DEVIL'S PIT
New words: 766
Total words: 3,883
Mean things: must go back into the mine. Scared. Snippy foreman.
Favorite: I joined him in nodding emphatically. Billy was in a very uncomfortable position, knowing that there were more things in heaven and earth, etcetera, but not sure just what those things were. Or how many of them there were. Or how they would affect his life. Every one of us with the Spark had gone through the exact same thing at some point.
Music:
"Could've Gone Mad" - Poe
"Survive" - Lacuna Coil
"The Other Side" - Sirenia
----
About 350 of those words are from the cuts I made yesterday.
I wanted to finish chapter 4 today, but between the kitten being home (and fine; she's all spayed and while she's being a bit ginger about moving around, she's not in any distress) and hitting a sudden wall where I stared at the last line for 20 minutes with nothing happening, I gave up. I'll finish tomorrow and get chapters 3 & 4 up on OWW.
For now, I think I'm going to do laundry and watch The Fellowship of the Ring with the commentary on just because I've never done that before.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
Rescue (Stats)
DEVIL'S PIT
New words: 963
Cut words: 350
Total words: 3,115
Mean things: pushy, angry mine. Couldn't save all the miners. Dirty, smelly, and tired.
Favorite: Gritting my teeth, I shoved at the mine, and it subsided with a faint mutter. The rush of clarity was like the first bite of mint-chocolate ice cream, blessedly cool and clean. I took a deep breath of the dusty air and began picking my way toward the fall.
Music:
"Last Girl on Earth" - Supreme Beings of Leisure
"Requiem for a Tower" - Escala
"Dead Man's Reel" - Suidakra
---
There was one particular conversation that gave just about everyone on OWW trouble no matter how I tweaked it, and I decided that the place I had it was not the right time for that conversation to take place. I'm going to push it into chapter 4, which I haven't even started yet, hence the cuts.
Writing was a chore today, not because this section is boring or anything, but because I had to take the little kitty to the vet to get spayed, and I'm worried about her. I know spaying is a very routine surgery and she'll most likely be fine, but I can't help it. I even kind of miss her habit of jumping up on my desk and batting my pens onto the floor.
New words: 963
Cut words: 350
Total words: 3,115
Mean things: pushy, angry mine. Couldn't save all the miners. Dirty, smelly, and tired.
Favorite: Gritting my teeth, I shoved at the mine, and it subsided with a faint mutter. The rush of clarity was like the first bite of mint-chocolate ice cream, blessedly cool and clean. I took a deep breath of the dusty air and began picking my way toward the fall.
Music:
"Last Girl on Earth" - Supreme Beings of Leisure
"Requiem for a Tower" - Escala
"Dead Man's Reel" - Suidakra
---
There was one particular conversation that gave just about everyone on OWW trouble no matter how I tweaked it, and I decided that the place I had it was not the right time for that conversation to take place. I'm going to push it into chapter 4, which I haven't even started yet, hence the cuts.
Writing was a chore today, not because this section is boring or anything, but because I had to take the little kitty to the vet to get spayed, and I'm worried about her. I know spaying is a very routine surgery and she'll most likely be fine, but I can't help it. I even kind of miss her habit of jumping up on my desk and batting my pens onto the floor.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Rejection #8 Billion
"The Dragon in the Mall" was rejected for Electric Spec today.
It was a very nice rejection, but I'm still fighting off the doldrums that says that short stories are a waste of my time, that I suck at them, that out of the dozen or so I've written, only two were deemed good enough to be published, and not even in "professional-rate" markets. Why bother? Why waste my time and their time?
A smaller part of me is trying to remember that since I joined OWW, every rejection I've gotten has been very nice and encouraging. So obviously I'm making headway. But rejection is rejection is rejection. It reminds me of a colleague's student who kept coming to class even after failing the midterm so hard there was no way she'd ever pull her grade up to a D. She told my colleague she was "aiming for a high F." So what if the rejections are nice? They're still rejections.
I'll shake it off and move on in a day or so. Just the usual I'm-completely-worthless writers' depression that I think we all get after a rejection.
It was a very nice rejection, but I'm still fighting off the doldrums that says that short stories are a waste of my time, that I suck at them, that out of the dozen or so I've written, only two were deemed good enough to be published, and not even in "professional-rate" markets. Why bother? Why waste my time and their time?
A smaller part of me is trying to remember that since I joined OWW, every rejection I've gotten has been very nice and encouraging. So obviously I'm making headway. But rejection is rejection is rejection. It reminds me of a colleague's student who kept coming to class even after failing the midterm so hard there was no way she'd ever pull her grade up to a D. She told my colleague she was "aiming for a high F." So what if the rejections are nice? They're still rejections.
I'll shake it off and move on in a day or so. Just the usual I'm-completely-worthless writers' depression that I think we all get after a rejection.
Rocks, Ahoy (Stats)
DEVIL'S PIT
New words: 606
Total words: 2,462
Mean things: mine is angry.
Favorite: The throb of the mine’s anger closed in around me, blocking out everything else. I allowed Billy to help me onto the tram, barely paying attention to what he was saying about staying seated until the tram stopped and watching my head. Only once before had something completely blocked my extra sense, and memories of The Bad Time washed over me, sending my heart fluttering. While the tram rumbled toward the rock fall, I took deep breaths, trying to clear my head and push back on the mine’s insistence that I pay attention to it.
Music:
"Tirades of Truth" - Devildriver
---
Once again, I'm incredibly grateful that I chose to switch allegiances to OWW. I posted chapters 1 & 2 of DEVIL'S PIT up there yesterday and I've gotten two responses already, both of them very encouraging (they like my title! I suck at titles!), and both of them causing me to look forward to revising. Weird, huh?
Today's words are a mix of revising Ch. 1&2 and completely new material in Ch. 3, which is now about half done.
New words: 606
Total words: 2,462
Mean things: mine is angry.
Favorite: The throb of the mine’s anger closed in around me, blocking out everything else. I allowed Billy to help me onto the tram, barely paying attention to what he was saying about staying seated until the tram stopped and watching my head. Only once before had something completely blocked my extra sense, and memories of The Bad Time washed over me, sending my heart fluttering. While the tram rumbled toward the rock fall, I took deep breaths, trying to clear my head and push back on the mine’s insistence that I pay attention to it.
Music:
"Tirades of Truth" - Devildriver
---
Once again, I'm incredibly grateful that I chose to switch allegiances to OWW. I posted chapters 1 & 2 of DEVIL'S PIT up there yesterday and I've gotten two responses already, both of them very encouraging (they like my title! I suck at titles!), and both of them causing me to look forward to revising. Weird, huh?
Today's words are a mix of revising Ch. 1&2 and completely new material in Ch. 3, which is now about half done.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Standing on the Mouth of Hell (Stats)
DEVIL'S PIT
New words: 649
Total words: 1,856
Mean things: evil tattoo. Evil mine. Evil ghosts. Headed down into the mine.
Favorite: I pulled my hair back into a ponytail while I listened, and the men’s eyes drifted to the tattoo on my neck. I saw their surprise when they realized it was nearly identical to the one on David’s. I was suddenly uncomfortable with the mark in a way I hadn’t been since I first got it. I also felt defensive; what was so interesting about a government-mandated tattoo that branded us as magic-users? I pulled my ponytail over my shoulder so it draped across my neck and hid the tattoo. Technically, that was illegal, but I didn’t care.
Music:
"Peata Beag Do Mhathar" - Susan McKeown
"The Path to Decay" - Sirenia
"Planxty Brown" - Clannad
----
End of chapter two! Yay! That means I'll go post these two chapters up on OWW and wait for the shredding to begin.
New words: 649
Total words: 1,856
Mean things: evil tattoo. Evil mine. Evil ghosts. Headed down into the mine.
Favorite: I pulled my hair back into a ponytail while I listened, and the men’s eyes drifted to the tattoo on my neck. I saw their surprise when they realized it was nearly identical to the one on David’s. I was suddenly uncomfortable with the mark in a way I hadn’t been since I first got it. I also felt defensive; what was so interesting about a government-mandated tattoo that branded us as magic-users? I pulled my ponytail over my shoulder so it draped across my neck and hid the tattoo. Technically, that was illegal, but I didn’t care.
Music:
"Peata Beag Do Mhathar" - Susan McKeown
"The Path to Decay" - Sirenia
"Planxty Brown" - Clannad
----
End of chapter two! Yay! That means I'll go post these two chapters up on OWW and wait for the shredding to begin.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Up in the Mountains (Stats)
DEVIL'S PIT
New words: 577
Total words: 1,205
Mean things: foreshadowing
Favorite: Despite David’s insistence that we weren’t going to need extra rations (we bought MREs at the local army surplus store) or extra water or half of the other stuff I’d put on the list, I doggedly continued to toss them in the back of the Bronco for sorting while we were on the road.
“You’ll thank me for it later,” I said as we clambered—well, I clambered, he stepped; David’s much taller than me—back into the Bronco.
“Or I’ll say I told you so when absolutely nothing happens and we’re driving back at this time on Wednesday,” he said.
“I hope you’re right,” I said.
I did hope that. But as so often happens in our line of work, I didn’t get my hope.
Music:
"O Gharuntino" - Leilia
"Palladio" - Escalada
"The Dirty South" - Fern Knight
---
Further writing called on account of cat sitting on the back of my chair playing with my hair. And demanding petted.
I'm surprised that there are so few Internet sites that explain exactly how miners get the coal from an underground deep mine to the surface. The best I've been able to do (until I'm able to talk to an actual miner this weekend) is surmise that there are shafts punched through which the coal is lifted. I'd been under the impression that there was one shaft: the elevator the men go up and down in.
Now I get to try to unpack a few boxes that we haven't gotten to yet, then watch Supernatural and fold laundry. Bleh.
New words: 577
Total words: 1,205
Mean things: foreshadowing
Favorite: Despite David’s insistence that we weren’t going to need extra rations (we bought MREs at the local army surplus store) or extra water or half of the other stuff I’d put on the list, I doggedly continued to toss them in the back of the Bronco for sorting while we were on the road.
“You’ll thank me for it later,” I said as we clambered—well, I clambered, he stepped; David’s much taller than me—back into the Bronco.
“Or I’ll say I told you so when absolutely nothing happens and we’re driving back at this time on Wednesday,” he said.
“I hope you’re right,” I said.
I did hope that. But as so often happens in our line of work, I didn’t get my hope.
Music:
"O Gharuntino" - Leilia
"Palladio" - Escalada
"The Dirty South" - Fern Knight
---
Further writing called on account of cat sitting on the back of my chair playing with my hair. And demanding petted.
I'm surprised that there are so few Internet sites that explain exactly how miners get the coal from an underground deep mine to the surface. The best I've been able to do (until I'm able to talk to an actual miner this weekend) is surmise that there are shafts punched through which the coal is lifted. I'd been under the impression that there was one shaft: the elevator the men go up and down in.
Now I get to try to unpack a few boxes that we haven't gotten to yet, then watch Supernatural and fold laundry. Bleh.
Monday, December 28, 2009
New Beginnings (Stats)
DEVIL'S PIT
New words: 628
Total words: 628
Mean things: miners not getting dug out if they're dead.
Favorite: David laughed. That line—“I see dead people”—was one of the first things he’d said to me when I started at Super Tech, and it had become an inside joke of sorts. It was funny mostly because he did see dead people; his magic was Necromancy, and he’d majored in Forensic Necromancy. If he’d decided to work for the public sector instead of starting his own business, he’d probably be in a crime lab somewhere, discussing murder with corpses and ghosts.
----
Further writing called on account of air conditioning repair people coming over and management company's secretary's daughter wanting a tour of a two-bedroom (guess who's home all day and gets to show off her apartment?). Must go do some cleaning before they get here. Luckily most of the cleaning got done last week; this is just touching up.
New words: 628
Total words: 628
Mean things: miners not getting dug out if they're dead.
Favorite: David laughed. That line—“I see dead people”—was one of the first things he’d said to me when I started at Super Tech, and it had become an inside joke of sorts. It was funny mostly because he did see dead people; his magic was Necromancy, and he’d majored in Forensic Necromancy. If he’d decided to work for the public sector instead of starting his own business, he’d probably be in a crime lab somewhere, discussing murder with corpses and ghosts.
----
Further writing called on account of air conditioning repair people coming over and management company's secretary's daughter wanting a tour of a two-bedroom (guess who's home all day and gets to show off her apartment?). Must go do some cleaning before they get here. Luckily most of the cleaning got done last week; this is just touching up.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Book Review: Heat Wave
Yes, I've finished reading it already. Sue me.Heat Wave was a lot of fun, though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. What I expected was a more traditional murder mystery with a main character loosely based on Detective Beckett from Castle. With a name like Nikki Heat, I definitely expected someone edgier. Someone like Jill Kismet or Dante Valentine from Lilith Saintcrow's books.
Instead, Nikki Heat is pretty much Kate Beckett with some of the background filled in. The book reads like an episode of Castle with the names changed, the ride-along journalist more of a jerk, and the main detective actually getting laid. There's more to the book than there would be in an episode, obviously; the writer(s) had more room to explore the emotional timbre and background of the characters. There are some scenes that you can tell "Castle" lifted right out of his interactions with the detectives (such as trying to figure out what to call a suspect--G? Muscle? Meat? Miscreant?), which was kind of fun and great Easter-egginess for watchers of the show.
Also like the show, scenes tended to be short and quick and end on a punchline. I didn't mind that structure too much, but there were places that I wished the book read more like a book and less like a novelization of an episode of Castle.
Overall, the book is great for fans of the show because, well, it's an episode of the show. For those who might expect Patterson-style thriller/murder mystery, it's sadly not that (I really hoped it would be). But it was a great way to waste a few hours, have a few laughs, and get some brain candy.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
2 Out of 4
Goals I accomplished today:
- outline of DEVIL'S PIT is now done. Most of the kinks I discovered toward the end ironed out. Glad I figured them out now rather than later. Also find it funny that this is essentially a murder mystery and I never thought I'd write a murder mystery. Not nearly as complex a murder mystery as, say, Charlaine Harris would write, but still a murder mystery at heart.
- kitties got checked on. They're fine.
W.E. and I started our foray into Left 4 Dead 2, but we kept getting killed and finally got so frustrated we quit to save our tempers and sanity. And I just never got to Twelfth Night. Oh, well.
Now for my self-reward of cheesecake, shower, and bed.
- outline of DEVIL'S PIT is now done. Most of the kinks I discovered toward the end ironed out. Glad I figured them out now rather than later. Also find it funny that this is essentially a murder mystery and I never thought I'd write a murder mystery. Not nearly as complex a murder mystery as, say, Charlaine Harris would write, but still a murder mystery at heart.
- kitties got checked on. They're fine.
W.E. and I started our foray into Left 4 Dead 2, but we kept getting killed and finally got so frustrated we quit to save our tempers and sanity. And I just never got to Twelfth Night. Oh, well.
Now for my self-reward of cheesecake, shower, and bed.
Prezzies!
In case anybody's actually curious, here's what I got for Christmas (so far; we haven't made it to W.E.'s family's houses yet due to the blizzarding).
My sister got me these:
I'd planned to take them to work when I have an office/cubicle and use them there, but now I think I'm just going to keep them at home. They're too pretty to risk.
My mom got me this, which goes really well with the desk set, even though it wasn't made for it:
And W.E. got me these:
I'm very excited to watch Castle again and then read Heat Wave. And I hope that the Buffy book will help with my conference paper, but even if it doesn't, it's great to have one more book of Buffy scholarship.
My sister got me these:
I'd planned to take them to work when I have an office/cubicle and use them there, but now I think I'm just going to keep them at home. They're too pretty to risk.
My mom got me this, which goes really well with the desk set, even though it wasn't made for it:
And W.E. got me these:
I'm very excited to watch Castle again and then read Heat Wave. And I hope that the Buffy book will help with my conference paper, but even if it doesn't, it's great to have one more book of Buffy scholarship.
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