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I've decided to toss my hat into the NaNoWriMo ring yet against this year for a variety of reasons - first, and mostly, being that I have sold my 2007 and 2008 NaNo novels - "What God and Cats Know" and "Blaze of Glory" respectively, and thus I'm trapped in the horror that is a streak, and to quote Kevin Costner in Bull Durham (THE best baseball movie ever!) "a player on a streak has to respect the streak".
Now, you think, she just said that she was working on a steampunk novel. Shall she put it aside and start anew? Can she?
I say, nay!
What I *am* going to do is clock my wordcount at midnight on the 31st (probably after partying in SL) and then ADD 50,000 to it so that I play fair. Sure, I could start a new novel but I don't think I want to - and to be brutally honest, with only 20,000 words on "Spring Cleaning" done, I need something to force me to get it done and at a decent length.
So... November will be another silly month of dragging the laptop into the den and writing while watching and giving support in Second Life to all the other NaNo writers and hoping that lightning strikes a third time.
It'd be nice.
:)
I've got a tentative release date of April, 2010 from Samhain Publishing for "Blaze of Glory" - it releases about the same time as the Romantic Times convention in Columbus, Ohio, so I'm debating if I should perhaps go to the convention and push it there. It'll be the ebook release, with the paper version coming out in the early months of 2011, as per my contract. I'm anxious to see how a superhero romance book does, to tell you the truth - and I'm still in shock that I get to list Samhain as one of my publishers!
We dropped about three grand on the car for a "new" transmission - since Ford doesn't have any current Taurus model that's compatible with ours, we went with the dealership's suggest and got one from their factory, refurbished or some such thing. Of course, now it's acting up and we barely got it back. Probably going to get another "new" one installed while it's still under the dealership warranty, but it's a pain to deal with rental cars, etc. while getting the problem solved. Of course, they pointed out the Nice Shiny New Taurus on the lot for "only" $40,000, but that's a wee bit beyond our reach right now.
*chuckles*
Waiting for the next stage at Lyrical Press for "What God and Cats Know" - I believe now it's off to the copy editor, who will probably find many errors that the editor and myself missed. There's about seven stages a manuscript goes through at LP, so you can bet that by the time it goes to press it's been picked over time and time again. Sure, some errors may still get through thanks to human nature, but it's certainly not for lack of effort! And it's a much better book than it started out to be, thanks to ND's magnificent editing and suggestions. If anyone ever says that he/she doesn't need editing, smack them in the side of the head.
Off to the doctor's this weekend to see what's up with my hip. I fear that old age is finally catching up with this old broad, since I can't sit at the computer too long before pains go down one leg and it aches almost all the time. Of course, dislocating two joints in my spine in my misspent youth may have something to do with it... *sighs* But at least my broken finger is finally healed and it doesn't hurt too much to type. Although the Catholic in me says something about pain being good for the soul or something... drat it!
And it's time for the Autumn Writers Exhibition in Second Life!!! Each year the kind souls at the Written Word, Jilly Kidd and Hastings Bournemouth, arrange for a series of tents and stalls to be put out on land donated by Thinkerer Melville for writers to showcase their works and services, both in and out of Second Life. I participated last year, but frankly didn't have much to put up. This year I'm tossing up links to Samhain and Lyrical, giving away some short stories, and pointing them to my virtual bookstore in SL where I provide links to Project Gutenberg books, highlighting the number of classics that are in the public domain! It'd be better if I actually had books to sell, but it's definitely a chance to do some PR for the next year!
And... that's about it. Other than to note that Zyngo is still my poison of choice in SL and camping at casinos my new hobby.
:)
I've been reading quite a bit lately while finishing up "Blaze of Glory" and starting to send it out. Received a nice rejection from the agent who requested a partial, but that's fine - I don't expect that in this economy with publishers pulling back from taking too many risks that a superhero novel is going to be a hot commodity... yet. I'm sure it'll find a home soon enough!
Some of what I've read and enjoyed/not enjoyed:
The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling - I figured that since I was hanging out in a steampunk sim in Second Life and enjoying it that I'd see what the original start to the craze was all about... but I wasn't impressed. Maybe it's because it was published over a decade ago and so many other books have come out since then, but it just didn't work for me. Weak female characters, a few sex scenes that really didn't do much for the book and a lot of confusion along the way and it was a rough read. But that's just my take; obviously it's become one of the staples of steampunk and I can see that when it was first published it would have been a shock to the system and generated a lot of imagination from other authors.
1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies - I picked this up on a whim after seeing a show on the History Channel about the Great Fleets of China that were sent out and mapped a whole lot more of the world than we first thought - and then were recalled to China and destroyed, along with many of their records as the country went back into seclusion for centuries afterwards. As you can guess from the title the proposal that many of the native people in the Americas have Chinese blood may be a heck of a leap, but you can't really dismiss the evidence he gives for their navigation across the oceans long before those pesky Europeans got around to it. Given that the Chinese culture has lasted a heck of a lot longer than our own Western one, I don't find it surprising that they may have done much more than we first thought. Still working through it but an interesting read if you want something VERY different from what you were taught in school.
Undead on Arrival by L.A. Banks - Part of her Shadow Wolf series, I'm snapping this up as soon as it gets on the shelves - it's a great new series that puts a different spin on the usual werewolf storyline with excellent characters that you just fall in love with as soon as you open the book. I'm hoping she spins this into a long, long series 'cause I just can't get enough of Sasha Trudeau and Hunter. Now if she could only do a crossover with Patricia Briggs...
Red Kiss by Deidre Knight - A sequel to her first Gods of Midnight book, Red Fire, this is a series that's also on my hit list. Immortal Spartans? I'm SO there, baby! Add in some great writing, hot men and a lot of mythology and it's an excellent read for those of you who are sick of the usual paranormal stuff.
As you can tell, I read a lot of genres.
*smirks*
And, thanks to my newest issue of Scifaikuest I'm looking into a new poetry form - the Threesome.
No, not THAT. Although I'll put in a vote for ANY Lauren Dane book thanks to her ability to make me believe that threesomes can work... but I digress.
A Threesome is a new type of poetry form where you basically create a Sudoku puzzle with words. That makes sense. Think about it... I'm looking forward to trying to riddle this out!
And... that's it for now!
Been recovering from both the Pennwriters Conference and the request for a partial from an agent, which meant that last week was mostly recovering from putting together the package and getting things back to normal. Well, sort of. For this household, that is.
Realised that I'd love to do a seminar for the next Conference on Second Life and what it can do for writers - NOT the usual "Oh, you go and PROMOTE yourself!" type of hype that you get, frankly, from everyone under the sun, but telling them what you can do in SL that'll help you as a writer.
Such as?
How about:
Tonight I'm attending a poetry discussion of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" in SL. Sunday I went to a lecture on Irish and Scottish Folklore. I've gone to poetry readings and author interviews with big-name authors who could take questions from the virtual audience filled with people from around the world. I've visited a replica of King Tut's tomb and been able to zoom in on the ancient artifacts and studied them while a recorded voice gave me the history. I've gone to a Bhuddist Temple and meditated with other people. And I've gone to a Space Park and watched the stars fly by and orbited an asteroid with beautiful music in the background.
All of which I would find hard if not impossible to do without SL. Sure, I've seen the workshops for authors and I've attended a few meetings of critique groups and so forth in SL, but it really comes home to me when I visit places set up just for promoting books...
... and they're empty.
Why? Because, as another blog pointed out to me, authors selling to authors is just plain boring. And nonproductive. Yes, you have to do that 'orrible "networking" thang but you have to reach out beyond other authors and get into the public eye where they are. Which is not on another author's blog or website or SL sim where everyone has a book for sale and you're trying to sell to each other. Socializing outside of literary circles will, at least, give you a wider audience. So if you can't get out of the house to hang out in a mall or a coffee shop or a library... why not do it in SL?
And... it's good for the soul. As authors we tend to get too wrapped up in ourselves and not get OUT enough, either mentally or physically - thus the Wii Fit and the EA Active in our living room. Mentally it's great to wander around New Babbage as a clockwork dragon and go to a lecture on Charles Babbage or visit a Victorian sim where everyone has excellent manners or go play in a casino to recharge those mental batteries... and then off to a virtual library to see the 3-D displays or hang out in a pub with other virtual people chatting about pianos and how the construction's changed of these fine pieces over the centuries.
You can't get that anywhere else. And it's good for the soul to reach out and get new experiences even if it's "only" in a virtual sense.
'Nuff said.
*chuckles*
I attended the Walt Whitman discussion last night again, although lag problems had us relocate to Winterfell, a beautiful sim with a faboo library. The talk went well, though I got lost a few times in the finer points of "Song of Myself" when we jumped ahead and I was behind scribbling notes in my paperback copy purchased from Barnes & Noble for just that reason. However, still enjoying and looking forward to the next meeting in two weeks! The head librarian, Mr. Drinkwater, is always thoughtful enough to rez a small toadstool for yours truly to sit down on - being a tiny clockwork dragon is quite bothersome at times.
And I proved to myself that I do have at least ONE female fashion gene when I spent most of yesterday finding a nice outfit to wear and then tossing a fit when SL was lagging out and I thought they would cancel the meeting. NOT after I bought a new outfit, I say! NAY!
*rolls eyes*
And just now visited a virtual King Tut exhibit - more details here in a blog that has more details, but well worth the visit. I actually saw the original exhibit when it toured many, MANY years ago and visited Toronto, but didn't really appreciate it at the time due to just being young and in a grumpy mood. The graphics are fantastic and if you go into Second Life for nothing else, visit this exhibit. The audio presentations alone make it worth it.
Meanwhile upgraded from the Wii Fit to the EA Active. We also purchased the Gold's Gym Cardio workout, but the Wookie's not as much into boxing as I am. The EA Active may or may not work for us; on my first try today it about killed me with the "easy" work out. I think I'll spend more time creating custom workouts such as the boxing and the dance and keep away from the formatted one. The only major complaint I have about the game to this point is that there's no way to "see" the workout until you start it...
And, after almost a year...
...
my broken left pinky finger seems to be finally able to type without pain. I still flex it a lot and I think it'll be a prime candidate for arthritis in a few years, but at least I'm not wincing in pain every time I use it. Which is a lot.
Back to BoG!
Good as in getting not one, but TWO surprise chances to pitch "Blaze of Glory" to agents that suddenly had a hole in their schedule. One requested the first three chapters and a synopsis; the other didn't seem to "get" what I was talking about - but I put that down to my screwing up the delivery more than anything else. I have a knack for being able to get lucky when under panicky stress and then screwing up when I get a chance to prepare. Go figure.
Speakers were faboo, panels were faboo... especially the one by Susan Gable, who Knows Of What She Speaks and delivers good workshops. And don't even ask about how mindblowing the food was at the hotel... urp...
So today is unpack, get said partial ready to be mailed off this weekend, get unpacked, get caught up on everything I didn't do because of preparing for the conference, get unpacked... and getting my Second Life fix.
Totally sad.
But... fun!
:)
:D
and toys... lots of... toys...
I swear, I never liked playing with dolls or dollhouses in me misspent youth.
really.
:D
we got through ten.
*snickers*
found the tiny community; though I'm still on the wall - I could easily become such a clothes horse (otter? weasel?) and spend $L like they're going out of style...
and a week to go before the Pennwriters Conference. I'm still wrangling a few open spots on the panels/workshops for moderators, but it's coming together rather well. Although I must admit that I'm going primarily to be sociable; not really to learn anything. Most of the workshops aren't my genre (s) and many of them I've already gotten the speeches before. It's a sort of sad thing when you realise that you've been around so long that you know of what they speak. Although some of the speakers are going to be interesting peeps, still...
but there will be cake.
and that's all that's really important.
:)
Survived birthday.
Saw "West of Zanzibar", a 1920's silent film at the Phantasmorgia Theater in Second Life. Lon Chaney in silent role. Was good!
Attended faboo shop opening in New Babbage as well. Got lovely outfit.
Played Zyngo. Too. Long.
And here's what's happening at the Caledon Library!
(meanwhile, back to work on editing Blaze of Glory and pulling out space opera story for reworking.)
and there will be tea...
One of the things that always irks me about my supposed-good education is that every once in a while I literally trip over a HUGE gap in my knowledge that must be filled.
Thus, Walt Whitman.
I've been spending a lot of time in the Victorian part of Second Life titled Caledon and tripped across the library that has a variety of projects going on - Little Dorrit is the basis of next month's Book Club and they just started a discussion on Folklore of the British Isles by a Canadian Professor who thrills with her voice.
And, Walt Whitman.
Specifically, "Leaves of Grass", 1855 edition which is to be the topic of discussion for the next few months every Tuesday evening at the Caledon Library. I attended my first meeting last week and was absolutely thrilled/enthralled/terrified at the depth of conversation going on about just the PREFACE to the book.
So I rushed out to me local bookstore and picked up a copy because while I may like ebooks there are just some things that demand paper copy.
Wow.
Just.. wow. I'm not even through the intro and I'm knocked back on me heels.
And a little ticked that while I've heard of the man I've never really read any of his works. Which punches a hole in my education, as I said before.
But now I'm hanging with peeps who are into it. Along with many other classics that I wouldn't ever dream of picking up and studying alone.
I *heart* Second Life.
and, hopefully, Whitman.
I had the fun chance to bid on getting some Really Nice Stuff from Noble Charron at Third Life and Farpoint - Noble Charron is the SL name of... Michael A. Stackpole. Yes, THAT Stackpole.
Didn't get what I wanted during the auction but in the giddy aftermath it was noted that someone had paid an obscene amount of Lindens (the SL currency) to have Stackpole wear a collar and bark like a dog.
I cannot pass up this chance.
I offer the same obscene amount for him to do it again, here, in front of about twenty people.
He does.
The photograph is here.
Yay, verily - I may never ever be as successful as him but darn it - I hope I'm as good a sport as he is.
:)
You younglings may not remember this, but WAY back in the past there were typewriters. Not sleek, cool electric typewriters that hummed when you turned them on and danced around the page, but large killer clunkers that you had to hammer on the keys as if you were pounding in a nail; punching through a fabric ink-dipped ribbon to get a letter onto the page.
that is what I learned on. It sat in a case where you could lock down the top and transport it, probably causing a hernia along the way if you really had to move it more than once a year. But I sat there and hammered out my first words. Lord knows where it is now...
anyway, for years my husband has chastised me for keeping the same pressure up on my poor little keyboard - slamming my fingers down on the keys as if I were trying to punch through that ribbon still. He claims that he can hear me anywhere in the house when I get on a roll and I don't doubt him.
which was all fine, until about a year ago when I broke my left little finger due to a foul ball slamming into my left arm and bouncing up my hand, breaking the finger.
eep.
three months in a small brace and since then it's been weaker than ever - aches during bad weather and yes, painful to type. I've had to literally remember to only brush my finger over the keys; not pound them 'cause it hurts so much. I expect there's some sort of story there about early arthritis and all that and no, can't sue the ballpark. Although I'm never going to a game again.
ANYWAY, every time I have that pain in my finger (which is quite often, since I'm a Bear of Little Thought when I get on a roll) I remember that sometimes you don't need to hammer at something to get the best result. Sometimes a light touch will get the job done much easier and with less pain than slamming into it at full force.
meanwhile, I've become heavily addicted to Zyngo in Second Life, still sending out poetry and working on "Blaze of Glory". I'm determined to not settle for the small presses this time around; life's too short to spend my time hawking a book that you won't find on shelves unless I put it here. All or nothing.
at least for the novels. Poetry, well... that's another thing.
over and out.
While thumbing my way through various types of poetry in one of the Second Life Workshops I discovered the Triolet. Basically it's a rhyming poem with the odd (?) arrangement of
A
B
a - Rhymes with 1st line.
A - Identical to 1st line.
a - Rhymes with 1st line.
b - Rhymes with 2nd line.
A - Identical to 1st line
B - Identical to 2nd line.
now it may look simple, but it's not. Really. And it's a bit hard to get the rhythm right when you're not only focusing on rhyming (which most poets these days seem to shy away from 'cause it's just Not Cool) but also the workings of said poem.
here, for example, is a famous triolet:
Thomas Hardy (1840 – 1928)
How Great My Grief
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee!
- Have the slow years not brought to view
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Nor memory shaped old times anew,
Nor loving-kindness helped to show thee
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee?
so I gave it a shot - check out my St. Patrick's Day poem over at Associated Content!
and then why not give it a shot?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1
and, again... great fun in Second Life!
So I hear that renowned poet Elizabeth Alexander is going to be doing a poem at Mr. Obama's Inauguration. I heard one of her poems lately at a poetry recital in Second Life and I says to myself - "Self, maybe we should look into getting a book by this woman. After all, she sounds really interesting. And I bet that there's lot of them out there now with the publicity about the whole Presidental thang and all."
So I go to the Borders online site.
And the Barnes and Noble website.
Thinking to myself that if I were a bookstore owner that the LEAST I would do for a woman giving a reading at the Inauguration is order in a few of her present and past works and set up a huge honking display at the front of the store. After all, it's history - right.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
Sure, I can order IN the books online or have them delivered to a store near me but NO ONE has the books on hand. Which would have been nice 'cause I'm going to be in a Borders tomorrow, at a Pennwriters meeting regarding the upcoming writing conference and it WOULD have been NICE to see what this poet is all about.
Instead, nothing.
Way to drop the ball, bookstore owners.
Idiots.
... if you can get to it.
All day there's a conference - Living Game Worlds IV - Interplay: Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds - Dec 1-2
you can watch it streaming or in Second Life... VERY interesting!!!
About to hit 40K on Nano. Excerpt to follow soon... hoping to finish before deadline unless I get distracted.
As, in - no Heroclix gaming this weekend for the husband. Whatever shall I do with him?
;)
hit 31K on "Blaze of Glory".
in a seminar right now in SL on Norman's "Gor". Never heard of it and figured it looked interesting.
and RDJr rocks.
that is all.
Considering that my last fuzzaloid was named Jazz (as much as you can ever name a cat) it seems rather bass-ackwards that I've discovered this particular type of music - and appreciate it. I'm putting it down to age, to be perfectly honest - I'm a bit too old for some of the pop slop these days and when my music is considered to be Retro, well...
:P
I actually discovered it through a few places in Second Life and now have this internet radio station bookmarked - Martini In The Morning - it's a great station if you want to have some golden oldies and some newer stuff and some faboo tonues coming out of your computer when you just want something mellow.... take a listen and see what you think!
Of course, I've now discovered the jazz clubs in SL - one lovely one yesterday not only gave me a break from my NaNoWriMo but also had a sweet German fellow trying to woo me. Sweet kid - I distracted him with election talk.
;)
Still... could do worse than some faboo jazz music as I studiously avoid post-election coverage.
(Nano Count - coming up on 10K. And she's rocking!)
Excerpt up on me page at Nano here.
Onwards!
(it doesn't hurt, btw, that RDJ has a jazz album out. Now I need to get me a copy, being a good fangirl...)
