Category Archives: Blog

Been writing for most of the day.

Just finished my rewrite of the story I had in the Critters queue last week. I’ll give it one final pass, then out into the world it goes. This one was a particularly grueling rewrite as there were substantial changes/clarifications that needed making. Not to mention I ended up with thirty critiques (I vow I will never complain about a lack of lovin from Critters again!) Gleep. But I think I managed to address the flaws in the story, at least to my satisfaction. I’ll sleep on it and go over it again tomorrow, but I’m well pleased with my efforts. Fork poised and ready to stick.

Also did a couple more passes on the new story and re-loaded it to Critters. MPC processed and it’s slated to go up next week. Huzzah.

I feel quite productive even though all I did today is rewrite. Probably ’cause the rewrites were fairly extensive.

Rah.

Saw a matinée showing of Finding Nemo yesterday. There were a lot of kids at it. Yes, I know: animated film from Pixar, G-rated, afternoon showing. I did indeed realize beforehand that there were going to be a mass of kids. For the most part, they were well behaved. But the one or two that insisted or screaming or crying throughout the movie were a bit rough on my overall viewing enjoyment. But, at least I didn’t have anyone kicking the back of my chair for the whole show.

Nemo was beautiful. Pixar really has their act together when it comes to breathtaking animation. And I really liked their sensibilities when it came to human behavior. We’re callous and unthinking towards animals! Yes, we are! Overall, Nemo is a sweet and charming flick. I recommend it to anyone who has a smidgen of whimsy left in their jaded, cynical souls.

We are out of coffee filters. Calamity! Catastrophe! Not a good thing! I’m eying the coffee beans, wondering how they’ll taste eaten straight and not coated in chocolate. Blargh. We’ll definitely need to make a coffee filter run.

My new clonazepam meds are fun. Yep, they’re fun. I took my dose late last night and then worked on updating my writing webpage (no, I didn’t code anything funky). After an hour or two, I got up to go wooze and giggle at Matthew. An hour after that, I tipped over and fell asleep. But there was some time in there where I was light-headed, euphoric, and giggly. So hurray for something amusing coming out of all the stupid meds I’m taking. I’m still a little wobbly now. And without my coffee I’m not sure how long it may last. But at least it’s a fun wobbly. Wheee.

Did three more passes on the new story yesterday. Managed to cull around 300 anti-words. It’s still longish, hovering at that border between short story and novelette, though. Sigh. I do tend to write to that length, the 7-8K death count. Oh well. I like the story. That’s the important thing.

Neat! Got a bunch of communications coming down from the publishers/editors of the Blasphemy anthology with my story in it: “In Suffering Lies Salvation.” They’re aiming for an October/November publication date and it’s also currently up for pre-order at Shocklines.com.

For mature readers only! Trade paperback retail price: $16.50

And they’re doing a promotional dealie. The first 200 copies get this limited edition Unholy Communion wafer:

From the publisher:
Disclaimer – Massacre Publications assumes absolutely no responsibility if the purchase of this book secures you an eternal place in Hell!

Now that’s incentive, ain’t it?

Okay, dammit. I did the “How compatible are you with your LJ friends?” quiz thingy. Here’s the results, but I insisted upon putting the damn thing behind a cut:

Continue reading →

Got a nice shiny prescription for clonazepam, which is a honker of a muscle relaxant. It’s a benzodiazepine so it’s got some pretty swoofy tranquilizing effects too. I’m on a single .5mg/day dose that I take at bedtime, so most of the woozy side effects are mitigated by me being asleep.

Still hurting, but much better.

Ground my teeth in pain last night and finished off the story I was working on. Managed to crank out another 2K words. And it’s done! Not counting days I was forced not to write because of my TOS, I wrote a 7.5K story in three days. Neat! Speed writing. I can dig it. Tossing it up to Critters with an MPC next week. I like it. Hope readers do too.

And for the exciting news of the hour: Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown, the anthology edited by Orson Scott Card with my winning story in it, “All in My Mind,” is up for pre-order at Amazon.com:

Paperback: 280 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 8.50 x 5.50
Publisher: Phobos Books
ISBN: 0972002618

It’s in trade paperback format and at $10.47 (a savings of $4.48 from the list price of $14.95) it’s a real deal! Scheduled release date is September.

Buyitbuyitbuyit. Pleeeease? I’ll sign it for you even!

Called in sick today and yesterday. My TOS is really flaring up, so I’ll make this entry short.

I feel totally health-screwed. The warning on my new meds for my Lupus/MCTD say “don’t take any meds in conjunction with this one, prescription or over-the-counter, without consulting your doctor!” in big all caps, and they include Aleve and Advil as things to check about because of the risk of gastro-intestinal damage from the methotrexate. So I’m scared to take Ibuprofen or Naproxen for the pain, and Acetaminophen doesn’t do jack.

Ow.

I’m falling behind in my correspondences and my writing because I’m trying to avoid the keyboard so the pain will go away. But I’m 5.5K words into a new story that I’ve got the ending, climax, everything all mapped out in my head. It’s killing me not being able to write it. Wah!

If I could just take a big ole painkiller, the pain would recede enough for me to type. But I’m scared to because of my new meds.

Ooo, this is intolerable! I’m calling my rheumatologist as soon as his office opens!

Went to the Shakespeare Tavern last night and saw Twelfth Night. Laughed right out loud several times. It wasn’t as good as their Merry Wives but still side-splitting goodness there. They did an interesting interpretation of it, cutting a lot of Sebastian’s part and really playing up Fabian’s. Interesting and lending to greater hilarity.

Came home afterwards feeling pretty spry still so watched Shrek on DVD. That was a terribly clever movie.

I’m now up to twelve crits on Critters and am going to stop complaining about not enough lovin. The reviews are all across the board on this one so far. Several people really liked it, a few thought it was good but needs some work, and a couple are just appalled by it. Okay, it’s bawdy. I wrote it as bawdy. But some people are having some real problems with the lascivious level. Okay, I’m the first to admit that my sensibilities about sex things are a bit further afield than the average population’s, but I didn’t think I was particularly over the top with this one. Maybe having a professional dominatrix as a supporting character was just too much? But she’s so lovable, dammit.

Oh well, I’ll wait until the end of the critique week to determine if I want to scale that portion back.

I did get a critique from one guy that really got me irritated. I’ve been with Critters for quite a few years now and in the course of that membership I think I’ve acquired a fairly thick skin with regard to critiques. But this person’s crit was full of wise-ass cracks, and he just totally missed things that no one else has. Like he thought one scene had two secondary characters in a situation where I only wrote one. First of all, where the hell did he come up with the second character? And next, he goes on to complain about being confused by the presence of two characters in that scene. Well duh, you’re obviously confused because there’s only character there. WTF?

Oh well. I’m trying to just chalk that one up to being on totally different wavelengths, as does happen upon occasion, and moving on. Moving on. La de da de da.

Snarl.

Saw Down With Love. It was fun, but nothing to write home about. Also watched Dracula 2000 on DVD last night. Again, fun but nothing overwhelming. Except the actor they got to play Dracula was yummylicious.

Last Wednesday (the 28th) was the first anniversary of Hobkin’s adoption. The little fuzzwit has been with us for a whole year now. Goodness but he’s changed our life! This week has been somewhat hectic so we didn’t get a chance to celebrate it properly, so we’re going to get a cake this weekend. Something non-chocolate so he can have a (small!) sliver of it and maybe even a little (very little) bit of ice cream. Yes, we’re going to feed our pet sugar because what he really needs is a sugar high. Heh. Well, it’s only once a year . . .

Finished re-reading Kurt Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan. I like his glib, off-the-cuff style, but I think I’m going to stop my Vonnegut kick here. I think his storylines are too fragmented to be a good influence on my own. As is, plotting is my mega weakness. I don’t need encouragement to just end a story in some odd place and go “finis!” Although to be fair, Sirens ended much better than Slaughterhouse-Five.

I need to read more Harlan Ellison. Again, not great with the plots, but the man nails emotions like none other. On the plotting front, I keep thinking I should read some mysteries, but I just don’t know where to start.

In other writing-related news, I’ve only received four crits so far of the story I have up for review at Critters this week. Sigh. Longer works just do not get the same lovin that shorter ones do. (Edit: a minute after I made this entry, Critters sent me three more crits. MPC karma, woo!) But to make up for it I’m going for another MPC. In the process of doing shotgun critiques, I read the most amazing story that I think I’ve ever seen in the queue. (It’s #8058 for any Critters who might want to crit it this week.) It was a fusion of old mythologies and magic with a fresh twist and a modern setting. Very nice. It’s exactly the sort of fantasy I go ga-ga over. I’m quite jealous of this author’s technique, style, and imagination. She didn’t have a Critters bio so I don’t know what else she’s published, but I can’t imagine that someone who writes as well as she does isn’t.

Back to critiquing . . .

Wah! Where did the weekend go? This holiday went by way too fast! Lamentations galore. And yesterday still felt like a Sunday, even though I knew I had today off. Pook. I’m not ready to go back to the office!

The Dragon*Con staff meeting was yesterday. I made an entry in the Dragon*Con LJ community with a scan of the flier they passed out and a call for submissions for the Daily Dragon. Getting pretty jazzed about the convention. James Marsters, Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Asprin, Forrest J. Ackerman. Woo! Can’t wait to meet James Marsters. Rrrr.

Went tooling around the area trying to find a new sushi restaurant after the meeting. The wonderful little sushi place around the corner from us has been AWOL for the last several weeks and there’s a sign on their door saying “gone for family emergency.” I can’t imagine a month of not being open for business bodes well for the future success of that place. Damn. They made the best vegetarian sushi and they did a pretty fine Chinese menu too. Found an okay sushi place a few miles down Holcomb Bridge road, but they weren’t as tasty and they were more expensive. Sigh.

Came home and watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Marilyn Monroe was quite the hottie.

So far, no re-surge in allergic symptoms. Crossing fingers it stays that way. I guess we’re not going to the Mensa Memorial Day picnic. I don’t really feel like mingling with a bunch of strangers outdoors. And hours outside when my system is feeling sensitive just doesn’t seem like a clever idea.

Writing: zero words, about 10K guilt. Going to try to do some word countage today.