Category Archives: Blog

Howl’s Moving Castle and Mary Sue

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My Things To Do list is about to overflow the screen and drown me, so a very quick update:

Yesterday was the first Dragon*Con all-staff meeting. I should’ve emailed my staff before now to confirm who’s coming back; I have no idea what my numbers are currently. If any of y’all who I haven’t already heard from about working Daily Dragon staff this year are reading this, please email me to lemme know your status. If you’ve already contacted me this year (amazing, wonderful people who obviously have their acts far more together than me), we’re cool.

Watched Howl’s Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro) last night. It was absolutely delightful. I was charmed by the incidental and secondary characters–the scarecrow, Hin, Calcifer–as well as the world and whimsical setting. And I found the love story between Sofi and Howl very satisfying. I also liked how the metaphors, what there were of them, were understated. Howl’s magical meltdown as allegory for teenage angst and insecurity was nothing short of brilliant. Very well done.

But it wasn’t Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

   


Writing Stuff

From discussions via my DC2K writers group: Are your characters suffering from an excess of author-identification? Are they thinly-veiled wish-fulfillment? In short, are they a Mary Sue (or a Gary Stus)? For fun, and maybe a bit of writerly insight, take The Writer’s Mary Sue Test and see how they score.

Received:
– Payment from Dragonfly Spirit for “Kaawwa, Naagan, and the Queen’s Diamond Necklace.”
– Contract from Faeries for “Returning My Sister’s Face.”

New Words: 400 words on a new Japanese fantasy because my muse is an unrelenting shrew who likes to torment me with ideas when I already have too much on my plate to deal with. And I, of course, cannot deny her. Gah!

Club 100 For Writers
      Erm. I lost count. But it feels like I’ve been working like a maniac. I’m calling it “10.”

The Punisher and sale to DAW anthology

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Weird night. I fell asleep early on the couch and woke up around midnight. Hobkin was curled at my hip so I booted my laptop to do some work downstairs. fosteronfilm turned on The Punisher, a movie I was somewhat curious about when it hit the theaters but didn’t end up going to.

I’m a wimp when it comes to scary movies, but I consider myself pretty tough-skinned and jaded with regard to action/adventure flicks, so I didn’t expect to have any difficulty with The Punisher. Apparently, IMDB classifies it as Crime/Drama/Thriller, but I don’t always understand or agree with IMDB’s classifications. Plus, the movie’s based on a comic book. Action/adventure/crime/drama/thriller or whatever, one scene squicked me out so totally and absolutely that I shrilled at fosteronfilm “turn it off! turn it off!” astonishing both him and me.

So yeah, I found it so disturbing I couldn’t watch it all the way through. That doesn’t happen very often. Normally I know if I won’t be able to handle a movie, but this one tossed me a big ole curve. Didn’t get back to sleep until around 5AM, and I had bad dreams to boot.

However, despite the questionable night, I’m having a great day, thanks to dsnight!

   


Writing Stuff

Received:
dsnight liked “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” and wants it for Heroes in Training! Squee! I’ve got a bookshelf full of DAW titles, many of which I read and fell in love with when I was just a wee fangirl. I’m thrilled giddy to have one of my stories in a DAW anthology! Squee SQUEE SQUEE!

Published:
“Kaawwa, Naagan, and the Queen’s Diamond Necklace” is now up at Dragonfly Spirit. In addition to the cover art featuring my tale, Lauren Francis did another absolutely charming illustration for it.

What is it about birds?

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I’ve been bombarded by a recurring theme of birds ever since I was struck by that writer-as-duck metaphor yesterday. It’s weird and I keep having to shoo away the little mystic in my head who’s clapping her hands and hopping up and down going “Ooo, signs and portents! Signs and portents!”*

So, I was writing in the library this morning, and I had some quiet classical music, Debussy, playing in the background. Piano music is usually good for me to work to because it’s low-key (pardon the pun) and provides nice ambiance without being overbearing. And I heard geese honking (loudly) as they flew by overhead.

Now there should be no geese in these parts, as last I checked, my subdivision isn’t harboring a pond anywhere in the vicinity. But okay, maybe they were en route somewhere. Geese do that. Although this is the first time I’ve heard geese since we moved to Georgia. But hey, geese are pretty common, right? And it’s not like I spend a lot of time with my ears perked, scanning for outdoor wildlife noises.

Then I realized what was currently playing: Debussy’s “Arabesque No 1,” the same music that occurs during the dinner scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic, The Birds.

Surreal coincidence, yo.

So yeah, I switched to Rachmaninov.

* I need to do something about her one of these days. She keeps tripping up my avowed dedication to being a skeptic.
   


Writing Stuff

I started penning today’s Writing Stuff section with “I’m getting my ducks in a row” and realized I was, once again, fowl-orienting. And what does that mean in the context of the writers-as-ducks metaphor from yesterday, anyway? Does it mean I’m falling into queue with other nicely lined-up writer ducks? That doesn’t make any sense. And why do you want lined-up ducks anyway?

Obviously, I need to smack my little mystic and tell her to sod off.

Editing:
– Received the last crits for “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” (thanks canadiansuzanne and palmerwriter!), completed the final draft, stuck a fork into it, and emailed it off to dsnight. Rah!
– Still working on the edit/rewrite of the story from 2004. The prose is feeling much better now, and I even managed to bring out its theme to greater effect. Progress commenceth.

Sense and Sensibility

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Watched Sense and Sensibility last night. I’ve never seen it before. Actually, I haven’t seen much in the way of Jane Austen movies.

It was charming. Absolutely girlie and gushy, but in a good way. Even fosteronfilm gave it his (grudging) “enjoyable” stamp of approval. Although he was quick to qualify that with “for a girlie movie.”

Now I want to see Pride & Prejudice, both the new one with Keira Knightley and the mini series with Colin Firth.

I think I’ve got the romance bug. It is getting to be spring, after all.
   


Writing Stuff

Caught up on my Thank You notes for Critters crits of “Honor is a Game Mortals Play.” I was re-reading some comments to mull over and I paused at one in particular by Janice Clark (a fantastic writers who’s also in my Critter Litter writers group):

“I love the way you weave in just enough explanation of cultural/supernatural elements in your stories . . . I know . . . such outward simplicity bespeaks a lot of frantic scrambling behind the scenes.”

Aside from the happy glow I got from the high praise, it also conjured up an evocative image of writers-as-ducks. Y’know how ducks and geese are so serene and graceful on the water, while beneath the surface, they’re paddling like mad? That’s a great metaphor for writers. There we are, tearing at our hair and gnashing our teeth, agonizing over whether to use a semicolon or a comma, while we present our pristine manuscripts to editors with unruffled grace and aplomb.

Here’s to us writer-ducks. Quack.

Received:
– 55-days to a personal “The writing is lovely but . . .” rejection from Shelia Williams at Asimov’s with invite to submit again. I opened up the story to read it over–I haven’t really looked at it since I declared it “done” in 2004–and absolutely cringed. I think she was being charitable to call the writing “lovely.” I’m mortified I’ve been sending this manuscript out to editors.

While I believe it’s a good story at its heart, I seem to have thrown every notion of “tight prose” out the window on this one. I honestly don’t know what I could’ve been thinking. So yeah, I went to town with my virtual red pen. I ended up chopping out a good 1K before I called it a night. I’d like to give it another couple passes before I consider sending it out again.

2006 John W. Campbell Award – I’m eligible

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I had a bout of free-floating doldrums last night. Experienced an overwhelming and irrational desire to have a meltdown during the story NBC aired before the Olympics Closing Ceremonies on Lt. Vernon J. Baker receiving the Medal of Honor. It was a good story, poignant and thought-provoking, with elements of heart-wrenching, but not the sort of thing that ought to have reduced me to tears.

As it turns out, I did manage to refrain from doing a Chernobyl, although I couldn’t pull myself out of my mood. I ended up slumped on the couch, wallowing in my emotional disequilibrium, and then retreating to an early bedtime.

At a loss, fosteronfilm sat on the couch, just holding me (after several failed forays into trying to cheer me up) until I fell asleep. It was the perfect (and only) thing he could have done to help. I have a great hubby.

I seem to be over it now, but it makes me wonder if I’m still dealing with SSRI withdrawal. Or, more worrisomely, if I should consider going back on them.

Stupid brain.

   


Writing Stuff

I’ve been putting off checking on my eligibility for the John W. Campbell Award since the eligibility rules changed last year–mostly in a fit of confusion-induced procrastination. But as I was surfing around the other day, I discovered that the nomination deadline was in a week and a half (March 10th), so I bit the bullet and emailed the moderators.

They’re being conservative on determining eligibility during the crossover period between old and new rules, so it appears I am indeed eligible this year. I sent them my bio and bibliography to list on their official “Eligible Authors” page. It’s unlikely I’ll make it on the ballot, especially at this late date, but it’s a pretty thought.

Anyone planning on going to WorldCon (L.A.con IV)?

Received:
– 38-day pass from Escape Pod on a reprint with invite to send more. Stephen liked it, but didn’t think the story was quite right for them. I had some doubts myself, as the story is quite dark and has some tricky tone switches, so I’m not surprised.
– The crits continue to pile up for “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” (thanks basletum!) and I’m officially behind on my Thank You notes.

My inner child is indistinguishable from any other inner me

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Yep, I’m a grown-up adult (so says my driver’s license and mortgage). But it’s the comforts I treasured as a child that inevitably give me peace when I’m seeking a bit of serenity, not the more sophisticated pleasures I’ve acquired a taste for–which, while enjoyable and enervating, can’t give me that tranquility I remember taking for granted as a little girl. I’m fully convinced that we are who we were, no matter how many years we rack up. It’s the folks who suppress their childhood indulgences who are deceiving themselves.

Insight brought on by a Saturday spent pandering to my inner child, starting off with a several hour marathon of Saturday morning cartoons. Ever since I was a wee girl, I have loved spending Saturday mornings camped out on the floor in front of the TV, basking in animated goodness. Sure with the cartoon network, the Disney channel, and other cable cartoon outlets, I can (and often do) watch cartoons whenever I like, but there’s something special about waking up on Saturday for them.

Netflix sent both Madagascar and MirrorMask. Perfect inner child food.

I’d heard some questionable reviews about Madagascar, and I’m way underwhelmed by Chris Rock and Ben Stiller, so I went in not expecting much, but I ended up totally charmed. The penguins were brilliant, but even the Rock/Stiller dyad was well done. And, of course, the various homages stuck in for the parents to appreciate were gigglesome. Very much enjoyed it.

MirrorMask was gorgeous. I loved the fairy tale mood, although there was a certain “This is a metaphor! *bam bam* We’re being deep! *thump*” happening too. But aside from the ham-fisted extolling to revel in the symbolism NOW, it was absolutely lovely. Reminded me of Labyrinth, which I guess is an inevitable comparison, since the hand of Henson was in both. But MirrorMask is an older, more sophisticated movie than Labyrinth, with characters that are unnerving and alluring instead of just cute and fluffy.

And I got a package in the mail from zhai, a GoPets t-shirt for Hobkin! An opportunity to inflict “dress up” upon the fuzzwit. Mega thanks, zhai!

Now Hobkin isn’t exactly receptive to the idea of wearing clothes, so my first foray into getting him into the shirt was a dismal failure:


“You want me to do what? No way.”
Continue reading →

Gasping up dem dust monkeys. Sports Night finis. Corpse Bride.

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I’ve been short of breath and having tightness in my chest these last few days, something I haven’t had to deal with for many months now. I actually needed to break out the Albuterol several times (probably more than is recommended) yesterday and today. Weird. Is it stress? Or did I inhale a dust monkey by accident?

Finished watching yukinooruoni‘s DVD set of Sports Night. Definitely a top-notch show, although I think the writing had a bit more of a comedic edge in the first season. I never got another roaring belly laugh moment to match the one I had at Natalie’s first season “cure” for writer’s block. Still, plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The drama parts didn’t hold up as well without the intense comedy to bolster it, and the finale was a pretty massive Deus ex machina. Nevertheless, it was an excellent series, and I am massively bummed they canceled it. There was still much they could’ve done with the characters.

Also finally got a chance to see Corpse Bride a la Netflix. It was better than I had expected. I liked very much how the land of the living was so dreary and deathly dull while the land of the dead was all bright and lively. Nice bit of claymation-depicted irony. And of course, everything Tim Burton touches is pretty.

   


Writing Stuff

Crits are coming in for “Honor is a Game Mortals Play.” (Thanks bunches safirasilv and elvesforeyes for the fabu feedback!) It’s being well received thus far. I’ve already started doing some minor tweaks from suggestions that immediately resonated.

And y’know, after not looking at the story for a few days and coming back to it with fresh eyes, I like it. That’s immensely gratifying.

dsnight, at this rate, you can expect to have the ms on your desk next week.

I’ve also started dwelling upon what I want to do with “Nobodies and Somebodies,” rewrite-wise. I asked my Aberrant Dreams editor what sort of deadline I’m looking at.

For someone who’s unemployed, I’m agog at how my plate overfloweth.

To Review or Not to Review

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I recently got an email from a writer asking whether I was going to have Tangent review an audio ‘zine their work was published in. And thus, my dithering on the issue comes to a head.

Adding audio publications to Tangent’s review lineup is something I’ve been mulling over for a while now. As a writer, I’ve been ecstatic to see my work narrated by Escape Pod. As Tangent’s Managing Editor, I’ve observed the growing popularity of podcasts and the inevitable rise of audio publications accompanying it with interest.

But here’s the thing. While I’m a huge fan of audio storytelling–stories have their basic root in an oral tradition, and it stirs something both poignant and primal in me to hear a story well told–there are some very salient arguments against adding audio ‘zines to Tangent’s rotation.

1. Varying production values. Tangent’s mission is to review stories. While some commentary on layout, cover art and other ancillary items often sneaks into reviews, I discourage it. The words on the page (or on the screen) are what my reviewers are evaluating, not how beautiful the illustrations are or how easy the font is on the eye. My reviewers know to separate the production values from the stories in their reviews, or at least they’re supposed to. However, in the case of audio publications, it’s much harder to divorce the production values from the fiction. An excellent voice actor has the ability to turn a mediocre tale into a fantastic one, and likewise, a second-rate voice talent can make even the most brilliant story dreary. And that’s not even touching upon such things as sound quality, mixing, and background music/sound effects.

2. What makes for a good audio story isn’t necessary the same as what makes for a good written one. Guiding reviewers on how I’d like them to approach this sort of discrepancy is uncharted ground.

3. My reviewers are already bearing a pretty hefty load. Adding audio ‘zine(s) means pulling resources away from reviewing print/electronic publications–of which there are many queued up that I’d like to add to Tangent’s rotation but simply can’t.

4. There are logistics issues. A number of my reviewers are on computer systems that can barely handle PDF review copies. I find it likely that many will have a difficult time dealing with big honking audio files, and perhaps won’t be able to play them at all. Amazingly enough, not everyone has an MP3 player. This isn’t insurmountable–I can always download files, convert them to .avi, and burn them to CD and mail those out, or request CDs directly from editors–but it’s another complexity and potential drain on my time.

On the other hand:

1. I’m fully aware that by not reviewing audio publications, Tangent may end up overlooking some truly excellent stories–a disservice to both readers/listeners and the specfic community at large. It’s Tangent’s purpose to review short genre fiction, no matter how it’s presented. No doubt there was hemming and hawing about ezines when they started cropping up, and of course publications like SCI FICTION have proven that short stories don’t have to be on paper to be brilliant. Good fiction is good fiction. So how can I justify drawing a line at audio?

2. I may be severely and unjustly underestimating my reviewers. They may be able to separate the story from the production just as easily as they can with written presentations. Plus, I’m betting there are some who would absolutely love a chance to review audio fiction, and I very much like to have happy reviewers.

3. I really, really love the format, both as a fan, hearing fine tales presented as an oral narrative, and as a writer, having my own work read aloud. If I love it that much, then other folks will as well. Ergo, I can expect it to be a growing trend. I’m going to feel pretty stupid when a story in an audio ‘zine wins a Hugo and I didn’t deign to have Tangent review it because it wasn’t in print.

I’ve also considered having a single dedicated audio reviewer for Tangent, but that comes with its own problems and complexities.

And so the pondering continues.

   


Writing Stuff

“Honor is a Game Mortals Play” is up at Critters. Go critique, yo!

Received:
– An email from my Cricket editor letting me know that my check for “Li T’ien and the Demon Nian” was not lost down some bottomless chasm, but is in fact making its way to me via convoluted and circuitous Accounting Department channels. Huzzah!
– Editorial feedback and suggestions from Aberrant Dreams on “Nobodies and Somebodies.” They think the ending could be stronger, and I agree. Going to burn some brain cells and see what I can come up with.
– An email from one of my local(ish) writer’s group peeps sounding me out on doing a talk at her daughter’s middle school. She was chatting with her daughter’s Gifted English teacher and mentioned knowing a published, up-and-coming children’s lit/YA author (Aw, shucks. Am I really up-and-coming?) and would she be interested in having me speak/read to the class. The teacher said yes, and so I’m contemplating speaking to a classroom of gifted 13-14 year olds, which might also lead to an actual paying, much larger, assembly-type speaking gig at that school and perhaps the adjoining high school if I do good.

Obviously, this is a fantastic and potentially fun chance for me to promote myself and my writing directly to one of my major target audiences. And it might even lead to money. However, not only does public speaking petrify me–and I’m talking panic attack, “I’d-rather-be-dead-than-speak-before-a-group” petrify–but children that age intimidate me.

Granted, “Gifted English” helps a lot. I’m much more comfortable around bright kids. They tend not to remind me of the kids who made my burgeoning adolescencehood a thing of profoundly terrible misery.

I really need to get over my sundry neuroses. I write a lot of children’s lit. I would be very stupid to pass up this opportunity. 21 bright kids in an English class–I have even been assured that they are well-behaved and polite–is as safe as it’s going to get, (barring the whole shut-in option, which is still under serious considering).

My brain gets it. My stomach and blood pressure, not so much.

Hobkin squeaks, a good night’s sleep, and signs

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Hobkin is a very silly animal. I went downstairs yesterday after working in the library all day to discuss and start dinner prep with fosteronfilm, then made to go back upstairs to lug down the interim desktop I was using while my laptop was in the shop. I wanted to hook it to our network and retrieve the files stranded on it, but the fuzzwit apparently thought I was going back up to work for another cluster of hours and was dismayed. The little guy started squeaking.

It’s the silliest sound I have ever heard an animal make–like a wheel in desperate need of oil on helium. Of course, I turned right around and went back to reassure and cuddle him (leaving fosteronfilm to retrieve and set up the computer). I can’t post the sound he made, but here’s a picture that illustrates how Hobkin is so not an animal of dignity and grace:


I wonder if this is the skunk equivalent of “Live long and prosper”?

   


Writing Stuff

It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do to quell a minor freakout. I’m feeling much better, totally over my quakes and anxiety.

When I woke up, my head was brimming with ideas for how to simplify the opening of my novel to make it more accessible to a younger audience, as well as thoughts on how to block out the chapters I’ve currently got into panels and picture pages. It seems like my sleeping self has made my decision for me. Barring some unforeseen weirdness, I’m going to go for the picture book effort. I was pretty much headed there, but it’s reassuring to know my unconscious is in sync with my conscious.

I find I’m rather looking forward to the challenge of preparing a picture book manuscript out of my novel. At least I won’t have to wring my brain coming up with new characters or settings or story lines. It doesn’t hurt that I am utterly enchanted by the idea of having my tale accompanied by lavish, beautiful illustrations.

The editor is sending me her notes and a few examples from her publishing house of what she has in mind to give me an idea of the length, complexity, and scope I should aim for. I’m going to wait to see these before I start (and before I give them my official “I’m game”), but in the interim, I’m re-reading my novel to once again familiarize myself with the voice and mood I used, as well as any details I may have forgotten since the last time I looked it over.

In the next couple days, I’m going to try to clear off as much Tangent and The Town Drunk work from my plate as I can, as well as try to check off all the outstanding stray issues hovering about my “things to do” list. I want to be able to approach this project with focused concentration at the start. So if folks need me for something and have been holding off on dropping me a line, better do so now while I’m in rapid-fire-just-do-it mode.

I’m very glad I finished the first draft of “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” so I’m not having to ping-pong back and forth between these two projects. Barring a deluge of critiques of the “this-totally-sucks you-call-yourself-a-writer? Hah!” variety coming back on it, I anticipate the rewrite will go smoothly. I typically find rewrites fairly easy on my writer muscles . . . I say as I gear up to embark upon the biggest “rewrite” I’ve ever contemplated. Erm.

Received:
The editor of Dragonfly Spirit sent me a sneak peek of the March cover. The artwork features my story, “Kaawwa, Naagan, and the Queen’s Diamond Necklace”! She also kindly gave me permission to display it:

Isn’t it gorgeous? And again, I’m reminded how much I love seeing beautiful artwork come about as a result of the words I scribble on the page. Were I one to believe in signs and portents delivered from the Great Beyond, I would see this as a really good one.

Agent news that makes me go “EEP!”

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P-doc appointment successful, except I saw a P-nurse practitioner. But I’m actually happier at how it worked out. She refilled my prescription and then put me into a “med group” for future refills which is free, so I don’t have to fork out those doctor visit follow-up co-pays just to keep me in scripts. Nice.

   


Writing Stuff

Eep. Better make that EEP!! I just got an email from my agent with two bits of news:
1. An extremely glowing and encouraging rejection from Harcourt on my middle-grade novel which included such lines such as “I honestly couldn’t put it down,” “It brings to mind the classic Jonathan Livingston Seagull and The Education of Little Tree,” and “I’m certain that this story will make its mark somewhere.” All really, really nice to my battered writer’s ego, but still, a “no.” Moving on.
2. An email from another publishing house–a major one–asking me if I’d be willing to convert my middle-grade novel into a picture book for them to consider. Not one of those 10-page picture book dealies, but a “sophisticated picture book reader.”

On the one (big, hugely gigantic) hand, Woohoo! But on the other, it’s still not a sale by any stretch. And, erm, I’m very unfamiliar with picture book format and style–having written none of them. Although I did research and then block a couple of my folktales into picture books as an exercise, so I’m not totally loose and dangling.

Then there’s the stupid hand (yes, I know that gives me three–I can be a three-armed mutant if I want), that being that I really, really love my novel. I think it’s beautiful, something I’m extremely proud to have written, one of my best works to date. And I am fully aware how idiotic that complaint is. If I turn my novel into a picture book, it doesn’t take away from the original non-picture book, and I’m not one of those writers who beats their breast and wails about the “integrity of their art.” I’m unemployed and my health insurance is running out. I need to sell that manuscript.

Still, there is freaking out happening–both the ecstatic and the quietly imploding variety.

Obviously, I’m going to do the intelligent thing, research the format of “sophisticated picture book readers” and see what picture books these folks have published in the past, and email back my agent to see if I can’t get some guidelines. Then, after I finish my quiet little freak out, I’m going to get to work. ‘Sides, they might decide “that girl can write, but she sure as heck can’t write picture books” and I’ll be back to where I am now.

And, there’s always still a chance another publisher will snap it up. But being a realistic sort, I won’t be holding my breath for that to happen.

Editing/New Words:
1300-words on a novel I put down end of last year. Made excellent progress with ideas galore, but it looks like I’m going to put it down again.

Club 100 For Writers
      6

500/day
      8