-Griffin Asher-

Something new and shiny

2010-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by a speaker at the local RWA chapter meeting, so I started a new blog:

http://steel-and-blood.blogspot.com/

Since I have the attention span of a gnat this blog will probably get a little dusty. Well see.

To scream or not to scream: Why I don't write horror

2010-04-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Richard Matheson's I am Legend. I must say it's an amazing story, quite a bit different from the movie (I really liked the movie too though). It's a brilliantly written. Especially the voice Matheson gives Robert Neville, you can actually feel him going mad right before your eyes.

Reaching the end of the story though, it left me thoughtful, but sad. Like many horror stories, just about everyone dies in the end (and through out the story for that matter). I have no problem with blood, gore or violence. That kind of stuff really doesn't bother me. Even killing people isn't that bad (I certainly do enough of that in my own stories). But the thing that always makes me think twice about starting a horror book/movie is the knowledge that there probably isn't going to be a happy ending.

I respect the Horror genre in all its bloody glory, but the more I read of it and watch it, the more I realize that this just isn't my cup of tea.

At the end of a story I want to feel better then when I started. I want to have learned something with the Hero or the Heroin. I want to see the characters move forward with their lives, stronger and better for their experiences. I want to feel like everything is going to be ok. It makes it hard for them to move on with their lives if they die at the end of the story.

So while I will continue to expand my reading into other genre's besides my own homeland of Fantasy, it will be a cold day in Hell before I write something with an "unhappy ever after".

Kissing the Frog: DiaW

2010-03-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

I started out the week with the idea of trying to do a "Draft in a Week". I’d heard about this from my RWA meeting and I thought it would be a great way to get some of my stuff done.

The idea is to write 20+ pages a day for a week. In other words, it’s NaNoWriMo on steroids. For that gal who came up with the idea, that was enough to finish the first her first draft. The story I wanted to work on is epic fantasy, so 50k is a little more then half way through (with the 15k I’d already written). That’s enough of a chunk out of the book that I thought I’d give it a shot.

I got through three days and I must say it was quite revealing. When you have THAT many words to pump out, you have no time for slaking. At first I wasn’t sure I could do it, but on the first day I got 21 ½ pages done. So even a slow typer like me can bang out the pages. It’s definitely something I would recommend others give a try.

Several things I realized though:

1) Yes, I can write 20 pages a day, but to do that I can’t knit, watch TV or just chill on the sofa.

2) If I don’t have time to knit or just sit and think, my writing suffers. TV I can cut back on, but the down time after work, just before I put in my writing time for the day is critical.

3) and finally I realized that I’m not as lazy as I thought I was, this stuff just takes time.

That last one is hard for me. It always feels like I’m taking forever on this stuff. You’d think after working on project X for X number of months it would be done by now. The reality is that I’m probably on the quicker side of normal. No, I’m not putting out five books a year, but I’m making progress on a daily basis.

In the end that’s all I can really ask for.

Great Book

2009-09-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

Since I've been waffling around with editing on In the Twilight Between I decided to do some reading to help me along. In doing this I came across a great book called "Self-editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Browne and Dave King.

I really enjoyed reading it and it gave me lots of good ideas for fixing some of the problems that I was having as well as highlighting a few that I didn't realize I had. Plus some of the techniques they have give me a good excuse to use my pretty colored highlighters ;-)

A highly recommended read.

Cool link

2009-08-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

My father passed on to me a really cool link the other day.

The place is called "Project Gutenberg". It's a web site with thousands of free ebooks and audio books. All the books are old and in the public domain. Lots of good stuff there (Jane Austen!).

I've been downloading all kinds of cool stuff all morning :-) Definitely worth a look.

Kissing the Frog

2009-08-12T12:33:00.000-07:00

On this edition of kissing the frog, I want to talk about mediums.

No. Not the creepy ghost kind. I'm talking about pen and paper versus typing.

Since I finished The Stars Cry Out No More I've begun editing In the Twilight Between. It was going well, but I realized that I needed to rewrite several scenes. I hate rewriting things. I always feel like I do all the work just to get back to where I started. So I wasn't really surprised when I came to the first scene and my momentum ground to a halt. I would poke at it, maybe get 50 words then stopped again.

Then the other day I was talking to a friend and she showed me some of her notes that she had child on a clipboard.

Hmm... Paper.

I went home and pulled out my own clipboard and some loose papers and tried writing that troublesome scene again. Big difference. Now instead of just typing the scene, I was writing in a new medium. Everything felt fresh again and before I knew it I had over five (single space) pages written and had gotten over the hardest part of the scene.

Just that little change mad all the difference.

I return

2009-08-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

So after a really really long month of helping out friends and sickness, I'm back.

I got absolutely nothing done writing wise last month, but I hope that August will be better.

Better post tomorrow. I promise.

Bad me

2009-07-01T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm being lazy about posting again *sigh* So I'm going to cheat a little today and do a first-of-the-month update on all my projects. I'll do an actual substantive post later ;-)

The Stars Cry Out No More
-I've finally started sending out queries (yay!). One rejection back so far. Now I need to finish up my synopsis and send it out to more agents.

In the Twilight Between
-Still editing, but things are going very well so far. All I need now is a few more beta readers >.>

Lend Me Your Tears
-Dead. I tried to force myself to write it during SocNoc when I really didn't want to. The consequences were fatal and now the story is dead. Seriously bad stuff, but I was looking at it and I think I know where things started to go wrong. So now I know how not to write a story like that (and not to force myself). I'll still keep the main plot idea in the back of my mind for a possible redo later, but for now the story's going to the chop shop of my mind. I've already taken a few of the small ideas from there and used them to patch up and embellish other stories.
In Griffin's writing land, nothing ever truly dies :-)

What the Night Keeps
*New!* This story was SocNoc Plan B. I was planing on saving this story for NaNoWriMo or something like that, but I decided to pull it out early to finish off my word count.
I. Love. This. Story. It's as good as the other one sucked. As soon as I figured out that the story should be told from the Hero's POV everything started to fall into place. I had wanted to do it from the Heroin's POV, but looking back the Hero's POV lets me weave plot secrets much better.

Goals for next month:
-send out at least ten more queries for Stars Cry Out.
-Make progress in editing Twilight Between.
-I'm tempted to write "finish What the Night Keeps" but I think that may be a little ambitious. We'll see, but I'd be happy with just about any progress.

Any progress is good progress :-)

I've been christened…

2009-06-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

…into writerdom. I got my first rejection letter this afternoon :-)

Now the fact that it's a rejection isn't necessarily a happy thing, but the fact that I have a book done and am starting down the road to publication is :-D

So here's to rejections and progress!

Write or Die!

2009-06-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

All right, today was my Write or Die marathon! Here's what I have to show for it :-)

	606

21

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	317

10

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	367

10

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	372

12

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	741

20

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	836

20

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	393

11

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

	442

11

Wickeds Writing Lab">lab.drwicked.com

*Collapses in exhaustion*

Creepers

2009-06-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

[Puppy update: Repeat after me: "Mommy is not a chew toy."]

Well it's been a while since I've written up a decent post. I really have no excuse for that except for sheer laziness and a lack of something interesting to say :-P But I'm back now, though I'm still not sure I have anything interesting to say.

I actually glanced at my blog reading list for the first time in weeks (bad me) and I came across Zapkilikan's post about things that scare her. I started to write a comment and soon realized that it was too long and decided to just do an entire post on the subject.

So what scares me? It's an interesting question actually. Reading about other peoples fear and looking at my own makes me realize how personal fear can sometimes be.

As a small child I was scared of the dark. More precisely I was scared of what was in the dark. My parents told me the old adage of "There's nothing in the dark that isn't there in the light." I remember nodding and thinking to myself "I know, that's the problem." Since then I've gotten over that fear and now I actually like the dark, as long as I'm the one doing the creeping ;-)

As a rule I don't watch horror movies. Not so much because they scare. I just don't like watching a movie where I know that all theses people are probably going to die. I don't really care to get to know and like a person just to watch them die in some bloody nasty way. I also find horror movies very predictable and a touch dull.

For those of you who don't know, my day job is taxidermy (making bear rugs and dear heads, etc.). To be perfectly clear to everyone, taxidermy is our family's business. I didn't wake up one day and decide I wanted to cut up dead things for a living. And no I don't skin puppies alive to make a coat for some crazy dichromatic haired woman.*

I degrees.

So, being a taxidermist, I'm around blood and (animal) body parts all day. I have been since I was a kid, so none of that is scary to me. I've actually never met any animal that has scared me. Snakes, spiders, lions, tigers, bears (oh my! :-P ). Nothing. So as an adult I find that monsters in movies (dinosaurs, yetis, aliens, whatever) really don't scare me at all.

So what does scare me?

Naming what kind of movies that scare me is easy. Zombie movies, for one. The idea of work crawling out of the trashcan creeps me out. But what really scares me is normality. Bad guys that look perfectly normal, but are actually going to sneak up on you and slit your throat. I always thought it silly in fantasy movies when they made the bad guys so ugly (though I do understand why). It seems to me that they would be much scarier if they were just like you or me, or that kid next door.

Now, naming what well and truly scares me in real life is a little harder to pin down. When I was a kid my bedroom was upstairs and the door to the attic was right across from my bed. I would put my bed snug against the wall, as well as all my chairs and anywhere I was going to be sitting or lying. I never wanted my back to that door. Though at the time I couldn't say exactly why.

Fortunately my new place doesn't really have any truly scary spots (though I don't like the idea of someone from the street looking in my front window, so I normally keep that closed). Work on the other hand... There's one spot in the back where the air compressor is. I have to go back and reach through this dark nasty little hole up to my elbow to reach the valve. Then when the compressor turns on I keep thinking how perfectly the rattling engine would hide the sound of footsteps behind me. I'm normally a wary person. People don't just sneak up on me unless I'm wearing my headphones, or something like that. But as soon as that compressor kicks on I can just feel something right behind me. There's no way around going back there, but I'm always quick to high tale it out of there, glancing nervously back over my shoulder as I do.

So fear. Evey one has it in one form or another, rational or not. Now I just need to figure out a way to transfer that to my story...

*Sorry to be so defensive sounding, but I get really annoyed when people look at me like I'm some disgusting villain when I tell them what I do.

A project for SocNoc

2009-05-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

[Puppy update: Where's the off switch on this dog?]

So I've been pondering what story to work on during SocNoc and I think I've decided to get Sleeper's Garden done. It's one of my first attempts at Sci-fi and I don't think it's going well. I like the idea and I want to get it all down, but I have this mental block when it comes to Sci-fi. Every time I try to write it this little voice keeps whispering in my head "What are you doing?! You don't know anything about science or machinery. Anyone who knows anything will be able to spot in a microsecond that you have no idea what you're talking about."

Evil little voice.

If I'm working on a Fantasy then I just fling a spell at it and it goes away, but I can't seem to hit it with a Sci-fi blaster cannon to save my life.

I won't say that writing Fantasy is necessarily easier, but it is (in my opinion) more malleable. Even though I'm a very organic writer (ie. I make it all up as I go along with little true plotting) I'm also a control freak. I like having everything in the story exactly how I want it to be. That includes the laws of nature, space, time, magic, government, even history. Of course this means that I have to create all of those things from scratch. Like a blank canvas, if I don't paint it in then it wont be there.

I find this aspect of Fantasy very freeing and exciting. I can mould the story to frame the exact theme or idea that I want to highlight. That alone is probably my most favorite thing about Fantasy.

So long story short, for me Fantasy=awesomeness. And on the good chance that I finish Sleeper's Garden before I hit 50k in June, then I have another story (Fantasy this time), titled Lend Me Your Tears to work on. I'm very excited about that one :-)

It's coming! cue dramatic music

2009-05-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Southern Cross Novel Challenge time is upon us. Just like NaNoWriMo we're going for 50,000 word in a month (except it's in June, not November).

Now that I think about it I really don't know how I got involved with SocNoc. I live in Idaho. A long ways from the Southern Hemisphere. But it's a great group and a wonderful atmosphere.

This will be my third year of SocNoc and I almost thought of passing this time around, but I really have no excuse not to do it. I just need to sit down and do it :-P So I've signed up and have the little picture to prove it:

Now I'm off to see if I can bring in more SocNoc converts...

The new puppy

2009-05-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

So I've been wanting to get a dog since I finally moved into my own place, but I didn't think I could fit one in. I do have a nice back yard, but inside it's kind of... cozy.

Then I discovered Shelties (Shetland Sheepdogs). Beautiful little dogs that could actually fit fairly well in my house. So I've been looking for one and finally found my new little baby.

I've named her Calypso, from Greek mythology (I can't stand normal dog names), I call her Cally (pronounced: CAL-ee) for short.

So far she has done brilliantly. First night she didn't whine at all. Second night she whined once when she needed to go potty, then was quiet the rest of the night. Over all very well mannered for a puppy and very smart.

My cat doesn't like this new little pest and Cally learned the hard way that the kitty really doesn't want to play with her. Just a couple little scrapes. She'll live (and hopefully learn to leave the cat alone).

And now the pictures. I had a heck of a time getting her to stand still long enough to take theses and after a dozen tries only one came out:

She's a lot easier to take a picture of when she's sleeping:

Thinking small

2009-05-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been so long since I've written a blog post, I'm not sure I even remember how :-P

So over my long trying month of no Internet I managed to get some things read. Top on my list was "Writing the Break Out Novel" by Donald Maass. A very good book that I highly recommend. Though I would add a warning to some of the genres, Mr. Maass was writing this book I believe for more "main stream" novels.

For example, he mentions one way of heightening conflict is to heighten the stakes, the world is going to end if X doesn't happen. That's a good piece of advice, but not all that helpful in a genre such as Fantasy. I just glanced over at my bookshelves and I can only see one that doesn't have "the world is going to end" scenario (and that one was just a country instead of the entire world). The evil dark lord trying to destroy the world is kind of a bread and butter thing in Fantasy.

The way I see it is this: instead of going bigger, like the whole universe is going to die (oops, that would be sci-fi wouldn't it?), Fantasy authors should go smaller. That's to say more personal.

When I read "A plague is going to kill thousands of people!" I shrug and move on with my day. When I read "Sam, the little boy across the street that brings you flowers every Sunday is going to lose his parents in a plague." Then I start getting all teary eyed and want to know how he will survive and what is going to happen to him.

Go ahead and keep "the world is going to end" mantra, but tell me why it matters to the main character. Why does he or she care? And don't give me a bland "Well every life is precious." Yes, every life is, but we will always care more for one life that we know then for thousands that we don't.

I just wrote a scene in The Twilight Between where a town is attacked and hundreds of people die. My MC comes in the aftermath of the attack and she is horrified by all the slain and wounded around her, but I didn't think that was quite powerful enough. So instead of upping the carnage or the bloody descriptions I added a little six year old girl that comes up to my MC and asks her if she know where her daddy is.

I have to say, I've written many bloody battle scenes with no problem, but I was weeping by the time I was done with that scene (I'm actually getting a little misty eyes now just thinking of it).

So the trick to making someone care about the big stuff is getting them to first care about the small.

My Internet is back!!!!

2009-05-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

Yay!!! :-)

On hiatus for a bit

2009-04-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

So it turns out our new fast satellite Internet has a band with limit. One that I've gone over >.<

As a result they've knocked us back to the slowest speed they offer and I'm having trouble getting pages to load correctly.

I really have no idea when it will be back up. They say it will, but not when. I can still go most places, but the list of blogs that used to only take me an hour to read now takes most of the day and some pages didn't even load.

I'm taking this as a sign that I need to work on my writing for a while and leave the blogosphere to turn on with out me.

Never the less, I shale return when the lords of the Internet grant me my speed.

Almost time for the countdown

2009-04-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

I finished the last of my edits on Stars Cry Out No More and sent it off for my last proof reading. I also got the synopsis done and discovered something strange. I actually enjoyed writing my synopsis (I know, I'm a freak ;-) ).

So all I have left is to polish up my query and send it in. *crosses fingers*

To help try and organize my querying I'm going to write up index cards for each agent I've decided to query. I already have a notebook with a bunch of info on each (Email, web page, favorite kind of drink). I call it my stalker file, referring to an article I read somewhere taking about doing lots of research on potential agents.

For instance, I've been following Jennifer Jackson's blog and I saw her say in the comments one time that she preferred to be addressed in queries "Dear Ms.Jackson" (stalker file). On Nathan Bransford's blog he has mentioned several times that he wants personalized queries (stalker file) and that he doesn't like them to start with a rhetorical question (not that I would anyway, but still, stalker file).

After my stalker index cards are all in order I can move them from "waiting to be queried" to "queried" to "requested partials" etc.

So just as a recap of all my noveling progress:

Stars Cry Out No More
Status: Finished
Synopsis: Yes
Query: No

In the Twilight Between
Status: First draft done, ready to edit
Synopsis: No
Query: No

Sleeper's Garden
Status: still writing first draft
Synopsis: No
Query: No

Tips for B movie characters

2009-04-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend I turned on the Sci-fi channel and left it on while I got some stuff done. B rated monster movies make good background noise. But even though I was mostly ignoring said monster movies I did notice a few things:

- If you're walking with a group of friends in a dark scary forest and one of them turns around and says "Hay, where did everyone else go?" That's your cue to run.

- I don't care how much you need the money, don't steal from a wizard.

- Never trust the old guy who appears out of the forest promising to lead you out.

- Beautiful, mysterious women are always trouble.

- Always be respectful of your elders. Just because they look old and wrinkly doesn't mean that they can't wipe the floor with you.

- If a local tells you "oh, that's a bad place" change your travel plans and don't go there.

- If your friend runs back to camp out of breath and wide eyes saying there are monsters in the woods, don't laugh at him/her and got out there just to prove them wrong.

- If a stranger is looking for new companions to go hiking with, find out what what happened to his previous companions before agreeing to join him.

- If it seems too easy it's always a trap.

Never stop

2009-04-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

I just got a new book in the mail today (yay!) "How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card. I've only read through the introduction, but something there caught my eye. To paraphrase he said that he was making assumptions that his readers probably weren't established authors.

Now I am a beginning writer, but that just struck me as strange for a moment. Why wouldn't I buy his book even if I was "established"? I've found time and time again that there's always something new to learn. You can't know everything.

My mom is a great example of those who never stop learning. She's an amazing quilter and creates some of the most beautiful quilts I've ever seen. Yet even though she's been quilting for over thirty years now, she still buys how-to quilting books and attends classes.

I asked her once why she keeps going to theses classes that she could probably teach it herself? She told me that even though it may be an "easy" class for her, if she can gain one little snippet of information, a different way to fold things, a better trick for ironing something, etc. then it was worth the whole class.

It's the same in writing. There's always something that you could tweak, some new way of filing notes or a new way of thinking on how to world build. That trick might be buried in some easy how-to book. Since there's no absolute "right" and "wrong" way to write, everyone seems to develop their own style and tools. This goes back to "kissing the frog" and trying new things to see if they will work for you.

So even if you've been writing for years there's always something new to try, a different frog to kiss. Sometimes you just have to go looking for that frog.

The End Is Nigh...

2009-04-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

I finished the last of my hard copy edits for Stars Cry Out No More last night *woot!*. Now all I have to do is type them back into the computer, add that little scene in chapter 14 and I'll be done!

Then on to querying...

Dear Cat,

2009-04-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

...You know I love you dearly and I know you've been a (mostly) loyal friend over the years, but I have a few things about our relationship that I'd like to get off my chest.

1) the house plants are not an all-you-can-eat salad bar.

2) When (after you've gorged yourself on said plants) you feel like barfing them back up again, at least have the courtesy to do it on the linoleum instead of finding the only rug in the room.

3) You have a wonderful scratching post that I bought you. Use it and leave my doorways alone.

4) Just because I let you sit on my lap while I'm watching a movie does not mean that you have a right to insist on sitting there 24/7.

5) Just because I kick you off the computer chair to check my email doesn't mean you're going to die. You've had it all day, it's my turn.

6) Sitting on the back of my computer chair and howling in my ear won't make me finish what I'm doing any faster.

7) I'm very proud of you for catching mice, but I really don't need you to bring them into my bed to show me.

7b) and eating half of them and leaving the other half next to the bed where I step in the morning isn't appreciated either.

8) If you're going to howl and beg for me to turn on the faucet for you then at least be courteous enough to drink from it when I do. Don't give me that "just wanted to see if you would do it" look and walk away.

9) Sitting on my chest in the morning and staring at me won't make me get up and feed you any faster than the alarm clock says.

10) and finally, just because I don't go to bed exactly when you want me to doesn't give you the right to pull books off my shelves and throw them on the floor.

Sincerely,
Your Exacerbated Owner

Sigh The bug zapper got me...

2009-03-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well I tried, but I couldn't hold out. The new story was just too shiny and my note book is starting to fill with world building and plot notes. I couldn't help it. As soon as I realized that my MC was a woman instead of a man everything just started falling into place and I just had to write it down before the idea got away from me. The story is tentatively titled Blood of the Storm (though I have a feeling that it will change before I'm done). I haven't started writing it yet. The plot needs to solidify a little more in my mind before I can.

As penance for starting another project before finishing my first I've vowed to get at least an hours worth of editing on Stars Cry Out No More before I can keep world building. So far that's been working out well.

And to start the week on a cheery note: We're all going to die...

Don't look at the light!

2009-03-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

It always starts the same. You have the wonderful, beautiful, most brilliant idea ever created. Just thinking about it makes your fingers itch to touch that keyboard and there's nothing else you would rather be doing.

In a word it's love. A beautiful new baby story.

Like a good mother you dote over this new little wonder and type and type until your wrist are stiff and your fingertip are sore. But even as you're typing you start to notice that your baby has a few warts... and an extra arm coming out the top of it's head.

The farther you get the more you realize that your little baby is some kind of freaky mutant. But like any good mother you still love it and you start the reconstructive surgery of editing.
You get down to the nitty gritty. Blood is everywhere as you hack out the unneeded scenes and the weird guy they picked up at the bar. You comfort yourself with the words "It has to be done" or "It's for the good of the story."

By now you've been living with this child for what seems like forever and you're starting to wonder if it will ever get off the sofa and get a job or at least take out the trash. That wonderful shinny newness of that baby idea is gone, replaced by this bum that makes you do all the work.

Then something happens. Out of the blue, as you're sitting hunched over the keyboard or scribbling away with your red pen, you see a light.

It's shiny. It's beautiful. It's the most brilliant idea you've ever seen. Out of the light you hear the Siren's call of a new story, just waiting to be typed. Tempting you to leave that old tired MS behind and embrace the light.

That's where I am right now. I can see it glimmering in the back of my mind. Trying to tempt me away from finishing that horrible old tired thing I've been working on forever. But I'm not falling for it. I WILL get that Tired Old Thing (TM) done.

Don't look at the light! Stay strong!

Because I know if I do go towards the light, it will end up being a bug zapper...

If you want to be a writer, then write!

2009-03-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

Cruising around to the different blogs today I came across this post by Rachel Aaron. In it she sights an excellent quote that I absolutely love:

Those who say they want to be writers, and aren’t writing, don’t.
~Hemingway

This is such a true statement. Being a NaNoWriMo freak I'm always looking for a way to spread the word about it and I'm always amazed by how many people I run across who say they want to be writers, but never write anything more than a grocery list. I have friends who have confessed to me that they've started several books, but never get past the first chapter. All theses people can do so much more if they would only try.

Perhaps though this is where life separates the true writers from the someday writers. The time to write is there, if you look for it. The skills are there (or can be learned easily enough). The only thing that is lacking is the will to write. To actually put you butt in a chair and type words that hopefully make sense together.

All you need is the dream and the will to keep going. That's what makes us writers.

Don't write what you know

2009-03-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

If you've been poking around how-to-write books and web sites for very long then you've probably heard (more then once) the old adage "Write what you know."

The idea is if you know about something or how to do something then you can describe it better and have more realism in your writing.

Don't get me wrong. Realism is a good thing to have in your stories. But realism alone wont make the story stand out. It won't draw the reader in and hold them.

I know how to clean the grease off my stove. If I chose to write a scene with me doing that I could do it very realistically. I could do the same with shoveling horse manure. But neither of those will make a very compelling scene if I write them. Perhaps someone else could, but not me.

So what's missing?

In a word "love."

Don't write what you know. Write what you love.

If you love something you can write with far more passion, even if you don't know everything about it, then if it's something you could care less about. If you love something then you will put the time and effort into learning it. If you really love an idea then the research behind it won't be a bother or a chore. It will be something you enjoy.

Write what you love and that passion will show in your words. If you are deeply interested then it's much easier to convince your readers that they should be too. That this amazing thing is something they really need to care about and pay attention to.

Beyond the research and the readers, it's easier to keep pushing through the inevitable writers block and hard places if the content or idea is something you really care about. Push aside all the weariness and discouragement because this is something important. Something that needs to be said by us. Because we are the only ones who can express that love the way that we see it. The way that it deserves to be said.

Don't just write what you know. Find something that stirs you. Write what's in your heart. Write what you love.

Still alive

2009-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

So my sickness hasn't totally passed yet, but I think it's getting better. Still sniffley and I can't get the congestion to totally leave my head. On the plus side, if it sticks around much longer I could probably start charging it rent.

I was going to write a thoughtful post, but my lunch break is almost over, so I give you this clip I found on Writing, Dreams & Drops of Ink (after following the link from Kerryn's blog) of Diana Gabaldon on writing.

I liked what she said about not stopping and working on more than one project at a time. Though I do find that it helps me personally to take a break for a day or two and decide "I will not write today, but I will write tomorrow." That break allows me to refill my "creative well" so to speak.

I is sick :-(

2009-03-10T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yep, I knew I couldn't get away with a whole year of non-sickness. My co-worker decided to be generous and give me his cold.

So between the congestion and the drugs, I can barely think enough to cook a TV dinner.

Hopefully it will be better soon.

It may not be pretty but it works...

2009-03-06T22:22:00.000-08:00

1 short book shelf I already had: $0.00

1 slab of counter top salvaged from a yard sale junk pile: $0.00

Scrap pieces of wood to use as table legs: $0.00

1 left over five gallon paint bucket and an old sheet to use as a stool: $0.00

Finally having a writing space with everything I need and not having to pay a penny to make it: Priceless

Talent

2009-03-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

Talent is an interesting thing. A gift given to a certain number of people in a broad range of fields. I always used to think of talent as something that you either had or you didn't. But the more I look at it the more I think that there are actually two different kinds of talent: the given kind and the earned.

I have (if I may be so bold to say) "given" talent in art and painting. I understand the ease that this kind of talent brings. Yes, I had to take lessons and practice, but none of it ever seemed very hard. I understood everything the teacher told me and could both execute their teachings as well as transfer it to other projects. When I was younger I thought everyone could do what I did. Then I saw how much some of my fellow students struggled and realized that this was not so.

Then I started writing.

I do not have "given" talent for writing. My first stories sucked. Seriously, they were bad. Hollow characters, clichés, bad grammar, the works. And it doesn't help that I'm dyslexic and couldn't spell my way out of a paper bag. But despite the difficulties writing was something I enjoyed and was something I wanted to better myself in.

I took a writing class and found that I was one of those students that "just didn't get it." I saw how many of the others in the class got "ah I see." moments while I sat embarrassed, hiding my confused and badly spelled notes.

For a while I retreated back to art where I felt safe, but it wasn't long before I heard the Siren's call of a new story whispering in my ear. That was when I decided that even if I didn't have "given" talent I was still going to write, and in deciding this I discovered "earned" talent.
Earned talent isn't the easy way. Nothing ever seems to work out right the first time and you always seem to need to do things over and over again before a concept sticks. That isn't the talent part. The talent is perseverance.

You may struggle with each and every thing, but the very fact that you are struggling, that you are trying, is proof that you do have this kind of talent. Earned talent is the talent of not giving up. The talent of pressing on even if it seems like nothing is happening. The talent of persevering.

That is the kind of talent that I am trying to cultivate in my writing. And I know even if the road takes longer than with given talent, it still leads to the same place in the end.

Burning the midnight tea light

2009-03-02T12:43:00.000-08:00

Since I only have one computer, I like to have a way to separate my writing/editing time from my normal (ie. goofing off) computer activities. As I've mentioned in the past I got the idea of lighting an incense stick while I was writing. This seems to work really well for writing new things, but it doesn't seem to help as much for editing what I've already written.

So I came up with a new system. For each chapter I want to edit (or scene, depending on how much I want to do) I lite one of those little tea light candles. Then when I finish that scene I get to blow out a candle. Perhaps it's the pyromaniac in me, but I just love sitting there with four or five little candles flickering next to my keyboard, blowing them out one by one until the last and I'm finished for the day.

Of course my father is now worried that I'm going to burn my house down. They're still holding that time that I set the kitchen table on fire over me (I had everything under control if they would have just stopped screaming and racing around).

Fire hazard aside, tea lights make wonderful inspirational writing tools.

Lists

2009-02-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

All right, so I'm a sucker for lists. Especially book lists. So when I came across the list of classic books over at the Novel Journey blog I knew I had to look it over.

Here's what they said:

Okay, whether it's true or not, there's been a list of books floating
around Facebook which apparently claims the BBC believes most people will have
only read 6 of the 100. It's a great list of books regardless.
How do your reading habits stack up? How many have you read?

So how do I measure up? 13. Not as good as some, but more than I thought I would considering I tend to read a lot of non-fiction or straight fantasy.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (the best books of all time)

3 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (not quite all of them, but I'm working on it)

4 The Bible (yes, I have read the whole Bible)

5 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (not quite as good as Lord of the Rings, but it's Tolkien)

6 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

7 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (these two seem rather repetitive to me, but I'll take em where ever I can)

8 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

9 Dune - Frank Herbert (very good book)

10 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (good beginning, hated the ending)

11 Ulysses - James Joyce

12 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

13 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

So that's how I stack up. How do you?

Web page shinies and synopsis beginnings

2009-02-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to redesigning my web page. Still not all that much on it (One of the reasons for my procrastination) and not all the links work yet, but at least it's up and looks half way decent.

So I finally got to the end of editing The stars cry out no more (yay!), then my critique partner sent me some more things I could tweak. Back to the grind. I'm getting more and more impatient to get this one done and get on to In the Twilight Between. I snuck a peek at it the other day and my fingers are itching to jump in. But I'm determined to get Stars cry out done first (or die trying!).

To cheer myself up (sort of) I've been pondering how to approach writing the synopsis. I know everyone seems to hate those things, but I'm thinking it might not be so bad.

Seriously, if I can describe my story in two words (Magic sword) then I can whittle it down to a few pages.

Looking at all the how-to's on the different agent blogs I wonder if some of the difficulty people have is in their head. Yes, I know it is difficult, but I've found so many times that I undermine my own efforts and set myself up for failure simply by telling myself "I can't do such-and-such" or "that's just too hard for me."

Positive attitude is the name of the game and this weekend the plan is to go chapter by chapter and hammer it out until I have the synopsis that shines (or at least one that makes sense ;-) ).

Wars, rebellions and uprisings

2009-02-16T21:08:00.000-08:00

So I'm looking at some of my latest stories and it has become apparent to me that I need to learn a little more about military strategy. In The Stars Cry Out No More (which I'm almost finished editing, btw) I have several big battles between my rebels and my bad guys as well as my bad guys against my good guys. Then my newest In the Twilight Between the whole story is based around a civil war.

Knowing this I decided to ask the best source of war information I have: My father. I swearer he has every book ever written about WWII and I don't know how many more on other wars. So I asked him for a book on military strategy and he brought out a really, really, really, old, dusty book titled Worlds Military History by Brig. Gen. William A. Mitchell.

I've only read the table of contents and I already love it. This is a huge book and it has whole chapters on Alexander the Great, Caesar, Feudal System and Crusades, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, all the way up to WWI. I have no idea how old this book is, I'm afraid if I sneeze on it the thing may fall apart, but it has to be one of the coolest books I've ever been able to wrap my little fingers around.

I enjoy reading such strange things :-P

Happy Valentines day!

2009-02-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a happy Valentines day!

And don't forget to smile :-)

TGIF

2009-02-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

Thank God it's Friday.

That's all I have to say.

The Art of Goofing Off

2009-02-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

Ever notice how your Inner Editor can drive you crazy? (Especially when your confined in a small space with her for an extended period). I've been really pushing and trying to get my WIP edited and I finally reached my breaking point.

Every weekend is the same thing: I plan on getting all this writing stuff done. New scenes written, four chapters edited in a day, etc.

And what do I do every weekend? Watch TV or guiltily wander around that house thinking that I should be writing.

I couldn't take it any more. Not only was I not getting any writing done, I wasn't getting any thing else done either because I knew I should be writing.

So this week I decided to make a change. I told myself I was not allowed to write a single word in my story the entire weekend.

It was fabulous.

I got up at 11 am (the latest I've slept in since I was a kid), casually made myself a good breakfast, sat down and watched some TV guilt free. After catching up on a few of my weekly shows I had the urge to get up and do something. So I swept the floor, shook out the rugs, did the laundry, washed the dishes (and put them away), cleaned the bath room, fixed the toilet and assembled a new little shelf to put my teas on above the sink.

All things I had been meaning to do for weeks. Finally done.

I'm thinking that I'm going to start doing this every weekend now. I seem to do more writing after I've been at work all day and have been thinking about (and wanting) to write, then I do when there is nothing else to do but write.

I do love writing, but sometimes it's just best to do nothing and recharge the batteries, so to speak.

When insults had class

2009-02-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

My dad sent these to me and I thought I would pass them on:

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison," and he said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

"He had delusions of adequacy." -- Walter Kerr

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchill

"A modest little person, with much to be modest about." -- Winston Churchill

"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -- Clarence Darrow

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -- Moses Hadas

"He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." -- Abraham Lincoln

"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." --Mark Twain

"He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends." -- Oscar Wilde

"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend... if you have one." -- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." -- Winston Churchill, in response

"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." -- Stephen Bishop

"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." -- John Bright

"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." -- Irvin S. Cobb

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others." -- Samuel Johnson

"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." -- Paul Keating

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E. Leonard

"He has the attention span of a lightning bolt." -- Robert Redford

"They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." -- Thomas Brackett Reed

"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." -- Charles, Count Talleyrand

"He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." -- Forrest Tucker

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" -- Mark Twain

"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." -- Mae West

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -- Oscar Wilde

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." -- Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

"He has Van Gogh's ear for music." -- Billy Wilder

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -- Groucho Marx

WinoWriMo Success!

2009-01-30T20:29:00.000-08:00

The fabulous WinoWriMo is coming to a close with the month, but that doesn't matter because I just reached my goal! Four chapters edited and my NaNoWirMo novel completed.

*dances around happily*

Now I'm off to enjoy a glass of wine and relax the rest of the evening. :-)

Finished WIP and 700k words

2009-01-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

Finished! It's done! 126,423 words.

Actualy it was done Friday, but I decided to run away and blob for the weekend. And I'm telling you, it felt really good. But now it's time to get back to the grind.

Finishing In the Twilight Between was only the first half of my goal for WinoWriMo. The second part was getting four chapters of The Stars Cry Out No More edited. I had been planing on just doing a chapter a week at the same time I was doing Twilight, but I found that doing both was making my brain short curcit, so I put off editing until I was done with the new writing. And of course that took a lot longer than I thought it would. So now I have 45 pages to get edited in a week.

If this wasn't a chalange I would probibly be changing my goals. But it is and I've already anounced that that is what I wanted to get done this month. I HATE losing. Hate it. So far I have not lost a single writing chalange (posibly cheeted a little, but never lost). And darn it, I'm not about to break that record now over four stupid chapters >.>

Another thing I noted today (in fact just a few moments ago) was the total number of words I've written over the years. Now I can't make a totally accurate count of all the hand written stuff, but I did compile all the fiction I've typed. It came out to something like this:

260,087 - short stories, stories I began but never finished, etc.
50,115 - NaNoWriMo '05
113,840 - NaNoWriMo '06 (with revisions)
51,647 - SoCNoC '07
50,047 - NaNoWriMo '07
10,009 - April Fools '08
50,047 - SoCNoC '08
126,423 - NaNoWriMo '08

Total: 712,215 words (!!!!!)

When I thought to total everything I guessed I would maybe get 500k. But apparently I'm more long winded than I thought ;-)

Infrequent posts

2009-01-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

Due to the fact that I'm STILL not done with my NaNoNovel.

117,000 words.

Still not done.

Time to lock the door, unplug the phone and turn off the internet.

I WILL finish this thing this week or DIE TRYING! >.>

The Great Escape

2009-01-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well that was... not fun.

I was standing in my front room and suddenly I see my horse, Quigley, walk by the window.

His pen is in the back yard o.O

So I jump into my boots and race outside trying to catch up with him. But instead of stopping he decides to hurtle the snow bank and charge off down the road. (By the way, I found that a cantering horse is a lot faster than me in heavy snow boots). Then he decides to leap the snow bank again into the neighbor yard. I follow, rather unsuccessfully, through the knee deep snow. Apparently he didn't like wallowing through the snow any more than I did because he turned back to the road, which of course meant that I too had to turn around and fight my way back. By the time I got back all I could see with a little flick of his tale as he turned the corner in the road and poof, he was gone.

*sigh*

Waddling back home I enlisted the help of my parents (they live next door to me) and we went out to scour the country side. I went on foot using the best of my tracking abilities in the snow and mom and dad drove down to the different neighbors to inform them that there was a horse at large.

Did I mention that we live in the woods?

And that Quigly is a perfect grey brown tree color?

I actually saw him just after we started searching. I called him and he perked his ears up and came trotting over. For just a moment I thought to my self "Well that wasn't so bad." But as soon as he saw the halter he kicked his heels up and took off again.

Two hours later we send mom back home and she finds a horse in my barn raiding the bags of food I have there.

*double sigh*

Dad comes and picks me up and we drive home. I find the spot in the electric fence that's down. A tree fell over on it ripping it out. Then as I'm struggling to get the fence put back together, Quigley escapes again.

Again!

Fortunately this time I had left his halter on and I was able to corner him against a snow bank. He was tired from running around and he hesitated to climb his way over and I grabbed him.

Another three hours trying to fix the fence and it's still not working quite right. Quigley gets locked in his barn for the night (something he won't be all that happy about, but he should have thought of that before making his mommy chase him all over the neighborhood). Hopefully I can get the fence working tomorrow. I know the short is somewhere on the east side of his pasture, but that part also has hip deep snow and it was getting dark out (I really don't like fixing horse fence with a flashlight between my teeth. I've done it, but I don't like it).

So now I'm cold, exhausted and coughing (probably from huffing and puffing in the cold air). So I'm going to pour my last glass of wine and collapse. I can catch up on my writing tomorrow.

Internet problems

2009-01-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

Well my internet connection has been wonky lately and I haven't been able t get on.

Hopefully we have it all fixed now.

I'll put up a new post tomorrow.

Me from A to Z

2009-01-04T12:14:00.001-08:00

Saw this on Zapkilikan's blog and decided to give it a shot.

"Using one word for each letter of the alphabet, make a list of the words you most associate with yourself or that you feel best describe you."

A- Alive
B- Bird-lover
C- Carriwitchet
D- Distractible
E- Eclectic
F- Forgiving
G- Gamely
H- Honest
I- Introvert
J- Just odd
K- Kaleidoscopic
L-Logophile
M- Modest
N- Nocturnal (or I would be if I could)
O- Obsessive
P-Procrastinating
Q- Quaint
R- Romantic
S- Sarcastic
T- Thoughtful
U- Unbreakable
V- Vexing
W- Writer
X- xenophobic (actually I'm not, but it was the only thing I could think of that started with a 'x' :P)
Y- Young
Z- Zealously original

Writing Update and hanging out in Lothlorien

2009-01-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've reached Lothlorien! :-D Took me a while, but I did it.

The Eowyn Challenge is a challenge to walk through Tolkien's Middle Earth. I think it started as a challenge to walk the same number of miles from Hobbiton to Rivendell (458 miles), but it has expanded out to the whole trip through the Lord of the Rings books.

I started with the walk to Rivendell and made that then started traveling from Rivendell to Lorien (another 462 miles). Now that I've reached that I'm headed off down the Anduin from Lothlorien to Rauros Falls (389 miles). My end goal is to go all the way through to Mt. Doom with Frodo and Sam then all the way home again (something like 4,000 miles overall).

As a reward for making it this far I'm going to head over to Amazon.com and buy something off my wish list :-)

Now for a weekly writing update:

In the Twilight Between: Things are coming along nicely. This week I've added another 7,000 words. Bringing my total up to 90k.
I'm starting to sweat my end goal of 110k. I may need to up that to 120 or 130k. That sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. In my first drafts I leave everything in. All the scenes that I decided half way through writing them that I wanted to do something different and the little side notes I leave in until I start editing. That and I decided the other day that my beginning meanders too much, so I'm going to cut out the first chapter.
Even though I know I'm going to cut all that I like leaving it in, then after I've set it aside and let it breath for a little while I can come back and really decide if I want to scrap that whole scene or if I just want to move it somewhere else.
After all is said and done I expect it to come out to about 100k (give or take).

The Stars Cry Out No More: Well, where Twilight Between is going well, this one isn't as much. I want to get four chapters edited this month, but when I sat down with my red pen last night I just couldn't get into it. I think I'm getting some negative transference between stories. Normally I can multi task between stories all right, but this time it's just not working for me. I think I'm just too involved in Twilight Between to really concentrate on Stars Cry Out.

So my goal is to get Twilight Between done soon (like by the middle of this month at the latest) so I can get editing on Stars Cry Out.

The end is nigh!

2008-12-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

This is the last day of 2008 and I've been reflecting back on the year.

'08 has been fairly good to me. My life is settling down into what I want it to be (for the most part) and probably best of all I've really come to terms with my writing. In the past I've always measured myself against other great authors and have ended up being frustrated. Feeling some how that since I'm no where near as good as them, I'm not truly a writer.
Over the last year I've been trying to put my negativity aside (or at least most of it) and except my self and my writing. I may not be as good as so and so, but I'm writing the best that I can now and I'm still learning and growing.

And speaking of growing, it's time for the infamous list of goals for 2009:

1) Finish The Stars Cry Out No More and submit it to an agent

2) Finish and edit In the Twilight Between

3) Blog more often *rolls eyes* I have this on the list every year, maybe it will stick this time :P

4) Get out and ride my horse more often

5) Clean my house. (I mean really clean it, not just shift the piles of junk around)

6) Become a millionaire... or if that doesn't work at least get enough money to pay my bills

And that is it so far.

So Happy New Years! I hope that 2009 will bring new blessings to everyone! :-D

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
~Sir Winston Churchill

Weapon of the Week: Halberd

2008-12-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

Since Monday's are so nasty and dull I decided to liven things up by talking about one of my favorite things: how to kill people.

Or more precisely, the tools used to do so.

This week we have the Halberd.

The Halberd was a two-handed poll type weapon ranging in length for 4 to 6 feet. They are essentially an axe with a spear continuing out the top. Used for both cuts (with the axe part) and thrusts (with the spear) they made a quiet adaptive and very deadly weapon. Being a poll weapon their range of attack is further out. The extension on the back of the axe made an excellent hook for bringing down opponents on horseback as well as catching up other foot soldiers.
A Halberd in the hands of a well-trained master is a deadly thing. Every bit as deadly as a sword or rapier.

Personally I have never tried fighting with a Halberd, but they certainly are fascinating weapons. I would use this type of weapon for medium weight characters or even lighter weight ones with the smaller Halberds.

In Barbara Hambly's book Dragonsbane (a book I highly recommend), one of her main characters, Jenny Waynest, wields a Halberd.

And that concludes today's Weapon of the Week.

Anatomy of romance

2008-12-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

I'm almost 3/4 of the way through my newest story (In the Twilight Between) and lately I've been pondering the strengths and motives of my hero and my heroin.

I've been very pleased with how their romance is developing and blossoming naturally through the story. Both of them are strong people, but each also has their own flaws. Instead of this being a problem it only seems to have made them "fit" together better.

Many times I've seen in the fantasy genre heroes falling in love with the pretty yet utterly shallow princess. Though the trend seems now to fall more towards the overly strong heroin. Now I have nothing against a strong woman. Weather she is strong personality wise or she's a worrier archetype, that's all good and fine. The pet peeve I have is when she is so strong that you start to wonder why she even needs a guy at all? It's almost as if having a lover would make her weaker or she has to break from character to even fall in love.

This sense of aloofness could be (and probably is) in the lack of development for her in the story. Even so it is a disappointing circumstance.

So my idea of a well-structured romance (at least in the fantasy genre, I don't have enough experience to say for other genres though I suspect it is all the same) is a balanced romance. Neither hero nor heroin are particularly stronger than the other (I'm talking mentally now more than physically). Both get into trouble and either need the other to help them or they have to get out of it themselves. They both stand as independent individuals on their own, but they are stronger together. Their flaws and strengths complement each other.

In Twilight Between I wanted to have this kind of setup between my hero and heroin. So:
She is rash, emotional and impulsive. Often dashing off with out preparing. My hero commonly complains that she is "reckless."
My hero, on the other hand, is very logical, calculating and thoughtful. He does not do anything unless he sees a good reason to and he has thought out all the repercussions. She keeps calling him "stubborn".

At the beginning of the story neither of them trust the other and they are constantly getting into arguments. But by the end she is going to learn to slow down and take his advice, even if she doesn't like it, and he is going to learn how to trust her, even if he doesn't understand.
That way their faults are compensated by the other and they are stronger as a couple than they are apart. Of course they will love each other as well, but it takes more than love alone to make a relationship really work.

At least that's how I see it.

And I think this is the longest post I've written on here in quiet a while (just when you thought I didn't have anything substantive to write ;-) )

Pens... I haz dem

2008-12-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

Pens! I finally got through to my parents to buy me pens! :-)

Dad got me some really nifty syringe shaped pens and my mom bought me some awesome rainbow colored mini pens.

So with that and the chocolate I had a very profitable Christmas :-D

Oh and I'm officially addicted to I Can Has Cheezburger? now.

YouTube is a writers best friend

2008-12-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

So I'm typing along and my hero and heroin need to climb the rock wall along side this river and I realize that I know nothing about rock climbing. Now I could just make it vague get them across the rock face and move on, but what's the fun of that?

YouTube has become my best friend (since I now have fast enough Internet to actually use it). You can find just about anything there, like a guy that has a bunch of mini lessons on basic rock climbing!

I love having an excuse to research random things ;-)

Four day weekend for me starting tomorrow (Woot!). I've got all my presents wrapped and relatives called. Tomorrow I'm ducking back over to my parents for our traditional Christmas breakfast then I have the rest of the weekend to myself.

Assuming I don't have to shovel snow... again.

Merry Christmas! :-)

Good news and bad news and thoughts of a writing addict

2008-12-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

Bad news first. My water heater has died. And of course it can't just pass away quietly in the night, it had to flood my bedroom on its way out. Fortunately it just missed my book shelves and just about every other item that would be permanently damaged by water. Unfortunately I now have to buy a new one. :-(

So much for getting myself some of the book off my Amazon wish list.

Enough of that on to the good news!

I hit 80k in my WIP!!!! *happy dance*

I've been so excited about this story. It's really been speaking to me and kind of taken on a life of its own. I feel like I'm just along for the ride now. My hero and heroin are especially opinionated and particularly exhausting to write.

Which leads me to another thing I've noticed. Recently I've been trying to invest more emotion and heart into my writing and to tell you the truth it's an exhausting processes. It can't be the act of typing (all I'm doing is sitting on my duff and moving my fingers!), but I'm always tired after a particularly emotional scene. I think it's a good kind of tired though and almost invigorating, if I can use the contradiction in terms. Its releasing.

In the "real world" I rarely have any kind of emotional outbursts and when I feel one coming on I normally try to hide it. But when I'm writing I can be as angry as I want to be. I can cry when my character cries. I can storm and rage when she rages. I can let out all the things I've been holding in and I'm telling ya, it feels good.

This is starting to make me wonder if I'm getting addicted to writing, lol! (and if I am, I'm not quitting!)

Monday Rant

2008-12-15T18:26:00.000-08:00

You know when I get stuck on a story and I'm just sitting there staring at my Word document going "Umm???" there isn't a soul around.

No one calls.

No one writes.

Nothing.

Just me and the stupid story that's moving forward like a drunk half frozen snail.

Then I get a break through! Things start falling together and my fingers are flying across the keyboard. I'm cranking out page after page and everything is going great. So what happen then?

My father/boss calls and needs me to type up some stuff on the computer for him.

My mother calls and ants me to come over and give her my advice about something. Oh and a package came in the mail from my cousin so now I need to write a thank you card.

One thing after another. Couldn't people have asked me to do theses things before I was on a roll!

And did I mention it was Monday? Again?

Ahhh!!!

*deep breath*

All right. I'm done ranting now.

Kissing the Frog

2008-12-14T18:31:00.000-08:00

So far I'm 14 days past the end of Nano and I've added about 7k words onto my WIP. *happy dance* I think that's the most I've written outside of NaNo for a while now. And better yet, the story is flowing along very nicely.

Now that NaNoWriMo is over I've been trying to catch up on some of my reading. Several months ago I was looking around for a book with info on publishing and what the writer is expected to do (etc.). I came across a book called Your First Novel by Ann Rittenberg (a literary agent) and Laura Whitcomb (a novelist). Now I haven't finished reading it, but from the stuff I have read I'm really liking this book. The stuff about how to organize your writing at the beginning of the book I know I won't be able to use, but the stuff about the agent side is really good.

At the begin Laura suggests that you get a bunch of ideas together and make index card out of them and lay them all out. I really don't get what the thing is with index cards. This isn't the first place that I've seen them suggested for use. It must work for some people, but the times that I've tried to use them have all ended in utter confusion. But then again I am a true blood fly by the seat of my pants writer. I need a few points to know where I'm aiming for, but everything molds itself as I'm writing it changing up until the very last second. If I attempt to predict where it will be going by laying out plot cards or something similar then all it seems to do is suck the creative energy out of me. And that's always a bad thing when writing.

On the plus side I did come up with a great aide for my writing time. The book recommended that you set apart your writing time with something special like lighting a candle when you start and blowing it out when you are done. I really liked the idea, but I decided to put my own spin on it and I pulled out my incense sticks instead of candelas. So when I start I lit my stick then put it out when I'm done. I also found that there's a slight breeze in my house when the heater is on, so I placed the incense burner upwind from me so the smoke travels back and floats around my computer screen before swirling about the rest of my room. It looks so awesome and it smells great :-)

So ya. I kissed this frog and it actually worked for me :-D

NaNoWriMo has ended...

2008-12-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

... and the world weeps :-(

I ended November with 64k... and miles away from the end of my story. Now my challenge is to keep up the momentum. In the past I've stopped writing after November and if the story wasn't done then it would just sit there and... well that's about all it would do.

So my goal for what's left of this/next year is to try and work on my story every day until the first draft is done. Even if it's just opening the file and reading a bit (though I do have a goal of writing a page a day).
So far I've done well with this goal and I have nearly 66k. And I think I'm going to stick with In the Twilight Between for my title (that's what I said about the last title though >.< ).

I also have the Stars cry out no more that I need to keep editing. I have a couple people who want to read it, but I'm still not done with the revisions. Feeling a little pressured to just give it over, but I know that the changes I'm doing are making the story so much better.

*sigh* Nothing's ever easy.

I'm such a slacker

2008-11-26T12:01:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I could use NaNoWriMo as an excuse for not blogging more often, but I hit my 50k last week.

As is evident by the new "winner" badge I won NaNoWriMo again this year *happy dance* Of course I still have a lot of writing to do, I'm no where near the end of my story. I'm really hoping to get it done before the end of November, but I'm not quite sure I'll be able to make it. My word count stands at 59k at the moment I'm still only two thirds of the way through the book.

On the plus side I finished up a quick little blurb for this book:

Nadya was content. She had a good job, a boyfriend, a nice normal little life.But her normal life spins out of control when she is pulled into a new and magical world. In this world words are power and the life oath of the soul is the most powerful of all. Caught in the middle of a war raging between the White Lord of Dy'sha and the Raven house of S'har, Nadya must chose which side to fight for if she ever wants to go home again.But in this world not everything is as it appears. Truth and deception walk hand in hand and Nadya must learn to use her powers as Seer to find the truth in time.If she chooses wrong, thousands could die and she could lose her very soul.

It was fun to make, but it's going to need some tweaking by the time I'm done.

And now I'm off to write again. But before I go I had to share this:

Soup through a straw

2008-10-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

Been a bit out of it for a while here. I dislocated my jaw *sigh* Yes, that's about as bad as it sounds. I was in the bath room brushing my teeth and I felt it quietly pop, then I couldn't close my mouth.

This is actually the second time this has happened to me. The first time was three years ago after a big yawn. Freaked me out, but it popped back in within a few minuets.

This time I wasn't so lucky. I tried waiting and relaxing (a rather hard thing to do when your jaw is stuck open). And of course, to add insult to injury, I'm also drooling everywhere (since I can't swallow). After two hours, still stuck and in increasing pain I called my mom and had her drive me to the Emergency Room. Fortunately it wasn't too busy and I was able to get in pretty fast.
A really nice ER Doctor came in and was able to pop it back in. Then he went off to order an x-ray (to be sure I didn't have a fracture or anything) and it popped back out again. I didn't even do anything that time. My tendons and muscles were just over stretched. So they wrapped a bandage around my head to keep my jaw from falling off and that's what I'm wearing even as I type this.
I also can't open my mouth or chew anything for at least 48 hours, so I've been sucking tomato soup through a straw. *sigh* (I can't tell you what I'd give for a crunchy cracker right now). Then I can't open my mouth widely for at least six weeks after that.

*long sigh*

On the plus side, I don't need to open my mouth wide to type. NaNoWriMo is starting to night!

The Adventures of Nell

2008-10-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

4 days till NaNoWriMo....

I was looking through some of my old notebooks the other day, and I came across an old poem that I wrote a couple years ago. So I decided I'd post it here. :-)

[Note: if you're looking for some kind of serious poetry that ties into a greater meaning, you can stop reading this post now.]

________________________________

The Adventures of Nell
~ Nell and the Methlo’mir ~

Part I
~ A Silver Horn ~

A tale I bring to you of Nell
Of him the Harpers rarely tell
For of his adventures few will care
Even with his toil to dare
His first adventure, I’m ashamed to say
Was not an adventure at all that day
For on his way to town our Nell
Came to a ditch into which he fell
Then (beside the dirt and mud) he found
A silver horn upon the ground
And lifting it from the slime and muck
A bird appeared above and struck
"Go away thou silly bird!"
Nell did shout but the bird had not heard
It landed on his back to peck
At the slenderness of his neck
But Nell was quick from many a jest
That had gone badly though he never guessed
His fleeing from an angered hand
Would help against this creature stand
For even as it stooped he turned
Away, the attack he had spurned
The birds attack then went awry
Where once it had sailed in cloudless sky
It landed in the mud beside
And Nell then caught him in stride
"Do not kill us!" the bird did say
The angered Nell thought to anyway
But stayed his hand to ask "Why?"
"Why did thou attack me from the sky?"
"The sky is where we live and breath"
It said "And normally we would not leave
But the horn is more important than sky
Or water, earth or the winds that sigh"
"What is this thing you speak of here?
Not this horn left in mud and drear!"
"But it is!" It cried. "Though why
You silly human pass it by."
For with its call Destiny will come
Yet only will it come for some
For the Methlo’mir is wound with spells
That topples mountains and Kingdom fells
Yet none may know what gift it will bring
To the one who makes the horn sing!"
Without another word or cry
The bird sprang back into the sky
Leaving Nell with mud and dread
And an awful aching in his head
"What strange thing do I now possess?"
He thought, and yet he feared to guess
So crawling from the ditch where he fell
Starting toward town again our Nell
Thought of ways to use the horn best
Though little would Nell have guessed
That this thing in his hands would change
His life from normal into strange.

Part II
~ A Purple Visitor ~

Latter that day Nell sat and stared
At the horn he had not yet dared
To touch or move from the table where it sat
So Nell just stared with hands flat
Yet a glimmer of curious thought
His mind began and to his lips brought
"What kind of things would the horn bring
If I should dare to make it sing?"
Yet before the thought had left his head
He grasped the horn and worries fled
He felt the call of Destiny
How he could make even tyrants flee
Drive the wills of heart and soul
Gain maidens’ hearts he’d stole
How kings would come from far and near
To beg him to rid them of their drear
With out another thought he lifted to sound
The silver horn that he had found
And with a deeping breath he blew
Yet a sputtered note was all that came through
Nell looked again at the silver horn
Then about at his house still forlorn
Our poor Nell sighed with disgust
At the horn where he had put his trust
And tossing it onto the table again
Over to the hearth his dinner he began
But Fate had not abandoned our Nell
Otherwise no story would we have to tell
For as soon as he had turned away
From the silver horn that fateful day
A knock came sudden to his door
Nell gulped not knowing what was in store
Slowly the latch he began to turn
What was beyond the door to learn?
He flung the door open wide
The he glanced about and sighed
For all he saw was grass and stream
All was normal now it seemed
"Ahem, please sir would you look down?"
A voice said from on the ground
Nell looked down and gasped with fright
At the purple creature holding a lantern tight
It was short, coming only to Nell’s knee
Purple was skin and hair waving free
Its tall boots were blue, its eyes yellow
Our Nell had never seen a stranger fellow
The creature smiled up at Nell
And even as the stories tell
The creature stepped inside his room
As if welcome it assumed
"What are you? And why are you here?"
Nell asked in growing fear
"I am Methlo’mir." The creature said
And that name filled Nell with dread
"I thought Methlo’mir was the horn?"
Nell said with hope forlorn
The creature smiled but shook its head
As over to the table it sped
Lifting up the silver horn
Tucking it into a bag ripped and torn
"Now what wish to you should I bring?
The one who made the horn sing?"
Nell stood rooted in amaze
As over the creature his eyes did gaze
"What you would wish, I deem
Would be gold, perhaps from yonder stream?"
Nell then did glance outside
And a river of gold he then espied
"Or perhaps a kingdom." It said again
"Then may honor and gold to you begin."
Nell nodded and smiled to himself
As the creature floated up to sit on the shelf
"Of course all I ask in return from thee
Is a single tear from the Sea
To Nell this seemed very strange
Perhaps this creature was indeed deranged
But as he glanced at the purple head
He thought better and to the near shore sped.

Part III
~ Little Yellow Fish of Wisdom ~

Nell saw the rolling waves of the Sea
And thought to himself "This is too easy!"
But instead of taking those words as a sign
He wadded down into the brine
Then when the water pulled at his feet
He fell back upon his seat
And into the shadowy depths he was pulled
And the darkness then around him filled
Then something worse than night black as ink
The world about him turned neon pink!
Nell cried with horror untold
As the pinkness around him began to unfold
Then relief of a gray world returned
The gray twilight he no longer spurned
There in that dome of gray
Nell feared he’d never see the light of day
In a desperate attempt then to escape
He came to the gray curtain that did drape
He had to escape and return
Though he feared the pink would burn
He began again to travel for the light
But again came the pink fright
And this time the dread was more
As pink feathers and fluff galore
Floated about him so he ran back
Fleeing that pink and horrid attack
Now Nell sat in the gray cell
Unable to leave, so the stories tell
Poor Nell sat trapped in that place
When a small light of gold shinned on his face
Nell looked up and saw before his eyes
A small gold fish he would latter call wise
"What is this here?" it asked
"I am trapped." Nell said and basked
In the golden light of the fish
"The Methlo’mir tricked me with a wish
Of kingdoms and of promised gold"
The fish nodded. "That trick is old."
It said with a sigh and gazed
At Nell still standing rather dazed
"How can I escape?" Nell pleaded
Seeing that advice he soon needed
"Fear is strong, but stronger still
Is power of soul, mind and will."
"What does this mean?" he had to ask
Wondering how this could help with his task
"Do not fear!" the fish told
"And anything for you unfold."
And with that the fish disappeared
And Nell thought of all he feared

Part IV
~ Pink Feathers and Purple Sand ~

Nell sat alone and cold
In that timeless place of old
And the words of the fish came to mind
For it had been good and not unkind
It had given him something upon which to think
On how to escape the dreadful pink
"Do not fear!" the fish had said
So Nell rose and began again to tread
His way back toward light and life
Pressing through fluff and strife
For again the dreaded pink appeared
And fluffy feathers toward him leered
"I am not afraid!" He began to yell
And bravely on did trek our Nell
Then the fluff about him stuck
He hoped it would come off with luck
But from his path he did not stray
Though the feathers tried to confuse the way
Then finally shone ahead a light
Sun and shore he saw with delight
Then breaking through the foam so clear
He was free of pinkish drear
He looked down at his body tall
Relieved to find no pink at all
Then there before him stood the Methlo’mir
No longer smiling in light clear
"You’ve escaped, well done
All though you’ve spoiled all my fun."
But before another word our Nell did grab
The horn in the bag all ripped and drab
He flung it then into the Sea
His bravest act of charity
"Nooo!" the Methlo’mir shrieked
And into the sand about it seeped
The purple puddle was washed away
Leaving sand again in the light of day
And thus our Nell the Brave
Many an unlucky traveler did save
Yet none believed the tale he told
Of silver horns and rivers of gold
But here the tale in full we did tell
Of the first Adventure of Nell

~ Epilogue ~

Yet far off in a distant land
Something appeared upon the sand
Was it silver? Was it gold?
Was it new? Or was it old?
Half buried in the sand it glinted
All shinning there and silver tinted
None had yet seen it all forlorn
The small shadow of a silver horn…

Dragon update and a confession

2008-10-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

So I've been using my Dragon NaturallySpeaking for over a week now and I have to say I really really like it. I've found that it's even expanded my written vocabulary! I'm a horrible speller (that was one of the main reasons for getting this program), but I actually have a fairly decent vocabulary when speaking. Unfortunately even though I know how to use a word in a sentence if I can't spell it I tend to avoid it when writing (the word "silhouette" comes to mind). Fortunately that's no longer a problem ;-)I need to look into getting a new headset for it though. The one it came with press in just the wrong way on my ear it gives me headaches, but I have the same problem with a lot of headphones too.

Another cool link to share with everyone who loves old books. Project Gutenberg is a website that takes old books and make them into free e-books. I found quite a few good books on there. I just finished downloading "Heretic" by G.K. Chesterton. :-)

And now I have a confession to make. Though I'm loathed to admit this heinous crime and yet I do so in hopes that others may avoid the same mistake that I made.

I was being nice to my characters. *gasp of horror* I know, I know, it's a terrible thing to even think about. But I did (I plan on rectifying it soon though). Being nice to your characters is such a tempting trap to fall into. You find these characters, build them, shape them, love them, hate them. They're like your children and sometimes it becomes difficult to actually go and hurt them. To kick them out my cold, make them cry, make them bleed or even die. But that is the only thing that moves the story. The only thing that makes a story worth writing, worth reading. And perhaps most importantly, it's the only thing that makes your characters grow.

Imagine how different the Star Wars movies would've been if Luke's family had not been killed? Or Lord of the Rings, if Sam had stayed in the Shire? The list goes on and on.

So now I'm forcing my characters to make very difficult choices and in doing so I've also discovered many new plot twists that I hadn't thought of before. Paths I couldn't have gone down unless my characters made those important life-changing decisions. Yes, they will cry, they will bleed, but the story will go on and more importantly they will grow.

A Dragon writer is born

2008-10-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

All right, I finally got my Dragon program up and running (yes I'm using it now). It seems to be working quite well and I really enjoy using it (though I wil have to get use to talking out loud all the time). My cat likes the program to, since the keyboard is vacant from my lap he seems to think he's free to lay on me whenever he pleases. At least he's not stepping on my keyboard anymore.

I haven't decided whether I want to use this program for NaNoWriMo yet. Hopefully I can get my speaking speed up before then, but as it is now I can type faster, or at least without as much thinking.
I'm experimenting with listing to music while I'm dictating. I seem to do fine as long as it's instrumental, but if I try to listen to anything with lyrics I start getting distracted and confused (and I'm confused enough already without adding this to it). But it is nice having the option of playing the music without it interfering with the dictation.

I'm getting a little behind again on my editing. Hopefully tomorrow I can get little bit more caught up. This next chapter is a long one, though it's one of my favorites. Even with the editing slowness the story does seem to be coming along well. I'm still close to being on track for getting to the end of the book before the end of the year, assuming I can get leased a couple chapters done during November (wish me luck on that!).

And speaking of November, my planning for this year's NaNo story is getting more detailed. I was thinking about colors and how we perceive them. For instance if you see a man dressed in black in most books, you automatically think that he might be the bad guy. And white of course is the good guy. But what do these colors mean to another culture? So I called upon my Google powers and looked up color symbolism. I was surprised to find that there is quite a bit of variation from one culture to another. For instance, the color of death in the western society is black, but in South Africa red is the color of death and mourning. And Egypt yellow is the color of mourning. I also found that in China white is the color of death. That gave me the idea of mixing up my color symbolism in this next story. i.e. the bad guy wears white, the good guy wears... Well probably not black because that is straying a little bit into cliché, but I plan on making it a color that is unusual for a good guy to where (at least in Western society). I think I enjoyed playing with people's perceptions little too much sometimes, it's just such a fascinating subject.

All I have to do now is come up with a plausible reason why each side has the color that it does. White for the bad guy is pretty easy, the people from this culture are Caucasian and when someone with light skin dyes their skin becomes even paler. It can also be refering to the light of the afterlife or something of that nature. The good guy the other hand I haven't decided on yet. In the beginning of the story I want you to believe that he is actually the bad guy. So to play to the Western belief in color symbolism I'll need to make the color dark, perhaps red or even a dark blue. I'll see how it develops and decide later I think.
Whatever color it is though it'll be fascinating to create symbolism of my own for this world.

P.S. and for some reason blogger won't let me reply to any comments on previous posts. So to Ilana No, I haven't read any of McKinley's books, but I'll be sure to check her out. I'm always on the lookout for a new book to add to my "want to read" list. :-)

Twittering Dragons and NaNoWriMo

2008-10-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yay it's October! That means one thing... NaNoWriMo is coming! And predictably enough the sight crashed yesterday and is still down. Hopefully it will be up again soon. I'm a Municipal Liaison again this year and I really need to get a mass letter out to all the WriMo's in my region. *sigh* I just have to wait. Though no idle waiting it shale be. I've got some great ideas for this years story.
I decided to add dragons to this story. Normally I prefer making up my own fantasy animals/races rather than working of the prejudices of preexisting one, but for this story I think it might work (though more likely than not I'm going to use some archaic spelling or whatnot).

And speaking of dragons, I got my Dragon NaturallySpeaking program. It's a dictation thingy that I'm hoping will help my writing. I haven't had a chance to install it. We'll see how it works and I'll post about it later.

In other news I finally got around to joining Twitter . Interesting idea. We'll see how well I am at keeping it updated.

It's Beginning

2008-09-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my 22 birthday *yay!* I'm going to go over to my parents and have pizza and cake (Mmm). Not all that exciting of a birthday party, but I'm not all that excited about turning 22. I do have to say I'm not as old feeling as I thought I would be when I was ten. ;-)

I also got a wedding invitation from an old friend of mine. And another friend was telling me that she and her boyfriend have been going out for over a year now.

So I was pondering this and I realized that it's time to start battening down the hatches and getting ready for the inevitable question:

"So, Griffin you're 22 now. When are you going to get a boyfriend?"

*sigh* It's already started on a small scale. Friends keep asking me if I have a crush on someone then don't believe me when I say I don't.
I like guys. I really do. I just haven't found any that I think are worth my time. My very precious, very limited time.
The older lady's I know (who have failed to set me up with their son/nephew/favorite waiter at Red Lobster) say that "it" will happen sooner or later and give me a wink. That's just fine with me, as long as it's later. Much later.

On to a more gratifying subject...

I've got three more pages and I'll be done with another chapter of editing (woot!). I was also studying my voice as I ran through this last chapter, a scrutiny prompted by Jennifer Hubbard's post Here. I liked how she pointed out that a good strong voice isn't just first person. A good third person voice has to be passionate about showing the story. I've never really thought of voice as being a separate thing, even a character, in the story. But it makes sense that the narrator has to be invested in the story for the reader to be interested.

I'm reminded of the old bards and storytellers. If they weren't impassioned by the storys they told, then they would not capture the attention of their audience. On the flip side you can make something old and boring come to life if you just add passion to it.

Definitely something I'm going to be thinking about in my future writing.

Pack Rats & Spare Parts

2008-09-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

Got another two chapters done on The stars cry out no more. So thankfully I'm on schedule with that.

Now I have another thing to start thinking about though.

What the heck am I going to do for NaNo?

I do have a vague idea, but I really haven't thought of developing it much until this week. Fortunately I've piled up a rather impressive bone pile of stories-that-didn't-quite-work. This is something I learned very early in writing. Never throw ANYTHING away!

Repeat after me: Never ever ever throw anything away!

Sure, sometimes you need to cut something from a certain story, but you never throw away that alternate path. Just because it was not right for that story doesn't mean it wont be right for a future one.

Case in point: I started a sub-plot in one of my WIPs (I think it might have even been Stars Cry Out) where a prophecy was made about one of my female characters stating that she would "fall" to one of my male characters. So of course she thinks he's going to kill her, but in truth the prophecy meant she was going to fall in love with him.
I started with this idea for one story, but it didn't work out. Mostly because my female character decided to kill him first. That's just the way she is and the only way to change that would be to change her. I didn't want to do that, so the prophecy idea went into the bone pile.

Flash forward to earlier today rummaging through my papers, notes and muddled thoughts looking for some ideas. I already had my two MC's for this new story and an over arching theme of "truth and lies". So when I ran across this old sub-plot I knew it was perfect. She thinks he's trying to kill her, he thinks he needs to kill her to fulfil this prophecy and prevent horrible nasty things from happening. Can you think of a better way to start a relationship? ;-) There's two sides to everything.

Actually there's three: Your side, their side and the truth. But will they be able to discover the third before it's too late?

So the moral of the story is: become a pack rat (at least for writing).

A New Challenge

2008-09-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

I did the math and it doesn't look like I'm going to get my WIP done editing before NaNo. But! there is a good chance that I can get it done before the new year.

So my new challenge is to finish it by December 31.

NaNo ML update- I'm thinking of starting a blog for the North Idaho Wrimos. That way if the main NaNo site is too slow (which it always is in November) then my Wrimos can still get info on what's going on for our group.
We'll see. Everything is still in the planning phase at the moment. I'm hoping beyond hope that I'll get a coML to help this year, or at least someone to bounce ideas off of.

The Stars Cry Out No More editing progress:
1 chapter done
14 more to go...

Wootness

2008-08-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

Big breakthrough with my editing. Someone once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and excpecting a difrent result." I've always loved this definition and have gotten myself out of many a rut by paying heed to it. What does this have to do with my editing? Well I realized that I've been trying to force myself to edit my WIP on the computer. So to try something new I printed out the chapter I was trying to edit and pulled out my favorite red pen (yes, I have more than one ;-) ). And the result? I've already got over half the chapter done (woot!).

I don't know why, but writing things out by hand always seems to inspier me. All my novel planning is done by hand.

And speeking of planning... It's getting to be that time of year again. Yep, NaNoWriMo is coming! I've signed up to be a Municipal Liaison again this year (yay!). I'm excited about this year. I've already got a bunch of really cool ideas for write-ins and nifty prizes for those who show up to them (asuming I can get anyone to come >.< ).

I've also got a good idea for my NaNoNovel. A few rumples I need to iron out, but that's never stopped me before ;-)

So now my goal for September and October is to get the rest of my NaNo ML stuff collected up and I really want to push and try to get the rest of The Stars Cry Out No More done (or at least 80-90% done).

Side note on the fencing front- I've finally reached the top of the ladder in my Saber class (woot!). I started at #6 I think and I've been fighting my way up and tonight I finally got close enough to challenge the #1 guy. I ended up beating him 5 to 2 (woot! woot!).

So over all, a very good day :-D

Trubles in editing land

2008-08-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

I've been struggling with my editing on The Stars Cry Out No More I don't know why, but every time I sit down to work on it my mind goes blank.

I keep trying to take a break and shove the whole thing under the bed so I can move on to another story, but I can't. I've been working on this book for two years now (much longer than it should have take). I need closure.

I'm almost looking forward to those query rejection letters. At least then it means that I don't have to work on this book anymore!

All right. No more whining. Back to editing...

New arrival

2008-08-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

My new baby finally came in late last week. I'm so excited to have him and he's just lovely. So cute and very very smart!
His name is Lorien, but he sound like a squeaky toy, so his nick name is Squeaky. ;-)

Here's a picture of him:

Found another slick link the other day. This time to a Speech Accent Archive. I didn't even know there was such a thing! They go around the world finding people from other countries and record non-native speakers of English reading a paragraph of text. The paragraph is the same for all of them so you can really hear the different ascents.
I found it when I was looking for a good accent for a character in a new book I'm planing. I wanted language to be a key thing in this story and I wanted to figure out how he would sound. That's when I came across this web site.

With this site and the Foreign Internet Radio site I can really start getting a feel for the languages.

Occupation: Evil Overlord

2008-07-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

So I think I'm back for good now. (cross your fingers) Had a lot of fun with the horses at camp and I didn't get stepped on this year! *happy dance*

On the writing front I discovered a new way to get to know my characters. I found a questionnaire "The 100 Most Important Things To Know About Your Character" that asks questions like "What is your earliest memory?" "What is your occupation?" and "How close are you to your family?" These questions were meant for RP gamers, but they are just as valid for novel writers as well.

I decided to go over the list with my main bad guy in mind. Very interesting study. It made me realize just how much I don't know about him. Now I'm about half way through the list and I find that I'm starting to sympathize with the guy just a little. It's fascinating finding out all the little early facts about him. Like how it was really his father that was always striving for more power and my bad guy just took his fathers work to the next level. And how his mother died when he was seventeen and he had to take care of his two younger brothers. Just the logical progression of how he started a nice friendly kid and slowly grew to become a man directly responsible for the deaths of thousands.

I read somewhere that your villains wouldn't look into the mirror and see a monster. They think that they are justified in their actions, only their perception of reality or morality is scued . A fascinating concept really and one I want to bring into the story more.
I'm going to take this questionnaire thing for my good guy too, because my bad is looking a lot more interesting at this point! ;-)

I'm back, then I'm gone

2008-07-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

I think I've finally shaken the last of this cold (woot!). And I did it just in time. A friend called up the other day and asked if I could come up and help her for the week at her little horse camp. So I'm taking some time off and going up there to help.
I've done this several times before, though hopefully she wont spring another "oh by the way, I've got to leave for a while tomorrow, so could you run everything for me?" O.o
I did ok that day. We finished on time for dinner and no one got hurt, but I really don't care for being in charge of all these crazy kids (the horses I can handle, lol).

Anyway, I'll be back next week and have a report on how things went.

Still sick

2008-07-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

I think this is now officially the worst cold/sickness I've had since I was a child. I think I'm past the worst of it now though. Hopefully I can shake off the last of it in the next few days.

Sick leave

2008-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

So I hope everyone had a good 4 of July weekend. I spent my three day weekend in bed coughing and wheezing with a chest cold.
On Tuesday last week I started feeling kind of yucky, but I ignored it hoping it would go away. Then Wednesday I was feeling worse, but pushed through the day and went to my saber class that evening. That's where I think I over did things. We had a free for all after class where everyone fences everyone else all at the same time, you get hit you're out, last one standing wins. This is my favourite type of sparing (a kind I happen to be pretty good at ;-) ) and I couldn't resist joining in. It was great, I beat every single boy there, including the teacher!
Anyway, I went home really tired that night and the next day I could barely crawl out of bed. It just went down hill from there.
I'm a little better now. The cold has moved into my head, so I'm sniffling instead of coughing. And I was able to go to work and at least pretend to function normally.

So much for getting things done on my three day weekend though.

50,000!

2008-06-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

Despite a bad time at work I made it to 50k!

Yay! Time to add this icon to my growing collection ;-)

I've also made great progress in The stars cry out no more. I seem to have found a good flow now and things are going much easier. I'm really really really hoping to get it all done and start querying agents by this autumn/winter. *crosses fingers*

Half way!

2008-06-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

I reached the exact halfway point in my editing of The stars cry out no more! Woot! It's all down hill from here (or something like that).

SocNoc is going... all right. I've been having a rough time at work lately. I had a guy breathing down my neck for me to get his project done, so stupid me told him I'd have it done next month. Then I looked up his paper work and saw that his stuff isn't due out for another five to six months! And I have four other projects that were supposed to be done before him.
*sigh* That's what I get for promising things before I check my paper work. I'll get all of them done when I said I would, but that means some late night working for a little while. (Note to self: Never promise ANYTHING!)

Sometimes owning my own business can really stink. It will feel better though when they pay me. That always brightens my day :-)

Fussy Muses

2008-06-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

So my muses are too busy with my novel to come up with more writing tips. So unless I have a brain storm, I think I'll have a break from that.

I have word count progress though! I got another chapter on The Stars Cry Out No More done and I decided to count the words to my SocNoc because it's a darn lot of work and I no one can stop me, lol!

And now it's time for bed...

Umm, ya

2008-06-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

So... I really have no excuse for not typing yesterday... or today *whittles innocently* I can't even say what I did get done (other than watch the news and make a grocery list).

I'll catch up this weekend (again).

New baby on his way!

2008-06-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

My baby bird is coming! *happy dance* I've ordered a little Maximillian Pionus parrot from Aves International an aviary in California that is run by Gail Worth, a really great gal. And I found out today that my baby is almost ready to ship! He has also been DNA tested and is definitely a male. So now I have to go down my list of boy baby names and pick one out. (yes, I've been making a list).

Squeee! How exciting! :-D

Tip #13- Give yourself a break

Getting through a solid month of typing can be a real challenge. And if you're really far behind you still need to keep pressing on. But if you're close to or ahead of where you need to be word count wise then give yourself a day off. Relax, talk in full sentences to your family and actually listen to their response. Sleep (you know, that thing normal people do at night). Then tomorrow you can go back to writing fresh and rested.

Blogger doesn't like moving gif's, so you'll have to click here to see what happens if you don't take a break...

Gardening Galore

2008-06-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

No tip today. I've been working on my garden all day and I'm pooped. All I hope to do this evening is get my quota of words and I'm headed to bed.

On the plus side though I got my garden pretty much settled for the year. All the new plants are in and all I have to do now is set up the sprinkler system. I'll hopefully be getting that done next weekend.

Over all a good day :-)

Kill them! Kill them all! Bwahhh!

2008-06-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

A good day so far. Despite my last minuet trip to town and working a little on Saturday (again) I've still managed (with the help of my lovely new bottle of Riesling wine) to wrack up 3,000+ words and I'm not done for the day either :-D I'm coming to the part where two of my main characters die *evil laugh* At least they're going to die for this chapter. They'll be back in the next one ;-)

Tip #12- Kill someone!

Has your plot stalled? Kill someone! Is your main character driving you crazy? Kill him and bring in another MC! Is your antagonist starting to snivel and whine annoyingly? Kill him and make his main henchman your new bad guy.

It really doesn't matter who you kill. Just as long as someone (or something) dies. That should get things moving again. And remember, said character doesn't have to stay dead (I'll let you figure that one out ;-) ).

Unbreakable

2008-06-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Putting along. I was able to at least get my quota today, so I'm still as far behind as I was yesterday, but not as bad as it would have been if I missed today too.

I was putting around utube the other day (yes, I know I'm supposed to by writing not utubing >.< ) and I ran across a really cool song called "Unbreakable" by Fireflight. I had heard of Fireflight, but I never really paid attention. This song is great though. I absolutely love it. So now I'm looking into the rest of their songs (I smell a good reward for the end of June ;-) ).

Tip #11- Bribe your muses

See a really nice necklace you've been wanting? Or maybe that new book by your favorite author? Tell yourself that if you get to 50k that you will buy that coveted piece. Setting rewards can be that little push that you need when you really don't feel like writing, but you still want that one goody.

Up and running again

2008-06-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

I'm back! *shakes off bad vibes* My story's going well. Fell a little behind, but I've got big plans to catch up this weekend :-)

Tip #10- A story within a story

Monologues are great ways to add word count. The character speaking can be anyone, MC, secondary character or crazy guy they pass on the corner everyday. All they have to have is a story to tell. And that story could be anything you like. How your bad guy became a bad guy or how the fancy magic thingy came into his possession. You could even have someone predict how things will turn out or how they feel about how things are now. Just as long as it is, well... long ;-)

Bad news

2008-06-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

So I got some bad news this Monday that has had me unsettled (hence the no post on Monday). Hopefully I can get things together again and be back posting tomorrow or the next day.

Blah...

2008-06-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was really bad at work, so I'm kind of blah today. So much for getting caught up this weekend.

Tip #9- Pace yourself

Don't forget in your writing fervor to take breaks. Get up, walk around, look out the window or at anything other than a computer screen. Eye strain is not a pleasant writing companion (neither is a sore bum). But don't let these breaks get to long, five to ten minuets every half hour.
With lots of little breaks like that you can actually last longer and your body will thank you later!

Mirrors

2008-06-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

So my story has stalled a little bit. I know what's going to happen, but I think that might be my problem. Fate of the Fallen is a rewrite that I've had planned out for a while and I've been feeling lately like working on something new and fresh. So I think I'm going to start a new project and see if that gets my writerly juices flowing again.
New project titled Mirrors.

And along the same idea...

Tip #8- Write the story you love

With the fast paced stress of SocNoc the last thing you need is to force yourself to write a story you hate. You can have the most brilliant story ever known to men, but if you the writer hate it then writing will become a drudgery instead of a joy. This is especially important this month with the need to press on and add to your word count everyday. If you get up in the morning and think "oh no, I have to write again today" then you've defeated yourself before you even start.
The easiest way to make it to 50k by the end of June is to write the story you love and can't wait to work on.

2008-06-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Still behind, but at least it's raining out so I won't be tempted to go work on my garden today.

Tip #7- Turn off the Internet!*

Yes, the Internet is a wealth of resources and information. You can find just about anything on there. But the Internet also has a dark side (especially for stalling writers). You have numerous things you can do instead of writing. Like checking email, playing bubble shooter (if you've never heard of bubble shooter don't go looking for it unless you have hours and hours each day to kill) or just random surfing.
You will be amazed how much time you have if you just unplug that little cord and have nothing to do but type.

*Warning: This may also cause severe twitching, panic attacks and other symptoms of withdrawal. Consult a doctor before attempting such risky and dramatic actions.

Slipping, but still hanging on

2008-06-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not been as productive as I would have liked. My trip to town took longer than I anticipated yesterday and I had to work late today. Looks like I'll have to work late again tomorrow too. Still hanging in there though. I'll get myself caught up again this weekend.

Tip #6- Don't use can't!

Yes, if you have realistic dialogue people say "Can't" and "Don't" and "I'm", but this is SocNoc! And in June Word Count is king. So take your find-and-replace tool in Word (or its equivalent) and change all your "Don't"s into "Do not"s. This doesn't, I mean does not, seem like much, but it adds up quickly.

There is also a whole art to padding sentences.
For example, you can say:

"I don't think we should." (5 words)

Or...

"I do not believe this thing of witch you speak is a thing in which we should be participating in." (20 words)

Is it drawn out and repetitive? Yes. But it also is fun to write and can significantly boost your word count. Which, for this month, is always a good thing ;-)

Early morning progress

2008-06-04T11:52:00.001-07:00

I actually managed to get up early this morning and bang out 700 more words (woot!). So I'm starting off the day on a high note :-) Maybe I'll even make it to 7k this evening.

Tip #5- Go with the flow

So you're typing along minding your own business and some mysterious stranger walks into the scene. "Hay! Where did he come from?" You ask. If this happens to you don't immediately hit the delete key. See who this fella is and what he wants before you send him on his way. He could very well turn out to be a useful character later.
And if your MC is walking through a market and picks up a strange looking mirror or decides to check out that trail that you hadn't planned on putting in, then let him have the mirror and follow him down the trail. Many times your subconscious knows more about the story than you know and is trying to help you out. So just go with the flow and see where it takes you!
Even if it leads to a dead end you can count all the word that it took you to get to that dead end and all the words on the way back out again.

Second guessing is bad

2008-06-03T15:40:00.001-07:00

Woot! I got my quota of words yesterday and I got part of a chapter edited in The Stars Cry Out No More. So I'm very pleased with myself. Hopefully I can be that productive this evening as well *crosses fingers*

Tip #4- Don't second guess yourself!

(I've been running into this myself today >.< ) Don't type out a paragraph then look over it and wonder "Well, maybe I should have said it this way." So you re type it and look at it again. Still not quite right. Next thing you know you've been hovering over the same paragraph for two hours. If you have a whole seven years to write your book then that's fine. I have 30 days (27 days now). So when your writing don't look back. Just keep your eyes forward. Save your second guessing for your edit later. Right now the goal is to get the story down. Think of it like you're putting together a puzzle, you have to lay out all the pieces before you can really start matching things together and filling in the details. That's what we're doing now, laying out the pieces. So don't freak out if it's not all perfect the first time. All it needs to be is on the paper.

Buddy check!

2008-06-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Had a pretty good day yesterday, though an old friend came to visit, disterbing me right when I was on a roll. Still got my goal of 2k :-)

I hate Mondays so here's a funny SocNoc writing tip for today.

Tip #3- Find a buddy

It's always more fun to write with a buddy. So every year I pick a mascot!
For NaNoWriMo '05 I had Puddles the platypus, a big purple stuffed animal (I don't have a picture of her),
NaNoWriMo '06 was Mr.Froggy the Great! You can see him here poised over the backspace with orders to bite me if I tried to use that button too much.

SocNoc '07 had Liz a little plastic chameleon (I don't have a picture of her either).

NaNoWriMo '07 was Mr.Fuzzy a pink feathery hair clip that I would clip on the corner of my laptop.

And for SocNoc this year I have Mr.Wormcelot. You can see him to the right, he's my little word counter. Isn't he cute :-D

So hunt around your house and find yourself a buddy, or even draw a smiley face on a post-it note and stick him to the edge of your screen. No guarantees that your buddy will help you write, but at least you won't be alone :-D

Aaaand we're off!

2008-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

So a bit of a shaky start for me last night. My contacts decided to act up making computer reading rather painful. So I didn't get much done.

But today is a new day! And a new tip...

Tip #2: Momentum, momentum, momentum

These first few days of the month can be the best. The reason you decided to take on this magnificent challenge is still clear in your mind. The story you've been contemplating is fresh and ready. Your fingers are itching to finally get those story ideas out of your head and flowing out into the page. You've been daydreaming about how wonderful it will feel to finally have that completed manuscript and these are the first steps to making that dream come true.
Use this momentum to get as much as you can on the page this following week. Don't just stop after you get your quota of words. Keep going! Push it all out there and let those words soar from your fingers! Try to get as far ahead as you can this week (you will thank yourself later if you do).

Now I say the first few days can be the best because they can also be the most difficult. You may not have a plan or a clue as to how you wanted to start this monstrosity and you're wondering if signing up for this wasn't the brightest idea.
I've been there. It sucks. But if you keep pressing through it will pass. Suddenly a plot will emerge for the strange incoherent scenes and characters you've created. Things will start falling into place in ways you would never have expected. Things will get easier. All you have to do is keep going.
Try your very hardest to at least meat your daily quota. Even if you have your characters sing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" twenty times in a row, keep those words up! It will get better! So all you have to do is...♪ Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming ♪

Enough singing, back to typing!

Tick, tick, tick....

2008-05-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here waiting for midnight (it's only 8:30 pm) and I was too impatient to wait so I'm giving an early tip.

Tip #1: Start at midnight.
Even if you only write a hundred words and can it for the night. I find that it really helps me get the creative juices flowing. The hardest part many times is getting things started and this is a really great way to smash through the first paragraphs and get on with your story.
The trick is to get everything ready for bed before midnight. Lock the doors, put the kids to bed, turn out the lights (except for a light by the computer) then wait. When 12:01 AM hits go for it! Then when you're done, since you've already gotten everything ready, all you have to do is save your writing, turn out the light and go to bed.

This is touching a bit on the tip I'm planning for tomorrow, but as you're whacking out your first words don't just stop when you get to one hundred if you feel like going on. If you can barely keep your eyes open then go ahead and go to bed, but if you've got the perfect idea keep going!
On the flip side though, you don't want to burn yourself out in the first day. I suggest a maximum time limit. Mine is 1:30 AM. I'll set a timer and when that timer goes off I finish my sentence and go to bed. Period.

So that's it. Good luck to all my fellow SocNocers!

May the Words be with you...

Tips, tricks and magic

2008-05-30T10:59:00.001-07:00

For those who haven't seen here's the link to my article on how to use Magic Dice. Check it out! It really does work ;-) I'll probably bring them up again in later posts. I just love them so much *pets her pretties*

I'm also playing with the idea of having a daily "writing tip" during SocNoc. Since this will be my fifth 50k in a month writing challenge (Three years of NaNoWriMo and last year's SocNoc) I figured I could post some tips that have helped me get to the finish line. We'll see if I can come up with one every day. Might be more challenging than I'm anticipating, but that's never stopped me before.
I was thinking of doing something like that for my NaNo group in November (I'm a Municipal Liaison for North Idaho). So this will be a good test.

My tip for today is to get sleep, cuz I won't be getting it again till July.

It's coming!

2008-05-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

Socnoc is almost here! I'm itching to get started. This year I actually have something mostly planned (it's always nice to have a plan). I still have my Magic Dice of Wisdom to help me if I get stuck too. ;-)

I've also got my little progress bar poised and ready. Hopefully it will be turning pretty blue soon after the first.

Merlot Cabernet (yum)

2008-05-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Not much to report. I was planning on getting a bunch done during the three day weekend, but I didn't end up doing much of anything more than a bit of yard work.

I did get my first bottle of wine Saturday (I meant to post that earlier, but didn't get around to it).

It's a 2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot Cabernet.

The wine notes on the bottle are:"Columbia Crest Merlot Cabernet is a delicious, fruit-forward wine with a rich, silky finish. Generous blackberry and raspberry flavors are wrapped around a core of warm vanilla from extended aging in small oak barrels."

13.5% alcohol and grown in Washington State. It was a very decent wine, but the best part of all is that it was only $5.89. ;-)

Ah, productivity!

2008-05-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm having a rather productive week. I finished editing the eleventh chapter of The stars cry out no more and I've had some great progress on my world building for Fall of the Fire (which has changed it's name to Fate of the Fallen).

I've been having a lot of fun with planning out some of Fate of the Fallen and the series that will follow it (the Redemption series). Multiple bad guys, fire mages, hidden allies, demonic spirits, puppet kings. Oh ya, good times ;-)

I think I really like planning for a series opposed to a single novel. I get to use a whole pile of different elements and build them one on top of another as I spread the story line out over the multiple books. I'll have to plan on doing another series again. After I finish the things I already have on my plate that is.

Sadistic muses and un-normalness

2008-05-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well my semi-coma over the weekend payed off. My throat is about 85% better today, though my nose is running when it wasn't before. Hmm, oh well.

I've noticed through my sickyness how... well, sadistic my muses are. As I'm laying there coughing and hacking and moaning, my muses are watching me wide eyed trying to remember everything. "How does that feel?" they ask me. "We may need to use these feeling in a story someday."

Last month, while visiting my grandparents in California, I had really bad heat stroke and came with in minutes of passing out and collapsing onto the floor (actually I did collapse, but that's not the point). Even as my mother was hurrying to get me water I'm thinking "This must be what my MC feels like after he uses too much magic. How could I describe this better?"

Now every time something miserable happens to me I can hear my muses cackling with glee. On the plus side I'm gathering a good collection of experiences to describe, but it's also rather disconcerting since I have a feeling that "normal" people don't think this way.

I really wouldn't know what normal people think though. :-P

And speaking of un-normalness... wait for it... I'm doing SoCNoC! (are you really surprised?) And I have also officially passed into the realm of irredeemable insanity.

Good news, happy news and bad news

2008-05-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Good news first. This Friday we had a team saber competition at our club. We had three teams of four (a better turn out than the foil team event) and my team won by four touches! *happy dance*

Happy news. My finches hatched their egg. They laid two, but only one of them hatched. Which is fine. I'm not a big time finch breeder. I'm just doing this for fun, so one baby is enough. I'll wait a few days then take the nest out and clean out the dead egg and get some pictures.

Bad news. I'm sick. Again. *sigh* Coughing, sore throat, sniffles and all around yucky feeling. At least my sinuses are staying clear this time. I've canceled everything I was going to do this weekend so I can rest and sleep. Hopefully I can shake this off before work again on Monday.

100 random things about me

2008-05-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

So I saw this idea on Mama Moose's blog and thought it would be fun. Hopefully I can come up with 100 things, lol!

Let us begin...

I've never done one of these list things before
I love cheese.
I'm going to be getting a Maxamillion Pionus parrot
I fence saber
and foil
but not epee
I named my geese Lizy and Darcy
most of my friends don't know where those names came from *sigh*
I'm a devout Christian
my favorite TV series is Babylon 5 followed closely by Stargate SG 1 and Atlantis
I love listening to Will Write For Wine
I don't like American Idol and never watch it
my cat likes to "help" me type
he's trying to "help" me now
I know what Floccinaucinihilipilification means
I have a beautiful peacock named Caranthir
I love Gaelic music
Latine loqui coactus sum (I have this compulsion to speak Latin)
I'm known among my friends as a "Tolkien geek"
I am proud of this title
I liked the Lord of the Ring the book better than the movie
My house is right next door to my parents house, something I really don't mind
I'm a horrible speller
I'm worse at math than I am spelling
I enjoy kayaking
My first bird was a parakeet that hated me
I have only one house plant
A very hardy house plant
apparently that's all I can handle
I love watercolor painting
I sold one of my paintings for $150
I have 5 chickens
My real name is Rebekah
but I prefer being called Griffin
or Isilsule
or Morel
or SC
My parents often get confused by my numerous names
I don't have a boyfriend
I don't want a boy friend
I worked in a pet shop a few years ago
I realized that I don't like working for others
I now own my own business
I love poetry, writing and reading
Light and shadows fascinate me
I hate swimming
or getting wet at all for that matter
I've never text messaged anyone in my life
My hair is dyed blue, pink, purple and teal
I'm learning to speak Quenya
I'm only half way through this list and I'm already having trouble coming up with things
I love old ruins and buildings
someday I want to go to England
and/or Scotland
At the moment I'm reading "Falconry: art and practice"
I wonder what would happen to an unprotected human if they were shoved into deep space
I have my own bow and arrows and used to be a pretty good shot
I can't ski
my grandfather was a bomber pilot in WWII
I love big draft horses
I would get one, but don't have enough space
or money for that matter
I've done NaNoWriMo three years in a row
I've won NaNoWriMo three years in a row
I love making up new languages for my stories
I have trouble finding hats that fit me (I just overly brainy)
I have no brothers
or sisters
I was home schooled
the first story I ever wrote was titled "the adventures of Sarah the toy snake" that I wrote when I was seven or eight
I love herbal teas
I have several books on herbalism
I liked "Last of the Mohecans" the movie better than the book
I love post-apocalypses stories
I like skipping (but only when no one is watching)
And now I'm three quarters of the way through the list
and I'm still having trouble coming up with things to say
I love listening to Loreena McKennitt
And Moya Brennan
I really don't watch that much TV
though I do like watching movies
I love T-shirts
unfortunately I am quite prone to heat stroke
my grandmother was 5' nothing (with her hair fluffed)
my favorite metal is silver
my birth stone is sapphire
I like gardening
I've written stories from my dreams before
I need a life
and ten more things to say about myself
now I need nine more things to say about myself
I ran out of things to say 20 things ago
yet I still keep typing
umm... I like cheese
I think I already said that though
only four things left
this list was harder than I thought it would be
two things
I stink at talking about myself
and I'm done! Whew.

To SoCNoC, or not to SoCNoC...

2008-05-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

Well it's almost June and SoCNoC time again. I really shouldn't do it this year. I'm not even half way though editing The Stars Cry Out No More and I really need to get that done.

I really shouldn't.

I really really shouldn't. (maybe if I keep repeating that then I'll convince myself not to)

My minds already making up ways for me to get around that. If I push then maybe I can finish editing enough chapters for both this month and next. Or maybe I can give up sleeping and eating so I have the time to do both. Or maybe...

I really really shouldn't.

But I probably will anyway. I've always had a weakness for writing challenges. We'll see how far along my editing is. If I am far enough ahead, then I might just have to join the SoCNoC group again.

Hopefully my computer will be fixed by then too. This machine is driving me batty! I save a file then come back the next day to find that, even though it said it saved it, nothing was saved and I have to start from scratch again. So now I'm making three or four different copies with different names in different files each time I save. The stinking gremlins cant get all of them! *grumbles*

For the love of Dappled Silver

2008-05-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

So today I was world building for Fall of the Fire and I came across a picture of a beautiful Silver Dappled Percheron gelding. *drools all over her keyboard* I've always loved the big horses. My first horse ride was on the back of a big draft horse that had been logging our property. I was maybe nine or ten at the time and I remember that it was a very long way to the ground, but it was so exciting! I've ridden a few other horses since then, but the big draft horses will always be my favorite.

Someday when I'm famous and am making a gazillion dollars a day, the first thing I'll do is go and get myself a riding draft horse. A Silver Dappled draft. *wistful sigh* So beautiful!

Now all I need to do is become famous. (How hard can that be?)

Third time's the charm (hopefully)

2008-05-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well it happened again. I opened one of my writing projects to find that everything I had written the day before was simply gone. Gone! Over a thousand word! Gone! *grumbled curses under her breath*

I've finally decided to pull out the Mac that my uncle gave me a few years ago. I remember it never crashing on me. Or randomly deleting files. My only problem is I still want to transfer Word files back to my PC. Fortunately my dad thinks he found a program that will let me do that.

So hopefully I can have my newest writing computer up this weekend. And hopefully this will be the last time I have to change computers.

Mom and dad also got me a lovely little willow tree at a yard sale this morning. So I want to get that planted tomorrow and a few other plants that I've collected. Though there's still snow covering part of my garden. *sigh*

At least it's warming up again :)

Daggers are fabulous!

2008-05-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

Whew, it's been a long week. Had another saber competition this Saturday. They had a good turn out for around here with eight fencers. I got sixth, lost my first DE bout to the third place guy. Not too bad over all. Though someone snacked me good in the right shoulder, so now that shoulder and up my neck is all stiff and sore.

Another fencing note. We've started learning sword and dagger in my classical class. I love sword and dagger! It felt so natural and sooo much faster on the riposte. No trouble keeping my sword and dagger apart (very bad thing to get them tangled up with each other in a fight). I'll have to get my self a nice dagger now to go with my swept hilt rapier.

On the writing front I'm thinking of getting back into writing every day again. I was taking a break after April Fools, but I think I need to get going again. The question remains though weather I want to start editing "Chosen" or keep puttering with "Fall of the Fire."

Distinctions....

-Griffin Asher-

Something new and shiny

To scream or not to scream: Why I don't write horror

Kissing the Frog: DiaW

Great Book

Cool link

Kissing the Frog

I return

Bad me

I've been christened…

Write or Die!

Creepers

A project for SocNoc

It's coming! *cue dramatic music*

The new puppy

Thinking small

My Internet is back!!!!

On hiatus for a bit

Almost time for the countdown

Tips for B movie characters

Never stop

The End Is Nigh...

Dear Cat,

*Sigh* The bug zapper got me...

Don't look at the light!

If you want to be a writer, then write!

Don't write what you know

Still alive

I is sick :-(

It may not be pretty but it works...

Talent

Burning the midnight tea light

Lists

Web page shinies and synopsis beginnings

Wars, rebellions and uprisings

Happy Valentines day!

TGIF

The Art of Goofing Off

When insults had class

WinoWriMo Success!

Finished WIP and 700k words

Infrequent posts

The Great Escape

Internet problems

Me from A to Z

Writing Update and hanging out in Lothlorien

The end is nigh!

Weapon of the Week: Halberd

Anatomy of romance

Pens... I haz dem

YouTube is a writers best friend

Good news and bad news and thoughts of a writing addict

Monday Rant

Kissing the Frog

NaNoWriMo has ended...

I'm such a slacker

Soup through a straw

The Adventures of Nell

Dragon update and a confession

A Dragon writer is born

Twittering Dragons and NaNoWriMo

It's Beginning

Pack Rats & Spare Parts

A New Challenge

Wootness

Trubles in editing land

New arrival

Occupation: Evil Overlord

I'm back, then I'm gone

Still sick

Sick leave

50,000!

Half way!

Fussy Muses

Umm, ya

New baby on his way!

Gardening Galore

Kill them! Kill them all! Bwahhh!

Unbreakable

Up and running again

It's coming! cue dramatic music

Sigh The bug zapper got me...