Blog

Hey guys.

There is a list on here of things I mean to write about, and guess what? While I am still working, finals week is over, so I have a wee bit of breathing space. So I thought I would sort of talk less of lists and weight, and more about writing.

I haven’t been writing a lot lately. I put in some time each week, but I’ve been putting in so much at the day job, there hasn’t been a lot of umph to spare. Plus Icon and Disney. See my writing excuses. Since I’m no longer pretending to be a machine, I’m cool. That was a time in my life that I couldn’t write much, but as Kleon says, my whole life is a work of art. So neener, neener. Also, I have no deadlines or agents. Free irresponsibility! Rock on!

That said, I see December as a time to write. It is the 13th, and I just put the semester to bed. I have to do some things to prep for the next semester, but it’s not gonna be like it was. The Man (TM) and I have very little planned for the holiday, so there will be writing to be had.

And I have two goals. The first is to finally get the novella I started some time ago out the door. Easily done. It’s mostly tweeking. Some cutting and some additions, but not out of the scope of a few short days. Then, we continue working on the first Klarion novel. The first act I’ve spent a lot of time on, because everything falls out of that, but it would be my fondest wish to have the whole thing roughed by the end of January, and the project done by the end of June. And this I think is doable.

***

Next year, I am writing the Jim Hines’s way. Jim writes for fewer hours a week than I do, and he is more productive. So my plan is to take an hour and fifteen minutes out of my work day each day, sneak up to the quiet floor of the library, and hammer out words. I’m hoping that the continuity will mean I have shorter start up times each day. I also hope that this more disciplined approach will get me into an automatic approach to writing. Of course, that means I will only be writing at work for about six hours a week, and to keep up with my Gladstone goal, I hope to write for another six hours a week. That means I’ll have to find a little evening time and a little weekend time too.

***

And speaking of my Outliers 10,00 hours, I’m not quite done logging them for the year. I expect to be about 120 hours short of making my 624. Well, too much traveling this year, and not enough staying home and writing, I fear. The good news is that we’re filling the well with experiences that I hope help with the writing.

***

What’s out there right now? Just a couple of things.

O-Taga-San is with the Kaleidoscope anthology.
Whatever I re-title The Were-humans, it will be on its way to Paper Golem.
Abigail Rath Versus Blood Sucking Fiends is still at 5 agents, but I believe she has about reached the end of her door knocking, and will be put back on the work desk for a future time.

So. Feeling productive. If I could get A Lasting Storm out and about for next year and start on The Poison of thy Flesh, there would be no complaints here.

I also need to tease Manuel’s story out of the troll novel. It would be a good short piece to send somewhere. The troll novel just needs an overhaul, but that’ll stay in the queue until the right time.

***

Publish or not, I’m writing, and that’s the most important thing. The school paper is doing a feature on all of us Kirkwood writers (some 30 of us publish, write, or illustrate), so there’s that.

Happy writing to you all over the holidays. I hope you get loads done. No. Wait. That’s way too type A. How’s about: I hope you have a season of great joy? Yeah. That works.

And…as with the movie list, the criteria is that I read the book for the first time in 2013, not that it was published in 2013, although some of them were. In no particular order of preference, then…

1. Goblin Secrets by Will Alexander. Will haunts the reader with this innocent story of childhood. His city is mystic and his use of folk lore is masterful.

2. Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold. I was introduced to this book for the first time in our SF book group, and Miles is amazing to watch. It’s like trying to catch a runaway train. The complicated plots and vivid characters make for exciting, clever storytelling.

3. The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney. One of the first historicals I’ve read in a long time that is NOT anachronistic. Solid writer, excellent characterization, and by God, frustrating but satisfying romance.

4. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow. Classic old fashioned science fiction meets Disney World. It works. It really does.

5. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. Asks us to consider our entire lives as a work in progress, so we can free ourselves up to be more creative.

6. BPRD 1948 by Mike Mignola. The background of the Hellboy universe, with extra servings of Dr. Broom.

7. Courtney Crumrin Volume 3 Collected by Ted Naifeh. As long as there are Courtney Crumrin collections coming out, Naifeh will most likely make my list.

8. Machine by Jennifer Pelland. Why haven’t the major companies picked up Jennifer Pelland? She’s been nominated for big awards, and she wrote a novel like Machine. She is perhaps the most under-rated author in SF today, and that aggravates me. As to this book, it’s definitely for adults. I would call it an intense thriller of a book, with a horrific answer to the question of what is and isn’t alive.

9. My Story Can Beat Up Your Story by Jerry Schechter. What started with Walter Jon Williams at Taos Toolbox, continues in me through the good graces of Lou Anders, who presented about Schechter’s book at last year’s Convergence. This plotting mechanism really, really works for me, and I think my writing continues to improve because of it. Thanks to all 3 gentlemen.

10. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope. The patron saint of working writers everywhere, Trollope is funny and farcical, yet heart touching and genuine. And what’s more, his writing still resounds as relevant among his fans. As soon as Bryon and I finish the Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster run, I will recommend that we read Trollope together, which means given the respective output of both authors, you may see another Trollope book lauded here in 2030.

11. Saga by Brian Vaughn. A Christmas present from my exquisite friend Lisa, I can’t say enough good things about this series, with its offbeat mercenaries, star crossed and strange lovers, and serious championship of the abused. My favorite bit from the most recent issue of the series was when Slave Girl, who is a tiny child who was sexually abused, but then rescued by The Will, that mercenary I mentioned, was telling The Will’s partner that she was dirty because of all the awful things she had been made to do. And Lying Cat, The Will’s partner, whose major ability is to tell an untruth, hissed out “Lying.” And she hugs him. And I went off to cry for half an hour.

So, you should read that.

12. Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig. From the blood of the same vein that Pelland opened to write Machine, I think, the main character is a mangy woman who can see how others die, and shows up to capitalize on it. And then, there’s this interesting journey with horrible men and good men and just too much drama. I ate it with a spoon, have read the sequel, and look forward to the next that’s coming out.

***

I’d love to hear about what books you might recommend.

Catherine

Hey. Today has been a comedy of errors. I slid my car off the road (go, Iowa winter!). No one or no thing was damaged. Then I had to tell my boss I was filing a grievance at work (more like a clerical error, but still, it must be done.) And then, you know how Bryon gets sick like once every 500 years? Well, today’s that day! So, tonight I’ve been working like two people. I loves me some snow scooping!

Have I mentioned that I never want to go back to being single? Because never mind the loneliness. The workload alone just sucks!

On to another topic. How did this week’s dieting go?

Better in most ways. More exercise. Less food. Still came in behind about 11 points.

How’s about those stats?

Beginning Wii Weight: 223.8 (My heaviest ever after this summer.)
Wii Weight on 12-10-13: 213.8
Total: 10 pounds LOST

Notes: My lowest was 312.3 on the weekend, which is mostly because I get up late, and that affects the weigh in. Still, with a bit of luck…I did indulge in Zoey’s pizza last week, the best pizza in town. I had 3 slices, which might account for that 11 points over.

Weight Watchers on Initial Weigh In: 224
Weight Watchers on 12-10-13: 216.4
Total: 7.6 pounds LOST

Notes: Again as far as Weight Watchers is concerned, the movement has been steadily down.

***

So…we’re into the Christmas season and we’re into the cold season, and these are my main challenges for the foreseeable future. Last night, dutifully, I recorded this comfort food Japanese surprise binge. Mmmm…Oyakodon, but who knew that it was *that* high cal? I do…now.

And I gave in to the Puppy Chow that’s been calling my name from the campus coffee shop for three days. I was actually surprised at how good a deal it was…about 4 points for 2/3 a cup. There’s chocolate, and there’s peanut butter and sugar, but apparently, those babies are still mostly Chex.

I still have about 20 points left in my pool. That’s not bad, but I clearly need to slow down on the indulgences. I still have five more days this week before the next meetings, and for one of those days, I’m off to a really tasty Italian place.

There will be no Weight Watchers meetings when the college is closed. These reports will continue during that time, although there will only be Wii weight. If I can stay steady over Christmas, that will be a win, but I am going to try to actually continue to lose and exercise. These are the habits I need.

***

It does help with your exercise when you’re pretending to be single, though. I’ll give it that.

See you guys maybe Friday. Tomorrow I gotta place a few students, check A LOT of exams, and figure some grades.

Should I be checking papers? Well yeah. Am I? Sure I am. Believe it.

Or, if you don’t believe it, come over here and check out my top films list for 2013. I know what you’re thinking. Cath, another part of the The Hobbit comes out this week. You’re going to see About Time tonight. And what about Walking with Dinosaurs? Walter Mitty? 47 Ronin? Hmmmm????

I got one answer for you. Editing, baybee, editing. I suspect that of those films, Walter Mitty could make the cut. And if it does, I’ll refer you back here.

A couple of reminders of the mighty Tamago list. The only criteria is that I have to have seen it for the first time this year. That doesn’t mean that it needs to have come out this year. It means that any random stuff that I’ve seen for the first time could be in here. Got it? And these are in no particular order of preference. Here we go.

Continue reading “Writer Tamago’s Top 12 Films for 2013”

Wow. So, there was this week where we came off the Con, and I only exercised for 6 points. That was kind of pathetic. I was colding, so there you go.

And then there was the week of Thanksgiving, where I maxed out at an incredible 41 points, walking around airports and Disney and the like. And yes, I was pretty honest about it, neither exaggerated or low key.

This week we’re more or less back at a normal pace.

How’s about the weight then? At the end of Week 5, there was no meeting, because of the holiday. That brings us to this Tuesday, the end of Week 6.

Beginning Wii Weight: 223.8 (My heaviest ever after this summer.)
Wii Weight on 11-20-13: 215.4
Total: 8.4 pounds LOST

Weight Watchers on Initial Weigh In: 224
Weight Watchers on 11-19-13: 217.4
Total: 6.6 pounds LOST

The Weight Watcher’s scale picks up a tiny loss, but the home scale a tiny gain.

What happened: Disney was a food orgy, but I counted all the food and exercise. I did attempt some moderation and parsimony, but I also failed (Cuban food, ice cream, etc). The coolest thing, though, is that when I stepped on the scale at the first available opportunity, Monday, I HAD NOT GAINED ANY WEIGHT ON THE DISNEY VACATION. So that’s the advantage of maintaining 215 pounds, as to, say 165. That’s not great news, but it doesn’t suck either.

Now that I am back in the land of real people eating real food on a real budget, I am much more optimistic about next week.

It’s important to note two things here:

As far as Weight Watchers is concerned, my only movement is down.

Today on the Wii, I weight 213.2 pounds, which bodes well for my weigh in next week, as I have no plans to return to Cuban Food Paradise (Bongo’s), Be Our Guest, or even T-Rex (an extinction every dinner!) for quite some time.

Gods, I love theme dining. Dinner under a glacier or in the Beast’s torn to shreds study. Yeah. Home just doesn’t have atmosphere.

***

Okay. So, next week, an earlier report.

Day job is full of day jobbery. We are wrapping up the semester and I am registering new students, plus starting to plan out next semester’s curriculum, and there really hasn’t been day or night time. Alas, I have become the “here are my excuses” journal writer.

HOWEVER, the Disney vacation was grand. And the insanity of orientation, registration, and holding a writing workshop and being treasurer at the same time, well, let’s say that was handled better than it might have been in the past. Not perfectly. I’ve had some stress drama and attacks, but David is pleased with my plans and approaches for getting better. A work in progress. The motto over break: Did you treat yourself with the respect you deserve? We think one more appointment and things will be well in hand.

***

Disney over Thanksgiving? Would I do it again? My motive for going was Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which they stop early in December. Guess what? They stop it over Thanksgiving too, so we will have to wait until retirement to see it. It was very much like our Christmas trip a few years back, perhaps a little less crowded. We won’t do this again. Our next trip to Disney parks will be summer, or, if we’re lucky, an overlapping spring break.

Particular highlights this time:

Continue reading “*Blink*”

There are several authorly things that I need to do some closure on for you.

I believe I mentioned that I was speaking to a class for a colleague about writing for his creative writing class. They read my short story Turtle of the Earth and we tossed around that in a literary fashion for a while, and then I sort of told them about how many thorns you will find in your efforts to get published, but how perseverance was key. It was a good session.

***

Then we had Icon. The first event was that I was included in a mass author book signing before the con. I got to sit next to Jim Hines, and frankly, I suspect that this had something to do with the fact that I sold out of all the books that Barnes and Noble had ordered for me. That was heady. I am supposed to go back as soon as they’ve ordered more and sign some for in store. Still, cool and groovy. When I had one copy of Cucurbital 3 left, Jim stood up and put it over his head, and began to draw attention…and I shut him down. Can’t take him anywhere. But then the book did sell. So there you go.

***

Paradise Icon 2 was a total success this year. We had 8 neo-pro writers. Friday was a day of intense workshopping on our stories, and Saturday Greg Frost and Nancy Kress lectured for us. Our event was topped off by a reading Friday night. There was much good food and much bar con. I had a couple of wrinkles that pretty much kept me busier than I should have been: a sick cat and Icon’s treasury. With luck next year, it’ll just be the workshop at the con, and believe me, that’s enough.

***

Signing up for NaNoWriMo this month, as well as the Codex novel contest seemed to be more wishful thinking than reality interfaces this year. The Codex contest I should have been able to pull off, but if I had really thought about November, I would have seen that after the first week, I’d be pretty busy. I’m watching my food, exercising, relaxing, but I’m not really writing. Okay, to be honest with you, I’m not really relaxing. I’m doing the treasury books. So, it’s a lesson in learning to say no,and blocking out time.

***

Speaking of blocking out time, I will fall short on my writing hours this year. Looking at my year, I see that I believed in the concept of magical time. I travelled to Las Vegas, Wiscon, Colorado, Viet Nam, Convergence, several trips to Minneapolis, a Ren Faire, and Icon. So…there you go. Throw in April lost to bronchitis, and I can see why I didn’t measure up. I need to slow down. Huh…seems I’ve heard that before. 🙂

***

Let me link you to a couple of commentaries about the convention. I am glad that it was so well-received.

Chris Cornell’s Wrap Up of the Event

Shannon Ryan’s Comments

Ransom Noble

Timothy Ward

Lauren Teffeau also did a private write up, so alas, but the comments were good.

If anymore show up, I’ll post ’em.

We’re going to limit to 10 next year. I should be updating the website around the turn of the year.

***

I promise! Next time, and I freakin’ mean it, the first of many Venice posts.

Help me! Icon treasury is eating my soul! Um…I’m balancing the books, and I think I’ll have most of the information handled by today, but I won’t be totally done until I get a couple of numbers and requests from others. Anyway, that’s where I’ve been, instead of writing beautiful posts for you. But…I know you’re curious about last week’s fitness effort, so here we go.

Exercise Points Goal: 14
Achieved Points: 13

What’s happening here: I worked out on Tuesday and Wednesday. I did not plan to work out on Thursday and Friday due to Icon and time commitments there. BUT I did plan to work out Saturday, Sunday and Monday. A sick cat pretty much ate my work out and rest time as we had to go home to her twice a day. And Monday I was just exhausted after…everything. I am still pretty tired.

This week I ate many, many extra points. There was leftover Chocolate Halloween candy, trips to caloric restaurants, and booze. By all rights, I should have gained about 3 pounds. I lucked out, and gained about 1.3 pounds after the convention, which quickly came off. Perhaps what saved me was that I did make an effort for some of the weekend.

Beginning Wii Weight: 223.8 (My heaviest ever after this summer.)
Wii Weight on 11-20-13: 214.3
Total: 9.5 pounds LOST

Weight Watchers on Initial Weigh In: 224
Weight Watchers on 11-19-13: 217.6
Total: 6.4 pounds LOST

Why didn’t you report your Wii weight yesterday? Well, it was about 0.9 higher yesterday, which meant that the convention only netted me a 0.2 pound gain. After all that food and wine, I was blessed and astounded. But I thought that today’s weight was more a reflection of yesterday’s WW Weigh In.

What I learned: I eat to try to stay awake. Several points this weekend, I was exhausted, and I thought food would help. Sleep should have been my alternative, or rest, but it just didn’t work out like that. Up through Friday night I was pretty legal, but I really needed to have just the workshop going on, and I probably could have managed my food. With the cat and the treasury, I stopped talking care of my needs, and being a food vacuum was the result.

What I will do differently next time: Not be treasurer at the convention. I’ve already had a talk with the staff of next year’s convention, and told them I would do it before and after the con, but not during. I also expect that our cat will not be sick next year, God willing. That means I can follow through on my plan to exercise, rather than sitting in the car for two hours a day. In short, in order to think about food and fitness, you have to give yourself time to think. 🙂

This week: The challenges are not last week’s! We are going to Des Moines to see Bryon’s mom for Thanksgiving, and visit our friend Ken to get comics. However, that’s one day, and I can manage that.

Next week: Our vacation to Disney. Again, I’m pretty much on task. I will be adding up points and monitoring food carefully.

Interesting observation: I really need new pants. We’re skirting the dangerzone with pants bagginess. In another 5 pounds, I’m buying.

Paradise Icon 2 went as well as I could have hoped for. We had a group of 8 writers who were topnotch. Nancy Kress and Greg Frost delivered terrific lectures. It was wonderful.

Of course, I had a few things to do today in the office, so you only get this very short, gushing post about how cool it was, and I’ll try to let you know more about the entire event as I can. Since I’m trying to re-plan my next semester and getting Icon’s treasury put to bed, it might not be an immediate thing.

But here are some happy pictures. The first is all of us VP XIIIers who were there reunioning. From left to right, Chris Cornell, Cath Schaff-Stump, Brent Bowen, and George Galuschak

And the second is the entire workshop at Napoli’s. Going up the right side and down the left: Shannon Ryan, Stephanie Ryan, Lauren Teffeau, Cath Schaff-Stump, Brent Bowen, Chris Cornell, Ransom Noble, George Galuschak, Tim Ward

Stay tuned tomorrow for a report on why I gained weight this weekend. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Did I mention Napoli’s? 🙂

Instead of embracing all that drama I internalized from Thursday until today, I have thought this whole thing over. Rather than being a turtle and pulling into my shell when things are not under my control (because that’s what this is about, control and how I despise and fear chaos), I should continue to realize that so much of life is out of my control and control is an illusion.

This weekend I will respond to any crises and stressful situations by doing two things.

1. Laugh. Laughter reduces stress instantly. I’ve been doing it at work a lot, and it helps. It gives me breathing space to get my head around destressing too. And, it might make people wonder what I’m up to.

2. Ask the person who’s approaching me, “What’s your (our) plan?” depending on the sit. These aren’t my problems, so I’m not taking responsibility for them.

Look, I think that last post was overreactive, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t think I was too emo. It’s the same thing that happened to me on tree guy day, and I’m just having to revise my thinking.

I’m going to try this out and report to David. And no more worrying about the future. Gots me some now to do first.