Category Archives: LJ

Attack of the plot bunnies!

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fosteronfilm is volunteering for the Atlanta Film Festival this weekend, so I’m hoping this will be a big writing time for me. At least it means I will not have to be subjected to any more short film festival entries for a couple days. The Dragon*Con office sent a HUGE box of them. Watching them is like reading slush that you have to listen to and watch. Glah. My eyes.

A couple more Poll answers:

Anne Fitten Q: “If you could have lunch with one living writer, who would it be?”
A: Ooo, that’s a hard one. My first knee jerk reflex is to exclaim “Tanith Lee!” because she’s had such a huge influence on my writing. But then when I think about it some more, I think I’d rather pick Joss Whedon’s brain. Or perhaps just worship at his feet.
dean13 Q: “Which seminars, lectures, books or websites about writing, if any, taught you the most about writing stories?”
A: Ann Crispin’s 2000 Dragon*Con writers workshop was a turning point. It’s when I started getting serious about writing, instead of just wanting to be a writer and not doing anything about it. Although I think I learned more about the business and promotion side than the actual technical skills. I picked up some good tips on writing as well of course, but it gave me some really important career advice, which is what I needed. I learned some plotting and storyline basics from kijjohnson when she ran several panels on writing at . . . I think it was GenCon. It was a convention. I don’t think it was Chicon, but my memory’s somewhat fuzzy on that specific.

In the end, though, the thing which has taught me the most about writing, aside from simply sitting down and doing it, is getting feedback from readers, as well as giving it in the form of critiques. Analyzing what works in other people’s writing, and hearing what doesn’t in my own, has really helped my writing take off. I think it’s given me confidence in my own writerly instincts, and it’s honed my ability to pick apart the works of writers I enjoy so I can grok their technique.

More questions? Get ’em while they’re hot!


Writing Stuff

New Words: 500
Working on the WIP and I realized that I had been overrun by plot bunnies.

They bred and bred, and I ended up with too many ideas for a story of this size. So I gathered up the stray bunnies, sorted the boy bunnies from the girl bunnies, and corralled them off into a comfy MS Word file, because they were running roughshod over my story.

Then I weeded out a few more plot bunnies that had snuck back in when I wasn’t looking, cleaned up the mess they’d made.

Lo and behold, when the last tuft of plot bunny fur had been swept up, and the final bunny pellet dispensed with, I was done! Zero draft, baby! Woohoo! The story ended up being a little longer than I expected, but it’s still within “not a novelette” range. Did a couple more passes and then handed it over to fosteronfilm to first reader. He gave me his comments before going comatose last night. Going to incorporate them, do a couple more passes to bring it to first draft status, them load it up to Critters.org.

Club 100 For Writers
8

500/day
49

Stormy Friday

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I really love the stormy weather we’ve been having of late. The overcast darkness is so soothing and magical. I’ve always preferred summers over cold weather, but I’ve never liked the sun–which is good because sunlight triggers my flare-ups. This is perfect.

Poll answers:

horrordiva Q: “When will Hobkin get an LJ?”
A: Eee! No! I already spend far too much time on LiveCrack. If Hobkin had his own little blog, I’d never have time to write. I already channel him IRL. I utterly humiliated myself in front of dude_the once when I didn’t realize he was awake on our balcony while I was downstairs making breakfast. I had a whole conversation with Hobkin, complete with his vocalized replies. I do not need the public to partake of that particular facet of my madness.
jmeadows Q: “$500 and an office supply store. what do you buy?”
A: Ooh, good question. The shiny, avaricious possibilities! Okay, first for the practical stuff. I’d stock up on printer ink cartridges, blank paper, and #10 SASE and 9×12″ submission envelopes. I’d also pick up a pile of those pocket folders. They’re what I store my paper correspondences in–rejections, sales, contracts, galley proofs, etc. I use one per story, and they can be ridiculously expensive for a couple pieces of colored cardboard with inside pocket flaps. Then I’d go to the stuff which are things I can use, but are less on the “urgent” needs, like a USB optical mouse for my laptop, an ergonomic USB keyboard, and a lap desk. Then, then I’d splurge on some fun, totally frivolous stuff, like sharpies in fun colors, gel pens, trinkety organizer doodads, and silly paper clips in fun colors and shapes. I’m an office supply geek. I think markers and art supplies are fun.

Got any more? Get your questions-for-Eugie answered now!


Writing Stuff

Apex Digest #2 with the interview of me in it is out! Quite looking forward to getting my copy. Check out the pulpariffic cover art:

Received a rejection for an anthology. They thought my story had merit, but had too much sex and adult language for their collection. Oops. It was a horror anthology! I didn’t realize it was supposed to be PG.

My bank also returned my Greek check from 9 unpaid, and to add insult to injury, they charged me $6.50 in handling fees! I’ve emailed the editorial secretary of 9 to try to get this sorted out. But this is quite upsetting.

New Words: 100
Hammered out the bare minimum. Sketched out a twisty idea for the very end, but didn’t feel motivated enough to finish it.

Club 100 For Writers
7

Reassured that I’m not at death’s door

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Whew. My blood test results came back normal. Apparently, my white cell count being down before was a fluke. What a relief.

My neck’s also better. fosteronfilm gave me neck rubbins and I swallowed many Aleves and a Tramadol, along with some gin (not a combination I normally either recommend or engage in, but desperate times . . . ). One drug or other, or all of them together in a synergistic whammy, succeeded in helping matters. It made it so I could tilt my head slightly and nod it before it hurt. And I’ve still got a modicum of mobility back. It’s a long way from a-ok, but any improvement is a relief. I noticed something interesting in my quest for pain relief. I got zero happy effects from the alcohol. Normally I’m an embarrassingly easy drunk. A single shot of gin, glass of wine, or bottle of wine cooler or other alchopop and I’m well on my way to unintelligible slurred speech and diminished dexterity. This time I felt the gin hit my lungs like it always does, but I didn’t get any of the cognitive effects. I think they all went to suppress my neck pain. Interesting.

While waiting for the pills and gin to kick in, we watched The Stepford Wives, the new one with Nicole Kidman. Surprising myself, I enjoyed it. They did a nice little twist with the ending that was different from the original, giving it a nice spin, and went a long way to vindicating the existence of a re-make. Many of their jokes elicited a chuckle from me. It was fun.

More poll answers:

roget Q: “Do you think of yourself as cool?”
A: I dunno. It’s not the first adjective that pops into my head when I’m being self-analytical. Sometimes, I suppose I do. Mostly I think I’m spastic or geeky, silly and sincere, periodically playful and lascivious. fosteronfilm often thinks I’m adorable and exasperating, and I see myself through his eyes more than I see myself through my own, if that makes any sense.
elmwood Q: “What was the first SF book that made you a fan?”
A: Urf. Straining to remember through the foggy miasma of time. Criminy. My first science fiction love was probably A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I had to read it for school in, I think, fourth grade, and I loved it. But I also enjoyed The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster at a young age that might have preceded it. And I was a huge fan of fantasy before then–Charlotte’s Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Prydain Chronicles, The Wind in the Willows–plus I had an avid passion for world mythology and fairy tales. Science fiction fandom was inevitable based upon my love for all things fantastical.

Any more?


Writing Stuff

New Words: 850 new, 300+ culled in editing.
Wrote the climax, although I skipped a transition scene to get there. Need to go back and fill in that part and get down the denouement, but I’m tantalizingly close to “the end.” Hurray! Looking over it, I find myself wondering if it would be a good fit for a YA market when it’s done.

If I finish it today, I can foist it upon fosteronfilm and maybe have it in the Critter’s queue by next week.

Club 100 For Writers
6

500/day
48

Fused spine and the Eugie-Poll answering continues

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15 Comments

My neck has stiffened to the point where I can’t turn, lift, or lower my head without shooting pain. If I stand up, it hurts, if I bend over, it hurts. Jumbo-size, prescription-strength Motrin pills don’t even take the edge off. This is ridiculous. What the hell did I do? Just in case it’s a joint thing, and because my Rheumatologist always asks at my followups if I have neck pain, I had fosteronfilm call their office yesterday afternoon and let them know that I’m effectively fused solid from chin to collar. They didn’t call back, so I guess it’s not life threatening. Feh.

[edit: They just called back. Minor symptom of Lupus, they said. Moist heat and OTC pain meds to treat it. Reassuring that it’s not a major concern, but I still can’t turn my head.]

More poll answers:

jackzodiac Q: “how did you get the skunk? becuase I want one”
A: After seeing puskunk at Fantasm with a lil girl skunk up his sleeve (she was part of his costume), I became absolutely enthralled with the idea of a skunkie of my very own. I need to have a fuzzy animal in my life, but I’m allergic to cats and dogs. We’d kept ferrets, but were looking for something bigger, something more affectionate that didn’t require caging. We were researching greyhounds because of their temperament, and ’cause they were easier on my allergies than other breeds. But when we saw the skunk, we had to know more. We went to a skunk show in Florida to research them (and make very sure I wasn’t allergic to them–I picked up and hugged a LOT of skunks at that show), got information on a specialty breeder in Iowa, and when baby skunk season came around, we drove cross country to pick Hobkin up. More details, pictures, and other highlights at his website.
nhw Q: “Why Atlanta?”
A: Why not Atlanta? *ba da ching* Actually, we chose to live in Atlanta because of a myriad of factors. When we were looking to relocate from the Midwest, it was between San Francisco, London, and Atlanta. San Fran’s cost of living was too ridiculously high to consider, not to mention that California’s pet laws are way too rigid. Both ferrets and skunks are illegal to own there! London was too impractical for more reasons than I can list, a main one being citizenship and all that entails. So that left Atlanta. I love Atlanta’s climate, it’s beautiful native flora and fauna, the size of the city–not too big, not too small–and how metropolitan and diverse it is. We’re both fans of the restaurants and shops, and the mix of new and old. Also, when we moved here, the traffic situation wasn’t quite so insane.
pagmatic Q: “Hey I posted a question–where did it go?”
A: The poll gods were displeased! Note to self: next time increase the form size for open ended polls.
brother_bliss Q: “Who was your favorite villian to kill off?”
A: Hmm. Actually, I very rarely kill my villains. For that matter, I don’t typically use classic villains in my fiction. I guess my favorite kill would be the cyberstalker in “Cyberevenge Inc.” He was one of the rare “real” villains I’ve written, and I quite enjoyed his grisly and bloody demise. It was a cathartic story to write, inspired by my own rather nasty experience with a cyberstalker. Therapeutic gore. Yum.
hyperscoot Q: “What is your favorite story type to read?
A: Depends on my mood. I love the sensual, immersive tales that Tanith Lee weaves, as well as the visceral adrenalin rush that Harlan Ellison stories evoke, and the thoughtful and satisfying novels by Heinlein and Herbert. I love vampire stories and fantasy adventure, drowsy magic realism tales and humorous space opera. I adore dystopic tales of cyberspace and happily-ever-after tales where the hero wins his lady love, and I get totally enthralled by sexy thrillers. I guess my favorite story is simply a good one.
teflaime Q: “Should I learn to use the paid account features?
A: Since you’re paying for them, then yeah, you probably should. There’s a bunch of cool features paid accounts have, not the least of which is being able to personalize your layout. Personally, I’m a big fan of the extra user pictures. And I’ve been making good use of the syndication-to-LJ ability.
amberdine Q: ” Err… what exactly *are* wingstubs?”
A: I get that question a lot! I’ll just point you to the last time I answered it: HERE
fings Q: “Who would be your dream artist for your books?”
A: I’d say living artist: Ursula Vernon (ursulav). Dead: Arthur Rackham.
murasaki23 Q: “Do you have a favorite picture of yourself?”
A: Many favorites, actually. I use a couple of them as LJ icons:

and
.
clockwork_pixie Q: “How did you know Matthew was “the one”?
A: We made a connection, like the click of two pieces fitting together. It was undeniable. We stayed up the whole night just talking. It was during my sophomore finals week in college. It’s a miracle I managed to get through my exams that week, I was so distracted!

Any more questions?


Writing Stuff

New Words: 1000
On the WIP. Good progress. Hoping to finish this story this week.

Club 100 For Writers
5

500/day
47

Leeches ain’t so bad

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I think it says something about the flaws in my physical construction that the people at the lab work department know me on sight. The main person there recognizes me, and we have a bit of a friendly chat every time I go in. She knows I’ve got a standing order to do blood work every six weeks, and when I come in for something that isn’t one of my regular maintenance tests, she knows to verify that it’s for something else.

Sheesh, I’m a mess.

But, on an up note, she’s really, really good at what she does. It barely hurts, and she never bruises me. I’ve had ham fists who’ve pierced the damn vein, moved the needle around in my arm in an attempt to get it properly situated, and then had to re-poke me, only to miss it completely. Ow. People like that really ought to reconsider their choice of profession. But this lady always hits the vein perfectly (and I have been informed before that I have small veins), and never has to do any adjusting once the needle’s in. Tourniquet, poke, some gauze and tape, and I’m outta there. Fast, virtually painless, and she’s a sweetheart. If I gotta be jabbed frequently, can’t ask for a better experience.

Now for the waiting to see how my white blood count is doing. And my neck’s still stiff.

Okay, poll answers:

arkhamrefugee Q: “What’s a badger gotta do to get some girlies?”
A: Never having gotten any girlies, or researched much of the obtaining thereof, I’m afraid this one is beyond my ken. Alas.
cloudscudding Q: “Best writing advice you’ve never heard?”
A: It was twofold and all about being tenacious: 1. Write often, write copiously, and keep writing. 2. Submit what you’ve written until it sells.
chrishaas Q: “Who is Chris Haas?”
A: Don’t you know?
amokk Q: “Are there any nude Ms. Fantasm photos? ;)”
A: Yes, many! Oodles of them to be found by searching the Interweb! But none of me .
raecarson Q: “Which story makes you the most proud and why?”
A: Urg. That’s a hard question. I’ve got several favorites. “Running on Two Legs” because it marked a decided “next level” jump in my writing skills. I’d been working on evoking an emotional response with my writing and not being able to manage it until “Running.” It also has a lot of personal meaning and significance to me. And it was the first story that Hobkin played a major role as fuzzy muse in. “The Storyteller’s Wife” for many of the same reasons, plus it was an outlet for a lot of stress I was experiencing at the time. Amusingly, again Hobkin gets a part, being the inspiration for one of the characters. And also “Shao Huan: The Soul of a Badger” because I think it’s simply one of the very best things I’ve written to date.
angeldove Q: “When are you gonna start a family?”
A: I have a family, fosteronfilm and Hobkin, why would I need to start another one?
keesa_renee Q: “Who is/are your favorite writer(s)?”
A: Off the top of my head: Tanith Lee, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Orson Scott Card, Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien, and, um, Shakespeare. That’s not a comprehensive list, but it’s what I could come up with on the fly.
marksiegal Q: “How do you get a pet skunk to not spray?”
A: That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. The serious answer is to have him de-scented. A fully loaded skunk is not a viable pet . . . unless you don’t have a sense of smell. But a disarmed one is all cuddly, high maintenance, fuzzy joy.
horrordiva Q: “What is your favorite genre to write in?”
A: That’s a tricky one. It varies depending upon my mood and what I’m writing at the time. I’m inclined to say “Fantasy” because I’ve been doing so much of that of late. But that could change tomorrow.

That’s it for now. Keep ’em coming!


Writing Stuff

Hurray! Received my contrib. copy of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #18. Pulpy goodness.

Also saw on the editor’s blog (newly syndicated to LJ by moi as bradanpress) that issue #7 of Here & Now (with my firmly-tongue-in-cheek story “My Friend is a Lesbian Zombie” slated for it) appears to be on track. Glad to see the publication schedule of that magazine appears to be sorting itself into a semblance of regularity.

New Words: 250. 100 culled.
The numbers aren’t impressive, but the story’s much tighter, and has a better focus. I still haven’t managed to get myself to the climax, but I’m on the way there.

Club 100 For Writers
4

Oopsie. Forgot about the leeches.

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Oops. I forgot that I needed to go in for followup blood work after the first of June. Going to swing by the clinic today and hope that the request is still in the computer. Otherwise I’ll need to call my Rheumatologist’s office, apologize profusely, and have them re-enter it. So yeah, going to have them leech out some blood today. Never my favorite thing, but sadly, it’s become rather commonplace for me.


Writing Stuff

In a fit of procrastination, I did some fiddling with my Excel writing logs. I’ve been sending a lot of submissions out to reprint markets–primarily foreign language ones–and my old calculation formula only kept a tally of the new works I’ve got in circulation, not including the reprints. Haven’t been keeping track of the number of simultaneous submissions either. Admittedly that’s a pretty tiny number since so very few markets are willing to accept simsubs, but I thought I ought to include those in my “what’s out” count. I was astonished to see how many reprint/simsubs I have out there.

Total new works in circulation: 29
Total works out: 49

That’s 20 reprint or simsub submissions! Zounds.

So I really ought to be due for a sale. *twiddles thumb* Any time now.

Right. Enough angsting. Back to work on the WIP.

The sandman giveth and he drags me on my head through slumberland

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Got my application to be a guest at Dragon*Con approved. It was only a formality as I’m already eyeball deep in working for the convention, so all my soul is belong to them. But it’s nice to have that little detail taken care of.

Got back into job hunt mode yesterday and sent my resume winging out to various companies. Broadened my search once again. Started targeting Developer/Programming positions in addition to Systems Analyst ones. I’d prefer not to be relegated to a total code warrior position, as I think I outgrew that several years ago, but if that’s what it takes to bring home the health insurance, then that’s what I’ll do. Programming is easy, and occasionally fun, so if that’s how the cards fall, at least it would mean a decrease in stress. Well, theoretically.

Woke up this morning with my brain feeling squishy and vague. And the way my neck feels, I think I was sleeping while doing a headstand. I can barely turn my head, it’s so stiff. Could this be the delayed post effects of Tramadol and Sudafed? Or maybe I just slept bad.


Writing Stuff

On an up note, Morpheus gifted me with a thoughtful surprise, the next plot event in the WIP short story. That was nice of him. Now if I can just get my brain de-fogged, I might be able to get some words down.

New Words: 450. 150 culled. The short story progesseth.

Club 100 For Writers
3

500/day
46

Too many drugs

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Oof. I ODed on a cocktail of stimulants last night: one Tramadol, two Sudafed, and two mugs of coffee. The peppy results were excellent, got a lot of writing done . . . for about two and a half hours. Then my stomach informed me that it was not amused by the corrosive substances I had dumped into it and proceeded to make me miserable for the rest of the night. I thought I had stumbled upon a really good productivity combination–I was clear-headed, wonderfully pain free, and energetic, with no shakes or twitches to boot–but nausea is not a price I’m willing to pay for a few good writing hours. So it’s back to being headachey, wing stubby, and logy for me.

Probably just as well. I wrestle quite enough with my caffeine addiction. I don’t need to add to it.

Stupid human shell.

This morning Matthew’s going to a staff meeting of the Atlanta film festival folks. I slept poorly, so I expect I shall do some napping while he is gone. Hoping to get cracking on some writing when I recover from my up-and-down night. Definitely want to pick up where I left off yesterday.


Writing Stuff

New Words: 1100 on a short story I began last month. I need to finish something that isn’t a folk tale and that isn’t the novel. I think my muse has been feeling cramped and needs to stretch. I opened up the file, read through what I started, and hit flow nearly as soon as I set fingers to keyboard. I’ve missed that. This story’s a light little ditty of a tale, nothing deep, no meaningful themes. But it’s fun to write, and I hope it’ll be fun to read.

Club 100 For Writers
2

500/day
45