ectopic pregnancy, forget about having kids.

She was right, of course, but it didn't hurt any less. I plodded along at my job and in my usual life, then started writing. One WIP that I've put aside but will come back to was written at this time. I poured all of my grief into one of the characters in that story.

Anyway...I'm fortunate in that my hubby doesn't look at me as a baby machine, and that he's not into the whole "carrying on the name" bit. Because if he was, he probably would've dumped my ass a long time ago.

But that didn't happen...because I have such a warm, loving, understanding hubby. His only concern the entire time was that I was okay. And he didn't care one whit about the baby thing. He has me, and that's all he cares about.

Well, he likes his beer, too, but that's another story... ;-)

He's my best friend, my lover, and if I can ever get over keeping a lot of my feelings to myself, he'll become even more of a confidante than I consider him to be.

I'll be writing some time this afternoon; hopefully, I'll finish the next chapter. Oh, and I've decided, in my revision, to add another POV character, except this will be in third person instead of first person (the Diego character is a bit flat at this point; my fault, but I feel he's an important person, esp. since Jackie is depending on him). Diego isn't giving Jackie any sort of reason to believe in him other than he's ruggedly good looking and took care of her big-ass wound in the first chapter (she could have bled to death). But, for now, I'll be concentrating on first person, because I feel it works, and I like Jackie's voice.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Another Week Begins

I didn't realize it had been a week since I last posted...time flies, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (The King and I, anyone? ;-)). Anyway, I've been managing to get my little writing escapades in, with a lot the last few days - minus the weekend.

I know, I know - I should write on the weekend, too. But as I still consider myself unpubbed at this point (I have one pub credit - a short story - but that was published three years ago; certainly not something to point out to an agent). It's hard to do that, though, and since I'm still unpubbed, it'll continue to be a struggle for me.

When/if I get an agent and said agent suggests edits - then I'll write on weekends if the need arises. I probably should get more into that mode, but I don't think it's going to be that easy until I: 1) Finish this thing, 2) Revise and rewrite, and 3) Do the query writing thing. Once those puppies hit the waves, I'll be in more of a mindset to write on weekends.

Of course, this being Thanksgiving week, I'll probably do as much writing as possible in the early part of the week. I'm off starting on Wednesday, but that day's not going to be too much fun: Cleaning and prep work will abound. Blah. Oh well, I asked for it this time. ;-) Anyway, I'm determined to get some words in that morning, even if it's just 400 words.

Thursday and Friday? Forget it, because Mom will be sleeping in the second bedroom (where the computer is) on both days. Now if I get back at a good time on Friday, I might have an hour in order to put in some words. Of course, we'll be going to our favorite watering hole that evening, since we'll be having a pizza party at the house on Saturday evening.

Which leaves Saturday morning and early afternoon available for wordsmithing. Because I have a feeling I might not feel up to doing any writing on Friday after I bring Mom to the train station. I'll just have to wait and see.

So let's see...where am I up to? I finished Chapter 13 today; I'm up to about 35,000 in total (more or less). Plus, there was a nice little surprise at the end of Chapter 13 which will have to be explained in a new index card.

Which, of course, is the beauty of this system (for me, anyway). It's a nice guideline, but I'm not a slave to it.

Tomorrow: My Thanksgiving entry.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Another Week Begins

I didn't realize it had been a week since I last posted...time flies, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (The King and I, anyone? ;-)). Anyway, I've been managing to get my little writing escapades in, with a lot the last few days - minus the weekend.

I know, I know - I should write on the weekend, too. But as I still consider myself unpubbed at this point (I have one pub credit - a short story - but that was published three years ago; certainly not something to point out to an agent). It's hard to do that, though, and since I'm still unpubbed, it'll continue to be a struggle for me.

When/if I get an agent and said agent suggests edits - then I'll write on weekends if the need arises. I probably should get more into that mode, but I don't think it's going to be that easy until I: 1) Finish this thing, 2) Revise and rewrite, and 3) Do the query writing thing. Once those puppies hit the waves, I'll be in more of a mindset to write on weekends.

Of course, this being Thanksgiving week, I'll probably do as much writing as possible in the early part of the week. I'm off starting on Wednesday, but that day's not going to be too much fun: Cleaning and prep work will abound. Blah. Oh well, I asked for it this time. ;-) Anyway, I'm determined to get some words in that morning, even if it's just 400 words.

Thursday and Friday? Forget it, because Mom will be sleeping in the second bedroom (where the computer is) on both days. Now if I get back at a good time on Friday, I might have an hour in order to put in some words. Of course, we'll be going to our favorite watering hole that evening, since we'll be having a pizza party at the house on Saturday evening.

Which leaves Saturday morning and early afternoon available for wordsmithing. Because I have a feeling I might not feel up to doing any writing on Friday after I bring Mom to the train station. I'll just have to wait and see.

So let's see...where am I up to? I finished Chapter 13 today; I'm up to about 35,000 in total (more or less). Plus, there was a nice little surprise at the end of Chapter 13 which will have to be explained in a new index card.

Which, of course, is the beauty of this system (for me, anyway). It's a nice guideline, but I'm not a slave to it.

Tomorrow: My Thanksgiving entry.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Start of Chapter 12

Started out with the argument between Jackie and Diego. It's not too, too long, as she's a bit whiny (but not overly so; she feels used, after all, and rightly so). It nicely segues into a call from her ex.

A little over 1,300 words in this particular scene, and total words so far: 31,000.

Start of Chapter 12

Started out with the argument between Jackie and Diego. It's not too, too long, as she's a bit whiny (but not overly so; she feels used, after all, and rightly so). It nicely segues into a call from her ex.

A little over 1,300 words in this particular scene, and total words so far: 31,000.

Major Progress

I needed to recover from last week, especially last Friday (spending almost all afternoon resending PDFs is not my idea of fun or satisfying work!).

However, I did manage to get in quite a bit of writing last Friday before my eyes bugged out from those PDFs. Not only did I finish Chapter 10, but I finished Chapter 11, too! About 5,000 words. Yay me! ;-)

So I'm now at the point where James Scott Bell in his fab book, Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure, says is the 1st doorway. It's the part where you're going from the beginning to the middle of the story, where your Main Character is thrust into the main conflict in "a way that keeps him there". [Plot and Structure, pp. 28-29] I've set it up so she has no choice but to keep going...because if she doesn't, she's probably going to harm a lot of people and pets...

Not that she enjoys being hooked in the way she has (that is, if she doesn't go forward, the head Elder is going to do something nasty to her). She's going to take it out on Diego in Chapter 12, because she feels he could've stopped the Elder somehow, or could've at least told Jackie what the hell to expect.

Diego will beg to differ, pointing out certain things to Jackie. I think I'm going to start the next chapter with that argument, heh heh.

An Editor's Point of View on Slush

I've been most interested in blogging about my story that I've forgotten I wanted to talk about other "writerly" things. I thought I'd bring in this thread from Making Light, a blog put out by Teresa Nielsen-Hayden. She is (or was) an editor at Tor, and the thread I link to, Slushkiller, gives you, the writer, an idea of what you're up against when you land in the slush pile.

Interesting stuff, as you're getting it from the other side of the equation. Just remember this link, especially if you insist on putting your baby on pink paper with orange lettering and never bothered to learn basic English grammar (since you think that's beneath you).

Did I tell you the one about my sister-in-law receiving a manuscript (when she worked for one of the Warner Books imprints) in a pizza box? Yeah, with all the pizza-type wording on it.

Do you really think that one got through to anyone who could acquire manuscripts? Sure, and I look like Rick Pitino. ;-)

Anyway...don't give up, keep writing!

Major Progress

I needed to recover from last week, especially last Friday (spending almost all afternoon resending PDFs is not my idea of fun or satisfying work!).

However, I did manage to get in quite a bit of writing last Friday before my eyes bugged out from those PDFs. Not only did I finish Chapter 10, but I finished Chapter 11, too! About 5,000 words. Yay me! ;-)

So I'm now at the point where James Scott Bell in his fab book, Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure, says is the 1st doorway. It's the part where you're going from the beginning to the middle of the story, where your Main Character is thrust into the main conflict in "a way that keeps him there". [Plot and Structure, pp. 28-29] I've set it up so she has no choice but to keep going...because if she doesn't, she's probably going to harm a lot of people and pets...

Not that she enjoys being hooked in the way she has (that is, if she doesn't go forward, the head Elder is going to do something nasty to her). She's going to take it out on Diego in Chapter 12, because she feels he could've stopped the Elder somehow, or could've at least told Jackie what the hell to expect.

Diego will beg to differ, pointing out certain things to Jackie. I think I'm going to start the next chapter with that argument, heh heh.

An Editor's Point of View on Slush

I've been most interested in blogging about my story that I've forgotten I wanted to talk about other "writerly" things. I thought I'd bring in this thread from Making Light, a blog put out by Teresa Nielsen-Hayden. She is (or was) an editor at Tor, and the thread I link to, Slushkiller, gives you, the writer, an idea of what you're up against when you land in the slush pile.

Interesting stuff, as you're getting it from the other side of the equation. Just remember this link, especially if you insist on putting your baby on pink paper with orange lettering and never bothered to learn basic English grammar (since you think that's beneath you).

Did I tell you the one about my sister-in-law receiving a manuscript (when she worked for one of the Warner Books imprints) in a pizza box? Yeah, with all the pizza-type wording on it.

Do you really think that one got through to anyone who could acquire manuscripts? Sure, and I look like Rick Pitino. ;-)

Anyway...don't give up, keep writing!

Hah!

I totally re-did Chapter 10 (the first scene, anyway), and came away with 1,750 words.

And they're not dreck. To be sure, none of this is completely fleshed out, but this is much more satisfying than my original try. It's keeping in line with the story, it moves the story forward, it imparts some interesting information that'll be important down the line (that foreshadowing stuff)...all good, good, good.

And I even kept in the workout, but it's only a few lines, and it comes at the end of the scene, when she really needs to clear her mind (after Diego tells her something that upsets her no end).

I'm hoping to finish Chapter 10 in the next couple of days.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Hah!

I totally re-did Chapter 10 (the first scene, anyway), and came away with 1,750 words.

And they're not dreck. To be sure, none of this is completely fleshed out, but this is much more satisfying than my original try. It's keeping in line with the story, it moves the story forward, it imparts some interesting information that'll be important down the line (that foreshadowing stuff)...all good, good, good.

And I even kept in the workout, but it's only a few lines, and it comes at the end of the scene, when she really needs to clear her mind (after Diego tells her something that upsets her no end).

I'm hoping to finish Chapter 10 in the next couple of days.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Agitation and Writing

I've come to the conclusion that I just can't write when I'm agitated, and I don't think it matters if I know why I'm agitated. All I'll say is that I was linked to by another blog/website ("But you've been recognized!" you might say) for something I posted on an agent's blog.

BTW, it's a silly remark, and why this particular blog/website chose to concentrate on the P.S. appended to the main part of my post...I have no idea. I'll just leave it there, because I need to get on with my life, life's too short, yadda yadda yadda.

After finishing my writing yesterday - about 500 words - I looked it over and decided it was total dreck. I mean, it doesn't impart anything - doesn't advance the plot, doesn't bring up anything the reader needs to know...nothing. I basically have Jackie working out (literally; she's doing a step routine) just so she can get past the point that she acted like a wimpy female.

Well, boo hoo for Jackie, and ::snore:: says the reader, who puts the story down and never picks it up again! The problem is that this goes on for 500 words, which is about 450 words too long. Even worse, I have Diego dropping her off at her apartment, and then tell the reader later on they had a talk. Bleh. I think dialogue might be needed at the beginning of this chapter (number 10) rather than having her just say she talked to Diego and told him to shove off. (Heh heh. Boy, can you tell I still have some anger? Whew. That other blog stuff really got further under my skin than I thought.)

I digress. I know I'm supposed to be in the "just-get-the-damned-story-down" part, but I know it'll gnaw at me until I wipe it out and get back to my outline. That's another thing: I went completely off my index cards yesterday. That in itself isn't necessarily bad; I did that earlier in the story, and I'm keeping that because it furthers the story, and it sounds like it would fit in for my whole idea with this thing.

I can even keep stuff that's mostly dreck, which is what I'm going to do with Chapter 4; I'll siphon off bits and put those good bits in other chapters, junking the rest. However, the stuff yesterday is so lame, most, if not all, of it is headed for the techno trash heap.

Enough with the whiny stuff - time for something positive. I've decided to change the locale of my story. As much as I love New York City (and I do), I don't frequent its streets all that often to have any sort of familiarity with them or its denizens; besides, I can see myself mucking it up, by having a car traveling down a one-way street the wrong way...can you say faux pau? Sure, I knew you could. ;-)

So I'm going to set it in the town I grew up. It's not a small town, by any means; at last count, there were 50,000 people living there. Not only am I more familiar with it (and can visit it a lot easier than NYC), but things I've been reading in cyberspace hint that NYC is overdone; agents and publishers are looking for other venues.

Which, of course, necessitates a change in story title (and if this thing ever gets to a publisher, they'll probably change it anyway, so I might as well go with something I like right now). I was thinking about it in the shower this morning, thinking about how a back blurb might describe this story.

Crossing Paths. Not terribly exciting, but then "Cats of Manhattan" wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. ;-) However, my silly, overprocessing brain got to thinking: Jackie crosses paths with a demonic cat, with Diego, with Linnea (that's the one who becomes/channels Bastet - read Egyptian mythology if you don't know who Bastet is), and with the nuts and weirdos in her family, those who live on her floor, and those she works with (although not too much where that's concerned).

Plus, she's at a crossroads in her life. She's divorced; her lovelife is nowhere; her career is boring her to death; and her health insurance (COBRA) is about to run out. All these things happening, thanks to that damned cat! ;-)

Anyway, that's what I'm doing, and I'm sticking to it. For now. No, really, I'm sticking to that (I've even written down on my index cards where I started the change over to the other town, so I'll know where I'll have to redo NYC scenes to the town scenes). Which shouldn't be too bad, because I'm going pretty minimalist in descriptions at this point.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Agitation and Writing

I've come to the conclusion that I just can't write when I'm agitated, and I don't think it matters if I know why I'm agitated. All I'll say is that I was linked to by another blog/website ("But you've been recognized!" you might say) for something I posted on an agent's blog.

BTW, it's a silly remark, and why this particular blog/website chose to concentrate on the P.S. appended to the main part of my post...I have no idea. I'll just leave it there, because I need to get on with my life, life's too short, yadda yadda yadda.

After finishing my writing yesterday - about 500 words - I looked it over and decided it was total dreck. I mean, it doesn't impart anything - doesn't advance the plot, doesn't bring up anything the reader needs to know...nothing. I basically have Jackie working out (literally; she's doing a step routine) just so she can get past the point that she acted like a wimpy female.

Well, boo hoo for Jackie, and ::snore:: says the reader, who puts the story down and never picks it up again! The problem is that this goes on for 500 words, which is about 450 words too long. Even worse, I have Diego dropping her off at her apartment, and then tell the reader later on they had a talk. Bleh. I think dialogue might be needed at the beginning of this chapter (number 10) rather than having her just say she talked to Diego and told him to shove off. (Heh heh. Boy, can you tell I still have some anger? Whew. That other blog stuff really got further under my skin than I thought.)

I digress. I know I'm supposed to be in the "just-get-the-damned-story-down" part, but I know it'll gnaw at me until I wipe it out and get back to my outline. That's another thing: I went completely off my index cards yesterday. That in itself isn't necessarily bad; I did that earlier in the story, and I'm keeping that because it furthers the story, and it sounds like it would fit in for my whole idea with this thing.

I can even keep stuff that's mostly dreck, which is what I'm going to do with Chapter 4; I'll siphon off bits and put those good bits in other chapters, junking the rest. However, the stuff yesterday is so lame, most, if not all, of it is headed for the techno trash heap.

Enough with the whiny stuff - time for something positive. I've decided to change the locale of my story. As much as I love New York City (and I do), I don't frequent its streets all that often to have any sort of familiarity with them or its denizens; besides, I can see myself mucking it up, by having a car traveling down a one-way street the wrong way...can you say faux pau? Sure, I knew you could. ;-)

So I'm going to set it in the town I grew up. It's not a small town, by any means; at last count, there were 50,000 people living there. Not only am I more familiar with it (and can visit it a lot easier than NYC), but things I've been reading in cyberspace hint that NYC is overdone; agents and publishers are looking for other venues.

Which, of course, necessitates a change in story title (and if this thing ever gets to a publisher, they'll probably change it anyway, so I might as well go with something I like right now). I was thinking about it in the shower this morning, thinking about how a back blurb might describe this story.

Crossing Paths. Not terribly exciting, but then "Cats of Manhattan" wasn't exactly setting the world on fire. ;-) However, my silly, overprocessing brain got to thinking: Jackie crosses paths with a demonic cat, with Diego, with Linnea (that's the one who becomes/channels Bastet - read Egyptian mythology if you don't know who Bastet is), and with the nuts and weirdos in her family, those who live on her floor, and those she works with (although not too much where that's concerned).

Plus, she's at a crossroads in her life. She's divorced; her lovelife is nowhere; her career is boring her to death; and her health insurance (COBRA) is about to run out. All these things happening, thanks to that damned cat! ;-)

Anyway, that's what I'm doing, and I'm sticking to it. For now. No, really, I'm sticking to that (I've even written down on my index cards where I started the change over to the other town, so I'll know where I'll have to redo NYC scenes to the town scenes). Which shouldn't be too bad, because I'm going pretty minimalist in descriptions at this point.

Don't give up - keep writing!

Writing, Writing, and More Writing

Despite being busy late today, I managed to write about 880 words today, and finished the first half or so of Chapter 9. So far, I've tallied about 21,500 words of this story. I'm not sure how many words or chapters there will be--but it'll be enough to tell the story. :-)

As for getting it done, getting it to the point where I won't be making any more revisions--well, this is the rough draft, and I want to go through at least two revisions (more likely, three) before deciding to offer it up for critiquing. (I'm going to go with another online crit group, not because the one I'm with is bad, but I feel like a cheapskate at the moment, heh heh.) But all that's down the road, because there's no way in hell I'd offer up a first draft for critting.

Don't give up--keep writing!

Writing, Writing, and More Writing

Despite being busy late today, I managed to write about 880 words today, and finished the first half or so of Chapter 9. So far, I've tallied about 21,500 words of this story. I'm not sure how many words or chapters there will be--but it'll be enough to tell the story. :-)

As for getting it done, getting it to the point where I won't be making any more revisions--well, this is the rough draft, and I want to go through at least two revisions (more likely, three) before deciding to offer it up for critiquing. (I'm going to go with another online crit group, not because the one I'm with is bad, but I feel like a cheapskate at the moment, heh heh.) But all that's down the road, because there's no way in hell I'd offer up a first draft for critting.

Don't give up--keep writing!

Oh, IILAA, You Make Me Ill

I blogged about the International Independent Literary Association last Friday, and it looks like the fit has hit the shan. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Apparently, a lot of writers and writing boards had quite a few Curly yuks at this lame excuse for a "literary" association/club/whine pit/whatever. The Myst graphics, the bad grammer, and the now-infamous "be a retainer" actually gave me a good laugh when I wasn't feeling all that well on Friday.

But then this morning dawned, and I found the main page has been reduced to: "Hello there! I am currently working on the site....... Thanks for visiting!"

May it forever rest in pieces.

Oh, IILAA, You Make Me Ill

I blogged about the International Independent Literary Association last Friday, and it looks like the fit has hit the shan. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Apparently, a lot of writers and writing boards had quite a few Curly yuks at this lame excuse for a "literary" association/club/whine pit/whatever. The Myst graphics, the bad grammer, and the now-infamous "be a retainer" actually gave me a good laugh when I wasn't feeling all that well on Friday.

But then this morning dawned, and I found the main page has been reduced to: "Hello there! I am currently working on the site....... Thanks for visiting!"

May it forever rest in pieces.

I Thought Yesterday Would Amount to Nothing

That is, as far as my writing is concerned. But I did the EFT thing, and, yet again, the words flowed from my nimble fingers. Sure, some of it's dreck, but that didn't deter me, at least not during this, the get-the-general-idea-down phase.

I finished Chapter 8 with about 2,200 words (give or take a few)! Today, meh. I'm not sure I'll be writing anything today. I had a lot to do this morning during this day job of mine, and now I'm just waiting for my boss to leave before I begin anything. That's so he doesn't interrupt me. :-)

Anyway, I wonder if I've come down with something. I feel a little washed out, so maybe there are some germs circulatin' in this here air on this here floor. I overheard the other day two or three people saying something about their sinuses; a woman that works with them was at home, dealing with her sinus problems.

I've had sinus problems for a good portion of my life, but I can count on one hand (no, trust me, I can do that) the number of times where it was so severe I couldn't function beyond lying on couch with my eyes shut. It's akin to getting migraines, where you have to lie down in a dark room for several hours. It's agony, like someone continually hitting you between the eyes or on either sides of the nose with an aluminum bat.

Fortunately, my sinuses are in decent shape (they're never perfect, that's for sure), but I know there are ill people around here (as opposed to sick people, of which I am one), coughing and sneezing, etc.

Soon enough, I'll be outta here and back home. So, meh, again.

Check This Out...and Have a Good Laugh

If you checked out Absolute Write's boards or Miss Snark, you'll know about this one: the International Independent Literary Association. Eee hee hee hee. Most of these jokers that purport to be agents (HAH!) are on Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agencies List.

Although the graphics on the site remind me of the computer game Myst (that's the first thing I thought of when I went to the site), the background color is garish, and the writing...well, go check it out in the link above.

I don't have time to deconstruct most of what's there but suffice to say: If an "agent" says you have to pay something up front (a reading fee, for example) or tells you you must get your manuscript "professionally edited" (and aren't they nice, providing you with a specific person/company that'll do that for you?)--RUN AWAY! This is not what an agent does. An agent works on commission; why should they try to sell your manuscript if they get USD$100 up front or whatever? As for professionally edited...hell's bells, what do you think editors at publishing companies do (and, yes, agents will ask for edits up front, but they'll reject your baby outright if they think it needs a major overhaul). Contrary to what scam agents tell you, editors at publishing houses do edit.

Want a primer on how the publishing biz works? Go to the Absolute Write boards and check out the thread, "How Publishing Really Works." It's a real eye opener.

As always, don't give up--keep writing!

I Thought Yesterday Would Amount to Nothing

That is, as far as my writing is concerned. But I did the EFT thing, and, yet again, the words flowed from my nimble fingers. Sure, some of it's dreck, but that didn't deter me, at least not during this, the get-the-general-idea-down phase.

I finished Chapter 8 with about 2,200 words (give or take a few)! Today, meh. I'm not sure I'll be writing anything today. I had a lot to do this morning during this day job of mine, and now I'm just waiting for my boss to leave before I begin anything. That's so he doesn't interrupt me. :-)

Anyway, I wonder if I've come down with something. I feel a little washed out, so maybe there are some germs circulatin' in this here air on this here floor. I overheard the other day two or three people saying something about their sinuses; a woman that works with them was at home, dealing with her sinus problems.

I've had sinus problems for a good portion of my life, but I can count on one hand (no, trust me, I can do that) the number of times where it was so severe I couldn't function beyond lying on couch with my eyes shut. It's akin to getting migraines, where you have to lie down in a dark room for several hours. It's agony, like someone continually hitting you between the eyes or on either sides of the nose with an aluminum bat.

Fortunately, my sinuses are in decent shape (they're never perfect, that's for sure), but I know there are ill people around here (as opposed to sick people, of which I am one), coughing and sneezing, etc.

Soon enough, I'll be outta here and back home. So, meh, again.

Check This Out...and Have a Good Laugh

If you checked out Absolute Write's boards or Miss Snark, you'll know about this one: the International Independent Literary Association. Eee hee hee hee. Most of these jokers that purport to be agents (HAH!) are on Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agencies List.

Although the graphics on the site remind me of the computer game Myst (that's the first thing I thought of when I went to the site), the background color is garish, and the writing...well, go check it out in the link above.

I don't have time to deconstruct most of what's there but suffice to say: If an "agent" says you have to pay something up front (a reading fee, for example) or tells you you must get your manuscript "professionally edited" (and aren't they nice, providing you with a specific person/company that'll do that for you?)--RUN AWAY! This is not what an agent does. An agent works on commission; why should they try to sell your manuscript if they get USD$100 up front or whatever? As for professionally edited...hell's bells, what do you think editors at publishing companies do (and, yes, agents will ask for edits up front, but they'll reject your baby outright if they think it needs a major overhaul). Contrary to what scam agents tell you, editors at publishing houses do edit.

Want a primer on how the publishing biz works? Go to the Absolute Write boards and check out the thread, "How Publishing Really Works." It's a real eye opener.

As always, don't give up--keep writing!

I Swear I Had An Entry Ready to Go Yesterday...

But, unfortunately, I had to use Internet Exploder (yuck) instead of Firefox because Firefox was uncharacteristically giving me errors (and taking too long to start up).

So I had everything prepared and ready to go, then decided to use spellcheck. Just after I spellchecked the entry, Exploder burped...and I lost the entry.

Can you tell I can't stand IE? Well, enough of this rant.

Yesterday was a productive day, as I had a total of 1,100 words (more or less). Yay for me! I did break one of promises, in that I went and revised the first half of Chapter 7. Diego brings Jackie to the Bastet Society's meeting, and she meets up with the head Elder. I felt the head Elder's language was way too flowery, so I revised it into something less over the top. It still has that character's traits--a bit snooty, very educated--but the more understated, even-handed way is much better.

I did the EFT thing, too, and the words just positively flowed. Jackie gets a bit uppity in the second half of Chapter 7, but she has her reasons. But then she regrets it...although I won't tell why. Suffice to say, it's got something to do with the head Elder.

So I've finished the rough draft up to Chapter 7.

I've been jotting down some ideas, and one is the possible change in venue for this story. I haven't committed to it, and it strictly remains in the idea phase. My concern is that I don't have enough familiarity with New York. Plus, there are some agents suggesting that urban fantasy is not as hot as it was a few months ago.

Who's to say?

Anyway, I'm not doing anything about it right now. I'll continue with the New York idea, but I'm considering changing it to where I grew up. It's changed quite a bit, that's for sure. I just have to do some researchin' and soul searchin' before I make any major revisions, and that's not going to happen in the rough draft.

And with the index card system, it should be easier to find those spots that will need a'changin'.

Something Fun

I was working on another work in progress prior to this one, but I put it aside because I couldn't figure out where to take the story. Bah. I may resurrect it some point, but if I do, I'm definitely using the index cards--I'll be able to brainstorm some ideas ahead of time, instead of waiting until I'm in revision mode to say, "D'oh. Nowhere to go."

Deciding it would be weird and fun, I decided to send the first 150 words of that particular work to see if it had any sort of merit--or at least, some sort of reaction. So I sent it to Evil Editor's blog.

The result? A hilarious continuation (a bunch of words that "continues" the story past the 150 words submitted), and a couple of posters who actually said they'd read more.

Evil Editor decided to gather all these 150 words and continuations into a book (self pubbed, of course), and offer it to his minions (mwahaha), and whomever else stumbled onto his blog. I preordered it today (it's only $11 including shipping), so now I can show my hubby and his sister that I have indeed arrived, er, I think.

It'll be a lot of fun, even though I'll have to wait about 4-6 weeks for it to arrive.

Don't give up - keep writing!

I Swear I Had An Entry Ready to Go Yesterday...

But, unfortunately, I had to use Internet Exploder (yuck) instead of Firefox because Firefox was uncharacteristically giving me errors (and taking too long to start up).

So I had everything prepared and ready to go, then decided to use spellcheck. Just after I spellchecked the entry, Exploder burped...and I lost the entry.

Can you tell I can't stand IE? Well, enough of this rant.

Yesterday was a productive day, as I had a total of 1,100 words (more or less). Yay for me! I did break one of promises, in that I went and revised the first half of Chapter 7. Diego brings Jackie to the Bastet Society's meeting, and she meets up with the head Elder. I felt the head Elder's language was way too flowery, so I revised it into something less over the top. It still has that character's traits--a bit snooty, very educated--but the more understated, even-handed way is much better.

I did the EFT thing, too, and the words just positively flowed. Jackie gets a bit uppity in the second half of Chapter 7, but she has her reasons. But then she regrets it...although I won't tell why. Suffice to say, it's got something to do with the head Elder.

So I've finished the rough draft up to Chapter 7.

I've been jotting down some ideas, and one is the possible change in venue for this story. I haven't committed to it, and it strictly remains in the idea phase. My concern is that I don't have enough familiarity with New York. Plus, there are some agents suggesting that urban fantasy is not as hot as it was a few months ago.

Who's to say?

Anyway, I'm not doing anything about it right now. I'll continue with the New York idea, but I'm considering changing it to where I grew up. It's changed quite a bit, that's for sure. I just have to do some researchin' and soul searchin' before I make any major revisions, and that's not going to happen in the rough draft.

And with the index card system, it should be easier to find those spots that will need a'changin'.

Something Fun

I was working on another work in progress prior to this one, but I put it aside because I couldn't figure out where to take the story. Bah. I may resurrect it some point, but if I do, I'm definitely using the index cards--I'll be able to brainstorm some ideas ahead of time, instead of waiting until I'm in revision mode to say, "D'oh. Nowhere to go."

Deciding it would be weird and fun, I decided to send the first 150 words of that particular work to see if it had any sort of merit--or at least, some sort of reaction. So I sent it to Evil Editor's blog.

The result? A hilarious continuation (a bunch of words that "continues" the story past the 150 words submitted), and a couple of posters who actually said they'd read more.

Evil Editor decided to gather all these 150 words and continuations into a book (self pubbed, of course), and offer it to his minions (mwahaha), and whomever else stumbled onto his blog. I preordered it today (it's only $11 including shipping), so now I can show my hubby and his sister that I have indeed arrived, er, I think.

It'll be a lot of fun, even though I'll have to wait about 4-6 weeks for it to arrive.

Don't give up - keep writing!

EFT to the Rescue Again!

I haven't written anything the last few days; I was going to do something over the weekend, but taking a nap on Saturday sounded like the right thing to do :-), and on Sunday, I was more concerned about the Giants game (yippee - they beat Atlanta in Atlanta!) and, well, had some fun with my hubby, too...

Anyway, yesterday was a bad day at work. I stayed until 6:30, making copies and typing, trying to get packages of these forms called 5500s into shape. My boss told me to just give him the packages, that he would go to the post office to get the certified receipts stamped.

He made it just in time.

In a prior post, I extolled the virtues of Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, but specifically for writers. (Okay, I don't think I did it in a heavy-handed way, but I don't like salespeople who sledgehammer pitches at you, so why should I?) It's blechy here in the Northeast, with the rain pouring, so my motivation wasn't there.

Enter EFT. I did a round of this one script that told me it was okay to set aside time to write. And, once again, the floodgates opened: I wrote 1,200 words to finish Chapter 6! Yahoo!

The next chapter will show Diego taking Jackie to the Bastet Society, where she'll learn what sort of curse is flowing through her veins, along with a few other things...Bastet is the Egyptian protectress of cats. Figures, right, that ancient Egypt would have something like that?

BTW, lest anyone who thinks that outlining is akin to having your hands tied--think again. I've dumped about four cards outright and redone quite a few. Heck, I needed to redo the one for the scene that just wrapped Chapter 6. That's the beauty of this system. Although I have a basic idea of where I want the story to go, I'm not locked into anything if an "aha!" moment strikes me. What's also nice is if I have to look for something, I don't have to get bogged down in all the electronic words to find it; I can look to the cards and find any problem spots or whatever much more quickly.

Of course, it helps if you update the cards when you've made changes.

Don't give up--keep writing!

EFT to the Rescue Again!

I haven't written anything the last few days; I was going to do something over the weekend, but taking a nap on Saturday sounded like the right thing to do :-), and on Sunday, I was more concerned about the Giants game (yippee - they beat Atlanta in Atlanta!) and, well, had some fun with my hubby, too...

Anyway, yesterday was a bad day at work. I stayed until 6:30, making copies and typing, trying to get packages of these forms called 5500s into shape. My boss told me to just give him the packages, that he would go to the post office to get the certified receipts stamped.

He made it just in time.

In a prior post, I extolled the virtues of Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT, but specifically for writers. (Okay, I don't think I did it in a heavy-handed way, but I don't like salespeople who sledgehammer pitches at you, so why should I?) It's blechy here in the Northeast, with the rain pouring, so my motivation wasn't there.

Enter EFT. I did a round of this one script that told me it was okay to set aside time to write. And, once again, the floodgates opened: I wrote 1,200 words to finish Chapter 6! Yahoo!

The next chapter will show Diego taking Jackie to the Bastet Society, where she'll learn what sort of curse is flowing through her veins, along with a few other things...Bastet is the Egyptian protectress of cats. Figures, right, that ancient Egypt would have something like that?

BTW, lest anyone who thinks that outlining is akin to having your hands tied--think again. I've dumped about four cards outright and redone quite a few. Heck, I needed to redo the one for the scene that just wrapped Chapter 6. That's the beauty of this system. Although I have a basic idea of where I want the story to go, I'm not locked into anything if an "aha!" moment strikes me. What's also nice is if I have to look for something, I don't have to get bogged down in all the electronic words to find it; I can look to the cards and find any problem spots or whatever much more quickly.

Of course, it helps if you update the cards when you've made changes.

Don't give up--keep writing!

Just a Quick One Today

...and I'm not talking about sex either (as it's that time of the month, unfortunately).

Anyway, I've just finished Chapter 4. We meet Jackie's sister (on Jackie's cell phone), and Jackie whips some dude after she's hung up on her sister. What Jackie can't understand is why the noise of Manhattan didn't get to her, as she figured it would.

She doesn't know how to control her sharpened senses as yet (if she ever will), but it seems to her she's managed to do it without any thought to it...

I've also pointed her to the office building where she works, where she will bump into her ex, Danny Millar (surname is a working name at this point). She's concerned that if her senses are noticed by Danny, he'll bring up some things she doesn't want to discuss; when she wearied of it was when she decided to get a divorce.

But she still cares for him, because he's a decent guy otherwise.

No writerly advice today, although I cranked out a little over 1,000 words today. Yay me!

Don't give up - keep writing!

Just a Quick One Today

...and I'm not talking about sex either (as it's that time of the month, unfortunately).

Anyway, I've just finished Chapter 4. We meet Jackie's sister (on Jackie's cell phone), and Jackie whips some dude after she's hung up on her sister. What Jackie can't understand is why the noise of Manhattan didn't get to her, as she figured it would.

She doesn't know how to control her sharpened senses as yet (if she ever will), but it seems to her she's managed to do it without any thought to it...

I've also pointed her to the office building where she works, where she will bump into her ex, Danny Millar (surname is a working name at this point). She's concerned that if her senses are noticed by Danny, he'll bring up some things she doesn't want to discuss; when she wearied of it was when she decided to get a divorce.

But she still cares for him, because he's a decent guy otherwise.

No writerly advice today, although I cranked out a little over 1,000 words today. Yay me!

Don't give up - keep writing!

Two Characters With Opposing Scripts

I finished the first part of Chapter 4 today - 1,500 words! Yay, me!

I introduced two minor characters, one a woman living next door to Jackie's mother, the other a nutty neighbor of Jackie's. This one's interesting, in that Jackie thinks she's faking her nuttiness; she's had some experience with that sort of stuff. But the really interesting thing is that this neighbor, Trish, senses something's not quite right with Jackie; she touches Jackie's scratched arm, and Jackie jerks that arm back.

So Trish has some sort of psychic ability. But it's wrapped inside that nutty act she's pulling (which no one else on the floor thinks is an act at all).

She'll be an important character later on, but I wanted to introduce her here because of that psychic ability.

But Jackie can't wait any longer; she's off to the office for a meeting that she only remembered a few minutes before. Will she make it to the office? Tune in next time...ack, no, it's not as melodramatic as a soap opera (at least, I don't think so).

I hope to do a little writing over this weekend, as there aren't any festivals or anything else like that this weekend.

About Those Characters

I talked about that Sol Stein book that I'm reading, Stein on Writing. I was struck, the other day, by something he said about creating tension or conflict between two characters:

The secret of creating conflict in scenes you write is to give your characters different scripts. - Chapter 7, The Actor's Studio Method, pg. 92 [italics his]

Why did that resonate with me? I'm not sure, other than that this makes a lot of sense to me. Mr. Stein bases this on something he did with director Elia Kazan at the Actor's Studio (Marilyn Monroe went there to study, as did others; you ever hear of method acting?). Mr. Kazan called Mr. Stein and a woman from the audience, keeping them separate. Mr. Kazan told Mr. Stein one thing about his character, and then told the woman something else about her character; neither knew what the other was told.

Mr. Stein states, "Within seconds we were quarreling, our voices raised." [Page 91] They were having at each other because Mr. Kazan gave them different scripts--and the audience loved it!

You can do the same with any two characters in a scene. Make the two scripts different, at odds with each other. If you bring in another character, make her script different from the other two.

That's what's been buzzing in my head. I don't think I've yet accomplished that in my rough draft, but then again, my original writing is pretty sparse. But the idea is in my brain, and should I need to, I can consult the book.

Although Mr. Stein can be condescending toward genre writers in this book, I've cut him a huge break, as the techniques and ideas he gives out sound spot on.

Besides, he's a published novelist and playwright many times over. How can I possibly be snooty about his obvious success?

Don't give up - keep writing!

Two Characters With Opposing Scripts

I finished the first part of Chapter 4 today - 1,500 words! Yay, me!

I introduced two minor characters, one a woman living next door to Jackie's mother, the other a nutty neighbor of Jackie's. This one's interesting, in that Jackie thinks she's faking her nuttiness; she's had some experience with that sort of stuff. But the really interesting thing is that this neighbor, Trish, senses something's not quite right with Jackie; she touches Jackie's scratched arm, and Jackie jerks that arm back.

So Trish has some sort of psychic ability. But it's wrapped inside that nutty act she's pulling (which no one else on the floor thinks is an act at all).

She'll be an important character later on, but I wanted to introduce her here because of that psychic ability.

But Jackie can't wait any longer; she's off to the office for a meeting that she only remembered a few minutes before. Will she make it to the office? Tune in next time...ack, no, it's not as melodramatic as a soap opera (at least, I don't think so).

I hope to do a little writing over this weekend, as there aren't any festivals or anything else like that this weekend.

About Those Characters

I talked about that Sol Stein book that I'm reading, Stein on Writing. I was struck, the other day, by something he said about creating tension or conflict between two characters:

The secret of creating conflict in scenes you write is to give your characters different scripts. - Chapter 7, The Actor's Studio Method, pg. 92 [italics his]

Why did that resonate with me? I'm not sure, other than that this makes a lot of sense to me. Mr. Stein bases this on something he did with director Elia Kazan at the Actor's Studio (Marilyn Monroe went there to study, as did others; you ever hear of method acting?). Mr. Kazan called Mr. Stein and a woman from the audience, keeping them separate. Mr. Kazan told Mr. Stein one thing about his character, and then told the woman something else about her character; neither knew what the other was told.

Mr. Stein states, "Within seconds we were quarreling, our voices raised." [Page 91] They were having at each other because Mr. Kazan gave them different scripts--and the audience loved it!

You can do the same with any two characters in a scene. Make the two scripts different, at odds with each other. If you bring in another character, make her script different from the other two.

That's what's been buzzing in my head. I don't think I've yet accomplished that in my rough draft, but then again, my original writing is pretty sparse. But the idea is in my brain, and should I need to, I can consult the book.

Although Mr. Stein can be condescending toward genre writers in this book, I've cut him a huge break, as the techniques and ideas he gives out sound spot on.

Besides, he's a published novelist and playwright many times over. How can I possibly be snooty about his obvious success?

Don't give up - keep writing!