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.