Red Seas Under Red Skies--the review

I just finished Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch last night. I have mixed feelings. I loved loved loved The Lies of Locke Lamora so much that I wanted to love this one, too. But ... I didn't love it. I don't know yet if I even liked it. The book follows the same format of the first in that the story is broken up by bits of backstory. As to the actual story ... well. To me it felt disjointed and mish-mash, almost as if Lynch took ideas for two books and smashed them into one. There's lots of trust angst between the two main characters that saddened me. Bottom line: I love the characters and the world, but the plot left me a little cold. I had to force myself to finish it. I have complete faith the next book will be better.

I attribute it to Sophomore Slump. You write and work and polish a book in the hopes it'll get published without a whole lot of though into what comes after. Then blammo! Your book is picked up and they love it so much they want you to write more. Oh, and by the way, it's due in six months. Lots of pressure. Here's hoping that this time next year I'm under such pressure myself.

Next off the To Be Read pile: Cybermancy by Kelly "Y" McCullough.

Slap Countdown

Slap Countdown

Writer's Symposium

The group of authors that present the "Writer's Symposium" programming track at Gen Con Indy have made a blog and an Ezine. I've been invited to be a part of both. Rock! I suppose this means I'm making headway. Anyhoo, go on over to writerssymposium.blogspot.com to check out the blog. It's still really new, but I think once folks get warmed up it'll be awesome.

On the writing front, I've gotten good feedback for the ghost story I submitted for the Blue Kingdoms: Shades and Specters anthology. One of the editors asked if I'd change the title, and I was more than happy to oblige. I suck at titles, and the one I picked sort of fit the story but not as well as it could have. Ken actually thought up the new title, "Accidental Vengence." I love it. Hopefully that antho will be available for order in a few weeks. I'll post a picture of the cover once I have it.

Working on the mundane SF short. It's ... stalled. Not because I don't know what happens next, or I'm struggling with tone, or anything like that. I'm anxious to get back my beta-reader's input on Stormy Weather so I can polish that up and send it out to the world. I know, I know ... back to the grindstone and all that. Can't stop writing new stuff while I wait on the old stuff. I have tomorrow off work so it's nothing but writing and laundry for me. Maybe I need to take the laptop for a field trip and write in a coffee shop or something. The change of scenery might be just what the doctor ordered.

Calendar says October 8th ...

Yeah, today it was like 90 degrees. Kelly no likey. I want my fall weather, dammit. I want 65 degrees, red-and-orange trees, burnt-leaf smell hanging in the air, spiced cider, and hay rides. Where's the love?

On a completely different topic, if you haven't checked out "Chuck" on NBC, do so immediately. It's on right before Heroes; they also rerun the episodes on USA on Saturdays, I believe. Chuck is a geeky-cute computer guy whose brain accidently gets uploaded with all the CIA, NSA, and FBI secrets. While the action is sometimes a little TV-cheesy, the writing is fun and the characters are great. The casting dudes definitely picked great actors. Two thumbs up.

For your enjoyment

The perfect evening

Enjoy awesome, sunshine-y late afternoon
Perform hard cycling workout
Sing along with husband to a kick-ass song on the radio during drive home
Bake perfect batch of chocolate-chip walnut cookies
Watch Cubbies play their first game of the post-season

Mix all ingredients together in the stated order.

I'm tryin' to breathe here, people.

I gave my pseudo-final draft of Stormy Weather to my fantastic non-writer beta reader on Friday night. Hopefully he'll get back to me in a week or so with his comments. Then it's the for-real final polish and then off to agent-land. In the meantime I should really work on agent letters and such today, start getting packets ready with SASE's and all that. You know, busy work that will take my mind off my rejection angst.

Soon, kids. Soon.

Book club

So I hosted book club this past Monday. The hostess picks the book and in my bid for shameless self-promotion I picked Pandora's Closet. I've known for the past year that I was going to make the book club read a fantasy book, and since my turn came around now, I figured, why not? It actually turned out well. Most of the ladies read about half the stories; almost all of them read a page or two of each. A few stories prompted good discussion. I have to say that hearing what eight regular readers thought of "Cake and Candy" was incredible. It drove home the point that it doesn't matter what the author intends; the reader is going to take from a story what the reader wants to take. A reader brings their own experiences to a story and uses those experiences to take meaning from what they've read. Everyone said they liked it--that's not reliable though, because I don't think anyone would have told me if they didn't--but they were all so passionate about what they took the story to mean that I believed them. It was almost as though we were discussing a stranger's book that we all liked and related to. I recommend the experience to anyone. Was I nervous before hand? Sure. Am I glad I did it? Absolutely.

Progress

Just look at that word-count meter! Woot! I've been working like a demon on Stormy Weather and it's looking pretty decent. I'm letting my fabulous non-writer reader get his hands on it Friday. I can't wait to see what he has to say. He always has great insights and spot-on advice and I know he'll help me bring this puppy home. I'd really like to send it out to agents by October 15th. Okay, so that's like a month past my original deadline but it's not bad considering said deadline was completely arbitrary. And it's before WFC, which is a plus.

This weekend I'll work on the mundane SF story. After Stormy Weather hits the public I'll get to work on the AI and teen witch outlines. If I've learned anything from SW it's that I need an outline, the more specific the better. More work at the front end means less angst on the back end. I'd like to have detailed outlines on both of them hammered out by the end of the year. Preferably by December so I can start putting those bad boys on paper. Fingers crossed!

I feel like Jodi Meadows

Yesterday I came up with a new idea for a book. Or, more precisely, a shadow of an idea for a book. A YA contemporary murder mystery/fantasy set in an all-girl's school. Or maybe not that last bit. I dunno quite yet. It will require a little bit of research into witchcraft, I think. I picture the feeling as a little goth and a little creepy.

This is jostling for time with the AI/autism idea that's been sprouting roots. That one is firmly an adult novel with lots of political and emotional undertones. Lots of research for that, too.

Do I have an outline for either of these? Of course not, silly. That comes after the mundane sf short. And the pile of research.

I'm nearly giddy. Being excited about two new book ideas rocks!

Happy Anniversary

So me and Ken celebrated 9 years of marriage last night. Sheesh. I've known him for 12 1/2 years, and it simultaneously feels like I just met him and I've known him forever. Where does the time frickin' go? We had a wonderful dinner, rented The Illusionist, and uh ... lounged. Ken got me a new journal and journal case; I got him some new cologne. good day.

I'm hosting bookclub next Monday night. This means I'll spend Sunday cleaning and cooking. I'm actually looking forward to that, in a sick and twisted way. Right now I'm thinking brownies and spinach-artichoke dip. I need a few other things, too. And wine. Mmmm, wine.

RIP

James Rigney, JR (aka Robert Jordan) died at 2:45 p.m. on September the 16th. I'm a little out of sorts. While I've been writing off and on since grade school, one could say that reading RJ's Wheel of Time series pushed me over the edge of "wannabe-someday writer" to "serious-someday writer." Weather or not you liked his books, his impact on the industry is undeniable. He will be missed.

distractions II

Sunday: Mother-in-law dropped in for an impromtu visit

Monday: Cubs game at Wrigley

Tuesday: finish laundry and work out to schlep off food from the past week


Dear sweet baby Jesus, can I please get back to writing?!

distractions

Two of my bestest friends are in town from L.A. for a long weekend. (See "Bridget and Jimmy" over on the blogroll? Yeah, them.) Lots of socializing but not much writing has been done over the past few days. Me, Ken, Bridget and Jimmy had breakfast food for dinner Thursday night. Bridget, me, and two of our girlfriends had dinner and shopped on Friday night, and last night all of us, plus spouses, attended a mutual friend's wedding. The wedding was in an outdoor garden; the weather was gorgeous. The bride looked beautiful, the groom looked a little shaky, and the service was simple and funny and touching. Good times, but damn if the word-meter hasn't moved. Today I have two goals: get laundry done and edit three more chapters of Stormy Weather. This is actually a fairly tall order, seeing as how I haven't really done laundry for a few weeks. I will prevail, however.

After the edits, the manuscript will head out to a few non-writer readers. A final polish, then it's off to the agents. Then I'll work on a new short story before I start my new novel outline. Everything according to plan ... mawahaahaa.

I'm reading Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch right now. I'm not that far into it, but so far it's good. Never fear, I'll review it when I'm done.

The Lemon Tree

Today I had my first bona-fide book signing. I left the house this morning with around 40 books and came home with 4. That's right, there's a whole lotta Swails verbiage floating around the world. I felt humbled and awed by the amount of support I got from my hometown homies. People whom I hadn't seen in years came out to buy a book, get it signed, and score a hug. I'm still a little giddy and high from the experience. I will say this, though: I seriously have to work on my book-signing skillz. Oh, sure, I can write my name and all that, but trying to come up with something witty for a stranger is tough. It's even hard for family! I have so much respect now for authors who talk with you for 6.3 seconds and then sign something in your book that is perfect.

This is, of course, assuming I sell anything ever again.

On that front, I'm getting the urge to write a short story. You know the AI/autism business I've blathered about recently? Interzone has a "mundane SF" issue coming up and I'm going to take a crack at it. It'd be a nice way to get myself aquainted with some characters, I think. Deadline 10-31-07. Plenty of time, especially since I'm finishing SW before I start on it.

A conversation overheard

Where: in the gym lobby
When: around 6:40 p.m.
Who: two college-aged women

Tall lanky sorority girl: Oh my god! How are you?
Short brunette sorority girl: Oh my god, I'm so tired.
TLSG: Oh my god, me too. I just got out of class--
SBSG: I usually have class now but it let out early.
TLSG: That's cool. You get to work out, at least.
SBSG: I totally need it. Hey, I talked to Jane last night.
TLSG: Oh my god. Is she still in New York?
SBSG: She's not in New York; Brad is. She's in New Jersey.
TLSG: But she's still with him, right?
SBSG: They're on "a break." Right now she's with this other guy.
TLSG: Oh my god, Jane and Brad broke up?! Why?
SBSG: I dunno. I think they're gonna get married eventually, but they need to go out with other people to realize no one else can compare.
TLSG: They should totally marry. They're kids would be hot.
SBSG: Totally.
TLSG: But who's she seeing now?
SBSG: This older guy ... actually, he's her boss.
TLSG: Oh my god! So, he's like, old.
SBSG: Well, not old. He's like 30 or something.
TLSG: *silence*
SBSG: Okay, he's old.
Both: laugh hysterically.


It should be noted that no homicides were committed at the gym or its environs last night.

Progress

Okay. No new rejections to report, but take a look at that progress bar. Woot! I've added lots of fleshy bits to the first three chapters and will start on the fourth tomorrow. I've read a few agent websites and blogs in preparation for the query process. Ahh! I'm nervous about the whole business, but oddly enough, writing seems to take the edge off it. Still, I would really like to not fail this time.

I would also like to make another sale, but that's a post for another day.

Now, I'm tired and hungry. A snack, a book, and a bed are in my immediate future.

British curses are cool

Watched Hot Fuzz tonight with Ken. I'll have to watch it a few more times to be sure, but it could be my New Favorite Movie. Good guys win, bad guys lose, there's a cool plot, it's funny, and there's great cursing with british accents to boot. What's not to love? Get thee to a video store and rent it forthwith.

On the writing front, I've thought of a few more teen ansty/plotty scenes to add. After I do that, I need to go through the draft, fill in more flava, flesh out a few plot points ... and then I'll be dangerously close to being done, I think. Dear sweet Jesus, I could actually query agents with this thing soon. I find myself thinking "No, no, it's not ready yet, I just need to do this... and this ... and this over here needs work..." and while all that might be true, at some point it's going to be less about polishing the manuscript and more about my rejection angst. Can't fail if you don't try and all that. I've been working on this book off and on for two years (I first thought of the idea at WFC 2005), doing hardcore writing for the better part of this year, and it would royally suck if it got nowhere. Sure, I've had positive feedback from several people ... ah, hell. I'm getting off the negative train right now. I'm gonna finish Stormy Weather, I'm gonna query dozens of agents, they're gonna fight over me, and one of them's gonna sell this puppy.

And then the question will be: what to write next? I had thought about going back to my "trunk trilogy," but now I think I'll leave those sleeping dogs lie. I'll work on some new short stories to throw out into circulation and the AI/autism thriller outline. Maybe another YA novel outline or something ... I dunno.

business as usual

Haven't gotten too much writing done lately. Ken and I rented a bunch of movies though, two of which I hadn't seen before, so at least the time was used somewhat productively. Movies are a form of story-telling, dammit. I can usually skip the writer-guilt if I'm watching a movie or reading a book. Surfing TMZ.com on the web ... not so much.

The Fountain: This had Hugh Jackman and Rachel Wiesz (better known as the X-Men dude and the chick from The Mummy.) Good, good, movie. Fucked-up and surreal and existental and cerebral. This is not a movie to go to the bathroom or refill your popcorn during. I can't even describe it. I can say that I bawled like a baby during one part. Great performances.

The Good Shepard: This is with Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and Robert DeNiro about the beginning of the CIA. I liked it. It was subtle, it moved back and forth in time, and had a few chaste sex scenes to boot. Great performances, too. Matt Damon is really coming into his own as an actor now.

And now I can't procrastinate any longer. WIP, here I come.

Romantic Times review

This is probably copyright infringement or some such nonsense, but if I mention this review ran in Romantic Times, and provided this link, they'll probably not issue a cease-and-desist, right? I still feel a little glowy when I read it.

Gen Con 2007: Con report

Back from Indy. All the suitcases and such are in the house (but not unpacked), the cats are fed and watered, the mail has been sorted, and the comfy clothes have been donned. It is officially time for the report.

Wednesday
Ken and I arrived in Indy around noon-ish only to discover that Indiana is on EDT and not CDT. This change happened recently; up until a last year, Indiana didn't observe savings time, so during the winter they were an hour ahead of Illinois and the summer they were the same time. After setting our clocks ahead an hour and checking into the hotel, we bummed around the hotel a bit before meeting up with writerly types for dinner. Two of my writer friends (Paul Genesse and Anton Strout) have recently sold their first books, and so our shin-dig was a celebration of sorts, complete with gift bags, beads, and stuffed animals. Fun times. It was actually the first time I had met Anton Strout in person. He's a cool guy with a dry sense of humor that I dig. Anton's gritty urban fantasy drops in 2008. Can't wait to read it! I also met Patrick Rothfuss, whose first book just hit shelves four months ago or something. He's being described as "the next Scott Lynch" because his book is steamrollering the market with its awesomeness. I've not read it yet--in all honesty, I hadn't even heard of it--but I intend to read it shortly. Pat is the most down-to-earth, awesome guy. He looks like a russian dictator and laughs at my jokes, so he's tops in my book. I heart Pat. I also met Kathy Watness and Marc Tassin; they have stories in the Blue Kingdoms anthologies. Funny, nice, good people.
In other news, Elizabeth Vaughn--paranormal romance writer extrodinaire--gave me a copy
of Romantic times Books Reviews. There's a review of Pandora's Closet, and they mention my name. My name! In a magazine! And it's a favorable mention! A PDF copy will be forthcoming. Needless to say, I saw the review, acted cool for about two seconds, then bawled like a baby. I can't even describe the feeling. I thought holding the book in my hands made it real, but I was wrong; seeing the evidence that the book existed for other people, for strangers, really drove it home. I'm published, baby. I managed to pull myself together and not look at the magazine for the rest of the night.

Thursday
This was the actual first day of the convention. I ate lunch with a group of hometown friends. During the meal, one of them presented the group with toy riding horses (you know, the kind with the stick you straddle to "ride" it), "DORK" t-shirts, and little foam swords and shields. Total geek-fest fun. The group of us did True Dungeon, which is sort of a real-life D&D game. It was fun but overpriced; I probably won't do it again. After, I ate dinner, attended a few readings and then fell into bed.

Friday
This was my busiest day--after I left the hotel at around 10:00 a.m. I didn't return until almost midnight. I attended writing seminars, played poker, and ate dinner with Ken, Brad Beaulieu and Paul Genesse. After the evening readings I attended a round-robin reading of "Eye of Argon." Follow the link if you dare. It's really, really, bad and really, really fun to read out loud. We sat in a circle and passed around a printed copy of the story, reading out loud until we either laughed twice or read two pages. Next year we'll probably do a "laugh once or one page" rule; interpretive dance was also suggested. My god, it's horrific. But so much fun. And talk about an ego boost for a writer!

Saturday
I spent most of Saturday being nervous about my reading Saturday night. I attended a few seminars but most of the afternoon I surfed the Internet and practiced reading "Cake and Candy" out loud. I also bought a pair a dangle amber earrings to wear. I arrived for my reading early, interrupting a general writer Q and A panel. Apparently the audience hadn't been asking too many questions, because as soon as I sat down, Beth Vaughn said, "Hey! Kelly! Got a question?" I pointed to panelist Pat Rothfuss, who was dressed as ... a wizard? but he looked vaguely like a garden gnome... and said, "What's with the hat?" Laughter ensued and took the edge off my nervousness. Pat told me later he appreciated the joke. See? Cool guy. I heart Pat.
Around 15 people attended the reading. I shared a slot with Chris Pierson, who's a great, cool writer/game designer from Boston. I went first, and I actually did pretty well. I had inflictions, I made eye contact, I didn't cry. However, two or three people did tear up and one had to leave the room. I found out later that the flee-er had lost someone close to them in March, so their emotion was less about my writing and more about their own experience. That's how reading and writing is though, isn't it? The reader adds to what the writer has written. Anyway, I feel good that I didn't screw it up and I feel honored that my story touched people. As I joined Ken in the audience to listen to the next group of authors, Ken presented me with a pair of blue dangle earrings. We had seen them when we bought the amber dangles, but I rejected them because they were a bit pricey. Ken went back and bought them because they matched my eyes. I've got the best fucking husband in the world.
After the readings, Ken and I had drinks with Brad and Paul again. After that, Ken and I met up with one of our hometown friends and had more beer and food. Good times. I collapsed into bed at 1:00 a.m.

Sunday
Spent the morning packing and checking out of the hotel while Ken and a friend played a game. I watched a magician/entertainer from New Zealand perform his act in the Convention Center hallway. For his last bit he picked four people from the audience to perform a trick. I was one of them--apparently he had a thing for blondes. Anyway, for this trick, the four audience members had to sit on little camp chairs in a specific formation: each of us faced a different direction; the person behind me had his thighs perpendicular to the small of my back and my thighs were perpendicular to the girl in front of me's back, etc. We laid back, and once we were positioned, we raised our butts and the performer pulled the chairs out from underneath us. And we totally stayed there, like a human tabletop! It wasn't hard, but the kid behind me struggled a bit--he was a fourteen-year-old gamer, after all, and didn't have much in the way of muscle tone--but we stayed that way for probably 45-60 seconds before the dude put the chairs back. Good times. After, I strolled the exhibit hall, said goodbye to writer friends, bought cool but useless toys, and ate out one last time. I felt the need to purge, but other than that, it was a low-key day. Perfect end to the con.


And ... that's all. Tomorrow I have the day off--thank God--and I'm doing laundry and working on Stormy Weather. I haven't written anything since I turned in my ghost story over a week ago, and I'm getting a bit gitchy. During one of the seminars, one of the panelist said, "Plot is like a basketball game" and it totally hit home with me. You know how when teams just trade baskets or one team completely dominates the other, it's a bit boring? But when one team is up and then the other is ahead and then oh! there's a foul and then blammo! there's an injury and damn is this game close, it's much more interesting? Um, that's like plotting a novel. Who knew? SW, prepare yourself for greatness!

bloggin' from Indy

As I type this, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Indy. I've survived my first day of Gen Con and have three more to go. I've shmoozed with writers, dodged goth-girls, and eaten too much food. Detailed con report to follow ... right now I'm almost too tired to type.

Save the F/SF market

Doug Cohen, slush reader for Realms of Fantasy, makes great points here about putting our money where our mouths are concerning the short fiction market. I say, my check's in the mail. Go forth and support the little guys.

Oh, yeah, and one more thing...

Yesterday and today I went to my local booksellers and signed their copies of Pandora's Closet. Watching them slap the "authographed copy" sticker on the front gave me goose bumps. It's finally, really, truly, real.

On the edge of the euphoria, though, is the angst. What if I never sell another story? What if I write books that never get sold? What if a stanger never feels moved by the words I've written? What if a stranger never reads my words, period? What if this is it for me?

Those thoughts chill me, I'm not afraid to admit it. I want this to be a humble beginning, not the end.

I lurv my readers

I've gotten back some truly excellent and awesome critiques from two different people for two different works today. Sean Murphy outdid himself with line edits and story ideas for Stormy Weather, while a non-writer-but-excellent-reader friend of mine gave great character insights for Unnamed Ghost Story. Actually, thanks to his insights, I have a working title of Prevenient Grace, but I having a feeling it will get changed.

That is not for me to worry about tonight, though. One more go-over tomorrow night and PG will get shipped off to the editors. Friday night I'll begin working on SW with a vengence. I'm confident I can add 15,000 words as well as meet my completely arbitrary and self-imposed deadline of September 15th. And then it will be time to release it out into the wild!

Yard Work

So yesterday was Ken's birthday as well as the release date of Pandora's Closet. We both took the day off, and instead of lounging poolside or drinking margaritas, we carted pieces of concrete from our back yard to a rented dumpster in our driveway. Yestereday it was, I dunno, around 95 degrees with maybe a 105 degree heat index. It took two wheelbarrows, a makeshift ramp, and three hours of sweat equity, but we did it. The carnage

Before

and after

and here's the bin

We were able to drag ourselves into town afterwards for dinner, a movie, and a little shopping, so how bad could it have been, right? My shoulders are stiff and my hamstrings feel like I've done about 2000 dead lifts, but otherwise I'm ok. I'm actually not in as much pain as I thought I would be. I slept like a dead person last night so maybe that's why I'm not sore.

Da answers!

Here's the answers to the song meme:

1. All the Wrong Reasons, Nickleback
2. Lose Yourself, Eminem
3. Theme for Young Lovers, Ocean's Eleven soundtrack
4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Green Day
5. Forgiven, Alanis Morrisette
6. Bad Medicine, Bon Jovi
7. You Took the Words, Meat Loaf
8. Son of a Preacher Man, Dusty Springfield
9. Three's Company theme song
10. Take Your Mama, Scissor Sisters

Thanks to all who played!

writing goals

Between yesterday and today, I've written rough drafts of my Stormy Weather blurb and synopsis. They need a lot of work but it feels good to have something down on paper to work with. Next up: writing a press release, searching the 'nets for suitable agents to query, and writing a query letter.

Tomorrow I'm ordering some copies of Pandora's Closet. You know, just that little DAW anthology that has a short story of mine that is released, you know, Tuesday or something.

Go, me.

Another time-waster for your amusement

All right, fine. I give in. Here's a meme I cribbed from Elizabeth Glover. For those of you who read my blogspot and LJ blogs, forgive me; I'm posting this to both.

Set your music player to "shuffle." Take a random lyric from each of the first ten songs to play. The blog readers that guess correctly get a Great Prize!
P.S. Googling the lyric=cheating.
P.P.S. The Great Prize=the satisfaction of being correct. You're gettin' nothin' from me.

As an extra bonus, I'm including a few hints. I think this is hard.

1. You got off every time you got on to me. (Think recent rock album)

2. There's vomit on his sweater already/mom's spaghetti/he's nervous/but on the surface he looks calm and ready. (rap song from a movie)

3. "Please state your name for the record." (think dialogue from movie)

4. My shadow's the only one that walks beside me. (think guy-liner)

5. We all had our reasons to be there/we all had a thing or two to learn/ we all needed something to pray to. (think angry young woman)

6. It'll take more than a shot to get the poison outta me. (think hairband that's still making music)

7. Oh you hold me so close and my knees grow weak. (think 70's singer that had a penchant for looooong operatic songs)

8. Being good isn't always easy/no matter how hard I try. (think movie soundtrack)

9. Come and knock on our door/we've been waiting for you. (think 70's-era theme song)

10. It's a struggle livin' like a good boy oughta/in the summer watchin' all the girls pass by. (Think Elton John sound-alike)

Good luck, gang!

ETA: 2=Eminem "Lose Yourself" and 4=Green Day" Blvd. of Broken Dreams.
Congrats to Sean Murphy!

Go forth and waste your time on the internets ...

You can make yours here. Thanks to Brad B. for the link!

excuse the blond moment

Um. NasFic is August 2-5. This weekend. Not four weekends from now. This means I won't be attending.

I'm completely bummed. Crap!

WFC 2007 or bust

I made the hotel reservations for WFC today. The check for my membership will hit the mailbox on Friday. I'm stoked. It's what, four months away? I can't wait. Until then I have Gen Con Indy and NasFic to distract me. I'm giving a reading at Gen Con; I'm starting to get nervous. I see practice sessions in my future. NasFic is the weekend after Gen Con, and as of today I have to work, but I'm hoping to switch weekends with one of my kind-hearted co-workers in the next day or two. Fingers crossed!

Productivity

It's amazing what a "holy shit, it's due when?" deadline will do for ya. Last night I finished my first draft of my ghost story. 5400 words. The guideline is 4K-6K, so I feel downright prolific. I'll start the edits tomorrow to give it time to digest a bit.

This progress has made me decide that when I'm actively working on a project, I won't read. Basically, I'd like to try writing in big chunks and reading in slightly smaller chunks. Once fall T.V. starts I'll watch T.V. only on the weekends. We'll see how it goes.

Stormy Weather is still out with beta readers, so in the meantime I have a few deadlines for myself:
August 8: Submit Ghost Story (I really need a title.)
August 14: Blurb of SW completed
August 21: Synopsis and cover letter completed
August 28: List of 20 agents to query
September 15: Final draft of SW complete and queries out the door

After SW is done, I'd like to tear apart my trilogy and rebuild it as a stand-alone before tackling the AI/autism outline. Lots of research and reading to do for the AI business; my tentative goal is to have an outline by December 31st. We shall see.

Today I got a rejection for a story that said basically, "Hey, I liked this story all the way until the end." I wonder if I should query that editor with a "Hey, if I re-write the story, would you be interested in giving it another look?" My head says "no, too forward" while my gut says "you never know, give it a shot." I have a few more markets to send the story to before I give up on it, though, so I have some time to think about it. This editor send one of my other stories on to the big-wig editors, so she might go for it ... I dunno.

Confession

You know what? I didn't really like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows all that much. Sure, the last three hundred pages were awesome. The chapter near the end where Harry goes to the forest is argueably the best chapter in the series. The first half of the book, however? Meh. I loved the overall story of the series, and I've made peace with the ending, but Goblet of Fire is still my favorite.

As you were.

Shout Out

I want to take this opportunity to say "Howdy" to all of you lurkers out there. I suspect most of my readers don't make themselves known in the comments; I want you guys and gals to know that I appreciate your visits. You da best!

Ghost Story

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with a first draft of The Fun Ghost Story, a.k.a. as the Newly Disturbing Ghost Story. I set out to write a fun, charming, light ghost story with a ten-year-old protagonist and it's become a darker, creepier story with twelve-year-old protagonist. Funny how that works out, huh? Usually it's best to get out of a story's way. I'm hoping to finish the first draft today. Next up: title.

I bought three new CD's for my most recent rejections: Guns-N-Roses Greatest Hits, Velvet Revolver Contraband, and Plain White T's All That We Needed. I'm listening to GNR now; there's just something about that music that brings out the angry teen in me. It's definite "turn up" music, you know, you hear it and you just have to crank it loud and sing at the top of your lungs.

Saying that makes me think of one of my friends in high school. He defined his music in two catagories: "turn up" music or "leave the fuckin' knob alone" music. He would get on me because he felt I was too liberal with the "turn up" distinction. I'd turn up Billy Joel, REO Speedwagon, Nirvana, and the Police; he'd say leave the fuckin' knob alone. He turned up Pearl Jam. I think he'd approve of cranking GNR. I wonder what he's doing now.

I cleaned out my filing cabinet last night and found another rejection from ... I dunno ... 2005? I actually got a little nostalgic.

And so it ends ...

Ken and I bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at around 1 a.m. this morning. I read three chapters and then fell asleep. I woke up, and with the exception of about an 1-1/2 break for dinner, read for 13 hours straight. I'm groggy, disoriented, and a little dehydrated (crying will do that).

SPOILER ALERT!

I won't spoil the book for anyone--I don't want to make enemies. But I will tell you I have two gut reactions: the reader one and the writer one. The reader in me liked it alot. I laughed, I cried, I was shocked. The reader in me has a few complaints but that falls into the spoiler catergory, so I'll save that discussion for the weeks and months to come. The writer in me felt that the story was bloated in places. I also feel that this story arc can be broken in two: the first four books and then the last three. I believe she had a firm idea about where the story was heading and what the major plot points concerning Harry/Voldemort were all along. However, I also feel that Rowling used the three years between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix for some major plotting/construction/backstory work that maybe wasn't strictly part of her original plan.

Mind you, I'm not saying that bad. It's necessary, in fact, when you're writing a long series, I think. My opinion is that she found uses for some of the characters later in the series that she hadn't planned on when she started out.

I'll probably read the whole series again, start to finish, but probably not for another year or so. I need time to digest. I also need some time to come down from the whole Harry Potter OCD business.

My confidence in my own writing is intact, and for that I'm grateful. It's a big step for me; I used to read awesome stories and say "Why can't I do that? Why do I suck? I'm never going to make it." Now, I go, "Hey, she did that really well. I'd have done X differently ... but this is her story. I enjoyed it."

Stormy Weather, part deux.

I have an official second draft of Stormy Weather completed. Well, sort of. I still want to mess with the first chapter a bit, but otherwise ... yeah. Note the word count ... still need around 12,000 words but there are bits that probably need fleshing out that I'm sure my beta readers will point out for me. Tonight I'm happy with it. I'm going to forget about it for a week while I work on my ghost story. Fingers crossed!

Updates

Today Ken and I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Good movie, awesome special effects. The movie cut out a lot of the book, but all the major plot points were there. You'd be completely lost, though, if you hadn't read the books. Also, this movie is a good illustration of the magic of books; nothing on screen can be as scary, emotional, or real as stuff we read. Did I dislike the onscreen Professor Umbridge? Sure. Did I hate her? No. Did I enjoy the Weasley twins' "screw you" scene? Yeah. But did I want to stand up and cheer and almost cry because they're so frickin' cool? Nope. Was the death at the end sad? You bet. But did I cry and bemoan how horrible life has been for Harry? Nope. You get the idea.

Another rejection. Note the Reject-o-meter.

Ken has been in the process of tearing out our deck. We're going to rip out the concrete patio, put in a stone paver patio, build a new deck, put in a fence, and build a brick outdoor-kitchen type deal. All before then end of September. Anyway, today Ken discovered the remains of long-dead furry little animal. At least, that's what he thought it was. I gave it a close inspection and found the vertebrae, and about a foot away, a little skull. It's been dead a looooong time, a year or two at least. It looks like it may have been a bunny. Poor bunny.

Working on the climax of Stormy Weather. I'd like to get through that tomorrow. I'm getting dangerously close to having a bona fide second draft. Ken and I bounced around ideas for my ghost story and I think I've got a fun idea going. Both of my previous published works (!!!) have been a little dark, so I wanted to go light and fun with this. We'll see how it goes. I'd like to have a first draft done of that by the end of this week. Fingers crossed!

new addition

Today I performed the masochistic task of counting all my rejections. All of them, dating back to early 2004, and including agent, trilogy, and short story rejections. The grand total is 50. That's it! 50! Granted, 25 of those have been from the last year or so, but still. I've not been working hard enough. It's possible, too, that I've not kept them all.

Note the new, nifty "Reject-O-Meter" progress bar at left. It was Ken's idea. I figure when I reach 100 I'd like to do nice, big, reward. Like apply to Clarion Writing Workshop or go on the Maui Writer's Conference cruise or something fantabulous like that. Coincidentally, Ken and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary next year ... mayhap we could wrap the two trips into one.

I suspect, though, that I'll reach 100 way before that. Because, you know, I'll be querying like 100 agents in about two months.

ocd

So I just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Before, I was 100% sure that Harry was the last Horcrux and that he'd have to die in order for Voldemort to be killed. There's reasoning behind my theory, and if you want to hear it, I'll be happy to debate it in the comments. It's just that, after a fresh reading, I'm only about 90% sure. Basically, it comes down to this, I think: as readers, how much faith should we put into what the characters believe? Should we assume that Dumbledore is infallible because everyone else has? And just how do we know Voldemort tried the killing curse on Harry? Sure, sure, everyone says that's what Voldemort did, and even Voldemort himself says that's what happened, but ... if that happened, someone had to have seen it happen. Who was that someone? And do we trust that someone to tell us the truth? And if Voldemort indeed made Harry the last Horcrux, would he blab that information to even his closest followers?

Ah, hell. Next week we'll know.

Happily, I was able to read Half-Blood Prince without line-editing it. Did I think about how I would have done X, Y, and Z differently? Sure. But I still enjoyed the book, and for that I'm grateful.

In other news, today I got a rejection from Jim Baen's Universe for "Last Man Standing." Five-day turn-around on that baby. Though, the rejection did say "Please feel free to send us anything else you'd like," which I took as a good sign. And I have six weeks or something to write a ghost story. And a second draft of Stormy Weather to finish. Ah! Pressure! It's actually enough to make me stop obsessing about HP.

whew

Okay. So, today I spent the first day of my 5-day vacation doing almost nothing productive. I worked a little on Stormy Weather, took a nap, had lunch with Ken, and spent a few hours at the pool. While lounging by the deep end, I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I got through the first eighty pages or so before I started skimming. Why did I skim, you ask? I found myself line-editing the damn book. This is nothing new--ever since I've started writing seriously, I tend to read books as a writer and not as a reader. (You know, that whole "can't enjoy the scenery while reading the map" business.) However, I've not had that experience yet while reading HP. I have to tell you, the fifth time I changed a passive sentence to an active one in my head, J.K. Rowling became human for me. I'm not saying her writing is bad or anything--her world-building is cool, the long story-arc is nicely intertwined and well-executed, and the characters are awesome--I'm just saying, I don't feel as inadequate as I once did. I feel like I've taken one big step forward with my confidence level. Having said all that, I think I'll skip rereading most of the other books. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll still watch the 5th movie in the first few days it comes out, re-read the sixth book, and wait in line like a schmuck and buy the 7th book at midnight. But I think I can skip most of the obsessive-compulsive business this time around.

my talented friend

Actually this post isn't about a writer but an artist. He's a good friend of mine that's in a visual-art school in L.A. Some of his work is featured in the school brochure. check out pdf pages 4 (head), 24 (building), and 25 (watch face). Be aware that these do not correspond to the actual brochure pages. He's going to be snapped up by a studio soon and we can all say we knew him when. Keep livin' the dream, dude.

booty

Bought some new earrings today. I've discovered that I need sterling silver earrings or else my lobes freak out. Real gold, not gold-plate, would probably work, too. Freakish body chemistry does have its perks.

MIA

I've been out of action for the past few days due to a wicked intestinal virus. Now that my system is on the mend, I'll do my best to catch up on the past few days.

I bought three new sets of cute scrubs for work. I love having a job where the accepted uniform is basically pajamas. Apparently right now I'm in my "black floral" period. Previously I bought "colorful geometrics," and before that, "solid unisex". Ah, youth. I'm tossing out the last of the "solid unisex" tonight. I finally felt well enough to wash them tonight, so watch out world! I'll be doing the "Project Runway" walk tomorrow.

Over the past few days a cat has been wandering around our back yard. It obviously belongs to someone, because it has a collar with a bell around its neck and lets Ken pet it. This was the scene a few nights ago:
Moonshine: Spit! Hiss! Hiss! Let me pouf up my tail so I look huge! See how scary I am! Hiss! Hiss!
Kahlua: What's going on?
Morgan: Hey, dumbass, what your malfunc--Gaaah! There's a cat in MY YARD! Hiss! Hiss! Grroooowwwll! Yoooowwwlll! (Run-hop-thump, run-hop-thump) Blasted glass! Who put this shit here? Yoooowwwlll! Hiss!
Kahlua: What's going on?
Moonshine: Get her Morgan, get her!
Outside cat: This step looks comfy. I think I'll lie down right here. I'll stare at you to antagonize you more.
Morgan: Gaahh! The intruder is lying on my deck! Attack! Attttttaaaaaccckkk! If this glass weren't here I'd rip that bell from your throat! I would own you! (Run-hop-thump)
Kahlua: I think I'll lie down now. What's all the commotion about?
Humans: Calm down, cats. (To outside cat) Shoo! Go away.
Outside cat: Hmph. Guess I'll move over to this comfy spot by the window.
Moonshine: Hiss!! Hiss!!! Alert! Intruder by the window!
Morgan: You bitch! Hiss! I will show you no mercy! (Run-hop-thump) Stupid glass.
Kahlua: I'm napping now.

Good times.

On the writing front, I have a few tidbits to report. Between working this past weekend and my wacked-out large intestine, I've made no further progress on Stormy Weather. I'll get back on that horse this weekend. Perhaps I'll sneak in a few hours tomorrow before dinner-and-a-movie. I received a rejection from Realms of Fantasy for "Last Man Standing." It'll go out again this weekend. Persistence pays, allegedly, and I like this story too much to let it die. As for good news, I have been asked to submit a short story for an anthology, 4-6k, due August 15th. I'm pumped. Basically, if I write a good story, they'll accept it and if I don't, they won't. Meaning, nothing is guaranteed ... but it's so frickin' awesome to be asked. I feel like I'm actually making headway in this biz. Fingers crossed, ya'll.

The Rules

1. Don't ever blog while drunk.
2. If someone says, "Here, just have one glass of wine," and that one glass turns into, like, more, you can ignore rule number 1. It's a stupid rule, anyway.

Rewardville

I bought the new Bon Jovi and Stone Sour CD's today. Poke fun if you must.

I just started listening to the Stone Sour one. The first song sounds like a Metallica rip-off. Hopefully it becomes more original soon.

The Stormy Weather progress bar looks misleading. I've done a lot of cleaning and rearranging. I'm working on the climax now, which will actually take the better part of the weekend since I have to work. Once I'm through with that, I'm going to go through each chapter and see what I can add here and there. I figure if I add 500-1000 words to each chapter I can bump up my word count to where it needs to be. Fingers crossed.

rejectionville

A rejection today, this one from Weird Tales for "Rules of Engagement." Never fear, it's heading out the door to Strange Horizons tomorrow.

Busybusybusy

So I've finally got a moment to catch my breath and blog about the last few days.

Wednesday Ken and I attended a Cubs game at Wrigley field with a group of friends. That was awesome! We sat in the bleachers, which is first-come, first-served, so we got there a few hours before game time. We sat in the sun, watched batting practice and ate hot dogs and big pretzels. The Cubs played the Mariners, which was sort of special for Ken and I; the last major league game he and I saw was a Mariners game in Seattle during our honeymoon. Funny coincidence: Lou Penella was the manager of the Mariners back then and the Cubs now. Funny how that worked out. We stayed with a friend that lives in an apartment that's like a 10-minute walk from the Stadium, so we didn't have to deal with the El or traffic at all. Bonus! After the game I also had my first Jagermeister shot since college. Back then I didn't like it; I've discovered that my taste buds have changed. Tasty! I liked it so much I had another. I wouldn't want to sip on a whole glass of the stuff, but as a shooter it's pretty good. Who knew?

Thursday morning we walked along Michigan avenue. We didn't actually shop much; it was more of a people-watching expedition. Though, Ken noted it would make a cool two-day Christmas-shopping excursion. I wouldn't want to do that on a weekend--the crowds would make me insane--but a Tuesday/Wednesday thing could be fun.

Last night I had girl's night poker. Lots of fun, though I didn't win again. The group has really learned how to play and no one had to ask when to check, bet, or what beats what. I had joked that my kid gloves were off and that I out for blood; for some reason, though, I played more timidly than normal and came in fifth. Normally I play pretty ballsy--my theory is you might as well play hard because if you're going to lose anyway you'll be pissed if you didn't--but last night I was all off. Aggressive poker is winning poker, and for some reason I forgot that. Ah, well; then next game is July 13th. Plenty of time to get my game on. Oh, and apparently 9's were the new 2's; it seemed like most flops and/or winning hands had them. Buggah!

Today is for writing, movie-watching, and possibly swimming. I'd like to see Ocean's Thirteen today, and possibly Pirates of the Caribbean. There's a sneak peak of Ratatouille happening and if I can figure out how to score tickets, I'd like to see that, too. Once back in college, Ken and I saw three movies in one day. It was a whole-day affair; we ate meals in between each show and finished that last movie at around 8:00 or something. Fun, but I doubt we're up for it again today. Two movies in a theater is probably our maximum. For one thing, the expense; for another, the people. The theater closest to our house is sort of ghetto, and that scene can get a bit tiresome.

Tomorrow I'm making the trek back home for Father's day. I'm anxious to see my parent's face when they see the copy of the anthology.

drum roll, please

I received my copy of Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms Wednesday. I'm still a little giddy about the whole business. It's finally real! This means I'll be storming the castles (a.k.a. local retailers) next week to try to get them to stock the thing.

In related (small publisher) news, McSweeney's needs our help. Go buy a book or three and help out the little guys.

I'll post about my trip to Chicago tomorrow. Right now all I want is a good book and a little sleep.

Ego boosts

Recently I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from my Stormy Weather readers. They all seem to like the story and the characters (most of the characters, anyway) and they had lots of good ideas for how to beef up the story and shore up the plot. The best part of letting people read my stuff is seeing how invested they become in this story that's come outta my head. You know how when you and a friend read the same book and you talk about it afterward--"Did you like the guy in the place with the thing?" "Oh, yeah! Totally! And the dude, what was his name, the Mattress? He killed me!" I love that--no two people read any story the same way, and hearing other people's takes on a book is awesome. However, it's even better when you share that sort of thing with a story that's been written by one of the involved parties. When the readers see everything you've tried to convey, that's great. But when they see more than what's on the page, well ... that's the magic. It's the reason I love to read. And it's the reason I love to write. One of 'em, anyway.

Now that I've gotten all my reviews back, it's time to get crackin'. I've got back story to think about, scenes to write, a climax to deconstruct and rebuild, and villains to flesh out. What was it ... a finished, polished manuscript by September 1st? Another draft out to readers by August 1st? I think I can actually pull this off ...

Busy work

Today I'm going to go through all 201 posts and try to put tags on 'em. You know, to make searching for my rejections that much easier.

In other news, I forgot to mention that we gave away two couches and two chairs to a grad student on Friday. I was a little sad to see one of the couches go--it was great for naps--but it felt great to help out a student. Two couches down, one more to go ...

This and that

Last night I went to see "Knocked Up" with some friends of mine. I loved it! Full of cursing and crude jokes and a prosthetic vagina. The pink-eye scene is hysterical. Besides all the horsing around, the writing was good and the characters were all awesome. The dude who plays Marshall on "How I Met Your Mother" has a role and he's frickin' hilarious. I've always been a fan of Paul Rudd, and his performance didn't disappoint. He's like a younger John Cusack. If you're not going to be offended by hearing "fuck" approximately 1,547 times, go see it. I'd pay to see it again. Afterwards we drank wine and ate appetizers at a wine shop. Good times.

Today Ken and I bought a new scale. Apparently our old one under-weighed us by about 9 pounds. Yeah, it sucks. More exercise and less food for us. I refuse to give in.

I haven't written much this week. I need to sit down with a note book, answer some questions about my characters, and dissect my plot to see how I can make things worse for each of my characters. One of my readers agreed that the story had good bones but needed more meat. A project for the weekend.

Karma's a bitch

This rocks.



Oh, by the way ... this is post #200. As you were.

Chocolate-Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

During my childhood, my mom and I would cook quickie stove top treats during the summer months. I'm sure we made them during the winter, too, but I remember making things like Rice Krispie Treats and CONBC during the summer when it's too hot to turn on the oven. I made the No-Bakes tonight. I love them when they're cool, but nothing beats eating the last spoonful of warm goo right outta the pan. Nirvana.

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick-cook oats

Set the burner to medium-high. In a heavy pan, mix the sugar, butter, milk and cocoa until combined, stirring constantly. When the mixture begins to boil, set a timer and boil for exactly one minute, stirring constantly. (This timing is important. Boil too long, the cookies will be crumbly; don't boil long enough, you'll have to scrap the cookies off the wax paper with a spoon to eat them.) One the minute is up, remove pan from heat. Add the peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until the PB is completely melted and incorporated. Mix in the oatmeal until it's evenly distributed. Drop spoonful of mixture onto wax paper; allow to cool about an hour (If it's humid or hot they may take longer to set). Once set, peel off the paper and store in an airtight container for a maximum of two days. These cookies are best with the first 24 hours of preparation.

Peer pressure

I've finally created a livejournal account. You can find me at kelly_swails.livejournal.com. Friend me soon, punks.

Maybe livejournal won't be jealous if I only see blogspot on the weekends.

Da-Da-Dun

Today I shipped of the anemic manuscript of Stormy Weather to two readers. A third reader got the first two chapters. I'm excited because this story's been clangin' around my head for so long that I'm anxious to see what other people think of it. They're going to give me such great input that I bet I can have a really great 2nd draft by August 1st, maybe sooner. That's right, a new deadline! And then I'd like to have it out the door to agents by September 1st. We shall see.

Now that I'm waiting on responses, I can start looking at other projects. I'd like to pull out my old Gemstone Prophecy trilogy and update (read: completely change) it. I want to change the protagonist's background and condense it all into one book. That could take some time but I think it'll improve the project and make it more salable. Then I'll do the agent routine with that one.

And then after that, I'd like to start researching/outlining a sci-fi/thriller/mystery I've been mulling over for a while that has to do with AI chips and autism. That's going to take a fair amount of research and plotting. It's intimidating but you don't grow as a writer (or a person, for that matter) by doing the same thing all the time.

This is all, of course, contingent on not having any more deadlines. There's been rumblings of short-story type offerings in my future, though, so fingers crossed on that front. I'll make an announcement when/if such whispers become official.

On the exercising front, I jogged 2 miles and lifted some weights. The yard probably needs mowed, too-we've gotten a fair amount of rain in the area lately and it's best to keep on top of these things. I hate yard work. I swear our next house is going to be a condo with wood floors and a pool. Or maybe I'll just hire a hunky landscaper.

Productivity

Today I:

1. Mowed the yard

2. Bought three t-shirts, a skirt, a pair of shorts, a pair of capris, two books, a hairdryer, and two beach towels

3. had lunch with girlfriends

4. lounged by the pool

5. got slightly sunburned

6. got a haircut

7. ate dinner with my wonderful husband

8. wrote 800 words



And now I am tired. I am going to shower, read a bit, then crash. But before that, a picture of a wet cat to amuse you:

Morgan loves to shower. He is my little freak of nature.

I'm free!

Today I worked the last day of a six day stretch. Tomorrow I'm mowing the yard, eating lunch with friends, and swimming laps. If the mood strikes I'm going to buy some desperately needed summer clothes. T-shirts and shorts and sandals. Maybe even a new purse or something.

I'd also like to get the ending of Stormy Weather hammered out before I send it out to alpha readers. (Or are they beta readers? I'm the alpha reader, aren't I? Or can the writer be the first reader of their own work? Oh, the philisophical question.) I've stolen a few bits from the earlier draft--mostly character development--and smushed them into the current one as well as tightened a few bits. I need to re-work the ending and go over the draft again, but right now I feel pretty good about the whole business. Is it in any shape for agents? Absolutely not. It's way to undeveloped. But with some input from readers and a whole heck of a lot of work from me, I think this story actually has a chance.

Over the past few days I've tried my hand at a few songs on the "hard" level of guitar hero II. This level introduces the orange key, which requires you to move your hand away from its comfort place in order to hit it. At least, my hands are small, so I have to move. Anyway, it's kickin' my ass. I move my hand, hit the orange note, and the promptly lose my place on the fret board and miss the next twenty notes. I made it through one song last night but got boo'd off the stage multiple times trying to make it through a second song today. (That's right--I'm playing a game that boos you if you suck. I can't even tell how good this is for your ego.) I'm beginning to think I may have hit a plateau with the game. It's all good, though. Less time with xbox=more time with the laptop=more time with Stormy Weather. See? Everyone wins.

Rejection City

Another rejection, this one from Interzone for "Sudden Death." It'll go to Baen's Universe next. I'll probably get it out this weekend.

Slump

I'm editing/reading the Stormy Weather manuscript, and here's my take: I suck.

Maybe I should marry the two different drafts together or something. Maybe I need more teen angst. Maybe I need more plot. Maybe I need to have my head examined.

Definitely a valley in the writing roller-coaster ride.

Maybe I don't have any perspective anymore. I need to get some readers on this thing. Hopefully a semi-formed draft will be ready for readers by June 1st. Volunteers, get your eyes ready.

All I need is a rejection to really set the mood.

On the bright side, I bought the new Maroon 5 disc on Tuesday. It's stylishly funky. There's a few songs that sound like they could have been on their last album, but most of the tunes have less edge than Songs About Jane. I like it--it's got a beat I can dance to.

Back from St. Louis

Ken and I road-tripped to St. Louis with friends of ours this weekend. We hit the Science Center, ate Imo's Pizza, and attended a Cowboy Mouth concert. The Science Center was cool but would have been cooler had we been about 20 years younger. I did get to climb a rock wall, though, and I hadn't ever done that before so that was worth the admission price. Imo's Pizza is always delectable. And the Cowboy Mouth show was entertaining. I had never heard of them but one of our friends loves this band and encouraged us to see them live. This is definitely a band that shines in a small venue (we saw them at the Pageant). They're going to be guests on Regis and Kelly one day this week, so if you're so inclined, set the TiVo. Or check out YouTube next weekend--I imagine someone will post their performance. They've been touring and recording for about 15 years, and I understand they've recently acquired new management, so I wouldn't be surprised if their most recent album (Voodoo Shoppe) breaks out. You know, as an "overnight success" type thing.

Another reason not to procreate

So Ken and I went to Best Buy today. I had intended to buy a new CD as a reward for my "Last Man Standing" rejection, but the opening chords of the Guitar Hero II song "Surrender" by Cheap Trick caught my ears. I wondered over to the display area to find a father watching his boy play the game. The orange key was in play, and from the number of notes, I suspect this kid was playing the "expert" level. I watched an eight-year-old score over 200,000 points on a first-tier song. I was exhilarated and humiliated at the same time. Exhilarated because damn! I just watched someone kill this game! and humiliated because damn! I thought I was doing good because last night I scored over 75,000 points on a "medium" level, sixth-tier song.

Chalk this up as a lesson learned. Never have kids because they'll only kick your ass at video games.

And I still have to buy a CD. Maybe I'll wait until Tuesday ... the new Maroon 5 album comes out. Yeah, yeah, Innuendo, I know. I almost heard your eyes roll in Indy all the way from here.

The "eight facts about yourself" meme

Rachel Barth tagged me, so I'm going to try to come up with eight interesting and/or unusual facts about myself. Here goes:

1. I used to read my dad's Archie comics as a kid. If I had to pick one of the guys, I'd have to go with Jughead. Apparently I was into geeks even then.

2. I've never had formal swimming lessons.

3. When I was in first grade, the family dog trapped a skunk underneath the house. The skunk sprayed and the smell permeated the whole place. We had to move out for a week while the smell dissipated.

4. That was not my last encounter with a skunk. A few years later, I went to our back door to let what I thought was my cat Frisky into the house. When I discovered it wasn't Frisky but a skunk, I yelled "Ahhh! A skunk!!!", slammed the door, and ran to get my parents. Unbelievably, that skunk didn't spray.

5. I played the drums in the sixth grade but quit because I was too scared to go to Contest.

6. I've been asked if I'm left-handed enough to think that maybe I'm a little ambidextrous.

7. My second toe is longer than my first. I've heard this is a sign of high intelligence. That almost makes up for not being able to wear sandals without someone commenting on my toes.

8. If asked to choose between cake and potato chips, I'll choose the cake.



I don't think I know eight people with blogs that haven't already been tagged ... but Sean Murphy, Innuendo, and Bridget, get eight facts about yourself up on your blogs pronto. I'll be checking ...

Last Man Standing...

... has been sent back home by Cemetery Dance. It's going to visit Realms of Fantasy next. Hopefully it will stay and play for awhile.

Right now I'm writing a climactic battle scene of sorts in Stormy Weather. It's fun to write, but kinda tough. Until now I've stuck with one charater's POV for an entire chapter, and now I'm jumping around to a different character every few pages. I have a feeling when I go over the draft I'll have to really tweak this part, but for now I like it. I've got so much work to do on this thing yet. Obviously I'm not going to hit my original goal of having a polished draft out the door to agents by June 1st, but I'm hopeful I can have a first draft ready to be read by some readers by then. For some reason I'm in a good mood about my writing today. Maybe it's because I'm in love with my book again or maybe it's because I have a little niggly feeling in the back of my head that I'm about to sell another story or maybe it's because of the position on the planets. I don't know and I don't care; I just want to take advantage of the writing-love while it lasts.

Glorious summer!

At least it feels like it. I live near a college town, and it's graduation weekend. For the townies like me, that means two things: 1. I will not be dining or shopping in town this weekend unless I am about to die from starvation and 2. starting Monday, there will be available tables in the cafes, no lines at Target, and no waits at the restaurants on Friday nights. Those of you who live in towns with major universities will know what I'm talking about. When 30% of your population leaves for three months, you're bound to notice.

Actually, in regards to #1: starvation would be a preferable alternative to dealing with the crowds this weekend.

Don't worry about my stomach: we're traveling to the Quad Cities tomorrow for Mother's Day. Harris's pizza, here I come!

Writing with a sore wrist

Stupid Guitar Hero II. I've made it through the easy level and I've started on medium. That damn blue key is kickin' my ass. Though, you'll note I've made progress on Stormy Weather.
All is not lost. Tomorrow I have to be at work at 5-frickin'-30 a.m., so no more writing or Hero for me tonight. I'm going to read in bed until I fall asleep. Hopefully I don't wake up every two hours wondering when the stupid alarm's gonna go off.

I have Friday off, and I've decided I'm going to use that day to go to my local booksellers and businesses and stump Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms. I don't have any hard copies yet, but I'm hoping to take a few orders or convince a few managers to buy it themselves from Popcorn Press. I have two chain bookstores, one independent, and a few indie coffeeshops on my list of places to hit. Any other suggestions out there in blogland?

Have your credit cards handy ...

... and visit Popcorn Press to purchase Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms. In fact, buy two--they make great gifts for the upcoming pirate-movie season.

Girl's night poker happened this past Friday. I love being an adult because it means you can eat mini-cheesecakes, cheese and crackers, and caramel corn for dinner and it's okay. Your body may hate you for it, but your inner child loves you, so it's all good. I didn't win any money but I laughed so much my ab muscles were a little sore the next day. The highlights: we called the chips "euros" instead of "cents" to celebrate the Queen's visit; a cat jumped onto the counter and helped himself to french-onion dip; I ate the aforementioned junk for dinner; and after the game, we played with ferrets. Next night is June 15th. I'm already looking forward to it.

I've made good progress on the book today, and I'd like to get another few pages in before the night's over. Productivity was the code-word of the day: I wrote 5 pages, mowed the yard, finished laundry, and played a little Guitar Hero II. For those of you who haven't jumped onto the Guitar Hero bandwagon, do so the first chance you get. Buy a used Playstation 2 from the neighbor kid down the street if you have to. Even when you suck at it like I do, you feel like a rock god(dess). I'm so buying guitar lessons as a reward when I sell my first book. Or singing lessons. One of the two.

The intrepid adventures of short fiction

"Sudden Death" went to Interzone and "Rules of Engagement" went to Weird Tales.

Fingers crossed!

Oh, and I've passed the 15,000-word mark on Stormy Weather. I have a suspicion the first draft is going to be around 30,000-35,000 words, but I also suspect that after a few read-throughs by myself and some fabulous readers, I'll be able to beef that up. As I said a few days ago, I'm beginning to hit the part of the story where shit really starts to hit the fan, so for the next week or so I should make some major headway on the first draft. June 1st, I snub my nose at thee!

Good grief!

I do sort of feel like Charlie Brown today. Another rejection, this one from Glimmer Train Stories for "Sudden Death." This means I have two stories to send out tonight as opposed to one.

Sigh.

I can't be too down about it, though. It's a sunny, 85-degree day. How bad can life be?

Bah, humbug

I just received a rejection from Jim Baen's Universe for "Rules of Engagement," but I have to say it's one of the better rejections I've received. The editor told me exactly why he passed on the story--"more telling than showing and not enough conflict"--and went on to basically say that he's only one editor, and the next editor might view it differently. I appreciated the personal comments so much that I broke a writer-rule and sent him a reply telling him so. I'm not going to change the story quite yet, though. It's a chick-lit-meets-fantasy story, and it must be said that the editor that passed it on to Mike at Baen's is a woman. My point is, sometimes chick-lit is more-tell-less-show, and if the right editor gets her hands on it, I think I have a shot with it as is. So, back to the drawing board on "Rules of Engagement."

Another way to waste some time

If you've read The Golden Compass, you'll get a kick outta this.

marching forward ...

... five pages at a time. Now that I'm getting into the meat of the story, the words are flowing from my fingertips. It remains to be seen if any of them are worth keeping. Right now I feel pretty good--"I'm a frickin' genius!"--but an hour ago I thought that the whole project stunk and I should just bag it. Such is the roller-coaster of the writer's life.

I never did make that yellow cake with chocolate frosting a few weeks ago. Maybe that will shut my inner critic up.

Nah. It'll just give her more fuel for the fire. "You are barely literate. What are you doing eating cake?" Maybe it's best just to leave her hungry for awhile.

da book

Stormy Weather, the infamous YA book I've been working on forever, is finally going well. I've been averaging four pages a day, which is less than I need to finish by June 1st, but what the hell. It's better than nothin'. I'm hoping to pull some good weekend numbers in May. Last Saturday I wrote ten pages, which is fantabulous for me. I wrote half of a good chapter last night, but I need to redo a key scene in it tonight. Sometimes writing is two steps forward and one back.

This book will get done. And I will query ten agents with it. And one of them will like it enough to want to represent me.

If I say it enough it will come true.

For the love of books

Allow me to get my geek on here for a moment. In my neck of the woods, the weather this weekend has been glorious: sunny, warm, breezy. Perfect. This morning I need to mow the lawn, trim, fertilize, pull weeds from and mulch the flower beds. Before I do the manual labor, however, I want to talk about one of my fondest memories from childhood: the public library.

I lived in the country until I was almost 10 years old. We moved into a house in town two weeks before my 10th birthday, and it was wonderful. I got to walk to school instead of riding the bus; I got to play with my friends that lived in town; that summer, I began to play summer softball. Also that first summer, I acquired my first library card.

It must be said that at this point in my life, I was already a voracious reader. Perhaps growing up in the country had something to do with it, or maybe my parents always having a book in their hands inspired me. Whatever the reason, I already loved books, but the only outlet I had for it was the school library, where there was a two-book maximum check-out rule and limited options. It could be hard to convince the school librarian that a second-grader could read a book in the fifth-grade section.

My cousin took me to the public library to help me get my library card. I don't remember the actual card much; in fact, my hometown was (and still is) pretty small, and once you became a regular, I'm not entirely certain you needed to show your card at all. Sally Smith knew her patrons well, and if you had an overdue book she let you know about it. She didn't need a card or a file system to tell her that.

Anyhow, back to that first day. I got the card and promptly went to the young reader's section. I selected ten books--ten! I remember this exactly!--and struggled to put them on the counter.
Sally Smith: You do realize, don't you Kelly, that you don't get to keep these books?
Kelly: Yes, ma'am.
Sally Smith: And you understand that they're due back here in two weeks? And that you have to pay money if they're late?
Kelly: Yes, ma'am.
Sally shook her head, pressed her lips into a line, and stamped each book. I'm sure she thought she would never see those books again. My cousin took me home where I settled in with my treasure.

I returned the books a week later. I remember this because I rode my bike to do it. My little, clunky, hand-me-down blue bike with tassels on the handlebars and a basket in the front. I had to carry the books that wouldn't fit into the basket. I must have looked odd: a chubby kid on a bike, basket full of books, left hand steering, right hand keeping the stack of books on my right thigh steady.
Kelly: I'd like to return these books.
Sally: (counting) You've read them all?
Kelly: (proud) Yes, ma'am.
Sally:Okay. You know where the rest are at.
I picked out ten more and checked them out. This time Sally smiled when she handed me the stack.

That summer, between softball practice and games, swimming at the pool, and playing outside with friends, I probably read over fifty books. It wasn't too many years before I graduated from the "young readers" section and moved to Agatha Christie, Phyllis Whitney, Asimov, and King. In the coming years, Sally and I became friends; one summer during high school I even worked at the library. She gave me a nice pair of earring as a college graduation gift. She's retired now, and I haven't kept up with her at all so I don't know what she's doing. I wonder if she will be surprised when I show up in town a few months from now, waving a copy of Pandora's Closet.

required reading

I just finished White Night by Jim Butcher. It was good--lots of explosions and cool magic and such--but sometimes when I'm reading a new book in a lengthy series, the nuances of the world get muddled in my head. I remember who all the key characters are, but I forget the inner workings of different groups of people. This series, over the past several books, has had an ongoing war between the vampires and the wizards, and at this point I've forgotten who started the war, how, and why. One of Butcher's strengths, though, is his character development, and this book didn't dissappoint. Harry Dresden is a flawed and deeply conflicted character, and that makes him unpredictable. Love that. One of these days I'll have to go back and re-read them all.

Re-reading books. There seem to be two camps, those that do and those that don't. Last Sunday I caught Stephen King's The Stand on the sci-fi channel. Ken watched a bit and said "I remember the basic premise but not the details" and I said "This follows the book almost perfectly, most of the dialogue is even the same." Ken couldn't believe I remembered the dialogue that well. When I told him I'd read The Stand at least ten times, he was like, "Why? What's the point? You know what will happen. The time is better spent reading a new book." I maintain that that is not always the case. There's something comforting about reading a book you've read before. There are still surprises, because every time I re-read a book I discover something I missed before or I see a character in a different light. The characters are like old friends, maybe, the ones that you don't talk to for three years, then pick up the phone and you talk like no time has passed. I can't wait to re-read the Harry Potter books this summer. However, I've told myself that I can't start them until I have queries for my YA book out to ten agents.

I'm starting Without Remorse by Tom Clancy tonight. My husband and I watched The Sum of All Fears with Ben Affleck the other night. Liev Schreiber played Jack Clark, the badass uber-assassin. Ken mentioned that Without Remorse is all about Clark, said he really like it, and I should read it. "What the hell," I said. "I'll give it a go." I am a fan of the international-espionage books--Robert Ludlum being my fave--and so it's not inconceivable that I'll enjoy it. It must be said, though, that I've tried Clancy in the past, and I can never make it past the first few chapters. They tend to be massive info-dumps and it's hard for my braid to eat all that technical/weapons/international relations jargon without throwing the book aside in disgust.

Back on the horse

"Mark of a Woman" is going to Aeon Speculative Fiction and "The Brethren" is going to Asimov's in tomorrow's mail. Fingers crossed!

setting land speed records, one rejection at a time

I received a rejection today from F&SF for "The Brethren." According to my immpeccable records, I sent it on April 7th. The rejection was postmarked April 11th. This means JJA rejected it a day or two after receiving it. I know, I know, rejectomancy. Sigh. It goes to Asimov's next.

I am so buying something completely pointless and girly.

I really want to bake a cake but I'm resisting the temptation. A yellow one. With chocolate frosting. And sprinkles, dammit.

Another bites the dust

I got a rejection today from Strange Horizons for "Mark of a Woman." It's going to Dark Wisdom next. One of these days I'll get an actual acceptance.

I'm not entirely certain how I'm going to treat myself for this one. My last one I didn't buy anything because I'd just gotten the laptop and iPod; this once could probably slide without anything, too. Though something small and goofy like some new nail polish and or a headband would be cool.

I almost forgot...

The other day I sold the electronic rights to "Cake and Candy," the story in Pandora's Closet. Apparently Sony approached the publisher about selling stories/books online and for their e-reader (basically that's like an iPod for books) and so I jumped on board. I figure it's a good way to reach a larger audience and make a few bucks as I'm doing it. I doubt I'll make much money--the contract even stated that if the royalties amounted to less than $10.00, they'd hold the monies until the amount was more than $10.00--but what the hell. It was still exciting signing the papers.

math

Okay. If I want to have 250 pages written by June 1st, I have to average 4.25 pages a day. At first glance this doesn't look so bad. Mind you, this math is only for the first-draft, and my goal is to have a polished manuscript ready to query agents with by June 1st. And don't forget that to query I'll need a synopsis and a great hook for the cover letter. Que minor panic attack.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got hosed in Ladies Poker the other night. The rookies will get you every time. Next match is May 4th, so I have time to read up on my strategies.

Revenge of the GI tract

12:15 a.m. Sunday morning: Ken and I ate a Stack at our favorite diner. A stack is basically a heart attack on a plate--a biscuit, 2 sausage patties, 2 eggs, hashbrowns and cheese with sausage gravy poured over the whole mess. Heavenly.

12:00 p.m. Sunday: Outback Steakhouse. We split and order of cheese fries. They have bacon on top so they have been off-limits. We each order the Alice Springs chicken. I have mine with a side of broccoli to sort of cleanse the system. I ate most of the chicken before my body said, "Uh, hello? Like, you are so done." Commence GI revolt.

Never fear. I'm back on the vegetables. Tonight I had a mushroom-cheese quesadilla.

Writing is going well, as is working out. I think I've lost a pound or three but our scale sucks so it's hard to say. I average 3 pages a night on Stormy Weather, so that's cool. I've not done the math yet--how many pages do I have to write in order to have 250 by May 15th?--but I probably should. If I want a polished draft by June 1st, I need to get crackin'.

F&SF ...

won the draw to get "The Brethren" today. JJA's missed me, I suspect. It's been a few months since I've sent them anything.

I just got back from the gym, where I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill. I find I don't loathe the treadmill as much as I once did. Perhaps it's my mindset. Running outside is better, of course, but with these stupidly cold temperatures settling in, I'll be inside for the next week or so.

Now I'm surfing the 'net before I read a little bit of the new Jim Butcher book. Then I'll probably nap, because Ken and I are going to eat at a diner at midnight. Biscuits with sausage gravy and a side of bacon, here I come!

Bad news first

I got a rejection from Dark Wisdom today for "The Brethren." However ... I'm playing poker with the ladies tonight and I'm eating meat at 12:01 Sunday morning. Life is good.

Tomorrow I'll send out the story again. You mangy currs can't keep me down!

look, ma, no hands!

Today I received the cover and proof pages for Pandora's Closet via priority mail. I feel like a real writer.

And then I mowed the yard, which grounded me sufficiently.

Tonight I'm going to proof the proof pages and write four pages in the YA book. June 1st looms.

Another picture

This one is of the Pirates of the Blue Kindoms back cover. Seeing my name in print never gets old. I'm told the price isn't set yet, but it should be between $15-$20. I suppose that makes it a trade paperback (that's the bigger paperbacks that you buy in bookstores, for those of you not in the biz). Today I bought a pirate t-shirt (from the juniors department, for the love of God!) to wear when I do readings from this antho. I have an aquaintance that plays guitar in coffeeshops and she's invited me to read during her intermissions. The idea makes me nervous but I'd like to do it in May and August when I'll actually have books to sell after the show. Listen to me, I act like folks will want to buy a copy after I mangle a reading, haha. It'll be good practice, at any rate.

buying extravaganza

Today we bought a new laptop and new iPod, both for yours truly. Ken's been busy setting up my system. Just a bit ago he said something to the effect of "Okay, it's yours to screw up now" and let me loose.

The computer is pretty sweet: it's got a 160 GB hard drive, over a GB of RAM, a 14.1-inch monitor and came with Windows Vista.

The new iPod is flashy-dashy. It's got 30 GB of it's own and a color screen. It can play movies (if I care to buy them) and can store my photos. I'm actually jazzed about that; now I can carry pictures someplace without actually taking my camera or printing actual pictures.

Vista is ... okay. I've not fooled around too much with it yet. The important thing is all my word documents are transferred and I can commence writing about Max's confrontation with his dad bright and early tomorrow morning.

I'm much more excited about working on this book the second time around. Having a map helps, as does writing it in the proper POV. Right now it's just flowing better than before. It's not like pulling teeth to write. Lesson learned: if it's hard, it's probably for a reason. Fix it and move on. That's not to say if something's hard it's not worth doing ... just, ya know, why make it harder than it has to be? Tell the story that needs to be told and not how you want it told. Is any of this making any sense whatsoever?

A few pictures...

Here are the covers you need to look for in the upcoming months. Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms will be out in May and Pandora's Closet will be out in August. Bother your booksellers now!

Pseudonyms

Am I the only person in the sf/f/h industry that didn't know that Joe Hill is Stephen King's son? I only found out a few weeks ago.

So far I'm enjoying "Heart-Shaped Box." He gets extra points for cribbing the title from Nirvana.