Current Work in Progress Blither

Strange stuff afoot with the work in progress. It's weird reading from the beginning, stuff I haven't looked at in a long time. Like reading something that somebody else wrote. I shake my head at the character name changes I made, apparently suddenly and without warning, thinking what the hell? This happens to me when a new character suddenly shows up, and I fail to type their name into my mind map for whatever book I'm writing at the time.

I don't edit as I'm writing, but I do write pretty cleanly, so I don't see much in terms of technical fixes needed. But keeping minor characters straight and making sure all plot lines are threaded in properly is tricky.

Realizing too that not all the threads will be neatly tied up. This is okay with me. In fact, I like it better when not all threads are neatly tied up in a book, because in life, not all things are quickly or easily, or sometimes ever, resolved. There's room for at least another book in here. This is good. But I'm considering writing it from the point of view of one of the other characters. Talk about challenging. Yikes.

At least I won't be bored. I may tear out my hair, but I won't be bored.

Saturday Eve

Did some work on Dirty Business today, the third draft. Going through it with a fine toothed comb. It's slow and tedious work, but it's comforting too, because I'm not engaged in the act of creating but in editing and polishing, so I'm using a different part of my brain. The analytical part, which I love using.

Went for a bite and then to see Takers tonight. Good movie, but I found some of the shoot-out scenes to be too stylized and drawn out. When I'm noticing that a shoot-out scene is taking far too long, it's usually because it is. I love a good shoot-out scene. But I found myself wondering, at times, if they would ever end.

I was ticked that they killed off my favorite character too. Won't tell you who it was, in case you're thinking of going to see it. But it made me sad.

Over all a good day. Goin' to bed now. Sleepy.

Friday Chatty Stuff

Wow. This week has been crazy. Trying to wrap my mind around it. Haven't had much time to think lately.

Can you believe that it's almost autumn? My favorite time of year. The stores are already showing off their Halloween stuff. Thinking of tricking out the house a little bit. Maybe even my work cubicle.

Time to take the hanging skeleton out from the basement closet soon and hang him on a tree branch. I was going to keep him up for Christmas last year and just put a little red Santa hat on him, but decided against it. Maybe this year though.

May go to the movies tomorrow night, if there's something we want to see.

Have a good Friday night all!

Liquid Silver Books Blog

I'm blogging here today. Come join me!

Pics and Stuff

Great time at the Saratoga Race Track yesterday. Hung out with the girls from work. It was very nice. Of course, there were times when I was thinking, "I should be writing", but all work and no play is bad, bad, bad. Right?

Working on the third draft of the book right now so this post will be short. I'll leave you with a few pics. There are more pics on my Facebook page.


The only horse pic I took. Silly, silly.


Me in my new red dress, taken by my mother as I was heading out to my truck.


Another pic by my mother.


Me and my girls!



Another of me and my girls!

Another Fly-By

Pretty much finished a blog entry due for Liquid Silver Books blog on the 23rd. Just have to go through and make sure there are no errors.

Today I realized that I can't write a single other sentence until I start going through the book for the third time. I did write about a paragraph, which came grudgingly. It's time to start the third draft, make sure everything is as it should be.

The book is pretty much done, except for the polishing. I may have a few sentences here and there. The book's pretty much done and I feel utterly exhausted. Going through the third draft feels like work because I so want to type The End and mean it. I'm at the point where I'm tired of it. I need to be really and truly done.

What next? Not sure. Maybe just a nice break. *Straight Face* Right.

Off today! Woohoo!

Some Maine Pics

Right after we arrived in Ogunquit, Maine. The trip took 7 hours because we took the scenic route. Pretty but tiring. I'm kinda shot in this pic but happy to have finally arrived.


The lighthouse in Portland, Maine. Really cool inside.



The Cape Neddick lighthouse at Nubble Point.


Me sitting on some rocks at Nubble Point. Windy day.

Fly-By

Not much time to post right now but I'll try to get on later tonight or tomorrow. Had a nice weekend in Ogunquit, Maine. Will post pics when I upload them from my camera. The ocean was gorgeous, and I got to see two lighthouses, and actually go up in one of them. Very cool. I love lighthouses.

Tired though. Glad to be back, though I could've cried leaving there. If I ever had the means, I'd move to Maine and live near the ocean. Freakin' heavenly. So inspiring. And the people are so nice.

Anyway, gotta git.

Later all.

I Get This

Was visiting Alexandra Sokoloff and am so glad she posted this entry. This rings soooo true for me:

It’s unfortunate that I had to leave off on that one at the very worst possible time to leave a book – 3/4s of the way through a first draft, that Slough of Despond where you realize that you never had the slightest bit of talent to begin with, that in fact elves wrote your last four books, along with everything else you’ve ever written, and you might as well go do that other thing that you can’t do because no writer is really equipped to work at anything else, but you better figure something out fast, because your writing career is officially over.

Yeah. I know this feeling. I go through it with each and every book.

*Sigh*

Okay, back to work for me.

Catching Up

Wow. Not much time for blogging (or writing of any kind, except maybe a grocery list)with the Sis and Mother visiting. But I'm jumping on quick before I head off to bed.

Went to see Inception on Saturday night. It was the IMAX version. Nice. I really enjoyed it. Jeff liked it too. It was long, at almost 2 1/2 hours, but there wasn't a dull moment during the entire movie. The special effects were fantastic. Very visually appealing movie. Loved the concept.

Busy, busy, busy on Sunday. No writing. Just run, run, run pretty much all day. Went shopping for shoes and a clutch purse to go with a beautious red dress I'm wearing to an event two Saturdays from now. I call it my Jackie-O dress. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to dresses. Hard to please. But this dress, I love. It's beautiful in its simplicity.

As a writer, I'm pretty shy. But I think we're a shy lot, over all. I can socialize but I'm kind of out of my element at events with lots of people at them. I'll have to get used to it, though, because I need to get to conventions to network. So . . . It's good practice, I guess.

Got a really interesting idea for a story/novella or book. Not sure how long it would be yet, but the idea pushed to the surface of my mind at work today. Been with me most of the evening. This may be the story I work on when I'm finally completely finished with Dirty Business. The end is near! Yes!

A month or so ago I posted a tarot reading (not going looking for it because I'm too tired and lazy, so no link, sorry) which said that I'd hear from an old friend. Wow. I did hear from an old friend whom I hadn't heard from in about twelve years. Well, more like he hadn't heard from me. I moved and got married and changed my name and country. So yeah. I was a tad bit hard to find. But he found me.

Turns out he'd been looking for me for the last decade or so. I lost my notebooks I kept the contact info of friends in. But even trying to find him via the internet hadn't brought any luck. Turns out he was on facebook and the pic he posted of himself showed only as a thumbnail. His style was completely different in the pic, and it was only a thumbnail so I didn't click to enlarge it. I thought it was another person with his name. The last time I looked for him was last Tues. He contacted me on Wed. Que spooky music.

In the message he sent me he included a pic of him from probably over twelve years ago, when he was sporting green spiky hair. The last time I saw him, I think his hair was bleached almost white. He so doesn't look like that now.

He'd been to many different countries and had been on many adventures, so he hadn't really been around either. He mentioned what a relief it was to have finally found me again, which he did via a family member of mine that he'd met a long time ago and had exchanged emails with.

I feel relieved too. He was one of those people that you connect with, feel close to even if you don't spend much time with them, and feel a loss when you realize you've completely lost contact with. I thought of him as kind of a little brother. He was a good confidante, as well. He said he'd missed me "heaps". I've missed you heaps too, Michael!

Really weird how accurate those tarot readings are. I think every one of them describes a friend of mine to a T. This friend keeps popping up in every reading. We don't spend much time together either, but there's a close connection there as well. Funny too, because this person starting popping up in the readings about a year before I ever even met them. A person I have great respect for, whom I could see cultivating a lifetime friendship with. Those connections are rare. For me, anyway. I get along with most anyone, but my close friendships are few and far between.

Life's a strange thing.

I'm rambling. I'm going off to bed with a book. Over and out.

Nice!

YAY! Wrote a fun scene that I think turned out pretty well. Goin' shopping with the bean, ma and sis and then to dinner and a movies tonight! A real date! Cooooool.

It's a good day.

Saturday Chatter

Haven't been around much lately. Been crazy busy at work and have my mom and sis visiting, so I'm my eyes are closing by the time they go to bed. Going to try and do at least one scene this morning.

Thank God the heat and humidity has broken here in NY. That shit was killing me. Ugh. Even though I'm in air conditioned splendor at work, the atmosphere is so heavy it makes me feel as if a giant foot is pressing down on me. So many people felt the same way too, so it actually wasn't just my Northern Ontario body suffering. But I was sooooo longing for the dryer, cooler air of my home town.

I miss being able to just walk to the lake and hang out. Wander around the boardwalk. Bell Park in Sudbury, Ontario, which is my home town, has several small beaches, all pretty close to one another, so you don't have to be fighting crowds. I really miss the tranquility of being able to sit on a rock and look at out at the waves. Sometimes it actually makes me want to cry. Funny how you miss things that you took for granted before.

Can't do that here. You have to actually drive a while before you can get to a beach, which is always overloaded with people.

But, the fella and I are going to Maine for the weekend, leaving Friday the 13th. Eeeek! I know. Keep your fingers crossed for me that we don't encounter an axe toting freak in a hockey mask. We were going to go to Cape Cod but decided that the crowds would be insane. That would not be relaxing to me. So Maine it is. I'm stoked because I've never been.

Funny thing is that my boss is going to be in the exact same area I'm going to be in. Saturday is his last day there. Good thing I like him a lot, because I'm not feeling like we have to change spots. He's actually one of those people who are a joy to be in the company of, because he's always upbeat and has a great sense of humor, which is usually pretty subtle. You need to be quick to catch it sometimes. He's sharp.

Still, the odds of running in to each other are probably pretty slim, which means I'll probably run in to him everywhere.

But I'm excited about frolicking in the ocean. Never seen an ocean. So I'm completely jazzed about that. And my fella is the easiest going, most low-key guy on the planet, which will make the trip perfect. That is what I need right now. In a big way. I just need to unwind and chill. He's is perfectly happy and content to just hang out and take it easy. We can just do what we feel like doing. Love that.

It's only two days. But it'll be loooooovely. And I'm the kind of person who actually loves travelling in a car, bus, train, whatever. I like to be a passenger and just relax. I love looking out the window of a moving vehicle. I can do that for hours and hours and not be bored. So the six hour drive won't be a drag for me.

Doesn't hurt either that Jeff is fun, actually likes my sense of humor and my company, and doesn't mind my loud, off-tune singing. He actually encourages it. "Yeah! You got it. Get down with your bad self, baby!"

He also tells me I'm hot on a regular basis. Yeah. I've got him snowed. Thank God the drugs I've given him haven't worn off yet. Teehee!

He rocks.

Okay, enough rambling. Off to write the scene.

Later all.

Quick Note

Crazy last few days. Mother and sister are here so not much in the way of writing done. No time to blog, really. Dashing this quick one off from work during a momentary lull.

I'm probably going to have to set the clock for earlier in the a.m and do my writing then, so that I don't lose all my momentum. The next book is calling me. Little snippets of scenes and dialogue are filtering through, demanding to be heard and recorded on the page. So it'll be good to get back to it. I'm assuming they're for The Collectors, the book I was writing before this one. But I could be wrong, too. That's happened before.

Anyway, gotta git.

More soon, I hope.