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March 31, 2005

the postcard dilemma

So, I haven't gotten my postcard back yet. And it'll be a month on Monday.

Is this too long, or not long enough? I have no fucking clue. It eats me up to think that the manuscript got lost en route to New York. It eats me up to think that I might have screwed up with addressing or stamping my stuff.

Anyway, next Friday I'm going to send a letter with SASE. And hope I don't piss off the submissions gods with my obsessive fretting. And hope it gets there. And hope something weird didn't happen to the monstrosity. Like improper postage or whatever.

Grrr. Arrrr.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:52 AM | TrackBack

chapter fourteen and fifteen-ish

Count: 52,443

I have to say...Ria is a lot less morose than Myr. I don't feel like listening to Radiohead when I'm writing about Ria. Which is not to say she doesn't have her problems. They're just different.

Outlined some more magic stuff, renamed things. Good day.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:46 AM | TrackBack

March 30, 2005

Lamb by Christopher Moore

The "missing years" of Joshua (Jesus) as told by his best pal, Biff, are funny, adventurous, and surprisingly poignant.

Title: Lamb
Author: Christopher Moore
ISBN: 0380813815
Sample Chapter? Yes.

I was surprised by this book. I was expecting something funny, but not something thoughtful. As so often happens with humor, though, the best kind manages to sneak in some poignancy along the way.

Lamb is the kind of Gospel I would have read as a girl. It's a tale of sex, love, fist fights, kung fu, parables, and Eastern wisdom, all written with a quirky, Douglas-Adams-Meets-Monty-Python sense of humor.

There's a moment in any reinterpretation of a well-known story that I look for. It's the moment when I'm reading, and I know how things are going to turn out, and I desperately don't want them to go that way. I felt it when I read Mists of Avalon for the first time, and I felt it during Lamb.

I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor looking for something to laugh at and maybe feel better about the world in general. It's an entertaining story with an appealing cast of characters, not the least of which is the narrator. The fact that every single one of the disciples and apostles winds up as a distinct, quirky character is a testimony to the writer's craft.

Excellent work.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:36 PM | TrackBack

night off

And this, kids, is why you should always know the person who writes your term papers for you.

A lot of commenters (usually the ones sympathetic to her) assume she's never done this before. My experience with this sort of individual is that 99.9% of the time they're a repeat offender. Well, she got caught bigtime -- and good thing she did. She's learning a valuable life lesson. She'll probably -- probably -- be a better person for it, once the dust has settled.

And crimeny, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard the "you must have been talking to my little sister/brother" excuse, I'd be cruising Hawaii in my massive Arkansas-sized yacht by now.

So! I drew stuff tonight. Other than that, I had a nice night just sitting around and doing nothing. La la la. Time to go finish reading Lamb.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:03 AM | TrackBack

March 29, 2005

chapter fourteen-ish

Ended for tonight at: 50,085.

I'm halfway! WHOO! I may take tomorrow night off. Since the 14th I have written nearly a chapter a day. I have also written copious notes about world changes that have happened from 1-14. Revisions are gonna be interesting. ANd I already know how Chapter 1 is going to be different.

OMG this thing is halfway done. :P Well, first draft, at least...HA HA HAHA HA HA HA (splat).

BED!

Posted by sdshaver at 02:48 AM | TrackBack

chapter thirteen

Total: 48,203

Thirteen done. I'm going to push for the extra 1800 words tonight, because I just can't resist.

Tonight's writing has been brought to you by Pink Floyd, Decembrists, socialism, and the letter Scone.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:47 AM | TrackBack

March 28, 2005

chapter twelve and thirteen-ish

Total: 45,674. Would have made 50k if I hadn't lost last night to headache. Ah well.

After being behind a chapter, I'm now ahead a chapter. Hmmmm. Not a big deal, but still: Hmmmm.

Line that made me laugh out loud tonight:


Maybe it's just me. Kind of like the chicken thing.

I also seem to be falling in love with my heroine's love interest. Damn it. Every time he shows up, I get all mushy-eyed. Damn it.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:17 AM | TrackBack

March 27, 2005

chapter eleven

Total: 41,674

The headache got too bad last night. I went to sleep at the ungodly hour of 1 AM. I finished Eleven today, but I won't be making goal -- though I did make my original goal, and I will be damn close.

Off to practice. Back later.

Posted by sdshaver at 04:06 PM | TrackBack

of tallships and girls

This is awesome. All the more so because you can volunteer to be part of the crew.

Yep. That's the sound of me setting a new goal for the next ten years. Tallships used to sail into Dana Point harbor all the time. I've walked aboard them several times. I've dreamed of working on one in more than one story. That's what having a sailor for a dad does to you.

I could also (hypothetically) write off working on Lady Washington as research. MAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHA.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:32 PM | TrackBack

March 26, 2005

of horses and girls, part 2

Sue (the Ki West sensei) is awesome. Her horses -- Kahlua, "Nori" (Aroro), Fuego, and Mesquite -- are awesome. The two older ones are also awesome, but I forgot their names, though I did get to feed them.

Unfortunately, I'm having a severe allergic reaction to all that country dust, and it's wiped me out. 50k is unlikely at this rate. I'm just too tired.

So anyway, about horses....

Bear in mind I am a bigtime city girl. I warned Sue of that, too.

The first thing I noticed when the barn door was opened was the smell. It isn't a bad smell, but it is strong. It smells like horse manure, mollases, and hops.

The barn was open on one end to allow the horses to come inside and feed. There were mice scurrying openly across the rafters and wood beams. A cat would have a field day in there.

The horses were annoyed that the ground around the barn was muddy. They trotted in from the pasture, and all four stopped at the edge of the mud and stared at it, like Sue could make it magically go away. After a while, Nori -- eight weeks away from dropping a foal, with a big, fat belly -- took the plunge and trotted across the mud to the promise of graaaaaains.

Kahlua is the herd leader, though Nori didn't seem to care. I'm hauling a foal in my stomach, she seemed to say. I eat first.

Kahlua followed and insisted on inspecting me. When I was nine, I learned the best way to introduce yourself to a strange animal is to hold your fist out to it, so that's what I did. He sniffed the fist, and then went for my hair. Horses sniffing my hair = AWESOME.

I did have a moment of completely irrational fear as the two horses walked into the barn and got close. Maybe because they'r so BIG. Maybe because the last time I saw a horse, it bit my hand. I really didn't expect to be afraid, though, and was surprised when I was.

Then I said to self, "Self, this is stupid. The horse just wants to see you." And after that, it was all good.

Kahlua got his own stall, and his own bucket of food. When Kahlua was safely away in his own private dining room, Mesquite and Fuego trotted in and looked to us for their own meals.

Fuego (as the name implies) is a roan. Mesquite had sort of a muleish look to him -- dark gray, spiky mane. Nori was dark gray, though Sue says she was born red-gray. Kahlua is creamy beige, and has Apaloosa in him. The other horses are Paso Fino, I think. I admittedly don't remember what all their breeds are, and apologize for the lack of knowledge.

Fuego and Mesquite are both young -- two years or so -- and shy. Though Mesquite was fairly amiable, Fuego is only just letting Sue touch him.

The horses were all shedding their winter coats, and I was amazed at how fuzzy they were, and how easy the fur came off. The barbed wire around the pasture had little tufts of their fur on it. Apparently one of the horses -- the oldest one, and I'm sorry I don't remember his name -- likes to roll around on the ground, and leaves a big patch of fur when he does. Heh heh heh.

Once Nori finished eating, I got to lead her around her stall a bit by a rope halter, using voice, intent, and gesture to get her to walk forward, back, and in circles. This was really neat. It's the sort of experience I'm not sure I would have gotten if I had just gone to a riding stable.

Meanwhile, Kahlua finished off his bucket, came around, and proceeded to try and eat Fuego and Mesquite's bucket of chow. Greedy guy, that herd leader.

After that we went out and fed the other, older horses. One of Sue's horses is 33. I had no idea they lived that long. I got to scoop up grains and toss hay at the horses. And I'm invited back anytime.

It was very good. I gotta figure out when I can visit next. It's quite a drive -- an hour from my place -- but it's worth it.

Horsies!

Posted by sdshaver at 10:23 PM | TrackBack

chapter eleven-ish

Total: 39,027. Tonight: 3,500. (Not counting the 600 I wrote and then decided would be better in 12.)

Halfway through Eleven. Leaving off at a good part (not HAWT SEXXX good, but OMG WTF R U DOING?? LOL BBQ!!!1! good), because I need sleep.

For tomorrow...there will be horses!

(And maybe photos. If I remember my camera.)

Posted by sdshaver at 03:33 AM | TrackBack

March 25, 2005

crazygoalnuts

I'm going to try something crazy and hit 50k by Sunday night. So far I've met all my goals, so obviously I need to throw something at my self that it can't possibly meet and see what happens.

I gave the next two projects categories because they're banging around in my head, rattling their chains and making scary OOOOoooooOOoOOoooOOooOH noises. Also, there appears to have been a 1910 (!!!) movie with the same title as what I want to give one of the books. We <3 Google.

Posted by sdshaver at 04:56 PM | TrackBack

chapter ten-ish

Words tonight: 2,729 Total: 35,523

Finished Nine, wrote the Interlude, and then got through most of Ten. Trimmed down One, moved some of its "reveals" to Nine.

Technically I'm 1/3rd done, since the manuscript is slated to be 100k. Hunh.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:50 AM | TrackBack

more poultry

What IS it with the chicken jokes? Seriously. I don't get it. My subconscious is whacked.


Well, I suppose it IS evocative. Whether it survives the final cut is another matter.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:09 AM | TrackBack

March 24, 2005

redesign

After years of threatening, I finally cleaned up my space on sff.net.

The old blog is funny, but probably only to me. At one point I was proud to be writing ten pages...a week.

Point and laugh at your younger self, Steph! AH HA HA HA HA HA.

The World Tree, my not-so-good online "novel", also got a facelift, though I maintain my promise to self to not rewrite it or take it down. No matter how...much...I want...to....

Posted by sdshaver at 05:41 PM | TrackBack

chapter nine-ish

Total: 32,794. Tonight: 2,857.

I shaved a few from 7 and 8. I got a late start (family duties) and did not finish 9. Two pages left on it, which I may make up for in revisions. Outline is a bit behind, but I think by 10 we'll be where we need to be.

Yawning like an idiot. Going to bed.

Next "chapter" is an interlude. It should be short and sweet.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:10 AM | TrackBack

March 23, 2005

yea, verily

Cat and Girl at the Movies.

There's a long babble about stuff you probably already know if you've been reading this journal for a while. It's behind the cut.

Despite raging insomnia last night, I'm doing pretty well today. I guess my body is becoming accustomed to the new way of things, which is around 6-7 hours of sleep on the weekdays, and catch-up on the weekends.

I'm going back to exercise; I did thirty minutes last night, and my legs are screaming today, so I did something right. Sorely out of shape. I had trembling fatigue in my leg muscles after fifteen minutes of squats and lunges, but I welcome it. I need to be in shape for the next five years.

Ah Yes, The Next Five Years
I said the next five years are going to be interesting, and they are. My goal this year is to finish and ship off at least four books, and chances are good I'll be halfway done with the second one by Sunday.

Is that overly ambitious? I dunno. More like -- overcompensating. I have no idea what's going to stick to the walls. I have no idea if my craft is even up to par for novel sales yet. If it is, I'll sell books. If it isn't, I'll keep writing them until it is.

I read webcomics. I read a lot of webcomics. I realized recently that the ones that update the most frequently also happen to be the ones that are the best drawn in terms of structure, style, and layout.

The two are absolutely related. Why? Because those are the artists who draw every day. They are honing their craft regularly. Whether they realize it or not -- that's another matter.

It's not an earth-shattering epiphany; I realized it a couple years ago when I came to the conclusion that writing a paragraph a week wasn't getting me anywhere. It confirms what I already knew: Writers write. Every damn day they're physically able to sit down and do so.

And conceivably, I'll be doing just that for the rest of my life. While I have a dayjob (which I still love!) I need to maximize my freetime and health so that I can maintain a rate of writing and dayjob-working that doesn't result in a diminishment of quality in one or the other. I owe them both. I will not abandon either.

Self-Esteem and the Road Crew
Writing irregularly wasn't the only problem I had, though. Not by a longshot. The worst habit I had was the second-guessing. The doubting. The little voice that still whispers: You will never, ever, ever sell a book.

I wish I could say when and where I decided to stop giving in to the second-guessing. It was probably a combination of prowling the essays of other authors, and getting sick of hitting the chapter 20 roadblock and starting over.

It also happened when I stopped sharing my work with my friends. This is one of those temptations I have to constantly resist. I want to show the work-in-progress to people. I dare not. I see a lot of beginners falling into this trap. In my case, it's a self-esteem thing. A fear of failure, that I'm heading down the wrong road. Guess what? Roads can be repaired. Potholes can be filled in. Roadbumps can be smoothed over. There are hundreds of ways to tell one story -- getting tangled up by that can strangle your muse.

One day, if Sword ever gets published, I'll have to post all the different Chapter Ones I wrote for it. It'd blow your fucking mind how much time I wasted just trying to write the first ten chapters of that damn book. And it wasn't the story's fault. The story is strong. The characters are fun. They're not to blame.

The writer is. Because the writer did not believe.

The writer still has a hard time believing. Just because I've stopped giving in to the second-guessing doesn't mean I don't still second-guess. The temptation to start Winter over is creeping in, even though the things I know are wrong with it -- I don't define the world enough, I'm not sure Ria is developed well enough -- I can fix. Gimme a shovel and a bucket of tar. We'll patch that baby.

Three years ago, I'd be ditching the back and the bathwater over my shoulder.

Now?

Full steam ahead. I can't wait to work on Nine tonight after work.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:29 PM | TrackBack

chapter eight - fowl humor

Words: 3634. Total: 29967.

Gross poultry injustice continues:


I'm either hysterical or utterly lame. Only an editor and the reader can say which.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:09 AM | TrackBack

March 22, 2005

chapter eight-ish

Wow. "Gabble" is a word. Hm.

The four links I use most while writing:

Hashed out more of Ria's world today. Will fold into 1 and 2 on the weekend. Her world ("Ceoboraan" - KO-bo-rahn) needs definition early on, or I risk losing the reader.

Halfway through chapter eight, by the by. Still chugging away. I plan to reward myself with Scrubs when Eight is done. Mmm. Zach Braff.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:42 PM | TrackBack

March 21, 2005

chapter seven

New word count: 26,303. Total tonight: 3,538. First draft over 25% done. Uh, is that right? I guess it is. Wow.

Now THAT was a fun way to end a chapter (Seven). I had one of those breathtaking moments where I was tapping out words, waiting to see how it played out. Pure magic.

I also went back and did some exposition in One. I feel so dirty.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:45 PM | TrackBack

maddening

Still no postcard.

Gnawing fear at the back of my mind: maybe my ten-ton monstrosity got lost in the mail. Grumble. So I focus on goals instead:


Nine is this week. I can't wait for Nine.

Doctor today to check my upstart mandible. Oh, goody.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:03 PM | TrackBack

chapter six

New count: 22,765. 2700 words (kept) today, about 1500 tossed away. I rewrote one scene four times and chopped out a whole scene of exposition.

According to the outline I'm a scene behind again, but it's okay. The second half of Chapter 6 can be a chapter in and of itself.

Off to make meringues, and then bed.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:36 AM | TrackBack

March 20, 2005

chapter six-ish

1,200 words, for a total of 20k. I can safely go to bed.

I'll finish six tomorrow. It started easy and looks like it'll stay that way.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:37 AM | TrackBack

chapter five

New count: 18,848 for 2400 words today. Hm. Not a whole lot of progress. I blame Saturday.

I'll dig into 6 for the extra 2,000 words I need to get up to 1/5th of the way complete.

Need food now, tho.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:15 AM | TrackBack

March 19, 2005

back to winter

Wrote a page. Heading upstairs to eat something so I avoid the inevitable hypoglycemia headache o' doom.

Posted by sdshaver at 03:48 PM | TrackBack

no writing, just wine

Nope, no progress tonight. But some interesting things crystallized today in my head. It'll take some time to explain. Since I like to keep these entries short and tidy, I'll move the bulk of the comments to the link so you don't have to read them unless you want to.

I spent time at a friend's house drinking sangria and jawing off with my game's producer and fellow designers about writing and the game industry.

Just got home now. Eyes heavy. Time to read a couple chapters of Lamb and hit the sack.

I'll finish 5 (and probably 6) of Winter tomorrow.

The way I see it, part of the whole breaking into writing thing is figuring out where the market is -- the low-hanging fruit, per se -- and then going after the ones that fit into what I enjoy writing. The chances of getting a book published are so slim, I'd be stupid if I didn't research and figure out where my odds are their best.

But at the same time, I have to write what I like and what I know. You will not, for instance, find me writing science fiction about cat-powered cybernetic gravy boats. Nor will you find me writing light comedies about a Zen-Buddhist and his twenty geisha companions. I just don't write that stuff.

I do write books like Winter, though. Nearly all my short story sales have been to female editors, and more than half of those went to an anthology famous for its feminism. You say you're looking for romantic female-oriented fantasy by first-time writers? Hmmm...lemme think here. Ah yes. WHERE DO I SIGN?

The next thing I'm plotting will be a tie-in with The Game. Me and the producer are still talking about this, because details are still fuzzy. It's meant to be a media tie-in, and I would need to finish it before September. At my current writing rate, this shouldn't be too hard for an 80-100k novel.

And after that -- I had an idea a while back called Jane and the Stranger. Paranormal romance...ish. Much to my surprise, paranormal romance has somehow become very popular (I can't imagine why). I've been wanting to write about Jane and her predicament for about a year, but I just didn't think the market was strong enough to justify the effort.

Guess what. The market's strong enough to justify the effort.

Today. By September, maybe cat-powered cybernetic gravyboats will be all the rage. Maybe not. I'm hoping ye olde paranormal romance is still going strong, though, because I pitched Jane's premise to five separate people today, and the response was a unanimous, "That. Is. Cool."

So now comes the question some of you may be asking: is Steph being mercenary, or just smart?

Steph doesn't know.

This is what ten years of the gaming industry has made of me, though. We went through a period where we questioned what our "selling point" was, and I can't help but be affected by that. I can't help but be affected by the need for milestones, outlines, and boiling down a pitch into the most attractive parts. Writing copy IS part of my job. And that comes in handy when you're trying to sell a book to a publisher.

And my problem isn't the ideas -- I have enough in the Crowned Lands alone to last me ten years or more, without writing anything else -- it's deciding what to do first.

I love my little story seeds. Give me time, enough contracts, and a good publisher or three, and maybe someday we'll get to see them all.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:28 AM | TrackBack

March 18, 2005

chapter five-ish

Words tonight: 1906. New total: 16372. 16% done.

I would have finished five tonight, but....


And now I am yawning, which is no good for my horridly aching jaw joint. I finally called the doctor, and I'll be heading in on Monday to have him tell me what I probably already know.

Or, alternately, I find out that I have an evil twin growing in my jaw. That could be fun.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:17 AM | TrackBack

March 17, 2005

chapter four

Words tonight: 3,337. New total: 14,472.

Had a slow start tonight due to a chat, but it's all good. Visiting cathedrals in Spain really helped this bit of the story.

Tomorrow night may be a low yield night due to class. We'll seeeeee.

I also got a great scene I wasn't expecting. We'll see if it survive revisions. Would someone REALLY fall for someone that fast? Me, I've been in situations where if I thought a) he was single b) he was willing, and c) we were alone, I'd have probably jumped him -- but didn't, because those conditions have yet to be met.

Uh, anyway -- I am now caught up with the outline. Chapter 5 is a turning point, and it's gonna be fun fun fun!

How fitting that I end on "Love Song To a Stranger" by Joan Baez.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:30 AM | TrackBack

March 16, 2005

chapter three

3400 brand new words. Total count: 11,135 words.

It looks like I'm only a scene behind on my outline. Which is good, because I think toward the start of the outline I packed too much in. It got better as I wound on.

I am, of course, worried that I may not be relaying everything correctly, but this is the first time I've started a story with a clear idea of theme and where it's going, so I'm trusting in the subconscious to use that to its advantage.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:30 AM | TrackBack

March 15, 2005

away, away

"Safe and Sound" is off to the editor.

Nailbiting starts...now.

Posted by sdshaver at 03:11 PM | TrackBack

chapter two

Chapter Two (first draft) done. 3500 words. Total thus far: 7100.

It'll be interesting to see if I can maintain this level of words-per-hour. I'm kind of curious. A year ago all I cared was that I could finish something. And then I finished something. And then I was all like, "Whoa. I know kung fu." And someone popped me upside the head and said, "No you don't!" And I said, "Oh. Right. I mean Aikido. Duh."

Now I want to know how FAST I can finish something and be satisfied with the result. Oh man. Sexual innuendo a-poppin!

I guess I'll know soon enough if I can maintain it through 30 chapters.

Still no postcard. O manuscript -- where art thou?

Also: "Safe and Sound", having been properly vetted, goes out tomorrow instead of Friday. Oh. Yeah. Bay-beeee. I hope the editor likes my sugar-spun bit of fluff.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:15 AM | TrackBack

March 14, 2005

reimagined romance covers

Reimagined romance covers. Sweet monkeys -- I laughed, I cried, I drank hot cocoa.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:04 PM | TrackBack

chapter one

Chapter One, first draft done. 3400 words! That's about what it needs to be.

I'd have done more, but I'm afraid I wasted two hours cooking the week's meals, so I only got about two and a half hours of writing in. Add to that that I was strangely lethargic today and...well...yeah.

The bright side, plenty of roasted chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, parsnips, and butternut squash to feed me for a week (literally).

Feeling good about the story. Ria is troubled and trouble.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:39 AM | TrackBack

March 13, 2005

of horses and girls

Tonight was testing (everyone passed) and I managed to sit down next to Sue, the Ki West sensei. Sue, as it turns out, owns horses. I, as it turns out, write about horses -- but know next to nothing about them.

Far away, a distant voice of advice comes to me from my dumber days: "Consider finding someone who owns horses and spend a day mucking out a stable."

Okay, says I to the sage voice of days past, this is obviously opportunity kicking the door down. Gotcha.

The deal is this: I go to Sue's house and let her throw me around, she lets me see the horsies. I can't ride them -- two are too old, one is about to drop a foal, and the rest are too young -- but I can get up close and personal. Fair deal, I say.

Me gonna see the horsies!

I'm so excited I could burp.

I'll take a camera and a notebook. I realize to some of you this is no big whoop, but I was raised in the suburbs, where I spent a lot of time reading books about girls with horses. The whoop is ginormous to me.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:01 AM | TrackBack

March 12, 2005

Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart

It's a short book, it's a quick read, and it's pretty damn good.

Title: Perfect Circle
Author: Sean Stewart
ISBN: 1931520119
Sample Chapters? Yes.

Perfect Circle is a first person narrative about a Texan who sees dead people and ghost roads, and finds deep philosophical truth in bands like REM and Butthole Surfers. The story flips between nostalgic musings on the main character's Texan upbringing and his present-day woes as a divorcé.

Y'see, the ghosts following him around aren't just dead people....

It was satisfying to read. Lyrical and poetic, the story as a whole is tightly woven and well executed. The book starts with a bang, and doesn't let up. It maintains a high level of energy throughout.

There's cussing and bloody noses, and a few genuinely scary moments. It's no worse than what you'd find in a Stephen King novel, but if frank language and acts of violence throw you off, you might not like this one. (Domestic abuse is a reoccuring thread in the story, but it's never glorified.)

My only gripe is that I wish it had been longer. I liked the main character and I liked his world. I wouldn't have minded another night in it. Thrifty readers may find the book's paperback cost for what is little more than a 5-8 hour read to be too high. (Your WPM may vary.)

Regardless, it's recommended. If you're going to be on a five hour flight sometime soon, you can't go wrong with this.

Posted by sdshaver at 03:39 AM | TrackBack

done!

"Safe and Sound" is done on my end. 6100 words; about 1100 over what I wanted at the beginning, but better than 7500. It sits for a week while first readers familiar with the universe turn in their impressions.

Off to write briefs for tSoW.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:39 AM | TrackBack

March 11, 2005

proofed

Idiot proofing done. Errors include changing the spelling of the heroine's best friend twice ("Oh, that's the, uh, Karsite variation on my name.") and changing the hero's name once (honest mistake; Wil is easy to misspell as Will).

It won't go out until tonight. Light reading compared to the monstrosity.

Speaking of which....

No postcard yet. Nor has it reappeared on my doorstep with RETURN TO SENDER stamped on it.

No news is good news? Hard to say.

Back to the pixellated grind.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:38 AM | TrackBack

polished

Shrrr chrr shrr...the sound of my inkjet printing out "Safe and Sound" (yay ink!).

I'll idiot proof, go to bed, get up, and send out draft copies to first readers who are familiar with the world.

I hope there's a 4th anthology in the works. I'd love to write about Lelia again.

Have I mentioned I'm feeling really good about this story? Dude. I so am.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:51 AM | TrackBack

March 10, 2005

between

My house is tolerably clean, there's several meals in my fridge, and I got 10 hours of sleep last night.

Yep, I'm officially between projects.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:41 AM | TrackBack

March 09, 2005

neither bullet or idiot proof

Monday turned into writing night when I "accidentally" opened up "SandS" and "accidentally" rewrote a couple sections. ("Honest, officer, she just fell on my knife....") The story is pretty much done at this point and waiting for me to idiot-proof it.

(That's me proofing it for my idiot mistakes. Like metal buckets on horse bridles. Hy. Ster. I. Cal.)

Want to send it in early because I'm still not sure if it's a great story, and if the editor says, "SUXX0R! REWRITE! OMGLOLBBQ!" I want plenty of time to do that. (Please note: the editor would not actually write that, but the writer does, and so it goes.)

I had to go to work early today, and I stayed up late reading, then had an all-out grudge match with the waking nightmares in the wee hours of the morning. I sense a pattern.

For anyone who read "Starhaven" in Sun in Glory -- Vess's waking hallucinations? Not a product strictly of my imagining, unfortunately.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:29 PM | TrackBack

March 08, 2005

note to self

Someday, when I have the money, I'm going to do something like this but with writing, and entice my want-to-be-writer friends to participate.

Because nothing says "enouragement!" like "free money!"

Of course, now that I think about it, that's what the old (pre-invite-only) Sword and Sorceress anthology was. Except with a cranky old dame reading through them and scribbling notes on the manuscripts that sometimes caused me heart failure.

But other than that -- same pot of money, different distribution.

Posted by sdshaver at 06:13 PM | TrackBack

March 07, 2005

night off

I plan to go to bed obscenely early tonight, and so today I am not going to be writing, plotting, or editing anything for the first time in..................

..........I can't remember.

I'll be back tomorrow night-ish. My goals this week are:


Can't wait to start something with structure that ISN'T the Crowned Lands.

Posted by sdshaver at 08:04 PM | TrackBack

"safe and sound" - 1st draft

First draft done for "Safe and Sound". That revised scene didn't need much revision. I just needed to dial down the suspension of disbelief. Watch an editor prove me wrong. HAH!

So, now I need to do an idiot check...but my printer's out of juice. Bah. Again. So I guess I'll just go to bed, and pretend to sleep.

Weekend complete. All is as it should be.

Posted by sdshaver at 03:24 AM | TrackBack

out of juice

Bah! Printer out of ink. BAH!

Also, after one too many relatives asking "You're writing again?" I decided to write a FAQ.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:23 AM | TrackBack

outline done!

Outline for The Secret of Winter is done! 12k words of 30-chapter outlining and backstory. Character briefs (1-paragraph notes; not underwear) for all the main characters are next. That should only take a night.

This week I need to focus on cleaning up the outline (printing it and reading it) and finishing "Safe and Sound". Now that the outline is done and (mostly) out of my head, I think I can focus on the short story again.

By this time next week, I want to be breaking ground on tSoW.

My guess is that my ms. has made it to New York by now. The publisher in question has a fairly quick turnaround. I should know by the end of this month if she's an instant kill or not.

Posted by sdshaver at 12:40 AM | TrackBack

March 06, 2005

few chapters more

Knocked out four more chapters of outline last night, went back today and added plot-type things. Wow, this is a lot easier in outline format. :P

Me and my traveling stories. There's always so much moving around. Character goes here and here and here. You'd think I'd been traveling my whole life...oh wait.

I have moved fourteen times in 29 years of living. At 8 years of residence (9 in August), St. Louis is quickly coming up on "metropolitan region I've lived in longest"; before that, it was Orange "Tragic Kingdom" County, California.

I've still lived longer in California than Missouri, but give it another decade and that won't be true anymore, either.

I got most of what I wanted done (outlining, commenting on Bri-friend's outline, etc.), except for "Safe and Sound", which I realized I had to rewrite a major scene for. Now, having cooked most of my week's meals and done some good housework, I'm rewarding myself by heading out for chow. Ciao.

Posted by sdshaver at 08:17 PM | TrackBack

March 05, 2005

more outlining

I'm fairly confident I can finish the outline for tSoW tomorrow, read through friendBri's outline, and take a closer look at "Safe and Sound".

To say nothing of the casserole I intend to make.

And the sleep I intend to get.

And the floor I intend to vacuum.

The story's outline is looking nice. I'm eyeballing the chapters and want to say 3,000 words per (8 pages s.s. or thereabouts). It'll be interesting to see how long a 100k word novel takes me to write with a clear outline. I'll know soon enough.

Posted by sdshaver at 04:37 AM | TrackBack

March 04, 2005

outline - halfway

Halfway-ish done with the outline. Somewhere between 1 AM and 2 AM the story kicked into gear.

Sweet, young, sexy scene in 14. Oooh, baby. Gotta love lovers.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:57 AM | TrackBack

chatty b---h

I'm in a chatty mood. But it's 1 AM, and nightowl that I am, no one is on (and awake).

I was having a vertigo day, so class was less than optimal. Bah.

Mom and I talked for a half hour tonight. She never reads this journal, but did the other day, saw the post about the waiting, and got teary-eyed (sorry, Mom). She called (again) to make sure I was all right. She's a good Mom. I think I'll keep her.

She talked about my brother moving, and I talked about the publishing industry and my writing output. It was a fair trade.

Back to the outline! (cracks a whip) I figure I'll work on "Safe and Sound" Saturday. Ha ha ha. Alliteration is funny.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:01 AM | TrackBack

March 03, 2005

i should write copy for PETA!

Chapter 2, Scene 2:


Heh.

Even my outlines are in poor taste.

Posted by sdshaver at 01:28 AM | TrackBack

March 02, 2005

babble brain

Free ice cream! (today only)

Stayed up and drew a map of the four demesnes last night. It's the best version I've come up with yet, and the one I'll keep.

My brain has begun plunking down the plot points for tSoW. I woke up with the wheels turning, and by the time I'd showered and gotten my coat on I had a rough mental idea of how the story arcs, where it ends, and who's gonna Get The Axe. Cuz that's how my process works (thus far).

In the short story world -- not so much done there. I need to pick it up again. Maybe tonight.

And in the other, secret project you haven't been told about, things are getting...interesting.

Posted by sdshaver at 11:36 AM | TrackBack

March 01, 2005

titles, sites, and stories

I'm renaming the new book The Secret of Winter. I think that's a better run-with-it-title, and Google at least doesn't seem to think anyone else has used it.

I have a feeling I'm going to be digging through The Golden Bough for this one. Cuz nothing is better for fantasy than the rambling, unfounded theories of an early 20th century anthropologist.

I came to the conclusion yesterday that if Sword of Shades doesn't sell anywhere or get picked up by any agents, I'll write about the Sisters of Weaving instead.

In regards to this -- well, I have a bit of an edge there because I design websites for a living. When the day comes for me to promote online, I have a whole slew of ideas of how to do it.

A slew, I tell ya.

Just gotta, y'know, sell a book first. Don't put the monkey before the barrel.

Posted by sdshaver at 02:44 PM | TrackBack