Category Archives: Blog

Mostly Writing

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Accomplished some Christmas shopping over the weekend. There’s still much to do. I need another week in December to prep for the holidays! And I think I might be coming down with something flu-like, despite having received one of the rare and exclusive flu shots. Ugh.



Writing Stuff:

Up to twelve crits at Critters on my current offering. Getting some mixed feedback, most of which I’m inclined to discount. But there is something which is having me pondering a major overhaul–exploring one of the character relationships deeper. But I’m not really sure how far I want to take it. Plus the damn story is already coming in at 10K, manuscript count.

Finished, at long last, my review for Tangent of this week’s Sci-Fiction story and emailed it off to ye olde editor.

Received a 33-day “clever but not for us” from On Spec. I think I need to really mull over whether it’s worth my while spending the oversea postage on the handful of foreign markets that don’t take electronic submissions.

Word count: 150 + (-)500.
Had an excellent brainstorming session with Matthew on the SF piece. Hacked off one of the sub-plot aspects of the story in order to give it better focus. Much happier with this approach. My hubby is quite clever. I think I’ll keep him.

Club 100 for Writers
21/100

500/day
9

Christmas Movies and Electronic Chirps

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Watched The Santa Claus 2 and Love Actually yesterday, both charming and utterly fitting movies for the season. During Santa Claus 2, high-pitched squeaks began at roughly one minute intervals. Sounded like a robot mouse was being systematically tortured. At first, we thought it was the DVD, but rewinding and fast forwarding didn’t duplicate the chirps. Then we thought it was the fiber optic tree over the mantle as it has a revolving part which causes the colors to change. We turned that off, but the electric mouse continued its intermittent shrieks. Spent the next half hour standing by the security motion detector, the glass break alarm, and finally the smoke detectors before determining that it was one of the upstairs smoke detectors. And it continued squawking after we disconnected it and removed the battery. I’m totally baffled at what powers the things now. But it quit its complaints after we put in a new battery.

There are a lot of devices in our home whose workings baffle me.


Writing Stuff:

Got a note back from the WotF folks. A correct HM certificate will be sent soon.

Saw on The Third Alternative‘s message board that issue #40 with my novelette “Running on Two Legs” in it is now at the printers and the editor hopes to begin mailing it out by next weekend or sooner. Squee! Also it looks like my story will be in the venerable position of last! I’m so excited. I really love this story.

Blade: Trinity and Writing Stuff

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Was treated to seeing a prerelease of Blade: Trinity by dire_epiphany, astralfire, and their son Blake on Thursday. Traffic getting to the theater was appalling. It took us an hour and a half to drive there, and under a half hour to drive back. Also felt rather queasy in the car. I think I was actually motion sick from all the accelerating and decelerating. Weird. I don’t usually get car sick.

Trinity (spoiler-free) was great fun. There’s a dearth in writing, huge plot issues, yadda yadda ya, but it’s shiny, and everyone is so pretty! Rawr. Ryan Reynolds’s character was the major high point. I think he got all the best lines. I giggled right out loud. And the Pomeranian! The Pomeranian was fantastic! Urg, I can’t say any more without giving out spoilers . . . um, LJ cut to the rescue: Continue reading →

Drugs drugs drugs drugs

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My lower back has been hurting of late, I suspect a situation aggravated by poor sleep (not to mention an utterly sedentary lifestyle). So I took some Ibuprofen and a Clonazepam last night to whammy my muscles into submission. It mostly worked, but left me feeling wobbly this morning. I therefore slammed two cups of coffee with breakfast and took an Aleve to dull the remaining back pains. Started having trouble breathing after lunch, so had a couple hits from my inhaler, which also is a potent stimulant.

I’m thinking it’s not the healthiest of practices to offset the effects of one drug with another. I spent today twitchy, nauseated, woozy, and sniffly. And my back still hurts.

Glad it’s the weekend. I need time to come down.



Writing Stuff:

I’m up at Critters. Hurray. Did a critique (for your story, britzkrieg) and loaded the “Princess” fantasy into the queue. Will ask Andrew to bump it up next week.

Received confirmation from Brutarian that my story was never received–probably eaten by the editor’s spam filter. Debated whether I should re-send, but did so anyway. But between their sundry editor/publisher dirty laundry issues and the difficulty of getting email reliably through to them, I’m thinking of knocking them off my “submit to” list.

Also 135-day “nice stuff here but . . . ” from Talebones with apology for the long wait. Sigh. At least it wasn’t lost in transit.

Word count: 500ish. Taking a break on the SF story as I’m supremely dissatisfied with where it’s going. Instead, I saw that both jack_yoniga and dys7topia are running flash fiction contests on their respective LJs. Flash brainstorming ensued.

Club 100 for Writers
20/100 – One fifth of the way to my goal.

500/day
8

Mornings with a needy skunk

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I woke to much cuteness this morning when my alarm went off. Hobkin was curled up under my chin, snoozing peacefully. But I had to get up; the alarm was insistent about it. Except every time I started to move, the fuzzwit would burrow his nose deeper into my neck, paralyzing me with fluffy cuteness. I tried pushing the covers off; he snuggled in more firmly. After several similar efforts, I sighed, pet him, and waited, hoping he’d fall into a deeper sleep so I could escape. When I finally had to get up, I tried to substitute my warm shape with that of my pillow’s. Didn’t work of course. Hobkin immediately noticed the switch, awakened, and stared up at me with hurt recrimination in his little eyes. I felt so guilty I gave him a cookie before heading for the shower.

I’m a total sucker, aren’t I?

In amusing news, the skunk show britzkrieg and I went to got a nice write-up in Creative Loafing.



Writing Stuff:

Started on my review for Tangent of this week’s Sci-Fiction offering.

Word count: 500 on the SF piece. Entering the climax of the story, and I am massively underwhelmed by how it’s going. Hoping that something better will occur to me than the tripe I’ve currently got planned for an ending. Bah.

Club 100 for Writers
19/100

500/day
7

Skunks have cold paws

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The colder weather has brought about another change in Hobkin: ice-cold paws. And he has a penchant for plunking those chilly paws on me, especially when I’m asleep. As if that wasn’t bad enough, last night he stuck one of his freezing paws in my ear as I lay snuggled up under the covers. Wonder if they make mittens for skunks . . .



Writing Stuff:

The situation at IROSF concerns me. Apparently the Editor-in-Chief stepped down, which puts the future of the publication in question, not to mention my cyberpunk article. Guess I should hang tight and put on my “wait and see” cap.

Did an editing pass on the slipstream piece. It’s still not listed as up for this week on Critters. *sigh*

Word count: 1000+ on the science fiction piece, and yet I haven’t managed to hit flow. Still, I chug along. Chug-a-chug-a.

Club 100 for Writers
18/100

500/day
6

Mostly Writing

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Definitely feeling better on the emotional front today, which has to be incontrovertible proof that my moods are totally unrelated to external life events as it’s Monday-after-a-long-holiday, normally prime time for de-motivation and doldrums. Or maybe it’s the Sudafed I’ve been popping like candy . . .



Writing Stuff:

Received a 146-day reject from Weird Tales with comments indicating they really didn’t get the ending. Oh well.

Did a massive edit on my princess fantasy story. Chopped out around 500 words. Now I’m trying to figure out how to count anti-words into the Club 100 and 500/day resolutions I’ve made.

Still no word from John Frost of IROSF. Glug?

Word count: 548 + (-)500 anti-words.

Club 100 for Writers
17/100

500/day
5

Holiday update

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Feasting: Check. Vegetarian roast beast, garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom and onion gravy, pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate silk pie, and fresh-baked sugar cookies. Mmmm.

Shopping : Check-ish. Although not much got accomplished. We braved the crowds, which weren’t as insane as they could have been. But we did very little purchasing. More like browsing for ideas.

Decorating: Check. There’s still much to do, but we got the main tree up and decorated, the mantle wreath ditto, the entertainment center ditto, and the stairs. Still to do: Hobkin’s tree and area, my “birthday” tree decorating, and various counter-top tableaux.

Skunk Trauma : Check. Apparently abandoning the small fuzzwit for several hours for two days in a row was too much for his sense of safety and security. He was skittish and anxious all day yesterday, a state not alleviated one iota by the judicious use of the vacuum cleaner (to clean up the dusting of faux evergreen nettles littering the carpet from our holiday decorating efforts). He huddled under his hutch in terror, and then when we were able to coax him out, he clung to me with a dedicated tenacity for the rest of the night. He’s currently curled up peacefully in my lap, exuding an aura of “all is well.” But I think that means we can’t go out today.


Writing Stuff

Um, well, I certainly intended to get some writing done this weekend, but my intentions went astray. There’s still a chance of me getting some words on the page, or maybe some editing accomplished, but I wouldn’t bet on it if I were a gambling type.

My Tangent reviews of Sci-Fiction stories “All of Us Can Almost . . . ” by Carol Emshwiller and “Super 8” by Terry Bisson have been published. Rah.

In slightly worrisome news, I still have yet to hear from John Frost of IROSF after a query regarding my “Sub-Genre Spotlight: Cyberpunk” article, which, if they follow their new publication schedule, is due to go up tomorrow. Certainly there’s a holiday lag to be expected, but it’s due up tomorrow and I have not yet seen a contract. Hmm.

Holiday Wishes meme

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Guidelines:

Step 1:
– Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered…whatever you’re comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fandom-related (“I’d love a Snape/Hermione icon that’s just for me”) to medium (“I wish for _____ on DVD”) to really big (“All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.”) The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

– If you wish for real life things (not fics or icons), make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it’s your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.

– Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step two:
– Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here’s the important part:

– If you see a wish you can grant, and it’s in your heart to do so, make someone’s wish come true. Sometimes someone’s trash is another’s treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don’t want or a gift certificate you won’t use–or even know where you could get someone’s dream purebred Basset Hound for free–do it.

You needn’t spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn’t to put people out, it’s to provide everyone a chance to be someone else’s holiday elf–to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not–it’s your call.

There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just…wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you’ll have the joy of knowing you made someone’s holiday special.

All I Want for Christmas is:

1. Food, comfort, and/or best of all, a loving family for all the needy critters at the Atlanta Humane Society or any animal shelter near you. Adopt a fuzzy/scaled/feathered companion to love, or donate food, supplies, and toys to a shelter.

2. A donation to one of my favorite charities: The Humane Society, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The American Civil Liberties Union, or Amnesty International.

3. A poem written by you, especially for me.

4. A picture painted, drawn, or photoshopped by you, for me.

5. If you’re not a vegetarian, give it a try for a week. If you are one, make a vegetarian meal for one of your non-vegetarian friends.

6. Send me a little-known book or story you loved as a child.

7. Read something from my published bibliography and send me a review of it. (If I like the review, I might blurb it and post it on my website.)

8. Buy my chapbook: Ascendancy of Blood and give it to the vampire/goth/fairy tale lover on your holiday list.

9. An “Unfortunate Animal” from the Unfortunate Animal of the Month Club.

10. Stuff: any of the myriad material goods a la my Amazon.com wish list.

Happy Thanksgiving

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While I’m not big into turkey, being a vegetarian and all, I have much to be thankful for and it’s good to have a day dedicated to remembering that.

Things I am thankful for:
1. My husband, Matthew. He is my best friend, the love of my life, and my soul mate. He can make me laugh, a gift I cherish more and more in this scary world, and he holds me when I cry. His sense of whimsy delights me, and his intellect thrills me. He completes me in every way. He is my shelter, my harbor, and my sanctuary.
2. Hobkin, for all the love and trust the little fuzzwit warms my life with every day. And the cuteness. Mustn’t forget the cuteness.
3. Family. Something I have not been able to be thankful for for a very large chunk of my existence–so long I’d almost forgotten how comforting it is to be able to have people who love me as a daughter and sister. I’m thankful for the reminder and the reality.
4. My friends: near, far, offline and on.
5. That my health, as crappy as it is, isn’t worse, as it could so easily be. I can dance, hear the music which is my husband’s laughter, see the adorable fuzzy beastie frisking at my feet, and hold them both close. Not everyone is that fortunate. And I am thankful that I can afford the medicines that keep me (mostly) well.
6. That I have the ability to compose creations of prose that I believe in and that others believe in (and that they want to pay me for). While my storytelling and literary skills are far below many people’s whose work I admire, I am improving year by year.
7. My beautiful home where I may run around in panda slippers and nothing else, and it’s all good.
8. That I am not hungry or cold.
9. That I believe in and love myself, a state hard won.
10. That I have the freedom to chase my bliss, even if I don’t exercise that freedom all the time.