A Dragon's Heart

Day 2

2011-08-18T10:47:00.000-04:00

Target: 60,000
Current: 3,079
Progress: 843/600

The math won't always add up; I edit a touch here and there.

Goal Update, Day 1

2011-08-17T11:09:00.001-04:00

Target: 60,000
Current: 2,236
Progress: 840/600

Not a bad start.

Current Goal

2011-08-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

I recently started working on a new novel but due to my epic procrastination abilities I have made very little progress so far. So I decided to make it my goal to finish this book by the end of the year. I've written 1,400 words. I'm ballparking the first draft to be about 60k. As much as I hate math, I broke it down and estimated that I will need to write a minimum of 600 words per day to make this goal feasible. Can I do it?

Target: 60,000
Current: 1,400
Progress: 0/600

I haven't written anything yet, as you can see. I will update later, after I have hopefully reached today's goal.

Stands a Shadow

2011-08-15T13:00:00.000-04:00

Coming November 8, 2011.

I won a copy of Farlander, the first book in the series, as part of the Goodreads Firstreads program. Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control I was not able to get to it in a very timely manner. Months later I did and I really wish I'd gotten to it earlier. It's a great story with excellent worldbuilding and a refreshingly different main character. Hint: It's not the narrator. From the sounds of Shadow's synopsis, it's shaping up to be a great revenge adventure tale.

Respect

2011-05-02T08:19:00.000-04:00

Today gives this video a whole new meaning.

It may not be the end, but it is closure.

Great job, guys. I salute you.

Outlining a Short Story

2011-04-26T12:06:00.000-04:00

As someone who doesn't complete or even write many stories of any length, I have come to realize that there are a number of plot and structural problems with my writing. Rereading the first draft of the incomplete short story I talked about in yesterday's entry helped me see this. Granted, the story is definitely at least a year old, but still.

The main issue I noticed was how lifeless the world was. Granted, the story takes place in a dead city, but there's no context, no detail. So I've decided as an exercise to do two things: worldbuild and outline. The story itself is not long but as it stands it simply isn't invested. It's lacking that extra level of immersion, the sense that the story lives beyond the bounds of the words used to tell it.

But, before I can even do that much I need details. Instead of using generics I am going through and specifying everything. I've already renamed the dead city and one of the characters, and given the antagonist a name and a new definition of what exactly it is. Even changing and adding such a small bit of data has already greatly clarified and improved the foundation of the story.

Sometimes for the beginning writer, it's not as simple as sitting down and pounding out the words. I am finding this deliberate analysis and construction to be immensely helpful.

So...

2011-04-25T19:37:00.000-04:00

I haven't done any writing outside of school for awhile now, and I've had the burning desire to work on one of my short stories. It was handwritten, never completed. Took three days but I finally managed to find it, tucked away in an old, half-shredded notebook. As I started typing it up, two things caught my attention:

1. I didn't date it. This irks me to no end because now I can't remember exactly how old it is.

2. The writing sucks. Apparently I subconsciously rewrote it or something because wow, I don't remember it being anywhere near this bad. It'll pretty much need to be rewritten from scratch.

I'm still typing it up more or less exactly as it appears in my notebook, though. Partly for posterity, mostly to refresh my memory.

The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll

2011-04-20T22:29:00.002-04:00

Note: I had to write this for class anyways so I figured I'd put it here, as well.

Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg is a tale from the Wild West days of the early internet frontier. In it, Cliff, an ex-hippie astrophysicist recycled to the Lawrence Berkley Lab's Keck Observatory, a computer lab, recounts the ten months he spent unraveling what became the first documented case of computer hacking. What started out as a slight accounting discrepancy ended up as a convoluted plunge into proto cyberspace, complete with espionage, government agencies and of course, the good old-fashioned cover-up. Published in 1989, just a few years after the story takes place, The Cuckoo's Egg is part technothriller, part cautionary tale and entirely real.

The book's laid back, conversational style is very easy to read and get into. Although many of the technical terms and acronyms are disused and for younger audiences or the less technologically savvy, completely unknown, the author explains them well without condescension. This may be a product of being written in the time period, as computers were still many years from becoming mainstream at the time. Either way, it is eminently readable for even a general audience. The story is engaging and the author sounds more like an average guy than the stereotypical scientist, particularly with the constant humor that offsets what could have been a very dry account of a long, tedious incident.

That said, the book isn't without problems. The author's far-left viewpoint and the constant reminders of it can become tiresome, especially in spots where the comments seem out of place or irrelevant. True, it's an interesting look at perception, but with an overly heavy-handed focus. The novelty wore off sooner rather than later, especially with a few particularly laughable comments regarding the CIA.

Overall though, while not quite a modern classic, The Cuckoo's Egg is definitely a must-read for anyone with an interest in computers, especially security. It's something of a time capsule and, more importantly, it's more relevant than ever in today's high-tech, computer-driven society.

Been Awhile...

2011-01-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

Nearly two years, in fact. But perhaps I can find some worthwhile conversation in the near future.

In the meantime, a few stats, cause everyone loves stats.

Reading: The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
Playing: White Knight Chronicles on Playstation 3
Watching: Babylon 5

10k in 3 Days

2009-05-25T09:16:00.000-04:00

As part of my three day weekend, I have decided to set myself a NaNo worthy type of goal: to double the length of my longest current WIP. Appropriate, given that the WIP is my unfinished NaNo from last year. I consider it something of a training exercise, as I've never been able to finish a novel-length work. I figure a lot of it has to do with experience, or in my case, lack thereof.

You can't rewrite what isn't written, after all. No matter how bad the first draft is I will complete it, plot holes and all. No editing, no going back to rewrite the plot from the beginning. That can come later. My only concern now is to have a working first draft. I can rip it apart and fix it later.

So that's my goal.

Current progress? Day 2. I haven't start writing today yet but I managed to pull my wc total up to 12k yesterday. That means I need to complete 8k over today and tomorrow (I have an odd schedule). I'm not going to bother trying to do it evenly since reaching the goal won't be the end of the draft anyways. It's a minimum requirement.

I'll check back at the end of the day to report my progress.

I can't believe...

2009-05-02T09:07:00.000-04:00

I just spent $132 on a book. Not just any book, mind you. The limited edition hardcover of Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon, complete with kickass new cover of Anomander Rake awesome+9000 and full color interior illustrations. Yes, it was painful. I could have purchased 20+ mass markets. Was it worth it? Hell yes! My only true regret was not paying enough attention so I missed out on the lettered, super special limited edition.

I can't wait to see what Deadhouse Gates will look like. I hope they put Coltaine on the cover.

Want to see just how delicious it is? Check it out, available only from the Subterranean Press website: Gardens of the Moon Limited Edition.

Happy May

2009-05-01T12:54:00.001-04:00

Somehow it escaped my notice until just now, but it's the first of May. Nice. And we're starting it off with a lovely spring storm, possibly the first thunderstorm of the year. I love thunderstorms, which is odd considering how I used to hate them. These days I actively hope for them to knock the power out, preferably when I'm at work. :)

Recently Read: The Way of Shadows

2009-04-26T14:28:00.000-04:00

And I stayed up until 12:30a.m. to finish it.

The Way of Shadows is a very strong character-driven fantasy. I originally bought it because the cover art looks like it came straight from Assassin's Creed, but it isn't nearly as awesome as the story within, and that's saying a lot.

Assassins. Ninjas. Cloak and dagger. Magic. Really, you can't go wrong. I was reminded a lot of The Lies of Locke Lamora while reading. It's got the same sort of concise, intricate plotting, only minus the wonky chronology. Plus ninjas. Azoth/Kylar reminds me of Fitz from the Farseer books as well in that life does everything it can to screw him over and kill him dead.

Only Kylar's a ninja and life isn't, so life fails. Or would that be death? Hmm.

Well either way, go read it now. It's awesome.

And did I mention ninjas?

Note: Wetboys aren't actually ninjas, but they might as well be!

May: Support a Debut Author Month

2009-04-26T09:33:00.000-04:00

I didn't come up with this myself. I'm simply spreading and supporting the idea. You can find the original blog post here.

I think it's a great proposal and one I fully intend to participate in. Several authors whose work I enjoy I first picked up as debut authors.

Also in the spirit of the concept, if you like fantasy and are looking for a debut author to read, check out Fantasy Debut, a blog that reviews, well, exactly what it says.

Flash Fiction Frenzy

2009-04-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

This week has been fairly productive for me as far as writing goes. I've been writing two flash fiction pieces a day--one in the morning while I'm waking up, the other during my shift at work or after I get home. For someone who rarely completes long stories, suddenly having a bunch of completed works feels really good.

Of course, they all need to be revised and possibly critted, but that's what my day off is for.

Cat Fight

2009-02-13T09:57:00.000-05:00

Chaos is certainly living up to his name once again. He got into one of his semi-regular fights with another neighborhood cat the other night. We ended up bringing him to the vet this morning, turns out he was bitten on the shoulder. It's abscessed and infected so he does need treatment. Not the first time, definitely not the last. We're also getting a senior panel done to make sure everything else is fine.

It's funny, he's a such a huge cat, yet he's quite a wuss. He gets injured because when he gets into a fight the first thing he does is run for the door and if no one happens to be home, he gets cornered. He just isn't a fighter, but he is a major instigator. Then he wonders why he gets hurt. Ah well, what can you do. At least he'll be fine after he gets some meds and some TLC. He's spoiled rotten, my Chaos.

In the meantime, I'm doing research about what I need for our two indoor cats. They were Big Joe's, but since he's passed on I'm planning on adopting them. My mom and Joe aren't thrilled with the idea because both cats have some behavioral problems. To me it's all the more reason to keep them, so I can try to at least improve their quality of life and hopefully teach them to be good household cats. It's actually been the subject of several disagreements with mom. She claims they aren't against keeping them, yet all they do is complain without making any attempt to solve any of the issues.

To be fair, while my mom and I have always had cats, ours are always indoor/outdoor, thus most of the problems we're having right now are ones we've never encountered with our previous pets. Chaos for example, practically lives outside during the summer. (We do keep him in whenever we hear a report about a fisher cat, bobcat, bear, etc. Very unusual for this area but not unheard of.) So it's easy for her to get frustrated. Joe just doesn't like the cats due to said issues which often involve making a mess out of things.

It's a rather disagreeable situation for all of us, really. Hence my foray into the world of indoor cats. I already have a good idea of what I need, just need the time to gather supplies. I'll have to dip into my savings for this but I can't just stand by and watch them get rid of these two cats. One is declawed, the other is semi-feral. Obviously they are not good candidates for rehoming. I am more than willing to put the time and effort into working with them and I have already seen some good results despite the fact that it's only been two months since I started keeping an eye on them. The semi-feral, aptly named Zippy, has gone from being so shy he even ran from me, to being quite a people cat. He will follow me and my mom around and even sticks around when someone stops by to visit. He's really a very nice guy, very loving, he's just shy.

So off to my source for all things cat, http://www.thecatsite.com/.

February Blues

2009-02-11T07:36:00.000-05:00

There's nothing I hate more than the end of winter. Not because I like winter, but because it takes so damned long for the season to give up and let spring take root. I'm at the point where I'm just always tired and easily irritated. Sick of the cold and all the snow and my car looks like crap and I'm stalled out in basically everything.

There's still at least five weeks of winter to go if one believes in the groundhog, so I've decided to use that as my goal. Five weeks. A little over a month. The official first day of spring this year is 3/20, so that will be my deadline. My goal is to finish the first draft of my longest unfinished work to date, Sable and Haze. Sure, it's "just" a NaNo novel, but I didn't do anything silly like trying to pad it unnecessarily for the word count. In fact, my NaNo only lasted about six days before things came up. Still managed 12k or so on it. I don't know exactly how long it will be but I'm aiming for somewhere around 60k. Short for the fantasy genre, but I don't feel like I should be writing a huge 100k tome when the story I'm telling doesn't require such a massive amount of words.

So, given that ballpark total, I have a little over a month to write a little less than 50k. It's basically NaNo redux. Maybe it'll help me get over this terrible winter rut. Happens every year, never seems to get any easier.

Shoe Shopping is the Devil

2009-01-26T21:21:00.001-05:00

Shocking, I know. A woman who doesn't like shopping. I hate it. Partly because of the whole concept of shoe fashion, partly because I have freakishly wide feet, and mostly because I hate fellow shoe shoppers.

Unfortunately, that was the main goal of today's trip to the mall. I don't own a pair of nice shoes for formal (or any other, for that matter) occasions. I own sneakers. No boots, no slippers and definitely no heels of any kind. Just one pair of the ugly gray, white and orange sneakers of the only brand I will allow my foot to reside in.

So, with the wake and funeral fast approaching, it was with much trepidation that I embarked on this particular journey. The mere thought of so many shoes makes me ill. My feet cramp up with phantom sympathy pains at the sight of all those precariously balanced heels. The cute little buckles and sequins and shapely designs are gag-inducing monstrosities.

In short, shoe shopping reveals the uncivilized barbarian I go to great lengths to hide.

The gods of shoes smiled upon me today, luckily for all involved. Not only did I find a pair that didn't resemble some sort of medieval torture device, but they had my size! In wide! And on sale! Still ridiculously overpriced, but my wallet didn't spontaneously combust, so I count it as a win.

And of course I had to reward myself for surviving this trip to the dark side of my inherent biology. My choice? Books, of course. I selected three, all completely outside of my normal preference. Nary a dragon nor assassin lurking within these pages, but they remain worthy nonetheless. The following have been added to my collection:

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris - I remember the Six to Eight Black Men story from high school, but the rest were new. I actually read the entire thing earlier this evening after finally finishing the behemoth tome of The Terror. I enjoyed it and will likely be picking up other books by him in the future.

Next by Michael Crichton - I can't not buy it despite the reviews. Crichton spurred my interest in reading after the books in my age group proved too easy and boring for my reading level. I was in third grade when I read my first Crichton novel, The Lost World. I've since read (and still own) almost every book he's written. (Also a huge fan of E.R. back in the day.) His loss late last year was devastating to me on a very personal level. Thus, I feel that my library will not be complete without a full collection of his works, for better or worse.

Cold Fire by Dean Koontz - I put this on my Amazon list not too long ago, though the exact reason why has escaped me at the moment. I was sad to see the book out of print, but either Amazon lied or they just happened to be out of stock while I was looking for it. When I saw it on the shelf I had to grab it immediately, for fear that it would disappear forever and deprive me of the ability to read it. There is nothing more irritating than wanting to read something and not being able to.

However, before I read anything else I need to finish Way of the Shadows. Lately I seem to have developed a bad habit of picking up a book, starting it, then buying another book and reading that instead. Ordinarily I read my books as soon as I buy them but now I have a towering stack of unread books to work through. Somehow they just keep sitting there, gathering dust, while I just keep buying, partially reading, then buying something else ad infinitum.

I'm Not Dead

2009-01-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, not everyone is so fortunate. My step-grandfather passed away on Tuesday night after being diagnosed with colon cancer the day after my previous blog entry. It's been a rough road made rougher by his severe Alzheimer's and numerous other health conditions. Not only did it make operating impossible, but treatment was difficult as well.

However, he can rest now, and we can be comforted by the fact that he's not in pain any longer. There's nothing worse than watching the slow decay of a person, both mind and body, over the course of years. We've been caring for him for the past three and a half years, witness to his total loss of awareness and the slow failing of his body. It was hard. Very hard. But now he's with his wife again.

Rest in peace, Big Joe. You fought the good fight, sir.

Chasing Shadows, Day Two

2008-12-10T12:35:00.000-05:00

120 words of notes to myself, 320 words of actual fiction.

Maia has made her decision and uncovers her past--literally. She will soon come to the realization that though she turned her back on her old life, she never stopped being her old self. She will emerge again as the legend, the assassin who struck fear in the hearts of all other assassins. She who chose who lived and who died. The bringer of death. The Valkyrie.

Sound epic enough yet? ;) I haven't written the whole scene out yet, but if I can pull it off right it'll be pretty badass. At least, I think so. But then again, I firmly believe that the ninja is the ultimate human form.

One Page In...

2008-12-09T10:18:00.000-05:00

and I already want to stop and revise. I can't stop thinking of ways to expand and emphasize this first scene. It's a very important part of the book, after all. The event that occurs on the very first page is the catalyst for the rest of the main plot. No setting the stage or building up to it. The novel starts with a dead raven crashing through the MC's bedroom window. The MC will be starting her journey within the next five pages, probably sooner. I won't bother writing out the full setting until she gets to the place where it actually becomes relevant.

Just a new approach I'm trying. I won't know if it works until I get to that part of the story. I still refuse to do any revising until the draft is done. I've made a few minor changes already, but only for minor technical things. If I try to fix things now I'll never stop, and then I'll be eternally writing the beginning of this book.

New WIP

2008-12-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

Chasing Shadows

When her teenage son announces his intention to join the venerable ranks of the Shadow Guard, mother Maia doesn't bat an eye. After all, she was in the Guard herself. Unwilling to deny Aiden the path she too had chosen so long ago, she allows him to go on one condition: that he brings the family raven, Char, along with him.

All is well for a time, until the day Char comes crashing through her window, his feathers streaked with blood, a scrap of paper clutched in his talon. Scrawled upon the note in handwriting she doesn't recognize, the message is simple. “The Hawk flies no more.” Sorrow turns to anger when she discovers a second message hidden within Char's body. Betrayal. Someone within the Guard has killed her son, and Maia wants to know who, and why. There is but one answer to such a challenge.

Valkyrie is back, and she's angry.

First Snowfall

2008-12-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

I knew it was too good to last. After an unseasonably warm November, winter's breath is sweeping across New England, bringing the first white flakes with it. When I was younger I loved snow. I'd play outside for hours, heedless of the cold and never failing to come back inside soaked from my self-made adventures in the whitescape of the yard, often with the cat in tow. There was something magic about snow and its ability to transform my entire world in a few hours. Not to mention the snow days, many of which were spent happily indoors reading or playing video games.

These days it's more of a nuisance than anything. Shoveling paths, sweeping porches, digging out the car before it becomes a snowbank, driving on icy roads with irresponsible drivers flying up behind me at fifty miles an hour. The first snow inevitably causes spinouts everywhere, as somehow all of New England forgets how to drive in the white stuff over the course of the summer. I've never understood that part. I mean, if you have to drive in it every year, you should know how to by now...

Rather than risk damage to my precious car, I am planning on staying indoors today. I'm going to drink a lot of tea, watch the world turn white, and maybe get some reading in. I've been sorely neglectful of my books of late. My massive to-be-read pile is only increasing, and my amount of free time decreasing with the holiday season in full swing at work. So today's goal is to read at least one book.

NaNo, Day 6: The Secret to Keeping Up

2008-11-06T11:44:00.000-05:00

is called a word war!

I went from behind behind at the end of yesterday to being ahead today. My secret? Word wars with fellow NaNoers. Until today I've never done one. Didn't think I had the mettle to compete. Well, I learned something important about myself. Not only can I do it, but I'm a much faster typist than I thought possible. Two half-hour word wars and between them I wrote close to 2k, on top of what I'd already written this morning. Amazing.

For the uninitiated, word wars is a very fun, competitive way to increase your word count. Two or more people pick a time and try to write as many words as possible for however many minutes (or hours) until the finish. I've been doing thirty minute wars. Anything shorter wouldn't give me time to build momentum, and anything longer would give me carpal tunnel.

I should have known, though. I'm a gamer as well as a writer, so yes I do have a bit of a competitive streak in me. I really enjoyed the two wars I did today, so I'll definitely be doing them more often.

NaNo really is awesome, isn't it?

Oh, and I've passed the 10k mark. It's nice to be ahead for a change.

NaNo Day 5: Slow and Steady

2008-11-05T10:15:00.000-05:00

Still fairly early on Day 5. I'm plugging along, not quite behind, but not ahead either. The last two days I ended behind the minimum, yet managed to pick up the slack the next day, more or less. It's a tough road for me. I went from not writing anything in months to 1700 per day. That's a huge adjustment, one hopefully for the better, but so far I'm still getting used to it.

The fact that I have woken up every day and sat down at the computer to pull up the NaNo file is a great achievement, considering my usual habits. My poor self-discipline hasn't yet affected the challenge. I hope the trend continues. It probably won't be salable, but just completing this project will be well worth the time spent. And regardless of marketability, I do fully intend to review and revise to the best of my ability once this is over. Writing a million words of crap means nothing if you don't learn from the experience, after all.

Well, back to work. I'm still 1300 words behind today and I'd like to get as close to that as possible before work. If I do that, even if I run out of time I can still get at least a few hundred words of buffer done when I come home tonight.

NaNo, Day 3

2008-11-03T17:06:00.000-05:00

aka what did I get myself into?

Word count: 5,010

Not bad, I'm still barely above the minimum, but it's already a struggle to keep ahead of the game. I actually didn't make 1667 last night and spent most of this morning just playing catch up. As you can see, I did that and picked up today's requirement, plus an extra nine words.

I'm still at the point where the writing is flowing well enough. I have plenty of scene breaks as I switch from character to character (third limited POVs so there's a lot of switches), but I haven't really made any clean chapter breaks yet. Then again, I've never written anything long enough to really have justifiable chapter markers. Until now.

I'm not going back and editing per se, but I am going back in my work and adding things. Writing like this means I have a lot of action and dialogue, but almost no setting description cause I haven't even established any worldbuilding yet. So when I want to take a break from a current scene, I go over my previous ones and try to construct at least some semblance of a physical setting.

I also have several spots where I glossed over things that, while not strictly necessary, are easily places where I could have shown the events. Or truncated versions that could be extended. It's not that I don't want to write them as much as it's just my brain moving faster than my fingers. I want to stay on the wagon, so I cut things short to keep going. Not the best way to do it, but it's keep me from falling off entirely so I'm not complaining too loudly.

NaNo, Day 1

2008-11-01T11:56:00.000-04:00

Word count: 1764

Off to a decent start, considering I've never done anything like this before. Hell, I think that's the most I've ever written in a single day. Somehow I need to keep this up for the next 30 days!? Man, this will be tough. I'm still optimistic so far though. It doesn't seem so hard...famous last words, I'm sure. But really. It only took me a couple of hours going off the top of my head. I can do this!

By the way, my NaNo's working title.

The Art of Slaying Dragons: Sable and Haze

The subtitle is just there in case I decide to make a series. Sable's the dragon, Haze is the human. I like their names.

Happy November, everyone!

Setting the Season

2008-10-31T22:22:00.000-04:00

Halloween night is one of the busiest times for my store. Not in terms of business, though we do get the afternoon candy rush, but in workload. During the evening shift we switch our large seasonal aisle over from Halloween to Christmas. Usually several people will stay to midnight or later to accomplish this goal.

Fortunately, I was not one of them. This year, anyway. I've done a couple in my time. It's not bad really, but long shifts are very tiring.

It was more like barely controlled chaos than any actual organized event. It has to be due to the nature of retail. Things come up constantly so flexibility is key for this sort of job. For example, I was running the one-hour photo lab, helping out with the seasonal work, and backing up the front, often at the same time, or it felt like it anyways. Just a few short years ago I would have been overwhelmed, but even I've surprised myself lately with my ability to cope under such high stress situations.

It helps that we have a great crew. Working in retail is really not fun at all but if you don't have a good crew it's impossible. It's pretty rare, but when we all work like this I can't help but think of how blessed I am to be working with such amazing people. Yes, even the manager is there until midnight to pitch in and get it done. It sounds weird, but it is kind of like an extended family. We've all been working together for so many years now that it's just always such a laid back, friendly atmosphere even when it gets tough. My boss is someone I'd honestly feel comfortable talking to about anything at all, even personal. He really is a great guy. Same with the two night shift supervisors. We all get along so well it's almost scary.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T13:17:00.000-04:00

The most important thing...

2008-10-24T11:15:00.000-04:00

...for a writer, is to write things down.

Simple concept, yes? Well, my procrastination and pure laziness have caught up with me. While at work last night I spent some time working out a flash fiction story I've had in my mind for a few weeks now. Knew exactly what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, right down to the title. Awesome, right? Well, I made the one mistake no writer should.

I didn't write it down. True, it was busy and I really shouldn't have been thinking about writing, but I had plenty of opportunity in the form of my half hour dinner break. I even have a notebook that stays at work for this situation.

I thought I'd be able to remember such excellent prose and transcribe it later. I've a good memory, after all, and it's really a very short piece.

Well...not so much. It's later, and I can't remember a single word of the damn thing. I am very irritated with myself for letting this happen. I'm trying very hard to recall the words, and more importantly the order of said words, but the brain just isn't cooperating with me today. So now I'm out a good story, and I can blame no one but myself.

That said, my advice for today: never wait 'til later to write something good. You're just asking for trouble if you do.

I'm a Runner Up

2008-05-05T18:02:00.001-04:00

In the Mother's Day contest I blogged about previously. Woo! It may not be a sale, but to me it's an honor just to share a story about my cherished Mom. She deserves recognition for being so strong and wonderful and supportive. You can read my story here. As of this moment I'm the first runner up listed. Congratulations Mom! Guess I'll just have to provide the spa pampering on my own. ;)

Incidentally, out of two serious submissions, this makes two non-rejections. The first story I submitted was a flash piece accepted by Flash Me Magazine (Issue 19). This contest was the second.

Yeah, I don't make a lot of submissions, mainly because I don't have a lot of polished work to send out. I have several projects in the works right now, including several short stories and a novel. Oddly, although I mainly write fantasy neither of my acceptance were in the genre. Hmm.

But then, you can't get published if you don't submit. I've got a lot of writing to do.

Mother's Day Contest

2008-04-29T23:18:00.000-04:00

Found here: Celebrate with Style

They're currently running a contest for stories about experiences with Mom. The deadline is a bit tight, May 1st, but there's still time. I dusted off a personal essay I wrote three years ago about this very subject and submitted after a few touch-ups. After all, what better way is there for a writer to show Mom how special she is than to publish a story about her!

Wowio: Free Books Online

2008-04-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

Including two great resources by Absolute Write's original founder, Jenna Glatzer. The Street Smart Writer is a must-have for any serious writer, regardless of experience level. And now that its being offered for free, there are no excuses not to read it. (Although if you really like it, I'd recommend buying your own copy from Amazon.)

Jenna's book on freelancing, Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, is also available.

The only caveat is that you must sign up to download these books, and you must have a way to verify your identity handy. Makes sense, as they probably don't want anyone trying to get around the 3-books-per-day limit. Personally I think it's quite reasonable, especially since they're being offered for free and legally.

Visit the site here. Once you've signed up, simply search Jenna Glatzer to bring up the two books I've mentioned. The process is simple and it takes less than five minutes to register. No excuses!

Plot...

2008-04-29T08:54:00.000-04:00

Begins at the moment when the story becomes inevitable. - Crawford Kilian

Couldn't agree more. The trick is figuring out which moment is the threshold. The door closes, no choice but to move forward.

In my current WIP, The Dragon Stone, my original beginning occurs when Sara, a mercenary, enters a particular city. (Not named yet, unfortunately.) However, I feel that even though she's had an advance payment, there are still a lot of factors that could give her options. Most ending in death, but still.

The door doesn't close until she gets her hands on the titular Stone. So that's where the story begins. Everything up to that point doesn't matter.

Guess it's time to revise the outline again.

Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience

2008-04-27T19:44:00.000-04:00

can be described in one word: awesome! Went to see it today, the last day it was playing at the Verizon Wireless Arena. I firmly believe dinosaurs was one of the roots that bloomed into my current love of all things draconic. Seriously, stick a pair of bat wings on a dino and you've got something that resembles a dragon. I think the world needs more dragons based on dinosaurs, don't you?

I think it's a cool idea. A dragon that can run on two legs like a raptor, then soar away with its prize before anyone else is the wiser. No competition for food if you hide it! Kind of like leopards, only the stashing grounds are caves instead of tree branches. And elephants instead of gazelle.

I think Animal Planet hit a great idea with that special they ran awhile back. Dinosaurs and dragons, it makes perfect sense. They fit right in together.

Anyways, the show. It was pure awesome. The only hiccup came when the allosaurus broke down and had to be pushed off the stage. Amusing in its own way, but it did mean skipping about 15 minutes. Still got to watch a brachiosaurus wandering around munching on the fake trees and such.

My favorite without question was the full size tyranosaurus rex. Talk about perspective! Jurassic Park is way scarier when you can literally feel the footsteps, the roar reverberating in your chest as it declares supremacy over us puny humans.

Mind filled near to bursting with inspiration, I came home and immediately got to work on my WIP. I want to bring the wonder, the terror, the sheer savage glory of that t-rex and apply it to my work. For a fantasy writer, it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience, just once, a true titan among beasts. Who says fantasy is only found in fiction?

Writer Tech: Ultraportables

2008-04-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

Reading up on all the technology I wish I could own but likely never will, I stumbled across this post about small, affordable laptops (or notebooks, or whatever the term of the week is). Talk about awesome! Maybe the useless check the government is sending everyone next month will be worth something after all. I especially like the idea of the one that has a solar panel--it's a perfectly legitimate excuse to go somewhere nice and sunny to work! Like say, the beach. Sweet. (The sand might be a problem, though.)

I've thought about getting a PDA or something similar, but my fingers are a bit too large and make using the keyboard awkward. These seem like a wonderful alternative for the thick-fingered among us.

Of course, as with any laptop, the main drawback is the battery life, but it's not as big a deal as it used to be. iPods, Nintendo DS, cell phones--humans lead rechargeable lives these days.

Stark Reality

2008-04-23T22:58:00.000-04:00

is that everyone wants a college degree, even for jobs that don't necessarily require higher education. Therein lies my problem. I have no degree to wave around and decree myself educated with. So options are limited, as in nonexistent.

Even if I wanted to, I can't go to college now, either. Not when I have bills to pay, namely my car and its associated costs. My current paycheck is barely even covering that much and it's quickly becoming a rather important issue. Nothing left over for savings most months makes me very uncomfortable. I like to keep a safety net, not to mention looking ahead.

Stay in school, kids. You don't want to have this problem.

Another Dead End

2008-04-22T12:58:00.000-04:00

In the job-hunting arena. People should be forbidden from posting "buy this software and get rich in a week!" ads in the help wanted section of the newspaper. Complete waste of time and space. My already stretched patience is wearing thin.

Still undecided about what to do, especially with the recession that supposedly isn't happening yet is. The job market will be tight, but what else can I do? I've come to the conclusion that I hate my job to the point where I cannot stand being there anymore. So far I haven't found much. I must avoid retail and other public-relation jobs at all costs. I am not a people person, never have been, and never will. The only logical path is to not do a job that involves such dealings.

Of course, I do have a last resort if I cannot find anything to my liking. My brother has generously offered to convince his boss to give me a job, a feat which probably won't be difficult with his good reputation. He's a house painter by trade, so it's mainly seasonal work but his company is in fairly high demand due to their quality. My brother has about 15 years of experience with it, after all. He's the foreman, in fact.

Now, I'm not keen on ladders, but the hours are good, the pay is even better, and the benefits are outstanding, if intangible to anyone who hasn't worked in retail before. I'm sure I'd be able to pick up the basics very fast if I had to.

For now I'll keep looking, though. As much as I'd love to just write full time, it isn't an option right now. I'm sure I'll come across something sooner or later.

The Final Push

2008-03-15T08:58:00.000-04:00

After 36 years of service, today is the last day of operation for our little old store on the corner. We're completing the move to the new location with the grand opening slated for tomorrow morning. It's going to be one hell of a long day for me. In at 1:00 p.m. and out when we're done. The last two weeks have been hard on me. I'm working long hours, helping to move hundreds of boxes and totes and setting aisles. It's tough. We're all putting in most, if not all of our time in to get this done. We being me, a couple of the other store veterans, and the entire management staff. We have help from other stores as well, but up until today it's been mostly our crew.

Today is the big day. 50-60 people from every store in the area are coming in to help with the final move. We're taking all the remaining inventory off the shelves and hauling it all over to the new store to be either put on the new shelves or sent up to the overstock room. Although no new inventory has come in to the old store in nearly a month, there's still literally thousands of products on the sales floor that needs to be moved.

And to top it all off, winter hasn't yet relinquished her stormy hold on us. We'll be doing this move in the cold and the snow and wind. It won't be easy, but we'll have to persevere.

It's raining, it's pouring...

2008-03-12T09:50:00.001-04:00

and my lazy cat is snoring.

Sorry, I just needed to get that out of my head.

Despite the dreary weather, I'm in a wonderfully content mood this morning. I went to bed a little early last night and woke up early enough to hear a robin singing. Spring is coming! My plants are in excellent condition this morning, growing fast and strong. I did have to replant a few that did not grow, but overall I consider it a success.

Grabbed my coffee first thing, as usual, and something strange happened when I went to turn the TV on. (I don't know why but I insist on watching the weather reports, even though they are worthless here in New England.) I turned it back off, wondering why the hell I was wasting my time.

I finished my coffee, climbed up to the loft, and started writing instead. I outlined two chapters last night. It's not even 10:00 and I've already expanded those and written in two more. It's like someone grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me, and told me very sternly that this story needs to be written. Now.

I'm positive it's Alexander's doing.

On a more realistic note, it's probably because I already know how the ending should turn out, and I even know what the next story will be, if it does turn out to be longer than one book. I have the very beginning and the very ending. It's the middle that's the problem. I have no idea how they're all supposed to make it down this fog-shrouded road.

One way to find out: one scene at a time.

Back to work for me. I've got four hours before I should start thinking about my next shift, which starts at 3:00 this afternoon.

Sleepmarching to the Rhythm of a Dream...

2008-03-11T17:14:00.000-04:00

Yes, I woke up this morning at approximately 7:18 a.m. I was scheduled to be in at 7:00. Whoops! Luckily I was over at the new store today, and no one gave me a hard time about my goof. They usually don't. Not that I'm late very often, but I have trouble transitioning from night to day shifts.

It turned out to be a very long day of nothing but putting out the truck. I knew this ahead of time, but what I didn't expect was how sore my body still is from last week! Amazing what 40 hours of hard physical labor will do to a couch potato.

Overall, everything went smoothly. Left a bit late, but that's nothing new either. Came home, grabbed a coffee, took a quick shower, and here I am.

My plants are making good progress, all nice and green and the leaves are starting to unfurl. Hopefully my little garden will be successful this year. No, not vegetable. Flowers. Not just any flowers, but flowers designed to attract birds and butterflies. Birding is a hobby of mine, and I'm still debating whether I want to start a blog about my attempts to restore a little piece of the yard to more natural habitat.

I think I'm going to rework the outline for my novel again. Last night I introduced a new character who happens to be pivotal in causing the actual events of the story. The scene he features in may be part of a sequel, if I ever get that far.

I also need to start reading again. I've let myself slip with the excuse of either being too tired or not having enough time, neither of which is an acceptable excuse. Maybe I'll set some time aside after dinner, depending on what I'm doing with the novel.

Anyone read any good books lately? I'm always on the lookout, like my reading list isn't already about five miles long...

Prologue

2008-03-10T09:20:00.000-04:00

It's still fairly early in the morning here, but already I'm deep into my research. My goal is to start freelancing to help bring in a little extra income every month. There's so much to learn that I probably won't even be looking at markets or writing queries until next month.

That's ok, though. In the meantime I have plenty of writing I can do. I'm a fiction writer at heart and I'm participating in Absolute Write's March FADness, which is basically a short story a day. Unfortunately I had a late start and I have only one of the prompts completed, with a second in the works.

I'm also going to do at least two of this month's challenges in the SFF forum.

Today's goals:

At least two FAD stories. (1/2, 628)
One SFF challenge. (1/1, 335)

And I'll go from there.