No Time to Blog!

Seriously! I realize there are only 9 days left in the month, and I wanted to be done with the edit of The Unicorn Conspiracy by month end. The reason : this book already had a polish that got rid of nasty adverbs and passive phrases. What it needs is story smoothing! Next month is the heavy lifting: The Truthsayer's Plot. There's very little of the "Plot" (yes, notice the capital P!) in there. But I am setting the bricks for the Plot now, so go figure. Then NaNoWriMo and what I am tentatively calling "The Spiritcaster" or "The Dragongar and the Spiritcaster" - but that sounds a little too Harry Potter.

I'm very happy with the changes I'm making, but that foolishness last post )about changing the beginning to start with Darik stealing the ***** {mystery meat!}) would just be stupid. All the tension started with "what is the Queen doing" would be lost. So, I still need to figure out the first chapter. Oh well. That can wait. I'm doing the rest of the editing, and happy to find some of the rocks I've left strewn around are helping me get over the rapids! It's great when that happens. I found a boy wandering around, and he's in the perfect place for me to change his identity and weave in a subplot I forgot.

So - there is no time for blogging, or tv! No time for Paranormal State! Butt in Chair time, Now!

In It! and breaking the rules...

Listening to: the long awaited Pearl Jam album, Backspacer.

It is phenomenal.

Well, I got serious work in today. Not as much as I would like, but unfortunately I see some road blocks. I may be needing a serious beta reader for one chapter. You know all those rules we're not supposed to break unless we know what we're doing? Yeah. Those are being shattered all over. It's the introduction of one of my main characters. My boy awakens from a dream (just a little snatch of a dream, which is one of the themes) in the hayloft of an inn's barn, and beside him is a large pearlescent egg. The scene that follows imparts important info about the world and the dragons to the reader, moves the story forward and has lots of characterization. Most of the chapter introducing him is his backstory of how he got there. All of it is absolutely CRUCIAL. I think it's got several great hooks, as I wrote the whole thing trying to draw the reader through the chapter. Rediscovering it during the edit, I am actually very happy with it, and I would hate to change it because THE RULES say I should. I hope it's engaging enough to stand. OR - this could be rewritten and be the opening scene of the book. I always saw the first scene involving Jale and the Dragongar, as these are the tales of the Dragongar.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

I guess time will tell.

On Do Not Disturb

Only when you acknowledge something can you begin to foster change... or something like that. I am easily derailed when I am bummed. And I am not a happy camper right now. I've had two blow-ups come smack me in the face over the last two weeks, over miscommunications. One was probably my fault, the 2nd was not. This is why I am a hermit. I don't like people. They upset me. Then... the mother f'ers I rent from claim I paid my rent an hour late in New York. Of course, I live in California, so you can see why that would piss me off. I now owe the rent-nazi's $52 that I don't have. That's about 1/3 of what I have to live on after bills are paid. Again, you can see why I'm not happy. Even eating catfood, I'm gonna have trouble this month.

These are the excuses I have used for not editing my novel, like I should be. So, tonight, I'm going to stop by the big corporate box store and buy what little kibble I can afford to eat, then the pet store to buy the high quality, expensive cat food for the kitty. When that is done, I'm putting the tv remote controls way up high in the closet, turning my phone off, locking my door, making some coffee, putting on my sweats and a pair of big girl panties and knuckling down on the first 200 pages of the WIP.

The Editing Blues

Well. That high is over. I spent two days working on my first chapter rewrite - being redone from the bones up. I think it' pretty good, but I've to the realisation that it may be all circus and no concession stand. In other words, is there really anything in this chapter for the reader to eat? I think it's exciting, there's a hook, danger, intrigue and a lure to lead the reader through the scene. Only... I seem to have forgotten about the drug war that is such a big deal in the next chapter. So I give the reader all this information (and it feels like there is so much information...) and then I have to give him more in the next. I have become very sensitive to the infodumps (as do all who spend any time on the Absolute Water Cooler...)

This isn't the only crises of faith. When I began this foolhardy adventure, my plan was a trilogy. Then I find out no one buys a trilogy, they buy the first book and if you're lucky, you get to do the second one. This trilogy is sort of based around the foolishness of a prophesy. Why have a prophesy if it's going to happen no matter what? It's rare that a prophesy says "Be on the corner of first and main on April 2nd or else..." It's always "Ben shall be born into a family of left handed gypsys and shall bring about their DHOOOOOmmmm...." Then all the left handed gypsys try to marry right handed gypsys so they won't have a family of left handed gypsys. Then... along comes young love among two foolish left handed gypsys, and along comes Ben, to destroy the peace of ten thousand years of gypsydom just like the prophesy said. So, I have a prophesy, and only the first step of it is completed by the end of this book. Obvious cliffhanger.

It looks like I might have to tell a backstory of the Dragongar. I know they are out there. My characters are adults, my female MC is around 28, and I could easily go back in time. I might have to delve into the reason the Brickmasters and Masons Guild are such rabid supporters of the Dragongar and all they do. Gah. National Novel Writing Month might come early to the house of Dragongar...

There would be a good side to this foolishment. I know this world backwards and forewards. I have maps. Histories. Family trees. "What the shell" occasionally flies out of my mouth. I could also delve more into the love of Baerwen and Jale, and Jale's family tragedy. I think I'm a much better writer now, and don't think it will take me 6 months to write one 500 page story.

Somebody - say a prayer for my sanity. Please.

ETA: I know I was just saying "I'm writing a trilogy, and you can all laugh at me for it" in a thread on AW. Feel free to laugh at me for reversing myself. It is simply that I realise I can't make book one END without seriously screwing with my idea, and I don't want to do that.

Editing: She Begins

Greetings all! I have not fallen from the face of the earth, I have been lazy as hell and took approximately a month to do a synopsis on each novel. Albeit, these "synopsis" are each 29 pages long (single spaced). I really needed these as maps of the plot and exciting happenings... and I have many changes and fixes to make. It starts today.

I must be ill. Someone, call a doctor. I am a self-avowed night owl and long suffering insomniac... but I'm up at 6:30 A.M. on a SATURDAY, writing a blog entry, preparing my fountain pens (with purple ink), about to go to my car to go acquire a sweet delicious coffee drink and return, with coffee drink and two, count 'em, two printed manuscripts retrieved from the trunk of my car. Yes. Two printed manuscripts. The last year and eight months of work. 999 pages. I haven't held a printed manuscript in my hand for over a year. I am loathe to print them out, because as soon as I do, I make a change to the computer copy and then the printed copy is just toilet paper. Sigh. There is just something about seeing the physical manifestation of all your work, your worry, your obsession, your ever-present concern belched forth from the belly of an HP 8100 onto smooth clean ... previously used... white and yellow paper (hey, it's scratch and it's free) and it's waiting for me to edit.

I go forth.

Wish me luck.

And thank you all for waiting.

Itchy Fingers

I'm still buzzed over finishing book II. I find myself drumming my fingers, thinking about chapter 1 of book 1 which needs a total overhaul rewrite. On my lunch hour at work I've been doing a chapter by chapter synopsis, and peppered throughout are many, many notes to myself in red. They didn't bum me out, those notes. They seemed to be shining little bits of things I already knew, and much of it was just tying up to things that happened later already.

I am surprised. I was looking forward to the generous days off I gave myself, including one entire day off on Wednesday, where I didn't even have to go to my day job. I spent the whole day thinking about writing. First, I pulled out some notebooks I keep for my "novel ideas" (thank you for not laughing.) First: Endways of the Gods. A huge, HUGE idea that made me quiver in my fairy boots. I'm not quivering too much anymore. I think I can tackle it. After reading the notes, a scene come dancing out of the aether, and I banged it out on the Neo (little word processing device - Thank you Angie!) Then I had another idea show up while I was trying to enjoy Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time. I didn't know what this idea is, so I wrote up some notes. I still don't know if there's a real story there, or is it just another orphan world/bit of magic that never finds a plot.

I've written a total of four novels now, and it was GREAT to finish this one. It was AWESOME! Now I only have one more leg of the story to write. The funny thing is that finishing the novel didn't make me feel any different. Wednesday did. On Wednesday, my "day off", I suddenly felt like a writer.

Book II is done!

I don't know at what point I moved beyond the simple arrogance of "I am writing a novel" to "I am writing a trilogy" but I did. I don't know how I made the leap, but people should understand, it is not the arrogance of "I am writing a trilogy because I am such a stud," it's the insecurity of "I don't know if I have it in me to write a trilogy, let's start writing one, and not query or move on it until it is done." I've taken another step towards that goal, because on Sunday, August 16th, I finished book II! I am so stoked.

It's a tempered, happiness (really - please, I don't need all the Absolute Writers who saw me cavorting in every thread, scampering like a drunk in Vegas, laughing and drowning out my seriousness, here!) I know I have serious work to do. The first book doesn't stand alone, or have an excellent summed-up stopping point. It just sorta flops around and runs out of breath. I'm already thinking about tweaking, and I know I have the mother of all rewrites coming. However, who said the unwritten page can't be edited? Well, I have 1002 pages to edit. Yay me! (that's two books of pages... I did not write one book that's a 1000 pages... just for to clarify!)

In celebration: I give you pictures of my Cricket. I loves mah kitteh...

"I'm cuter than Faireh! See?"

"Mama, what you do with my ears?"

"Sure, take undignified picture of me. Just cuz I don't have thumbs. I seen you naked. And I have claws."

Her majesty, displeased.

"Sure, stack books. Rest of your crap in piles. Have you changed the litterbox yet? Get to it. I don't have all day. I have sleeping to do, and later, I gotta scratch up the screens."

shhhh..... the beast... it slumbers...