So all internet activity was put off for the past few weeks while I finished a final revision on my 3rd novel. I can proudly say that it is finished and ready for my beta readers. It took a lot longer on this revision than usual but the extra effort really showed. After a computer sabbatical yesterday, my fingers don't ache, my eyes are uncrossing, and the frown lines on my face may go away soon. Score!
I have 3 other projects in various stages of 1st draft-ness. The 2nd novel in my urban fantasy series is about 1/2 finished. My childrens novel is about 1/3 written. The 3rd novel in the Immortalis trilogy isn't beyond the 1st chapter yet but that's why they are called works-in-progress. I thought I would be going back to one of these projects now that the latest one is finished, but no.
Instead, I am taking on a massive art project. Yeah. E&L's birthdays are a few days apart at the end of the summer. They are having a luau themed party this year and asked me to make a stand-up cutout for photos. You know- those things where you get behind them and stick your face in the hole so that you are magically part of the photo. They want a beach scene with a dancing hula girl. I think they have completely overestimated my artistic abilities, but we'll see what can be done. It will be interesting for sure.
I've missed the internet. I had a good streak going with the blogging over the past couple months so I'll be back at that while I try to figure out how to paint using this awesome background technique I found but still be able to put my hula girl in the foreground. I'm out of my league here, but I'm not going to tell the girls that. Cross your fingers for me to figure it out soon.
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Showing posts with label amwriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amwriting. Show all posts
Friday, May 03, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Red Dots
Do you remember, back during NaNoWriMo, when I agonized over writing a short story for my writing group? This was the assignment: Write a short story about [Firefly, Star Trek, getting lost in Nebraska, etc.] and include [Galway hooker, ninjas, pirates, plot bunnies, etc.] that will entertain our former ML while she heals.
I spent some time thinking about the assignment. I know Firefly. It is one of my favorite shows. And I'm pretty familiar with plot bunnies (little things that happen solely that destroy - or at least temporarily derail - a planned out plot). I decided to make that work. A few days into the competition, it hit me- the Reavers in Firefly are plot bunnies!
I spent a few days examining each of the characters from the show and deciding what animals their personalities matched the best. Mal was a wolf. Shepherd Book was the sage turtle. Kaylee was a squirrel. Wash was a raccoon Jayne was a ferret. The Tams were parrots. Zoe was a jaguar. Inara was a cat. The animal characterizations made perfect sense. From there, I just needed to decide if I would rewrite an episode from the show (because Lord knows I pretend Serenity never happened) using my anthropomorphic animals, or if I'd write a new episode in that way.
I went back and forth on this idea and they both sucked. It was a time of amazing self-discovery. I learned:
I almost gave up on the entire assignment. It just wouldn't work. But the Reavers = plot bunnies idea just wouldn't go away. I knew there was a story in there. I sat down again, a week before the project was due and decided to do my go-to when I'm frustrated with my work in progress- I started drawing.
In my drawing, I drew a Reaver/bunny as I saw it in my mind. Broken. Savage. Reconstructed with metal and scar tissue. My Reaver bunny came out amazing. I'm not an incredible artist by any amount but I was proud of my drawing.
So a new idea hit me. Use the bunny but set it in the real world. And that is what I did.
What started out as a Firefly fanfic turned into a dark tale that even I was surprised with in the end. Click after the jump to read the short story RED DOTS and see the picture I drew. I hope you enjoy it because it was hard as hell to write. *Caution for adult language, descriptions of gore and violence, general scary-ness*
I spent some time thinking about the assignment. I know Firefly. It is one of my favorite shows. And I'm pretty familiar with plot bunnies (little things that happen solely that destroy - or at least temporarily derail - a planned out plot). I decided to make that work. A few days into the competition, it hit me- the Reavers in Firefly are plot bunnies!
I spent a few days examining each of the characters from the show and deciding what animals their personalities matched the best. Mal was a wolf. Shepherd Book was the sage turtle. Kaylee was a squirrel. Wash was a raccoon Jayne was a ferret. The Tams were parrots. Zoe was a jaguar. Inara was a cat. The animal characterizations made perfect sense. From there, I just needed to decide if I would rewrite an episode from the show (because Lord knows I pretend Serenity never happened) using my anthropomorphic animals, or if I'd write a new episode in that way.
I went back and forth on this idea and they both sucked. It was a time of amazing self-discovery. I learned:
- I am not a fanfic writer.
- Rewriting some else's stuff is hard and boring.
- I dislike writing short stories.
I almost gave up on the entire assignment. It just wouldn't work. But the Reavers = plot bunnies idea just wouldn't go away. I knew there was a story in there. I sat down again, a week before the project was due and decided to do my go-to when I'm frustrated with my work in progress- I started drawing.
In my drawing, I drew a Reaver/bunny as I saw it in my mind. Broken. Savage. Reconstructed with metal and scar tissue. My Reaver bunny came out amazing. I'm not an incredible artist by any amount but I was proud of my drawing.
So a new idea hit me. Use the bunny but set it in the real world. And that is what I did.
What started out as a Firefly fanfic turned into a dark tale that even I was surprised with in the end. Click after the jump to read the short story RED DOTS and see the picture I drew. I hope you enjoy it because it was hard as hell to write. *Caution for adult language, descriptions of gore and violence, general scary-ness*
The Cloud Wall
Click the jump to read the first chapter of my children's fantasy novel THE CLOUD WALL. This is a current work in progress so I'm sure Chapter 1 will need a more extensive editing and revision down the road but I think it serves as a good jumping point.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Breathing in the Words
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth
Writing, even in fiction, is so much more when the writer is allowing the story to be honest. I won't say it is easier, because it is still difficult to make connections and transitions between main plot, sub-plots, character motivations and agendas, rising and culminating actions, dialogue and description. Writing a scene is difficult. Writing an entire novel is even more so. But the story is more cohesive, more fulfilling and more consuming when the connections and transitions are allowed to happen naturally rather than being forced to conform to A, B, C, D rules of form.
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Monday, March 18, 2013
CD is Growing!
Creative Differences is a collaborative blog but I'm really starting to call it my own. Finding prompts that aren't childish is sometimes difficult but I'm having a blast with it. I hope Steven is as well. Have you visited CD yet? You should go now, check it out, and leave some love!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Discourage the Writer
It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write. ~Sinclair Lewis
This quote is particularly relevant this week. Despite criticism, despite set-backs, and despite everything the Universe throws at a writer, she will eventually find a way to write what is in her heart and mind. Remember that when you read Saturday's post about storytellers.
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Monday, March 11, 2013
More from CD
We've found some pretty awesome "quote-ables" over at Creative Differences this past week. Check the blog to see what I mean. Get in on the action by writing your own response to the prompts this week. I might choose a favorite and give a shout out here on Dee Declares...!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Consumed by Writing
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury
Writing is my time machine, takes me to the precise time and place I belong. ~Jeb Dickerson
I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it. ~Anais Nin
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. ~ Ernest Hemingway
These quotes really struck me as honest depictions of a writer. Hemingway said it the best I think. Writing is hard. To say that it is easy, that there's "nothing to it" is lying. If a writer doesn't have a catch in her throat as her character faces the cliff, then she isn't writing the best she can. She isn't allowing the story to be honest.
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Monday, March 04, 2013
New Posts on CD
Creative Differences has 40-something posts to date and that number will continue to grow each week. I hope you'll take the time to go visit the blog, show Steven some love, and maybe even get in on the action yourself! If you find a writing prompt that grabs your attention but in a way different from Steven's response, feel free to write your own response to the prompt in the comments. We both love connecting with other creative types and welcome the interaction. :)
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Idle Time
The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out the window. ~Burton Rascoe
I get my best ideas during idle times. The prologue for Journey of Shadows came to me while laying in the tub. The titles for my WIP urban fantasy series and a second unwritten urban fantasy series came while driving. The beginning fragments of my children's series started in equal parts dream and surfing random Google images. Idle time is not all that bad!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Monday, February 25, 2013
Creative Differences
Are you running out of things to read on the internet? Have no fear, Creative Differences is here! The blog is part of the baker's dozen blogs from Booksteve aka my friend and editor extraordinaire Steven. I have a few posts there myself, including that Firefly fanfic that was short story RED DOTS from a few months back and the 1st chapter of my children's story THE CLOUD WALL. Check Creative Differences for my writing prompts (found on Writer's Digest, Tumblr, various other websites, writing prompt books, and my imagination) and Steven's responses. He never fails to amaze me with what he has managed to write. Steven also posts some of his creative writing from childhood (with pictures!). Steven tries to post something nearly every day and I try to send him a writing prompt daily, though I do tend to forget frequently and he has to remind me semi-often. We already have more than a dozen prompts and responses spread over 30+ posts. If you want something new to read, go to the blog!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Coming Soon
I have had the wonderful privilege of teaching at an elementary school for the past few weeks. It has been difficult to balance work, family, and writing. Add to that, I am now 100% sick. I beat the fever Monday on a day off but I've been alternating between congestion and a runny nose for several days and it doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon. Through the haze of cold medication, I managed to rewrite the first draft of the first chapter of my children's story. I mentioned this to my 4th graders today and they asked some amazing questions about writing. I was inspired.
Over the next few weeks, I am publishing a series of posts about my memories as an early reader, an advanced reader, a writer, and a storyteller. All four posts are already in the works. 2 are written (but not typed) and the other 2 are in note form. Those will arrive every Saturday until the series is finished.
I already tossed this other idea around with a fellow writer and she seemed very favorable, so my 2nd series will concern free resources for writers that I have gleaned through the internet. I found an amazing video series for fantasy writers that will take you days to watch. I found a few forums that have fantastic members that are serious about the craft of writing. I'll add to this as I write those posts. Stay tuned for those.
Those two series will put us into the middle of April I believe. I am taking recommendations for the topic of my 3rd series of related posts. Comment below or email me your idea. If I use your idea, I'll give you a shout-out here in the blog! Thanks.
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
I'm Always Writing
The past month has been a whirlwind for me! I finished the first rough draft of my 4th novel (or well, mostly finished at least). I made a full revision of my 3rd novel and sent it back out to Beta readers. I started working again full time for a short amount of time (6 to 8 weeks) as a long term substitute in a K-5 school. We've have had multiple major snowstorms. My Granny had a major back surgery and is now in a rehab center for recovery. My brother's baby is due in a couple weeks so we've just finished Christmas with them (for E&L since Christmas didn't really work out for a party time- the S-I-L's mother passed after a long battle with cancer on Christmas Eve) and then immediately jumped into baby shower planning.
Is everyone else always so busy in January?! I can't say that I remember ever having such a busy January myself.
Something else I've been working on: My friend and editor Steven is a fantastic writer and I've looked to him as a mentor for something around a decade now. As it happens, Steven has gotten out of the habit of writing. Yeah, I know- he's an editor and a blogger. He should be writing every day. And he does, sort of. He has a dozen or so blogs that keep him pretty busy between transcriptions, copy writing, fact checking, and editing. But, none of those activities is about him creating work- for a while now, he has only been able to manage handling the work of others, maybe with commentary and background, but he hasn't written his own stuff. Writer's block? Maybe.
Earlier in January, I came across Writer's Digest's weekly writing prompts. I sent him one. He told me that he would absolutely not be writing to those prompts. An hour later, I got his first draft. It was that simple. I have told him 100 times that he needs to write. Nooooo. Send him a prompt and he's freaking Kerouac all of a sudden! We (meaning mostly Steven) came up with the idea to catalog all of his first drafts to my prompts, various snippets of our unfinished works, sneak peaks at works-in-progress, old stuff and new stuff, and more in a blog. I thought I'd share it with you. Check out Creative Differences to see the writing prompts I've sent, his responses, some of his past work, some of my past work, and various writerly things. Yes, "writerly" is a word because I said it is. :) My "Firefly fanfic that was" short story (detailed in this post) was posted a couple days ago under the title RED DOTS if you'd like to check that out!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Is everyone else always so busy in January?! I can't say that I remember ever having such a busy January myself.
Something else I've been working on: My friend and editor Steven is a fantastic writer and I've looked to him as a mentor for something around a decade now. As it happens, Steven has gotten out of the habit of writing. Yeah, I know- he's an editor and a blogger. He should be writing every day. And he does, sort of. He has a dozen or so blogs that keep him pretty busy between transcriptions, copy writing, fact checking, and editing. But, none of those activities is about him creating work- for a while now, he has only been able to manage handling the work of others, maybe with commentary and background, but he hasn't written his own stuff. Writer's block? Maybe.
Earlier in January, I came across Writer's Digest's weekly writing prompts. I sent him one. He told me that he would absolutely not be writing to those prompts. An hour later, I got his first draft. It was that simple. I have told him 100 times that he needs to write. Nooooo. Send him a prompt and he's freaking Kerouac all of a sudden! We (meaning mostly Steven) came up with the idea to catalog all of his first drafts to my prompts, various snippets of our unfinished works, sneak peaks at works-in-progress, old stuff and new stuff, and more in a blog. I thought I'd share it with you. Check out Creative Differences to see the writing prompts I've sent, his responses, some of his past work, some of my past work, and various writerly things. Yes, "writerly" is a word because I said it is. :) My "Firefly fanfic that was" short story (detailed in this post) was posted a couple days ago under the title RED DOTS if you'd like to check that out!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Friday, November 30, 2012
NaNo Journal 26th- 30th
November 26: Big final push for writing this month. Did really good too considering I also subbed in a 4th grade classroom today. I didn't plan to make tonight my last official NaNo night but I'm over 90k, way behind in my Christmas ornaments, and have a short story to revise and edit. Validation and RSVP finished. Yay NaNoWriMo 2012! Personal best word count in 4 years. 6027/90784
November 27: I already validated so I haven't counted the words for what I wrote today. I said I would write every day so even though I'm not counting anything for NaNoWriMo '12 anymore, I'm still writing. Every day. I reread some of what I wrote this morning since I didn't have any subbing work. It isn't terrible. At least, my short story is in decent health and what I wrote on my 2nd series is good for a first draft. What I wrote on Immo is not that great and will probably end up deleted unless I can figure out how to turn it into...something that makes sense. We'll see. Housework to catch up on then pig ornaments the rest of the day.
November 28: So a change of plans for Christmas ornaments. I just got word that a few other family members are hoping for sock monkeys for their kids this Christmas. So now I'm up to something like 15?! Crap. So I've decided that for my grandma's side of the family, I'm going to make pig ornaments for Grandma's 7 children and everyone else (grand and great-grand kids) will get painted ornaments since I already have 75 of those painted. I should have enough for them, though I think I'll need to make more for everyone else. Those don't take long. I can crank out another 75 in an evening. Not so much on the pigs. It sucks, but since I already have the materials cut for the pigs, I'll focus on those for next Christmas for everyone else in Grandma's family and add some kind of decorative touch to make them new. Maybe a red and green bow or a tiny present...I'll figure something out. Sock monkey!
November 29: I'm contemplating sending a query to an agent. They don't rep epic fantasy though so it will have to be my 2nd series (urban fantasy). It needs an edit and a 3rd revision then a beta read before then though. Wonder if I can get all that done before New Years? Hmmmm...
November 30: Last day of NaNoWriMo '12. I will miss the fun oh so much. But TGIO is at an Irish pub so I get Strongbow so it evens out. lol Last year, I spent way too much on food. I think I'll eat before I go this time and save room and money for a couple drinks and then walk around the mall for 4 or 5 hours after- maybe see a movie. I wonder what is playing. BRB. Damn, this particular pub is nowhere near a movie theater. That limits my options by a lot. We'll see how this goes. I worked today and just got in so I'm beat. I need to hunt down the mouse that magically appeared in my bedroom this morning, clean, supervise the girls through their chores, read to them, and then do some reading for myself tonight. Thank goodness it is Friday or else the next 4 hours would be incredibly busy. :) Happy NaNoWriMo '12! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Until next year...
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
November 27: I already validated so I haven't counted the words for what I wrote today. I said I would write every day so even though I'm not counting anything for NaNoWriMo '12 anymore, I'm still writing. Every day. I reread some of what I wrote this morning since I didn't have any subbing work. It isn't terrible. At least, my short story is in decent health and what I wrote on my 2nd series is good for a first draft. What I wrote on Immo is not that great and will probably end up deleted unless I can figure out how to turn it into...something that makes sense. We'll see. Housework to catch up on then pig ornaments the rest of the day.
November 28: So a change of plans for Christmas ornaments. I just got word that a few other family members are hoping for sock monkeys for their kids this Christmas. So now I'm up to something like 15?! Crap. So I've decided that for my grandma's side of the family, I'm going to make pig ornaments for Grandma's 7 children and everyone else (grand and great-grand kids) will get painted ornaments since I already have 75 of those painted. I should have enough for them, though I think I'll need to make more for everyone else. Those don't take long. I can crank out another 75 in an evening. Not so much on the pigs. It sucks, but since I already have the materials cut for the pigs, I'll focus on those for next Christmas for everyone else in Grandma's family and add some kind of decorative touch to make them new. Maybe a red and green bow or a tiny present...I'll figure something out. Sock monkey!
November 29: I'm contemplating sending a query to an agent. They don't rep epic fantasy though so it will have to be my 2nd series (urban fantasy). It needs an edit and a 3rd revision then a beta read before then though. Wonder if I can get all that done before New Years? Hmmmm...
November 30: Last day of NaNoWriMo '12. I will miss the fun oh so much. But TGIO is at an Irish pub so I get Strongbow so it evens out. lol Last year, I spent way too much on food. I think I'll eat before I go this time and save room and money for a couple drinks and then walk around the mall for 4 or 5 hours after- maybe see a movie. I wonder what is playing. BRB. Damn, this particular pub is nowhere near a movie theater. That limits my options by a lot. We'll see how this goes. I worked today and just got in so I'm beat. I need to hunt down the mouse that magically appeared in my bedroom this morning, clean, supervise the girls through their chores, read to them, and then do some reading for myself tonight. Thank goodness it is Friday or else the next 4 hours would be incredibly busy. :) Happy NaNoWriMo '12! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Until next year...
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Monday, November 26, 2012
NaNo Journal 19th- 25th
November 19: Just got word that we are definitely not doing anything for Thanksgiving here at the house. We'll be going to let G'ma and G'pa do a dessert the day of instead. I'm supposed to go to another family party the day after. We'll see how all that works out. Good writing day. Tried to fiddle with the short story but I'm drawing a blank. 3010/72539
November 20: I can't move. Bending hurts. Twisting hurts. Hell, breathing hurts. I'm so tired that my brain feels like mush. I've been tearing the kitchen cabinets apart, trying to get rid of the clutter like I did the living room and dinning room at the beginning of the month. E and L are trying to help but they are mostly getting in my way. Not much written today and I'm pretty sure what was written didn't make any sense. 1667/74206
November 21: Apparently yesterday's update didn't take. I must have forgotten to click update before closing the page. I think I wrote last night's journal entry with my eyes closed. I'm still working on cleaning the kitchen. 2/3 of it done now. Just need to work on the pantry. I'm so glad my family isn't hosting Turkey Day here at the house. More written today than some days but not as much as I would have liked. 2000/76206
November 22: Ah the damn kitchen is finally organized! I ended up throwing away 4 garbage CANS full of lids without bowls, bowls without lids, broken ceramics and glassware, warped plastic utensils, and food that expired in 2006 (yeah, our Jello was that old). It looks so much better. I'm so tired I just typed butter instead of better. *sigh* Time for a very long shower before dessert at Grandma's house at 7 with all the grand kids. Fun times- I wonder if there will be any dessert there that I'll actually eat since I don't eat any kinds of pie, very few kinds of cake, even fewer kinds of cookies, and nothing whatsoever with a cream or jelly filling. 2967/79173
November 23: I knew the whole "not doing Turkey Day here" was too good to be true. I was informed this morning that since we didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, that our family party will be Saturday instead. As in tomorrow. Mom is working on the the turkey now. I'm about to scream. I just spent 3 days fixing that freaking kitchen with the very high hopes of it staying fixed at least until Christmas when I know I can't talk anyone out of us hosting it. I went in the kitchen 3 hours later and there is flour and sugar all over the counter tops, the sink is full of dishes, and the cats are cleaning up turkey broth that was accidentally spilled on the floor. Anyone want to adopt me and let me live in your home? I clean, I am quiet, and I keep to myself most of the time. *sigh* Put my anger and irritation to good writing use, although I think one of my main characters died as a result. Oops. 3917/83090
November 24: I hate life right now. Mom spent all that time preparing an after Thanksgiving dinner for pretty much no one to show up. My brother and his wife couldn't make it. None of the cousins showed. Mom's brother didn't come over. It was just me, E & L, Dad, Mom, G'ma & G'pa, a 7 year old nephew of my Dad's, 1 of Dad's grand kids (age 4), Gran, and a friend of L's that randomly showed up last night needing a time out from her own family. So...11 people out of 25 expected. The fridge is so full of leftovers. Oy. Not a terrible writing day considering I was required to be social and then was the only one to help clean up the mess afterwards with Dad. I would have preferred to hide away in my room writing with Mom bringing me a plate after everyone left but I would have felt bad about that. Damn me for being such a loyal daughter. I got my short story written though! Need a good edit and revision then it is off to the writing group. 2967/86057
November 25: I could barely get anything written today due to a splitting headache. I had a touch of a headache last night when I finally went to bed but woke up with a blinding headache that kept me nauseated and in bed off and on all day. Ugh. So sick. Definitely a migraine. I miss my doctor in Alabama- all I had to do was call the office and tell them I had another one. My doc would call me in a prescription and email me a work notice so I could sleep the headache away until it was gone. Here, the doctor wants me to come in every single time. I can't afford that so I compromised with Tylenol PM and a glass of apple cider and Hot Damn to knock my brain out for a few hours. When I woke up, I hurt worse everywhere- my whole body felt like I got kicked by Babe the Blue Ox. Double ugh. 1667/87724
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
November 20: I can't move. Bending hurts. Twisting hurts. Hell, breathing hurts. I'm so tired that my brain feels like mush. I've been tearing the kitchen cabinets apart, trying to get rid of the clutter like I did the living room and dinning room at the beginning of the month. E and L are trying to help but they are mostly getting in my way. Not much written today and I'm pretty sure what was written didn't make any sense. 1667/74206
November 21: Apparently yesterday's update didn't take. I must have forgotten to click update before closing the page. I think I wrote last night's journal entry with my eyes closed. I'm still working on cleaning the kitchen. 2/3 of it done now. Just need to work on the pantry. I'm so glad my family isn't hosting Turkey Day here at the house. More written today than some days but not as much as I would have liked. 2000/76206
November 22: Ah the damn kitchen is finally organized! I ended up throwing away 4 garbage CANS full of lids without bowls, bowls without lids, broken ceramics and glassware, warped plastic utensils, and food that expired in 2006 (yeah, our Jello was that old). It looks so much better. I'm so tired I just typed butter instead of better. *sigh* Time for a very long shower before dessert at Grandma's house at 7 with all the grand kids. Fun times- I wonder if there will be any dessert there that I'll actually eat since I don't eat any kinds of pie, very few kinds of cake, even fewer kinds of cookies, and nothing whatsoever with a cream or jelly filling. 2967/79173
November 23: I knew the whole "not doing Turkey Day here" was too good to be true. I was informed this morning that since we didn't do anything for Thanksgiving, that our family party will be Saturday instead. As in tomorrow. Mom is working on the the turkey now. I'm about to scream. I just spent 3 days fixing that freaking kitchen with the very high hopes of it staying fixed at least until Christmas when I know I can't talk anyone out of us hosting it. I went in the kitchen 3 hours later and there is flour and sugar all over the counter tops, the sink is full of dishes, and the cats are cleaning up turkey broth that was accidentally spilled on the floor. Anyone want to adopt me and let me live in your home? I clean, I am quiet, and I keep to myself most of the time. *sigh* Put my anger and irritation to good writing use, although I think one of my main characters died as a result. Oops. 3917/83090
November 24: I hate life right now. Mom spent all that time preparing an after Thanksgiving dinner for pretty much no one to show up. My brother and his wife couldn't make it. None of the cousins showed. Mom's brother didn't come over. It was just me, E & L, Dad, Mom, G'ma & G'pa, a 7 year old nephew of my Dad's, 1 of Dad's grand kids (age 4), Gran, and a friend of L's that randomly showed up last night needing a time out from her own family. So...11 people out of 25 expected. The fridge is so full of leftovers. Oy. Not a terrible writing day considering I was required to be social and then was the only one to help clean up the mess afterwards with Dad. I would have preferred to hide away in my room writing with Mom bringing me a plate after everyone left but I would have felt bad about that. Damn me for being such a loyal daughter. I got my short story written though! Need a good edit and revision then it is off to the writing group. 2967/86057
November 25: I could barely get anything written today due to a splitting headache. I had a touch of a headache last night when I finally went to bed but woke up with a blinding headache that kept me nauseated and in bed off and on all day. Ugh. So sick. Definitely a migraine. I miss my doctor in Alabama- all I had to do was call the office and tell them I had another one. My doc would call me in a prescription and email me a work notice so I could sleep the headache away until it was gone. Here, the doctor wants me to come in every single time. I can't afford that so I compromised with Tylenol PM and a glass of apple cider and Hot Damn to knock my brain out for a few hours. When I woke up, I hurt worse everywhere- my whole body felt like I got kicked by Babe the Blue Ox. Double ugh. 1667/87724
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Writing a Short Story
My region is taking a collection of short stories from our local NaNo writers with the express purpose of compiling them into an ebook. The sole purpose of this anthology is for the entertainment of our former ML who had to bail on NaNo completely this year due to her steadily worsening health.
We were told that our former ML has many things that she loves (and so we assume she would enjoy reading about in short story format). This includes: all things Firefly and Nathan Fillion, plot bunnies/ninjas, chick lit, zombies, Doctor Who, Supernatural, getting lost/stranded in Nebraska (that was the plot of a few NaNo novels in our former ML's time), cats, and pirates. By picking at least one element from this list, the current ML's thought it would make a welcome present for our wonderful many-year NaNo ML while she attempts to heal from this debilitating illness.
When I heard that she loves Firefly, I immediately thought that I should write a story about the crappy town where Wash is a hero. Then, I latched onto the idea that reavers are pretty much zombie plot bunnies. It is a stretch, I know. I spent many nights after I hit 50k trying to figure out how to start this damn short story and went to bed frustrated each time. Should I find a script and rewrite that script in narrative with the characters as anthropomorphic critters (so I can fit my zombie plot bunnies in, naturally)? Should I try to write a completely new story, sticking to the regular story of the show? What the hell am I supposed to do here?!
Frustrated with a blank page, I turned to a creative outlet that always lets me rid myself of frustration- doodling. In the end, I ended up with a critter drawing based on every Firefly character. Mal became a wolf. Inara, a sexy cat. The Tams became parrots (cuz parrots are super smart- duh!). Wash- 100% raccoon. Shiny! Zoe became a jaguar. Kaylee is the cutest puffy cheeked squirrel you'll ever see. Jayne- a ferret (because while they sometimes do incredibly funny things, mostly they seem to bite and cause a ruckus). Book- the sage turtle. And last of all- my reaver bunny. The pencil sketches were alright, but they didn't pop on the page until I added ink outlines. I tried to add clothing to each character that would signify who they represented. Wash has a loud obnoxious shirt. Mal has his long coat. Jayne is wearing his hat. Book has his hair. You get the idea. Anyway, I took some creative liberties with my reaver bunny. I colored them in with a combination of markers, wax crayons, colored pencils, and MS Paint with varying results. Most of them looked better as plain ink line drawings.
So that was over a week ago. When I sat down to write this morning, I was nowhere closer to figuring out how to write this short story than I was at the beginning or middle of the month. I gave up. I can officially say this: I do not write fanfiction. It is not my forte at all. However, my reaver bunny stuck with me and I decided to stick with just him. Once I made that decision, the flood gates of inspiration opened for me. I wrote 1.3k in about an hour. No outline. No clue about a plot. I just wrote in my normal fashion- pantser all the way, baby.
This "Firefly fanfic that was" has morphed into a thriller/horror about a zombie rabbit. I read it to L once I finished. She listened like any 10 year old who adores her big sister would. When I finished and asked her what she thought, she smacked me and told our mother that if she can't sleep for the next month, it is all my fault. So I guess I at least got that part right. It is scary enough for a 10 year old at the very least.
So will this short story ever see the light of day? Who knows...I don't have a clue. Maybe it will serve a purpose at some point. If the ML's decide to actually sell the ebook, I'll be sure to provide a link for it for anyone that is interested. Until then, I thought I'd share my zombie bunny (or the "Reaver that was"):
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Sunday, November 18, 2012
NaNoToons
One of my favorite parts of NaNoWriMo is NaNoToons!
The comic started with Debbie Ohi and has evolved into a collaborative effort between Errol Elumir and Debbie over the years. You can read their biographies on the page linked above, as well as character bios for past and present characters and find the archive for past NaNoToons all the way back to November 2006. Take my advice and start from the beginning!
Also, you can find a link on the web page to Errol's project NaNoMusical! They are up to episode 3 out of 6 for this video web series and it is fantastic. I'm waiting anxiously for the next one to come out! Good luck to everyone NaNoing this year. We're more than half way through!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
The comic started with Debbie Ohi and has evolved into a collaborative effort between Errol Elumir and Debbie over the years. You can read their biographies on the page linked above, as well as character bios for past and present characters and find the archive for past NaNoToons all the way back to November 2006. Take my advice and start from the beginning!
Also, you can find a link on the web page to Errol's project NaNoMusical! They are up to episode 3 out of 6 for this video web series and it is fantastic. I'm waiting anxiously for the next one to come out! Good luck to everyone NaNoing this year. We're more than half way through!
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
NaNo Journal 12th-18th
November 12: Excellent writing night. Spent a good deal of time on the blog today too. So productivity all around. :) Getting into a meaty section of my book and very glad of it considering I finally crossed 50k tonight! Woot. 6925/50070
November 13: I had hoped to make it to a write-in by now but its just not happening. I don't have the gas money to go driving around the county more than a couple times, and that has been ear marked for the Kick-off Party and the Thank God It's Over Party. That sucks since I really love the write-ins but oh well. When things are finally better money wise, I'll go and sit in a coffee shop and drink over priced drinks and pretend I have awesome writer people for company. *sigh* 1667/51737
November 14: Barely made to goal tonight. Such a long day. I'm ready to sleep for six years. 1667/53404
November 15: Did more crafting than writing today by far. Made word count for the day only because I wrote the word "for" about a dozen times as I thought of what was happening in my story. I'll fix it later but for NaNo, it stays. Go away inner editor. I know it is wrong without you screaming at me about it. 1667/55071
November 16: Much better day today. The inner editor must have went back no vacation. The kids were good today so I didn't have to waste 2 hours of writing time getting their butts in gear. E asked if she could go to bed early. That always makes me nervous- usually means she is sick and she was just at the doctor last week! *sigh* I'll be up and down all night checking on her I guess. 6203/61274
November 17: Today's word count is a guess as I slept way late today then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in the E.R. with E. Poor kid went to the doctor 2 weeks ago with strep-like symptoms. Strep test was negative but she had a 10 day antibiotic med anyways. 3 days after the antibiotic is done, she coughed so much that she passed out. She has bronchitis and a sinus infection. They said it isn't pneumonia yet so I'm glad we went but the 7.5 hours in the E.R. was spent writing by hand in a notebook. I'll transcribe what I wrote out in the morning. I know it was at least the goal so we're going with that tonight. Checked blogger and saw that I'm about 13 views shy of 14,000 total views. Pretty awesome! Breaking out some apple cider and Hot Damn to celebrate. 1667/62941
November 18: When I woke up, I saw that the blog passed 14k visitors some time through the night. So freaking awesome! Planned to got to a friend's house for time away from needy children, manic cats, and stress inducing family. Didn't work out that way though- I read the E & L instead after making buffalo chicken dip. We are reading The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson. We were reading another book but it was stupidly boring and had some darker elements that a 9 and 10 year old are not ready for...and I'm not comfortable reading to them. This one looks much better- its about a cat. lol Sometimes I wish NaNo was in a more manageable month...like April. No one does anything in April in this family. Maybe I'll start doing my own NaNo in April. lol I got yesterday's writing transcribed early this morning. It was better than I thought so I added the difference to today's count. 6588/69529
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
November 13: I had hoped to make it to a write-in by now but its just not happening. I don't have the gas money to go driving around the county more than a couple times, and that has been ear marked for the Kick-off Party and the Thank God It's Over Party. That sucks since I really love the write-ins but oh well. When things are finally better money wise, I'll go and sit in a coffee shop and drink over priced drinks and pretend I have awesome writer people for company. *sigh* 1667/51737
November 14: Barely made to goal tonight. Such a long day. I'm ready to sleep for six years. 1667/53404
November 15: Did more crafting than writing today by far. Made word count for the day only because I wrote the word "for" about a dozen times as I thought of what was happening in my story. I'll fix it later but for NaNo, it stays. Go away inner editor. I know it is wrong without you screaming at me about it. 1667/55071
November 16: Much better day today. The inner editor must have went back no vacation. The kids were good today so I didn't have to waste 2 hours of writing time getting their butts in gear. E asked if she could go to bed early. That always makes me nervous- usually means she is sick and she was just at the doctor last week! *sigh* I'll be up and down all night checking on her I guess. 6203/61274
November 17: Today's word count is a guess as I slept way late today then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in the E.R. with E. Poor kid went to the doctor 2 weeks ago with strep-like symptoms. Strep test was negative but she had a 10 day antibiotic med anyways. 3 days after the antibiotic is done, she coughed so much that she passed out. She has bronchitis and a sinus infection. They said it isn't pneumonia yet so I'm glad we went but the 7.5 hours in the E.R. was spent writing by hand in a notebook. I'll transcribe what I wrote out in the morning. I know it was at least the goal so we're going with that tonight. Checked blogger and saw that I'm about 13 views shy of 14,000 total views. Pretty awesome! Breaking out some apple cider and Hot Damn to celebrate. 1667/62941
November 18: When I woke up, I saw that the blog passed 14k visitors some time through the night. So freaking awesome! Planned to got to a friend's house for time away from needy children, manic cats, and stress inducing family. Didn't work out that way though- I read the E & L instead after making buffalo chicken dip. We are reading The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson. We were reading another book but it was stupidly boring and had some darker elements that a 9 and 10 year old are not ready for...and I'm not comfortable reading to them. This one looks much better- its about a cat. lol Sometimes I wish NaNo was in a more manageable month...like April. No one does anything in April in this family. Maybe I'll start doing my own NaNo in April. lol I got yesterday's writing transcribed early this morning. It was better than I thought so I added the difference to today's count. 6588/69529
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Sunday, November 11, 2012
NaNo Journal 5th-11th
November 5: Slow day today for writing. I worked at one of the girls's schools today. That was fun. Totally enlightened about her school work now. She is in so much trouble. *sigh* I'm writing, but it is slow going. Just barely made the goal tonight. 1667/19821
November 6: Went to vote today. Not much written. Too nervous about the election. Plus the girls were home from school so we went to the library for new library books and stopped by McD's for lunch because they were giving out free Big Macs for 3 hours on election day. Not a total wash though; at least I met the daily goal. 1667/21488
November 7: No work today. That sucks but it is expected for subbing. Crossing my fingers for tomorrow and writing. Better day today than the last few days. Still not the fantastic 8-10k days that I really like. 4211/25699
November 8: Crossed 25k last night. Made me very happy. Struggling through some scenes today. Misread the sub schedule. I went into work this morning prepared to get started when the secretary informed me that the sub position was for tomorrow. So another day of no work. Joy. Wrote off and on while trying to help move furniture and deep clean the living room and dinning room in preparation for guests on Thanksgiving. We still need to get to the kitchen and utility room. I'm convinced that the girls's bedrooms are lost causes. We'll just shut the doors those days and be done with it. 3544/29243
November 9: Woot! I'm officially under 1k words per day to finish on time now. That is one of my milestones that I watch for each year. Very pumped! I go for milestones of every 10k, a daily writing count even if it is just 100 words, and getting the WPD under 1k. I'm getting there! I continued cleaning today after work so I still didn't get have a huge writing night, but it was definitely a good night. Lots of action. It is only a little past 9 but I am so ready for bed. I'm going to try like hell to cross 50k by the end of the weekend. We'll see if that happens. 3681/32924
November 10: Well, the weekend has not given me that huge writing bump that I really hoped for yet. Between workers showing up to seal the driveway, the girls acting like animals, and the animals acting like animals, I spent most of the day cleaning up after everyone. I did get some written though so it wasn't a total loss. 3591/36515
November 11: Much better writing day! With everyone gone to church, I finally had some peace and quiet so I got a much larger amount of writing in this morning than usual. Enough that I'm going to stop for the day even though it isn't even 5pm. Time to get the girls in action working on their rooms and start dinner. Maybe with some luck, they will be finished in time for me to read some tonight. We've only been trying to ready all freaking week. *sigh* At any rate, today was a very good day. Less than 400 words per day to finish on time. Woot! Happy Veteran's Day to the vets out there! 6630/43145
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
November 6: Went to vote today. Not much written. Too nervous about the election. Plus the girls were home from school so we went to the library for new library books and stopped by McD's for lunch because they were giving out free Big Macs for 3 hours on election day. Not a total wash though; at least I met the daily goal. 1667/21488
November 7: No work today. That sucks but it is expected for subbing. Crossing my fingers for tomorrow and writing. Better day today than the last few days. Still not the fantastic 8-10k days that I really like. 4211/25699
November 8: Crossed 25k last night. Made me very happy. Struggling through some scenes today. Misread the sub schedule. I went into work this morning prepared to get started when the secretary informed me that the sub position was for tomorrow. So another day of no work. Joy. Wrote off and on while trying to help move furniture and deep clean the living room and dinning room in preparation for guests on Thanksgiving. We still need to get to the kitchen and utility room. I'm convinced that the girls's bedrooms are lost causes. We'll just shut the doors those days and be done with it. 3544/29243
November 9: Woot! I'm officially under 1k words per day to finish on time now. That is one of my milestones that I watch for each year. Very pumped! I go for milestones of every 10k, a daily writing count even if it is just 100 words, and getting the WPD under 1k. I'm getting there! I continued cleaning today after work so I still didn't get have a huge writing night, but it was definitely a good night. Lots of action. It is only a little past 9 but I am so ready for bed. I'm going to try like hell to cross 50k by the end of the weekend. We'll see if that happens. 3681/32924
November 10: Well, the weekend has not given me that huge writing bump that I really hoped for yet. Between workers showing up to seal the driveway, the girls acting like animals, and the animals acting like animals, I spent most of the day cleaning up after everyone. I did get some written though so it wasn't a total loss. 3591/36515
November 11: Much better writing day! With everyone gone to church, I finally had some peace and quiet so I got a much larger amount of writing in this morning than usual. Enough that I'm going to stop for the day even though it isn't even 5pm. Time to get the girls in action working on their rooms and start dinner. Maybe with some luck, they will be finished in time for me to read some tonight. We've only been trying to ready all freaking week. *sigh* At any rate, today was a very good day. Less than 400 words per day to finish on time. Woot! Happy Veteran's Day to the vets out there! 6630/43145
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Sunday, November 04, 2012
NaNo Journal 1st-4th
November 1: I stayed up until midnight to start writing like usual. Only this year, I didn't have a clue on how to start. I'm working on the 3rd book in The Immortalis Trilogy. I honest to God have no idea how to start this novel off. I decided to tinker with another piece while I thought about Immo3 some more. I ended up writing over 6k before I finally went to sleep. I just wish it was 6k on my planned novel, not a new one. I missed the chance to go to work for the first time in a couple months thanks to sleeping through my alarm. Even after going to bed at about 4am, I was up at 8am. Just in time to find out that E is sick and needed to go to the doctor. Joy. Got some more writing in between 8am and noon. And then from 5pm until 8pm when it was time to crash. Crossing my fingers for more work to come my way tomorrow. And more words. Preferably Immo words but I'll take what I can get. 8735/8735(words today/cumulative word count)
November 2: I worked in a classroom for the first time in nearly 2.5 years. I have missed that so much. It was worth getting up at 5am and missing breakfast to spend the day in a classroom with students. <3 I didn't get nearly as much written today as yesterday, but I'm absolutely exhausted and need sleep. Still met the daily WC goal so all is well. It is officially the weekend so hopefully I'll have two really good writing days and be way ahead of schedule come Monday. :) 3479/12214
November 3: Spent most of the day reading The Land of Stories to E & L. The girls love this book and I'm finding it so hard to say no to them when they beg me to read. Very little written today. Made the daily goal but didn't get it posted in time for it to count toward the 3rd. I'm counting it anyways dammit. :) 1667/13881
November 4: So much done today. Grocery shopping that really couldn't wait any longer. We finished reading The Land of Stories just before bedtime. I got some decent writing done. Two of the cats tried to kill each other over a freaking bowl of water. Wood carried in for the next few days. I've written almost 3 times as much as my daily word count goal. I'm super stoked, even though I would rathered cross 20k tonight. But, it is 11pm and I'm tired. Crossing my fingers for another work day tomorrow. 4273/18154
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
November 2: I worked in a classroom for the first time in nearly 2.5 years. I have missed that so much. It was worth getting up at 5am and missing breakfast to spend the day in a classroom with students. <3 I didn't get nearly as much written today as yesterday, but I'm absolutely exhausted and need sleep. Still met the daily WC goal so all is well. It is officially the weekend so hopefully I'll have two really good writing days and be way ahead of schedule come Monday. :) 3479/12214
November 3: Spent most of the day reading The Land of Stories to E & L. The girls love this book and I'm finding it so hard to say no to them when they beg me to read. Very little written today. Made the daily goal but didn't get it posted in time for it to count toward the 3rd. I'm counting it anyways dammit. :) 1667/13881
November 4: So much done today. Grocery shopping that really couldn't wait any longer. We finished reading The Land of Stories just before bedtime. I got some decent writing done. Two of the cats tried to kill each other over a freaking bowl of water. Wood carried in for the next few days. I've written almost 3 times as much as my daily word count goal. I'm super stoked, even though I would rathered cross 20k tonight. But, it is 11pm and I'm tired. Crossing my fingers for another work day tomorrow. 4273/18154
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
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