For a variety of reasons, I've gone over to LiveJournal. You can find a complete copy of this blog (minus comments) here: http://writerknv.livejournal.com/.
See you on the other side.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Back from Viable Paradise
I am completely overwhelmed by the VP experience. For the first time in my life, I feel like I've found my tribe. I had the privilege of working with phenomenal instructors and 27 of the most interesting, intelligent and talented people I have ever met.
And then, I had to leave.
I am still trying to process everything that happened this week. I got some excellent feedback, made some great friends, and learned a lot about myself and my writing. The most important thing I took away from the workshop is that I need to recommit to writing. I can't stand at the threshold and tease my toe back and forth over the line. If I want to be a writer (and I have decided that I do), I need to write for 20 minutes every day. Period. No more excuses!
I really miss everyone already, so if you're out there, stay connected! Keep me honest! And be sure to shout out your successes, because I intend to buy all of your books and short stories.
I'll make a full report when my brain stops hurting. Ow! :)
And then, I had to leave.
I am still trying to process everything that happened this week. I got some excellent feedback, made some great friends, and learned a lot about myself and my writing. The most important thing I took away from the workshop is that I need to recommit to writing. I can't stand at the threshold and tease my toe back and forth over the line. If I want to be a writer (and I have decided that I do), I need to write for 20 minutes every day. Period. No more excuses!
I really miss everyone already, so if you're out there, stay connected! Keep me honest! And be sure to shout out your successes, because I intend to buy all of your books and short stories.
I'll make a full report when my brain stops hurting. Ow! :)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Really, I Should Pack...
But I'm not. Why, you ask?
Because in order to pack, there's Mt. Laundry to climb and conquer, the girls' fundraiser to tally and prepare for turn-in, and a spreadsheet of activities/school pick-ups/day care arrangements to make for my husband, who will have to be me for an entire week and has no idea how to go about it.
And amidst all of the preparation madness, another agent requested my manuscript today (yay!) but wants an exclusive, which puts me in a bit of a quandary as said manuscript is already firmly entrenched in another agent's pile o' reading. I offered a semi-exclusive, which I hope will provide a good compromise. I hope she responds in time for me to send out the full before I leave for VP.
Oh, and apparently, there's a blog to update.
However, I have organized and packed my little file folder of bus tickets, ticketless plane tickets, ferry schedules and traveling buddy/ roommate phone numbers. So if nothing else, I'll be checking an empty suitcase with a folder full of info. Priorities, yes?
Really, I just don't know what to pack. The best answer I get about the weather is that it's "unpredictable," which means that I pretty much need to pack my entire (paltry, pathetic) wardrobe. I also have a winter clothes problem. I've gained * pounds over the summer, so the few warm items I possess are a little clingy and bring unnecessary attention to my chubby bits. My jeans fit (see post below!) but only because 1/2 my stomach and 1/4 of my butt now flop over the top (compounding aforementioned chubby bits issue). So far, all I've managed to decide is that I: a) need to buy new jeans, or b) need to buy looser tops. What I will most likely choose, given my current poverty of both time and funds, is c) suck it up, suck it in, and smile.
But I digress. Packing will, eventually, happen. By 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, I will have made a final decision about whether or not to take my laptop and/or printed copies of my work (as of now I'm leaning toward both). I will have clothes, shampoo and mascara, which is really all I need.
And all of this stressing about the small stuff? Is to keep my mind from spinning out over the fact that in TWO DAYS I will be at Viable Paradise!
Ready or not, here I come!
Because in order to pack, there's Mt. Laundry to climb and conquer, the girls' fundraiser to tally and prepare for turn-in, and a spreadsheet of activities/school pick-ups/day care arrangements to make for my husband, who will have to be me for an entire week and has no idea how to go about it.
And amidst all of the preparation madness, another agent requested my manuscript today (yay!) but wants an exclusive, which puts me in a bit of a quandary as said manuscript is already firmly entrenched in another agent's pile o' reading. I offered a semi-exclusive, which I hope will provide a good compromise. I hope she responds in time for me to send out the full before I leave for VP.
Oh, and apparently, there's a blog to update.
However, I have organized and packed my little file folder of bus tickets, ticketless plane tickets, ferry schedules and traveling buddy/ roommate phone numbers. So if nothing else, I'll be checking an empty suitcase with a folder full of info. Priorities, yes?
Really, I just don't know what to pack. The best answer I get about the weather is that it's "unpredictable," which means that I pretty much need to pack my entire (paltry, pathetic) wardrobe. I also have a winter clothes problem. I've gained * pounds over the summer, so the few warm items I possess are a little clingy and bring unnecessary attention to my chubby bits. My jeans fit (see post below!) but only because 1/2 my stomach and 1/4 of my butt now flop over the top (compounding aforementioned chubby bits issue). So far, all I've managed to decide is that I: a) need to buy new jeans, or b) need to buy looser tops. What I will most likely choose, given my current poverty of both time and funds, is c) suck it up, suck it in, and smile.
But I digress. Packing will, eventually, happen. By 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, I will have made a final decision about whether or not to take my laptop and/or printed copies of my work (as of now I'm leaning toward both). I will have clothes, shampoo and mascara, which is really all I need.
And all of this stressing about the small stuff? Is to keep my mind from spinning out over the fact that in TWO DAYS I will be at Viable Paradise!
Ready or not, here I come!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sale!
It's taken me a few days to process this, but on September 11th my short story "The Librarian of Talimbourne" was accepted to Ruins Metropolis, an anthology due out later this year. I have some minor changes to make this week to get the final draft to the editor, but all in all, this is very exciting news! I keep pinching myself; it seems unreal that I will actually be published! Now I suppose I will have to finish the other short story and start sending that out.
In the meantime, I've been working on the YA when I can. I just wish I had more time to really devote to writing right now so I could get the first draft of the YA "in the can" and focus on the revision.
And Viable Paradise approaches. I'm nervous. For now, I'm more stressed out about travel arrangements than anything else. I always wanted to be on The Amazing Race, but without the million dollar prize, the all day flight to Boston, 2-hour bus ride and tight connection to the last ferry of the day doesn't look as appealing. One way or another I'll get there, I suppose. And then it will be magical.
In the meantime, I've been working on the YA when I can. I just wish I had more time to really devote to writing right now so I could get the first draft of the YA "in the can" and focus on the revision.
And Viable Paradise approaches. I'm nervous. For now, I'm more stressed out about travel arrangements than anything else. I always wanted to be on The Amazing Race, but without the million dollar prize, the all day flight to Boston, 2-hour bus ride and tight connection to the last ferry of the day doesn't look as appealing. One way or another I'll get there, I suppose. And then it will be magical.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Moment of Silence
Tonight Robert Jordan passed away. Whether people love his books or hate them, none can deny that he made his mark on the genre. He had great characters, an interesting world, and wrote epic fantasy in the truest sense of the word "epic."
Official announcement here: http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan.
Official announcement here: http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan.
Monday, September 03, 2007
C'est Finis! (Again)
Boy, do I need deadlines!
After a very exciting request for the full from my #1 choice of agent, I spent a harrowing weekend resuming the temporarily postponed Book One revision project. I am happy to say that I have cut over 5,000 more words and tightened up the book considerably. I am very pleased with the outcome. While I could nitpick eternally, I don't think I could find too many more nits to pick. Hopefully, I will soon have an agent who will do that, and, ideally, an editor, too! While I will cheerfully revise upon demand, I am now content that Book One is in top submission form. Away she goes tomorrow afternoon.
And, in other news, I even wrote a few pages on the YA this weekend. I discovered that switching from the revision part of my brain to the creative part was difficult, but not impossible. This is good.
Now that this project is finished, I hope to switch permanently to the creative part. Viable Paradise approaches (exciting! terrifying!) and I'd like to speed the YA along now that one of my characters has popped on-scene a little earlier than planned to try to convince my rat of his destiny. I must be careful not to allow the characters too much freedom in writing their own story, although I did appreciate the help. Otherwise, I may not have had anything for writing group.
Tomorrow, after an early morning commute, fifteen diet cokes, and four classes of remedial Freshman Comp, I will think about goals and deadlines. But for now, I'm going to babysit the printer and pray it doesn't run out of ink before my ream-of-paper long book prints.
Then, I'm going to pass out.
After a very exciting request for the full from my #1 choice of agent, I spent a harrowing weekend resuming the temporarily postponed Book One revision project. I am happy to say that I have cut over 5,000 more words and tightened up the book considerably. I am very pleased with the outcome. While I could nitpick eternally, I don't think I could find too many more nits to pick. Hopefully, I will soon have an agent who will do that, and, ideally, an editor, too! While I will cheerfully revise upon demand, I am now content that Book One is in top submission form. Away she goes tomorrow afternoon.
And, in other news, I even wrote a few pages on the YA this weekend. I discovered that switching from the revision part of my brain to the creative part was difficult, but not impossible. This is good.
Now that this project is finished, I hope to switch permanently to the creative part. Viable Paradise approaches (exciting! terrifying!) and I'd like to speed the YA along now that one of my characters has popped on-scene a little earlier than planned to try to convince my rat of his destiny. I must be careful not to allow the characters too much freedom in writing their own story, although I did appreciate the help. Otherwise, I may not have had anything for writing group.
Tomorrow, after an early morning commute, fifteen diet cokes, and four classes of remedial Freshman Comp, I will think about goals and deadlines. But for now, I'm going to babysit the printer and pray it doesn't run out of ink before my ream-of-paper long book prints.
Then, I'm going to pass out.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Beowulf? Or...
...what have they done to him?
I saw a preview of the new Beowulf movie the other day. Great cast notwithstanding, it would appear that they have taken one of my favorite classic Old English poems and turned it into a really bad fantasy B-movie a la Eragon (which, in my opinion, having actually been an F-movie book, was lucky to receive the B-movie treatment-- but I digress).
I'm totally cool with Angelina Jolie in the movie, even as some sort of freaky witch-person that doesn't show up in the poem at all. But I love Angelina in anything, even crap. (Angelina, there's a part for you in my movie adaptation of Book One! Call me!) However, none of the snippets from the preview actually resemble anything from the poem. This is an absolute shame, since there's quite enough A-movie goodness in the poem to stand on its own cinematic merit.
Nevertheless, I will still pay to go and see Beowulf. After all, I enjoyed the groovy, tie-dyed Troy (I've got a part for you, too, Eric Bana!) and LOVED the battle-porn and glistening muscle that was 300, even if the director did have to throw in a little female nudity and awkward writhing to bring in the male audiences. And Angelina was great in Alexander. I forgave the blatant historical inconsistencies of those movies (and there were many). So I will reserve my final judgment until after I've seen this latest artistic rendering of Beowulf's tale.
Oh, and no new writing. See? I haven't forgotten the purpose of my blog. Really.
I saw a preview of the new Beowulf movie the other day. Great cast notwithstanding, it would appear that they have taken one of my favorite classic Old English poems and turned it into a really bad fantasy B-movie a la Eragon (which, in my opinion, having actually been an F-movie book, was lucky to receive the B-movie treatment-- but I digress).
I'm totally cool with Angelina Jolie in the movie, even as some sort of freaky witch-person that doesn't show up in the poem at all. But I love Angelina in anything, even crap. (Angelina, there's a part for you in my movie adaptation of Book One! Call me!) However, none of the snippets from the preview actually resemble anything from the poem. This is an absolute shame, since there's quite enough A-movie goodness in the poem to stand on its own cinematic merit.
Nevertheless, I will still pay to go and see Beowulf. After all, I enjoyed the groovy, tie-dyed Troy (I've got a part for you, too, Eric Bana!) and LOVED the battle-porn and glistening muscle that was 300, even if the director did have to throw in a little female nudity and awkward writhing to bring in the male audiences. And Angelina was great in Alexander. I forgave the blatant historical inconsistencies of those movies (and there were many). So I will reserve my final judgment until after I've seen this latest artistic rendering of Beowulf's tale.
Oh, and no new writing. See? I haven't forgotten the purpose of my blog. Really.
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