Smacked between the eyes by an idea for a near future, VR/social networking fusion story over the weekend. 2.5K words; no working title yet.
Guess I’m going to backburner The Stupid Novel for a little longer.
“Mortal Clay, Stone Heart” DONE. Fork rammed to the hilt; manuscript sent to editors; fingers crossed. Time to break out the booze! Hurray for three-day weekends.
And lo, there was insomnia.
I think sleep deprivation plus uppers may kybosh some key writing processes in my brain, so I’m going to try to ford ahead sans meds today. Then again, sleep deprivation alone may in itself be enough to mangle my brain’s word production capability. But I’ve been wondering for a while whether the Adderall—while giving me the energy I need to stay motivated and productive—may actually be impairing some of my creative ability. I’ve got the verve, but the words seem lodged somewhere in my head that I can’t access with anything like the same fluidity and ease that I use to. I can still do routine and very technical wordsmithing, like copyediting and, well, editing in general—those skills may actually be enhanced by the meds—but my ability to create new prose feels diminished.
‘Course, I can’t write if I’m passed out and drooling on my desk, either. So I’m keeping the shiny capsules close to hand in case this doesn’t work out.
And now: coffee.
The deadline for “Mortal Clay, Stone Heart” is in two days. Embarking on the final revision/editing pass. Maybe I can get it in before Fri…eh, who am I kidding?
Editorial inquiry leads to giving myself a crash course on the correct romanization of Farsi—or rather one word in Farsi. (Wikipedia, ho!)
I’ve banged my brain before trying to grok romanization standards: Chinese mostly—both pinyin and Wade-Giles—but also some Japanese rÅmaji. And y’know, I really, really like languages that use a Latin-based alphabet.
French is nice. I took French in college. Maybe I should write a nice little French fairy tale next.
*whimper*
In related news, “The Tortoise Bride” has been slated for the October issue of Cricket 
Coordinating with Vera (norilana) to ensure the trade paperback release of Returning My Sister’s Face will be available for Readercon next month. It’s slated to come out July 5th. Hurray!
Wish I could be there. Maybe next year…
Novel progress: -100 words, as much fun as having an anvil dropped on my toe. And it’s back to work on “Mortal Clay, Stone Heart.” Incorporating some critique suggestions.
Taking a break from “Mortal Clay, Stone Heart” while waiting for critiques to come in. Sent it, hat in hand, to a few valorous and generous souls and also to Codex.
I’ve been a member of Codex for years—I think I joined up pretty near to when it was established—but at the time, I was a member of Critters, so wasn’t active at Codex. But I went on hiatus at Critters and Codex has been highly recommended to me by several writers. Giving it a whirl.
So yeah, time to dust off The Stupid Novel and get back to work on it. Except I haven’t looked at it in months. Gulp.
My day off: writing/working downstairs on the couch because after lunch, Hobkin insisted I be his pillow. I’m pinned by an 8lb fuzzy animal. Oh well. He’s a decent mousepad.
Completed one more pass on “Mortal Clay, Stone Heart.” I’m calling the fork jabbed and the story officially at first draft. Now to foist it upon hapless critiquers…
