Category Archives: Blog

Friday ups and downs

By | |
11 Comments

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.

Club 100 For Writers
32

500/day
41

Bashful skunk

By | |
17 Comments

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.

10 min/day
6
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.

Club 100 For Writers
31

500/day
40

Working working working

By | |
12 Comments

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.”

10 min/day
5
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
30

Writing this week off

By | |
6 Comments

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!”

10 min/day
4
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
29

Hanging in there

By | |
9 Comments

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.

10 min/day
3


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

Club 100 For Writers
28

500/day
39

Not my favorite May Day

By | |
16 Comments

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.

10 min/day
2


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.

Club 100 For Writers
27

Melancholy rain

By | |
8 Comments

The thunder woke me up. Not Matthew, of course, he could sleep through the gates of Hell crashing open. Although he can’t sleep through a ringing phone, mwa ha haaaa.

I’ve noticed that since I’ve stopped having to drive through Atlanta traffic, I quite like the rain. The gray light, the soothing susurrus of raindrops, it’s soothing. There’s a tendency for it also to make me melancholy in a self-indulgent sort of way. I become introspective, but not in a particularly insightful manner. Wallowing in glumness. How very goth. This time, I’m dwelling on my dreams, both the REM variety, and the aspirations for the future variety. They managed to overlap this morning.

I’ve been having some very detailed sleepy-time dreams of late, with convoluted storylines and fairly in-depth plot development. It worries me that I may be a better storyteller when I’m sawing logs than when I’m wide awake. It’s so fleeting too. In that twilight coming-out-of-REM state, I vow to myself that I won’t forget what I dreamed so I can write it down and maybe turn it into a story. But when I open my eyes, all I can remember is the elusive sense of a really cool concept, and the fact that despite my firm resolutions, I’ve totally forgotten all the details of the marvelous dream. Wish I could stick a video recorder in my brain.

Days like these, I find myself wondering about my writing in general–where I’m going with it, if I’m deluding myself that I have the talent and vision to make my goal of writerly self-sufficiency become a reality. Maybe I should resign myself ultimately to being a cubicle-drone and treat writing as a hobby.

Or perhaps I’m still shaking off the maudlin haze from last night. Too much gin. Excellent company–glenn5 swung by to hang–but too much gin.


Writing Stuff

A Harmony of Foxes
New words: 107
Despite what various and sundry famous historical figures have accomplished, writing and alcohol don’t seem to mix for me. I did my 100 and called it a night.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
14,548 / 45,000
(32.0%)

Club 100 For Writers
25

Exercise resolution

By | |
23 Comments

I’ve noticed that lately my coordination is totally gone, as in careen-off-walls and walk-into-the-coffee-table gone, and there is a distinct lack of muscle tone anywhere on my body. I mean crap, I used to be a dancer, for godsakes. I did ballet, karate, and yoga, and now I can’t walk up a couple flights of stairs without getting tired. Not to mention I’m afraid to step on the scale.

So I broke out the yoga mat last night. Began some easy asanas, a couple sun salutations, then segued that into some ridiculously low-key ballet exercises. After getting my heart rate up, and feeling my muscles freak out on some grand plies (sheesh), I switched back to yoga to cool down. I’m totally disgusted at how badly out of shape I am. But I feel good that I actually moved. I think being at home so much has degraded an already sedentary life style. It’s pathetic, not to mention unhealthy.

So I’m going to, once again, try to stick some exercise into my daily schedule. I can’t complain that I don’t have the time for it anymore, that’s for sure. I’m really bad at sustaining work out resolutions, but I’m thinking that if I log the days that I work out in my LJ, sort of like my club 100 efforts with my writing, I might be able to keep a better handle on my goals. Thus, I’m going to try to work out for a measly ten minutes a day, every day (except weekends, because I believe in weekends), for one hundred days straight:

10 Min/Day
1


Writing Stuff

Got an email from the editor of Here & Now asking for my PayPal information so she’ll know where to send my payment. Double issue #5/6 with my short story “When the Lights Go Out” is due back from the printers any day now. Finally and woohoo!

Also, anaisdotmfk.com launched early. It’s up, it’s up! Stories in there by me, wicked_wish, naamah_darling, the editrix herself, jinzi, and more. Go read. Juicy erotica. You know you want it!

I decided not to tear open my submission packet on the folktale. If I start second guessing myself now, it won’t be long before they come to put me in a nice, padded room. Down that path lies madness. Madness! So it’s winging it’s way to my Cricket editor’s desk now. Fly little story!

Words: 1178.
Back to work on A Harmony of Foxes. Although now that I’ve once again emptied my waiting queue to the Cricket folks, I’m wondering if I should crank out another to put in reserve as I could hear back from them on a submission as soon as the next couple weeks. Ponder ponder.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
14,434 / 45,000
(32.0%)


Club 100 For Writers
24

500/day
37