C. S. Rickard

Blogging Down Time

2010-03-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

I know I've been absent from the blog the past month and I apologize. I'm in some crunch mode with both work and writing until mid-April. I'm also hoping to have my website re-designed by then. When that happens, I plan on moving my blog to my website, so everything's in one place. I'll post when I'm about ready to transfer everything so that you all know.

Thanks for being patient!

Amazon Response

2010-02-01T08:05:00.002-05:00

Amazon posted a response to the reaction of pulling MacMillan's books. While I'm not convinced on what the price for e-books should be, I do think that the market should decide. What is expensive to one person, could be reasonable to another and cheap to someone else. A major fan of an author is more than willing to pay a few more dollars to read the e-book version when it's released than waiting several months for the price to drop. The choice is theirs. Like everything else in a free market society, the price paid on newly released items are ALWAYS more expensive than the price on that same item months later. This happens in every industry, whether it's books, cars, clothing, movies. It's expected. Amazon makes it sound as if charging more for a new release is somehow duping the readers. If the readers don't like the price, they don't have to pay it. They can wait and buy it cheaper, like they do with every other item in every other industry. This is not about looking out for the customer, it's about a threat to Amazon's market share on e-books.

John Scalzi wrote an absolutely beautiful summary of this past weekend. I laughed from point 2 through the end. You've got to read it!

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/01/all-the-many-ways-amazon-so-very-failed-the-weekend/

Below is the quote from Publisher's Weekly:

Amazon Answers: "Ultimately....We Will Have to Capitulate"
Could publishers have triumphed so quickly with their strategy to use Apple's entry into the market to move to an agency model for selling ebooks? (Note that the etailer says "ultimately." Immediately after posting this "announcement," disabled Macmillan buy buttons had not been restored yet.) Early Sunday evening, The Amazon Kindle team has just posted this to a forum on their site:

Dear Customers:

Macmillan, one of the "big six" publishers, has clearly communicated to us that, regardless of our viewpoint, they are committed to switching to an agency model and charging $12.99 to $14.99 for e-book versions of bestsellers and most hardcover releases.

We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative.

Kindle is a business for Amazon, and it is also a mission. We never expected it to be easy!

As reported previously here, other major publishers do in fact have plans for pursuing "the same route," so this may be just the first chapter.

Good-bye Amazon

2010-01-31T09:22:00.007-05:00

I have been an Amazon customer almost since they were on-line. I signed up for Amazon Prime membership the first month it was offered and have had it on automatic renewal ever since. I also own a kindle. Yesterday, however, I was shocked and angry at the bullish tactics Amazon used when MacMillan wanted to alter the pricing structure of its e-books. The New York Times has a summary of what happened here. Publisher's Lunch carried a letter from MacMillan explaining what had happened.

Essentially, Amazon yanked all MacMillan books, which includes Tor, in both e-book and paper formats from their website. However, they do still allow third party vendors to sell these books through Amazon.

There has been a flurry of blogs and responses by authors as a result. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.sfwa.org/2010/01/why-my-books-are-no-longer-available-on-amazon-com/
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/01/30/a-quick-note-on-ebook-pricing/
http://jaylake.livejournal.com/2042910.html
http://suricattus.livejournal.com/1200903.html
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/01/amazon-macmillan-an-outsiders.html

I think John Scalzi and Charlie Stross' posts sum up my thoughts on this matter quite nicely.

In a free market society, Amazon has the right to pull or sell whatever they want. However, their goal has been to monopolize e-books and eventually force publishers to sell their books to Amazon on Amazon's terms, not the other way around. From my understanding, all of their e-books priced at $9.99 are sold at a loss to them. They have been taking this financial hit to sell more kindles and garner the largest market share in that area. The kindle, unlike most other e-readers is DRM (restricted format). With enough market share, they could turn to the publishers and force them to lower their prices to meet Amazon's model.

With Apple entering the picture, Amazon has a viable competitor where it really didn't before. Whether you like Apple or not is irrelevant. The point is Apple has a huge following and is capable of bringing more pressure to bear on Amazon than Sony or B&N.

Also, MacMillan was willing to keep the old pricing model they had with Amazon. Their only caveat would be that they would not release the e-book version until several months after the hard copy version (meaning paper or hardback). In this way, the $9.99 e-book price would not divert from the revenue generated from a new release.

Amazon didn't like it because doing so would allow people who wanted to buy the new release to pay full-price for the hard copy and not an immediate discounted price for an e-book.

This is no different than any other industry. It is not only accepted, but expected, that new releases will ALWAYS cost more than the same product purchased later on. You see this with movies, cars, televisions, everything.

Authors and publishers have a right to make a living as best they can. Amazon's efforts thus far have been to turn books in the equivalent of drive-thru creations. Demeaning the time and talent it took to create the books.

Just as it's their right to sell what they want. It's my right to take my business elsewhere and it's the publisher's right not to give in to Amazon's terms.

I gave Amazon the benefit of the doubt during the Amazon Fail fiasco (in which gay/lesbian books mysteriously vanished). While I didn't approve of their method, I did understand their reason for removing copies of 1984 from kindles when that occurred. I've watched as publishers fretted of the lower and lower prices of new releases while Amazon, and later WalMart and Target, got into a pricing war. Like everyone else, I love to save money. However, one of the best ways to save money in a free economy is through competition. Let supply and demand set the price. If people think it's too expensive, they won't pay. But if they are never given the choice, then you'll never know what the price could be. Amazon's decision to drop MacMillan because they didn't want to test the market by altering e-book pricing was the last straw. Amazon has lost my business. For those interested, I cancelled my Amazon Prime membership as well as the two pre-orders. Instead, I purchased them through my new account at Powells.com.

Fantasy Novels and the Next Generation of e-Readers

2010-01-27T11:19:00.003-05:00

I just read Nathan's post about Apple's iTablet. His one comment had my mind racing with ideas:

Who will be the first author with an animated cover? Will people crave enhanced e-books or do people want their e-books to remain static and moving-part free?

Personally, I buy books to read, not to 'play' them. However, with the advent of color graphics and Apple stepping in to the mix, the future of e-readers does provide some really interesting possibilities, particularly in fantasy. Many fantasy fans love their maps. Having a map in a book doesn't make me like it anymore. I read it for the story and a map is nice to glance at once in awhile. Perhaps because I deal with maps for a living I'm a bit jaded by their allure. Regardless, with the use of a sophisticated e-reader, a fantasy author could really expand on their appeal to readers. Many fantasy fans love role-playing and gaming. I could easily envision and interactive world map on some fancy, new e-reader.

Wouldn't a fan love to be able to click on a city in the map and see the type of beings native to that region with links to a glossary of which characters in the book are this species? Perhaps with a pop-up explaining the environment, political system, dominant export, alliances, etc of the city in question.

And instead of a fan constantly flipping back to a map, what if every city and region in the novel had a link that, when selected, would produce a pop up of that part of the map?

The map itself could also get enhanced with rivers flowing and waves crashing against the shore. How about some transparent mist hovering over some mountains or fields of tall grass blowing in the wind?

And what about the characters in the book? What if the end of each chapter had a map that would expand to show each of the characters in that chapter and where they physically are on the map? How far had the made it and how much further do they have to go? If the scene included a battle, would the reader like to see the slain enemy lying behind them on the trail?

I realize this type of 'book' muddies the line between novel and game, but they are still distinct. The book would become interactive, but not open-ended. The reader is limited to following the author's goal and focus. They cannot alter the story in any way. It's simply a matter of animating parts of the book.

This type of novel would also create some new revenue streams and job opportunities. No longer would artists be restricted to cover art. They would need to create images of every species in the book as well as one for each specific character. I don't know enough about graphics and artists to know if the same artists who design covers would also be able to do these new drawings. For something like this, a gaming designer/artist may be better suited. There is also the software needed to animate the graphics and link to the relevant passages, words, chapters within the book.

This, of course, will not appeal to everyone. The nice thing about this is that the e-book could be offered in two versions: standard or animated. The price would need to reflect the difference, but what an opportunity?! As depressing as publishing news has been in recent years, there are so many exciting new changes that I'm really happy I'm writing at this point in publishing history.

Everyone Writes Differently

2010-01-25T09:20:00.000-05:00

I've been working on my novel for several years now. Most of that time was half-hearted effort as my job, house and kids took up so much of my time. As I mentioned in this post, for the first time I can remember, I now have time to myself. I wasted quite a bit of last year trying to figure out what to do with myself (don't laugh, it's not as easy as you'd think). However, towards the end of the year I started getting the hang of it. Most of my free weekends I now spend on my novel. I've had the time to actually look at and evaluate my writing process and I've discovered a few things.

I have tunnel vision when I write. What I mean is that I get so focused on the action of the scene from the characters POV, I have a difficult time backing out of that POV to create the visuals. For example, when I'm in my character's head and moving through a scene, I only see what they see. I write what the character is doing or saying, showing as much as I can remember to do, but the scenery remains barren.

Once I finish writing a scene, I then need to go back and go through it all again. This time, I don't write from the main character's viewpoint. Instead, I step back and describe the details of what's surrounding her. I've repeatedly tried to write both simultaneously and I simply can't do it. I know what's there, but it doesn't come out in words when I'm in 'character mode.' At least not yet. Perhaps, with practice, I'll be able to switch back and forth, but for now, I sink so deep in the character, that it simply isn't possible for me to go back and forth between the two.

Another thing I've discovered is that I'm pretty good with dialogue. It's definitely my strength. Speech is something that I've always had an ear for, as they say. I took French in high school and college and that language always came natural to me, if that makes any sense. I don't get the chance to speak it very often and have forgotten most of the grammar and vocabulary, but when I do converse with a native speaker, they almost always think I'm a native speaker or compliment me on my accent. Of course, if I have to say more than a few words, then it's obvious I'm not French! My point, however, is that I've always been able to listen to a native speaker of another language and duplicate very closely what they said. I've done this with many languages. I think whatever it is that let's me here small changes in intonation or accent is what allows me to write good dialogue.

It's nice to know there's at least one thing I don't have to work too hard at when I write!

There are also more than a few areas in which I'm weak. The big one is senses. I do okay when describing visual scenes, but I struggle when incorporating the other senses. Usually it's because I forget to do it. Regardless, this is one area that I've noticed the tunnel vision I described above, doesn't happen to that degree here. I do tend to focus just on the scenery and images, but when I remember to expand beyond sight I can write the other senses in that same frame of mind. It's just a matter of forcing my brain to make it a normal function of writing instead of an afterthought.

With these new insights, I've decided to try a different approach to writing this year. At least until I can determine whether or not it works better for me. As I mentioned on Twitter yesterday, I completely re-wrote chapter two, about 17 pages, in a day. All of that writing was in what I'll call character mode. Tonight I'll go back through it and fill in the scenery and background images. I think taking a two pronged approach will work much better for me. It allows me to get the scene written without fighting myself every few paragraphs to write descriptions. Yesterday was the most I've ever written in a day, and I did staying completely in character mode. I felt better about it. The story unfolded easily. I actually had a few more details creep in that I hadn't thought about as I let my character take the reins of what she wanted to do.

If this works out like I hope it does, it shouldn't take 2 years to finish the book, which is what I'm estimating based on my old process. I'm certainly not going to rush it. I want the book to be the best that I can make it, but if I can do that and finish early...oh yeah!

Creating Fantasy Worlds

2010-01-16T12:14:00.001-05:00

I love the creative process. I really do.

I can't convey the high I get when I'm writing or thinking through a scene and all of a sudden my mind takes off! It focuses on one, little kernel of information and sprints through a maze of thoughts morphing, merging and creating new variations or themes until it finally stops. Heart pumping with anticipation, I grab the new thought before it vanishes, then stand in awe at the evolution of that one little kernel that started it all.

I find it an absolutely amazing experience.

The process of writing is a fascinating one. Many people outline scenes or create one-line statements per chapter to keep them on target. I simply can't do that. If I did, my mind and creativity would whither and blow away.

I definitely fall into the second category. Those who sit down with a blank screen (or paper, depending upon your medium of choice) with a general idea. In my case, I knew the overall story I wanted to tell, and I knew how it would end. In fact, I had the end clearly envisioned in my mind before I wrote a single word.

Writing the first draft was like test driving a new car in a new country. I didn't know the roads, but I knew how to drive, where I wanted to go and generally how to get there. Along the way I found which roads were dead-ends, which ones were really windy and took me too far out of the way, and which ones took a bit longer, but the scenery was beautiful and well worth the extra travel time. I met some wonderful people on those roads as well as those I'd rather forget.

The first revision I thought would simply be an effort of cutting out the dead-ends and wayward routes and focusing on the direct path with a few scenic detours along the way.

That isn't all that's happening.

As I revise, images and details are emerging in my head that didn't exist before. I'm discovering a depth to the cultures I'm writing about. A history is emerging I wasn't aware of, along with some interesting myths and beliefs. The more I write, the more solid my characters become. I'm noticing quirks in them that I don't remember creating. Attitudes and prejudices are becoming more substantial.

They are becoming real.

But now I wonder...isn't hearing a bunch of voices in your head called schizophrenia? Maybe that's only if you aren't a writer.

An Emotional WWII Experience Through Sand

2010-01-13T09:29:00.006-05:00

Yesterday my mother sent me a link to a youtube video. Her comments were, "this is amazing!"
I read the intro included with the link and then watched the video. I am posting this to tell you that my mother's assessment was grossly understated.

The topic is WWII, and below is the intro text to read before watching the video. The artist is so engrossed and passionate with each move she makes and that intensity carries over into her art, easily moving the audience to tears.

I realize my focus is writing speculative fiction, or fantasy, but I would love to elicit this kind of connection with my readers. I think the ultimate achievement of any artist is to be able to touch someone deep inside through their work; to have that person walk away with a piece of your art forever in their hearts or minds. What greater compliment can there be?

Below is the text that introduces this artist:

"This video shows the winner of " Ukraine’s Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Who needs profanity?

2010-01-06T12:17:00.003-05:00

It amazes me how much we take for granted when communicating. I knew writing fantasy would require world building, and I knew that would mean creating worlds, religions, creatures, even languages if I wanted to get really fancy. What I hadn't thought through was the impact of words within culture.

Yes, words, not language.

Our use of expressions and slang link us to a culture, region and sometimes even a city. They give us the ability to express strong emotions using only a word or phrase. Sometimes the word used not only announces are feelings to those around us, but helps ease the intensity of emotion.

The most obvious example is profanity.

How many times has something bad happened and you simply said, "shit!"

With one word, everyone within hearing distance instantly knows something went wrong. They don't need any more information than that one word. What's more, the anger and frustration that had built up until you said the word has now lessoned a bit. Had you ever noticed that? Swearing aloud has some kind of cathartic release linked to it. Whether it's the word itself, or the emotions we attribute to the word's use, once said, those emotions go with the word. Not all of them, of course, but there is an immediate drop in tension within your body.

How and why does that happen? Or, more to my current dilemma and this post, how do I make-up words or sayings that can create that same kind of impact in my world?

Creating new swear words isn't as easy as you'd think. I've been play around with words and phrases a bit the past few days. At first, I thought the power of the word was purely what we associate to it. However, after trying out a few words, I've discovered that the anatomy of the word is equally as important as the meaning it represents. Words and phrases have a flow to them; a feel that matches the emotion. I'm not sure how else to discribe it as I find it very subtle. Regardless, just randomly throwing some letters together and calling that a swear word simply doesn't work. It sounds just like what it is: random letters thrown together to create a new word. There is no impact with it. No power in it's use.

A few of the phrases I've created are linked to the world and I like them. I like they way the sound and the way the feel when said. However, swear words a much more difficult. I can't rely on multiple words that I can link to something negative in the world. I need to create power where it doesn't exist, from a world that doesn't exist, and make it real to the reader. They need to feel the emotional buildup prompting them to want to say the word. And they need to experience the emotional release when they read the word and hear it in their head. Not an easy task.

I'm in a cooking mood!

2009-12-30T15:00:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased the Conscious Cook, by Tal Ronnen. It's a gourmet vegan cookbook and boy do I love it. Santa also gave me two Le Creuset pieces for Christmas this year: a 3.5 quart dutch oven and a 10 inch skillet. I've been using them quite a bit so far and love the look and feel of them. I got them on sale at the outlet store. They're expensive, even when on sale, but from what I've read, they are well worth the money. I'm planning on adding a saucier for next Christmas.

The first dish I tried was the chicken piccata. It called for Gardein chicken scallopini breasts. I couldn't believe how quick and easy this dish was to put together. I had it finished before my baby blue potatoes were done roasting! And the taste was fantastic. I can't wait to make this for my kids.

I made the Paella over the weekend and it turned out amazing. I used oyster mushrooms sauted with ground, toasted nori sheets to give it some seafood flavor. I was excited because I rarely see fresh oyster mushrooms, but Sweetbay had some so I snagged them for this dish. They were so tender and juicy.

Yesterday I tried a vegan version of boeuf bourginon. I used a meat-based recipe, but substituted Gardein beef tips for the real beef. I guessed on the cooking time since I didn't need to cook my 'beef,' but it still came out very nice. I used the recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It included her recipe for sauted mushrooms, which I could have eaten right out of the saute pan. They were that good. The one thing I'll probably omit next time is the bacon. I used a vegan bacon sauted in butter, which I think is meant to impart a smoky flavor. However, since going vegetarian, I can't stand the smell of real bacon and can tolerate the vegan version in small doses. I'll drop that from the next batch I make, and reduce the cooking time to only an hour or so. That should make it about perfect for me.

I also made a vanilla bean panna cotta with orange sauce for dessert. I was so tickled with how that came out. It was rich and creamy and vanilla-y (yes, that's a word). And it was totally VEGAN! I've really missed my custard style desserts. I'm going to play with a vegan flan recipe today or tomorrow.

I absolutely love to cook. If only I had enough people to eat what I make! Oh well, that's what kids are for, right?

One Year Anniversary

2009-12-22T15:49:00.003-05:00

It's been one year since I seperated from my ex-husband and moved into my own house. Sometimes it feels like so long ago and other times it feels like I just got here! Even after a year, I still find myself stopping on the stairs or maybe in the kitchen and simply smiling.

I am so much happier now.

One of the counselors we saw before I decided to get a divorce asked me if I could live without a husband. She said most woman immediately say yes, but really don't understand what it would be like. I was thoroughly confused by the question and statement.

I had been married for 17 years (and engaged for 2 years) and the bulk of my ex-husband's contribution to our relationship was a paycheck, although I made almost as much as he did before starting my own company. This isn't a bashing post, nor do I intend for it to read as such. Rather, I've learned a lot this past year and the only way to appreciate these lessons learned is by understanding my experience.

I am an enabler. I suspected this only two years ago, but didn't really see it for what it was until this past year.

My enabling experience started as a child of an alcoholic father. I learned early on to make sure nothing went wrong when my father came home as his drinking tended to accentuate his already short temper. My mother wound up on the receiving end of most of my father's jokes and chiding, although she always took it well and never seemed to mind. I never heard her complain or defend herself.

My father didn't do any housework. That was a woman's job. The fact that my mother also worked full-time was irrelevant. One time I ruined a batch of ice tea I had been making. I remember my father's exact words, "what kind of wife are you going to make if you can't even make a batch of ice tea?!" I never responded with what I wanted to say. You never "back-talked" to my father. Instead, I swallowed my reply, dumped out the burnt tea bags, washed the pot, and started all over again.

Equal rights has always been a point of contention with me, I suppose because of my father. My sister still makes fun of me when it comes to gender stereotypes and behavior. For example, my daughter never owned a barbie, although both of my nieces had them. As far as I'm concerned, Barbie is a man's play toy. My daughter did, however, have a baby doll. She received it for Christmas the same year she received a fire truck. Yes, both were from me.

Being the oldest meant I was responsible for everything my brother and sister did while I was in charge. I started being in charge in fourth grade. If they did something wrong and I couldn't fix it before my father got home, whoever did it and I were both punished. I always hated that. Unfortunately, it taught me to do everything myself.

Obviously, my perception of marriage was far less than ideal. As an adult I shoved away everything I wanted from a marriage, thinking I was completely selfish, and instead settled for what I thought a marriage was supposed to be like. My ex wasn't an alcoholic, although he did have a temper to match my father's. He was well educated and good looking. We met the month I turned 20. At the time, I felt lucky that he even liked me.

I think it was his temper that triggered my enabling instincts. Or maybe they just never went away after going to college. Whatever the reason, I soon settled into a routine whereby I did my best not to get him angry. He rarely got angry at anything I did, but would often come home upset at something else. Whenever he did get angry, he usually took it out on me. He never hit me or anything, but he would yell and sometimes throw things. If he seemed to have a bad day at work, I wouldn't risk setting him off by asking him to help out with the housework. Yes, I was a wuss. It's odd, because I've stood up for other people's feelings and rights numerous times, but when it comes to my own, I cave faster than you can blink.

My problem quickly escalated to include all aspects of our lives: housework, meals, finances, home/car maintenance, etc. I handled everything related to our lives. Everything. Until our last year together, he didn't even know how many bank accounts we had. He had only ever cooked a handful of meals in all our years together. I used to try to discuss things like retirement plans or new car purchases with my ex, but he was never interested. It was simply easier for me to do it all. And he was very content to let me.

This past year I've had to walk him through ordering phone service to his house, setting up new services on his wireless account, and explaining to him who to talk to about his life insurance. The last half of 2008 and the first three months of 2009 my stress level was through the roof. I didn't know how to unwind and let go. I kept worrying if the kids were okay at his house. Were they eating? Did they make the bus? Is he dropping them off at school too early? Did he check the boy's homework?

It took a long time for me to finally let go.

Now, I enjoy the weeks I have with my kids, but I also enjoy the weeks they are at their dad's. It's the first time I can remember that I have time to myself. I can now pick up and do something and not have to worry about schedules and kids. It's liberating to realize that I am a mother, but I also have a life of my own. Of course, now I have to actually make a life! (that's the goal for 2010)

The guilt of not missing the kids when they're at their dad's is gone. The guilt of not being there to ease my ex into his own life is gone as well. Now there's just my life and what I want to do with it.

The year taught me that I really did do far more than I should have in my marriage. It wasn't a good relationship for either myself or my ex. I knew before the divorce that I could live without a husband. What I have to learn now, is how to live with one.

The other thing I learned is that I won't settle again. I may not need a husband, but I won't settle for someone who isn't my best friend and lover. Finally, it took me 20 years to realize that wanting a caring and supportive mate is neither selfish nor unrealistic. It is also something I deserve just as much as the next person.

TGIF

2009-12-18T09:48:00.002-05:00

I am SO glad this week is just about over. It's been worse than usual, and I didn't have any holiday shopping I was trying to cram into it either! I mentioned that this past weekend was the first baking I've done this month. I had intended to spread the rest out over the evenings and have it all done by Thursday.

Well that didn't happen.

As it turns out, my kids conspired against me. Sean and Jess double whammied me within 30 minutes of picking each of them up from school. First, Sean announced that his science fair project is due this Friday. This is the same project about which I've asked at least twice in the past six weeks (yes, that's 6 weeks) and was told it's not due "for a long time." We had to run to Target to buy him a black outfit (dress shirt, pants, socks and dress shoes) for his handbells and chimes concert Thursday evening. Target didn't have the two things we needed for his project: magnets and a spring scale.

Then Jess informed me that we needed to run to her Dad's Monday evening to pick up her band shirt because she needed it for the concert Tuesday evening.

"Concert? What concert?!"

"I forgot to tell you. We have a concert Tuesday night."

"Great." This week was going downhill fast, and it was only Monday!

Wednesday Richard had his last track meet and they all had a half day of school. (Why they need a half day of school two days before leaving for a two week holiday is beyond me.) He's also assistant senior patrol leader for his boy scout troop and had to attend a planning meeting Thursday evening, right before Sean's concert.

We ended up with packed evenings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. I had client work during the day and couldn't sneak out to get anything done till Thursday. I spent Thursday morning making three different kinds of breads: cranberry-orange, pumpkin-chocolate chip, and white chocolate-raspberry. I also made the final batch of truffles: dark chocolate-raspberry. I went out over lunch and found a bunch of holiday boxes discounted and snagged about 20 of them. I also found a store that sold magnets for Sean's project, but they and everyone else were out of spring scales, so Sean borrowed one from his teachers. We were up till 11:30 doing his project. I'm not one of those parents that does my son's work for him. He had to do everything himself except type it up. He wrote the words and I typed it up for him just because he can't type yet.

I got up this morning and loaded eight gift boxes for Jess and Sean to take to school. Got home and filled another seven for Richard to take to school. When Richard got out of the car at school, I let out a huge sigh. Finally, time to breath!

I'm feeling the stress again just writing about this week!

With any luck, work the next two weeks will be slow and I can get caught up on my writing. (fingers, toes, arms and legs all crossed!)

It's been how long since my last blog post?!

2009-12-14T16:24:00.000-05:00

Two weeks? Sheesh. Sorry!

The odd thing is that I actually start Christmas shopping in August and try and get most, if not all, of it finished by Thanksgiving. The theory behind this is that by December, I'll be able to relax and enjoy the month as opposed to running around the stores and internet like the majority of frantic holiday shoppers. Of course, my theory was established before my kids started having lives of their own. Now with band, track and boy scouts on top of regular work and school functions, I find that my December is just as busy without the shopping.

Last weekend was the first time this month I've had the opportunity to do some baking. I made sandtarts and sugar cookies with my sons. Sean helped me with the first batch of truffles, but quickly bailed when he realized how time-consuming they are to make. That didn't stop either of them from adding to their list of people for gift boxes though. Jess and Sean combined only need 7 boxes/tins of goodies to give to teachers, coaches, bus drivers, etc. Richard can't just pick a favorite teacher or two. He needs to give them to all of his teachers. And since he's now in middle school with a different teacher for each subject, that means he needs 7 boxes/tins for gifts. Oh joy!

I've got to keep an eye on my truffle count though, as Jess has been known to sneak into the kitchen and snag one from the fridge. She's also been hovering over me the past two days asking when I'm going to make the breads. She loves the white chocolate raspberry mini-bread loaves I make. She doens't seem to hear the part of my reply that includes "they're for the gift boxes."

I don't mind. All of this is what makes holiday memories.

A travel blog by my car (it wasn't happy with my destination)

2009-11-29T15:24:00.000-05:00

When my owner decided to visit her sister in Pennsylvania, I thought I'd enjoy the miles on the open road. She took me to the dealer where I was well oiled, lubed and washed before the trip. She even bought me new wiper blades!

We left Tuesday morning at 6:20. I handled the roads and traffic as smoothly as I always do and we arrived seventeen hours later. The weather was cold, but I could handle the weather just as well as any of those northern cars. I noticed right away I was the only hybrid around, not that I was counting or anything.

Pulling into the gravel driveway was when my dream of a relaxing vacation bit the dust. My owner parked me under a huge tree with a bunch of big leaves. This looked nothing like the friendly palm sitting beside my garage back home. I think the tree was diseased or something. All of its leaves were different colors. Not brown or green, like you'd expect, but instead yellow and red and orange. Whatever it had, I hope it isn't contagious to cars. I lost the count of the number of colored leaves that fell on me while I was parked there.

As if freaky colored leaves weren't enough to worry about, some animal kept prowling around me all night long. It was dark and because my owner was asleep in the house, I didn't have my headlights on and couldn't see it clearly. I just knew it had fur and didn't make a sound when it walked. At one point I felt it drop onto my hood. If I had a voice I would have screamed! It walked all over my clean hood and up my windshield. I could just feel the dirty little paw prints it left.

I had to sit there and endure diseased leaves and freaky little creatures for two whole days before my owner even remembered she brought me along. Finally she decided to use me. She drove her sister to some stores Friday morning. I didn't care where we went as long as it was paved and didn't have any animals crawling on vehicles. I had finally relaxed with the errands until she decided to drive me up a steep hill that was supposed to be a road. It was barely wider than a parking space and very poorly paved. Muddy shoulders covered in clumps of brown leaves followed the little path (I refuse to acknowledge it as a road) around a bend at the top of the hill. Then she drove me through a mud puddle into another gravel driveway. A MUD puddle! I couldn't believe it. I could feel dirty water dripping off my undercarriage and mucking up my wheels. And what is with all the gravel driveways?! Haven't these people ever heard of concrete?

When she parked me back under the diseased tree, I let out a sigh. Then I realized I was actually glad to be back under the tree. I knew at that point we had to leave for home soon or I was going to go mad. Luckily she heard me (or at least that's what I want to believe happened) because she loaded me up Saturday morning and we left for home.

I don't ever want to see another colored leaf, gravel driveway, mud puddle or untamed cat again in my life! What a nightmare!

Musically ingorant

2009-11-20T08:28:00.002-05:00

I haven't quite figured out how it happened yet, but I somehow ended up with three kids who all love music. Not just listening to music, but playing it. This is strange because I have no musical talent whatsoever and neither does their father. Elementary schools now teach kids how to read music. This was something they didn't do when I was a kid. In fact, I still can't read music.

Our musical journey began when Jess was in sixth grade and wanted to play the flute. She has since expanded to play alto sax and baritone sax. She's also the drum major for her high school band. Then there's Richard who took a year of violin lessons in elementary school before switching to handbells and chimes for two years. He hasn't had music yet in middle school, but is looking forward to it. He still hasn't figured out which instrument he wants to play though. Sean has been begging for a drum set for several years. If you knew my youngest, you would understand that he doesn't need anything else to beat on to make noise. He also wanted to try violin, but I didn't believe he was mature enough to take care of the instrument. This year, he's finally calmed down enough that I'm letting him do handbells and chimes and he loves it.

Raising kids who know more than you do about a particular subject can be interesting. I enjoy learning from them and I think they enjoy knowing something that mom doesn't. Of course, it also has it's amusing moments.

Jess came home one day very excited about a new piece she was playing. It was more difficult than any she's played before. Jess normally talks fast, but when she's excited, I always have a hard time understanding her. I caught about every third word rushing from her mouth as she waved a piece of sheet music at me. I took the paper and looked at it.

"See how hard that is?!"

"Jess, this looks like a bunch of ants crawling on a page to me."

She grabbed the paper and rolled her eyes. She proceeded to point and explain the complexity of the notes and the piece as a whole. I didn't understand most of it, but was pleased she really knew what she was talking about. It's since been a running joke between us. If there are a lot of 'ants' in clusters on the page, it's usually a difficult piece.

Earlier this week when something similar happened with Sean. Driving home from school two days ago, he started talking about handbells and chimes practice.

"Guess what? We have a retard in music."

I shot him a look. "Sean Brendan! What have I told you about calling names?"

"No mom, I wasn't calling names. We really have a retard in music."

I shook my head. "Well you don't call them that. It's not nice. You know better."

"No, mom. It's not a person. There are retards in music."

I glanced at him out the corner of my eye. He nodded.

When Jess came home after school I decided to find out what Sean was talking about. "Jess, Sean tried explaining to me that they there are "retards" in music."

She laughed and shook her head. "Not retards, mom, ritards. It's spelled with an "i" and the accent is on the second syllable."

"Oh." I make it appoint to acknowledge whenever I make a mistake and immediately apologized to Sean for snapping at him about name-calling. Although, in my defense, Sean was never able to explain exactly what a "retard" was, so I didn't feel that bad about my behavour.

His response was typical of my kids. "Told you."

Tapas Night!

2009-11-16T09:34:00.001-05:00

Last night I decided to have a fun dinner. I declared it international tapas night. The kids had no idea what tapas were (rolls eyes). I decided to try some dishes that they knew, like potato skins and chicken quesadillas, but also wanted to expand their tastes. I included Shanghai dumplings, calzones, samosas, and egg custard tartlets.

The tartlets were the first things gone. All three kids loved the custard.

The dumplings tasted just like the dumplings I get in restaurants, which surprised me as I've never made a Chinese recipe that tasted like a restaurant dish. It was all the more surprising as I didn't use pork, but soy sausage (I'm a vegetarian.) They came out wonderfully and I served them with a plum sauce.

I tried to cheat with the calzones and used store-bought pizza dough. That didn't work out exactly as I had hoped. The pizza dough wouldn't roll out completely and ended up being a bit thick for the calzones. The calzones were filled with green pepper, mushroom, and soy sausage.

The samosas were probably my second favorite dish. The filling was comprised of simply potatoes and peas with some cumin, coriander, and salt. I had used a phyllo dough to make them. I think next time I'll use something like a pie dough. I thought the phyllo came out too puffy for the samosas.

I still have plenty of leftovers, so it looks like Monday night will be tapas night again!

LOL...I'm using the dictation software that I bought the other week. Every time I say 'tapas,' it types out 'topless.' I have three kids in the house, so don't get excited. I'm totally G. rated.

Recieved my talk-to-type software

2009-11-14T10:17:00.001-05:00

I'm trying this one more time. My Dragon NaturallySpeaking software arrived in the mail the other day. I use windows XP and it installed without an issue. The microphone seems to work fine and I played around with it using MS Word, the software I'm using to write my manuscript. I took some time and entered all the made-up words in my fantasy novel. Entering the words into the custom dictionary was fairly intuitive. I simply typed the words and then recorded the way they sound. All of the words entered without an issue except for two. I tried repeatedly to record them but I kept getting an error for both. My dishwasher was running in the background at the time, so I suspected that interfered with the sound. However, it should have affected all of the words not just those particular two. I moved to another room and tried recording those two words. This time they entered without a problem.

I'm frustrated because this is the second time I've written this blog entry. I'm using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to dictate the entry and I had three paragraphs written the first time. I noticed that it does not capitalize the first word of the first sentence automatically. However it will do that after each period. When I put my mouse back up to change the first letter of the entry to a capital the backspace button acted as a carriage return, putting the text on the next line. When I hit the delete button to try and get it back up, it ended up going to a new blank post and deleting everything that I had already typed. That's never happened before, so I'm not sure what's going on. It doesn't make sense that the dictating software would affect those two buttons, but I'm not sure what else could have caused it as I hadn't said anything while doing it I simply used the keyboard.

This time it seems to working fine. Perhaps it was just a fluke. Regardless, I'm looking forward to using it to work on my manuscript this weekend. Finally.

My hands are killing me

2009-11-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

I've been seeing a massage therapist for about three years now. I mentioned in a previous post that I had been telecommuting for 13 years, well all of that time has been spent on the computer. You don't realize how messed up your body can get when you sit in front of a computer all day long, five days a week, for years on end. That is, until you arm starts getting a tingling sensation that runs from the shoulder down to the middle two fingers. And your neck is constantly tight. And more and more frequently a strip running down your hand will go numb.

Fun times!

When I told the therapist that I worked all day long on the computer and had for years, she nodded her head like, "yeah, heard it before." Then she touched my shoulders and froze. "You were really serious about how much time you spend on the computer." Apparently my muscles tell the story for me.

The sessions with her really help. I can't stop working on the computer, but she's taught me some stretches that I do along with visits to her. So the tingling and numbing sensation in my arms doesn't appear anymore (unless I get a huge project and get stuck working 12 hour days for a week).

The workload hasn't been too crazy lately, but it has been consistent. And the consistency has been taking a toll on my hands. I find my palms and fingers achy from repetitive strokes to the point that, I just can't sit down after working all day and work on my manuscript. It's been extremely frustrating.

However, after doing some thinking and research, I decided to buy a talk-to-type software called Dragon Naturally Speaking. It's supposed to do all kinds of stuff like open applications and send email, purely on voice command. I'm not interested in any of that stuff. I just want something that I can install and then dictate to my computer and have the software type the words on the screen. I was hesitant at first, as I have quite a few made-up words in my manuscript. The software is supposed to allow you to say and type out any new word not in it's dictionary and then remember it the next time you say it. The reviews range from so-so to great, but overall it seems to be the best that does this stuff. Most of the negative comments were for launching apps and other 'advanced' features that I don't care about, so I'm pretty confident it will work for the basics that I need.

It's supposed to arrive sometime next week.So, with any luck, I'll be able to start working on my manuscript again without doing more damage to my hands. YEAH!!

Self-reliant authors

2009-11-06T08:54:00.001-05:00

Holt uncensored had an interesting post about publishing spending and mid-list and debut authors. They used Seth Harwood as an example of what the 'next generation of authors' may look like, out of necessity.

While I don't see myself mimicing Seth's path to publishing, several of the things he did to get published I view as beneficial and necessary to debut authors. I also agree that given the trend at the publishing houses, it will be incumbant upon the author to essentially market themselves. Of course, that means dipping into personal funds to help get the word out.

You have to spend money to make money.

When I sign a contract (yes -- the power of positive thought), I am not anticipating much in the way of an advance. Whatever I do receive will go completely to marketing the book. I still have 2-3 years before I'll have my manuscript to the point where I'm ready to query an agent, but in the meantime, I'm reading and studying everything I can on marketing books.

I don't like going into things ignorant. I also don't like waiting till the last minute to understand something. While I enjoy my spontaneous weekend jaunts occasionally, I'll admit that I'm a planner. Writing is my dream job. I intend to do everything within my ability to make it a real job.

The snake loves me!

2009-11-05T12:51:00.001-05:00

Now, for the continuing saga of Sean and the classroom pets...

I picked Sean up from school yesterday afternoon and his mouth went a mile-a-minute about his day. When it finally slowed down to a normal pace, he proudly announced, "Saturn wrapped completely around my body today and squeezed me, gently."
"Really? Isn't Saturn a boa constrictor?"

"Yeah."

...."um...honey...boa constrictors squeeze you because they think you're food, not because they want to hug you."

"No, mom, she squeezes Mrs. B all the time. That's how she hugs you."

Grumbles to self, "and how they eat you."

Do you need to do research when writing fantasy?

2009-11-02T20:42:00.002-05:00

I've read of the importance of research in many places and for many genres, but had naively assumed that I wouldn't need to do any when writing fantasy. I mean, I'm making everything up. Why do I need to research, right?

Wrong!

About a year after I first started writing, I realized that there were some things that I wasn't sure about. Yes, I'm making up the world, but I want it to be believable. The only way I can achieve that is to determine the natural laws of that world, which will be similar to ours in several ways, and then make sure I don't break any of them! In order to understand some of these laws, I need to do some research.

I'll be honest, science was definately not my forte in school, so I have no problem researching any time I want to double check a fact or better understand a relationship.

One of my research issues was related to weather and geography. I needed to better understand weather patterns, specifically precipitation, so that I could lay out the geography of my world realistically.

Additionally, one of the species in my novel is the tiger, but they aren't quite the same as tigers in this world. They look the same, orange with black stripes, however these creatures are sentient beings and can speak both verbally and telepathically. They are referred to as the 'warrior race' within their world. They have their own personalities, and naturally have a social structure and interpersonal skills that tigers in our world don't have. However, I still wanted to make sure that I didn't make them do something completely inconsistent within both worlds. I needed to better understand their behaviors in this world so that I could intelligently mimic or change those behaviors in their world. This particular subject brought me to the round of research I did over the weekend.

I'm fortunate to have access to Big Cat Rescue, the world's largest accredited big cat rescue sanctuary. They are located about 45 minutes from my house. Their website has some wonderful information on tigers. They also provide guided tours of their facility. I still have several questions that I couldn't find answers to either on their website or several others that I searched, so I'm going to take a guided tour sometime this week. This will give me the opportunity to observe the tigers closer than I've ever done before as well as speak directly with a specialist of the species. I'm taking my camera along too. I love photographing wildlife and nature, this should be amazing!

Another example of research is geography and species compatibility. Are the species you're creating suited to live in the area in which you place them? With the tigers in my world, I had originally intended to have them live in the desert. However, after reading about them, I discovered that they actually live anywhere with dense vegetation. Can I change that in my world? Sure. Can I do it and make it believable...maybe. I think this comes down to necessity. Do my tigers need to live in the desert? Not really. However, now I have to find another place for them to live. If having a species live in the desert is a necessity to the story, then I would need to either make another species or alter my tigers in such a way that they are equipped for desert life.

It all comes down to research and believability. Even in fantasy, you need to research your facts so that your world and it's creatures become real to your readers.

Am I a cruel mom?

2009-10-30T09:38:00.000-04:00

I woke this morning to water droplets on the windows and a thick fog smothering the neighborhood. The houses across the pond from my backyard look fuzzy and veiled in mist. The only thing visible beyond the first row of houses is the blanket of fog. Perfect setting for the post I've been contemplating the past few days.

I was going to name this post: Is struggle and hardship a bad thing? However, the real point isn't so much about struggle and hardship as my perception of myself for thinking it isn't. So the title became what it is: Am I a cruel mom?

Sean had begged for several years to get a pet bird. I kept telling him he was too young. When he turned ten, I told him if he wanted a bird, he'd have to earn the money, not just to buy a bird and cage, but he would have to keep earning money to buy the food. The bird would be solely his responsibility. Sean being Sean jumped in with both feet and earned the money in a matter of months.

Of my three kids, Sean is the only one I don't worry about when it comes to surviving financially as an adult. I know he can, and will, do any job necessary to survive. My other two, however, are total job snobs, but that's a seperate story.

After purchasing Whistles, a green parakeet, Sean decided he needed a friend and bought Jack, a blue one. Sean was pretty good at taking care of them early on, but like most kids, the habit got old, fast. He made sure he always had food in the house, just not necessarily in their cage. After the divorce, the birds switched houses with Sean, so two weeks at my house and two weeks at their father's. Whenever they were at my house, I always checked on them each morning after Sean went to summer camp or school to make sure they had food and water. If they were low, I would remind Sean to check when he got home that day.

As the months wore on, my reminders started falling on deaf ears or he would reply that he just did it (when I knew he hadn't). I would let the birds go a few days while commenting once each afternoon about their food or water. When nothing was done, I would do it and then tell him what I did and why. The transition to mom taking care of the birds prompted several conversations about the benefits of giving the birds to the zoo or someone else who wanted them -- because mom didn't. His first reaction to those conversations was to take better care of the birds. Of course, these always came in short bursts of activity that quickly fizzled to nothing.

When the kids switched houses three weeks ago, Sean walked into my house without his birds. I noticed right away, but said nothing. I wanted to see how long it took before he remembered he left them at his dad's. As fate would have it, I had to stop at his dad's that Thursday because Sean left his hat there and it was hat day at school on Friday. Sean noticed a feather on his hat and then remembered his birds. I told him right then that this couldn't continue. With practically no effort on my part he agreed that it would be better to give the birds away. We decided they'd do it when he switched back to his dad's house the following week.

Unfortunately, the birds were out of food and neither Sean or his dad realized it. So Jack died the following week and Whistles died two days later.

Sean was in complete shock that they had died. I had warned him several times that they could die without food or water, but I don't think he really believed it would happen. At one point when he was crying, he said it was his fault and it should have been him who died, which is the whole point of this post.

As much as I love and respect all life, part of me was glad the birds died. Sean is a very reactive individual. He is very focused and intent, but he has no appreciation for his actions or their consequences. He never has. Hearing him say those words, and knowing he meant them, made me think the entire experience was well worth it. As bad as this was for him, I truly think it will stay with him and make him a better person. Things like this are never pleasant, but I truly believe they are necessary in shaping who we are, hopefully for the better.

Two days later, Sean dug a grave in his dad's back yard and the three of us buried Whistles (dad had already gotten rid of Jack's body by then).

Is the Day Job a Problem?

2009-10-27T08:39:00.004-04:00

The other week I posted about finding inspiration for writing. This week, I stumbled across an article that touches on a similar theme. The Millions posted an article called Working the Double Shift.

Here are a few excerpts that I particularly liked in the article:

"[An] element to the way we all think about the conflict between a day job and writing full-time is that even us writers sometimes fall into the fallacy of thinking of writing as a romantic hobby. A hobby isn’t a job, it’s not work – it’s “recreation.” This is why when we say, “I’m going to quit my job and write full-time,” it sounds so romantic and idyllic. It carries images of getting out of bed late, drinking large mugs of tea or coffee, sitting at a desk in your pj’s, staring at the trees through the window, and playing with your muse… But if we match the language to the reality, the phrase would actually read this way:

“I’m going to quit working and work full-time.”

That doesn’t sound romantic at all does it? And, if you talk to full-time, un-famous writers they’ll confirm just how unromantic writing full-time is."

I completely understand this statement. However, I think the author misplaces this experience solely on writers. The fact is that this can be experienced by most people who work from home, regardless of their profession.

I've been telecommuting for over 13 years now. I stumbled into it before it was considered an option for employees. (One of the perks of having a unique set of skills that your employer really doesn't want to lose!) Every time I tell someone I telecommute one of two things happens. Either they look at me as if it isn't a real job and probably some kind of part-time hobby thing. Or their eyes glint with wistful affection at the possibility of it happening to them. In both cases they are mistaken. My job is work. My work-day runs from 8-5, longer if I have the rare project that requires over-time.

When I first started telecommuting, working very long hours was easy and seductive. We all know that there's always something else that needs to be done at the office. When your office is in your house, you can hear the silent whispers issuing from the darkened room at the end of the hallway. Pleas to finish a certain project. Cajoling about how much better you'll feel when it's done. After all, everything you need to complete it is right there. All you have to do is walk into the room.

Don't do it!

I learned a great deal about myself and self-discipline early on. I also discovered that many people do not have the self-discipline to work from home. You need to determine what hours you intend to work and commit to them. There is no slipping off to the couch to watch television or do something else. No sneaking back in the office after dinner to finish 'just one more thing.'

However, I will disagree with the earlier statements of the quote. I routinely start my day either in shorts and socks or sweats and slippers, depending upon the weather. I rarely wear shoes while working. I don't do anything except boot up my computer until I have a mug of hot tea in hand. I also tend to keep the hot tea flowing till about noon. (LOVE my hot tea!) And when thinking over a current problem with a project, I always stare out my office window until I figure it out. Once solved, I turn back to the computer and work away.

I find the process of writing very similar.

"At a dinner some months ago, I found myself discussing the problem of earning a living with a couple of other writers. One of them—a mystery writer who writes full time—said something that surprised me: when he wrote his fiction, he said, he felt that he was drawing on experiences that he’d had before he’d quit his day job thirty-five years earlier.

There was a note of wistfulness in his voice that struck me. My sense was that his life as a writer was somewhat isolated. It was interesting to think of work as something that might help one’s writing, rather than as an uncomfortable but unavoidable impediment to it. What secret purposes might our day jobs serve, aside from the obvious advantages of being able to put dinner on the table?"

Again, I can totally relate to this. Telecommuting worked well for me for several reasons. First, my husband at the time had just accepted a job offer in Florida, so remaining in DC wasn't an option for me. Second, I have three kids and wanted the flexibility of being at home for them after school. That was actually very important to me. When my kids were younger, I had no choice but to use day-care because I simply couldn't commit my full effort to either them or my job when I tried to keep them home with me. I decided that when they hit school age, they wouldn't be in day care any longer. And they weren't. It also allowed me some flexibility to help them with homework after school and make sure they didn't pig out on junk food before dinner.

This arrangement worked wonderfully for me as someone who had to work full-time but also wanted to be there for her kids as much as possible. However, as with everything in life, there are always down sides. In this case, the biggest draw-back was lack of socialization for me.

While I telecommuted from FL, my company had offices throughout the US: NY, DC, TX, CA, WA, and IL . I also had clients across the US and several countries, but rarely visited any of them. My work was all done remotely from my home office. My colleagues all worked either in company offices or at client sites as I was the only employee who telecommuted. And none of them worked nearby. So, what's the downside? I didn't experience the camaraderie of co-workers. There was no going out to lunch together or hitting happy hour after a long meeting. I also had little opportunity to meet people unless they were parents of my kids friends.

I had thrown myself full-time into work and my kids and didn't make any time for myself, not even to write. I can honestly say that even today, the only person I can think of to call up if I wanted to go do something would be my mom. Yes, I know, beyond pathetic. Yet it's true. I'm not an extrovert by any stretch of the imagination. I've never needed a lot of friends. My best friend lives in CA. I have another college friend up in NY. I know several moms in the the area, but not to the point that I'd call them friends.

I think my particular situation isn't solely the result of telecommuting for so long, rather a combination of that and my own personality. The consequences are that my experiences from which I draw on for writing can seem distant and veiled because I don't experience them regularly. This brings me back to the relevance of my post two weeks ago on finding inspiration.

The Millions article raises several points that I think would interest people not accustomed to working in solitary situations. If you are considering writing full-time, I suggest you read the article and do some research on telecommuting. It is a very solitary career choice and one that you need to work at, literally.

e-books and publishing

2009-10-23T09:59:00.006-04:00

Nathan and Eric had great posts on the e-book price war that started this week.

I abhor WalMart. I never, ever shop there. I do like Target for common household items, but I don't shop there for groceries or other 'specialty' items, like books or DVDs. My big gripe with trying to cram something of everything into one place, is that you have to forgo variety. And I LOVE variety!

I have never bought a book from a Target, grocery store or anyplace other than a bookstore, whether brick and mortar or online. I wish I understood more of the implications of the pricing war, but my initial sense is that WalMart realized it didn't offer the cheapest items in the area of books and decided to stick its feet in the pool. Of course, Amazon, being the big fish in that pool, retaliated in kind.

At present, the price reductions haven't effected the profits to publishers or authors, but plenty of people worry that it will. Again, showing my ignorance in the business side of things, as long as there are multiple places through which to sell books, I don't see how Amazon or WalMart have any bargaining power to try and force publishers to reduce their costs to match the below-profit prices these guys have been offering. My only hope is that it won't last long enough to force the remaining independent booksellers out of business. I don't see how they could compete at all in this type of environment. Of course, the fear is that WalMart or Amazon will force so many out of the field that they will then have that ability eventually.

Along those lines, the ABA sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation into the pricing war. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

With all of the focus on e-books and online purchases, there are still those naysayers that think e-books are a fad or won't last long. And there are those on the opposite side touting the beauty of e-books to the doom of paperbacks. I think both are wrong. I love e-books, but I love paperbacks as well. I still buy both and see the value in both. I think they complement one another. I also think online sites like e-stores, author websites and blogs offer a wonderful marketing opportunity for both paper books and e-books.

There was also an article by LibraDigital regarding the marketing power of free online chapters. Here is an excerpt summarizing the results:

“We know that allowing readers to preview book chapters before buying has a positive impact on both print and eBook sales,” said Russell P. Reeder, President and CEO of LibreDigital, Inc. “In the case of one well-known book publisher, one in three people who browsed decided to purchase the book online. As a result, leading publishers are increasing their use of online previews when planning promotional campaigns for both new and existing book titles.”

I fully intend to offer my first chapter free online. Even before this article came out, I instinctively knew it would help, probably based on personal experience. This year I read first chapters offered on websites of authors I'd never read before, and ended up buying about 6 books as a result. Four of those were e-books, the other two were paperback.

I think paper books and e-books will both be around for a very long time.

Tips on Writing from Annie Dillard's class

2009-10-20T10:28:00.007-04:00

Moonrat posted a link to this article on writing by Alexander Chee, based on a class he took with Annie Dillard. The content wasn't necessarily new to me, however, the way it was written made me think of my own writing on a much deeper level. Below are excerpts from the article I found most relevant:

"In her class, I learned that while I had spoken English all of my life, there was actually very little I knew about it. English was born from low German, a language that was good for categorization, and had filled itself in with words from Latin and Anglo Saxon words, and was now in the process of eating things from Asian languages. Latinates were polysyllabic, and Anglo Saxon words were short, with perhaps two syllables at best. A good writer made use of both to vary sentence rhythms."

"If you’re doing your job, the reader feels what you felt. You don’t have to tell the reader how to feel. No one likes to be told how to feel about something. And if you doubt that, just go ahead. Try and tell someone how to feel."

"The passive voice in particular was a crisis. “Was” only told you that something existed—this was not enough. And on this topic, I remember one of her fugues almost exactly:

You want vivid writing. How do we get vivid writing? Verbs, first. Precise verbs. All of the action on the page, everything that happens, happens in the verbs. The passive voice needs gerunds to make anything happen. But too many gerunds together on the page makes for tinnitus: Running, sitting, speaking, laughing, inginginginging. No. Don’t do it. The verbs tell a reader whether something happened once or continually, what is in motion, what is at rest. Gerunds are lazy, you don’t have to make a decision and soon, everything is happening at the same time, pell-mell, chaos. Don’t do that. Also, bad verb choices mean adverbs. More often than not, you don’t need them. Did he run quickly or did he sprint? Did he walk slowly or did he stroll or saunter?"

"Your unique perspective, at this time, in our age, whether it’s on Tunis or the trees outside your window, is what matters. Don’t worry about being original, she said dismissively. Yes, everything’s been written, but also, the thing you want to write, before you wrote it, was impossible to write. Otherwise it would already exist. You writing it makes it possible."

"She spoke often of “the job.” If you’re doing your job, the reader feels what you felt. You don’t have to tell the reader how to feel. No one likes to be told how to feel about something. And if you doubt that, just go ahead. Try and tell someone how to feel.

We were to avoid emotional language. The line goes grey when you do that, she said. Don’t tell the reader that someone was happy or sad. When you do that, the reader has nothing to see. She isn’t angry, Annie said. She throws his clothes out the window. Be specific."

"After the lecture on verbs, we counted the verbs on the page, circled them, tallied the count for each page to the side and averaged them. Can you increase the average number of verbs per page, she asked. I got this exercise from Samuel Johnson, she told us, who believed in a lively page, and used to count his verbs. Now look at them. Have you used the right verbs? Is that the precise verb for that precise thing? Remember that adverbs are a sign that you’ve used the wrong verb. Verbs control when something is happening in the mind of the reader. Think carefully—when did this happen in relation to this? And is that how you’ve described it?"

"You can invent the details that don’t matter, she said. At the edges. You cannot invent the details that matter."

"Talent isn’t enough, she had told us. Writing is work. Anyone can do this, anyone can learn to do this. It’s not rocket science, it’s habits of mind and habits of work. I started with people much more talented than me, she said, and they’re dead or in jail or not writing. The difference between myself and them is that I’m writing. Talent could give you nothing. Without work, talent is only talent, promise, not product."

"If I’ve done my job, she said in the last class, you won’t be happy with anything you write for the next 10 years. It’s not because you won’t be writing well, but because I’ve raised your standards for yourself. Don’t compare yourselves to each other. Compare yourself to Colette, or Henry James, or Edith Wharton. Compare yourselves to the classics. Shoot there...Go up to the place in the bookstore where your books will go, she said. Walk right up and find your place on the shelf. Put your finger there, and then go every time.

In class, the idea seemed ridiculous. But at some point after the class ended, I did it. I walked up to the shelf. Chabon, Cheever. I put my finger between them and made a space. Soon, I did it every time I went to a bookstore.Years later, I tell my own students to do it. As Thoreau, someone she admires very much, once wrote, “In the long run, we only ever hit what we aim at.”"

Finding inspiration

2009-10-13T09:37:00.003-04:00

I realize I'm probably going to sound a bit strange admitting this, but one thing I love about going some place, even some place as mundane as the grocery store, is the possibility of finding new sensations and thoughts to incorporate into my writing. This past weekend was loaded with them. On Saturday, the trip to Epcot offered some wonderful new observations. The interactions of strangers, the types of people walking in the park, what they did, how they moved, all very fascinating. The beach provided some wonderful sensations like the feel of saltwater in my eyes, sand and salt drying my skin, how tender my feet are when walking on hot sand or rough shells. I've experienced these before, but memory fades when you don't do something very often. It's nice to not only experience them again, but be aware of the experience. Soak it in. Watch it. Feel it. Revel in it. Then happily tuck it away in your memory for later.

All of these experiences expand my choices in creating and describing actions in my novel. It's like working all day and getting a bit tired, then chugging a Coke and feeling the instant burst of energy. It's a breath of life, refreshing and revitalizing, into a store room of vacuum sealed experiences.

The next time you venture out into the world, try not to focus solely on your goal. Instead, take a moment and look around you. Sniff the air. Feel the sun on your skin. Watch the people walking by you. Listen to their conversations, their concerns, their interests, the way they phrase things. You'd be surprised how much this helps you show instead of tell your story.

Epcot's food and wine festival

2009-10-11T08:50:00.006-04:00

My sister and I spent the day at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival yesterday. I've never been to one, but thought it would be a fun girl's thing to do. We got a bit of a late start, as I had to drop my daughter off at SAT testing and then we had to drop off my sister's rental car at the airport. When we arrived at Epcot at 11:30, we were both ready to start eating...and drinking. Can't forget drinking.

The lines were fairly long at the first few kiosks, so we decided to sit down and eat lunch at a restaurant. Once we had some food in our bellies, we could spend the afternoon grazing and drinking. Neither one of us wanted to drink on an empty stomach.

We had lunch in France. The outside wall of the restaurant was all windows so we watched people walking back and forth with various plates of dishes and glasses of wine or beer. Several times I saw someone with a long champagne glass containing something deep red and bubbly. It looked really good! I told Lori that after lunch we needed to find out what that was and where to get some.

France didn't have it, so we walked around to the other countries. I also scanned the area for anyone with that drink. As luck would have it, I couldn't find the drink anywhere.

Finally, passing Italy, I spied two woman sitting on stone steps sipping the drink I was looking for. I walked up to them and Lori started laughing at me. They were both nice and told me it was called Rosa Regale and pointed at the door to our right and said they got it in there.

Great!

We waited in line and saw half of the people getting the Rosa Regale. There were also several people getting shots of Lemoncello in addition to the Rosa Regale. I'm not a big alcohol drinker, so I kept to a glass of the Rosa Regale. Lori decided to get one of each. I tasted the Lemoncello...and made a face that had my sister laughing. It had a nice lemon flavor with just a touch of sweetness, but it was a liqueur. I don't like liqueurs. It was like drinking syrup. My sister loved it though. She didn't chug it, like two of the woman ahead of us in line. She sipped it, savoring the flavor.

We left with our drinks and found a demonstration tent where we caught a pasta making demonstration as we drank our Rosa Regale, which was very good. They had given us a piece of dark chocolate to eat as we drank. I had scoffed at the thought of chocolate improving the taste, but I was very mistaken. The Rosa Regale was good without the chocolate. But when consumed with the chocolate...WOW! Absolutely wonderful.

We visited each of the countries in Epcot and all of the kiosks in between. We didn't get food and drink everywhere, as not everything sounded good to us, but we had fun with what we did buy. There also wasn't anything we bought that didn't taste good. We sampled some crema catalana from Spain, a plum and green tea cocktail from China, Grilled lamb chop with arugula salad from Australia (I think), salad with pita bread and baklava from Greece, mango yogurt cooler from India (I think) and a few others. The only downside for me was that most of the dishes contained some form of meat, which meant I mainly munched on the desserts.

We ended our visit with one last stop in Italy where we each bought a bottle of Rosa Regale and Lori also bought a bottle of Lemoncello.

Cooking and singing

2009-10-06T19:17:00.002-04:00

I got hungry for okra so I made a pot of gumbo tonight. The odd thing is, every time I make either jambalaya or gumbo, I always start singing: jambalaya...crawfish pieee....file gumbo...

You know the song? I have no idea who sings it. I don't think I've actually heard it played since I was a kid. Yet I cannot say either jambalaya or gumbo without that song popping into my head! Talk about frustrating. And, of course, I only know a few lines and they keep repeating over and over in my head as I'm cooking. Do you know how long it takes to cook gumbo and rice? About 30 minutes. Do you know many times you can repeat the same four lines in 30 minutes? Far too many for any sane person to want to hear.

Thankfully, the song ceases to repeat once I sit down to actually eat my dinner.

What can I say? I'm strange.

Planting herbs...in the fall

2009-10-04T09:07:00.004-04:00

I have finally gotten around to picking up some potted herbs from Lowes and Home Depot over the weekend. I've been wanting to establish a small herb garden for awhile, but just haven't had the time or opportunity till now. Yes, I know it's October, but when you live in Florida, you can pretty much plant stuff year round. I would much rather be living further north where I would be walking around to the sound of red and gold leaves crunching under foot this time of year. Unfortunately, I live in a state where our leaves go straight from green to brown in December/January. Sometimes you can catch a few rebel leaves brazenly sporting some yellow or, if you are really lucky, a bit of red, but that doesn't occur often. So until I can move, I've decided to make the best of it. That includes planting some herbs in the fall.

After a few emails with a friend of my from the UK, I realized I was a bit disappointed that my development, which is deed restricted, doesn't allow vegetable gardens. I would like to have a small veggie garden as well as an herb garden. I had resigned myself to simply putting my herbs in long rectangular pots on my lanai (what Floridians call a screened in back porch), when I stopped. Couldn't I also grow a few veggies in pots on my lanai?

Hmm...why not? So I headed back out to Lowes and Home Depot and picked up a few potted veggies: three types of tomatoes: cherry, yellow and red; four types of peppers: green bell, sweet orange, poblano, and mucho nacho (that's what the tags called them); some butter lettuce and brussel sprouts. Okay, okay, the brussel sprouts weren't planned, but I always have a hard time finding good, fresh brussel sprouts.

Pleased with my sneaky way of getting around a ban veggie gardens, I dove back in to re-potting my herbs and my new veggies. I got half way through transferring the plants to the pots I purchased when I read the smaller print on the bag of organic vegetable garden soil I was using to re-pot. It said, "in-ground use only."

So, what? It doesn't work when used in containers? This made no sense to me. I had also already purchased two large bags and was over half way finished re-potting. I really didn't feel like buying something new and starting over again. Besides, soil is soil, right?

Of course, I have no idea if any of the plants will grow. I don't really have a green thumb. My sister and mother are wonderful with gardens. Plants seem to let me walk into gardens, but if I even look like I may lift a hand to actual do something, they automatically start to wilt.

Hopefully this time the plants will live long enough for me to see some fruit for my effort, literally.

Male logic

2009-10-01T20:30:00.005-04:00

I saved up my money this year to pay for bamboo flooring to be installed in my living room/dining room combo. I had been excited to get this done. Most of my house is in berber carpeting, which is okay, but I want to gradually install bamboo in most of the main rooms and halls. As I have a severe allergy to debt, I don't get anything installed that I can't pay for in full when I place the order. Simply put, it will take me a couple of years before I'm finished installing bamboo.

I had originally wanted to install the bamboo myself since it looked pretty easy to do. I mean, it's tongue and groove, how hard could it be? Alas, the company informed me that the 30 year warranty that came with the wood would be void unless it was installed by a certified installer. (don't you hate fine print?)

The installers came out on Monday and laid the sealer over the concrete flooring, and boy did that smell! Tuesday they returned and had both rooms completed by mid-afternoon.

Yeah!

The kids are at their dad's this week, but I pick up Sean and keep him after school since he's too young to stay at his dad's alone till his dad gets home. After I picked Sean up from school, we went to Home Depot and then Lowes looking at area rugs. Sean sat in the back seat thoroughly confused about what we were doing.

"Mom, I thought they put the bamboo down?"

"They did."

"Then why are we getting a rug?"

"Because I want some color in the room and I think a rug would look nice in the center of the room."

"But I thought you liked the bamboo flooring?"

"I do."

Sean was clearly exasperated at this point. "Okay. Mom. You rolled up the carpeting that was on the floor, had some guys come and install bamboo flooring and now you want to buy a rug to put on top of the bamboo?"

I glanced at his expression in the rear view mirror and came to the realization that male logic is even annoying when coming from the mouth of an 11 year old boy.

My sister doesn't like me anymore

2009-09-29T19:26:00.004-04:00

It's been a running joke for years that I gave birth to my sister's daughter. My sister and I look a lot alike in the face, but as kids, she had blond hair, blue eyes and dimples. She also got really moody once/month. I have dark hair, green eyes and no dimples. I also rarely have mood swings...like once every few years. Jess is like my sister in a lot of ways, including a strong tendency towards spiteful behavior. I lost count of the number of times I yelled at Jess when she was a toddler, calling her Lori by mistake.

As fate would have it, my 8 year old niece, Kaylee, doesn't look like me, but her personality is closer to mine than her mother's. Kaylee is the only liberal in a rather conservative immediate family. She has no idea what a liberal is, but she naturally takes after me, who is somewhere between liberal and libertarian and some other political mutt mix.

My phone rang as I sat down to dinner. My sister. "Hey!"

"I really don't like you."

I grinned. "Cool! What'd I do now?"

"You're a bad influence on Kaylee."

I hadn't spoken to my niece in awhile. Kaylee doesn't like to talk much on the phone, but she's quite verbal face-to-face. I instantly guessed what had happened and laughed aloud. "She's going vegetarian!"

Lori paused. "Yeah," her voice as unenthusiastic as humanly possible.

I punch a fist in the air. "Way to go Kaylee! I knew you had it in you."

"Oh shut up."

I laughed. "I never said anything to her about that. Ever."

My sister sighed. "I know. She's never really eaten meat. I mean she'd eat it sometimes, but never very much. Last week she decided she didn't want to eat meat anymore."

I couldn't stop smiling. I never mentioned my diet decision to my nieces. I think they remember I don't eat meat, but it was never a big deal to me, so I never really discussed it. I'm enjoying the irony of Lori having to deal with a daughter like me while I had to deal with a daughter like her.

Being a vegetarian probably doesn't sound like that big a deal, but my sister's family is very meat and potatoes. My nephew even hunts. So having a vegetarian in the family is quite funny, if you ask me.

World Building

2009-09-29T08:13:00.012-04:00

One of my favorite parts of writing fantasy is world building. I love playing in my imagination. As a kid, my sister and her best friend referred to me as a dreamer. While I like doing things and being active, I can be just as content staring out the window for hours on end.

At first, my world building was focused on the basics, like how does the world function, what people populate it, how is it divided geographically and demographically, what types of plants and animals live there, what is the technology, what is the current political situation?

This all gave me a broad brush stroke of the present day world, but I want to create a world with depth and richness. So I started going back and creating a history for each species and kingdom. I'm also developing several conflicting religions along with the power struggles that go within each. While these are fun, what I find myself pulled towards lately is folklore and mythology. Every culture has some, so I wanted to create a few for my world too. The challenge: whatever I create needs to be critical to the lives of the respective cultures.

I've developed one myth thus far that I really like and it plays into the end of the story. I'm working on a few more, but a big part of the fun is simply imagining...thinking up various things and letting them play out in my mind to see if they work.

I wish I could instill this love of imagination in my children. I would love to get them to 'unplug' and just go inside themselves once in awhile and see where it leads them. I can get them to turn off all electrical equipment to play cards or a board game with me without trouble -- they enjoy playing, but they never willingly do it just to dream.

I sometimes wonder if we're losing something with all the sensory overload we expose ourselves to day in and day out. We've become so immune to it, our senses need more and more to feel any stimulation at all. Kinda reminds me of drug or alcohol addiction.

The trouble with kids and abstract concepts

2009-09-25T15:10:00.009-04:00

When discussing abstract concepts, I've long known that my kids have trouble with time, distance, and size. However, the older ones seem to be getting a better handle on these things.

I mistakenly gave my youngest son the benefit of the doubt when he came home one day announcing that he wanted to take one of the classroom pets, a ball python, home for the weekend. There are three classroom snakes, but he only likes the smallest one.

My I-don't-think-so face firmly glued on, I raised an eyebrow. "How small is small?"

Sean quickly held out his hands about eighteen inches apart. "It's pretty small. The others are huge and can wrap completely around my waist and up my arm."

I bit my tongue at asking how he knew that. My face faltered. I could handle an eighteen inch snake, even if it turned out to be closer to two feet. Plus, Sean's been doing pretty well behavior-wise this school year. "Okay. I'll write a note saying you can take him home this weekend."

"It's a girl, mom. Her name is Petals."

Petals...for a snake? I shrugged.

This afternoon I pulled up in front of the school to pick up Sean and Petals for the weekend. My mouth fell open when I stopped in front of Sean, who held a large glass tank containing a snake at least four feet long. I quickly rolled down the passenger window. "You said you were bringing home the smallest snake!"

The two teachers helping him laughed. "This is the smallest snake."

Before I could tell them to wait, the back door opened and they slid the tank in.

I eyed the snake as it's head rose up against the lid of the tank. "Where's the lock for the lid? And the key, which preferably stays here at school."

The teachers kept laughing, a bit too much if you ask me. "The lid is latched on, don't worry." The one teacher backed up and waved. "Have a fun weekend!"

I swallowed my reply as Sean slipped inside the other car door.

Here is a picture of Petals, who, according to my son, is only about eighteen inches long:

My daughter: the conspiracy theorist

2009-09-24T09:06:00.003-04:00

Last week Jess had us laughing so hard in the car, I knew I'd have to write it down. She was in one of her moods, the one where everything is black and white and she knows all. It could be just a teen phase, but I doubt it as she's always been this way.

Regardless, Sean and Richard were with us and Sean was telling us that if he gets so many points in class during the week, his name will go into a jar and his teacher will pull one name on Friday. That person gets to take one of the classroom pets home for the weekend. His choices are one of three snakes, rats, hampsters or guinea pigs. Sean decided he wanted to take home either a snake or the rats. The following dialogue ensued:

Jess: You're not bringing rats home. They have bubonic plague.
Mom: What!?
Jess: It's true. Half of Europe was wiped out because the rats carried bubonic plague.
Mom (laughing): Yeah, but these rats don't carry the plague.
Jess: How do you know? They carried it once, they can carry it again.
Mom just keeps laughing and rolls her eyes.
Jess: Actually, if he does bring home rats, I'm moving to India. No one in India died from the plague. Maybe it was because they eat so much curry.
Mom and boys can't stop laughing.
Jess: I'm serious! Just wait. You'll die from the bubonic plague and when I give your eulogy, I'll end it with "I told you so."

The laughter dies down a bit and Jess announces she's going to be a conspiracy theorist. I laugh even harder.
Richard: Sean, stop biting your nails and spitting them at me!
Jess: That's a sign of a vitamin deficiency.
Mom and boys stop and stare at her.
Jess: It is. I read about it. He has vitamin C deficiency.
The rest of us start laughing...again.
Mom: It's also a sign of nerves and an oral fixation. He doesn't have a vitamin deficiency.
Jess: Nope. It's a sign of a vitamin deficiency.

As we all laugh, the dark sky streaks with lightening and a clap of thunder rattles the car. (I should note that beginning this year, Jess has become terrified of thunderstorms - she's afraid she'll die in a tornado. She refuses to listen to my explanation of the possibility of it happening).

Jess: Can't you drive any faster?
Mom points ahead: Where do you want me to go? It's raining and there's traffic. I can't exactly drive over the cars.
Jess: Why not?
Richard taunts: What's wrong Jess?
Jess: Shut up Richard. You have no idea how often tornadoes strike and we're sitting in a car! We could all be killed. (she's not afraid, but annoyed that no one takes her seriously)
All of us are laughing at her now.
Jess: We could!
Mom: Well, Richard, it seems you'll die from a tornado. Sean will die from a vitamin C deficiency and I'll die from the plague.
We all laugh.
Jess smiles: That's right. And I'll live to be an old woman.

Back on the blog again

2009-09-21T10:28:00.004-04:00

Wow...long time, no post. Summer was crazy with work, as I mentioned multiple times in my previous posts. Everything's caught up now, so I can resume my blogging. Unfortunately, this tends to be the first thing I drop when time becomes tight.

Let's see, first up is the Worldcon report. Montreal was wonderful. I'm not much of a city person, but I really enjoyed the european flair: loved the cafe's and patisseries (yummm) and the architecture in old town Montreal was amazing. The conference was interesting. I attended multiple sessions pretty much back-to-back each day. Friday my enthusiasm had been almost sucked dry with the quality of sessions, but the last one that day made the rest well worth the wait. It turned out to be the trend for the rest of the conference. Not that all of the sessions were bad, rather most of the ones I attended didn't dig into details as I was hoping. Instead they tended to glaze over topics or discuss basics when I was ready for the next level. However, there were many people attending who thoroughly enjoyed most of the sessions I was in and seemed to get a lot out of it. I think it just depends on where you are in your writing and research of publishing.

I got to meet a few author's whose books I've read, which was nice. I enjoyed the sessions with Patrick Rothfuss and Brandon Sanderson. I found I got a lot out of those panels. Of course, all of their books I own are on my kindle, so getting an autograph wasn't possible unless I purchased another book. Ah, one of the downsides of e-books I hadn't considered. Still, I prefer e-books to paperback/hardcover for shear quantity I can carry and store. Not to mention they save a few trees!

On the personal writing front, I finally, FINALLY have found my main character's voice! It's only taken about 2 years, multiple edits, and numerous growls of frustration. I'm still honing it, but at least I can hear her and feel her now. Up till this point, it's been a real struggle for me. I think one of my biggest blocks with her has been her name, as stupid as I know that sounds. I really liked the name I had for her, but it didn't fit with this world. I kept telling myself it could work and ignored the fact that it wasn't. Grudgingly, I decided to try writing the first chapter with a name common to this world and what do you know? I suddenly found her personality seeping into mind as I wrote. After a few pages I stopped, re-read what I wrote, then began to kick myself for waiting so long to change her name! Oh well, it's all good. I think lessons learned the hard way end up making you so much better.

Worldcon countdown

2009-07-27T09:12:00.004-04:00

Leaving in 10 days for Worldcon. While I'm a bit excited about the event itself, I'm actually more excited just to get away for awhile.

I was planning on heading to the beach yesterday, but it rained most of the day. However, later in the afternoon I looked behind my house and saw a double rainbow! More than made up for the lack of beach time!

The upstairs A/C unit decided to stop working on saturday. Sunday was the worst with upstairs temps in the mid 80's. Fortunately there are ceiling fans in each upstairs room, so that helped quite a bit while sleeping. I'm rather peaved, though, as I just had to replace the coils on each unit about 2 months ago. With any luck, this will be a quick (and cheap) fix!

Is it the weekend yet?

2009-07-24T12:55:00.002-04:00

I was positive yesterday was Friday until an 11:30 call with a client. I keep chanting to myself that, yes, today is actually Friday. A late night of work (11:30pm) coupled with long, brain-achy days leaves me ready for any brainless activity this weekend.

One of the items on the list is to catch the harry potter movie with the kids. I'm also thinking about some beachtime on Sunday.

With any luck the weather and my schedule will allow for both!

The data won't stop processing!!!

2009-07-22T21:07:00.004-04:00

I'm getting more requests for work from various clients all scrambling for the August 14th deadline. I also have my current client load -- I'm now behind in both. It's 9pm and the file I started processing at 5:30, stopped at 7 because it hadn't finished, then started again at 7 is still processing. I knew this was a possibility as the files are quite large for the analysis required (and it's only part of the state of Kansas). However, It's taking up so much processing time, I missed my critique group tonight (not a happy camper about that) and I also didn't finish the markets I told my other client I'd finish today.

Now it looks like I'll need to let this run overnight. I hate doing that because I can't be sure if it will finish or if the software simply hit a node and is stuck on one spot....the joys of geographic data analysis...NOT!

My partner is going to love me!

2009-07-19T11:59:00.003-04:00

Work has been increasing the past month. We just found out that there's an August 14th deadline for petitioning for some of the stimulus package for telco. Of course, I'll be in Montreal Aug 5-10, which means Ali will be flying solo for that week.

(my evil laugh kicks in) Finally he'll be the one getting swamped with work when I'm on vacay instead of the other way around -- like it usually is.

I'm getting excited about the trip to Worldcon. I think it will be both fun and educational. I'm looking forward to meeting several of the author's attending. It'll also be neat to get an autographed book or two (I don't have any!).

I had almost forgotten about my passport. I re-took my maiden name after the divorce, so I had to get a new passport. It should be here sometime in the next 7-10 days. That's the last piece I need to be ready for the trip. And I'm making sure Ali knows I'm completely out of touch while I'm there (no helping remote like I usually do). God knows he does that to me.

Trying my hand at volunteering

2009-07-18T08:22:00.002-04:00

I've decided that I need to get out of my house more often. The perks of working out of your house are many and most of them obvious. However, there are plenty of downsides as well. One of which is that you really don't meet many people unless it's over the phone or email.

I was originally interested in doing something with Habitat for Humanity. They have a Women's Builder program in which it's all women doing the work. The problem is they don't have any in my area. They also didn't have any special builds or anything coming up that I could help with.

I then started looking at maybe something with the state parks. However, that would mean being outside in FL during the summer months -- something I try to keep to a minimum unless air conditioning or water is involved.

Then I did a quick search (Google is my best friend) and found volunteer positions for docents at the Tampa Historical Museum (or something like that). The museum recently moved to a very large building on reclaimed land, and it's the first building in the area built "green," which I really liked. So I volunteered to give tours once or twice per month (during the weeks I don't have my kids). They only do volunteer 'training' twice per year, so I have to wait till the next one in September, but I think it will be fun.

Rather busy lately

2009-07-13T07:41:00.002-04:00

Been busy the past month and haven't blogged in weeks. I finally had a few hours to spend on writing yesterday and decided this morning to kick myself back into blogging.

My daughter, Jess, went to Drum Corps International Saturday night in Orlando. Yes, she's a band geek. We talked yesterday about it which led to several stories from school this past year. I must admit that my confidence in the future generation of this country definitely stands on shaky ground given some of the stories she tells me. And you'll notice below that my daughter is quite the smart-ass. Here are a few that stick out in my mind:

(in her AP World History class)

Student: "Mr. A. did you fight in WWII?"

Mr. A. (who is only in his mid-40's): "Do I look old enough to have fought in WWII?"

Jess: "Oh no. Mr. A. fought in the Civil War."

Student: "No way!"

Jess: "Yeah. He fought for the north."

Student: "That is so COOL!!"

Mr. A. looks from Jess to the student before shaking his head and walking away.

Jess and a friend were standing at their lockers when April approaches, flustered and holding a piece of paper.

April: "Guys. This one question says 'which European country has the ...(Jess didn't remember what it had, but it's irrelevant). Is it: Sweden, Egypt, Lebanon, or China?"

Jess: "how about the one that's in Europe?"

Jess and the band were on a bus heading to San Antonio for a tournament. A few hours north of Tampa, they see a river nearby.

Tyre: "Look! The Mississippi river!"

Jess: "Yeah, Tyre. The Mississippi river is in the middle of Florida."

Love note to hot tea

2009-06-18T07:29:00.004-04:00

**Warning: this post has been written after a 15 hour work day and only 5 hours of sleep**

Ahhhh...hot tea...you're so much more than a drink. Your green hue beckons my mind with heated thoughts. Your steam dances in joy at the thought of me drinking you. The first taste of you heats my body like a lover's passionate kiss. Swallowing you drapes my body in a warm glow. My eyes close in satisfaction before fluttering open with a sigh.

You are so much more than a drink...

Back yard neighbors

2009-06-12T10:52:00.004-04:00

My house sits on a cul-de-sac and backs to a small retention pond. On the other side of the pond the land is split by conservation on the left and houses on the right. I took these pics of my backyard neighbors a few weeks ago. Forgot to post them until I heard a sandhill crane out back just now. I love their calls.

Anyway, here are a few of the creatures living in my back yard -- okay they live in the pond behind my back yard, but you know what I mean.

I took the pic through my office window, so it isn't the best. But when he stuck out his neck like that I couldn't resist grabbing my camera.

In this pic our gater is sunning himself across the pond from my kitchen window. About three days later, I looked out and saw him sunning my yard. Pretty cool!

We also have a very fast and active otter, but everytime I try and get a picture, the little guy darts and dives. Never knew those things could move so fast. Of course, I guess you have to when you share a pond with a gater.

Publishing lightbulb jokes

2009-06-11T08:29:00.003-04:00

I found this cute list on GBH Hornswoggler's blog, but decided to post it here as well as I got a chuckle out of most of them:

Q: How many art directors does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. Does it HAVE to be a lightbulb?

Q. How many editors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A. Only one; but first they have to rewire the entire building.

Q. How many managing editors does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. You were supposed to have changed that lightbulb last week!

Q. How many cover artists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Why is there...an eggbeater, I think?...sticking out of this light fixture?

Q. How many copyeditors does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. The last time this question was asked, it involved art directors. Is the difference intentional? Should one or the other instance be changed? It seems inconsistent.

Q. How many proofreaders does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Proofreaders aren't supposed to change lightbulbs. They should just query them.

Q. How many marketing directors does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. It isn't too late to make this neon instead, is it?

Q. How many sales directors does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A. (pause) I get it! This is one of those lightbulb jokes, right?

Q. How many agents does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Only one, but he keeps 15% of the light put out by the bulb over its lifetime.

Q. How many writers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. But why do we have to CHANGE it?

Q. How many publishers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A. Three. One to screw it in, two to hold down the author.

Q: How many Production people does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One.

Q: How many Production people does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Damn it! I can't believe they're changing the freakin' lightbulb AGAIN!!!

Difficult choices

2009-06-08T17:58:00.004-04:00

I was engrossed in writing a scene for my novel when my sister called. I answered and heard a slight pause before she responded. I knew something was wrong before I heard her voice. Silence often times carries intense emotions, but most people never take the time to listen and feel them.

She choked a short hello followed by another pause.

I waited a bit longer before asking, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what to do about Soda."

Sodapop is my sister's cocker spanial mix. They got him 14 years ago. The past few years have really taken a toll on his body. He's down to only a couple of teeth in his mouth, he has arthritis in his joints, and the past year he's struggled with incontinence.

The vet just informed her that his kidney is only functioning at 25%. To compensate, she'll need to give him a liter of fluid twice a week. The only way to do this is have someone hold him still while she injects the fluid using a needle and IV bag.

My heart fluttered as my memories faded to my black lab, Jasmine. We rescued her when she was 4 months old. Jasmine died two years ago from cancer. She didn't show any signs of problems until one Saturday when she didn't seem able to get up or move at all. We ran her to the vet ER and was told of the cancer. It was a common illness in labs, one in which blood vessels weaken and burst and the dog bleeds internally.

She died six hours later on her 11th birthday.

"What would you do if it was Jasmine?"

I let out a long sigh. "I don't know. It's hard. He's a part of the family. I'm also one of those people who will always choose quality over quantity. He's old. He's lived a long and wonderful life with a family who loved him and never abused him. His body's been wearing out over the years. If I were him, would I want to be held down by my family and injected with a needle twice a week? If so, what does that buy him? Eventually the kidneys will stop functioning. He has a physical body. It wasn't meant to last forever. While it would be difficult, I think I would warn the kids that he's too old and his body won't last much longer. And this isn't just because he's a dog. It's pretty much what happened with Grandma."

My grandmother's kidneys stopped functioning and she refused dialysis. She had lived her life and was ready to die. It took about 2 years longer than the doctor's expected, but she finally passed away this past November.

"I know." She was quiet for a bit. I let the silence hang. Sometimes not saying anything can be as important as saying the right thing. She took a deep breath and exhaled. I could hear one of my nieces in the background. "Well, I gotta go." She sounded more like herself.

"Okay. I'll be home all night if you want to talk."

I hung up the phone and turned back to my laptop. I stared at the text, but my mind wouldn't enter the scene. I closed MS Word and went looking for some pictures of Jasmine.

Up to date

2009-06-08T08:51:00.003-04:00

Friday I was able to get everything for my main client off of my plate and on to their's. That's the first time this year! Normally we have a constant back and forth going so that both of us are always working on one market or another. See, one division from my client sends me data. I process and map that data and send to another division for review. They approve or make changes and send it back to me. If approved I go to the next stage for that market and the cycle continues. If there are changes, I make them and re-submit for approval. With hundreds of markets in the mix, there's always work to do on both sides, until now.

Now I have a Monday with no billable work to do!

Hmm...

Time to clean and organize my desk.

I typically just tend to pile papers on it instead of taking the time to file them when I'm done. Not sure why. In the rest of my house I'm always making a point to put things away when I'm finished with them. The kids know this trait and have mastered the eye roll and "I know, mom" comments when I even start to point out something not put away. However, I've never been able to carry that trait over into my office. Rather odd when you consider that my office is part of my house.

Filing, here I come!

On-line dating???

2009-06-05T09:39:00.005-04:00

Yeah, I know, but let me explain first...

I always feel the need to preface my on-line dating experience with that statement. Why? Not sure. Embarrassment, maybe? Some type of justification on my part for 'stooping' to on-line dating? (shrugs)

Bottom line - I did it because I was curious.

My mother met her second husband through a dating service back in '92. He was killed 10 years later and she gave on-line dating a whirl two different times since then. I figured if my mom could do it, why not see what it has to offer. Of course, she had no luck whatsoever with it, but I still thought I'd try it out.

The minimum time-frame for trying most of the services was 3 months. So I signed up for my 3 months on two different websites and dove in to creating a profile.

Being the dominant picture taker in the family, I had no recent pictures of myself handy. Thus I found myself in my office, using the time-delay on my digital camera to attempt a full-body shot. I wasn't greedy -- I simply wanted one shot I could post in my profile.

It took about 20 minutes and over a dozen shots before I got one I could work with (it's hard trying to smile sincerely when you are only staring at a camera and know the picture will be used by total strangers as a means of gauging whether or not they are interested in getting to know you.)

I had no real hope that anything would come of it, but I was curious to see who was doing this type of thing and how many people actually used these services. If I met someone - great! If not, it would still be interesting to see what happens.

Once my profile was created, I did my first database search: men; 35-45; non-smoker; within a 100 mile radius of my home.

The search generated about 600 hits -- yes, 600 (that's not a typo). I was pleasantly surprised by the quantity and proceeded to go through the results.

To quote my daughter: "Oh my GOD!"

In this age range, I had expected to see mature, (at least semi-) confident men.

I went through all 600 results:

60% of the profiles contained at least 1 picture of the man without a shirt. Less then 15% of those were beach shots. About half of the men were doing some sort of muscle pose or a casual "check me out" pose. The majority wore only jeans or casual shorts without a shirt. A few had their jeans slightly unzipped and turned out -- EEWWW!

70% of the profiles included shots of a motorcycle (only about half of those showed the man with the motorcycle).

Those were the two dominant stats. Needless to say, those are also the two that I consider to be among my top turn-offs. I have absolutely no interest in anyone who feels they have to 'promote' their body to gain my interest. And I do NOT like motorcycles - far too risky for my tastes.

I was honestly shocked at the results. I hadn't expected either one of those stats to be noticeable, let alone dominant.

My conclusion: men aged 35-45 who participate in on-line dating are prime targets for mid-life crises.

I stopped trying searches about a month after I originally registered (just couldn't bring myself to keep 'trying' the full 3 months). My subscriptions ended in May and I have no intention of renewing them or trying it again - just not the type of people I'm interested in.

Lesson learned

Last day of school

2009-06-04T08:30:00.003-04:00

It's the last day of school, which means an end to the rather hectic schedule the past two weeks (banquets, awards cereomonies, talent shows, parties, end of year gifts). It also means that this weekend my kids go back to their father's for his two weeks of custody. Yes, this has been our schedule for 6 months now, but this time is different.

During school weeks, I pick them up after school every day and keep them home with me as I've always done with them (one of the perks of working out of your house). About two months ago, we decided that Jess (being 16) could simply go straight to his house after school and stay till he gets home from work. We agreed that the boys were too young to be home alone for 3 hours every afternoon.

This will be the first time since the divorce that I won't see them while they are at his house.

My house is a 30 minute drive to their school, each direction. Then I drive to meet Rich to 'swap' the kids during his weeks.

The driving won't be missed, but the kids will.

Teachers who don't know their vocabulary

2009-06-02T21:18:00.002-04:00

This is the last week of school, so I've been doubly busy with transporting kids to and from events as well as attending events.

Yesterday my oldest son, Richard, had his final awards ceremony as a fifth grader. I attended and videotaped him receiving a Citizen of the Month award, a Safety Patrol award and a Presidents Achievement in Education award.

It was typical of elementary school awards ceremonies and everything went off without a hitch, except for one thing that no one else seemed to notice. Or perhaps they noticed, but I was the only one bothered by it.

The ceremony emcee was one of the fifth grade teachers. Richard didn't have her, but knew her and liked her. About ten minutes into the ceremony she was touting the merits of a few students, I don't recall the particular award they won, but she said something along the lines of "they are full of competence."

I puzzled a moment. Mulling over her statement I assumed she simply misspoke the word 'competence' for 'confidence.' Nothing to gawk at, really. People, particularly when speaking to crowds, misspeak often. I wouldn't have thought twice about it except that she did it two more times. Explaining one child's continual show of responsibility, she said "She eludes responsibility." She used the word 'elude' in the same way a few minutes later.

That was not misspeaking. That clearly demonstrated the teacher didn't know the meaning of the words 'elude' or 'exude.'

This, of course, made me wonder if she knew the difference between 'confidence' and 'competence' as well. I was stunned when she spoke. Her actions told me she hadn't realized anything was wrong wtih what she had said. I leaned in to my ex and pointed this out. He shrugged as if it didn't matter and continued to listen.

I scanned the rest of the faces in the crowd looking for signs that at least one other person found this disconcerting.

Nothing.

I'm not sure which worries me more, the fact that this is one of the people teaching my children grammer and vocabulary or the fact that no other adult in the cafeteria noticed or cared.

4 weeks of rain + 4 weeks of not mowing = 4 callouses

2009-05-31T10:07:00.004-04:00

Spent yesterday doing some shopping in the morning. In the afternoon I mowed the lawn that hasn't been mowed in about 4 weeks, but had 4 weeks worth of rain.

I could almost wade through some of the grass in back.

I bought a push lawnmower when I moved to this house for three reasons: it's cheaper than a riding lawn mower; it doesn't take up as much space in my garage as a riding lawn mower; and it's better exercise than a riding lawn mower.

I don't regret my decision, but my hands are still angry at me this morning.

It took about two hours of constant mowing. I had to add gas twice. By the time I finshed my palms were pink and tender and sporting multiple callouses.

Wow...a VERY moving post

2009-05-30T08:42:00.002-04:00

I found this post as a referrel from another blog. It gives a very personal view of the defeat of proposition 8 in California. It was so moving and eloquently written, I'm linking to it here. Her views sum up my beliefs perfectly.

I shouldn't have said anything

2009-05-29T19:11:00.004-04:00

I jinxed myself by saying I wasn't as swamped as I usually get when Ali's out.

A referrel to a potential new client with a data quote; additional analysis on one of the new requests this week; revision of a project I did last month; another new request that I pushed off till tomorrow (yes, that would be saturday)...oh yes, and let's not forget my normal client load that I was able to partially complete.

And that was just today.

Ali gets back on Monday. I hope he enjoyed the time off because I'm dumping a bunch of stuff on him in the morning...payback!

New dish attempt

2009-05-28T19:56:00.002-04:00

I made steamed cauliflower with a mustard dill sauce as a side dish last night. It came from one of the two new vegan cookbooks I bought the other week. The sauce was pretty good. I think I'll tweak a few of the ingredients next time, but definately a keeper.

Tonight I decided to try the Arabian Squash Casserole. I love butternut squash, but rarely do anything except roast it and serve mashed with either some butter or brown sugar and cinnimon. This reciple called for mashed squash, sauteed onion and green peppers, and sour cream and feta cheese.

I was hesitant about the green peppers and onions, as they aren't something I would pair with butternut squash, but I decided to be adventurous and give it whirl.

It was okay, but I think it would be much better without the green peppers and onions. Jess, however, liked it with them included. Neither one of the boys liked it, but they aren't big fans of squash either.

Our rule is they must have one helping of everything on the table. Only then can they go back and get seconds of whatever they do like. It's amazing how small those spoonfuls get on experimental dishes or dishes that they don't like.

This weekend I'm toying with trying a mezza. I've never had one, let alone made one. It should be fun!

What is the deal?

2009-05-28T12:06:00.003-04:00

My partner, Ali, and I have this running joke about vacations. Everytime he takes one, I get swamped with work. Whether we're completely dead or casually busy leading up to his week off is irrelevant. The week that he's gone, I always get slammed with work. He'll tell people ahead of time he's out and try and get them to send anything pending in before he leaves, but nothing.

This week? Yep. He's at the outer banks, his usual vacation spot.

Monday was a holiday, so luckily nothing jumped in then. Tuesday, however, I get two emails forwarded from clients who tried to reach him first. The third request came in as a rush job late yesterday afternoon and I had to miss my critique session last night because of it.

The other one is just getting finalized now, and they want to expand it -- all due today.

Oh, and then there's my own client project that I'm also working on.

On the bright side (because I'm always looking on the bright side of things), I'm not as slammed with work as I usually get the weeks he's out.

Of course, the week's not over yet.

Well...no winning lottery ticket

2009-05-28T08:55:00.002-04:00

They drew the Powerball number last night at 11pm. My sister never called me, so I'm assuming that we didn't win.

If we did win and she didn't call me...she's dead! (after I get my share of the money, of course)

Powerball luck?

2009-05-27T18:47:00.003-04:00

My sister called me from PA this evening. "Powerball's up to $200,000,000."

"Cool! Did you win?"

"No, but Kaylee found a four leaf clover today." Kaylee is my 8 years old niece.

I laughed. "Buy a ticket and let her pick the numbers!"

She laughed as well. "That's what I'm doing now. They come with a sheet of 5 sections: A-E."

I told her to let Kaylee pick numbers for me too. So my sister gave me section C. Kaylee said she wanted half the money if she wins. My sister told her she'd give her $100 to spend on webkins. Kaylee squeeled in delight.

So, hopefully, with a lot more luck than I've ever had, I may have enough money tomorrow to afford to write full-time!

Long weekend

2009-05-27T08:09:00.003-04:00

I ate something that didn't agree with me saturday night. Spent half of that evening doubled over in the bathroom. It's amazing how emptying your stomach ends up leaving you feel like your body's been beaten and completely drained of all energy.

I did nothing but nap off and on for Sunday and half of Monday. Tuesday I finally started feeling back to normal.

Whew

Can't remember the last time I was sick, let alone that sick. It's been at least 15 years.

Thankfully, everything's back to normal.

Blond moments

2009-05-20T07:44:00.005-04:00

After posting on the things we can learn from boys yesterday, I got to thinking about my daughter, Jess. She's the only blond in our family, however my sister and mother were basically platinum blonds as kids. When they reached their early to mid-twenties, they had become brunettes. My daughter refuses to accept her fate.

Regardless, as the only blond, we've taken to referring to her random lack of common sense as a "blond moment." I will preface this by stating she's actually quite intelligent and normally has good common sense. But occasionally she spaces out and the things that she says or does as a result are hysterical. Here are a few of my favorite blond moments:

Age: 15
Jess is driving and I'm in the passenger seat. We come to a red light where several cars have already stopped. I notice she takes longer to slow down than I would prefer but I say nothing as she finally brakes, laughing as she does so. "What's so funny?"

"I just had the ultimate blond moment!" She's still laughing.

"What?"

"I couldn't figure out why the car wasn't stopping." She laughs aloud again.

I tell her to pull over and switch seats with me.

Age: 14
It's December and I need some boxes to wrap presents. I stop at the dollar store to grab a few packs. There are two options: White Shirt Boxes for $1.99 and Decorated Shirt Boxes for $3.99. I start grabbing the white shirt boxes.

Jess stands next to me. "What happens if you put a colored shirt in them?"

I look at her and try to figure out what she's talking about. After a moment I understand what she means, but don't get a chance to respond because she interrupts me.

"Oh, wait. Nevermind. I get it."

My mouth drops. "You were serious?!" I stand in the isle laughing for several minutes before I could stop.

Jess' face is red and she keeps looking up and down the isle. "Mom, it wasn't that funny."

Age: 13
Jess and I are driving somewhere. I don't remember the conversation we were having, but at at one point I comment, "Every Tom, Dick and Harry."

"Oh! The Beatles!"

I lost it. I laughed so hard.

"They aren't the Beatles?"

Ah, my daughter. Most of the time she's moody and grumpy, often becoming a six year old when she fights with her brothers. But she comes up with some funny stuff sometimes. The problem is it's always unintentional!

Things I've learned from my boys

2009-05-19T09:43:00.003-04:00

I received this list via email a few years ago. I remember laughing so hard that I saved the email to a file. Searching through my folders for something else this morning, I stumbled upon the list and read it again. I still laughed, although not quite as hard as I have one son who falls almost into this category. Still, it is well worth a read and I thought I would share. According to the email, it is a true list from a mother in Austin, TX. I rarely believe any email stories that state "this is a true story," but it's entertaining nonetheless:

Things I've learned from my boys (honest and not kidding):

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house
4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with
roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year old boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded
restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong
enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman under- wear and a
Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to
spread paint on all four walls of a 20 x 20 ft. room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When
using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit
by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already
too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a
36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year
old Boy.

11. Play Dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12. Super Glue is forever.

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool, you still
can't walk on water.

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15. VCR's do not eject "PB & J" sandwiches even though TV commercials
show they do.

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not
like ovens.

20. The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5 minute response time.

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms
dizzy.

22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23. Cats can throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24. 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake
fluid.

Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without
kids.

For those with no children - this is totally hysterical.

For those who already have children past this age, this is hilarious.

For those who have children this age, this is not funny.

For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.

For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control.

The Warded Man

2009-05-18T09:01:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading the Warded Man over the weekend. Before I summarize my thoughts, a random question. Why do publishers feel the need to change an author's title when a foreign book gets published in the US? Foriegn languages aside, I'm talking specifically about British books. Both the Warded Man and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone were written by a Brit and published over there. Yet in both books the pulblishers changed a word in the title just for the US. Shipment to other countries, from what I understand, used or translated the original word used in the UK. The Warded Man is called the Painted Man everywhere else. And most know that the Sorcerer's Stone is called the Philosopher's Stone in Europe.

I don't get it. What is so different about Americans that we are perceived as unable to read and understand the same words as the rest of the English speaking population? Personally, I think it's a waste of time and effort and should be left as originally published. I mean Philosopher versus Sorcerer? Either one works for me. However, it did take me a few paragraphs from HP before I understood what "snogging" was. Couldn't the Brit's come up with something a bit less...distasteful sounding than snogging? Yuck!

Back to my post...

The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett: This is a debut author, which is why I read it.

Warning: a few spoilers

Overall, a very good read. I liked the plot and the characters. The novel is broken into vignettes, each focusing on one of three characters: Arlen, a young boy from a rural village; Leesha, a youg girl from what I think is a slightly larger village; and Rojer, youngest of the three and orphaned as a small child.

In this world, various types of demons rise from the ground each night attacking humans. The only protection from the attacks are wards or sigils. These are drawn on walls, buildings, posts, anything that can create a small area of sanctuary for those within.

The book follows the three over a period of about 15 years or so. Chunks of time have elapsed in each one, but the writing makes sure the reader is aware of anything noteworthy during the lapses. The end of the book finds the three finally meeting one another and agreeing to journey together.

Arlen and Leesha seemed quite believable to me both in character and ability. Rojer, however, I hesitate on. The book doesn't make it clear if his ability is a gift of magic or something he's able to teach others. If he can teach others, I wonder why no one ever figured it out before. It also brings up what I think is an inconsistency in the book. Demons attack the inn when Rojer is an infant, yet music and fiddling were filling the room at the time...inconsistent.

The world was interesting, but not overwhelming. Many fantasy novels spend quite a bit of time describing places and cultures. There was some of that here, but not enough that I clearly could see this world before my eyes. I would have liked a map, at least, to lay out all of the cities described.

One thing that did bug me about the story were the cultures of the cities. I didn't really get much sense of diversity or depth, except in Krasia. And the problem I had with that city/culture was it too closely mimicked the middle east. To the point where you could almost switch out the word Krasia for most any Arab country. I had expected more originality than that.

Otherwise I thought this was an excellent first novel and fully intend to purchase the next in the series, which I believe comes out next spring.

Client finally paid!

2009-05-15T08:11:00.002-04:00

That client I blogged about last week, finally paid. I checked yestesrday and my company's bank account was sitting back rubbing a rather full belly. Whew. Now, I have three more clients with past due balances as well.

Quickbooks decided to complicate my ability to track receivables last year. I had been using it for five years with nary a problem. Not sure what happened, last year, but the demons of software took possession and wreaked havoc throughout. Negative balances when there was cash in the bank, payroll checks issued but not appearing in reports or liabilities, etc. My accountant was a huge help with his comment "yeah, I hate quickbooks."

Thanks!

After about five months of being unable to fix it, I decided to just create a new company file effective Jan 09. Of course, I just did this yesterday. I spent the day inputting all past due invoices so that I can receive against them, along with all my client information, employee information, linked bank accounts, etc.

I have almost everything up and ready to go now. (wipes brow)

And the rains came

2009-05-14T08:32:00.002-04:00

Well it finally rained yesterday. It had been so unbelievably dry for the past month or more (I've honestly lost count). We got a good 2 hours or more of rain last night.

The pond behind my house no longer looks forlorn. Water covers the dry sand that ringed it, stretching up to meet the grass that dons a brighter shade of green. The air smells fresh and clean and I just want to stand out back and breathe deeply.

Another month or two like this and maybe the water level will start getting back to normal.

Worldcon 2009

2009-05-12T08:16:00.003-04:00

I'm heading to Worldcon this year!!!

Truth be told, I was just as excited about the location as I was about the event. Although I think I'll withhold that tidbit of information from any die-hard worldcon members I may meet. The conference is being held in Montreal this year, so I get to brush up on my french!

I have never been to a worldcon before. In fact, the only writing/literary conference I've ever attended was the Florida Writer's Conference last fall. At first, I thought this was purely a fan-based conference. The original website, which is quite sparse by today's standards I must say, didn't give much info. I gathered that it seems fairly large, predominantly fans attend, there are book signings and parties, as well as the Hugo awards.

I thought it would be neat to meet some authors and see what people are reading and saying about what they read. So, I joined (you have to be a member to attend the conference). I hadn't realized until then that the members are the ones that select the Hugo winner.

I'm now working my way through the nominated novels, as I hadn't read any of them yet. The first one I decided to work on was The Graveyard by Neil Gaiman. He's also the guest of honour at the conference this year.

The votes are due in July, but I don't think I can read every nominee in every category by then. I've decided to start with the novels and work my way down in categories and get done as many as I can.

I just visited the worldcon 2009 site again last week and noticed they've added quite a bit of info. Writing sessions are being offered now too. COOL! I really hadn't expected that based on the first website they had loaded. It looks like this will be even more interesting than I originally thought!

I also volunteered to work a few hours each day at the conference, but I haven't heard anything back on that.

I did get a really good deal on a hotel nearby though, cheaper rate than the ones on the conference website and it's only about a block and half away from the convention. I got it through hotel.com. Gotta love internet travel sites!

I can't wait! My first time at a huge conference, in a different country, where I don't know anyone! This is going to be FUN! (seriously -- I love this kind of stuff)

Truffles!

2009-05-11T09:05:00.004-04:00

Here are some pics of the truffles I made over the weekend. They came out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. I made three different flavors: plain (white drizzle), raspberry (pink drizzle) and orange (orange zest). I usually make a peppermint flavor with white chocolate and topped with crushed peppermints, but I didn't have any mints at home so I dropped those.

As much as my shoulders and upper back ache after making these, I really do enjoy it. There's something about making the individual balls and dipping them in the chocolate. Drizzles are fun to do, but boy are they harder than they look! These would have looked better had I used my ceramic drizzler (not sure the real name, but that's what I call it.) Problem is I couldn't find it. I'm sure it's unpacked somewhere, but I haven't seen it since the move. I had to make do with a teaspoon doing these, hence some of the thicker drizzles. They'll still taste good though!

Depressing post today

2009-05-10T20:56:00.004-04:00

Friday after school Sean, my youngest, couldn't wait to give me my mother's day gift. He cut the word "mom" out of construction paper, with the letters connected, to make a type of envelope, tied with string to keep it closed. Inside was a letter and 3 coupons. The letter was sweet and thanked me for lots of things and said I was the best mom in the world. The coupons were blank. He explained that anytime I get tired of doing something, I right it in the coupon and hand it to him and he'll do it for me.

These are my absolute favorite type of mother's day gifts.

Then, this morning, he made me a cup of hot tea. Later in the morning, Sean made me a large poster. When I took Jess to get our hair cut, Sean decorated my bedroom with ribbons and the poster, which covered the width of the french doors leading to my bathroom. My bedroom door had taped to it a large, paper square with a bunch of hearts cut out of it. I loved it!

That turned out to be the high point of my day.

My oldest son, Richard (known as the sentimental one of the three kids), wrote me a very short note, in pencil, on notebook paper for mother's day today. It said "Thank you for all you have done and all you will do." He included a heart and the requisite "I Love you." Then he gave me a fake, purple rose. I was honestly happy. Okay, so he didn't think ahead to buy a card, but hand-made cards are still preferred. I thought he had made the flower at school, but he told me a few hours later that someone had given the roses out at boyscouts a few months ago.

Jess never said happy mother's day at all today. She didn't forget, but pointedly didn't say anything. She doesn't like going to her dad's and today was a 'swap' day. She didn't give me a card or note either.

I was ready for them to have forgotten mother's day. What hurt, though, was that the two oldest remembered and still didn't make any effort at all to do anything for me today. I thought that maybe they'd make me lunch or want to do something with me later on....but nothing. I didn't say anything about it till I was almost to their father's house. Then I told them I was disappointed and why. I helped Sean take his birds into his father's house. Jess and Richard went past but didn't say anything.

I got back in my car to leave and Sean came running out of the house in tears. He gave me a hug and said he was sorry about today. I told him I wasn't talking to him when I said I was disappointed. I told him I loved the poster and the hot tea he made for me. I explained it was the other two that hurt. He wiped his eyes and then went back inside his dad's house.

Jess sent me a text message while I was driving home. It said something to the effect that if she has to go to her dad's, she's not celebrating mother's day. She also said it wasn't a 'real' holiday, rather something hallmark made up to get more money....(shakes head).....I really want her to have a good relationship with her father, but she refuses to make any effort at all.

I guess I have even more bad mother's days to get through before she finally matures enough to understand.

(sigh) good thing I'm a very patient person

Publisher's Lunch Article

2009-05-08T11:49:00.002-04:00

Here is an article from Publisher's Lunch, which I receive daily. I thought it was interesting to see some specifics on ways publishers are re-shaping their business model:

...As Publishers Reimagine the Next Steps
That idea of investing, and reshaping, for the future were also prominent themes in both Raccah and Leaver's presentations at yesterday's conference.

Raccah's larger theme was her journey to remake "not business as usual," citing a remark from Carolyn Reidy on the challenge of running two companies at once, "the one that was, and the one that will be."

At Sourcebooks, citing "fundamental changes at retail" and a "real return to the value of niche publishing," the company's focus is on very specific slices of categories ("not cookbooks, but vegan cookbooks; not parenting, but ADHD" books for parents), with "category leadership mandatory for success."

Raccah said "we have pulled out completely of certain categories" so that they can "compete harder in fewer categories." And they aren't just looking at the books, but "are starting to organize internally around category users--the readers who are interested in certain topics."
The category focus drives long-term planning: "What's the program that will make this author successful in this category? Our shorthand: we publish authors, not books."

Leaver expressed a similar sentiment in his own way: "We believe that horizontal is roadkill; vertical is the way forward. We're a cateogry publisher and we'll become more of a category publisher. It's about cutting up [categories] into little sections."

Raccah is also hugely energized by emerging digital landscape. "In the big picture, we're creating new approaches to content," she said. They are creating 23 iPhone apps, three of which have already been released and should be in the black before the end of the year. She spoke about "unbundling our services" and becoming "'custom' everything" noting that "the customer will tell you how they want to buy something." She underscored that there is a "tremendous opportunity for partnerships everywhere--the world just got a whole lot bigger."

Upcoming Mother's Day

2009-05-08T08:27:00.002-04:00

Several times this week my kids have asked "when is Mother's day?" I told them, but said nothing else. This will be the first mother's day since the divorce. I'm curious to see if any of them take any initiative whatsoever to do something special for me without their father's prodding.

Not one of them has asked me what I wanted or if I could take them somewhere to shop. Honestly, I really don't want them to buy me anything. There's nothing I need from a store. The only gifts I ever ask for, much to their frustration, is one day without bickering and fighting, and where you clean up after yourselves whenever you finish with something.

I think those are pretty basic, easy to accomplish tasks...but my children find them far too difficult and prefer to buy objects instead. We'll see what, if anything, happens this year.

Misleading statements

2009-05-07T10:30:00.003-04:00

Remember that previously published author I mentioned critiquing two days ago? Well, I only got a few pages into the submission when I stopped. There was no way this writing could have been published. Just way too many beginner mistakes.

So, being me, I went and did some research. His book is on amazon, but it's through iUniverse - so he self-published.

Now, I have no issues with self-publishing. However, I think it's misleading to state that you're published or have been published without explaining that it was self-publishing.

Why?

While I tend to rant about the degradation in quality writing getting published these days, there is a minimum level of quality that has, at least for the moment, been maintained. This level of quality tends to be non-existent in most (although not all) self-published pieces.

I have read some self-published work, and, like people, the quality varies. But when you say "I'm published" there is a certain level of expectation on the quality of writing you are getting. In my opinion, self-publishing hasn't proven out that level of quality yet. Whether it should do so is a seperate question. As long as people understand that it's self-publishing, I think the expectation changes accordingly.

I finished my critique and submitted it yesterday morning. It ended up being about 6 pages, including excertps that I was commenting on. Hopefully he won't be offended by the volume of edits, after all he specifically stated he wanted to make this the best possible.

We'll see....

Feedback on long critique

2009-05-05T08:18:00.003-04:00

The author for whom I submitted that really long, 2,000+ word critique sent me an email yesterday...to thank me for the "great critique."

Whew!

I was honestly a bit nervous that the author would be offended by the length. He appreciated the time and effort put into it and seemed to like some of the suggestions! YEAH!!

I feel SO much better now.

I'm actually critiquing a second piece due tomorrow for critters. This one I feel even more hesitant about as it's by a previously published author. Yet, I still find myself stopping and editing text as I go because things keep jumping out at me. I guess like all unpublished authors, I have this podium on which I sit everyone already published. As with all podiums, it's difficult to actually see the person and work when it's place so high above you. It's nice to pull it off and see that (surprise!), their draft novel is just a draft, like yours or anyone else's.

I guess that's a good thing. It shows that there are really no great writers...just great re-writers! (I forget who actually said that, or I'd give them the credit for it).

I've decided I'm going to keep critiquing like I always do...or until someone tells me to stop. ;)

Great writing post

2009-05-04T12:55:00.007-04:00

Moonrat had a link to this post by Holt on the 10 Mistakes Writers Make. I think the article was wonderful. I thought I had seen it before, but decided it's worth posting here too. Although it's so long, I've cropped everything but the highlights:

The Ten Mistakes
Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)

The list also could be called, “10 COMMON PROBLEMS THAT DISMISS YOU AS AN AMATEUR,” because these mistakes are obvious to literary agents and editors, who may start wording their decline letter by page 5. What a tragedy that would be.

So here we go:

REPEATS
Just about every writer unconsciously leans on a “crutch” word. Hillary Clinton’s repeated word is “eager” (can you believe it? the committee that wrote Living History should be ashamed).

Crutch words are usually unremarkable. That’s why they slip undereditorial radar - they’re not even worth repeating, but there you haveit, pop, pop, pop, up they come. Readers, however, notice them, get irked by them and are eventually distracted by them, and down goes yourbook, never to be opened again.

The same goes for repeats of several words together - a phrase orsentence that may seem fresh at first, but, restated many times, drawsattention from the author’s strengths. Sheldon Siegel nearly bludgeonsus in his otherwise witty and articulate courtroom thriller, FinalVerdict, with a sentence construction that’s repeated throughout thebook:

FLAT WRITING
Flat writing is a sign that you’ve lost interest or are intimidated by your own narrative. It shows that you’re veering toward mediocrity, that your brain is fatigued, that you’ve lost your inspiration. So use it as a lesson. When you see flat writing on the page, it’s time to rethink, refuel and rewrite.

EMPTY ADVERBS
Actually, totally, absolutely, completely, continually, constantly, continuously, literally, really - these and others are words that promise emphasis, but too often they do the reverse. They suck the meaning out of every sentence.

(When in doubt, try this mantra: Precise and spare; precise and spare; precise and spare.)

Another problem with empty adverbs: You can’t just stick them at the beginning of a sentence to introduce a general idea or wishful thinking, as in “Hopefully, the clock will run out.” Adverbs have to modify a verb or other adverb, and in this sentence, “run out” ain’t it.

PHONY DIALOGUE
Be careful of using dialogue to advance the plot. Readers can tell when characters talk about things they already know, or when the speakers appear to be having a conversation for our benefit.

Dialogue offers glimpses into character the author can’t provide through description. Hidden wit, thoughtful observations, a shy revelation, a charming aside all come out in dialogue, so the characters *show* us what the author can’t *tell* us.

NO-GOOD SUFFIXES
Don’t take a perfectly good word and give it a new backside so it functions as something else.

The “ness” words cause the eye to stumble, come back, reread: Mindlessness, characterlessness, courageousness, statuesqueness, preciousness - you get the idea.

The “ize” words are no better - finalize, conceptualize, fantasize, categorize. The “ize” hooks itself onto words as a short-cut but stays there like a parasite. Not all “ize” words are bad, either, but they do have the ring of the vulgate to them - “he was brutalized by his father,” “she finalized her report.” Just try to use them rarely.

Some “ingly” words do have their place. I can accept “swimmingly,” “annoyingly,” “surprisingly” as descriptive if overlong “ingly” words.

THE “TO BE” WORDS
Once your eye is attuned to the frequent use of the “to be” words - “am,” “is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” “be,” “being,” “been” and others - you’ll be appalled at how quickly they flatten prose and slow your pace to a crawl. When in doubt, replace them with active, vivid, engaging verbs. Muscle up that prose.

LISTS
“She was entranced by the roses, hyacinths, impatiens, mums, carnations, pansies, irises, peonies, hollyhocks, daylillies, morning glories, larkspur…” Well, she may be entranced, but our eyes are glazing over.

If you’re going to describe a number of items, jack up the visuals. Lay out the the scene as the eye sees it, with emphasis and emotion in unlikely places. When you list the items as though we’re checking them off with a clipboard, the internal eye will shut.

SHOW, DON’T TELL
If you say, “she was stunning and powerful,” you’re *telling* us. But if you say, “I was stunned by her elegant carriage as she strode past the jury - shoulders erect, elbows back, her eyes wide and watchful,” you’re *showing* us. The moment we can visualize the picture you’re trying to paint, you’re showing us, not telling us what we *should* see..

The difference between telling and showing usually boils down to the physical senses. Visual, aural aromatic words take us out of our skin and place us in the scene you’ve created.

AWKWARD PHRASING
Awkward phrasing makes the reader stop in the midst of reading and ponder the meaning of a word or phrase. This you never want as an author. A rule of thumb - always give your work a little percolatin’ time before you come back to it. Never write right up to deadline. Return to it with fresh eyes. You’ll spot those overworked tangles of prose and know exactly how to fix them.

COMMAS
Compound sentences, most modifying clauses and many phrases *require* commas. You may find it necessary to break the rules from time to time, but you can’t delete commas just because you don’t like the pause they bring to a sentence or just because you want to add tension.

Maybe I'm going a bit too far?

2009-05-04T09:29:00.003-04:00

I just submitted my first full critique on critters yesterday afternoon. The story was horror, of which I'm not a huge fan. However, I didn't let that deter me from doing the best I could to critique.

Critters requires a minimum of 500 words per critique in order to get 'full credit' for the critique. I've never counted my critiques before as there has never been a minimum word requirement, so that figure remained in the back of my mind as I read/critiqued this piece.

While I didn't do line edits, I did go through and comment on several things in each section of the submission. I deleted any author text except those sections on which I suggested changes. These edits included grammer, pacing, POV, logistics (can't drive somewhere when they are in a house), and word choice (passive verbs). I also added a paragraph or two summary in the beginning stating my thoughts on the plot and charactization in general.

I had guestimated I wrote at least 500 words, beyond the text quoted by the author, but it was purely a guestimate on my part.

(sigh) I probably should have reviewed samples of past critiques before doing mine. Why? Well, the rules only listed a minimum word requirement, it never said anything about a maximum word limit.

This morning I saw an automatically generated email from the critter's submission site. Apparently my critique was over 2,000 words! It didn't feel like I wrote that much. Granted, I did quote some of the text being critiqued, but I know that text accounted for less than half of what I submitted. So...my critique was at least double the requirement.

The first thing the email stated was that if the words were mostly my suggestions, and not simply a re-send of the entire piece being critiqued, then ignore the email and continue with the long critiques.

This morning I logged on and reviewed the sample critiques. They are all in paragraph form and look like a half page summary of thoughts, suggestions, over-all impressions. Whereas mine included a few paragraphs like that at the beginning, but then technical edits throughout the piece.

Personally, I like receiving the kind of critique that I submitted on this piece. However, after reviewing the samples, I'm now nervous that I'll be seen as a knit-picky newcomer. The samples they provided are several years old, so perhaps critiques have changed slightly over the years. I don't want to feel like I'm cheating people on the critiques I send, but I also don't want to write a bunch of feedback that they'll not bother to read through or, worse, feel potentially offended with. Not that I was rude, because I wasn't. My words and advice are always written politely as suggestions, with some samples to illustrate my point. Nothing could be considered rude about the content, rather, the sheer length of the critique compared to what others send could make it seem that way.

What to do....

swine flu at school...

2009-05-03T14:13:00.005-04:00

Sean, my youngest son, had a friend spend the day/night on Saturday. In the morning we made frozen banana pops and in the afternoon tye-died t-shirts. Of course, the plastic gloves that came with the dyes had holes in the pair I got. (FYI, the dye stains skin and nails just as well as clothing. My right index finger is still tinted bluish-purple, as if it's suffereing from asphixiation.)

In between food and crafts we took two trips to the neighborhood tennis court so I could chase balls the boys couldn't keep in the court...I mean play tennis with them.

Ha! This mom's no fool, though. After the first 30 minutes, I told them if they hit the ball out of the court, they have to go get it! Okay...so it took me 30 minutes to figure that out. I decided it was for the best as I got in some good exercise.

By evening my plans for wearing them out had worked. I was in bed at 9 with a headache, blue/purple/yellow fingers and aching legs. The boys put themselves to bed at 10.

Sunday afternoon Jess came flying out of her room with news about her high school.
"Mom! Freedom's closed all week because of swine flu!"
"Yeah, right."
"I'm serious! It's all over facebook!"
I roll my eyes. "Facebook isn't CNN."
"There's supposed to be a press conference at 2."
It was 1:45 at the time. "Okay, we'll see then."

Sure enough, there were two potential swine flu cases involving students in our area. One went to her high school and the other to a middle school. They closed down her high school, the adjacent middle school (the two share a cafeteria) and the middle school of the second student infected. All of them are closed for a week!

I wasn't worried about it, though. Jess was really relieved as she had her AP World History exam this week. It's now post-poned till the end of May. Her brothers, both in elementary school, yelled foul that Jess got a whole week off school while they didn't. This was this morning as I dropped them off.Two hours ago the school nurse called. Sean was in her office with a fever and a headache. He was the fourth student that morning with the same symptoms. I told Jess and she replied "He's got swine flu! Keep him away from me!" She was just joking, but that was the first thing I thought as well.

The joys of life...

critters

2009-05-02T13:48:00.004-04:00

I joined critters last weekend and I'm rather excited about it. For those who don't know, critters is an on-line critique group for serious writers. There is no fee to join/participate. You simply commit to critiquing at least one piece per week, with a minimum of 500 words/critique. Each critique you provide gives you credit. You submit your piece to be critiqued and it goes into the queue. If you stop critiquing or don't meet your minimum number of critiques, your piece gets pushed to the bottom of the queue. I think that sounds fair to me.

I think critiquing is so incredibly useful when it comes to building your writing skills. I know I've learned a lot about myself and my weaknesses by reading and critiquing other's works.

Waiting for payment

2009-05-01T15:18:00.005-04:00

My largest client is about 7 months behind in payment....in a major recession....and we're a very small (2-man) operation....with an equally small client base.....

I WANT MY MONEY!!

The wait wasn't too bad until recently. The good news is that it took only 6 months to get through their red-tape of getting a budget approved (had to wait for the new year and then get the quote in their preferred format), getting a PO number issued (why it takes 4 weeks to assign a number to something already approved is beyond me), and lastly submitting an invoice (which was sent 4 weeks ago).

I had already signed up my company to participate in their direct deposit program, whereby they pay an invoice via direct deposit instead of waiting on checks in the mail. And with net 30 terms, I've been logging in to Bank of America daily to see if my balance has miraculously expanded!!

Did I mention I'm still waiting?

searching for my blog

2009-04-30T09:40:00.002-04:00

I've tried several times and my blog still doesn't appear in googles search. Not only does it not appear, but it asks me if I spelled my name correctly?!

According to the site, I've got everything tagged for open, view by anyone, Yes to search engines. So why does it still not show up?

(sigh) I'll send them an email and see what the problem is.

On the upside, I have linked my blog to my facebook page (I think) and I have configured my twitter account to sync with my blog and facebook page. I have both the blog and twitter set that I can update them from my mobile. Now, if I can set up facebook the same way...

I did notice that myspace has a default link already on my phone. Why not facebook??

Soon I'll have all of them linked...then updating them won't be as time-consuming and I can keep them up-to-date faster AND easier. YEAH!!

On-line posting

2009-04-26T09:28:00.003-04:00

I just don't know how people continue to keep up with blogs. I guess working on the computer all day long means when I have spare time, the computer is the last place I usually want to be!

I just set up facebook and myspace pages. Facebook seems more secure and I seem to know more people on facebook. The overall community seems much more mature as well.

Myspace...well...the majority of people there appear to be young...too young. I realize that's a generalization. I'm notorious for broad sweeping statements although I'm well aware there are always exceptions. However, the many of the posts I've read on myspace leave me cringing. They sound even younger than my teenage daughter!

Regardless of the community on myspace, I do like their interface and options much better. I like that you can customize your pages with various themes. I also like the apps you can add. I really liked the iread app where you can select which books you've read, want to read or are currently reading. (Okay, so I'm a book geek.) Regardless, I haven't seen that type of robust customization yet on facebook. I think if they really want to gain more market share, they need to offer more options.

Back from DC

2009-01-26T13:29:00.004-05:00

We arrived in DC late Saturday evening. My daughter and I were downtown Sunday and Monday to do the tourist thing. I didn't even know anything was happening on Sunday. We headed to the Washington Memorial because Jess (my daughter) wanted to see it. I heard a band start and we crested the hill, following the sounds. It went from a bunch of people around the Washington Memorial, to a sea of people from the its base to the Lincoln Memorial! We arrived just as the concert started and were able to see most of it from the huge screens they set up over The Mall.

Jess wanted to get to the Lincoln Memorial to see the show live. I told her "You and everyone else." After a brief moment of calculating her chances given the size of the crowd, she grabbed me and forced her way through the crowd to about 2/3 of the way towards the reflecting pool, where we reached a very crowded stand-still. We stayed there for about 15 minutes until she complained because from this area she couldn't see. I told her that it's better to go back than go forward in crowds like this and led the way. Sure enough, we got back to the Washington Memorial and were able to see the Lincoln Memorial (through my camera's zoom lens) as well as the screens.

We took 273 pictures Sunday and a bunch more on Monday -- Lincoln memorial, Korean memorial, FDR's memorial, Jefferson memorial, the White House.

The weather was in the 30's. Jess got all excited Sunday when it flurried a bit. She kept shouting "It's snowing!" I kept explaining that it wasn't snowing, it was just flurries -- she wouldn't listen. Later that evening she jumped on some white stuff outside the door of the hotel. I told her it was salt, not ice. She immediately stopped.

While we were downtown on Monday, it had snowed in Gaithersburg, MD, where we stayed. When we got off the metro in MD, my daughter asked if she could eat the snow...outside the metro station! It's amazing what you take for granted when you grow up in snowy weather. It's pretty funny, seeing these things through her eyes.

Jess and I woke at 3:45 Tuesday morning. I had already researched and marked our map with all of the Starbuck's locations in DC. I then circled the best place along the parade route to be: near the White House so we were avoiding Metro Center stop (the busiest metro station) and within a block from a Starbucks so we could have access to hot tea/hot chocolate and a bathroom. (I know -- I'm such a geek)

We reached the metro station at 4:40am. There was a bit of standstill traffic even that early, but it was due to some ill-thought planning on the part of MD police. The usual 3 lanes to reach the metro was shut down to 2 with 2 policemen directing traffic into each lane. When you reached the one parking lot, the officer would randomly direct cars into the 3rd lane to a third parking area. All of this was wasted time and effort if you realize that had they not shoved 3 lanes of traffic into 2 lanes, only to split out into 3 once more for no more reason other than having a human stand there and wave them into the third lane!

Anyway, it wasn't as crowded that early as I had feared. Ours was the first/last stop on that particular metro line, so it was nice because we could get seats easily that early. By the time we reached DC at 5:15, the cars were packed. We got off one stop before the Metro Center to avoid most of the people exiting at that one. What I didn't know was that you could only enter at a limited number of places along the parade route. We walked about 9 blocks (near Metro Center) only to be told that they weren't letting people through to reach the security gates till 7am. Keep in mind that I checked the weather on Thursday before leaving. Tuesday was supposed to be 38 degrees (F). A cold front went through and it was only 19, with a wind chill of 6. To put it bluntly, it was bitter.

We were dressed appropriately and also each brought a quilted blanked to wrap in and I brought a padded mat to sit on. As we stood waiting in line with everyone else to get to the security gates we had our blankets wrapped around us because the wind was just that cold.

By 7, Jess was complaining her feet were cold. I told her to wiggle her toes and try stamping her feet. I explained that movement helps keep them warm. The problem was we were in a crowd of people and couldn't really walk around or anything like that.

By 8, Jess said her toes were hurting, although she was trying to keep them moving. She wasn't whining about it or repeating it every 5 minutes though. She was smiling and enjoying being among the crowd and the excitement. We had fun talking to people and laughing at the way some people had dressed.

By 9:30 we were about 10 minutes from going through the security gate (yes it took us 2.5 hours to walk 2 blocks to the security gate). Jess turned to me and said "I want to go back to the hotel."

I just looked at her. She hadn't been whining or nagging about being cold or her feet hurting. She only mentioned it a couple of times.

I looked past the security gate and saw the empty stands they had set up. Saw the empty sidewalk where I had planned for us to sit to see the parade. Saw that we were minutes from having some of the best seats of the parade and best views of the President and First Lady.

I looked back at Jess. Her checks and nose were red. Her gloved hands clutched the blanket tightly against her body. A few wisps of hair blew from under her knit hat and ear muffs --- yes she was wearing both at the same time.

I nodded and led her back through the crowd and onto the Metro. After warming up on the ride back, I looked at her. "You do realize that you will never live this down."

She gave a weak grin. "Yeah, I know."

So, my trip culminated in watching this historic moment on a small, very poor quality television in a cheap hotel. Jess fell asleep sometime between Obama being sworn in and the end of his speech. I hadn't noticed till I turned around after his speech to say something and she was out cold.

I know...very anti-climactic. I would have loved to have seen him pass by. But, I don't regret any of it. We were in the huge crowd on Sunday and saw him speek then. We got to be part of that energy on Sunday and then again on Tuesday morning. People from Oregon, Texas, Connecticut, Florida, England, France, the Soviet Union, and China were around us. Everyone was excited, even that early Tuesday morning with the wind and weather as cold as it was. They were chanting his name, cheering whenever the cameras went on them, talking excitedly about when we would reach the security gates, planning the best routes to take to The Mall or along the parade, talking to each other about where they were from. Occasionally the cold was mentioned, but not often. Most were too excited about the inauguration to be worried about the cold.

The other thing I took from this trip that I hadn't expected, is my daughter's behaviour the entire time. She's 15, which means she knows everything, while I'm just a worrying, old woman whose totally uncool. About the age of 9 or 10, she started getting moody, especially in the mornings -- very PMS like, but for no reason at all. She'd laugh at home sometimes, but not very often. Her family just isn't that cool or that funny.

However, from the moment she woke up Saturday morning to leave, to the time we got home last night, she was the happiest I'd seen her since she was small. She would openly and freely laugh and have fun...with me! We visited the monuments and did a lot of people watching. Sometimes her observations were so astute with the people around us. Other times she was utterly child-like in her reactions to the frozen reflecting pond, snow falling, or seeing her breath when she exhaled.

We had the absolute best time. Watching her experience the crowds, the weather, the city, was the most special thing about the trip, I think.

Starting a new year

2009-01-15T07:36:00.002-05:00

I'm now in my house and everything is pretty much unpacked. I love, love, love having my own place. I really hadn't thought I'd feel that way, considering this is the third house I've owned.

The difference this time?

I'm finalizing a divorce.

They say that moving and divorce are among the most stressful events in a person's life. Being the sadist I am, I decided to do both simultaneously...and do it over the holidays.

I survived it all while maintaining most of my sanity -- can't vouch for all of it yet.

I'm really excited about this weekend. I'm driving up to DC to attend the inauguration! No, I'm not important enough to have tickets to the event itself or any of the balls and parties going on, but that's okay. I'm completely jazzed just to be there and soak up the vibes. I think it's going to be a wonderful experience.

I'm taking my 15 year old daughter. You know, the one who knows everything and is always right. I tried to prepare her for the crowds. She cut me off explaining that she's been in crowds before. She's spent 12 of her 15 years living outside Tampa -- not what I consider to be a major city. Not to mention that she's never been to downtown Tampa.

I calmly explain that, in fact, she has never been in major crowd before. She begins to argue but I cut her off this time (I don't get the chance to do that very often as she gets older). I tell her to find a picture of Time Square on New Year's Eve.

"Why?"

"Because that's what the crowds will be like during the inauguration!"

The other shock factor she'll have is the weather. She's been skiing twice, but barring rare visits to family in PA, she's doesn't remember living in cold weather. Her footwear consists of flip-flops unless she's rollerblading or exercising, which doesn't happen very often.

This is going to be fun!

Very Long Delay in Posting

2008-10-22T07:54:00.003-04:00

Well, work has double, triple, quadrupled...or at least it feels like it. It's been over 2 months since my last post. I've only written 2 more chapters in that time frame. I've also been house hunting. In fact, I just signed a contract on a house I've been watching for awhile now. I'm really excited. Of course, that means my posts will be just as sparse over the next two months as I try and balance work, kids, moving, holidays, oh and writing. If the schedule goes as planned, though, I'll be completely moved in over Christmas. So January should see a more regular routine...yeah right.

I'm attending the Florida Writers Conference in Orlando next month. This will be my very first writing conference! I'm not ready for the one-on-one sessions yet, but several of the seminars and instructional sessions look interesting. Plus there are two agents attending whose blogs I read. So now I'll get to meet them in person, which is pretty cool.

Next year I have my eye on a few more conferences. Of course, all require plane trips, so we'll see how the finances are looking then, but my goal by next summer is to be ready to
start pitching my first novel. We'll see how that works out!

First Novel and Big Bucks

2008-07-29T12:44:00.004-04:00

Wow. It's almost like Christopher Paolini all over again. I just read a story about The Lace Reader. The author is a first time author. She and her husband self-published the book. It did so well, it caught the interest of a publishing company who bought the book for $2 million. Did I mention: WOW? Really big WOW!!

Here's the full article in the Boston Globe.

aahhh...if only...

Showing emotion through action

2008-07-22T08:22:00.004-04:00

I'm always on the look out for useful links/info to help with writing. I stumbled across something the other day called The Emotional Thesaurus. It's a list of emotions and suggestions on how to show those emotions through physical action. I've clicked through a few of them to see what's there. A number of them I use already, but they had some that I hadn't even considered. I have this link saved in my favorites so that I can review it when I need to.

I think all writer's get comfortable with certain actions that represent specific feelings. The problem is when we're too comfortable, we find ourselves with characters who shrug non-stop or have constantly flickering eyebrows. This compilation of actions will help us vary our actions and widen our thoughts on actions and emotions. Perhaps coming up with more on our own, which is always good!

Balancing Perspective

2008-07-09T10:21:00.003-04:00

I participate in a novel pod that meets once/month and an open critique group that meets twice/month. The one pod member commented the other day that she struggles with being in my protagonists head too much. I had been feeling the same, but hadn't changed it as no one up till now has mentioned it.

I'm writing in third person, limited view (or whatever the technical name is supposed to be) and find that I struggle with balancing the narrator's voice/view with those of the character. Often times I find myself slipping too far into the character's head as I write.

I've since started to pull back, particularly as I describe setting, but I seem to get stuck in this yo-yo effect. I start out as just narrator, then gradually find myself drifting into the character's head, which is good to do...to a point. Then I realize I'm in too far and start to back out again, hence the vicious cycle I'm creating for myself.

I'm sure that this, like most things, is simply a matter of practice, practice, and a bit more practice. Does anyone else have this problem?

Busy week

2008-07-05T09:34:00.006-04:00

I haven't had time to write the past two days. Between working, the holiday, and getting last minute stuff to pack for my daughter's two week trip to summer camp (she left this morning) it's been rather busy.

However, I'm sitting down this morning and have already begun. I'll be able to catch up for lost time the past two days, as I hadn't included weekends in my time commitment slot. These weekend 'breaks' provide me flexibility when week day events don't go as planned. And I'm all for flexibility!

Nathan had an interesting post the other day regarding promoting your book. I found it rather timely as the main reason I started this blog was to expose myself to others in the industry. I want to start making my name known, hopefully only for positive things, prior to having an agent and getting published. The earlier you start to know people and they start to know you, I think the better it is for you in the long run.

Once a book is published, a blog and associated website are also great tools for advertising. In fact, in this day and age, I honestly can't understand why an author wouldn't have at least a website. I know that I, personally, research every single author who interests me. And the very first thing I look for is a website. I'm still REALLY knew to blogging, so that isn't even second on my list, but it's starting to move up to that slot.

The one thing I keep hearing a lot about is word-of-mouth is the best tool for promotion. I agree. The problem is that in order to have word-of-mouth, people have to know you're out there. So I think it works like dominoes. The first thing to do is get the word out. Once word is out, hope that people like the book enough to recommend it...and they told two friends, and they told two friends, and so on. Theoretically, it works along the lines of wildfire spreading. Once it starts, it just takes off.

I'd like to see a nice California style wildfire working with my novel!

Finished the Chapter

2008-07-02T07:17:00.004-04:00

Well I did, in fact, finish my chapter on Monday. I'm not too pleased with the ending. It felt rushed, but I finished it...or did I?

I pushed to finish because I tried to commit to 3 pages per day rule. It took me most of the month, when I had the time, to write the chapter. I really liked this one, too. I think it was one of my better scene descriptions. As a first draft, it isn't perfect, but it is one of the best first drafts I've written. The end, however, doesn't hold to the same quality as the rest of the chapter. I think this is because I rushed it.

I keep coming back to the idea that you can't rush words to paper. They should flow, have a rhythm. I like the concept of dedicating a set amount of time each day to write. The problem is committing to a set number of pages to complete in a set amount of time.

Sometimes I'll spend all of my writing time revising pages I wrote before. I may not add any new pages. In fact, in some cases I end up with a smaller word count, but almost always the chapter is better than it was when I first started. So did I accomplish anything because I didn't 'add' any new pages or increase word count? Yes, I did.

At the end of the day, it's about how well the chapter flows, whether the story intrigues the reader, and if the scene pulls the reader in.

Remember, adding new words or new pages doesn't make a better book. Sometimes quality improves when you take stuff away!

Oh, and I've already gone back and started to edit the end of that chapter. I'm done with focusing on pages. I'll stick to dedicating time.

Karp on Publishing

2008-06-30T14:13:00.009-04:00

I first heard about Twelve on an agent's blog last week. She had attended a lecture he gave recently. I went to their website and was thoroughly impressed. The company is called Twelve because they only publish 12 books per year. Each month a new book gets complete dedication from everyone on their staff. If memory serves, I think I read that in the past year, 7 of their 12 books have been NYT bestsellers. Their mission statement aligns completely with my philosophy of writing and publishing. I strongly urge you to read their website. Most of their books are non-fiction, but they do have fiction titles as well. They also commit to an author' s career, not the number of books they can crank out in a year. I just read another blurb from Karp, Twelve's CEO, in Publisher's Lunch. Here it is:

Twelve publisher Jonathan Karp has an essay in the Sunday Washington Post on the state of publishing. He remarks on "the relentless, indiscriminate proliferation" of commercial "ephemera" on the bookshelves" and freely admits "I too have sinned. In weaker moments, I've been seduced by tales of celebrity, money, gossip and scandal." He notes: "Most authors want their work to be accessible to a typical educated reader, so the question really isn't whether the work is highbrow or lowbrow or appeals to the masses or the elites; the question is whether the book is expedient or built to last. Are we going for the quick score or enduring value? Too often, we (publishers and authors) are driven by the same concerns as any commercial enterprise: We are manufacturing products for the moment."

Karp also observes: "I can't prove it empirically, but when I talk to literary agents and fellow publishers, they acknowledge an unarticulated truth about our business: Fewer authors are devoting more than two years to their projects. The system demands more, faster. Conventional wisdom holds that popular novelists should deliver one or two books per year. Nonfiction authors often aren't paid enough to work full-time on a book for more than a year or two." One result: "Journalism has long been regarded as the first rough draft of history; lately, however, books have too easily been thought of as the second rough draft, rather than the final word."

His prediction/hope: "Publishers will be forced to invest in works of quality to maintain their niche. These books will be the one product that only they can deliver better than anyone else.... For publishers, R&D means giving authors the resources to write the best books -- works that will last, because the lasting books will, ultimately, be where the money is."

I couldn't agree more with what he wrote. This debate on whether a person can write and publish more than one book per year has popped up several times recently in other blogs. I am of the opinion that when you go for quantity, you sacrifice quality. I think this is most evident in the arts. While I don't know if my talent for writing is enough to categorize my novel as a quality work, I fully intend to pursue this as if it were true. And I hope (fingers and toes crossed) that when I'm ready to find a publisher, Twelve will accept me as a client. If not, then I'll certainly take whomever will take me, with the caveat that I won't, possibly to my detriment, commit to churning out more than one book per year. And I intend to negotiate strongly for a 2 year interim.

All of this is, of course, pie-in-the-sky, but it's nice to live in an idealist world occasionally.

Quick Note

2008-06-30T11:39:00.005-04:00

I'm swamped at work this week. In fact, I'll be busy for the next month or two, which is great as work has been quite slow this year. Of course, the downside is that I now need to focus on work and can't squeeze in time for my writing during the day.

I'm having a hard time concentrating on work today though. I'm stuck manually cleaning up some client data. It's messed up to the point of being unable to program anything to automatically clean it. This is almost on par with water torture...slow, unending, agonizingly mundane and mindless work.

My book keeps popping into my mind, along with the blog. Okay, I admit, pretty much everything except this data set keeps popping into my mind. So I'm allowing myself one quick post, then it's back to the torture...er...the clean up.

With any luck, tonight the kids will cooperate and I'll be able to finish the chapter I'm working on. There are probably only about 3-4 pages left to write. Can't wait!

Busy weekend

2008-06-29T08:57:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm somewhat following the advice in the article about making time to write. I posted a link to this in the Writing Links section I made yesterday. The author advocates committing yourself to writing 3 pages per day, with the flexibility to take weekends 'off.' I definitely have the 'weekends off' part down pat.

I spent the day yesterday, and will spend most of today, working in the garden. There's a lot of weeding that needs to be done, mulching, putting in edging around the new garden I made, fixing the pump on my koi pond, etc. Suffice to say, no time to write this weekend.

However, I intend to take his advice beginning tomorrow and write 3 pages each week day. The trap I fall into is that I write 3 pages one day. The next day I come back, read what I wrote the day before, make several changes to that text, then write a bit more. The third day I go back and read those pages, make edits, maybe more than I did the day before, and end up not adding any new pages. I get stuck in the concept of: how much is too much editing on the first draft?

That rut had me locked in for several months, but I think I finally broke free. Now, I write a chapter and edit that chapter as I go. Once I finish the chapter, I don't go back to it. I keep going. I only allow myself to edit until I have a whole chapter written. At that point, it's off the table for edits. Once I have the entire manuscript finished, then I'll go back to the beginning and work on editing.

I'm feeling pretty good about this new process. it allows me to edit what I write as I go, but still allows me to see progress, by forcing me to continue instead of hover over a chapter too long. I think everyone needs to find what works for them. And as we're all different, what works for one won't for another.

I'll let you know next week how the '3 pages per day' process goes for me. It sounds very reasonable, so I'm looking forward to it.

One or More Books

2008-06-27T07:15:00.003-04:00

I've been going back and forth between whether to focus solely on one book or project (since my fantasy book is part 1 of a 4 part series), or work on two different books simultaneously. Why work on two at one time? Well, at first I wasn't sure. It would be easy enough to simply jot down plot ideas throughout the year and come back to them when the first book is finished. However, I find that occasionally I need a break from the book I'm writing.

At these times, I sit, staring at the screen, attempting to get through a scene with little success. Sometimes the scene is transitional and, relative to the previous chapter, boring. Other times I'm not sure I like the scene I'm writing or just can't get enthusiastic about it. At the same time, I don't have any better ideas.

I've read of other authors who churn out multiple books each year. I don't know how they do it. Okay, that's not completely true. I do know that most of them, not all, sacrifice quality for quantity. This is something I refuse to do.

With that said, I think there is something to the thought of having two diverse projects working at the same time. When ideas are focused and clear, writing flows on the page. But when you are 'stuck', sometimes I think it's better to walk away and focus your full attention elsewhere. If you have another idea, something very different from the one you were working on, then it provides the needed break. It also keeps you practicing the art of writing and telling stories.

Writing in this manner will probably double the time it takes to complete each book. This is a sacrifice I'm willing to accept. I would rather take 2-3 times as long to complete a book and have it be the best I can make it, than complete it within a defined time frame through sheer force of will. I don't think creative juices can be squeezed out of a person. I think they need to flow freely in order to be their best.

My first blog

2008-06-26T11:26:00.003-04:00

In my struggle to complete my first novel, I thought creating a blog and website would help keep me focused and motivated. It may also introduce me to other 'hope-to-be-published' writers. I know there are far more of us out there than there are published ones!

A bit of background on me. I have always been drawn to writing. Poetry was my first love. My favorite genres are fantasy, thrillers and mysteries. I prefer epic fantasy to urban, although the latter, I feel, is probably more popular.

I'm taking a stab at writing a fantasy novel now. It's my first serious effort at writing and, of course, I couldn't choose a stand-alone novel. Nope. I had to start with writing a 4-part fantasy series. Ah well. I'm having a blast creating the world and characters. Although I must admit that some characters are much easier than others.

It's interesting when authors make comments about how some characters fight them during a scene until the author gives in and the scene turns out better because they listened to the characters. I never really understood what they were saying until I sat down and actually applied myself to the craft. I have two characters that I simply love to write because they are so much fun. They really have their own personality and don't like it when I try to make them say or do something 'out of character.'

Then there are the other characters that I am struggling to portray on paper. I know in my mind what they are like, but they come across as vague and uninteresting. This is a result of my constantly improving writing technique and not because they are boring. Does this happen with minor characters? No. It happens my two main characters. .

But I'm not getting frustrated or giving up. This is all part of the learning process. Learning by mistakes is my favorite method -- really it is. I've made some doozies, so my writing skills are progressing in leaps and bounds accordingly!

Okay, maybe not quite leaps and bounds, but there's definitely progress. In fact, I can look back at my beginning chapters, or even ones I wrote 3 months ago, and I almost cringe when I read them. It's embarrassing and encouraging at the same time.

I REALLY love to write!