My poem, "Rusalka" is in the Spring 2008 issue of Goblin Fruit. If you feel so inclined, you can read it, or listen to an MP3 of me reading it. You can also read a lot of other great fantasy poems while you're at it.
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09:24:26 AM,
Wednesday 9 April 2008
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The cat decided to interrupt my work, so I took advantage of the laptop's Photo Booth feature. See my flickr page for details. Silly cat.
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06:21:25 PM,
Monday 7 April 2008
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Cows looking put upon make me smile. I wonder if that is mean of me. (picture 4, though I can't seem to link to it directly)
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03:01:23 PM,
Monday 7 April 2008
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In case you have been disturbed enough today... I don't know what to say about this. I feel ill. Also, I am trying to imagine what I would do if I were the aesthetician. I think I'd have to say no. Just no.
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(6)
05:27:05 PM,
Friday 4 April 2008
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It is rainy and I am restless. The cat is restless, too. She doesn't want me to work.
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01:43:14 PM,
Friday 4 April 2008
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For many years I have had occasional spider dreams, in which I see spider coming towards me, jump out of bed, and freak out. I usually wake up across the room, or in the hallway. Since moving here, though, the spider dreams are changing (you may recall the lobster dream I had a while back). The other night I had a dream about seeing a spider that was small and in a web on a plant and not being scared of it at all, but my brain apparently still feels I ought to have something to freak out about because last night I had a terrifying jump into the hallway and start hyperventilating dream... about a cherry tomato. Yep. On the bed. I woke up in the hallway, short of breath and thought 1) I am sure there is not really a tomato on the bed, and 2) a tomato WTF, brain? This morning I told Moss about it, and he asked the obvious question. "How many more nightmares will you have that feature ingredients for bisque?"
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02:31:18 PM,
Wednesday 2 April 2008
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Taking it easy today. Downloaded Celtx and watched the tutorial videos. Started profiling characters, browsed scripts at Drew's Script-O-Rama, and just ordered dinner from the Bollywood Cafe (because it's theme appropriate for the first day of Script Frenzy!) so Moss and I can both take the evening off.
In other news, the first of April is unsettling because everyone lies, and I always forget to be cynical. I think I have fallen for 4 or 5 things. Not terribly surprising, though. When I was in middle school I fell for the "gullible isn't in the dictionary" line twice.
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(6)
06:42:44 PM,
Tuesday 1 April 2008
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Draft 2 came in a bit short at 61,223 words, and it still has some problems that I know I'll need to fix in draft 3, but it is done, and printed (110 single spaced pages in Times size 12 font), and in a binder all ready for Moss to have a go at reading it. Script Frenzy officially started 10 minutes ago, but I'm not going to think about that until morning. I finished draft 2 of the novel. in March. I have reached one of the more important goals I set for myself so far this year. Excuse the lack of exclamation points. I'm pretty much exhausted.
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12:13:14 AM,
Tuesday 1 April 2008
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Tucked in
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04:43:44 PM,
Monday 31 March 2008
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Failed to report at lunchtime, I know, but I have just reached 50k. Now to stagger off to bed and get ready for more hardcore revising tomorrow. I need to finish this draft before April, and I am beginning to think I actually can.
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10:54:36 PM,
Friday 28 March 2008
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Today's goal is to get to 50k on draft 2. A separate, but also important goal is to wash the sheets and towels. I will report back at lunchtime.
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10:04:14 AM,
Friday 28 March 2008
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At about 31k on draft 2 right now. Goal for today is to get to 35k. Stopping for lunch first, though. Yay, lunch!
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01:09:15 PM, Wednesday 26 March 2008
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Tagger's apology
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09:26:28 PM,
Monday 24 March 2008
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Writing Progress Report:
I managed to get through draft one earlier this week. Finally. I am now 12k (8k of that today) and change into draft 2. The idea is to slam through the second draft, not fixing any of the technical errors, or really polishing the prose much, but just putting the plot together in the correct order and fixing transitions so it reads like an actual story, and not a bunch of randomly jumbled scenes, some of which cut off in the middle of a sentence. I am hoping to get draft 2 done by the end of the month. 12k down, roughly 55 to go.
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07:54:51 PM, Thursday 20 March 2008
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My mother called me the other day and said, "The Easter Bunny is coming for you. Well, not just you. He's coming for Moss, too. I guess what I am trying to say is the Easter Bunny is coming for both of you, so look out." I keep looking over my shoulder now, worried about seeing a giant rabbit. I feel like Jake Gyllenhaal. Or Jimmy Stewart.
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06:17:44 PM, Wednesday 19 March 2008
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Happy Birthday, Mirabai!
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08:12:50 AM, Monday 17 March 2008
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Sleepcat!
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(2)
11:13:46 PM,
Sunday 16 March 2008
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Yesterday I spent the first half of the day trying to get work done and failing miserably. Finally around 1:40, having accomplished nothing, but feeling ever more depressed and anxious, I decided to get out of the house. If I couldn't work, at least I could get errands done, right? So I grabbed my backpack and a DVD we needed to return to Netflix, and set off for the post office and library. I intended merely to drop the DVD in the mail, pick up some books on my list (I maintain a physical Netflix queue style one with call numbers and everything), and walk straight back home. Instead, a curious thing happened.
After dropping the DVD in the mail and hightailing it to the library, I went up to the 808 section and picked up a stack of writing and screenwriting books. Then I took them to a desk so I could assess which ones would be most useful to me right now, and which ones I should leave for a later library mining expedition. Up to that point, I'd been all business, completely focused on my errands and not thinking about work. But. Once I was at the desk, instead of looking at the books, I ended up taking out my binder and notebook, and spending three hours(!) editing. I didn't even know I'd done it until I noticed that my legs were falling asleep and checked the time. Whoa!
So, I finally got home around 6 in a much better mood, and now I think I am going to leave the house again so I can try to get my readthrough and revised outline finished without falling into the trap of checking e-mail and reading blogs for 8 hours straight. Tomorrow Moss and I are planning to have a writing and programming frenzy, and I want to be ready to sit down and write, secure in the knowledge that I really know what's supposed to happen and when. Also, I want a cup of coffee, and I can't get that here.
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(1)
09:39:31 AM,
Friday 14 March 2008
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I got spam today with the subject line, "Bomb Her Womb With Your Huge Cannon!" and all I could think of was Jessica Linden.
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01:38:03 PM,
Thursday 13 March 2008
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On the right are the pages I've written in 2008
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(4)
03:06:16 PM,
Wednesday 12 March 2008
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2 hours of solid editing work in so far today. 382 new words, one working regular (not photo) printer, and 43 pages printed out, hole punched, and put into a binder in correct order. Now my grumbling tumbling declares it lunchtime. I suspect the printing and hole punching and page ordering and bindering will go on all afternoon. I am counting it as editing time because it is actual work that has to be done on this project. When I said as much to Moss this morning, he said, "Oh yeah, I'd totally bill those hours at work."
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01:07:59 PM,
Wednesday 12 March 2008
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Note the human helicopter
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10:57:49 AM,
Wednesday 12 March 2008
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Trader Joe's really plays up the steampunk
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(6)
10:54:42 AM,
Wednesday 12 March 2008
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We just watched an episode of Torchwood last night that was all about fairies. It had a plot like Swiss cheese, but it made this story that much more amusing/intriguing to me.
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(11)
08:56:07 AM,
Wednesday 12 March 2008
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Maybe I tried to do too much on Monday. Yesterday I was out of it all day with a migraine and a renewed (though much milder) sore throat. Bleh. I still managed to write a tiny bit, submitted a second thing for the year, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and finished my first book on screenwriting, so the day wasn't wasted, but I'm slightly worried about what amount of stuff I should attempt to do today. I feel better, you see, but I'd like to actually stay that way. As it is the cat woke me up at 5, and after trying and failing to sleep more, I've cleaned the kitchen and am baking experimental brown rice pudding. I think I'll try to focus on editing today. Slowly.
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07:38:10 AM,
Wednesday 12 March 2008
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*Laundry load #1 (clothes) Also called my mother. Yay multitasking!
*Empty dishwasher
*30 mins editing Possibly finally working out some nasty plot snarls.
*Trash cans up Finally managed to get rid of the broken chair that's been in the kitchen for weeks. Must remember to get trash bags sometime very soon.
*Laundry load #1 to dryer Huzzah!
*Load dishwasher and start it Also did the handwashing.
*30 mins editing Solid plot unsnarling progress. Roughly 1/3 through revised plot outline. Very hungry now.
*Lunch Black bean soup, chamomile tea, and an hour of reading and leaving feedback on other people's writing.
*Laundry load #2 (sheets and towels) Must wash evil illness out of everything.
*30 mins Script Frenzy prep Reading up on screenwriting mostly. Starting to sort out cast.
*Laundry load #2 to dryer
*30 mins Script Frenzy prep Read more on screenwriting while the cat purred in my lap. Used the reading corner for this round and notably, did not overturn the Poang chair on myself.
*Put laundry load #1 away Dressor the Malevolent is really quite useful now that it's all assembled.
*30 mins writing new words on project of choice Rather more than 30 minutes actually, and I seem to have gone back to the YA fantasy about the princesses and dragons and zombies that I previously thought was unsalvageable. Interesting. Perhaps an after April project?
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10:00:09 AM,
Monday 10 March 2008
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Writing progress report:
I have still written every day this year, and am currently averaging 816 words per day. Total words for the year so far: 55,534. I have submitted one thing so far (my original goal for the year was to submit 6 things, so that's not bad). Of my new words this year something between 35 and 40k of them were on my novel, the rest on short stories mainly. Of the stories, I've only gotten 2 past first draft stage. Still and all, that's progress.
For NaNoEdMo, Moss and I both got sick immediately after it started. I have a total of 3 hours and 30 minutes out of my desired 50. if I were on a good schedule, I should have about 13 hours done by now. Still, a ten hour lag is still in catch uppable territory
Script Frenzy: I did keep up on this goal last week, because I could do it by staying in bed and reading. So far I have read 3 research books for my Script Frenzy project, and have started to untangle some of the knots in it. I need to get a working scene outline, also to read up on screenwriting. So, more on that progress next week.
Goals for this week: Get 15 hours of editing done, maintain Novel in 90 750 word a day minimum of new words, do one hour per weekday of prep on script frenzy project.
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07:00:23 PM,
Saturday 8 March 2008
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Spiky and green
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(1)
12:17:08 PM,
Saturday 8 March 2008
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Dream logic:
The other night I dreamt that I was in the kitchen and saw a large spider, then because I knew that there weren't such spiders here, it turned into a sort of spideresque lobster, because I know lobsters exist in Massachusetts. It was a terrifying lobster spider thing that had spindly red legs, which clicked ominously on the tile floor, and it could scuttle very fast. It also had the added bonus of large red lobster claws to complement its many shiny spider eyes and eight clicky legs. I kept luring it out the front door, but it would scuttle back in and come after me before I could get the door closed. When I woke up, I told Moss about it, and it wasn't until then that I realized that the fact that my brain had substituted lobster for spider because I know lobsters exist here was actually very funny in a perverse sort of way.
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05:13:44 PM,
Friday 7 March 2008
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Overheard at Sick People with Cabin Fever Central
Me: [Acquaintance] is going to Disney World.
Moss: Ah.
Me: I want to go to Disney World!
Moss: Someday.
Me: How come everybody else gets to go to Disney World and I have to stay home?
Moss: If you don't publish a novel, you can't go to Disney World! How can you go to Disney World if you don't publish a novel?
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(6)
04:45:20 PM,
Wednesday 5 March 2008
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NaNoEdMo started today. Moss and I went down to the Newbury Street Ben and Jerry's to the kickoff editing session and logged two hours of our 50. Moss is of course working on his bloglet programming project, but the EdMos all agreed that he can be an honorary participant since he's also measuring his work in hours.
I decided to go ahead and use my retrofuture novel as the project even though the first draft hasn't quite gotten finished. I spent today trying to untangle the mess it's in and nail down the definitive cast of characters, plot summary and goals for the month. Boy do I have my work cut out for me. But I think this was a good choice. I have already identified two problems that were making the first draft difficult. Once I get the plot summary done, I plan to make a proper scene outline and then start attacking it all methodically, beginning to end. In the meantime, I'm still actually writing the end for Novel in 90, which will wrap up this cycle at the end of March. With a lot of work and some luck, I should end March with a complete and revised draft of the novel.
I'm also planning to spend 30 minutes to an hour each weekday on planning for my Script Frenzy project. That prep will include research, plotting, learning about screenwriting, and coming up with an outline of scenes.
Since March is a really busy writing month for me, I'm going to try to give weekly progress reports either here or on LiveJournal, just so I can keep track. Also, I've survived two full months of writing every single day! Yay!
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(5)
06:40:55 PM,
Saturday 1 March 2008
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It's a beautiful cookie day!
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(4)
03:46:18 PM,
Friday 29 February 2008
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The cat says, "You are always busy with dancing, dancing, dancing! You should pay some attention to me!"
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(2)
12:03:07 PM,
Thursday 28 February 2008
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Snow
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10:10:25 PM,
Friday 22 February 2008
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Now it's gone!
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(3)
10:03:17 PM,
Wednesday 20 February 2008
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I have signed up for National Novel Editing Month, which requires 50 hours of editing in the month of March. Now I just have to figure out which project I am going to spend those 50 hours on. I'd like to do it on the novel I am currently working on, but I really don't know that I'll be ready. That leaves two big contenders: my nanovel from 2007, which is certainly doable, but never showable to anyone for personal reasons, and my nanovel from 2006, which is a YA (young adult) fantasy about princesses and zombies and dragons (oh my!), and is a complete mess and possibly unsalvageable. This needs thinking.
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(1)
01:43:53 PM,
Wednesday 20 February 2008
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site & script courtesy of Moss