Raw Verbage

Seven hundred and sixty new words, more or less, about the devil and espionage. Uphill all the way.

The spirit is willing, but the spirit is also tired. I like to think of this as a victory over the wave of bureaucracy that was my day.

Now I think I will watch The Battleship Potemkin. Because nothing helps you recover from a hard work day like Bolshevik propaganda.

Catherine

The Absent Willow Review

The Love Song of Oliver Toddle will appear in the November 16th, 2009 issue of The Absent Willow Review.

Cue happy sigh. It’s a victory for romantic gnomes who work at automotive garages everywhere.

And the Drollerie music post is done. With much maligning of the 60s TV shows of Irwin Allen.

Now, onto my contributions to Squid Boy for the week.

Catherine

JoNoWriMo 2009

Some writers work better in solitude, pounding out words of deep meaning into their keyboards like the deep thrum of a taiko drum.

…me neither.

If you want to join a group of writers supporting a wide variety of writer goals for a month and a half, consider
JoNoWriMo, where a lot of very cool writers hang out.

I’ll be finishing my troll novel. What will you be doing?

Catherine

Drollerie Blog Tour: Return of Fraser Sherman

Back in February, Writer Tamago was fortunate to host Fraser Sherman for the Drollerie Press blog tour. Well, Fraser’s back, and this time he’ll be writing about music. His article will be up September 21st.

I wrote an introductory article about Fraser, and I’ll hope you’ll check out his varied writings and works.

Meanwhile, I’ll be over at Twisted Fairytale, Isabelle Santiago’s place.

Catherine

Weekly Writing Schedule

Maybe you’re thinking where’s last week’s snippet?

Last week was all revision, so I have nothing new to give you. I’ll see what I can do this week.

Writing times for this week

9-14: 7-8:30 (after SF book group)
9-15: 12-3 (My usual afternoon gig)
9-16: 6-8
9-17: 6-8 (Meeting with Cat about squidboy at 8 CST)
9-18: 7-9 (While Bryon is at film group)

***

Making my Viable Paradise bus reservations today, and getting the feeling after talking to the woman on the phone that this part isn’t going to work well. Also found out that my return bus doesn’t leave Woods Hole until 2:20, which gets me to the airport with under an hour before my flight leaves. Well, before, it seemed that there was an 11:30 bus, but now that no longer exists.

It should work. Yeah. Especially if I check my baggage in advance.

If not, I’d better pack C’s number, just in case…

Catherine

Troll Progress

How cool is it that three scenes that I thought might be scratched turn out to be usable and full of action if I just reshuffle the cards in the deck?

The troll revision is now just shy of 20K words, and having the Widow disappear a child early in chapter five moves the Grant/David fall out right along.

I may start writing through on single plot threads for the next sessions and then shuffle them into chapters again. That seems to be a good strategy for this story.

Trolls are a little stubborn in telling me their story. Not like Binders, which are eager to tell their stories in flowery, melodramatic language. Silly, reticent trolls! Work with me!

Then again, a lot of the Norwegians we met at the Nordic Fest were kind of close-lipped too.

Catherine

The Latest on Craig’s Heart

As I was wasted when we returned home last night, I thought I would wait until my head was on a bit straighter to write a better update than the reactive one in my personal journal. The news that we’ve just received from Bryon’s mom over the phone is even more optimistic than yesterday’s prognosis.

For those of you who don’t have access to the other journal, here’s what actually happened: Craig was having a stint put in (a fairly routine operation) when the instrument they were using to do it hit a calcium build-up in one of his arteries. It skidded off of that and cut his artery, and then he had a clot, a seizure, he stopped breathing, he was shocked, they put in another stint, he had another clot, yadda, yadda, yadda.

The doctors did the ultimate best they could and kept him from dying. He is in some pain now because of the life-saving CPR and electric shock. However, his heart is good to go. The docs aren’t going to let him go home until he can breath normally (he’s tender, so he’s breathing shallowly), and he can take care of himself (no one is going home scared or worried, they assure him and his wife). He has some good muscle relaxing dope, and he’s coming along.

Yesterday things were kind of tense, and today things are better with better news. Now, we can return you to your regular programming. That kind of excitement we don’t need, except maybe in fiction if it makes sense with the plot and isn’t overwrought.

It is, however, kind of cool that the story has a happy ending, in the face of what could have happened. I used to think it was just Bryon, but I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the Stump brothers in general are lucky.

It should give you an idea how draining it was when I tell you Bryon and I slept for 11 hours today. Yay.

Catherine

Publishing and Self-Publishing

This topic is going around, and because I wrote a monstrous response over in Jim Hines’ website, I reproduce it here.

What I want to do is publish, not self publish. My writing goals run more toward those that a publisher can satisfy.

I want a better shot at long term staying power. I want money to come to me, rather than having to invest in a start-up business. I want some modicum of promotional support.

I want a publisher’s distribution network. I want to network with a stable of writers that write under the same umbrella.

I would like to have my books in book stores. I want to walk into shops and take pictures of my books in the wild, without me having to finagle to get them onto the shelves. I would like readers I don’t have to wrangle with to get.

I would like a shot at writing a book again. I would like to sell a book on spec, rather than having to go through the uncertainty of writing an entire book and hoping it will sell every time.

I want the awesome power of an editor to make my book better. I know that a good editor can work wonders for any writer. I want that partnership, especially because editors are not easy on you. I am grateful for the editors who have worked with me on my published projects thus far, making me more aware that it takes a village–um–publishing company. I want to be pushed.

I am willing to work at it for a few years until I get these things. If it takes less time, groovy. If more, well, at least I like writing, and that’s a good reason to write.

I believe that if you work at it, you hone your craft, you keep submitting, and you listen to good editors and agents, you’ll get there. After all, I didn’t get to the point I am in academia without a few years of work either.

I do have friends who have decided to self-publish, and I think their goals are different than mine. I respect that. What makes you happy is what you should do.

The things I want to accomplish in my writing career are more likely if I follow the route to working with an established publisher.

So yeah, color me patient.

Catherine

Family Emergency

Cross posted from my personal journal…

You know those release forms you sign before you go in for surgery? The ones with the horrible things on them that the medical staff will tell you are less risky than the surgery? Those forms are there for a reason.

Two weeks ago Bryon’s older brother Craig had a mild heart attack. He spent a day in ICU, they checked him over, and because of some of the drugs they used to treat him, they scheduled him for a stint in around two weeks. No one was worried. The procedure was supposed to be an easy operation, he would stay in the hospital overnight, and he would come the next day.

Except it didn’t go quite like that.

While the doctors were putting in the first stint, Craig developed a blood clot. The doctors resuscitated him on the operating table, and then they had to put in another stint. Which led to another blood clot.

Bryon’s parents called us last night after they’d spent the day at the hospital on this little emotional roller coaster. Craig is in ICU, they figure, for about a week under observation. They’re both in their 80s, and they’re pretty wrung out, so we’re going do to the old homestead to see to their needs, and of course Craig and Craig’s family. They must all be so worried.

Unlike my failed family, Bryon’s family is strong and close. Craig is the child Phyllis and Neal understand the most. He’s the most like them. He’s the one that lives closest. He has the same philosophy in life, and he’s the one that helps them. It’s not that Phyllis and Neal don’t love Mike and Bryon, but I strongly suspect Craig is their favorite son.

I’m glad he’s still alive. We almost lost him yesterday. He’s around 55, and he was a smoker until his first mild heart attack at 49. Please quit if you’re smoking. I’m just saying.

I’ll be away from the computer this weekend then. Stay safe and healthy, everyone. I’ll be back Monday.

Catherine

See the Amazing Writer Brainstorm Trick!

The Winter the Troll Danced with Old Nick is now solid at 4 chapters. That said, I just ditched about four scenes which, well, frankly, didn’t add much to the story.

And I’m going to be writing a great deal of new stuff very shortly. With things happening. Regrettably, I think what this means is that about half of what I wrote the first time around I can keep. I can also keep the godmother alliance stuff. And he Widow will still eat more kids. Yum-my!

Other cool new things will happen. Like:

Manuel will take a trip to the other Hulder camp, and we’ll learn more about Wort and Jensina. I hope for resolution there.

The same general plot thrust will be true with the troll witch plot.

David and Grant will fight a lot more. They should. David needs to feel that Grant has the emotion of a stone (get it? Trolls?). This will all come together nicely at the end in the climax, which I can still keep too..

Nick will frame Siegfried as the bad guy. Siegfried and Quartz will get all angsty. Quartz will be an active force for Feldspar. Intrigue runs amuck.

I’ve just got to get this all wrapped up in a nice active YA package.

I like writing. It’s *so* easy. (/sarcasm)

Catherine