Necromancer
New words: 703
Total words: 36,128
Mean things: friend friction
Favorite: “We’ll be back in a few hours,” Akasha promised Damian. He nodded and turned his attention to the burned tree. He seemed sad, though his face was as expressionless as always. Akasha hated herself for calling him back up, but knew there was nothing to be done for it. She turned and headed back toward town, trying not to think about all the terrible things she had done since she’d started studying Necromancy.
-----
Nothing much to say about this section. Need to go fold laundry now. Bleh.
ETA: Looking at my novel progress bar is very depressing, because I'm almost done with the story, but it's not going to be nearly long enough. I guess I'll have to get Jodi and/or whoever else reads it for me to see what I can do to make it longer without sacrificing plot.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Congratulations!
Kudos to fellow Critter Leah Cypess, who recently sold her novel SHIFTER. It's due out in 2010. Proof that it can happen, even in this horrible terrible economy!
Now if only I could finish NECROMANCER in the next month or so. . . .
Now if only I could finish NECROMANCER in the next month or so. . . .
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Spike + Nightwish
Today I had the urge to create something to go with some Nightwish lyrics, and this is what I came up with. I got the texture here, and the full-size image is available by clicking on the picture.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 1,059
Total words: 35,425
Favorite: “Huh?” Akasha said. “What?” She felt half in a fog, the last threads of the dream still clinging to her mind like spidersilk.
Mean things: bad dreams. Bad Necromancer. Lacerated feet.
----
Yay for writing. I'm all inspired to work harder now that I've got (or am about to have) a professional publishing credit.
Now I'm gonna go eat some pizza and hope this stupid headache will go away. And watch The Matrix. Yay!
New words: 1,059
Total words: 35,425
Favorite: “Huh?” Akasha said. “What?” She felt half in a fog, the last threads of the dream still clinging to her mind like spidersilk.
Mean things: bad dreams. Bad Necromancer. Lacerated feet.
----
Yay for writing. I'm all inspired to work harder now that I've got (or am about to have) a professional publishing credit.
Now I'm gonna go eat some pizza and hope this stupid headache will go away. And watch The Matrix. Yay!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Sale!
My short story "The Truthsayer" was just (literally, like half an hour ago) accepted for publication at Sorcerous Signals. It's a paying market, too, so now I'm a professional writer! It's slated for publication in the Aug-Oct 2009 issue. I'll keep you, Gentle Readers, updated about where to read it and such as I find things out. Right now I'm exhausted--it's been a very emotionally trying day.
Tomorrow's non-scholastic agenda: contact the 3 other markets that are considering "The Truthsayer" and tell them sorry! it's been sold; print and sign the contract; put together a bio and take a not-completely-unflattering picture.
And then run around the office screaming, squealing, and jumping up and down.
Woohoo!
Tomorrow's non-scholastic agenda: contact the 3 other markets that are considering "The Truthsayer" and tell them sorry! it's been sold; print and sign the contract; put together a bio and take a not-completely-unflattering picture.
And then run around the office screaming, squealing, and jumping up and down.
Woohoo!
Wasting Time
I wanted to build a wallpaper with Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman from True Blood, since I'm hoping they're end-game in the Southern Vampire series (they are so perfect for each other). BUT, since Eric hardly shows up in the first season of True Blood, there really weren't enough images to choose from. So instead I built one with Pam and Eric. Here it is (and as always, you can click on it to see the full size image):
(I got the texture here.)
A few days ago I also built an icon and banner of Eric for the Buffy-Boards and After-Darkness:
Now I should really go get something cleaned and/or packed.
(I got the texture here.)
A few days ago I also built an icon and banner of Eric for the Buffy-Boards and After-Darkness:
Now I should really go get something cleaned and/or packed.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Reasons for Not Writing
Writing has been nonexistent lately due to grading, end-of-semester drama, exhaustion, packing, and cleaning. Not necessarily in that order. Finals are the week after next; hopefully I'll have some time to write between helping W.E. find a job, finding an apartment, packing, and cleaning.
SIGH.
More later.
SIGH.
More later.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 1,289
Total words: 34,366
Mean things: evil Necromancer steals Askr Draugr
Favorite: “You are of no use to me,” the Necromancer said. He waved his hand, and to his shock, Damian felt himself dissolving. He fought to stay on the material plane, but failed, wisping away into nowhere.
-----
Today's what-happens-if-I-just-write experiment didn't turn out as well as I hoped. Mostly because I'm also watching Supernatural. Note to self: when writing, everything else needs to be turned off. Even the Internet.
Now I'm gonna try to tackle some grading.
More later.
New words: 1,289
Total words: 34,366
Mean things: evil Necromancer steals Askr Draugr
Favorite: “You are of no use to me,” the Necromancer said. He waved his hand, and to his shock, Damian felt himself dissolving. He fought to stay on the material plane, but failed, wisping away into nowhere.
-----
Today's what-happens-if-I-just-write experiment didn't turn out as well as I hoped. Mostly because I'm also watching Supernatural. Note to self: when writing, everything else needs to be turned off. Even the Internet.
Now I'm gonna try to tackle some grading.
More later.
Lack of Imagination?
I'm noticing a trend with the crits on "Dragon in a Mall." Everyone so far has said that they want to know where the dragon came from, why blood wakes it up, how it got turned to stone, etc. My question: why? How is that relevant to the story I'm trying to tell? The kids have no way of finding out any of this information, so who cares? Finding out would entail chasing rabbit trails that have no place in a short story, especially one that already feels stupidly long to me.
Does anyone know why the demand for every dribble of backstory and information an author can squeeze in? I, for one, think that that's what imagination and speculation are for.
And this isn't part of the not wanting to revise, either. That's just me being lazy. I don't see the purpose in adding this sort of information into the story at all.
Thoughts?
More later.
Does anyone know why the demand for every dribble of backstory and information an author can squeeze in? I, for one, think that that's what imagination and speculation are for.
And this isn't part of the not wanting to revise, either. That's just me being lazy. I don't see the purpose in adding this sort of information into the story at all.
Thoughts?
More later.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Revision Hell
For some reason, I'm much more patient with revising my novels than my short stories. I ripped Healing the Elder to pieces--TWICE--before putting it down and moving on. I have every intention of meticulously revising Necromancer and later Stars Without Name (I don't think I have the energy to do it now).
But "Dragon in a Mall" is up at Critters right now, and I've already gotten one crit. It was a very nice crit, but I looked at the suggestions and my first thought was "I don't WANT to!" I really can't wrap my brain around sitting down and tinkering with this story. I want it to be fine as it is. I don't WANT to fine-tune characters so they're more believable or likeable. I just want to sell it.
SIGH.
More later.
But "Dragon in a Mall" is up at Critters right now, and I've already gotten one crit. It was a very nice crit, but I looked at the suggestions and my first thought was "I don't WANT to!" I really can't wrap my brain around sitting down and tinkering with this story. I want it to be fine as it is. I don't WANT to fine-tune characters so they're more believable or likeable. I just want to sell it.
SIGH.
More later.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 1,994
Total words: 33,077
Favorite: He slid two fingers under her chin, tilting her face up so her lips met his. It was a soft, gentle kiss that left Akasha’s insides in a warm puddle. When his lips left hers, so did a small sigh at the necessity. They were standing in the middle of the street in broad daylight; any more than that simple kiss would rouse the ire of the neighbors.
Mean things: can't keep up in training
-----
Most of this has been done in stolen time between student conferences, though a big chunk was done during my lunch break. Some of it also involved moving a huge chunk from Chapter 9 to Chapter 10, so right now I'm redoing Chapter 9. I'll have to do some minor editing to Chapter 10 to fix continuity, but that's a job for another day, I think.
This also reinforced my theory that I might be developing the discipline needed to write full time. I don't know if I could sit down and just write for eight hours at a stretch, but I know that, with breaks, I can do it for several hours, anyway.
More later.
New words: 1,994
Total words: 33,077
Favorite: He slid two fingers under her chin, tilting her face up so her lips met his. It was a soft, gentle kiss that left Akasha’s insides in a warm puddle. When his lips left hers, so did a small sigh at the necessity. They were standing in the middle of the street in broad daylight; any more than that simple kiss would rouse the ire of the neighbors.
Mean things: can't keep up in training
-----
Most of this has been done in stolen time between student conferences, though a big chunk was done during my lunch break. Some of it also involved moving a huge chunk from Chapter 9 to Chapter 10, so right now I'm redoing Chapter 9. I'll have to do some minor editing to Chapter 10 to fix continuity, but that's a job for another day, I think.
This also reinforced my theory that I might be developing the discipline needed to write full time. I don't know if I could sit down and just write for eight hours at a stretch, but I know that, with breaks, I can do it for several hours, anyway.
More later.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Twitter Suckage
Those of you who are observant (or my friends on Facebook) will realize that I've joined the dark side and signed up for Twitter. Mostly because I don't want to miss the next #queryfail or suchlike. If you're incredibly bored and would like to follow me, I'm SnarkyWriter (or you can go over to the sidebar and click on the thingy under my novel progress bar).
More later.
More later.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Stats (Again)
Necromancer
New words: 547
Total words: 31,082
Mean things: actually a very nice and (I hope) touching section
Favorite: “Her brother and his daughter were taken by the . . . Askr Draugr,” Jain said, pronouncing the unfamiliar words carefully. “She’s on her own now.”
Akasha had nothing to say to that, and tried hard to keep her guilt off her face.
“I know you’re trying to kill it, lady,” Penny said quietly. “Don’t feel bad. You could not have known that it would rise, nor take the nomads while my family was visiting with them.”
------
Took a break from Diablo II to write some more. Yay me.
More later.
New words: 547
Total words: 31,082
Mean things: actually a very nice and (I hope) touching section
Favorite: “Her brother and his daughter were taken by the . . . Askr Draugr,” Jain said, pronouncing the unfamiliar words carefully. “She’s on her own now.”
Akasha had nothing to say to that, and tried hard to keep her guilt off her face.
“I know you’re trying to kill it, lady,” Penny said quietly. “Don’t feel bad. You could not have known that it would rise, nor take the nomads while my family was visiting with them.”
------
Took a break from Diablo II to write some more. Yay me.
More later.
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 1,142
Total words: 30,535
Mean things: taxes
Favorite: He unlocked the huge door, and Akasha leaned sideways so she could see into the vault.
It wasn’t anything special to look at. She had expected stacks upon stacks of gold, but instead she saw several boxes, each with a name and number on it. Some people had more boxes than others, it appeared, but they were all about the same size. Akasha thought that was rather diplomatic; obviously not everyone had enough money to fill up one of those boxes, but the banker didn’t insult them by giving them smaller boxes. Or maybe it was just cheaper to get the woodsmith to make a lot of boxes the same size rather than order different ones.
----
That was about an hour and a half worth of writing, with small breaks to check all the distracting, procrastination-enabling websites I'm a member of. It makes me wonder how much I could get done if I didn't have to work or do other stuff all day. Before I've said that I would get NOTHING done--I'd be too busy playing video games or something--but I'm starting to feel like maybe the discipline is developing. I didn't really feel like writing this morning--I'm a little bummed over some stuff that happened yesterday--but I sat down and made myself do it anyway. I checked my word count at one point--650-something--and decided that wasn't enough, that I wanted to go over a thousand, so I kept writing. And when I reached a stopping point (midway through a scene, oddly enough), I'd cleared 1,000 fairly handily. So maybe I'm getting to that point where I could write for a living. Assuming I could ever sell anything. But I'll worry about that when it happens.
More later.
New words: 1,142
Total words: 30,535
Mean things: taxes
Favorite: He unlocked the huge door, and Akasha leaned sideways so she could see into the vault.
It wasn’t anything special to look at. She had expected stacks upon stacks of gold, but instead she saw several boxes, each with a name and number on it. Some people had more boxes than others, it appeared, but they were all about the same size. Akasha thought that was rather diplomatic; obviously not everyone had enough money to fill up one of those boxes, but the banker didn’t insult them by giving them smaller boxes. Or maybe it was just cheaper to get the woodsmith to make a lot of boxes the same size rather than order different ones.
----
That was about an hour and a half worth of writing, with small breaks to check all the distracting, procrastination-enabling websites I'm a member of. It makes me wonder how much I could get done if I didn't have to work or do other stuff all day. Before I've said that I would get NOTHING done--I'd be too busy playing video games or something--but I'm starting to feel like maybe the discipline is developing. I didn't really feel like writing this morning--I'm a little bummed over some stuff that happened yesterday--but I sat down and made myself do it anyway. I checked my word count at one point--650-something--and decided that wasn't enough, that I wanted to go over a thousand, so I kept writing. And when I reached a stopping point (midway through a scene, oddly enough), I'd cleared 1,000 fairly handily. So maybe I'm getting to that point where I could write for a living. Assuming I could ever sell anything. But I'll worry about that when it happens.
More later.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 428
Total words: 29,393
Mean things: self-doubt. Advice from a kid. Fear.
Favorite: After a long moment, Alister’s breath exploded out of him. “Can’t,” he said. “It’s not working. I can’t get past my hands.” He glared at the cut on Daoin’s arm as if the bloody line were to blame for his failure.
-----
I would have done more, but this was kind of spontaneous (W.E.'s taking a nap, so I seized the opportunity to work in silence) and the notebook with my outline in it is halfway across the room. My computer is in my lap. I am lazy. Hence, enough for the day.
I need to rewrite my outline, anyway; it's a teensy bit off course. Mostly in the training schedule. I figure at some point I'll type it out and correct it so it follows what I've actually written. Maybe tomorrow; I'll have quite a bit of time on my hands.
Otherwise, today was fairly uneventful. I read the first third of Frankenstein, making marginal notes and considering quiz questions and discussion topics, then cleaned out a box and repacked it, then went to the store, then played Diablo II for about four hours. It was nice. Doesn't feel like a Thursday.
More later.
New words: 428
Total words: 29,393
Mean things: self-doubt. Advice from a kid. Fear.
Favorite: After a long moment, Alister’s breath exploded out of him. “Can’t,” he said. “It’s not working. I can’t get past my hands.” He glared at the cut on Daoin’s arm as if the bloody line were to blame for his failure.
-----
I would have done more, but this was kind of spontaneous (W.E.'s taking a nap, so I seized the opportunity to work in silence) and the notebook with my outline in it is halfway across the room. My computer is in my lap. I am lazy. Hence, enough for the day.
I need to rewrite my outline, anyway; it's a teensy bit off course. Mostly in the training schedule. I figure at some point I'll type it out and correct it so it follows what I've actually written. Maybe tomorrow; I'll have quite a bit of time on my hands.
Otherwise, today was fairly uneventful. I read the first third of Frankenstein, making marginal notes and considering quiz questions and discussion topics, then cleaned out a box and repacked it, then went to the store, then played Diablo II for about four hours. It was nice. Doesn't feel like a Thursday.
More later.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Damn Thieves
So apparently my debit card number was stolen and charged for nearly $600. Yay for my bank and their careful monitoring; it should be taken care of.
Not much makes me as angry as being stolen from. Really. I work hard for what I have and I don't have a lot; why would anyone think it's okay to just waltz in and take it away from me? Seriously? What kind of messed-up morals do people have?
We ran a credit check and our identities haven't been stolen, at least. That's a relief; it would be the LAST thing we need right now.
Otherwise, future still looking kind of shaky; no job for W.E. yet and money is very tight. It's a constant struggle not to freak right the hell out.
More later.
Not much makes me as angry as being stolen from. Really. I work hard for what I have and I don't have a lot; why would anyone think it's okay to just waltz in and take it away from me? Seriously? What kind of messed-up morals do people have?
We ran a credit check and our identities haven't been stolen, at least. That's a relief; it would be the LAST thing we need right now.
Otherwise, future still looking kind of shaky; no job for W.E. yet and money is very tight. It's a constant struggle not to freak right the hell out.
More later.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Victor/Sierra
Because I loved last night's episode of Dollhouse mostly because of the relationship between Victor and Sierra, I made a banner and an icon for them.
I really should have spent the last hour or so folding laundry or something, but this was more relaxing.
More later.
I really should have spent the last hour or so folding laundry or something, but this was more relaxing.
More later.
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 1,024
Total words: 28,965
Mean things: lovers' quarrel. Training problems.
Favorite: Nothing really jumps out at me.
-----
Yay for progress. Now I'm going to go play with GIMP.
More later.
New words: 1,024
Total words: 28,965
Mean things: lovers' quarrel. Training problems.
Favorite: Nothing really jumps out at me.
-----
Yay for progress. Now I'm going to go play with GIMP.
More later.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Stats
Necromancer
New words: 326
Total words: 27,939
Mean things: Necromancer thinking evil thoughts
Typos: watching the scenery go bye
Favorite: He grumbled to himself about the incongruity of someone who dealt with death being spooked by anything, but he knew that fears were often irrational. At least he didn’t let them rule him, the way the Council Representative for the Conjurers did. That woman was afraid of her own shadow, always making people check for spiders in her chair before she sat down and screeching at the tiniest movement that might be a bug or a mouse. He was amazed that she could get past her fear long enough to use her Talent, let alone teach others.
----
I took some time during a lull between classes to get a little bit of writing done, at least. Since packing is going to be taking up almost all of my weekends for awhile, I need to start writing whenever I can get a chance. Hopefully once I've moved and settled, I'll be able to spend more time at the computer, especially since my assistantship job, whatever it may be, won't take more than 20 hours a week.
Prayers that W.E. finds some sort of temp or contract work NOW are greatly appreciated.
More later.
New words: 326
Total words: 27,939
Mean things: Necromancer thinking evil thoughts
Typos: watching the scenery go bye
Favorite: He grumbled to himself about the incongruity of someone who dealt with death being spooked by anything, but he knew that fears were often irrational. At least he didn’t let them rule him, the way the Council Representative for the Conjurers did. That woman was afraid of her own shadow, always making people check for spiders in her chair before she sat down and screeching at the tiniest movement that might be a bug or a mouse. He was amazed that she could get past her fear long enough to use her Talent, let alone teach others.
----
I took some time during a lull between classes to get a little bit of writing done, at least. Since packing is going to be taking up almost all of my weekends for awhile, I need to start writing whenever I can get a chance. Hopefully once I've moved and settled, I'll be able to spend more time at the computer, especially since my assistantship job, whatever it may be, won't take more than 20 hours a week.
Prayers that W.E. finds some sort of temp or contract work NOW are greatly appreciated.
More later.
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