Ink On Paper

Finally finished.

2012-02-11T13:52:00.004-05:00

I finally finished 'Hey Man' after working on it little by little for over a year. Writing group is suppose to meet tomorrow so ideally, I will get some final feed back on it and then start editing.

In other news, our house hunt has resumed. Last year our house search lasted 5 months, with 2 agents, 4 offers, viewing 16 houses and still no house.

Today we started with another agent. We went to view 3 houses and couldn't get into 2 of them. The 3rd house we didn't really love. So the search continues.

Also, I tried to buy tickets to see Elton John and they had sold out within 2o minutes. Bummer.

So to sum up my day so far. Story finishing=good. House hunting=okay. Ticket buying=bad.

Now off to clean the house and hopefully go to dinner with my husband for an early Valentine's Day celebration.

Until next time!

How long?

2012-01-22T19:30:00.008-05:00

My writing group finally got together. It's the first time since November. The month of December always seems near impossible to meet, particularly this year when both Christmas and New Year's fell on Sunday.

While our meetings have been somewhat less frequent the last few years, I am thankful for writing group. It is really the only thing that has kept me writing. Of course, once again I put my work off to the last minute. However, today I thought I might actually finish the story that I started working on about a year ago.

It's a comedy, that was suppose to be sci-fi and still kind of is, but not really. And the best title I have come up with for it so far is Hey Man. Can you tell the creative juices have definitely been flowing?

Well, the more I wrote the more I dug myself into a whole and couldn't figure out how to end it. Then last week, knowing that writing group was fast approaching, I started working on it on my lunch. But then I came up with an even better conclusion. Unfortunately, this idea needed research so it would have to wait.

I should have went to work on it right away but first I had to go to the circus with my niece, which was awful due to a poorly planned seating arrangement that I could complain about for hours but won't. Then my husband and I were off to our aunt's 50th birthday party.

So I woke up this morning and researched, then started cranking it out. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough time before writing group. They only received half a scene and I have still yet to finish my story. Hopefully, I actually finish it before the morning of our next meeting.

Missed.

2012-01-14T19:11:00.005-05:00

I don't want to say that I've made a new year's resolution. For one thing, I'm two weeks late. For another, I never seem to follow through with them.

What I can say is that I have finally gotten around to updating this thing and I feel like total crud about the fact that it's been half a year.

I have missed so many amazing opportunities to write about. The coolest being that I had a short story called Faith In Moonlight published in Conceit Magazine back in July. Yes! I missed telling everybody that. I love that story and I was so pumped about it but I let it slip by. I am so mad at myself for that.

There has also been the ups and downs of life. A new marriage, a dog that passed away, a new job, a search for a new house, a new puppy. And the list goes on.

But I've really missed writing. I think about it all the time. And I always think I should start writing again. Then I say I will start the next day and I don't. Until 6 months has passed by and I haven't written a post. I've been working on the same short story for a year. I've continued to meet with my writing group but monthly meetings have turned into more like bimonthly meetings, if that. And I have tracked my life events in the same ways I always have but even my journal entries and emails to Jenni are fewer than they used to be.

I got sidetracked by life, I guess. And I'm happy now. When my life was miserable, I cranked out the writing without hesitation.

Anyway, 2012 has started well. We continue our search for a new house and head toward completing our first year of marriage. We enjoy our dogs but struggle with the challenges of a puppy and an old dog. I continue to try to find a career that I love and can actually get paid for. So life continues and I will try to write about it more.

Back to normal?

2011-06-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

Well, life is settling down it seems. The thank you notes are out. We've gotten our pictures back and I almost have the entire table cleared of wedding presents/stuff. And now I come home and try to remember what it was that use to keep me busy before I was crazy making lists, planning details, tying bows, taking counts, contacting vendors. And I remember things like writing stories and selling books. I'm trying to get back in the habit of that.

Our writing group met for the first time since March. We kept postponing, mostly due to me having a million things to do every Sunday. But we finally met. For a while I thought we might be at our end. And if was good to talk about something other than the wedding for a change.

So life gets back to normal, kind of. There is still that huge absence around and that will never get back to normal. Everytime I walk up the stairs I move to one side and wait to hear Kreeg speeding past me, but he doesn't. Every morning I get up and think that I will see him sitting in the sun light that is streaming through the window but he isn't there. I rub Gretchen's ears, waiting for her to moo like a cow like Kreeg use to, but she doesn't. I look outside thinking he will be there laying in a hole he just dug, enjoying the cool dirt on his stomach, tongue hanging out, occasionally glancing up at the sky, trying to figure out where the breeze is coming from. I walk upstairs every night, thinking that I will have to spend ten minutes trying to get him off the bed but the bed is empty.
Ed and I go for walks and it just feels weird because only one of us has a leash to hold. I have no idea what to do with my hands. We walk by the lawn with the high grass and we pause but Kreeg is not there to stop, drop and roll around in the grass.
I sit down at my desk to write and I look next to me. He is not by my side. My heart hurts.

Love, loss and life.

2011-06-05T10:37:00.004-04:00

Three months! Yikes! Well, a lot has happened in 3 months. Actually, a lot has happened in 2 weeks.
First, I got married! The wedding was absolutely amazing! I had such a great time getting to see all the people that I love and share such a joyous occasion. It was wonderful. My only regret was that it flew by. People kept telling me it would go by so fast and they were not lying. Months of work and it was over in a flash. But the end result is what matters. I am married to amazing guy and we are really happy!

Right after the wedding we went on a honeymoon to northern Michigan. We stayed in St. Ignace and spent time at Tahquemanon Falls and Mackinac Island. It was a great trip and definitely a great way to unwind after all the stress of planning the wedding.

When we got home the happiness was put on hold. Kreeg, our beloved dog and best friend, had been diagnosed with cancer about three months before and had finally taken a turn for the worst. He couldn't stand. He wasn't eating. His body was shutting down. So on our 1 week wedding anniversary we put our little guy to sleep.
We live in the city so we drove him out to my husband's parent's house, which is where we were married the week before. And we buried him not far from where we had said our vows.
When we first found out about the cancer they didn't think he had more than a couple of weeks, but he lasted a lot longer, and we were really grateful for that. Did he wait for the wedding and for us to come back from the honeymoon? Some may think it was only coincidence, but I think differently. It was just the awesome dog that he was.

And now we are back to the everyday events of life. We are still trying to catch up on all the cleaning and laundry that has been put off for the last few weeks. And there are thank yous to be done. Things have started settling down and I hope they stay that way. At least for a little while.

Change of plans

2011-03-02T12:58:00.002-05:00

2 months since I posted. Wow, I've really fallen off the wagon. I was at my doctor's office a few days ago and she was talking to me about how around every 29 years or so are life changes. It doesn't just happen over night, it takes years but we develop into a new person. And it seems true because right now I am developing my life into something new.
I have been making a lot of plans for my future and writing is still in them. I keep putting writing on the back burner but I know in my heart that is not where it needs to be. Things do not happen according to plan and I can't keep thinking that I can put things off. There is no day but today.
I had been so focused on my making the perfect plans for my wedding, my finances, for buying a house and for starting a family, that I completely lost sight of everything I have right now.
And yesterday my perfect plans were thrown out the door. Kreeg,my beloved dog/best friend/son, may not be around to be our ring bearer, he will most likely not be around to enjoy the back yard when we buy a house and he will not be around to play with our children.
Now I feel like I need to write something really amazing, because it will be the last thing I write with Kreeg lying at my feet while I write it.

Books read in 2010

2011-01-02T19:48:00.008-05:00

American Gods-Neil Gaiman
Tuesdays With Morrie-Mitch Albom
A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius-Brian Eggers
Wicked Lovely-Melissa Marr
Heat Wave-Ricahrd Castle
Queen of the Damned-Anne Rice
Ink Exchange-Melissa Mar
Fragile Eternity-Melissa Mar
The Five People You Meet In Heaven-Mitch Albom
Dune- Frank Hurbert
Nineteen Minutes-Jodi Piccoult
The Blind Side-Michael Lewis
Chances-Jim Butcher
In Cold Blood-Truman Capote
The Wizard Of Oz-L. Frank Baum
Firestarter- Stephen King
The Road-Cormac McCarthy
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings-Maya Angelou
The Shining-Stephen King
French Women Don't Get Fat-Mireille Guialiano
One On One-Tabitha King
All The Pretty Horses-Cormac McCarthy
Budget Wedding For Dummies-Meg Schneider
Bridal Boot Camp- Cynthia Conde
Mean Streats-Various Authors
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights-John Steinbeck
Total Money Makeover-Dave Ramsey
Naked Heat-Richard Castle
Lost Symbol- Dan Brown
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows-J.K. Rowling
To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee

2011

2011-01-02T19:17:00.004-05:00

If everything goes according to plan 2011 should be an awesome year. I will be getting married and I will be getting a story published in CONCEIT MAGAZINE.

I've been thinking a lot about my future and what I hope for. I won't make any promises or resolutions this year. I do hope to write more and to blog more.
I know the blogging universe is slowly fading. There aren't many people still reading and writing in the blogverse but I still like to blog even if it's just for myself. I haven't kept up on it lately because this blog is about my writing and I haven't written much in a while.

Also, I felt like last year my writing group met less and I had less communication with fellow writers I had worked and talked with. But again, I didn't do much writing so it's just as much my fault as anyone's.

I guess I will see how 2011 goes.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

2010-12-24T12:40:00.005-05:00

Out of work early and about to start on all the cooking and cleaning, then enjoying the holidays.

I've got the holiday tunes cranked up and am relishing the last days of non-stop Christmas music on the stations. There are so many fun songs and beautiful songs. I won't lie, there are also a few annoying ones.
My favorite Christmas song is Merry Little Christmas, originally performed by Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis. That song has actually been through a lot of rewrites. However, the one she performed was not the original lyrics. They were a bit depressing so they had to be changed. Then, Frank Sinatra wanted to preform it and he still thought some of the lyrics were depressing so once again they were changed.
Ah, the process of writing a classic and just another example of how a piece of work is never perfect, never finished and can never please everyone.

I have always preferred the Judy Garland version. Yes, Christmas is a happy time but there is just a little bit of sadness in even the happiest of holidays as I look back and think of the ones I used to share them with that are no longer here.

"Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow. Until then we'll just have to muddle through somehow."

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Storm

2010-12-12T17:47:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe that I have not posted since Halloween! Oh, wait. I guess I can. It has been so crazy. Aside from working my regular job, I got a second holiday job. Also, I happened across 300 books that I needed to list on half.com, plus ship them once they sell. I have a wedding to plan. Oh and then there's the holidays. I think we are all aware of the work and enjoyment that goes into those such as shopping, wrapping, concerts, dinners, cooking, baking, decorating and Waffle Ugly Sweater Parties.
So needless to say blogging has been on my list but has yet to make it to the top. And I really shouldn't have had time to do it today. The plan was to be shopping and then writing group. But Michigan doesn't always allow such things. A snow storm has me stuck in the house.

I'm bummed to miss writing group but not everyone had work or new work and risking your life for writing group isn't really a great idea. But I will be happy to get back to it soon.
Last month I didn't take anything to writing group. This month I was going to take a story I wrote and rewrote long ago, but with the weather and the holidays we have postponed until next month.
I really had wanted to take the first half of my comedy/sci-fi story that I've been working on for almost a year now. (Slow and steady!) But I didn't get time to type it up. One of the few down falls of writing long hand. I guess now I will have time to type it and take it next month.

My second job is almost done and so are the holidays. Lets hope I have a little more free time in the near future.
In case I don't make it back in time... Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T10:34:00.003-04:00

It's Halloween, also known as NaNoWriMo Eve. I'm pretty sure I'm not a logical person. I currently have two jobs and will spend the first three days of NaNoWriMo in Indianapolis, also known as away from my home, my family and my computer.
The first two I will miss a lot. The third one I can do without but it will make starting NaNoWriMo tricky and any hope of doing NaBloPoMo impossible. That's okay I wasn't really planning on the NaBloPoMo and as I mentioned before I'm not going into NaNoWriMo with the expectation that I will actually do 50,000 words but my hope is to get a really good start and to write more than I have been.
I really do wish that NaNoWriMo was in February or March. There is so much going on October-December that it's just not a good place for me. Maybe I'll do a NaNoWriMo in January. A while back I wrote a post about other months devoted to creative things. January would be after all the holidays and second jobs but before the wedding plans start getting into super serious mode.
Until then, despite all the madness, I will participate in NaNoWriMo and who knows, I might surprise myself.

Good luck to all those participating!

Bitten by the writing bug

2010-10-13T19:42:00.004-04:00

So what to do about NaNoWriMo? Well, at writing group we discussed whether or not to join in. And I think we all kind of decided that even if it gets us started on something but we don't make the official goal (none of us did last year), well it's better to do something than nothing at all.
Yes, I'm in but clearly I must be insane. Why? Because I just took a seasonal holiday position at a department store so that I could make some extra cash for various reasons. I know. What the heck was I thinking?

In other news, I started a new story today. Yes, I have the comedy/sci-fi story I want to finish but I haven't felt super motivated in regards to it. Maybe because I started it months ago, or because I have no idea where it's going/how to end it, or because I don't feel confident that there's anywhere that would publish it when it's done.
Anyway, I just started this new story. I've had the idea for a few and today the writing bug just bit me. That last line was a pun regarding the story and that's the only info I'm giving for now. I'll share more about it later on.

Until next time...

Back to writing group

2010-10-10T22:06:00.003-04:00

I know my next post was suppose to be about Faith In The Moonlight and how that story came to be. But it's an in depth story and I just don't have the time to do it justice right now. Today is my only day off of work this week so I've tried to pack in a lot of stuff and unfortunately, a long blog post is not one of those things that made it into the final cut.

However, writing group was one of those things I did manage to fit in. We didn't meet last month due to crazy schedules so it was nice to get back in the swing of things. I brought another scene from Incognito, my former comic book script turned prose.
The last time we met I brought the final scene from my first "arc," which is really about as far as I had gotten in the comic book script besides jotting down a few ideas. So today's piece was all new writing for characters that I had not written original material for in about five years. Very weird to try and pick up where I left off, but having been converting the story from script to prose over the past year did help keep me in touch with the characters.

It was a good meeting. We also touched on the subject of NaNoWriMo, but highlights of that discussion will have to wait for another post.

The Desk

2010-10-02T19:09:00.001-04:00

I wanted to write a little bit about the story that I just got the acceptance letter for, “Faith In The Moonlight.”
But before I can write about what inspired the characters I have to give some back story about the amazing guy I am marrying, the awesome family I will gain and one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received.

In the past years I’ve posted repeatedly about the awful gift giving that happens with my family. Also, I’ve posted a few times that my family are not very supportive with my artistic endeavors. So when I started to learn more about my future husband and his family, I was shocked by a lot of things but one of the major ones is gift giving.
They don’t worrying about keeping things even when it comes to gift giving, instead they worry about whether or not you’ll like it. In my family, if I get a crappy t-shirt, my sister is getting a crappy t-shirt too. In his family, they think of something you would like and they get it for you even if cost $5 more than what your sibling is receiving. Also, my family believes if I buy you something for $20 you better buy me something for $20. And don’t even think about a used gift, that’s just ridiculous! And who cares if you even like your gift? It’s the thought that counts.

Anyway, I have mentioned to them a few times that I write, but I don’t get into a lot of detail because I haven’t really been that successful with it. But last fall we moved into our new rental house and the future in-laws noticed that my office was pretty empty. I mentioned that I’d like to get a writing desk. (Yes, I have a computer desk but why I prefer the writing desk is another post itself.)

Three months later future husband and I go to their house to get a Christmas tree and the future in-laws are acting really suspicious but we never figured out why. A few weeks later, on Christmas day, I go to their house and noticed a large mass covered with a sheet
Later that day I was given a chair with a bow and was escorted to the large, sheet covered object. Then I was presented with my Christmas present, a vintage writing desk.
I was floored. It’s a beautiful desk and the thought behind the gift was unreal to me. A gift picked just for me and to encourage me to follow my dreams. I haven’t had a lot of gifts like that and I was amazed!

I would come to find out later that a few months back their neighbor had died and the week we came for the Christmas tree was the week they were having an estate sale at the neighbors house. They went to the sale because they really liked their neighbor and they just wanted something to remember her by. (Apparently, she was quite a spunky gal.) They saw the desk but it was priced more than they could afford. But a few hours before we came for the tree a man pulled into their sales lot and needed to buy a tree. They weren’t open yet so they were going to turn him away, but they are way too nice to ever do that. And this guy started talking about how he was at the estate sale and they had slashed the prices on everything. They ran down the road and got the desk into the house minutes before we got there.
They insisted that luck was on their side when it came to getting that desk and I believe them.

Next post: The inspiration for “Faith In the Moonlight”

...and the sign says?

2010-09-26T17:00:00.005-04:00

...well it was more like an e-mail and not an actual sign. It went a little something like this

"Faith In The Moonlight is scheduled for publication in the July 2011 issue of CONCEIT MAGAZINE."

That's right! I'm getting a short story published. If that's not sign to keep going I don't know what is!

Sorry to keep everyone waiting. I'm a writer. I need to build suspense! I debated about punking everyone by saying that the sign was that I was pregnant and that it meant I should give up writing to focus on my family. But some things should just not be joked about.

Anyway, the story is not getting published until next year but I'm asking everyone to considering supporting CONCEIT MAGAZINE now. They had faith in me and my story. They've helped me realize that I still want to write and that it's worth the effort because someone out there is reading.

CONCEIT MAGAZINE is on myspace and on facebook. Stop by and check them out. Consider ordering an issue to support writers and literary magazines!

The sign...

2010-09-25T23:20:00.003-04:00

When I last wrote, I mentioned all the major changes currently going on in my life and all of the things I thought might be occurring in the near future. I've spent the last month or so contemplating on whether or not writing fit into that plan.
I'm a crazy person who believes in fate. I also believe if you want something bad enough you can make it yours because it is your destiny. And if you had asked me five years ago, when I first started this blog, I would have told you that being a writer was my destiny. I wanted it bad. I blogged on a regular basis about writing for the school paper, taking writing classes, writing comic reviews, writing freelance fiction articles, starting a novel with my best friend, writing comic book scripts, writing short stories, completing my first novel, going to my first (and only) writing convention, the countless submissions, the hundreds (literally) of rejection letters and getting my first piece of fiction published.
It's been amazing but over the past few years priorities changed for me. And while my personal life has gone from depressing to blissful, writing has fallen to the side.
And I've went back and forth about whether it was time to just let go.
Yet, I held on for some reason. And yes, while I believe in fate and destiny, I also believe in signs. I kept looking for one but nothing.
So I made a deal with myself to put this internal writing struggle to an end. I would make my own sign. Jenni had sent me a link a while back to a writing contest with a December deadline. The deal I made was that I would write something new or take something old, whatever I thought was my best piece of work, and I will send it. If it makes it, I will continue to write. If not, then I am retiring.

But before I could even get that far the sign came...

I could care less that you say "I could care less."

2010-08-25T22:18:00.002-04:00

Here's a little yahoo article I saw that I thought was pretty interesting. People that say "I could care less" is one of my biggest pet peeves. Enjoy!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/24-things-you-might-be-saying-wrong-2338028/

Back at it

2010-08-23T17:39:00.002-04:00

I'm still thinking about what I am going to do. The cool weather with the cloudy skies has me thinking Fall and that time of year always puts me in a writing mood.
I did some writing today. I did a little work on a story I had started a while ago, back when I was trying to write a funny science fiction story. Although, I never found a strong market for funny sci-fi, I do think it would work in just sci-fi.
Of course, I haven't found a lot of markets for just humorous short stories, which sucks because it's the direction I always felt pulled in.
Anyway, the short story is about a guy who can't figure out where six weeks of his life went and the only person he has to help him figure it out is his not too intelligent best friend. They compile a list of possible explanations of what could have happened and try to rule out the possibilities one by one.
I don't have strong feelings about this story. I don't love it but I don't hate it. It just feels good to be writing again. I think it's a good place to start off.
Lets see if I can keep up the pace this time.

A Choice

2010-08-19T13:49:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking a lot lately. I know that's unusual for me. And I've been thinking a lot about writing. I keep coming up with excuses of why I don't write much anymore. It's always time.
I constantly say I never have enough time.
Yet, I think back to when I was writing the most and it was when my life was full of taking care of people. I had so little spare time then but I still found time to write.
So what is really different now? Well I'm happy. And to be honest I really felt more motivated to write when my life was full of depressing things.
Is my happiness a reason not to write anymore? No, I still like to write. I still wake up with crazy story ideas. I love talking with people about writing. I just don't write as much as I need to.
And there is always going to be excuses. Sure there's the wedding planning right now but after that. Who knows? And there are so many people who juggle full-time jobs and families but they still find time to write.
I guess I'm at a cross roads now. Do I write for a living or do I write as a hobby? I think it's time for me to decide.
If I decide that I want to make being a professional writer my goal, then I need to commit. Otherwise, I need to find some profession that I can actually see myself doing for the rest of my life. Because the only thing in my life that I'm not happy with is my career. I have a job. I want more than that. I want something that makes me feel like I've actually done something with myself.
Now I just have to figure out what that is.

Too long

2010-08-12T21:39:00.004-04:00

It's been way too long since I've posted. A lot has happened in the last few months.
I'm engaged, which is super exciting. Since then the wedding planning has been overwhelming. It almost feels like having a second job some days.

Speaking of jobs, I got a new one of those. Yes, that's four different positions with three different companies so far this year. I'm tired. Maybe it's because I didn't take a break from one job to the next or that the last few weeks at my old job kicked my butt.
I think the real truth is that I'm starting to realize that I keep going from job to job and I have yet to find a job I love. I know it's work and I'm not suppose to love it, but I think that's a lie. I've had jobs that I loved. I just need to find one again.
Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful to have a job and I don't hate the job I have. I just think that I really need to start figuring out what it is that I really want to do and find ways to achieve that.

And one final awesome thing, we got a new dog!

Currently reading: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

What's new?

2010-06-06T18:16:00.003-04:00

I had writing group last week. We changed our day from Sunday to Saturday. I usually use the Saturday before writing group to cram in my last bits of writing or editing so needless to say I was a little off schedule on Friday. I hurried up and wrote a short scene on my lunch. Normally, I hand write it in a notebook, especially when I'm at work, but time was short. However, I didn't want to save it on the work computer because those IT guys can be pretty crafty and I'm not getting in trouble just because I'm a creative soul. Anyway, I ended up typing it into an e-mail so when I did come home and copy/paste it into a Word document, the format looked a little crazy.
As if that wasn't enough of an issue, we were suppose to meet at 11am and by midnight I hadn't received the other group members stories, which almost had me assuming that we would not meet...so I overslept a little.
Of course, I woke up to find they had sent me work. I hurried to print it and realized I was out of paper. I ended up printing the stories out on the back side of scrap paper. It turned out to be an added bonus because the other writing group members could spend their time registering for charity walks and doing their taxes while I tried to read their work.
I should have already read their stuff before I got there but as I mentioned I was late. And I might have accidentally printed one person's story twice leaving me with no copy of the other person's story.
All madness aside, we managed to have a productive meeting. One of the members is going out of state for a week long writing retreat. Hopefully, he'll have lots of good information and stories to share at the next meeting.

That's what happened last weekend. This weekend I sent out a few submissions for my warrior nun story.
And I still need to type in what I have so far of my humorous sci-fi story and send it to my writing pal. I was suppose to send it at the end of May and still haven't done it. I guess I better get to it.

Blog slacking...again.

2010-05-02T19:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, I suck as a blogger. I haven't posted in a while and really I have no excuse for that. I would write a big update on what's been going on but the truth is that nothing noteworthy has happened these past few weeks. I've just been living life and enjoying it for the most part.

This weekend my boyfriend and I went to see Rob Schneider and that was a pretty funny show. His humor was actually pretty intelligent and not just 45 minutes of him yelling "you can do it!" The crowd, however, was a different story.

My hope had been to go to Penguincon at least one day this weekend but money kept me away. Since I've switched jobs and bought a new car, I'm trying to get used to less money and getting paid different days. So right now the budget is tight.

I had writing group today. So I worked on turning another section of comic script into prose and met with my writing group. A lot of the writing this week was humorous and once again I find myself drifting toward writing humor.
And that reminds me that I'm still working on my humor/sci-fi story that I was suppose to have done months ago.

Other than that not much is going on. A few weeks ago I did finally get around to reading Dune. I still couldn't believe I had yet to read it. At least I can now scratch that off my list. Now I'm reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

Until next time...( and I make no promises about when that will be)

The Short Version

2010-03-27T10:59:00.002-04:00

Okay, aside from meeting with writing group once and writing a few paragraphs of my monthly short story (I'm still working on February's and I don't think it will be done in time for March, yikes!) I haven't done much writing this month.
There's never any excuse not to write but I feel like my life has been crazy the last month. So here's a quick version of what's happened since the end of February.

Last week of February: I applied for a promotion at my job, had surgery on my foot, and sat at home doing absolutely nothing do to combination of crutches, ice outside, pain killers and discomfort.
First week of March: Still sitting at home, getting second hand stories from people at work about how the retail managers are arguing with the processing managers about why I should or should not get the promotion. Apparently, I'm so awesome at my job, everybody wants me!
Mid-way through the first week I am finally able to move around!!! And find out at the end of the week that I got the promotion.
Second week of March: I get the all clear to go back to work but I have to wear an air cast. The company will keep me at my old job until I'm off restriction. The next day the transmission in my car dies. It's blue book value with working transmission=$900. Cost to fix transmission=$1600. All of this adds up to buying a new car. After some rejection and drama from the loan department, I get a 2001 Ford Focus with only 62,000 miles. Previously owned by a little old lady who hardly drove it!
Mid-way through this week I go back to work and they already have my replacement, who was filling in for me while I was on leave, so there's basically nothing for me to do except listen to everybody make me feel bad for wanting to leave.
Third week of March: Working at old job, not as manager but as regular staff. I get assigned to put away all the product, which has me walking 15,000 steps a day (about 6 miles) on a foot that has just been pinned back together. So I spent most of my time coming home and not moving...at all.
Mid-way through this week, I go to a meeting at my new job and find out my cousin works there. I tell my supervisor and they almost don't let me have the promotion. Finally, they work it out and say I can still go. Then I get a phone call from a friend about a job...a good job.
Fourth week of March: I start my new job and even though I'm suppose to be the manager, I am being trained in stuff I've already been doing by the staff. Not by my boss or the person I'm replacing, I'm being trained by the staff, which I think is the worst position you can put a manager in. So the new position starts off really bad. Oh, and did I mention the half hour we spent in a meeting going over how everyone has to wear a bra to work?! The next day, I go to the doctor and can now wear Brooks walking shoes (bye $100)! I go back to work to do more of the same.
Mid-way through the week: I'm still training on hanging clothes and the staff member training me tells me I'm not good at it! Maybe I'm not good at it because I don't want to be. If they knew I was good at it, they would bump me down to minimum wage and make me a full-time hanger!
And that brings us to yesterday, when I found out I for sure got the new job! They want me to start as soon as possible so there wasn't a lot of reason for me to stay two weeks at my other job. What's the point in spending two weeks training me only for me to leave.
I am done and next Monday, I start my new job. Hopefully, a job I will like much better. I guess time will tell.

Post-op update

2010-02-24T13:24:00.003-05:00

I had my surgery on Tuesday and it went well. I'm not in any pain and I hope that it stays that way. I'll be out of work until at least the 5th of March and my plan is to get a lot of stuff done in regards to writing. Of course, that plan isn't going incredibly well yet. My mixture of pain killers and anti-biotics is making me nauseous. So I have not been feeling super productive but I guess we'll see how the next few days go.

Hopefully, before I'm back at work I will have sent my recent rejects to some more magazines and will have finished my short story for the month of February that has been bumped to March.

The Three R's

2010-01-27T16:08:00.004-05:00

I'm taking a break from working on the list because all it is doing is making my head hurt.
First off, I'm not doing that bad on getting my scene for writing group done. Of course, it's mostly translating from comic script to prose, so really is shouldn't be that hard. I'm confident it will be at least done in long hand before the night is done.
I haven't even begun to find a place for my rejected short story. I've been too busy trying to find a humor literary magazine. I've had no luck, I think that's mostly because it doesn't exist.
As for the rewrite of the First Line story, I'm stuck. I've given it to others to read. I've gotten advice but I don't like the way the story has to change. I have this image in my head of this character and I feel like anything that I do makes her not the person she is. I'm crazy, I know.

I might take a break and read for a few. Right now, I'm currently in the middle of reading Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned. I just recently read the Vampire Lestat and long ago I read the Tale of the Body Thief. Even longer ago I read the Interview with the Vampire. I know I'm reading out of order, but everything still makes sense to me. Anyway, I like Anne Rice but her books can be too descriptive sometimes. It feels like it takes me forever to read them.
When I was on vacation I read Tuesdays With Morrie. That was a great book. It was really short and to the point. And the point was amazing. Live and Love.
After that I read Brian Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius. The book definitely started off strong. I couldn't help but feel awful for the author, but later on his sense of entitlement kind of annoyed me. In my experience personal tragedy never entitles anyone to anything but having to work harder.
The last book I read was a YA book called Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marrs. It's about faeries and it was pretty good. The story was quick moving and an interesting subject. I haven't really read a lot of fiction that deals with fey but the stuff that I have read I like. I've got the next two of the series on hold at the library.

Now I'm off to work on Writing, Reading and Researching submissions.

Where did the time go?

2010-01-26T09:59:00.003-05:00

Ah the start of vacation, it seems so long ago. It was the last time I posted. I would like to say that I got everything done that I wanted to but I didn't. It just wasn't long enough. However, I did get some of the stuff done that I wanted to so it wasn't a complete failure.
What's been going on since vacation? Work. There are lots of changes happening at work and most of them involve me having more work to do and not getting compensated for it. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
What else is going on? Two doctors appointments. Don't worry I'm not sick. It's just that after walking up to 13,000 steps everyday I work (yes, I wear a pedometer), I can't step down on my left foot without crying out in pain. Why? Well I have bunions on both sides of both feet and on the outside of the left foot my deformed bone is causing a giant blister inside my foot. I have a shot of cortisone in there right now, which is helping but it's a temporary fix. The only permanent solution is surgery. They want to straighten the bone. Sounds delightful! The only bright side is that I'll get medical leave from work if I do end up having surgery.

I have the next two days off and I have a To Do List for those days.
-Finish editing my story for First Line. I'm struggling with this real bad and I'm not sure what to do.
-Finish my scene for writing group next week.
-Find a humor literary magazine that is currently accepting open submissions and preferably pays.
-Find somewhere else to submit my story that got rejected from Apex Magazine

I guess I better get started.

Vacation

2010-01-11T12:37:00.003-05:00

Now that the busy season is over and done with at work, I have decided to take a break. Do I wish I was somewhere warm and sunny right now? Heck yes but I'm not. Instead I'm just taking a vacation from my stressful and time consuming job.
I don't have any definite plans for this week other than catching up with a few people. Aside from that, I plan to just get stuff done. I need to finish taking down the Christmas decorations, clean the house and work on posting more books on half.com and eBay.
What I really want to get done is lots of writing. I have to work on the story that I need to send to The First Line by the end of the month and I have a few other things to work on, like my next section of story for my writing group. We just met last night and normally wouldn't meet again until the first Sunday in February but due to birthdays, the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day, we wouldn't be able to meet at least until the 3rd Sunday so instead we're aiming for January 31st.
I also hope to get some reading done. I started the year out with Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which was good but long and slow moving, thus making it the only book I've read this year. If I'm trying to keep on schedule for 50 books a year, I'll need to read two books this week to catch up. A book a week is my usual goal. So now I need something short and light to read. Maybe my week off will include a trip to the library.

Christmas Wrap Up

2009-12-27T10:34:00.003-05:00

Christmas was pretty awesome this year. Well, except for the part where I scratched my eye and I couldn't keep it open, be in really bright light or keep it from spraying out tears. Fortunately, that's better now.

I had a lot of fun spending time with friends and family and I got some pretty awesome stuff. I think the best part about this year was that my two favorite gifts weren't even new but just really thoughtful.

The first gift was a giraffe necklace that Ed got me when we went to the zoo and fed the giraffe's this summer. I broke the string and bead necklace it was on and then when I went to put the charm on a new chain I broke the loop off the charm. When I opened my gift on Christmas it was my giraffe charm with a new loop and a beautiful silver chain.

My other awesome gift was from my boyfriends parent's. They saw our new place earlier this year and noted our large office with little furniture. We have a computer desk but I mentioned that I had no where to write long hand, which I actually prefer to do. (I know. I'm crazy.) So they got me an antique writing desk, which has a really cool story to it that is worthy of it's own post. Perhaps tomorrow. At this moment I'm still trying to figure out how to get it home.

Right now I'm rockin' out to a stack of 80's CD's and my eye is better today so I can actually enjoy my disco ball. Two more of my awesome Christmas gifts!

I also got a really cool purse that's big enough for a notebook and/or book but isn't one of those fashionably obnoxious things. And I got my traditional dog calendar and lotion basket. My dad also added a Snuggy/Slanket to my pile of gifts. And I got Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...on BluRay but I exchanged it for regular DVD. Of course Ed thought the more sensible thing to have done would have been to buy a PlayStation 3 since those play BluRay.

Tomorrow I go back to work after 4 days off. And the last week of the year is the busiest week of the year for donations. People want to get their 2009 tax receipt so our donors will be quadruple the usual for the rest of the year. Sounds fun, huh?

Christmas is near!!!

2009-12-24T09:58:00.003-05:00

It's here and in a few hours I will start participating in events with friends and family that will keep me running until next Monday.
I'm having my Christmas Eve party tonight. Then tomorrow morning Christmas breakfast with my family. After that Christmas dinner with my boyfriend's family. Saturday I drive to West Bloomfield to see my best bud, Jenni. Then Sunday we have lunch with my boyfriend's dad's family and then dinner with his siblings for his sister's birthday.

It should be fun and festive!

On the writing side, I've submitted my short story to Apex Magazine and am brainstorming my next story. We're trying to write for a magazine called the First Line. They give a first line and then let writers run with it. I have a few ideas but I'm not sure what to write about yet. My boyfriend is routing for warrior nuns. Something to think about but for now I'm off to enjoy the time I get to spend with family and friends. That's the best part of the year. I hope that everyone else is able to do the same. Stay safe and enjoy!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Ashley

Good tidings to you!

2009-12-16T14:34:00.005-05:00

Happy Holidays! So where have I been since falling off the NaBloPoMo wagon? I've been around. The holiday season has started and unfortunately for me holiday cheer doesn't fall from the sky. There are select people, or a person, in every family that make the holidays happen. Sure everyone pitches in to some extent. They buy a few gifts, bring a dish to pass or sometimes they just show up. But, there are those special people who make everything come together.

About ten years ago my grandma stepped down from that job and it was passed onto me. So at this time my life is consumed with shopping, decorating, baking, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, Christmas cards, organizing, planning, and doing my absolute best to make everyone as happy as they possibly can. It's almost like managing a business.

Is it worth putting my entire life on hold to make sure that everyone else enjoys themselves while I run around exhausted only to end up with generic gifts, a messy house and a fridge full of leftovers? It must be. Why else do I keep doing it?

Well I have made a few minutes for writing among all of this chaos. I met with my writing group Sunday. Sure I printed out the wrong parts of their stories so my critiques were formed in ten minutes but I guess it's better than nothing.

By the end of the week I should have the final touches done on the story that I was suppose to submit at the beginning of December. Then I'm starting my next story and that has to be ready by February 1st. No exceptions.

What's missing?

2009-11-15T21:51:00.005-05:00

I missed a few days on the blogging. So NaBloPoMo is basically done for me. I could have posted something quick and pointless but didn't want to. I didn't want to force myself to write something just for the sake of writing something. Yes, sometimes you have to push through and just write. Maybe it's good, maybe it's not. I do it with fiction all the time. But the stuff that sucks, I put aside and work on it another day. Sometimes I make it into something that's not too bad. Other times it gets worse. I just can't do that with blog posts. Well I could but putting them aside for later wouldn't get them posted that very day, so I would still be missing a post right now. So instead I didn't post at all because I didn't want to post the same thing over and over or something pointless just for the sake of posting.
Sure I had a few topics listed that I could have wrote about but once again I didn't want to write them in haste just to make sure I posted for the day. They deserve better than that and so do the few of the people who actually read these posts.
Instead I used the little time that I had to work on my fiction. And that went okay. I'm still behind on NaNoWriMo but even if I don't write another word on that story this month, I still have over 10,000 words of a new story, which I know is way more than I would have had I not joined NaNoWriMo.
The month's not over yet and I haven't given up on my writing goals. I'm just reassessing them and being more realistic about what I have time for given the fact that I have a job, errands, chores and most importantly, people that I have to make time for. If that means not putting up a lame post every now and again, that's okay. Just as long as it doesn't become a habit...again.

Another day wasted.

2009-11-12T22:13:00.003-05:00

I just got back from a mandatory meeting at work. As if I'm not there enough. Tonight I had to go back just a few hours after leaving and sit there while I could have been home watching The Office or 30 Rock. By the time I got home from my day shift and ate dinner it was time to head out again. I just got in about ten minutes ago and I have to work in the morning also.
After my day shift tomorrow, I'm off for the weekend so here's everything I need to get done.
-Finish my short story, send it out to be critiqued.
-Finish making comments on friend's short story.
-Finish scene for writing group, read others stuff for writing group and then go to writing group.
-Catch up on NaNoWriMo, if that's possible.
-Post once daily.
Simple enough, right?

Stunted

2009-11-11T22:19:00.002-05:00

When I used to be a waitress, I carried around a notebook to write large orders on or notes about things I needed to stock. Most restaurants have gone to computers and gotten rid of the old school tickets. And when the crowd was slow or any of my tables didn't need anything, I would write notes or parts of stories, or really good lines that I heard or thought of.
That's just one example of how I've been able to fit writing into the jobs that I've had, even if it was just on my breaks.
At my current job there aren't any moments to jot something down. And I try to read and write on my breaks and lunch but since I'm only one of two people that could do certain things, I'm constantly interrupted. It doesn't really make it easy to get anything written down.
And then there's the people around me. The people who don't know what the word 'discrepancy' means. The people who don't read books. The people who say things such as "you so..." instead of "you are so..."
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if there were ever a job that stunted a writer, this is it. The only good thing is the really crazy things that the customers and the employees do. They could all make for good stories one day. I'll just try not to use words with more than two syllables.

... until tomorrow

2009-11-10T23:09:00.003-05:00

It's my week to work five days straight and today was my first of two nights to close. Before work I had to go grocery shopping and check on my sister's dog. After work I ate dinner and answered some e-mails. Now I'm posting before going to bed. And the whole point of this post is to say that I got absolutely nothing done today. I've fallen even further behind.

On the bright side last night I finished the book I've been reading. It's called "The City and the City" by China Mieville. When I first started reading it it took me a while to remember who was who because all of the names were unique to me. The story is an interesting idea but it takes a lot of thought to follow what's going on, especially in the beginning. It gets easier to understand further in when the writer has revealed more about how this particular society works but once I got to the end I felt a little let down. It's a murder mystery and the whole murder revolves around this huge and complicated idea but ends with such a simple explanation.
Although, to be fair I think I might have scanned over the last few pages a little too quickly. I was trying to finish it before falling asleep. Either way I finished.
Now I'm starting a new book by an author that's had work published in the magazine that I'm writing my story for. Hopefully, it will help with some insight.
Here's hoping tomorrow is more productive.

Just too nice outside

2009-11-09T21:52:00.003-05:00

It was 60 degrees here today, which is pretty awesome for November in Michigan. I've been getting a headache from staring at the computer screen too much this past week and it was too gorgeous to be inside. So I took my notebook outside, sat on the porch next to my dog and wrote part of my short story. It's always hard to say how much I got done since long hand and computer typing is quite different when you're counting pages but I got something done. Now I just have to take the time to type what I wrote.
I just got done reading a short story that my friend wrote and now I'm thinking over what I read. I'll probably reread it again tomorrow and then write down my thoughts.
Right now, I'm getting ready to watch Castle. The awesome TV show about a murder mystery writer.
Then it will probably be off to bed. I'll read first and I think tonight I'll finish the book I'm reading.

Week one ends; week two begins

2009-11-08T22:59:00.003-05:00

Today was my day off and it was a busy day. We had breakfast with my dad and my dad's dad. Then I got the yard raked. After that, I went to an exhibition game for the MSU women's basketball team. (They won by 35 points!) and I actually got some writing done too. Not as much as I'd like considering that tomorrow I go back to work for five days in a row. Two of those days will be closing shifts. My goal is to write, even if it's not a lot, every little bit helps me from falling behind.
This week my plan is to finish my first draft of my short story. Try to catch up on my NaNo novel and finish a section for writing group, which should meet next Sunday. And of course, make a post everyday.
And I'd like to finish the book I'm reading. It's been a hard book for me to read. The more I read it the more I understand what's going on but still it's taking me a really long time to get through it. Once again, I can't give up.
So that's the plan for the week. I think the first week of November went pretty well. I have over 11,000 words on my NaNo novel. That's not right on track but much closer than 0. I've posted everyday. I've started another story that at first I wasn't sure I could do anything with and now I have a lot of ideas. It's all progress, even if it's slight.

Cool moment

2009-11-07T12:49:00.000-05:00

*For the record, I am post dating this entry. I tried to post it last night but blogger was not having it. However, it was posted on my livejournal

I got my laundry done tonight but I didn't get much else done at the laundromat. I usually go with my sister so that neither one of us has to face the potential creepiness alone. Too many weird old guys have it in their brain that the laundromat is a good place to pick up ladies. Yikes.
Anyway, the only thing really productive that came from the laundromat was that my sister actually had a cool moment. She's been reading the Twilight saga because every one of the grown women in her department has fallen in love with it and won't stop talking about it. My sister's a moderate reader. She doesn't read a lot but she does read. So she decided that she would try these books so she'd know what the heck everyone was talking about.
I'll admit I've read all four but regardless of whether I like something or not, I will struggle through it. I tell myself it could get better or I could think on it a while and realize that maybe it was good. If neither of those things happen I call it a learning experience.
I'm not trying to rip on Twilight. It's got the young people reading instead of watching TV, which is good, but Harry Potter it is not. And if one more person calls it that I will scream.
The books are okay and I can see why young girls fall in love with them. But the last one was the hardest for me to read (*spoiler alert*) because it was completely boring and unrealistic. The main character ends up with everything. She's immortal but gets to keep her mortal family. She's rich, well-dressed, beautiful, has a child (half mortal/half vampire) and despite the fact that she's only been a vampire for mere months she manages to stand up to an entire coven of the world's oldest and strongest vampires and, surprise, she has a super power that protects her family and friends from them. Oh and she doesn't lose her best bud/other love interest because she's going to let him marry her daughter. So they all just live happily ever after. There isn't even a cool battle in the end. They all show up to fight and then talk it out. LAME!
To me it was too perfect. Real life has tragedy and if a writer completely avoids that I think it makes a book pointless. There's has to be downs for there to be ups.
I could really go on in a bit more detail abou the book and what I didn't care for but it's not really something I feel I have to do.
Now back to my original story. So my sister's cool moment came when she was in the middle of Breaking Dawn, the final book, she drops it to the ground and says, "will you just tell me how this crap ends because I can't stand to read it any longer?"
Of course, when you don't read all that much, you probably don't want to waste your time on a novel you don't really like. Regardless, she had the power to walk away and for that I commend her because it is not something that I can do.

Delayed

2009-11-06T22:24:00.004-05:00

Oh man. It's the day I was talking about when I close tonight and then open tomorrow. So the words that I'm writing right now are about all that I will be writing today.
Today is the first day that I feel I'm falling behind on my goals. I'm not getting any NaNoWriMo written and I'm not getting any of my short story written. I almost forgot to write this post.
Also today we decided that our writing group, which is suppose to meet on Sunday, will probably have to wait until next Sunday. That's almost a good thing as much as it is a bad thing. I wasn't quite finished with my section of Incognito, my comic turned prose, that I had intended on sending. I had put off rewriting that because I've been so focused on my NaNo and short story goal.
Well I open at work tomorrow, so the plan is to come home from work and write. I have to go to the laundromat sometime this weekend but that's what notebooks are for. So instead of watching my clothes whirl around in the dryer, I'm going to be productive.

The closing shift

2009-11-05T22:57:00.004-05:00

Today was my first day working the closing shift since November started. I feel that the days I close at work are the days I'm least productive at home. I like to sleep late and by the time I get up and get ready it's time for work. Once I get home, it's late. I eat, check my Internet stuff and then read until I fall asleep. It just seems the whole day is wasted.
So I was worried that today would be the day I started to fall behind on my grand writing plan. That didn't happen though, I just finished a part of my NaNoWriMo novel. It wasn't a full 1667 words but it was enough to keep me in the game.
And while I didn't do much writing on my project story, I did give the first little part to someone to read and got a lot of feedback. We discussed a lot of ideas today and if I weren't about to fall asleep right now, I'd probably stay up and write some more.
Tomorrow I have another closing shift but it's the worse kind. The kind where I have to open the next day so staying up late to write isn't an option(well not a sensible one). I hope I can manage to hang in there. Once I get behind on anything I fear that I'll get too far to catch up.

The Notebook

2009-11-04T12:11:00.003-05:00

I'm going to take a break from talking about my current projects and talk about my notebook.
Three years ago I bought a red three subject notebook with the intent of writing a story in it. Then I had a tiny notebook I would carry around for ideas. The only problem was that the tiny notebook wasn't good enough. It was too small. I would get inspired to write a scene and would struggle to fit it in the little notebook. That's when I decided the giant red notebook would go everywhere with me.
And over the last three years I have filled it with story notes, blog ideas, pieces of fiction, random lines, doodles, play lists, song lyrics and to do list. Then last week I noticed it was full. I went through and pulled out pages that went with certain stories and filed them away with my notes for each story. I went through to find anything I might need in the near future and then I filed the notebook away in my filing cabinet.
Two days ago, I started a new notebook. It's just one subject, not nearly as big as the old one but that's okay. I really don't think I need to be carrying around three years of notes anymore.
It's kind of fitting that it should be full now because I feel like I'm starting a new chapter in my writing endeavors. Over the past year or so I've put very little effort into my writing. But now I'm trying to get back on track and I think starting fresh with ideas and notes is just another thing that needed to change.

A new way

2009-11-02T20:20:00.007-05:00

The next project that's on my list is a little different from my usual thing. I don't really have a title for it and the idea was not my own.
It all started when I bought a Writer's Market. Yes, last Sunday I went out and bought the new Writer's Market. I didn't buy one in 2009 but I bought one in 2006, 2007 and 2008. And in those years I took all the short stories that I had completed at the time and went through every magazine listed to see if it was a match. I then sent each story to every place it seemed to fit. Obviously, this didn't have a lot of success.
So I took this new Writer's Market with my when I went to meet a friend and he had an idea. What if, instead of trying to find a magazine to fit the story, we each write a story to fit a magazine. And that is the plan.
We went through the Writer's Market and found a magazine that we both were interested in and decided that would be our first goal. We are giving ourselves a month to write a short story that fits all the guidelines of the magazine. Then we're going to send it in and start another story for another magazine. If we get a rejection letter than we'll send the story somewhere else that it might fit but the idea is to write it with a specific place in mind.
My old way never worked so I'm hoping this goes better. It's also good because it makes me have to write. I have a deadline and a general idea of what I need to write. I know the genre and how long it has to be. It's kind of like being back in class with a writing assignment.
For this month I have to write a dark science fiction story that's around 4,000 words. Right now I have an idea. It's more dark than science fiction and I'm trying to think of a way to make it more science fiction otherwise I might need a new idea.

While I took a breather between meeting my daily word count on NaNoWriMo and working on my sub story, I added my NaNoWriMo profile link to the sidebar. I'm at 3680 in case anyone is wondering and is too lazy to click the link.

I get the next two days off from work so I'm going to be a writing machine. Bam!

NaNoWriMo 2009

2009-11-01T22:44:00.004-05:00

My goal for the next few posts is to write a greater explanation for each one of the writing projects I am working on this month.

First up is NaNoWriMo. I've participated in it two previous years, 2005 and 2006. I did sign up in 2007 but decided that the novel I started was something that meant too much to me to try and rush it.

This year, like all other years, I don't expect to write an entire novel in one month. 50,000 words isn't a novel and I'm not even sure I'll get that many words done.

In 2005 I had over 40,000 words by the end of the month and in 2006 I was just shy of the 30,000 word mark. In both cases it took me several months longer to finish the actual story.

And I'll admit that both of those novels were awful, but it was cool to say that I wrote a novel. I was no longer the person 'writing a novel' or with 'an idea for a really cool novel.' I was a novel writer even if it sucked.

Both of those years I had strict outlines and new exactly where I was going and what I had to do. I think a lot of the reason the novels didn't turn out so well was that I forced my story from one point on the outline to the next.

This year I'm doing things a little differently. I started with an idea. Just a scene that is kind of a vision I had one day. And I'm going to try and make it up as I go along.

I have a few ideas in my head of where it's going but what's going to happen and how it all ends is a mystery to even me. The only thing I know for sure is that it's a horror story.

Maybe it will be good. Maybe it will be bad. Either way the goal is to average 1667 words a day. It's day one and I've written 1499.

NOVEMBER!

2009-10-31T21:41:00.004-04:00

It's November and I'm insane. There is so much going on with writing this month. And I can't make any excuses to not get it done because I've committed to a lot of people.

First off, I committed to NaNoWriMo. I'm doing this along with my writing group so I can't let them down.

Second off, I committed to NaBloPoMo. I'm doing this with my Ms. Jenni so I can't let her or my blog/livejournal readers down. (Especially D.B. Echo who has probably given up on my ever posting.)

Then there's my writing group. Aside from NaNoWriMo, I probably need to work on another section of my current story that I've been taking.

And there's this new thing I've got going on. I've met with a friend and we came up with a plan for actually submitting writing. But first, we must write a story. It's a great plan that I will explain much more thoroughly in a post coming soon!

Oh and did I mention that Jenni and I have actually been working on Behind the Naugahyde. She sent me a big section last month. I sent notes back. And now it's up to me to write the next part.

That's all the projects I've gotten on the burners. (I need two stoves!) But I've been making excuses for too long and I've got a lot of wasted time to make up for.

Two Become One

2009-10-21T22:33:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, I met with a friend of mine, who also happens to be a writer. We talked about many things such as finishing what we started, finding time to write and the list goes on. It was a really good conversation and we're going to try to meet more often either to talk about writing, submitting and our work. I think it will be very productive.

One of the other things we talked about was this blog and my livejournal. I have both and I have always kept them separate. I started this blog first about my writing and later started the livejournal so that I could friend my friends. The livejournal has always just been personal posts. Occasionally, I have posted the same stuff both places. I've often wondered what would be the easiest way to get people who read the livejournal to read blogger and people who read blogger to read my livejournal. And not everyone has both so if they follow me on blogspot or livejournal they may never get the other one. I've tried links but that's still a hassle. I thought about giving one up but either way it would be inconvenient for one set of "friends."
After talking about it I'll keep them both but start posting the same thing on each. I mostly post about writing anyway and have seriously neglected the livejournal. I think there was a whole year on livejournal where I posted maybe five times so I'm clearly not writing many personal things that don't link to writing somehow. So now Ink On Paper and Babbling On are the same. I might change them to the same name. I haven't decided which one or maybe just a new name altogether. I also have to decide whether or not to transfer posts from one to the other. Lots to think about but for now I post the same thing on both. So no need to click the link anymore. I'll try it for awhile and we'll see how it goes.

Also, our conversation also came around to Castle the awesome TV show I recently posted about (ABC Monday nights @ 10pm). The book that the character wrote is a real book on the New York Times Bestseller List. I saw the advertisement for it and thought it was a fake to promote the show but it's a real book. How cool is that?

It sounds good in theory

2009-10-19T12:02:00.002-04:00

I must be crazy. Our writing group finally met yesterday. We're suppose to meet the first Sunday every month but we kept putting off this month because it's been super busy for all of us. We got around to yesterday and we had a discussion about NaNoWriMo. Yep, I said it.
These two insanely busy people are going to do it. Naturally I started thinking that I should do it.
At first I thought it would be nuts to do it. I've been so busy I've barely been able to write a scene once a month for writing group. But have I really been that busy? I can think of lots of things, like T.V. and Internet, that I have constantly wasted my time on. Maybe I need NaNoWriMo to force me to write. Of course, it can't force me. I have to do that myself but maybe this commitment to my writing group and myself, is exactly what I need.
So I'm doing it. I signed up this morning. I'm doing NaNoWriMo.
I'll try to put the link to my profile in the sidebar but for now check it out here. And if anyone reading this is daring to do NaNoWriMo be sure to friend me.

Making it "fair"

2009-10-08T20:22:00.003-04:00

I'm converting my old comic book story, Incognito, into prose and have been giving it to my writing group for suggestions. I just finished rewriting the last scene of what would have been issue one and now I'm onto issue two. And I have to say that I absolutely hate what I wrote. There is one scene that makes absolutely no sense to me. I'm not even sure how to fill the void. Maybe I need to read further on to get an idea of what I can do to fix it but I feel like I put my character into a dangerous situation and got them out too easily.
It's kind of like in Stephen King's Misery, when Annie says the way he brings Misery back to life isn't realistic or fair. It's kind of like that, except not as extreme. I'm not trying to bring some back to life or rescue someone from going over a cliff in car. I'm really just trying to get someone, undercover as a prostitute, out of a room before they actually have to get to work. Right now, she sneaks into the bathroom and calls in a bomb threat but realistically how long would it take the cops to get there? And everyone still sees her leaving the building, which I want people to see her but I don't want it be that obvious. I'm just not sure it's the best way to get what I want in the story. But on the other hand I do want her to seem like an amateur at crime fighting so maybe that is why originally wrote such a sloppy and poorly planned escape?

Thank goodness writing group decided to postpone a week other wise I'd only have two pages to take. And if I can't break through this funk I will only have two pages to take on Sunday.
I'll work on it for a few more minutes tonight but then I must be off. Pam and Jim are getting married on the Office tonight. I can't miss it!

"...they simultaneously murdered the English language."

2009-09-29T22:23:00.004-04:00

Last week I watched the season premiere of Castle, a show on ABC. This is it's second season and unfortunately, I didn't catch any of those episodes. I have to say that I really like this show. It's really funny and interesting.
The idea is that a famous novelist is doing research for books by following around a NYC homicide detective. This famous writer, Castle is played by Nathan Fillion formerly known as Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the TV series, Firefly, and movie, Serenity. He manages to bring humor to serious characters and he was just absolutely funny in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
Castle is an interesting character. He's cocky as a writer but also actually good at the detective work.
In last night's episode he obsessed about a murderer who used improper grammar while writing on a dead body. And while the NYPD are wearing bullet proof vests that say "POLICE" his vest says "WRITER".
It's a good show but I can tell that it's not going to be one of those mainstream hits like CSI and I worry that it will be canceled prematurely. However, it made it to a second season so I'll continue to watch. Hopefully, I'll have more good things to say and maybe get a chance to watch the season one episodes.

Work to do

2009-09-13T20:40:00.003-04:00

I met with my writing group tonight. While my Internet was down, again, I got some writing done and actually managed to rewrite some more of my former comic book script, Incognito. I've been taking a little bit of it every month to writing group. I didn't get as much done for this meeting as I would've liked to. I got one scene but it was only two pages. There was another super short scene I had wanted to add but time got away from me this weekend. Despite having three days off.
I've gotten positive feedback so far. I'm trying to make the story a little more humorous since I'm starting to think that might be my strength.
Now we have a solid Internet connection so as long as that holds up, I should be updating more. I actually have quite a few writing projects on the burners right now. And most of them involve other people, which is a good thing because then I feel obligated to keep up with them. I hate letting people down.
And on that note, I should probably get to work.

Coming Home

2009-09-06T10:27:00.004-04:00

It's been three long weeks without Internet and thanks to moving there was little chance to get to the library and do anything, but I'm back now. We managed to get moved into our new house. It's in the same neighborhood that I've lived in twice before. The neighborhood where many of my friends from my school days lived. I love it here and I'm glad we found this house. I have a huge office. (I need to get a big comfy reading chair!) And a whole room for my sale books. There's also a closed in porch for me to write outside but be free from the rain and mosquitoes. It's in a great neighborhood to walk so that I can think things through and there's a park nearby to sit and write at. Plus, there's a huge basement and garage that leaves lots of room for Slipstream Graphics to paint. And the garage leads to the possibility of some very big paint jobs.
This house is a writer and artist's dream come true. We're very happy here. I'm so excited.
And we're finally unpacked for the most part. There's still a few books in boxes but everything is set up and I'm ready to start cranking out some stuff.
The thing I love most about this house is that there's no tension or drama among roommates. There's no one bothering me every second. It's peaceful. And despite having a wonky work schedule, I'm pretty content right now and I feel that if I could just find a routine, that I could really make some progress with writing.

Moving and movies

2009-07-21T20:33:00.003-04:00

I'm going to be moving soon. Hopefully, this next place will last more than a year. So right now I barely have time to get anything finished for writing group. But by the time the move is over it will be right on time for fall submissions, which is when most of the literary magazines come off summer hiatus. In theory, it will be perfect timing. We'll see how that goes.

I did go to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I was a little disappointed with how much extra snogging there was and how much of Voldemort's past there wasn't. They also butchered the final fight scene at Hogwarts and no funeral, which could have been a really good scene.
However, the scenes with Harry on Felix Fix and Ron on love potion were pretty funny. I also thought the young kid that played child Tom Riddle was really good. And I think they did a really good job with Malfoy's character.
Hopefully, the next one has less teen romance and more of the battle with evil wizards!

Lowering my IQ one status update at a time.

2009-07-01T21:21:00.005-04:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I've been on facebook a lot more than I've been blogging here. It's way easier and takes a lot less thought to write a quick status update and then read my friends brief status updates rather than writing a whole blog post and reading a whole blog post. I also know that it's sad that thoughts can be dumbed down to a few sentences. I'm losing a lot in translation.
And I'm starting to realize that the more I'm on facebook, that it's quite possible my IQ is dropping. People use a lot of slang. They also use a lot of what I call 'text message writing', where they are writing so fast that 'u' has become the knew 'you.' Yes, some people do take the time to write full sentences but for most of those people I really wish there was a spell check or grammar check or 'you missed a word' check.
I'm not saying I haven't made these mistakes. It kills me that I can't go back and edit my comments. My favorite part about writing is the ability to edit over and over again. And even then it's never perfect but I have the chance to fix stupid mistakes.
I also don't want to be the grammar police to my friends so I'm just trying to take the good with the bad. So I deal with the bad grammar, spelling, and language knowing that it's the sacrifice I must make in order to keep in touch with some of my friends. And it's refreshing to know that I can come to my blog or other blogs and get a dose of more developed thought and writing skills.
However, I'm starting to be pushed to the edge of my tolerance of facebook and what is sad is that it's just one person who persistently makes the same stupid error over and over again and it has me so upset that I'm about ready to type my thoughts on it in giant letters.
Who knows, maybe it's just me, maybe I'm neurotic and her use of a term is correct but it doesn't matter in my head it doesn't make sense and it is driving me nuts.
Yet, we all know that I'm too nice to state any negative opinion unless asked. I hate hurting people's feelings so I'm just going to use my blog to articulate my thoughts about this same term and leave it at that. If I can just vent once I think I'll be okay.

So here it goes:

Hey you, girl that I knew in high school only because I worked with your boyfriend. I don't really know you but I friended you because I feel bad about turning anyone down unless they are a creepy weirdo. And I'm sorry that you don't have any friends and that you are on facebook all the time talking about how board you are because you have no friends. I would offer to be your friend but there is one thing that you do that annoys me, above all others and that is TUBBING!
I know you do it every weekend, by yourself, and you love to update your status about it, post pictures with captions about it and invite everyone to go with you but unless you are floating down a river in a BATH TUB, the word you mean to use is TUBING! ONE B! TUBING! NOT TUBBING!
I'm sorry but it's just friggin' annoying and maybe your pleas to have someone, anyone go with you, would be answered if people weren't scared of floating down a river in a metal and/or porcelain tub. Or maybe they are like me and just bothered by your bad language skills.

That is all.

P.S. I go back and forth between writing in my livejournal and my blogger. My lj is mostly for personal stuff and my blog is mostly for writing but any day that I have a recent post on one or the other I'm going to post a link at the bottom of my post so readers of either will know that I have something new on the other. For instance: Yesterday's LiveJournal

Work in progress

2009-06-14T19:53:00.003-04:00

I've actually got a few things accomplished this week and it feels good. I got a scene written for writing group. Then I made a lot of comments about my friends story and sent them off. I've also been working a non-fiction project too. And I'm posting on my blog. Yay!

I also sent my friend a story for him to read through and give me some insight and then I might send that story off for submissions. Of course, a lot of places are on hiatus in the summer, because they are often ran by colleges that are not in session until the fall. But, there are a few places that take summer subs. I guess we'll see how long it takes for me to get back and work out the kinks.

Trying to help

2009-06-04T10:17:00.004-04:00

I know I'm suppose to be writing something new right now but I got sidetracked by another project. A friend of mine recently started writing and posted a story about a week or so ago. He asked for feedback and mentioned that everyone seemed to just give him "good job" comments. He was hoping for something a little more helpful. So I read through the story in the few minutes I had to spare over the last few weeks and I found that I actually had a lot of comments that might be helpful. So I circled and scribbled over the pages and figured I'd get it back to him in a timely fashion. I haven't yet though.
My concern is that I'm not very successful in the writing business, so why would anyone take advice from me? Well, I'm an avid reader for one but still. The advice I'm giving I've learned from classes, books, editor comments and fellow writers but I'm trying to find text to prove I'm not just making this stuff up or that it's not just my own personal preference. So now this project is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. My friend will probably have given up on his story or gotten it published by the time I get all my information gathered and thoughts in order.

Starting a project

2009-06-02T19:39:00.003-04:00

Right now I'm in a debate about what to work on next. I could start a story that I've had outlined for a few years or I could work with something I already have.

The first story, I got the idea from a song and shortly after wrote up some story outlines and summaries. I had thought it would be a comic book or movie script, but now I'm thinking I could make it into a novel. It's a horror story, I think. It kind of walks a fine line but I really have no other idea what category I would put it in.

My other option is turning my comic script for Incognito, into a prose story. I'm not sure if I could make a whole book out of it. I wrote it as a comic book script many years ago but was never able to find any success with it being published comic book style. It's a satiric look at female superheroes and it's funny.

Either way, both stories are not literary, which is good, because I'm giving up on that. And no matter what I decide I better do it fast because I need to have something done before writing group next week! Eek!

Stuff to do

2009-05-30T16:45:00.002-04:00

Sorry I missed this week. I had to work 12 hour shifts, which really threw me off schedule. I haven't gotten much done, but I need to do something because writing group is in a little over a week and I have no back up material this time. I need to write something.

NaBloPoMo is doing a write everyday in June event. The theme is to write about a new hero in your life everyday. I'm contemplating doing this but I might do an every other day, bi-weekly or weekly one instead. I'm not sure.

I better get to work!

Adapted

2009-05-18T18:59:00.003-04:00

Last night I went to see Angels and Demons. I was a little worried because they really changed the end of the Da Vinci Code and I didn't like it. I was happier with Angels and Demons. They did cut out a few things but I felt that two of the scenes they cut out were the things in the book that I thought were just a little too outrageous. Overall, it was a good movie and better than the movie adaption of the Da Vinci Code.

Speaking of books adapted to movies, two of my latest reads are books that were turned into movies, both of which I had seen the movie first.

The first was Memoirs of a Geisha. I really like the movie but I loved the book! The detail to culture was really interesting, but it was woven in with a great plot that kept too many facts from being boring. I was so intrigued and could barely put the book down despite already knowing what was going to happen.
The characters were also really well defined. I think that each ones personality was really well developed, no one was flat. There really wasn't anything that I didn't like about it.
It also defined what a true geisha is. Most people have misconceptions and don't realize the amount of work that went into the art of entertaining. It's an amazing book.

The other book that I read was the Notebook. I did like the movie. I thought it was a good love story. I have to say that this is the first time that I actually liked the movie better than the book. I liked how the movie told the whole story of their relationship not just a few days. I also liked how the movie made Noah's character so desperately in love with her, that he would do anything to have her back and never gave up hope. That may have made the movie a little more cheesy but I think if a girl is going to leave her fiance that she loves, than what she's leaving him for needs to be worth it.

Year Four!

2009-05-16T21:47:00.003-04:00

It was D.B.Echo's latest post that got me thinking about it. I knew our dates were relatively close so I thought I'd check. I'm a little late but still, can anyone believe that it was May 10, 2005 that I started this blog?
It doesn't seem like that long. I don't know if I'd count the last year, since I've been pretty absent, but I still feel accomplished knowing that I haven't given up on it.

A new game plan

2009-05-14T22:21:00.005-04:00

I wrote a little last night. It's not really a story more just some thoughts about my current employment situation. It's me venting about the bad things in life. It borderlines on that literary fiction that I said I was done with. I need to be done with all of those stories I wrote while my life was at an all time low. I'm there anymore.

What to do next? Should I edit and send out one of my short fantasy stories that I had intended on submitting until I realized I had lost my latest versions?
I think that's what I'll do, then I need to start a new story. I'm thinking of a novel. It's a story I originally wanted to be a comic book. It's kind of a horror story. Once I get some thoughts down I'll share them.

Right now, I really need an FM transmitter for my iPod. The headphones give me a headache after awhile. Of course, I would also need a computer that's not next to a t.v. that's always in use. I miss my office. Four months and, hopefully, I'll get that back, maybe.

I've started update my livejournal again. If it felt like I've neglected this blog. I've hardly posted there at all, but I miss it.

Making more work...

2009-05-12T19:51:00.005-04:00

Lately, I have been thinking about submissions. I thought I'd send out a few of my finished works while I continue works in progress.
I started venturing through my stories. After several computer crashes I've had stories saved in various places, one main place in particular. I checked there and all my stuff was still as I had left it. Unfortunately, there were a few stories that I had made edits to, after receiving feedback from my writing group. It looks like I didn't resave the files on my back-up after my edits. So more work is lost.
I either need to set up a schedule to save my items on back-up or remember to start saving them once I'm done with them.
The good news is that, when it comes to my writing, I'm a pack rat. I never throw away notes or drafts. So I still have all the notes and input from writing group. It's just a bummer to have to do the work over again.
Sometimes I feel like I'm spinning in circles.

Currently reading: Memoirs of a Geisha
Currently watching: Biggest Loser
Just watched: Star Trek

Let someone else decide.

2009-05-04T20:26:00.004-04:00

I bought the latest issue of Epoch. I actually think it's a bit old but it's the most current. Their new one is probably on the way.
Epoch is a literary magazine for short stories and poetry. One of the few I can actually find at the book store.
The last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about literary fiction, what it is, and if I can write it well.
In the past, I thought I wrote literary fiction like a champ but rejection after rejection got me thinking. So I picked up this magazine and I realized I have no clue what literary fiction is. All the work I had qualified as literary was emotional and usually depressing, with a message in it.
Not that the stories I read in the magazine lacked those elements but they were different. They were vague. They left more for the reader to decide. In the end I had given all of my stories an unhappily ever after ending because that's what I thought literary was, the cold hard truth. Now I'm rethinking this. Maybe literary stories are just suppose to make the reader think and not tell the reader what to think about, but to let them decide for themselves.
Or maybe I'm completely off base.
Either way, I tried to apply this new strategy to what I was working on. I was struggling to find the end of Worth Something. It has two strong characters who have different values. It's almost a new take on the dilemma of whether or not it is right to steal bread for your starving children. One character says 'yes', the other says 'no'. And in the end I couldn't decide which way I wanted the story to lean. I wanted to show both sides of the story evenly. So I just left it hanging and then took it to my writing group. I asked what they thought. And after much discussion I think I'm going to let it end with no conclusion. I'll let the reader decide for themselves.

Planning ahead

2009-04-29T22:38:00.004-04:00

It hit me a few days ago that the month was almost over. How time flies. That means that the first Sunday in May is almost here, which means writing group. So I spent today working on the last part of Worth Something. I have it to a point where it could be the end or I could add a little more and I'm not really sure what to do. Maybe I'll add a little more then ask the writing group where they think it should end.

For the first time in a while I got out the Writer's Market. I know I mentioned a few months back that I think humor might be my thing. It's the only thing that I've had much luck with and I hadn't really gotten anywhere with literary stories, which was mostly what I had been submitting. So I've been trying to find places to send a few of my humorous stories, including the one that started my funny revelation, Secret Identity Crisis.
What I've come to find is that, when it comes to short stories, there are a lot less places for humor than there are for literary stories. Of course, in the past, I found the same problem with action, adventure, fantasy and sci-fi.

I finished the Lord of the Flies, but I read it kind of half-heartedly before bed every night. And I feel like a bad reader/writer because I didn't catch the big flaw that D.B. Echo mentioned.
Now I'm on to Bone Crossed, the fourth book in the Mercy Thomas series, by Patricia Briggs. I'm actually almost done. I'll probably finish it tonight.

Just watched: Marley and Me (again)
Currently watching: Reno! 911

Bands and books

2009-04-19T14:41:00.004-04:00

I started my short story that I mentioned in the last post. I think I'm going to call it Helping Hand, so that's how I'll I refer to it for now. I have really gotten much done but the day is young.

Last Thursday I went to see a band called Brena and they were awesome. They have a very cool mainstream rock style going on. I liked them so much that I just uploaded their new album on my iPod.
Yes, that's right. I now have an iPod. After years of saying that I want one, but not buying one for various reasons, an iPod nano has managed to fall into my hands. So now I can create all kinds of awesome playlists for all my writing endeavors.

I started reading Lord of the Flies and I just bought the 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes. Both are pretty short books. I like to envision me having them both done by the end of the week, but I hate to get ahead of myself.

Birthdays, holidays, musicals, books and jury duty and it's only Wednesday!

2009-04-15T21:48:00.004-04:00

Well this week has been pretty hectic. It started with Easter, which was also my birthday. Yes, I am another year older. And I will spare everyone my melodramatic look back at my accomplishments or the lack there of. I will also not venture to far out to say "this will be my year," because I think I've just been jinxing myself.

After that, I had jury duty. I did get picked for a trial but then I was dismissed after the lawyers questioned me. It was an interesting experience. Some of the things that the lawyers think to ask potential jurors just amazes me. That's probably why they make the big bucks. The experience definitely gave me some insight in case I'm ever writing about a trial.

Yesterday, I went to see the Lion King. The tickets were a birthday present and I was very excited. It was a fantastic performance. The kids that played Simba and Nala were very cute and talented. The dialogue and music pretty much followed the movie. There were also some new songs. A few of the new songs like "The Morning Report" and "Chow Down", were a little cheesy and seemed like they were in the show just because they needed more musical numbers. Other songs like "Endless Night," were a beautiful addition. There was also a lot of added African dancing and music, which really added to the show making it less like a Disney cartoon and more like a work of art. The costumes and the set design were amazing. There was literally far too much to take in. Every thing was so colorful and lively, I didn't know where to look. I would love to see it again.

And the only other thing is that I finished reading the Historian. I was real bummed out with the ending. When you're going to battle Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, that battle better be grueling and it better take more than one gun shot to take him down. Sorry if I ruined it for anyone but if this is a book someone was going to invest time into reading, they may want to be prepared for the fact that the book is all about history and not suspense and action-filled battles.

Now, what to read next? Also, I have the day off tomorrow. I'd like to start a new short story about dealing with a bad work environment. I have an idea, obviously. I'll try to elaborate more once I have something actually written.

The latest reading list

2009-04-08T22:32:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago I finally finished reading the eleven books that have, so far, made up the Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Although, I believe a new book has or will come out in April. The books weren't necessarily intellectual reading but they were fun and they read pretty quickly. They're about a modern day wizard, living in modern day Chicago, who is the only wizard listed in the phone book. During the series he runs into all kinds of supernatural beings such as vampires, werewolves, fairies, ghost, fallen angels, demons, and he has lots of really interesting friends to help him. I enjoyed the series for some light and entertaining reading.

After that, I received the new David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed In Flames, for Valentine's Day. It was funny and I did enjoy it but I feel like he has less interesting things to say now that he's a wealthy, famous writer rather than a poor, struggling writer. Maybe it also had something to do with the fact that this book mentioned his family significantly less than his others. His unique family was definitely something that really made his early books funny. I still laughed with this one but not as much as I have with his previous works.

Right now I'm reading the Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I really didn't plan on reading this book but it came to me in a weird way. I had given somebody one of my book club chain letters that Jenni dragged me into, and that person was suppose to send a book to Jenni. However, he didn't really feel that he would be able to handle the task of mailing it. (The post office can be complicated.) So he asked me to give it to her...four months ago. Well, I have seen her twice since then but I have forgotten the book. Then I started reading it.
Anyway, it's a long book, well over 600 pages. The idea is cool. A group of historians search for proof that Vlad the Impaler is the real Dracula and that he is still living an undead existence as a vampire. Of course, the book can move slowly. They cover a lot of history and geography. There is a ton of detail. At times it reads more like non-fiction, full of facts, and the story tying it all together seems to just fall in every now and again. I'm just now in the 400s after two weeks of reading. It's not one of those books that I just can't put down. I usually fall asleep after a chapter or so if I'm reading before bed. So far I don't feel emotionally connected to any of the characters. I could really care less what happens to them I just want to get to the end and find out what the plot twist is because there must be one. Also, I'm not a person who can quit a book. I have to finish. The book is intriguing sometimes but most of the time I feel like I'm studying. Maybe the last 200 pages will pick up a bit.

Finally, something to write about

2009-04-04T21:59:00.004-04:00

Okay, I'm back to work. I've spent this week writing an article about resale shops. Of course, I've been through a few computers lately, and I'm typing on a new one (well new to me) right now. And because I forgot to e-mail it to myself, that article is now saved on a computer that is not hooked up. So I would have to unhook this monitor, mouse and keyboard, hook them back up to the other computer and then undo all of that just to get the article. How's that for complicated?
I finished typing in part three of my short story Worth Something. I have writing group tomorrow right after work so I need to get my other group members' work read and make some comments. Eventually, I'll have to finish the end of the story and type it up for next month. After that I'll need to have started a new piece of fiction or else I'll have nothing to take.
It feels good to be writing again. I didn't realize how much I missed the release and the feeling of accomplishment. I don't know how I ever stopped.

Since last year...

2009-03-25T16:38:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, especially when I haven't written in a long time, I like to reflect back on my other posts. Some feel like just filler, others really mean something to me. Here's a post from last year, reflecting on what I had or hadn't accomplished in life. Since then not much has changed as far as accomplishments go. I've had some losses in the last year but I've also gained. Right now I feel like I'm breaking even.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned once or twice that my senior year of high school I took advance composition. As a writer, aspiring to be published, one would assume that I loved this class above all others and put every bit of effort into it. That would be not so accurate.I did love the class, but it was a lot of work and at the time I thought I had better things to do with my last hour of the school day. I failed the class, but I didn't need it to graduate so oh well. Not really. I failed a few classes in high school, for instance algebra, physics, geometry, all mostly for a lack of attendance. I thought living was more import than learning and when it comes to those classes, for the most part, I have no regrets. Failing advance comp was the only time I really felt bad about failing. The teacher was an odd guy, not your usual teacher, but a great teacher. He wanted to make sure we could write a solid essay before we took off for college, he wanted to make sure we read good literature that wasn't the main stream stuff we we're use to and he pushed us to be creative. I think I've mentioned a play that I wrote for his class.Anyway, he actually wanted us to learn something. Even though I failed, I still learned a lot. I even keep the journal that we had to write in every week filled with the positive comments that he wrote about my work, about my writing. And I kick myself for not finishing that class.What brought all of this to mind was when he walked into the shoe store today and even though I should have taken it as the chance to apologize for giving up, and told him that I regretted not finishing and that he was still a really good teacher that taught me something regardless of my grade. That's not what I did though, I hid. I hid because I didn't want him to see me selling shoes. It's been nearly seven years since I graduated and I had nothing to say but I sell shoes. And I couldn't face it.I felt like a huge let down to everyone, including myself. And I know I'm the one to blame for what my life is. I need to work harder so if there's ever a next time I will have something worth saying.

Starting again

2009-03-15T21:16:00.004-04:00

Thank you to everyone for all their kindness these last months. I know I haven't been a very good blog friend lately but it's nice to know that a few of you are still with me.

I thought I'd give a little update on things in my life that I haven't posted about the last few months.
First off, I had another computer melt down. My computer stopped working. I'm working on getting it repaired and working on a borrowed computer right now. We'll see how that works out.
Last week I met with writing group. We usually meet the first Sunday of the month but I had to postpone due to everything going and my group members were awesome enough to reschedule. I have been taking parts of my short story, Worth Something, which is my story about the value of money and what it means to different people.
Jenni and I went to see RENT again. She got me tickets for Christmas and it was a nice chance to get away from the chaos. I got to see Jenni and my favorite musical. It's a great message of measuring your life in love and living like every moment is your last. It was what I needed.
Work has been madness. I'm really unhappy there. Combine that with a recent viewing of RENT and I can say that all I've wanted to do is quit my job and write. I haven't yet but I am looking into options. I'm not sure how much longer my employment will last, whether it's by my choice or someone else's.
That's about it. I've listed some books, watched some movies, read some books, even wrote some stuff (most of it journal entries). So I have a lot to post about. And I will. If I ever want to get out of this mess and doing what makes me happy, I have to start working hard.

2009-03-02T08:37:00.004-05:00

It's been over a month since I posted. And the last thing I posted was that my dog, Darlington, passed away. Two days later my grandmother went into the hospital for the third time in two months. After three weeks there was nothing more they could do for her. Last week I said goodbye to the woman that raised me, and my best friend.

It's hard not seeing her or talking to her everyday. There have been a lot of good things and bad things in my life lately. I'd give anything to talk to her about it. She always seemed to know the right thing to do.

So I'm a little lost right now. I can't really promise that I'll try to write more now that I'm not spending all my spare time in the hospital. But I am here and thank you to all of you who have been sticking with me.

Darlington

2009-01-29T09:48:00.001-05:00

Darlington

April 17, 1996 - January 28,2009

Unfortunately, not yet

2009-01-25T20:10:00.003-05:00

I was ten minutes away from sitting down and telling you all the good news. My grandma was out of the hospital and on the road to recovery. Not to mention that the huge project that I needed to get done before the 31st was finished today. So there would be nothing stopping me from blogging all the time.
Sadly, right before I sat in my computer chair and booted up, the phone rang. Back to the hospital I went. And as if our family didn't have enough to deal with, Darlington, my childhood dog, is not doing so well. I think we're getting into the final hours. Between it all I am drained but still here. And I will be back on a regular basis soon.

We interrupt this blog...

2009-01-12T23:58:00.002-05:00

Okay, I know I'm suppose to be posting more and I know I've had a lot of excuses but I swear I have good reason.
I've had a family member in the hospital. There was a simple surgery that wasn't necessarily simple, but everything turned out okay. Hopefully, they'll be out of the hospital soon and start working on their long and difficult recovery. Until then, I've been at, and will be at, the hospital.

Another thing going on is that I'm making a pretty big change in my personal life. It's an exciting change, that among many positive results, should allow me to spend more time at home, thus giving me more time to write blog posts and fiction.
This isn't something I can fall behind on either. It has to be done by the 31st. No excuses. And I had this whole schedule on how to get it all done by then. That plan went out the window the minute I headed out to the emergency room. So I'm trying to balance both things right now.
It's not leaving me any free time but by the end of January, I should have things together.
If that's possible.

What I should have sent to writer's group.

2009-01-04T20:45:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I realized that I had writing group this weekend and I had nothing to send. I took a section of my super long story because it was basically all I had. Of course, it was a chunk right from the middle so it didn't really make a lot of sense. And I hadn't written anything new so I hurried to type up another section that I had originally written long hand due to the lack of computer.
Everyone seemed to like my extremely passive and indecisive character. There weren't really a lot of notes about the story it's self since I've only sent two sections of a very long story and they were out of order.
Hopefully, I'll have something better for the next meeting. I'm not really sure that I was ready to have that story read by others. It's still incomplete. Although, it is nice to know that it's not off to a bad start.
I just now realized that I could have sent Worth Something, since it's practically done. The rear view mirror is always cleaner than the windshield, I guess.

50 in '08!

2009-01-02T23:32:00.000-05:00

I did it! I finally did it. I read 50 books in a year! Here are the books I read in 2008.

1. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

2. The Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind

3. The Blood of the Fold by Terry Goodkind

4. Temple of the Winds by Terry Goodkind

5. Soul of Fire by Terry Goodkind

6. Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind

7. Pillars of Creation by Terry Goodkind

8. Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind

9. Chainfire by Terry Goodkind

10. Phantom by Terry Goodkind

11. Confessor by Terry Goodkind

12. The 36 Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins

13. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

14. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

15. Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

16. The Golden Notebook by Doris Letting

17. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult

18. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

19. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

20. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

21. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien

22. Wicked by Geoffrey Maguire

23. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

24. He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behren

25. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

26. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

27. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

28. Blood Is the New Black by Valerie Stivers

29. Atonement by Ian McEwan

30. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

31. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz

32. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz

33. The Odd Hours by Dean Koontz

34. Twilight by Stephenie Meyerr

35. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

36. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

37. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

38. Cravings by Laurell K. Hamilton, Mary Janice Davidson, Eileen Wilks and Rebecca York

39. Four Past Midnight by Stephen King

40. Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

41. Gates of Eden by Ethan Cohen

42. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

43. 20th Century Ghost Story by Joe Hill

44. Storm Front by Jim Butcher

45. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher

46. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

47. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

48. Death Masks by Jim Butcher

49. Holidays on Ice by Dave Sedaris

50. The Tales of Beetle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

It's gonna be a Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T15:12:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's really been over a month since I've posted. I'm sorry about that. I don't have the lack of computer as an excuse anymore. There were the hectic holidays keeping me busy. The shopping, planning, cooking, cleaning, etc..., but really that still no excuse.
Honestly, my absence has been for a lot of reasons. I became unaddicted when I had to live without my computer, so I didn't have that need to post. Another thing is that a lot of my regular readers, who are also blog writers, haven't been posting on their own blogs as much or reading this blog as much. And sometimes it's just discouraging to write when it feels like no one is reading.
Honestly, though, the biggest reason I haven't written so much is because for the last year or so I've been working on something. Not a writing something but a personal something. And I don't regret the sacrifices I've made because I feel they've been worth it, but I think I've been putting it before myself and I've been down that road before. It's not a good one. So my New Year's resolution is to not give up so much. It's very vague but there's no way to define it in terms.
Last night, I think I made some head way in getting something I want that will help with my goals. I'm hoping that works out.
My goals for this blog are simple. Blog more, read more blogs and try to get some new readers.
Happy New Year!

Get back to work

2008-11-30T00:00:00.004-05:00

Yes, I have a new computer. So why haven't I posted more? Well I have a job that takes up too much time. And I'm not at home much (it just recently occurred to me that a laptop is mobile). Plus, the holidays are hectic for me. In my family, I always host the holidays. I do the planning, the shopping, the cleaning, the cooking, the cleaning and it's time consuming.
Enough excuses, I need to get back to it. Writing group will be meeting a week from today, which means I need something to send by Fridayish.
What to send? My last story was such a success that I'm worried nothing will live up to Secret Identity Crisis. I have no new funny stuff. So I might have to go back to drama.
I have a short story, Worth Something, that examines the value of money and what it means to different people. It's basically done. I wrote it in long hand and planned to put the finishing touches on it as I typed it up, which I'm about half way done with.
I could take a section of my short story turned novella that I still have no title for. No one dies in either story but they are both a bit depressing.
There's also the option of scrounging up something super old or writing something completely new.

Aside from writing group I need to get reading. I need to finish four more books by the end of the year to finally accomplish my goal of reading 50 books a year.

The Bestest Friend Ever!

2008-11-23T23:14:00.004-05:00

Jenni is the bestest friend ever because she gave me this new awesome computer that I'm now using. It's much faster and has many more great attributes than the last one I had. The best part is that Jenni gave it to me out of love, not because she wanted free Internet.

And since I'm using terms like "bestest friend ever", let me tell you what I did last night. I went to see Twilight. I know, why, when I didn't really care for the book? I had some weird hope that the screenplay would add more action and cut out a lot of inner-dialogue, which is usually what movies do to ruin stories that I loved in book format. This movie left in all that whiny, selfish inner-dialogue and had about five minutes of decent action. No good. I wanted to leave in the first fifteen minutes. Slow moving and completely unsuspenseful. Of course, the giggling and applauding teen girls in the crowd apparently thought differently.
I dragged Slipstream with me and he says it doesn't matter if he "looks" 17, he's still over a hundred and dating a 16 year old. And that's just not right.

Reading update

2008-11-18T12:06:00.002-05:00

Since I've been away from blogger world, I haven't had a chance to update on what I've been reading. I haven't even been able to add to goodreads.com.
While my new job doesn't allow much extra time for writing. I also haven't had a lot of time for reading. I miss those eight hour shifts with nothing to do but read.
I'm still on track to read fifty novels this year. I'm up to forty-three. So that means a novel a week for the rest of the year.
Right now, I'm finishing "Odd Hours," the most recent book in Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. I go back and forth with these books. I really liked the first one. Odd is funny, even though he's not trying to be, so his interaction with others is what I like most. Unfortunately, in book two he was solo most of the time, which I didn't really enjoy. Book three brought back some of that great interaction, which I enjoyed. Book four he's mostly solo again. And it's too bad because a lot of characters, that help Odd, are real fantastic. Not to mention, the book has a very vague ending, which does set up a sequel, but left me feeling really lost.

Back in time.

2008-11-15T18:20:00.004-05:00

When I first started I didn't have a lot of readers. Of course, I don't have that many now either. I feel like my first posts have never been read by anyone but myself, so I thought I'd repost a few. What was on my mind three years ago ? Here's a post from November 13, 2008.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Sharing your imagination
Another comic book show today and I couldn't stand to be there. No, I'm not getting tired of comic book shows or comic books. I'm getting tired of not being there to promote my own comic book. All I do is sell and by other stuff and it makes me feel gloomy. It's not that I want to make money, I have no expectation of making the big bucks or the small bucks for that matter, I just want to see my work done. I want to see my accomplishment. I want to see other people enjoying my work.I've been thinking about my writing a lot this week. With the new Harry Potter movie drawing near it makes me think. This happens often when something I really enjoy comes into the spotlight. I get envious. Not because J.K. Rowling is rolling in piles of cash or bombarded with fan mail. I'm sure those things are great but I think about how much I love her books. When I come home from work or have stressful moments I jump into these things and I feel better. I leave the world and life I am tired of and enter these amazing places and become these amazing people. I have always had the imagination to create these places for myself but it's wonderful seeing others. Sometimes you get bored or in a mental block and you can't carry yourself away. That is when you engross yourself in someone else's imagination and you experience things and learn things. It's when you get the chance to experience happy times that you don't have in your own life right now, you get to see horrible things that make you realize your life isn't that bad, or you get to see that their are other people who face the same things you do. That is how I feel about the things I read and watch. I don't know if it is the same for everyone, maybe I over think things or don't think enough. Perhaps I am even bordering on insanity. All I know is that if there is one person or everyone in the world that feels the same way I do, I want to share my imagination with them for the times when they need help breaking away.It's not that I write only for other people, I write for myself. If you told me no one would ever read my work, I'd still write everyday. I have so many thoughts in my head and I'm so afraid one day I'll forget them. I have to put them down. I don't need to be rich or famous, I've never had either and I have had a great life this far. Yet when I did have tough times I always had somewhere to go. Whether it was in my own head or in a book, when my parents yelled, the kids teased, or my heart was broken I didn't sit around and focus on how much I hated things. I ran away to a place that let me be free from troubles. Then things were good. It's those good things that give you the strength to face the bad things, because you know the good things will come again eventually. I want to give the good things.That is why I write. I'm just getting anxious because I really want to share it with as many people as possible, if they want to read it. I think about how much I enjoy diving into worlds created by others when I need a break from my imagination as well as my life. If no one else wants to see it that's okay because I have it for myself. That is how it started and I still love it.

Pass it on

2008-11-14T23:58:00.003-05:00

Normally, I'm not down with chain mail. If you send me an e-mail saying I'll have good fortune if I forward it, I won't do it. If someone sends me a myspace message that says I'll die if I don't repost it, I'll take my chances. However, today I got a cool chain letter that I actually think could be fun. I'm asked to send a book, just one, that I've enjoyed to another person, that is named on my letter. Then I send out six of my own letters that will have the person that sent the letter to me listed on it. The people I send the letters to should in turn send a book to my sender and then send out letters with my name. So if each person sends one book and six letters they will receive 36 books.
I know it seems like most chain letters are a scam, and some are, particularly those that involve money, but I have to get behind this one. First off, it's one book. It can be used and I'm sure everyone has one book sitting around somewhere that they don't plan on reading again. Second, books are cheap to send. Ask for media mail at the post office. It's less than $3.00 for books. Third, it's basically just a book exchange, which I do with lots of people already. The number one thing I give to and lend to people is books. I like to encourage reading. It's becoming a lost art, in a world of t.v. and video games.
So I'm going for it. I'm going to do it. I already know what book I'm going to send and I plan on listing any books I may receive. I hope it works out and that the people I select keep it going because it seems like a super cool idea.

Moving On

2008-11-13T23:39:00.001-05:00

With the new job, new apartment and a few other things in life, I've really been putting a lot of things behind me for good. And for once I can honestly say I'm happy. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't miserable before now. I've been content for a while, but right now I'm happy. Life's not perfect but it's pretty good.
Of course, during the bad times, I wrote a lot of stories. And I'm starting to think that my writing was a little too personal. Now I look back on those stories and I don't even want to touch them. That part of my life is over. No need to go back.
When I was with my writing group, talking about the last piece of the Christmas Bells, I realized I just didn't like the story anymore. And a lot of me wondered if it was because I wrote this story for a person that I had to leave behind. A person who isn't in my life anymore because it was them or me and I chose me. Who wants to look back and dwell on that?
So I'm left with the question of how much of my own life should I put into a story? And if I chose any at all, how do I push forward with my work, when that part of my life is over?
If I choose to keep my personal experiences out of it, then where do I find the ideas and the emotions to write?

Things to do

2008-11-12T23:35:00.003-05:00

Now that I'm back online, I have a ton of stuff to do. I've missed out on so much, which means there is too much to catch up on. So I'm making a little list to keep track of what I need to do.
First, I need to get my blog in shape. I need to update my side bar and, of course, post on a regular basis. Second, I need to go around to all the blogs I use to read frequently and let everyone know I'm alive. I've actually already commented on a fair few so that one should be done soon.
Third, I need to catch up on blog and live journal reading. I'm not sure how far back I should go. I did catch a post here and there at the library, but I feel lost when reading some of them.
Fourth, MySpace and Facebook need updates. This again is mostly so people know I still exist.
Fifth, I need to get cracking on submissions, this goes for snail mail as well.
Sixth, list tons of books on half.com
Seventh, just to be on the safe side, I should keep up on the job hunt. Just in case.
Last but most important, is to catch up with my friends. I did get an e-mail out to Jenni, but it's no where near the length it should have been. I haven't IMed with D.B. Echo in a long time. Not to mention my other friends that have moved away and I kept in touch with through e-mail.

That's not funny. Is it?

2008-11-11T11:39:00.003-05:00

Last night our writing group met and I took Secret Identity Crisis, my script turned prose story. It’s a bit of a parody and meant to be comical. It’s not something I normally write. In fact, as I’ve mentioned before, my writing group was actually making fun of how tragic my stories usually are. So I guess I thought of myself more as a dramatic writer rather than a comedy writer.
Although, I must admit I love comedy. I think comedy writer’s have to be incredibly intelligent to know what will make a person laugh. Tina Fey is one of my writing role models, and it was actually Mean Girls that inspired me to write Secret Identity Crisis. And for the record, I am not a fair weathered fan. I was admiring Tina Fey long before she was doing an almost scary impression of Sarah Palin.
Anyway, I never really thought of myself as a comedy writer, but I do like to write comedy, I attempt to be funny and sometimes it does make people laugh. I just don’t really think that I’m funny. But I took my comedy story to writing group mostly because I didn’t have anything else finished and I thought I would take a silly story to show them I wasn’t a completely depressing writer. I didn’t really go with high expectations.
What shocked me is the writing group’s love of the story. They thought it was funny and they liked it. One of them said they thought it was my best work thus far. Another said I should seriously look into submitting it because it was so unique.
To be honest I was shocked. I got really excited and started thinking off all the possibilities for it. Maybe I could make it longer. Or maybe it could be a comic book or movie.
Then I realized something. The first story that I got published in a literary magazine was Sweaty Palms, which was humorous, not a serious story. My most favorite thing that I’ve ever written and the story I thought had the most promise of anything I’ve ever worked on was Behind the Naugahyde, a comedy. There were agents who actually wanted to read more after a query.
So maybe comedy is my thing. Maybe I’m not as bad at it as I thought. It’s definitely something to think about.

Alive and well!

2008-11-10T12:33:00.002-05:00

Guess who's back on the Internet in the comforts of her own home? If anyone guessed me, they're right! I'm so excited. I can't wait to get back to blogging regularly, IM chatting, checking out all my favorite blogs, and finally listing the hundreds of books that I have sitting in my room. Did I mention I'm totally excited?

Today I hope to get around to a few of my favorite blogs and say "hi". So I'm off but I'll be back tomorrow with an awesome post. I'm going to post everyday this week in celebration. Let the joyous news be spread!

Two in a row!

2008-11-02T16:40:00.001-05:00

Over the past week, I made my first attempt at converting a script into prose. It was actually a mini-movie that I wrote. There were never any plans to make it but I always thought it would work better as a movie. If I were forced to describe by using other movies as examples I would say that it’s kind of a cross of Clueless and Clerks.
I was worried that it wouldn’t work in prose but the transition seemed to work out okay. I was able to use inner monologue for the main character and I think that definitely added something. Although, I think visuals would add to the humor.
The plan is to take it to writing group tonight and see what they think about it. I’m sure they’ll just be excited that I finally sent a story that is upbeat and funny (I think).

I'm still alive.

2008-11-01T16:14:00.001-04:00

It’s November 1st. The start of NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. It’s probably no surprise that I don’t plan on committing to either of these this year. Without Internet access, NaBloPoMo would be a difficult task. And while I really should do NaNoWriMo, I just don’t feel like I can.
I have started adjusting to the new job and finding more time for writing. But I still have a lot of unfinished projects to catch up on. There is one significant change that I would like to make in my life that would give me more time to get things done but that change isn’t possible at the moment so I have to make the best of what I have.
The past two Novembers I got slammed with serious family problems. I hope that doesn’t happen again this year but I’m always worried about the possibility. While September through December is my favorite time of the year, it’s not always the kindest to our family.
So no commitment to either NaMo but I do want to at least post more than the few times I managed to post in October, which was twice. So that shouldn't be hard to do.

It seems like nothing but updates

2008-10-16T15:07:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been so long. I didn't mean to neglect my blog. I miss it dearly and really wish I had the chance to write and read blogs more often. I know it seems like all I do lately is give updates. That's mostly because by the time I get back around to writing it's time for another update. So here's the news.

First off, my roommate is lending me a computer that she was going to recycle after getting a new Mac. So providing that it's willing and able, I might have regular Internet access by next paycheck. *fingers crossed*

Second, writing group met again and I got a chance to give them the last half of Christmas Bells. I'm pretty sure that if I do anything with that story, I'm going to need to lengthen it. It goes too fast and really has a lot of room for more.
Anyway, now I'm left wondering what story I should take when we meet next month. My writing group thinks I'm notorious for unhappy endings and they're right. I haven't shared one story with a happy ending. I think someone dies in almost every story I've given them. So I promised a happy story this time.
I have a few old short stories written, but they're nothing I really wanted to fuss with. I'm almost finished with my short story about the money and whether stealing is wrong if money has no value, which I've tentatively titled Worth Something. No one dies but it is a bit pessimistic. I could always write something new but I think I might attempt to turn a script into a prose. I have on in mind that's a fun parody of sorts. If not, I might take the first part of my super long short story/novella. Once again, it's a bit pessimistic but no one dies.

Behind the Naugahyde is back

2008-10-01T14:41:00.002-04:00

MySite, is the website company that Jenni and I went through for BehindtheNaugahyde.com. Originally, they said "if you don't want pop-ups, you have to pay." Jenni paid, but over the last few years we hadn't been using the site much (I know, shame on us!) so we figured a few pop-ups were okay. Well, to be truthful we didn't even really think about it. That is until Jenni had a mysterious charge on her card. She fought with the MySite people and they said they'd reverse the charge... as well as shut our site down.
That's when the awesome Jenni, decided Blogspot is way more popular than MySite and it's FREE! So she started us a snazzy blog that you can see here behindthenaugahyde.blogspot.com. It has all the old material, just formatted a little different. And hopefully, the new change will motivate Jenni and I to start working hard.

Getting back to business

2008-09-21T15:52:00.004-04:00

The job at Goodwill is going well. My schedule has been a bit crazy since I'm training, but next week I go to my permanent home and hopefully, I'll get settled in.
It's quite different to have a job where I can't read, write and be on the Internet. Although, I have managed to write on my lunch breaks, since it doesn't take me a full half hour to eat.
I'm really excited to get back to writing more regularly. I have an itch I need to scratch. There's a lot of built up ideas waiting to get out. Some of them are new, others are working on rewriting, revising, editing and submitting my other works. I feel like I could burst with everything going through my head.
Slipstream has been giving me heck about not writing. He's taking no excuses. He's done everything from offering to buy me paper and pencils, giving story suggestions and just telling me I need to go home and work on a novel. He knows I hate to let people down so I guess I better get to work.

Another idea for the to do list.

2008-09-13T14:57:00.001-04:00

While I was organizing my writing folders a few weeks ago I had another thought. There were unfinished stories that I had forgotten about long ago but what about the finished ones that have never had a chance.
Sure, I actively submit my short stories but what about the other stuff? Well none of the novels are really ready for queries, and I’m not sure if they ever will be but what I’m talking about is the scripts.
I don’t think it’s any secret that what I really wanted to write is comic books, but I started writing short stories because it’s hard to get anyone to look at comics without an artist. And after a long, frustrating search for an artist, I thought I might have more luck if I was a published writer. So I ventured into short stories, which I actually like writing.
But I still have a few comic scripts and I also have a short film script. I’m pretty fond of most of these stories and I’m really sad that they are just sitting there.
The other day I got to thinking that maybe changing them into short story format, or even novella or novel for one of them, might not be the worst idea. At least then I would know how to go about getting them published. And even though I make them into prose doesn’t mean that one day they can’t go back to their original format of comic book. Look at how many books and short stories are turned into comic books or movies.
That means I have yet another thing to add to my to do list. It seems I keep adding stuff but how many times do I write to say that I can finally scratch something off the to do list.
Hopefully, I'll adjust to my new schedule and get my computer problems fixed soon.

Back on track

2008-09-07T14:11:00.002-04:00

The new job is so far so good. Today is my day off so I'm trying to get some stuff done. Like submissions, posting some books and catching up on blogs. And we have writer's group tonight. Due to weddings and vacations we didn't get a chance to meet in August. I was worried once school started in September that we'd be done again, but it looks like we'll get at least one more meeting in tonight.
I'm taking part 3 of 4 of my short story, Christmas Bells. I'm a little worried about what I'll do if we end up not having another group meeting now that that school's back in session. I'll be left with a quarter of my story unreviewed. One of the hazards of working with English teachers, I guess. Although, they are the best people to have critiquing your work.
Well, I'm going to try getting around to blogs now. I'll try to comment so everyone will know I've been by to see them. Hopefully, I'll get back to posting at least twice a week.

A little info on the new job

2008-09-04T16:25:00.003-04:00

Hello! Wow things are so crazy for me as if I haven't said that before. Thanks for all the nice comments. I hope to get back to writing on a more frequent basis now that my schedule will be straightening out.
In case anyone was curious, my new job is at Goodwill. Not only is it full time with benefits but Goodwill has an amazing mission. All of their store profits go to helping people with barriers find employment. So I'm really exciting that my new job includes helping so many people.
Well, I'm not quite sure what my new schedule will be but I'll try to post soon.

Change

2008-08-30T14:42:00.004-04:00

I'm almost done with the last of moving. Once Tuesday comes around and I turn over the keys, it will be done.
And today, I type this post at the shoe store I would have worked at for four years in September. Sadly, today may be my last shift. I might work a day or two more if my new work schedule permits it.
On Tuesday, I sign over the keys to my old house and then start my new job. Oh and it's the start of autumn, my absolute favorite time of year. I hope this means good things to come. Like more time to write.

After this week I should get back on track to some extent or it could be crazier than ever.

2008-08-27T19:18:00.003-04:00

Status update: The major part of the move is done. I still have trash to get out and cleaning to do. Then there's unpacking at the new place.
Oh and did I mention while all of this was going on I managed to get a new job? That's right, a full-time with benefits job.
How ironic that I get the job, that would have prevented me from having to move, the same week that I move. Well, at least now I'll have a year to save up. Hurray!

It should be over soon

2008-08-21T09:16:00.004-04:00

I'm at the library doing a quick e-mail check. Sorry I haven't gotten around to posting sooner. Things have been so hectic. I move on Saturday. Sunday we're suppose to have writing group. Tomorrow I'll be working at the store with Internet so maybe I'll have a minute to post something better than this. Once August is over I should be back posting more often. I'll be at the store with Internet more often. Also I should make it to the library more since I won't be spending every second cleaning and packing. And maybe this move will save me enough money to get my computer fixed.

Books are my new blogs

2008-08-09T16:48:00.003-04:00

I want you all to know that I feel very lonely not having regular Internet access. I miss my daily blog readings. If your blog is in my sidebar I most likely checked it daily, if not twice daily because I have no life. Now I only get to check them once a week.

I'm trying to get over my loneliness and utilize my time without the Internet. I'm happy to report that I'm up to 32 novels this year, which has me well on my way to this being the year I finally read 50 novels.

I finished Iron Kissed from the Mercedes Thompson series, the werewolf books, by Patricia Briggs. I was seriously surprised by the end of the last book. Usually nothing bad ever happens to the main characters. Something almost always prevents it just in time. This book did not end up like that. I was amazed the writer had the nerve to do that. And from what I read she's writing another book in the series. I'm curious to see how that turns out.

Today, my co-worker and future roommate lent me the last book of the Twilight series. I find the main character to be selfish and whiny, and I can't understand why two immortal and supernatural beings are fighting over her. Yet, I can't seem to go without ever knowing how it ends. My co-worker dropped me some hints about why I'll like the main character, Bella, even less.
After that I'm not sure what I'm going to read.

Getting organized

2008-08-07T09:16:00.000-04:00

Over the last week I’ve been attempting to pack or toss everything I own. One of the things that I started going through was my writing stuff.
I’m not sure how other writer’s function but here is my set up. I have a two-drawer filing cabinet that’s filled with files and notebooks. Most of my short stories have their own file. All of the novels have a notebook and a few files. Then there are other files with story ideas and other writing like old articles and reviews. I also have a few folders full of research. Oh and I can’t forge the folder full of rejection notices.
On my desk is my “current” pile, which is stuff I’m supposedly working on.
That’s my system. The other day I figured it would be easier to move if it was organized. So I started off attempting to file away my current pile only to realize that the two drawers had become terribly unorganized. I decided it would be best to pull everything out and do something with it.
I have to say after all the computer crashes and file losses, seeing all of these print copies and hand-written stories gave me the feeling of not being completely lost. It was nice to be able to hold my work in my hands. Although, I still had the worry that it would suddenly burst into flames.
As I sorted through everything, I found quite a few things I had started long ago and forgotten about. When I first started seriously writing, I had started a short story about a journalist who is trying to get a story about the mafia and somehow ends up in the mafia.
There was a nother story that I started a while ago about a mysterious hotel that seems like it’s paradise but is the exact opposite.
Obviuosly, the notes and thoughts I had about each of these stories are much more detailed and hopefully more interesting. I was really excited about both of these stories when I first came up with the ideas for them. I have started both of the stories just never finished them for some reason or another. I’m going to put them on my to do list not that I’ve really been making a dent in that lately.

Quick Update

2008-08-06T09:20:00.002-04:00

I had a relaxing weekend, despite sunburn. Ouch! Now I'm back to working, packing, selling, cleaning and dealing with companies that put a charge to my account twice.
I missed writing group this week because I didn't make it back in town on time. Everyone else in the group will be out of town for the next two weeks so we won't meet again until the 24th, which is the day after I move.
Other than that, I've been trying to do some reading and writing during my long, empty hours at work. When I'm there today I'll try to write a really good entry and post it the next time I'm near a computer. Until then...

On the move

2008-07-31T18:48:00.002-04:00

What's going on in my world? More things, other than having no computer, to district me from blogging and writing.
First off, it's hot. And we all know how I despise hot. I've been lucky this year, so far. There have been years where this heat has started in May and continued through September. This year it didn't really get hot until mid-July. I'm anticipating heat through August, but September better cool off.
Other news. I'm moving. Again? I know. It seems like just 2 years ago since I moved and that's pretty close to correct. But I'm broke and I can't afford my lavish life style anymore. One housemate wasn't enough. I need two. And my current house is too small for that. So I'm out.
On the bright side hopefully the money I save on rent will allow me to get my computer fixed. I'm not counting on it, just wishing.

The Weekend

2008-07-25T18:42:00.004-04:00

I have the weekend off from work. So today is my last chance to post without going a whole week without posting. Unless of course I made it to the library this weekend, which could happen.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything deep and meaningful to write. Just a few updates.

Writing group went well on Monday. Sadly, we're starting to fade out again. August is filled with vacations and weddings. Before you know it, school will be back in again. We're going to try to have a few more meetings in August and make an attempt at meet once a month during the school year. Hopefully, we can hold it together.

My summer reading list is getting longer. I started reading the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz, as well as continuing with my werewolf series by Patricia Briggs. I'm not sure what the series is called but I just read the second book, which was Blood Bound.

And I've given into peer pressure. Thanks to my co-worker, I'm now on the third book with of the Twilight series. Those young adult romance novels about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Apparently, they're huge. There's a movie coming out in December and the fourth book comes out next week and they're having midnight book parties for it. I have some thoughts about these books but I'll share later when I'm done.

Also, I miss my Internet friends. I hardly ever get a chance to e-mail Jenni anymore. I haven't had a IM chat with DBEcho in forever. I've tried my best to keep up with every one's blogs. Hang in there with me. I'm trying to fix this.

And I've added another link to the sidebar. Chad is another writer who stumbled into this blog. I've checked out his blog and I think the links worth sharing.

Unsorted and unnamed

2008-07-20T15:41:00.002-04:00

Last year my computer crashed, thankfully I had everything on a flash drive. The flash drive that eventually erased itself somehow. Then I was left with nothing. All my work gone, except for anything I had hand written or had sent to someone.
It wasn't the first time I had lost work but it was the most work I had ever lost. Someone was able to recover big chunks, but not everything. The minute the recovery happened, I spent my day saving everything to an e-mail account. I figured I'd always be able to access my work from anywhere.
Don't worry I'm not about to say that something devastating happened to said e-mail account. Everything is fine *Knock on wood*.
What did happen was that I quickly saved everything not bothering to label any of it. So now that I'm considering showing some of my work to others, I wanted to find some of my really early stuff, or at least stuff that I'm not currently submitting. That means that I had to open every single e-mail I sent to myself and figure out what the heck was in it. Thank goodness it's been slow here at work.
It's really sad to realize how much I lost. The thought of retyping everything that I have printed or handwritten makes my head hurt. Not to mention my recent computer malfunction that did take a few une-mailed documents with it. Whether or not I'll get those back remains to be seen.