Author Archives: Eugie Foster

Mid-week update

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fosteronfilm and I went to a volunteer meeting for the Atlanta Film Festival (hosted by Image) yesterday. Matthew wants to network and get more involved with the local movie scene. I figure volunteering would be preferable to sitting at home and watching maudlin chick flicks, which is what I did last year. Unlike with Dragon*Con, nothing really leaped out at me which seemed a good fit for my skills and interests, so I volunteered to help staff a party. I figure I can play hostess and party grunt without any special training or movie know-how. Matthew, of course, signed up to help with the panels.

Also got a call from the corporate recruiter person. He wants me to send along a sample projects requirements document that I’ve authored, and then wants to set me up for the interview process. Which, as is usual for these sorts of positions, would be pretty extensive, involving a test, a grilling session by other senior analysts, and then a meeting of the VP. Unfortunately, all the projects requirements docs that I’ve authored are proprietary information belonging to the company I used to work for. So now I’m trying to come up with a sanitized version, one that doesn’t contain confidential company and project information, that I can send along to these guys.

Also got an email from ghostgrrl asking me to be a guest at Frolicon. Of course I said I would. So it’s official, we’ll be at Frolicon at it’s debut. Looking forward to it already!

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Yoga and ballet. Ballet and yoga. I remain out of shape. Ugh.


Writing Stuff

Rejections make Eugie sad:
12-day complimentary one from Futurismic with invite to submit again.
64-day personalized reject from Ellen Datlow from SCI FICTION, again with invite to submit more.
1-day whiplash-inducing reject from Surreal letting me know I’m welcome to submit again.

Oof. It’s an ice cream and chocolate sort of day. A sale would be nice right about now.

New words: Editing
Did a couple passes on the folktale and have handed it off to Matthew. Now it’s back to work on the novel.

Club 100 For Writers
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No more short film screenings, please!

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fosteronfilm got the first batch of Dragon*Con Film Festival submissions in the mail. He’s subjecting me to hour after hour of independently filmed and produced short films. Suffice it to say that it’s not my cuppa. I may need to hole up in the bedroom with my laptop while he’s doing his initial screenings. Glah.


Writing Stuff

Did some reorganizing of the menu system for Tangent. Nothing dramatic, added some cover art graphics to the intro sections to punch up the front page appearance, and added another category or two to the “Divergences” menu.

New words: 140
On the folktale. Also did a couple editing passes, further research tweaking, added an author’s note for the end, and composed my cover letter to Cricket. It’s at zero draft. Going to foist it on Matthew, and then send it up the Critters queue.

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Spontaneous hardware rejuvenation

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The DVD burner spontaneously, err, healed itself. fosteronfilm let it rest for a night, and when he booted it the next day, it once again recognized the DVD-ROM. He had to fiddle with some settings to get it working beyond that, and we lost Nero–and it looks like we’re going to have to buy a new copy of it–but it functions again. Very mysterious. I took it as a reminder that technology is capricious and did a thorough back-up, something I’ve been a little lax about since I got my laptop. I also set a timely reminder on my system to make backups on a regular basis.


Writing Stuff

New words: 400
Also 100 anti-words and 2 editing passes (all on the folktale). Hit “The End” but I want to do a couple more passes before I declare it to be at zero draft. It does feel amazing to finish another story, though. One of the things I really miss while working on The Novel is the rush of completing something. Wooiee!

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Friday ups and downs

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Started out with a nice, relaxing Friday evening. Brewed some Harry & David coffee and mixed in the drinking chocolate teflaime gave us. Mmm, nummy mocha. Then watched trashy horror movies (The Craft and Jeepers Creepers II) with Hobkin curled up at my side. An excellent setting for much writing.

Got an email from a recruiter for a company in Dunwoody looking for a systems analyst. Went out to their website, and I liked what I saw. Nice benefits, and the commute wouldn’t be bad. Emailed him my resume. Waiting to hear back (I suspect not until Monday at the earliest). Hoping if they want an interview it’ll be a face-to-face one instead of a phone one.

But now the DVD burner (on our desktop) appears to be on the fritz. The computer refuses to acknowledge that it even exists. Bios is totally unresponsive. fosteronfilm can’t even get the tray to open, which is particularly bothersome because there’s a DVD in it. I’m at a loss at what to do about hardware. It leaves me feeling helpless and frustrated.


Writing Stuff

I did indeed come up with something to editorialize about for Tangent: the new Macmillan UK “New Writer” imprint, and The Guardian article about it. What did I have to say? Read the editorial!

New words: 544
On the folktale. Past the climax and starting into the denouement. Another good writing session and I’ll be at zero draft. Rah.

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Bashful skunk

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Feeling better. My sinuses are in full-out mutiny, and my wingstubs continue to make writing an exercise in masochism (like it isn’t anyway), but I’m better. Hobkin is sleeping beside me, his little paws twitching as he dreams. Doses of skunk cuteness always helps my general outlook.

Yesterday, the doorbell rang–the mail carrier. But instead of her scampering away before I could open the door, she was still there when I answered. She had a package I needed to sign for. I was worried about Hobkin. He was wide awake and following me around avidly, and I didn’t want to lock him away. But we haven’t experimented a lot with a prolonged open front door around him. So I kept one and a half eyes on him while I signed and took possession of the mail. Hobkin surprised me by being really good. He didn’t try to bolt or seem at all inclined to explore the wide open in front of me. He hovered at my ankles, peering (myopically) around me. He didn’t stomp or tail-up, just clung to my ankles. He was shy! The mail carrier saw him, but I wonder if it even registered with her that he was a skunk and not a cat.

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Yoga. I like yoga. And ballet.


Writing Stuff

New words: 1038
On a new Chinese folktale. Halfway through it. Nothing like instant gratification. Well, nearly instant.

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Working working working

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Sick and tired of hurting, and fed up with filling my LJ with “ow, ow, poor me” posts, so I’ll just gloss over that part and leave it at “ouch.”

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Dragged Matthew out for a walk around the neighborhood.


Writing Stuff

Received a note out of the blue from an editor who had previously rejected a story after requesting a rewrite. After some pondering, he’s changed his mind and wants it now. But, of course, it’s already out at another market, one that I’ve sold to before, which makes me definitely inclined not to pull it. Erm. Puts me in a strange position. I’ve emailed the editor back and told him that if the current market where it’s under consideration passes on it, he can have it, but that it might take several months (or longer–these folks don’t respond quickly) before I’ll know for sure.

Weird.

Wrote and published a couple reviews for Tangent. Also added a new poetry category. We’re reviewing poetry now, thanks to gardenwaltz, our new poetry reviewer. I’m pretty jazzed ’bout that.

Been pondering writing an editorial for Tangent to provide another voice to it, but I don’t really want to launch into a political diatribe, and I sort of feel that most of the “hot” topics in the specfic consciousness are either silly (“What is Fantasy/Science Fiction/Slipstream/etc?”) or have been talked/debated/argued into the ground by luminaries far more knowledgeable than lil ole me (The state of the short fiction market, recent trends in subject matter, etc.)

I dunno. Is there anything people who read short fiction (and poetry) SF/F/H reviews really want discussed in an editorial?

A Harmony of Foxes
New words: 122
Cranked out a minimum number and called it a day. Trying to give my wingstubs a rest.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
15,624 / 45,000
(34.0%)

Club 100 For Writers
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Writing this week off

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Ow. Crap. Sinuses utterly fubarred. Wingstubs hurting. I think it might be best to write this week off as a loss.

Saw The Abominable Dr. Philbes for the first time yesterday. fosteronfilm was astonished I’d never seen it before. I was not nearly as impressed by it as Matthew is. I’m thinking the rose-colored veneer of childhood delight have colored his perceptions. Sure it was surreal and wacky, but it didn’t work for me overall. I did like the flying fox bats and the cute, plump rats, but since they were supposed to be perpetrators of horrific death, I don’t think I was supposed to go “Awww! Wuzzy widdle cuteness, squee!”

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Yoga and ballet, and a few belly dance isolations to start toning my abs. Actually seeing a bit of an improvement already in flexibility.


Writing Stuff

Received a 25-day “a rich tale, but . . . ” from Flesh & Blood with invite to submit again.

New Words: 100 on the short story and called it a day. Feeling too crappy to write.

Club 100 For Writers
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Hanging in there

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Thanks to everyone who posted well wishes yesterday. I’m still hurting today, but I’m better. I love Sudafed. It makes me sniffly and wired, but anything that eases the pressure is a godsend.

Dragged Matthew out for a walk. We both could use the exercise. It was a lovely evening, cool and soft. It helped my headache, although my wingstubs still ached. Makes for a hard time writing, but it was good to get out. Also had a nice, long soak in the hot tub, which helped unkink the muscles that are all tensed up from hurting all the time. Trying to limit my non-writing keyboard time to give my body a chance to heal. Trying.

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Writing Stuff

keesa_renee, fellow Critter (currently on hiatus), totally made my day. In her LJ post yesterday she listed her favorite short stories, and she included two of mine with works by O. Henry and H.C. Bunner. I need to print that post frame it. It put a much needed glowy smile on my face. Thank you, Keesa. I’m honored beyond words. And, to further illustrate how totally cool she is, she introduced me to the most amazing concept, BookCrossing, where folks set their books free to be enjoyed by others.

New Words: 550 on the short story

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Not my favorite May Day

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Had a lot of pain issues yesterday. Wingstubs flaring up and a sinus headache that all but reduced me to tears. Did some yoga, which helped but only briefly, and sat down to write with limited success. In the end, I curled up with Hobkin and tried to sleep, but couldn’t relax. So Matthew read to me–one of the stories out of the Polyphony 4 anthology, actually a part of one of the stories–and I managed to relax enough to fall asleep. I love my hubby.

Still hurting this morning, which does not bode well for the day.

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Writing Stuff

Did 200 words on the fantasy short, but couldn’t push on. Stupid traitorous human suit. Did some research on Han warfare tactics, armor, and weaponry. The Chinese had handheld crossbows in 200 BC. They also had steel. Wow. Also did some research into the clothing styles, Hanfu, which were very different from the mandarin styles that gained prominence in subsequent dynasties.

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