My jeans are tight, but they still fit.
'Nuff said.
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.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Thin and Stretched
Life has been very crazy here. Hence, the long, dry spell continues.
Still, I managed to work on a short story for Writing Group. I think it will be a great story if I ever finish it, but if I only write 2 1/2 pages a year (current rate of progress), I probably will not finish for two more years.
The good news is that I'm up to five pages, and they are five pages that I really like. My peeps seem to like it, too, which is wonderful motivation. I have strong ideas, characters that interest me, and an excellent general idea of what happens. Now if only I could download the theme and how the story ends from the literary mothership, I would be in good shape.
Meanwhile, after the initial flurry of rejections, the query responses seem to have settled. This means some are still "out there." This is good. I am also still waiting to hear from one of the agents from Writer's Weekend, to whom I would really love to send my full manuscript. I can't decide if this wait is good or not, but I must wait nonetheless. And my short story is still out there as well.
And that's all. Teaching resumes Tuesday with a whole new crop of freshmen. It means I will have a lot less time to write, but that doesn't seem to matter. I think I work better when my schedule is chock full and I'm sleep-deprived.
Still, I managed to work on a short story for Writing Group. I think it will be a great story if I ever finish it, but if I only write 2 1/2 pages a year (current rate of progress), I probably will not finish for two more years.
The good news is that I'm up to five pages, and they are five pages that I really like. My peeps seem to like it, too, which is wonderful motivation. I have strong ideas, characters that interest me, and an excellent general idea of what happens. Now if only I could download the theme and how the story ends from the literary mothership, I would be in good shape.
Meanwhile, after the initial flurry of rejections, the query responses seem to have settled. This means some are still "out there." This is good. I am also still waiting to hear from one of the agents from Writer's Weekend, to whom I would really love to send my full manuscript. I can't decide if this wait is good or not, but I must wait nonetheless. And my short story is still out there as well.
And that's all. Teaching resumes Tuesday with a whole new crop of freshmen. It means I will have a lot less time to write, but that doesn't seem to matter. I think I work better when my schedule is chock full and I'm sleep-deprived.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Shouting into the Void
For whatever reason, today ended up becoming my annual Query Day. With only a few breaks and a lunch, I researched and narrowed a list of 89 literary agents who accept e-mail queries, and queried the 15 who accept fantasy.
I discovered that e-mail queries are much more time-consuming. Chugging them out a rate of about two per hour is really discouraging. Even worse, the rejections started coming in before I'd even finished the list. That was fun.
On the upside, I saved so much postage! I didn't have to send the query or waste money and time on SASEs. Not to mention the agony of waiting.
An interesting development: one agent sent me a very nice rejection, and asked to see my YA, even after I replied that it was unfinished. So I got a little two-for-one. I really liked the agent, too, so hopefully her response to my YA synopsis and pages will be positive.
Now that I've got a raging backache, I guess I'll quit procrastinating and get back to polishing Book One. I worked through it some more the other day, and so far, I haven't wanted to change much. It's definitely ready to send off to anyone requesting the full. The story is solid, the writing is solid; all I'm doing is picking at words, and I could do that forever. I am about to officially rename this process "nit-picking" and declare Book One done.
I discovered that e-mail queries are much more time-consuming. Chugging them out a rate of about two per hour is really discouraging. Even worse, the rejections started coming in before I'd even finished the list. That was fun.
On the upside, I saved so much postage! I didn't have to send the query or waste money and time on SASEs. Not to mention the agony of waiting.
An interesting development: one agent sent me a very nice rejection, and asked to see my YA, even after I replied that it was unfinished. So I got a little two-for-one. I really liked the agent, too, so hopefully her response to my YA synopsis and pages will be positive.
Now that I've got a raging backache, I guess I'll quit procrastinating and get back to polishing Book One. I worked through it some more the other day, and so far, I haven't wanted to change much. It's definitely ready to send off to anyone requesting the full. The story is solid, the writing is solid; all I'm doing is picking at words, and I could do that forever. I am about to officially rename this process "nit-picking" and declare Book One done.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
A Long Dry Spell....
Procrastination is an ugly thing.
A blank brain is uglier. Not only have I not had the time to write/ revise; even if I had the time, I don't have the brain. Until this morning, when I channeled a completely random scene from the sequel to Book One (which shall henceforth be known in blogland as Book Two), I literally haven't had a thought about my writing.
Hmmm.
I think this is all J.K. Rowling's fault, actually. Had Deathly Hallows not been so all-consuming and freakin' brilliant, I might have gotten a lot more done. Oh well.
Time to recommit. Happily, the scene I downloaded from the mothership this morning solves a longstanding plot problem that led me to put that book away last winter. Unhappily, I have too many irons in my writing fires to go back and spend any length of time on Book Two. After all, I've got polishing of Book One to finish (although I'm convinced that I'm through the worst of it) and characters to Get Out of Danger in the YA. I'll make it a goal to jot down that scene tomorrow, then onward with the other projects.
On the business side of things, I've started officially sending off my almost-contest-winning short story. It hasn't come back yet, but if it does, I intend to make it my publishing ping-pong game of the summer, slamming it back over the net until I score. Wish me luck.
A blank brain is uglier. Not only have I not had the time to write/ revise; even if I had the time, I don't have the brain. Until this morning, when I channeled a completely random scene from the sequel to Book One (which shall henceforth be known in blogland as Book Two), I literally haven't had a thought about my writing.
Hmmm.
I think this is all J.K. Rowling's fault, actually. Had Deathly Hallows not been so all-consuming and freakin' brilliant, I might have gotten a lot more done. Oh well.
Time to recommit. Happily, the scene I downloaded from the mothership this morning solves a longstanding plot problem that led me to put that book away last winter. Unhappily, I have too many irons in my writing fires to go back and spend any length of time on Book Two. After all, I've got polishing of Book One to finish (although I'm convinced that I'm through the worst of it) and characters to Get Out of Danger in the YA. I'll make it a goal to jot down that scene tomorrow, then onward with the other projects.
On the business side of things, I've started officially sending off my almost-contest-winning short story. It hasn't come back yet, but if it does, I intend to make it my publishing ping-pong game of the summer, slamming it back over the net until I score. Wish me luck.
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