Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

12/07/2009 - Monday
* Performance advice from a poet: http://inktea.com/2009/12/07/performance-advice/
* Posted writing logs.
* Meh freewriting.
* NanoWriMo (though it's past the WriMo now).
* Redmarked "Writ in Sunshine and Snowflakes" AKA "Ice Mother"

In Progress, Writing

They thought they could come and conquer our world easily. - Kept in Coral

With great reverence, Leander committed the greatest blasphemy of his life. - Tree of Life

In Progress, Editing

When Albin's nursemaid woke him in the dead of night, he knew something even worse than the death of his father had happened. - The Unkindness of Ravens

Clara ought to be home by now, an' my daughter. - And the Dog Died

"Just go, Will," Isabel said, turning her head to look out the window as if he were already gone. - Writ in Snowflakes and Sunshine

Having the king of Achromia's confidence was a heady sensation, but Bertrand had only to think of some of the tasks he'd been assigned to feel his feet become firmly grounded once more. - Pneumatic Knights

The old woman found the naked boy curled up in a semi-truck tire on the beach. - The Old Woman By The Sea

"What a huge, marvelous fish!" John's wife exclaimed. - Out of Focus

Night mist swirled around Valinda's boots as she walked through the empty street. - Vicesteed

* Hunted high and low looking for the marked-up copy of "The Ice Mother"--had hoped to make editing changes and figure length to decide whether or not to submit to Misfits writing contest. Instead, realized I couldn't find it anywhere. Freaked out and tore house apart.
* Went to Cahoots and redmarked "The Unkindness of Ravens" instead, fixing the jarring and confusing beginning. Beginnings are my kryptonite as a writer. I *never* pick the right point to start a story. Fortunately, I'm getting pretty good at fixing this.
* penthius freewriting - "Signing Away Sanity: Science Fiction"
* Got home and double-checked digital manuscript to see if I'd maybe made editing changes and just forgotten to note that in my manuscript tracking spreadsheet. Nope. Still 1st draft. Cue profuse swearing
* Then there was alcohol, and an idea for what seemed at the time like a funny parody of all the "I fight demons" stories out there.

...since I did one of these.



"Police 'Bot" Writing Log

1,327 / 5,000 (26.5%)

Writing work periods completed: 3 1/2
Words yesterday: 323 new
Total words: 1,327
Reasons for length: It's been a while since I've sat down and written, let alone written on this specific story, so that slows things down a fair bit. I also spent a lot of the writing time working on writing-related tasks that weren't actual writing. And figuring out/brainstorming the plot in a bit more detail than the rough outline I've been working from. Yes, I work from outlines. Yes, they're rough outlines. Yes, they're subject to change without notice. Yes, usually I'm the one who isn't getting notified.
Overused word: ain't
Gratuitous word: tenement
Type of scene: Is it still exposition if I've got a whore explaining matters in an entertaining fashion?
Challenge(s): Planting seeds for later.
Which line is it anyways?Run-down tenement houses ringed the park.
Other writingy stuff: Ha. Whew.
* penthius freewriting.
* Posted to other-genre lj.
* Updated market listings spreadsheet from Ralan newsletter and from Critters newsletter.
* Submitted "Ice Mother" AKA "Writ in Snowflakes and Sunshine" to Critters queue--it should percolate to the top in about a month, assuming I'm too busy to do the metric shit-ton of critiques necessary to get a free pass to the top of the list (I swear, I will be so happy once I'm SFWA-approved....).
* Replied to the last Baen's Universe comment on "The Miracle Material.
* Processed form letter rejection of "These Things Take Time" from Aberrant Dreams (that poor baby ain't never going to find a home--everybody dislikes the main character, and who wants to spend time with someone they dislike, even and especially if they reflect something you dislike in yourself?).
Notes: I really, really like the story I'm working on right now. I mean, robots! Endearing, long-suffering, honest, dog-shaped robots! And bonus points for a framework of social commentary! The Muse: "I like robots. Does it do funny tricks?" Me: "Not intentionally, but it's kind of broken." Him: "So it does do funny tricks! Is it a good robot?" Me: *long discourse about the nature of good and bad in reference to created creatures* Him: "Is it a good robot?" Me: "Yes."

6:50 a.m. - in bed. without monkeys.
What the hell is Foundling destroying, and why won't he let me *sleep*?

9:37 a.m. - checking out new writing markets
In the guidelines for the new Fantasybookspot E-zine: "If you send fan-fiction…I will kill you!" Well, that's a good level of candor, and it made me laugh out loud to read it.

9:45 a.m.
Clearly, I'm not yet thinking, um...clearly...this morning. Now is *not* the right day to start doing critiques in hopes of getting an MPC from Critters. I would have to do ten today. Next week, I will do many critiques to boost the next chapter of Vicesteed up in the queue for critique. Hopefully, it will even get a critique (individual chapters, especially when they're not the first ones, are difficult to get critiqued)!

10:50 a.m.
I open a window and kitten comes galloping up so fast that he nearly skids out of control. Cats. High comedy. Excellent company for writers and other people who stay at home alone for long periods of time.

10:54 a.m. - doing first draft edit of "Ice Mother"
"He was a man well-worthy of a second look." Oh, puh-leeze!!! Why did I think I could be a writer again?
( More best/worst lines and other editing sidebars )

"Ice Mother" Writing Log

8,060 / 8,060 (100.0%)

End of Project Writing Log
Words today: 483
Total words: 8,060
Type of story: A modern fantasy about a young woman who was adopted by an elemental ice spirit when she was three years old, after her mother left her out in the snow. She is forced to come to terms with the varying states of her nature and emotions, and the things that have created these characteristics.
Challenge(s): Aside from writing an even halfway-reasonable synopsis? (Ok, so I failed that one.) The title. Check it out below.
Notes: I will do a basic edit of this before I even give it to critiquers. On the other hand, I am looking for volunteers to critique this baby, as always. If you're interested, you won't get a copy for a week or so.

Prospective Titles:
Blood Mother, Ice Mother
The Ice Mother
Child of Blood and Ice
Child of Ice
Daughter of Ice
Ice's Daughter
Birthmother, Ice Mother
The Temper of Ice
The Temperature of Ice
The Temperateness of Ice
The Temperature of the Heart
A Temperate Heart
The Weather of Affection
The Weather of the Heart
Winter of the Heart
A Temperate Winter
Between the Freezing Point and the Melting Point
Tempering the Freezing Point
Freezing Point of the Heart
The Point Between Freezing and Melting

Happy Easter! Celebrate the rebirth of the year, and leave behind your sins of the past....

There's a pleasurable condescension inherent in reading travel articles. "Tourists are advised to..." "Tourists may enjoy...." Securely above the awkward cultural negotiations involved in being a tourist.

Tourists in Jerusalem rent crosses and carry them around? Yikes. I'm not talking about a small crucifix either. I'm talking an eight-footer.

This...sounds kind of hot. Hard-boiled sex writing contest--http://www.desdmona.com/contestsubmit.php Desdmona has the best erotica contests.

Just putzing around this morning...reading a backlog of email, fooling around in photoshop to make some new desktop backgrounds from the Topolino photographs...a nice slow start. In half-an-hour, I'll kick myself in the ass and start with the writing again.

( Writing, Bread Sandwich recipe )

Okay, I do really like some of the photos of me. Also, I'm having a shit-ton of fun playing around with them in Photoshop. Mmm...contrasty.

My parents attended a "tenebrae service" at church. Hot.

Are Catholics allowed to neuter their pets?

At a little past five, the sun sinks low enough to cast its glare directly into my eyes as I sit in front of my computer. I might need to start wearing a baseball cap when I'm writing at a certain time. Usually, though, this is making dinner and/or getting ready for Tae Soo Do time. Only on the weekends is this writing time.

Note to self: ask critiquers about use of "her mother" as referent.

Sometimes, I am afflicted with the urge to write something awful just to get it over with. Like the desire to follow, "Crimson mantled her mother's cheeks as if she'd been slapped," with "She had been--a psychic slap that reached across the room with the power of her daughter's wounded heart." See? Awful.

Woo! 150 words in an hour! Yeah, I'm just powering through this baby! ...'Scuse me, I have to go shoot myself. In the brain. Wait, no! The target's location has not been definitively proved. I'm probably better off drowning; I know I've got lungs.

Is it "jell-o-wrestling," "jell-o wrestling," or "Jell-O wrestling?"

Sheesh. I'm gonna have to do an edit-before-the-edit for "Ice Mother"...just to make people willing to critique it without throwing it against the wall a few paragraphs or pages in.

I know there are robins in three photographs...I just can't find them. I can only see a robin in one. I'll have to scan the negatives when I get them back--make very large images.

Maybe penthius doesn't help keep the creative pipes from freezing over as much as I'd hoped. I'm sure having a hell of a time getting started on finishing "Ice Mother."

The photos were scanned in slightly off the negative (The first time this has happened to me; I blame the darkness of the shot for messing up an auto-sensor. Or a foot fetishist.). I actually somewhat like the effect in some of the shots: adds a nice surrealism. Plus I'm not going to be using these photos for anything really. The lit window behind me completely screwed up the exposure--Phil didn't use manual and didn't get close enough to avoid the problem, and I just didn't think of it. I am entirely ambivalent about the value of the photographs (only 1 1/2 rolls instead of 3), but at least I got some more user icons out of it!

The Muse denies that he just came up behind me and rasped, "Ghetto in your head."

I rather like the idea of crawling graffiti. NIMBY, of course.

What sort of person gets Good Friday off work? The Muse sort of person, that's who. It's quite distracting, having him shambling around the house and rearranging furniture.

Notes from work and transit--I'll expand on these if anyone actually cares to know:
* rabbit-ears man
* proselytizing on the street corner
* argyle socks
* furry lifestyles
* startling high amount of apple
* midlife crisis dog collar

"Ice Mother" Writing Log

3,294 / 5,000 (65.9%)

Words yesterday: 691
Total words: 3,294
Reason for length: Got a quite late start. Hadn't written for a while. Y'know, the usual.
Overused word: light
Gratuitous word: prosaic
Type of scene: Why are the lights out? Didn't your mom know we were coming.
Challenge(s): Teasing out little echoes of rural horror without actually making people expect it.
Which two lines is it anyways?A blur of white slipped out of the front door of the cabin. It floated across the snow towards them like a hungry ghost.
Other writingy stuff: received rejection of "Bed of Roses" with invite to expand and resubmit; updated manuscript-tracking spreadsheet; read Writersweekly writing ezine; and worked on Schedule C for taxes.
Notes: Now I'm worried about whether there's enough dynamic movement in the plot.

"Ice Mother" Writing Log

1,448 / 5,000 (29.0%)

Words yesterday: 781
Total words: 1,448
Reason for length: Don't ask me, I don't know. Grr. Maybe this is why I shouldn't write short stories: they are always beginning, and I'm awful at beginnings. I write much, much slower and the quality's lower.
Overused word: beautiful
Gratuitous phrase: over the moon
Type of scene: flip side of the mood swing coin
Challenge(s): pacing
Which line is it anyways?At least the cold couldn't hurt her, she thought as she pushed open the door of the apartment building and a swirl of snow-laden wind wrenched the door from her hand.
Notes: Kind of sort of really pissed off about my level of productivity on this. Also not sure how I'll market it--it's practically litfic. It might not be enough of a fantasy to have the genre markets take it.