Wishes

I love this song, "Airplanes" by B.O.B and whenever I hear it I always get it stuck in my head for hours afterward. :P Have you heard this song before? What did you think?



Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. :)

Brief Hiatus

I know I haven't posted anything in months and for that I'm sorry. I recently started a new job and it's just been crazy busy...I'm trying to find a new balance in my life and once that's fulfilled, I will post again (since I actually had time/remembered to post this hiatus notice, I think I'm doing better than I was a few weeks ago when I was running around like a chicken without its head). Stay tuned! :-*

It's done! Holy moly, it's finally done!

Around midnight last night I finished the last bit of revision. I had been typing for so long that my arm ached, but when I finally saved the COMPLETED word doc of The Blood Queen, I danced around the apartment in triumph.

I'm pretty sure it nearly killed me. I spent most of this morning and early afternoon recovering from multiple sleepless nights desperately trying to finish the manuscript ready for beta reading. Why? Because I have so much else to do and if I didn't finish the manuscript by early this week, I didn't know when I'd get the time again.

However, I'm victorious! And while about two weeks later than I said I'd get it done, I still managed to finish it! Now it's on to my next major project to complete before August (I hope there's no more late nights ahead *sigh* I have to get in practice of waking up way too early for anyone who is a Night Owl): finishing my unit planning.

Just a little something because editing is making my brain mushy

This little prose has no story attached to it, I don't know why it jumped into my head (probably because I've lived and breathed editing for the past week and I feel my sanity slowly slipping), but I decided to capture it anyway:

This is a pirate story, and don't let anyone else tell you different. It all started on a boat...
"This, madam," the first mate said, "is the HMS Hawk. It is a schooner, not just 'a boat.'"
I rolled my eyes. Where did I find people like this? And why couldn't I leave things well enough alone? "So it's a sailboat, then?"

Yeah, random, but given a few seconds I could come up with characters, which is just a short hop away from "workable, beginning plot ideas." So I'd better back off now before I start naming the first mate (Timothy) or figuring out the setting (steampunk alt. world)...

Argh! I'm doing it already! Run! Run while you can!

Har har har (what? I'm funny)

So, I was explaining to John the extensive list of edits on The Blood Queen I've made so far, most of which he replied with "uh huh." He hasn't read the book yet, and only knows that it's an urban fantasy and there's vampires. Anyway, I went down the long list and at the end, I said:

"Oh, and I edited the sex scene a little...just edited, though. I didn't try to increase the length or anything!" Eh? Get it? Get it? *elbow nudge* (John's reply was to groan and say, "I didn't hear that." Never did appreciate a good pun.)

I'm still snickering. :P I don't care, I think I'm funny.

Stop animation video

In this video, a cat lays an egg, crayons get decimated, and someone drinks Listerine. Ah, the joys of stop animation. :)

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Writing styles, an internet quiz

The result I got from analyzing the prologue of The Blood Queen:

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Versus Chapter 1:

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Versus Chapter 31 (currently the last chapter):

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Ignoring for a moment that it's an Internet quiz and therefore should be taken with a grain of salt, should I wonder if this is a sign of a fluctuating writing style? Meh, I'll chalk it up to Internet quiz and be amused that my trippiest chapter (the prologue) comes up as Stephen King.

Then, just cause I was curious, I analyzed the 2nd chapter of the 2nd book, which has a sex scene in it, and to my amusement, here's the result:

I write like
Harry Harrison

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

RIP Office Chair

My office chair broke today. :(

That's always a tough thing to admit because it makes you sound like some huge rhino that just smooshed the chair into kindling. In my defense, the chair is actually coming apart from the bottom, where it connects to the wheels. Right now, it's listing to one side and the wood underneath is cracking. Considering my office chair is more than 10 years old (oh, it must be around 15 years, actually. A very good track record for an executive style, semi-plastic chair bought on sale at OfficeMax), this isn't surprising. Actually, I already have a replacement for it because it tried to break once before and then after I bought a replacement, John said, "Hey, I think I can fix that." And he did, so I continued using my trusty ol' chair.

But now, it has gone to the big office furniture store in the sky. You shall be missed, office chair.

Bookshelf porn, aptly named

What would I do if I had my own perfect library/den/office? Probably never leave...okay, rarely leave. But until that day of bliss arrives when I can make a room filled with dark wooded bookshelves crammed with books and smell like pressed pages and leather covers, I'll just have to assuage my twitchy desires with Bookshelfporn.com. I've spent the last hour drooling over various photos of libraries, private clubs, private libraries, bookshelves, dens, studios, and book art.

I may be in love. :love:

The countdown continues

First things first: MUHAHAHA to the spambots, I have won the battle! Instead of slogging through 100+ a week spam caught by Askimet, I decided to up my anti-spam security by installing a CAPTCHA. You know, those random strings of letters you have to type in. I know they're annoying, but they work. On the plus side, comment once and you'll never have to worry about the CAPTCHAs on commens again. :)

Would you like to own a lock of Jane Austen's hair?

I have to wonder what Jane Austen would say if she traveled to the modern era only to find she's been nearly deified as an author of wild talents; her book Pride & Prejudice adapted multiple times for the screen (as well as many others); a movie about her life taken from letters and conjecture; books by subsequent authors creating sequels to her worlds (some good, some involving Mr. Darcy turning into a vampire *gag*); finding that Elizabeth Bennet has been turned into a zombie hunter; realizing that her [supposed] hair is being auctioned off...

And perhaps most overwhelming: that her characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy have become the example of the perfect couple for hundreds, if not thousands, of women and probably quite a few men.

What would that be like? Especially for someone who had to struggle to even get her name on her own work without people disbelieving that she wrote it. Probably better we'll never find out, she may just keel over from the shock of it. But I'd like to think she'd say something incredibly witty and go off to take a vacation in Bath. :)

I have a special task for you:

I went to my favorite used bookstore. I had won $5 store credit there a while ago and was ready to spend it (I got Tanya Huff's The Enchanted Emporium). Anyway, the guy at the front desk was awesome. He would say in this deep baritone sing-song voice, "I am free for the next in line!" When I was paying he said, "I have a special task for you. You have to think 'let there be rain!' all day."

I replied, "Trust me, I've been thinking about that all week."

He gave me a beautiful smile as he put my book in a bag and told me to have a lovely day. I walked out of the store feeling happier than when I had entered it and thought how nice it was to meet kind people.

My car's odometer hit 100k (in case you were wondering)

Yesterday I drove out to S.'s house for our critique group meeting. The views to her house are beautiful. Despite the horrific heat that makes me feel like I'm being baked alive, this time is one of the most beautiful because it's also one of the few times in the year when there's big, fluffy clouds in the sky. Pair that with the desert landscape, ringed with mountains, and it really can be breath taking.

During my drive, the sun was setting and I had to pull of the road for a moment to enjoy the view.

[caption id="attachment_354" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Taken on my cell phone camera, so it\'s not a great picture, but still the colors!"][/caption]

On the way back, the odometer of my faithful Saturn turned to 100k. Honestly, this is the first time a car of mine has hit 100k (well, I've owned two cars, but since the first was stolen, I don't really count that) and a part of me was worried it would just break down the moment the numbers rolled over. It worries me a little, considering that I now have a job 75 miles away and will be commuting quite a lot. I hope the Saturn will be able to take it.



Don't worry, I didn't take the picture while I was driving. :D

Why is it Tuesday already?

Ugh, I've been so unproductive over July 4th weekend that I'm dreading my work load over the next few days. I just have so much to do! :tired: I'm exhausted too; didn't sleep a wink last night. I'm so exhausted that it took me two attempts to sing the "ABC" song to figure out where "V" is on the alphabet. Yeah, I felt dumb. The first time I skipped "R" and had to slow down so my befuddled, sleep deprived, caffeine starved brain could keep up.

I spent a good portion of the day having lunch with a friend and then walking around Barnes & Nobles afterwards instead of...you got it, editing. So, now, I'm playing catch-up this evening. I hate editing in the evenings since that's when John's home and it's harder to concentrate with someone else puttering around, especially in an apartment. In the mornings and afternoons, the apartment is blissfully quiet and I can really concentrate (although I often have to leave because while the house is empty, there's all kinds of things to do there, like catch up on my DVR recordings, clean, my various arts & crafts, reading, playing video games, etc. -- just to name a few).

Blah, I can't even concentrate on this blog post. I'm going to pour myself another cup of raspberry lemonade, read for a little while, then start editing The Blood Queen.

The Critique Group Shrinks

Critique Group John is moving away, so we had a goodbye dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was nice to see him again, since he's been "taking a break" from the critique group for about 6 months. This leaves just three active members in our critique group, all of them women, two are erotica writers, one (me) an action-adventure writer (currently writing urban fantasy). I think we were all hoping to tempt Critique Group John back, since he was our remaining male perspective. I've been meaning to do some recruiting, but just haven't had the time. Critique Group John, probably now that he has no worries about offending anyone, talked candidly about the structure of our group and I couldn't help but agree with most of what he said -- in fact, I'd broached similar concerns often.

The problem with critique groups is it's a bunch of people trying to find the same schedules to work on creative material. Unless all of you are in the same place with that creativity, then you're going to have problems. When I mean "the same place," I don't mean talent-wise, I mean with where you see yourself with your writing. Is it a hobby? Are you doing it for eventual publication? How seriously do you take it? And of course, on top of that, how well do you take direction? How much time can you put into critiquing? A lot of the time, it seems very few people in our group had serious plans for publication, and then there's been a few people (luckily all gone now) that have been unable to take critique direction.[1. In fact, once a member told me they weren't "really looking for critique." I could only stare with dumbfounded confusion. But, then, a lot of people join critique groups hoping that they'll hear gushing reviews and "Omigod squee!" from their fellow members. In other words, what they want is an ego boost. Critiquing is for the improvement of your writing, not about hearing how awesome you are.]

Critique Group John also talked about our one-chapter-every-two-weeks format, which is also something I've had problems with. It's very hard to get through a novel when you're sending two chapters a month (and when we had eight members, that number dropped to one chapter a month). After all, that means for an average 80,000 word novel, with every chapter being...oh, say 4,000 words, you're looking at finishing the last chapter of that novel 10 months later (20 months if you're just sending in one chapter). For a lot of us, that means the novel has completely changed by the time the group reads the end. Or, it means that the group has difficulty remembering some of the finer details that happened in the beginning. For my own novel, I had a quick "outline guide" ready. Granted, after all this chapter-by-chapter critiquing, there's the beta read at the end. That's a whole novel critique instead of line-by-line edits. The beta read is to look at the overall picture, point out things like characterization and weak plot points. But, sometimes I wonder whether it wouldn't be better to just do a beta read from the get go?

It was pointed out that submitting it chapter-by-chapter makes one stick to a writing schedule. I can't deny that I've often used the excuse "Well, I have to send something into the group" as a way to produce something when I'm particularly busy. However, many professional authors will tell you that the way to become a writer is discipline. Write every day,[2. Of course I'm saying that after a day spent not writing or editing. :worried: ] much like people say "20 minutes of movement/activity/exercising a day." I try to do both -- exercise and write. :) And, at the risk of sounding snobby, if you're serious about writing for publication, you really should be writing more than 4,000-or-so words every 10 days.

However, in the end, we didn't come up with an answer to Critique Group John's concerns, or our own. The critique group will continue as it has always continued, and I know that our current schedule tempts newcomers easier than my secret preference[3. I would love to try a submission schedule where you present a finished book on X-month. For example, say there's 8 members, the max our critique group allows. That gives 1.5 months for each novel. Each member will know on what date their novel is due and presents it at the start of their 1.5 month. At the end, the group comes back together to give the beta reads and the next novel is presented. You always know when your novel is due, and you have a whole year to finish it as the cycle comes back around to you. Yes, there's problems to this strategy: you meet only once every 1.5 months, which isn't very often, although I think this can be combated through an active online community (forums, mailing lists, etc.) or you meet more often but the other meetings are for other activities, like book discussions or writing exercises. A critique group doesn't necessarily have to do any face-to-face meetings, or even live in the same city or state. You could also do everything online through video chats (or just normal chat). But, that brings up issues of trust. Making a critique group isn't an easy thing to do.] not that I'm complaining. I think I'll be very happy for the one-chapter-every-two-weeks process when I start my new job.[4. I just hope my group can be punctual. One thing I hate is having only 3 days to critique anything. What if those are my busiest days of the week? I'm doomed. I wish we'd restructure a little, so that your submission is due the previous meeting instead of "by the weekend before the next one."]

---

Footnotes:

4th of July

The holiday has always held a special place in my heart because it was one of the few holidays my family used to do anything for. We'd never been a very "celebrate-y" family, so the fact my father would pile us all into the car and head over to the capital where we'd stand waiting for the show to begin was a big deal. As a result, I'm one of the lucky people that can say they've seen a fireworks show within spitting distance.

However, like all good things, it eventually came to an end and so when I got my driver's license, I began going to fireworks shows myself. Perhaps it was fitting that this first step of freedom was used to celebrate America's Independence Day? Or maybe I'm waxing poetic for no reason? Anyway, one of John and my first dates were actually spent on a picnic blanket next to a man-made lake watching the fireworks. I remember we had found a spot next to the train bridge and the train had stopped to also watch the fireworks with the crowd. When the show finished, it blew its horn and everyone cheered.

This year, although John and I couldn't see the fireworks together, we saw the same ones at different locations. I went to S.'s house and had a wonderful meal. Her backyard is huge -- it can probably fit my entire apartment with room  to spare -- and from this vantage point that overlooks the city, we saw the fireworks. Maybe not within spitting distance, but still a marvelous time.

When I think of the 4th of July, I have a lot of wonderful memories. :)

If you celebrate Independence Day, I hope yours was filled with good food, good people, and a good show. :)

Staring contests with pigeons: what happens when you edit too much

I spent my afternoon at a local coffee shop which is co-owned by a friend of mine and John's, David2 (since I know so many Davids...). There are definite pluses to knowing someone who co-owns a coffee shop, mostly in the form of a free cup of coffee. :love: I don't know if I can keep milking this connection of mine, but I intend to go back. The place has huge windows, something I always love, and instead of the usual crowd of loud soccer moms with their frolicking children, there were quiet students. *blissful sigh* This may be the start of a beautiful relationship. :P

Like the photo? Notice all the red pen and pink highlighter on that page (yes, an actual page from The Blood Queen, in case you were starting to think the book was all in my mind)? Today was a tough day of editing, mostly because I had to rewrite 90% of a scene, which means I got a lot of editing done but not much page count. I'm going to keep going this evening, then end the day with a trip to the gym.

My brain feels pretty mushy right now. Near the end, before I had to pack it in and pick up John, I started getting distracted. Then I noticed the albino pigeon...staring at me through the side door (I was at the table closest to it)...watching. We had a staring contest. I won, a fact I boasted to John through text message.

His answer? "While dubiously impressive, get back to editing." Ah, now that's love. :P

(Tried to take a picture of the pigeon, but it flew away)

I don't have much to say so here's a music video!

Yeah, I've been busy. I got a new job, which starts in a month and a few days, so I'm preparing myself for that. I'm also feverishly, fiendishly, desperately trying to meet my deadline for edits with The Blood Queen. I'm sending it to my beta readers (my lovely critique group, as well as some other wonderful volunteer individuals) by July 9th, but that means I've got a horrific 35-pages-a-day editing schedule (40 is even better). X( (Okay, I know some people out there are probably going, "What? 35 pages a day? Does someone want the whaaa-mbulence?" To these people I say..."Want to edit my book for free?" :grin: )

Anyway, that is my life in one glorious nutshell. I haven't done anything really interesting. And besides a terrifying nightmare I had last night that involved a baby doll that came to life and crawled over my face while cooing "Ma-ma, ma-ma" in a creepy little kid's voice, I have nothing much to report. Hopefully that'll change in the next few days as my editing starts reaching the hilt. Who knows? Maybe I'll go crazy and make a blog post where I say "I am a fish" over and over again, or maybe "I am the lizard queen!" Although I think if I'm going to go insane, it'll probably be around mid-August when the new job "honeymoon period" should wear off. ;)

ANYWAY, since there's not much to say...have a music video!




I really like this song. And I think I like the music video too. There's a frenzied feeling to it that I think illustrates what I'm feeling a lot of the time. :P

What it's really like

I think I found this through Inkygirl. But, hey, if his mission was to interest someone in his book via an amusing, anecdotal music video...mission accomplished. :D

In which my muse won't leave me alone

All I want to do is finish the edits for The Blood Queen, but my muse keeps throwing ideas at me like mashed potatoes in a food fight. My story idea folder is getting rather fat, let me tell you, and the sad thing is I don't know when I'll have the time to work on anything in there. I'm already jotting down ideas for the second book in the Tayce series. I tried to tell my muse to shut up...but she promptly bitch-slapped me. I think we all know who the boss is (I showed her...yeah).

I whimpered about losing in a fight to my muse to my very good writer friend, S., who told me that she's been having similar problems. I think there's a muse union somewhere and they get together over Frappachinos and chortle about how to make life difficult. Although S. mentioned her story involved hot firefighters and I can always go for a guilty pleasure read that involves hot firefighters. Maybe S. needs to weaken, after all, doesn't the muse know best? :evil:

Don't worry, I've been good with my editing. I managed to get quite a lot done today. If I buckle down and get into the editing "zone," I'm actually quite good at zooming through editing, but getting into that zone is a chore. Oh, and sometime soon I need to upload some of my pics from Phoenix Comicon.

In other news, I'd just like to say to the shockingly huge amount of spambots that have been trolling my site lately: F-you. I will not approve your comment, no matter how much it may mimic real people speak. I see the URLs, I notice that they all go to BuyMyUselessCrap.com or whatever. If there are real people behind those annoying spam comments, please think of my poor bleeding eyeballs and overtaxed Askimet and stop posting. Real comments make me shiver with pleasure, but you spambots make me wanna kick something.

Phoenix Comicon 2010

Phoenix Comicon was a lot of fun. I went to every panel that John Scalzi was on, because he's funny and clever and I like his writing (what can I say? I'm a writer and other writers I like are my rock stars). I was also surprised how funny Wil Wheaton was, but then I didn't really read his blog before...now I may. Felicia Day was, as expected, funny and sweet. Seth Shostak proved to be a very funny individual, and I really enjoyed attending the panels he was on, as well. I added Confessions of an Alien Hunter onto my "To Read" list (it keeps growing like The Blob :P ). There were so many exhibitors, too, but I hope that next time the comicon people rent an extra bit of room from the convention hall because most of the time I was snail-crawling my way through crowds. In situations like that, I always think "I need a cattle prod like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons: 'Excuse me - ZAP! - Excuse me - ZAP!'"

The Star Trek panel was really entertaining and made my inner-Geek go "SQUEE!" I have a lot of fond memories regarding Star Trek: TNG. It was one of the few shows my family could watch together (that and Poirot). I remember us all piling together on the sofa with my younger brother constantly answering questions like "What's that? What's happening?" until he'd finally fall asleep halfway through the episode (he was a bit young). And maybe I was odd because I didn't have a crush on Westley like many of my female Geeky friends admit; I totally thought Riker was the awesome -- well, second to Data. Showing my already developing love of reading, all I wanted was the ability to flip through a book and say, "Done." :P LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, and Wil Wheaton were entertaining. I think the highlight for me was when LeVar Burton sung the Reading Rainbow theme (ah, childhood memories :) ) and the audience joined in. :grin:

I didn't have the tenacity to stand in line to meet Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, LeVar Burton, or Jonathan Frakes. I'm just not a line person and I didn't have the financial fortitude to pay for autographs. I know, I know, but I had a very limited amount of funds I took to the convention...and I had already spent $10 that day on parking* (I remember when parking was $3 there *sigh*). However the author tables were always so blissfully free of lines and they would sign my books and my program guide, so I spent a few minutes talking to Scalzi where we agreed that Red Matter was a weak plot device (as was midi-chlorians**), although I said my major "WTF?" moment from that movie was when Kirk just happened to get shot onto a planet and just happened to be chased by a monster that led to him just happen to find the cave where Original Spock was who could, conveniently, explain everything to him. Scalzi agreed and then we lamented how we have been banned by our significant others from mentioning any more plot point weaknesses (J.'s exact words to me are "No more comments from the peanut gallery -- or else").

However, by Sunday, I was glad to be heading back home. I suppose that sums up the Con nicely: lots of fun and by the end I was satisfied enough that I wanted to be back in my own home. :)

* I planned a little better the second and third day by going to the Park-and-Ride and getting on the Light Rail. Love Phoenix's Light Rail, I think it's an awesome idea, and I think something similar should be implemented here because there's one major east-west road that basically spans most of the city.

** Granted, I've never been a fan of Star Wars (*ducks the things thrown at her*). I could go into why, and I feel if I wasn't a writer -- if I was more easily able to shut off certain parts of that Inner Critic of mine -- I'd like it better. Or maybe I just saw it too late to truly appreciate it and if I had been introduced to it younger I'd've liked it more? I don't know.

I haven't disappeared, just don't have much to say

Man, I'm suffering from a food coma right now...

...but that's not the point. Yes, I did update the layout. I kind of haven't had the energy or inspiration to custom make a layout like I usually do for Wynderlon, so for now I hope this suits. :) I've been busy with job applications, lots and lots of job applications. It's surprising how long each job application takes for my job field, but I average about 2 a day. I haven't heard much back, and I'm beginning to get worried about my murky-looking future. :-((

On the writing front, I've been editing The Blood Queen, my title for "Tayce." I was so happy about the S.O.'s handy job as a graphic designer. Since he works at a print shop, I can print out my manuscript and edit it by hand (printing it out at home would cost an ink cartridge, there's 350-some pages, after all :o ). I tried to edit on the computer for 2 weeks and I didn't get much done. It's so easy to get distracted on the computer...there's Solitaire and the Internet whispering their sweet siren calls to me. Not only that, but I get eye strain and I'm always scrolling hither and thither wondering out loud, "Where did I put that damn section of the story? I know I mentioned it before! Where is it?"

With the manuscript printed out, I can steadily go at it with a nice marker pen (my current favorites* are the Sharpie fine point pens that don't bleed through the paper, in orange or red), highlight things I need to pay attention to (my favorite highlighters being the Sharpie Accent Retractables...hmm, another Sharpie brand. This was not pre-planned by me at all), and put post-it notes to make changes. I can also put labeled post-it flags where important information in the story has been expounded already, so I know where I repeat info and where to flip back to check something.

In today's day and age of ebook readers, iPads, netbooks, and computers, there's something to say about going old school (then again, who knows what the future will hold? I'm already drooling over some of the capabilities Microsoft Courier will supposedly have). And the S.O. was kind enough to plastic spiral bind my manuscript so I can't lose pages as easily. As I was telling my writer friend, "Is it wrong that I find it sitting there, in all its printed-out glory, kinda sexy?" She assured me that it was not. ;)

* I love pens, to the point where I've told myself I will not buy anymore until I finish up some of the ones I have. I love fountain pens and gel ink pens most of all. I've almost completely cut out working with pencils, although that sometimes makes me sad because I have some awesome erasers. A month or two back, I broke my "no more pens!" rule and bought the Sharpie felt tips, which turned out to be a stroke of luck since they don't catch paper fibers and give a nice, clean line. Very easy on the hand for editing, and crisp colors make it easy to see. I wanted to get a few more colors, so I was talking to the S.O. about stopping off at Staples to get my "brand." I've been with the S.O. long enough now that he knows when I mention an office supply store and say I'm picking up my brand, it means pens. He dryly asked me, "What 'brand' is it this time?" "Sharpie felt tips. They're really smooth." When I got off the cell phone, my friend (who I was having coffee with at the time) turned to me and asked, "Do you smoke? I didn't know that." LOL, I guess she only heard part of the conversation, like "brand" and "smooth." :grin: (I explained I was talking about pens, and she laughed then said, "Well, then, my brand is Uni-ball." Yes, I have geeky friends. So? :P )

Are books made of paper a dying medium? I think not

Of course, this is the opinion of someone who:

1. doesn't like Apple products (please don't send me emails/comments that start with "You iTouch/iPhone/iOther hating Nazi")


2. doesn't believe in DRM restrictions (if I don't allow Big Brother to come into my house and swipe my paperbacks off my bookshelves, why would I let Amazon?)


3. doesn't really have the money to afford a decent e-reader at about $250 a pop and then electronic versions of a book which can't really be shared with friends easily and are still more expensive than a mass market coupled with a 30% off coupon from Borders or a used copy from Bookman's.

Why am I talking about ebooks? Because I tried to find an e-reader program today to install on my computer so I could read some free ebooks I'd collected. And thus the headache began. I admit, I wanted a freeware version since I don't read enough ebooks to warrant any kind of investment, but I did try many free trial softwares. And I came to an important conclusion: there's too many different formats for ebooks and no program that adequately reads all of them. Even the ones that boasted reading "many different formats" ran into snags. I ended up having to download 3 separate programs. Some were very snazzy, but had sacrificed ease of usability for "oooh aaah" factor, while some were butt ugly, highly easy to use, but only allowed for one or two formats.

So until the day comes with someone makes an ebook reader with an ebook software that's user-friendly and affordable, I think I'm gonna stick to the old school stuff of paper. And boy do I sometimes need my fix...in order to read what happened next in a new series I may be slightly addicted to, I drove down to Borders yesterday at 10pm (B&N changed their hours) and plunked down my money for the next book. Then spent five minutes in my car stroking the cover and going "My precious." (not really...or did I? :P )

I am now a year older...

...but this isn't a birthday post (I'll probably do that Sunday, since I'm going to really be celebrating Saturday).

This is a post to update my last one, which was a bit (*ahem*) depressed and stressed out. I threw off my problems to focus on myself yesterday (sometimes you gotta make it all about yourself) and I had a wonderfully enjoyable day full of friends, loved ones, and celebrations. I also got a helluva lot of writing done. Is it kinda sad I decided to write on my birthday? I don't think so; I had a full day and writing is really enjoyable for me. Plus, I finally finished a major scene, one between Tayce and Dorian, which I had been planning since the beginning of the book. It came out beautifully, I enjoyed writing it thoroughly, and I'm excited to see what reaction it'll get from the critique group. :D

I've also decided that, for this book, Tayce and Dorian's relationship theme song is "What Would Happen" by Meredith Brooks. It's pretty fitting for the romantic subplot they go through.



Anyway, the awesome thing is that with that chapter done, I now know how many chapters are left: three. I have three chapters of "Tayce" left and then I'm done. I can't believe it. :o

And now I'm off to fill out more paperwork (joys), then I might find a quiet spot somewhere and do a tad more writing. I'm so close to the end that I'm really excited to finish!

Press pause cause I'm so close to the end

I'm really frustrated right now. I have 2-3 chapters of "Tayce" left and then the book is DONE. Finished. Well, all except editing, but still, the hardest part (writing the damn thing) is over. I could belt those chapters out in a DAY if I was given the unadulterated time to do so -- unfortunately, lately life has different plans for me. Specifically, this week has just SUCKED so far, which is horrible since tomorrow is my birthday and I'm having a tough time getting into the celebratory mood.

I am wound tighter than a spring. These past few days, I've woken up with a stiff back and headaches, dead tired because I've been having a hard time getting to sleep in the first place. It seems every day this week, starting with Sunday, I get one stressful, drama-filled, no-holds-barred, sucker-punch-and-then-laugh-in-your-face moment after another. Bad news here, worse news there; someone then inevitably wants to talk about the bad news they've just given me while I'm still reeling and trying to adjust my life accordingly. Worst (or maybe funniest?) thing about it is that every time someone's given me stressful/bad news this week, it's always ended with, "Sorry about this, I mean, your birthday is this week and I know I shouldn't've said anything, but I felt you should know" -- or something like that. Another popular one is, "Don't worry, we'll work something out. This doesn't have to be bad."

Right, like being stabbed in the gut doesn't mean you have to die. Ugh, and that's my ultra drama statement for the week. The point is all I want to do is write the final battle scene in Tayce, finish the book, and open some bubbly champagne to celebrate.

But I can't. I can't even concentrate on one task; I keep jumping around nervously from one thing to another without really finishing anything. I'll be glad when I get to the gym today, work off some of this nervous energy in the pool.

By the looks of it, "Tayce" is going to be a couple thousand words over 150k when it's done. *wince*

Lady Gaga makes some weird music videos

I actually like Lady Gaga's music, and her outfits are wild. But this music video may top all the previous ones. It's bizarre...oh, and not work safe (and look! It's Beyonce and the Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill!). Enjoy :P

I need Didi from the Jetsons

I'm pissed at my memory. When I was driving this morning, I managed to work out most of Chapter 26 of "Tayce" in my head. It worked well, it was dramatic, it was exactly what I wanted.

I often work scenes out in my head while I'm driving (don't worry, I also drive ;) ). But, between driving, getting home, making myself breakfast, etc., etc. I forgot to write the scene down. You know how it is, you get into other things and you overestimate your ability to remember things. When I sat down in front of the computer, I tried to shuffle through my memory and found very little from my brainstorming left. Sure, I ended up with something good, acceptable, but not as great as what I was thinking this morning. :-|

I've decided what I need is something that will record all my musings. Something that's hands free, that I don't need to switch on and off, and doesn't involve the embarrassment of hearing your own recorded voice. I need Didi, Judy's digital diary from the Jetson's...except, you know, with less backtalk and snarky replies. And maybe looking like something other than giant floating lips (it would be a little creepy to have ruby red lips floating towards you).



I think I'll add that to "inventions that would really help a writer" right after "completely waterproof laptop/netbook." (hey! I know I'm not the only one who gets really good ideas in the bathtub!)

Ugh, I'm going back to bed

I think I'm coming down with a cold. My throat feels like hamburger, but what's worse is my ear aches too. I have to be careful that I don't get an ear infection (I'm prone to those). I'm such a wimp when it comes to sore throats. :-| Give me stuffy noses and wet/dry coughs any day, but sore throats and I'm done.

I feel like I've been hit by a sack of wet oatmeal. I'm going back to bed after taking some Advils. See you in two hours. :-((

This is just embarrassing

It's stuff like this that creates the stereotype of "uneducated American hicks" and shows like Smarter than a Fifth Grader. Ugh, "What's 9 meters in English?" *wince* Painful (but I'd also be lying if I said it wasn't funny).

A Week Gone Impossibly Fast

I don't even know where the last week went. I can't believe it's Friday already. :o I'm desperately trying to finish the next two chapters of Tayce since I won't have time this weekend, but it's slow going, mostly because I had a horrible night's sleep and my brain feels mushy inside my skull. Though, lately, I've been having really vivid, strange dreams. I've found that my creativity coincides with the time I have vivid dreams at night; it's like my brain doesn't shut off when I close my eyes, it wants to keep writing. Mom would say my brain is just going through "a bit of spring cleaning." I actually like dreaming, some of the stuff my brain comes up with leaves me flabbergasted in the morning, wondering where the heck that came from (and no, I don't usually have sexy dreams, unfortunately(?), usually it's just really weird stuff like flying carpets and camping trips in the middle of my university and mysterious escalators and Green Men).

Anyhow, last week I've been listening to Faunts a lot, a band that John and I found through the Mass Effect video game. The ending credits song is "M4 Part II" by Faunts, and we loved the song so much we got the soundtrack. I then found the music video online and I got to say it's pretty awesome. Kind of sad and full of crustacean blood, but still pretty awesome.



John and I now refer to the crab as "Flag Crab," and we've decided we don't care what the music video implies, Flag Crab is only sleeping at the end. ;)

Just a Quick Friday Post

Thought I'd quickly post, a quick "Hi!" as it were. I didn't get a lot done today, yet it was a busy day. I spent a lot of it trying to outline "Tayce" and get my background information together and in one place. Along with some other chores (the list is long and boring). Anyway, I did find a great new song that I listened to while writing a pretty steamy scene in "Tayce." I'm going to track it down on Amazon and see if I can buy the track.



And now, I'm off to read a chapter of IT (which is one of the few Stephen King novels that I love and tend to read again and again. And, it's a story that always manages to creep me out big time. *shudder* Clowns) while my homemade guacamole cools. Then...yup, you guessed it. Champagne and the next 4 episodes of Supernatural. :grin:

A collection of Lolita covers

A Flickr user set up a challenge: design a cover for Lolita. The result? 164 covers for a story all about pedophiliac love. Or, you know, whatever theme you want to argue. :P



Some of the covers are disturbing, some downright artistic, and some look like they were slapped together in five minutes using Adobe Photoshop and stock imagery. However, it is interesting to see what people think of when they think Lolita. I tried to pick a favorite and couldn't, although this one might win for sheer "Eeew" factor.

If it's romance, don't skip the sex please

Maybe I just like my romance books smutty, or maybe I will freely admit that, to me, there's little point of reading romance books unless there's a sex scene or two. I mean, it's not like they're particularly unique as far as plot or characterization goes. There's a few exceptions -- just like in any genre -- and I'm sure a lot of women have "that" romance book, the special one that holds a special place in their heart because it was the first or the best or something (for me, that's A Patriot's Heart by Stobie Piel. It was my first romance genre book. I still have the copy I bought), but lets be honest people.

Where am I going with this? I picked up a book by an author that I like, although I'm beginning to wonder why I like her. Her premises and ideas are awesome, but the execution always leaves me desiring more. When I picked up this book, it was a lesser known one. I didn't even know she'd written a romance, but I decided to give it a try. Listen to this premise (in my words, cause I'm trying not to name names here) and tell me it doesn't scream "romance genre":

The main heroine is a librarian who, one day, witnesses a demon scarf down a child. After that, she vows to hunt the demon sucker down and manages to do just that by finding a treasure trove of demonology books in her library, making a sacred knife, and hunting the demon through the sewers. Unfortunately, making the knife and killing the demon causes a chain reaction of magic that not only piques the interest of the demon world, but the Order, a bunch of people who are fighting the good fight against demons to "keep humanity safe." The Order sends two field agents to investigate, one is a hot, half-demon guy. Apparently, these half-demons will bond to one mate, to the point of getting rather territorial. Except the Order doesn't allow their half-demons to bond. Oh, yes, and the demons want to sacrifice the heroine and use her blood to rend open a hole in to the demon world.

I'm sure you can guess where this is going. The amount of times it's mentioned that hot, half-demon guy just wants to "drag her to bed" and do a lot of bonding (if ya get what I mean and I think ya do ;) ), I was waiting with baited breath. Because, well, he was hot.

...And then the book ended sans lots of bedroom-bonding. WTF? I thought. All that build-up?! Damn tease! Sure, everyone survived. The dude I knew from page 20 was going to betray everyone betrayed everyone. The fight between demons-trying-to-sacrifice-heroine and main characters lasted a page or two (there wasn't even an epic last battle, just an escape), and suddenly we've got an epilogue with the mention of meeting the folks and marriage...and no sex.

So if any romance genre author is reading this, please don't tease the poor reader. If you're going to go on and on about how hot-broad-shouldered-conflicted-hero really wants to drag heroine to the bedroom multiple times, then deliver on the goods.

Nobody likes a tease.

The mysterious world of semicolons

I found this comic through Inky Girl. It's great, I made a note about it for when I actually find a teaching position and have to teach a semicolon lesson. Not only is it a good lesson but it's amusing to boot. I mean, how can you go wrong with example sentences like, "The ice cream truck man drove by my house today; he had big hairy knuckles" or "I gnaw on old car tires; it strengthens my jaw so I'll be better conditioned for bear combat"? :grin:

I'm going to have to explore this website more, there's other pages that look like they'll provide an afternoon of amusement. But, I'm off to the gym and then I have to finish writing a sex scene and then go to movie night with a friend (Disk 3 of Season 1 of Supernatural the TV Show! With champagne! I can't wait! :love: )

Using Macros to find specific word occurrences

Recently I found two useful macros that count word occurrences. I had been wondering how many times I used a specific word in my story, then realized there was no way in Word to check this. Installing these two macros was fast and easy (once, I figured out how to install macros on Word ;) ) and they create interesting reports on word occurrences in your document.

I've been playing around with both macros to much amusement. It's handy for writing; for example, I've checked to see how many times I've used certain adverbs, ones I definitely want to cut down on, like "loudly" or "softly." If the number is high, I know it's something I need to work on in editing. Using the macros, along with something like AutoCrit provides a good "map" of one's writing and gives a good indication of things that need to be changed or worked on in the editing phase.

For those who, like me, had never tinkered with macros in Word, here's a quick tutorial on how to get these word occurrence macros up and working:

Note to self: in future, don't create a character who doesn't curse...

...especially when you, yourself, tend to curse like a sailor when in pain or frustrated.

I never knew it would be so difficult to write dialog when a character doesn't curse. I think the worst thing Tayce has said so far is "goddamn" and "hell." That's not because she's prudish, it's just not something that she naturally falls back on to voice her frustrations (like I'm known to do :P). After all, the character was born in Victorian times, when nearly everything even remotely scandalous would equal "there are ladies present!"

Although, I shouldn't say it's difficult, it's just annoying at times because my gut-reaction is: In that situation, a lot of people would lay down the F-bomb. I know I would. And by Tayce not cursing, it seems to draw attention to the fact that she's...well, not cursing.

Or maybe I'm over-thinking it? This is a possibility, I have been doing that a lot lately.

A draining section of Tayce...done

It's odd how parts of a story you were looking forward to writing suddenly become painful, something to be endured. I just finished a major turning point in the "Tayce" story. I view it as the beginning of the end. I've been planning this turning point forever, basically since I first outlined "Tayce" so many months ago (now nearly a year :o ) and I've been looking forward to getting to this point of the story. However, I just feel like I haven't done it justice. I suppose this is the problem with all artistic endeavors -- the vision you have in your head just isn't what you end up with. I'm feeling a bit of self-doubt regarding my abilities and as a result I'm plagued with the usual questions: Am I just kidding myself? Can I really write? Will I ever finish this thing?

I finished that section of "Tayce" on Saturday. Afterwards I felt completely drained artistically, I didn't even want to look at a word processor. I spent most of Sunday with John, catching up on DVR recordings and playing Mass Effect (so I can start playing Mass Effect 2 sometime).

But, to be fair, I'm also proud of myself. I'm nearly done with the first book in the series. This is pretty major. I'm ready to start the second book (such things never end, there's always the next project :D ). I'm ready for one of my goals to come to fruition. I'm going to savor checking off "Finish Tayce" from my Resolution list. :)

White-washed fiction

There's an interesting blog post on Genre Reviews about Bloomsbury white-washing their book covers (the link is actually the final outcome to the whole debacle, but includes all the links to the previous posts about it). To quote Publisher's Weekly:

Earlier this week, criticism grew online over the cover of Jaclyn Dolamore’s Magic Under Glass, a January fantasy novel from Bloomsbury Children’s Books—the second time in recent months one of the publisher’s covers has come under fire. [...] The controversy calls to mind the online furor last summer over Justine Larbalestier’s Liar, also published by Bloomsbury, in which the cover used an image of a white girl, when the protagonist is described in the book as being half-black. [...] In the case of Magic Under Glass, the circumstances—a discrepancy between the description of a character’s ethnicity in the book and her appearance on the cover—are much the same. The protagonist, Nimira, is described in the story as having brown skin and considered by others to have “exotic” features.

Lost lab work

I went to the doctor today for a consultation and while there, I said, "You know, I got this really odd call...something about lab work? I was wondering if it was from here?"

My doctor looks at her chart and says, "Oh yes...we never got your lab work results back. We did schedule an appointment to do the lab work, I see."

"We did the lab work," I said. I remember, I had to wait 2 hours despite having a 9:00 AM appointment just for the privilege of being poked, prodded, and generally made uncomfortable.

"Well, when this happens, we don't know if we've lost the lab work or if it's been lost at the lab's end of things. We can do it again now or schedule an appointment for a future date?"

I felt like asking if they lost lab work often (after all, that whole statement "when this happens..." doesn't fill a person with confidence). Instead, I sighed and said, "How long will I have to wait if I do it today?" I really didn't want to sit in the waiting room for 2 hours again.

After assuring me that it would only be a 10 minute wait, I was led into an examining room. 20 minutes later, I went through the uncomfortable process again and left. I've been feeling really tired all day...I actually fell asleep on the sofa and woke up an hour later, realizing I had to pick up John and that I was horribly late. :(

Think I'll go to bed early. I even have a library book I need to finish. :)

*facepalm* I can't believe I forgot

Sigh. Forgot to return 4 library books last week and now I have $5 in fines. :emotion:

The 10 Strangest Books? Or just misunderstood?

According to Comment Central, the strangest book is this gem called The English: Are They Human? I think I'd have to agree -- it's definitely an eye-catching cover due to the title. The book, itself, is showcased on AbeBooks.co.uk's "weird book room" along with other gems like Is My Dog Gay?[1. Because that's an important question to ask, if you're a dog owner.] and Help! A Bear is Eating Me![2. I know you're supposed to read it before going into the woods or whatever, but I can't help imagining a person taking this book out as a bear chomps down on his foot. "So...throw a salmon fillet? Damn! I didn't bring one!" :D ]

(When I IMed John the link to The English: Are They Human? his answer was, "No, we're better than just mere mortals." :p )

Anyway, I couldn't help making a list, too. So here's Himani's 10 Strangest Books, In No Particular Order, She Found on the Internet Just Now[3. And yes, I realize some of them are humor books...but some are not! I also realize I'm totally judging books by their covers. Meh.]:

1. How To Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion


2. The Mullet: Hairstyle of the Gods (Bwahaha!)


3. Pornogami: A Guide to the Ancient Art of Paper-Folding for Adults (Now you too can giggle like an elementary school kid as you fold paper into big penises!)


4. The Testicle Cookbook: Cooking with Balls (*gag* I think I saw an episode of Bizarre Foods that went like this)


5. How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art


6. The Haunted Vagina (I'm actually curious as to what this book is about. How is the vagina haunted? Does it talk? Do things pop out of it and say "Boo!"? According to the book synopsis, a guy finds out that, unfortunately, his girlfriend's vagina is the gateway to another world :o )


7. Children of the Matrix: How an Interdimensional Race Has Controlled the World for Thousands of Years and Still Does (except, despite the title, the book claims it's extraterrestrial lizard people controlling humans, not robots, so they mixed up the TV show V and the movie the Matrix)


8. People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It (Sounds like a Stephen King novel)


9. Gangsta Rap Coloring Book (you too can have Little Bobby color in a Glock)


10. Dick: A User's Guide (just in case you get lost)
    

I would just like to say there are some weird books out there. Some weird...scary books.

---

Footnotes:

Starting 2010 with a Clean Slate

I sat down at good ol' Wynderlon.com and I thought to myself, This website design really needs to be updated. Half of the information on Wynderlon was old and out-of-date. Not only that, but it seemed that somewhere along the line of hosting upgrades, etc., etc., half of my PHP scripts stopped working and broke the site!

That, coupled with the new decade, seemed like a sign: it was time to update. So, update I did! I moved the location of the blog for easier retrieval and code manipulation, and then I got lazy...I didn't want to update Miss Bang Bang 2010 for the new Wordpress theme (I need to make it compatible with widgets and all that stuff). So, instead, I just found a free theme layout I liked, tweaked the CSS to my liking, and decided to call it a day. :D

• I don't know if I'll update the Miss Bang Bang 2010 theme anytime soon.

• I don't know if I'll move all the old posts over to this new layout.

I may just start 2010 with a fresh, new blog that has nary a post in site/sight. After all, it's rather fitting to start the new decade afresh, don't you think? :)

Let me know your thoughts about the new layout!