30 August 2006
New title
7% and Rising has an epilogue now. Which is cool.
29 August 2006
7% and Rising... is finished. YAY
It may, or may not, need an epilogue. I'm undecided as yet.
Olivia. I'm starting to forget where your comments are, so I'll reply here, LOL
Oh let us know how you get on with that first draft in 30 days thingy. I was looking at that the other day, but I read somewhere else that it only really works for non-fiction (surely that's rubbish, going by the amount one can write during NaNoWriMo...).
I'm dithering about NaNo this year. It worked very well for me last year but it was rather tiring LOL! I will if you will...
I agree with you - it can't just be for non-fiction, as it has extensive character sheets. I'm going to work on the outline for Alchemy, probably starting this week, so I'll let you in on the screams of frustation as I try to work something out, LOL Alchemy is going to be my Nano attempt. Like it was last year *sigh*
I'm writing Reluctant at the same time as I'm sorting Alchemy. I need that story done with!
And Mark, the the post I think was flagged was the prosthetic leg one. I have no idea why... ;-)
28 August 2006
The joy of being a writer...
27 August 2006
Stargate is finished
I'm not really surprised. For me it ended after series 8. It morphed in to Far-gate after that. And while I did like the Arthurian stuff and the bizarre similarity between Daniel Jackson and Cam Mitchell, it just wasn't doing it for me anymore.
Currently, I'm writing the end for 7% and Rising. Time stories mess with my head. I have about three... four... converging universes in on laboratory high up on Cairn Gorm in the twenty fifth century.
As you do ;-)
25 August 2006
Oops
Oops again.
24 August 2006
Frodo's Big Day
The Ent made us all get up at 6am so that he could trundle the remote control dalek into Frodo's darkened bedroom. Mayhem followed, until...oh... 6pm... when the two small Hobbits, muttering rebellion about a bath, but more than happy to go to bed, tramped up the stairs.
The Ent will have a more detailed blog post about the day. I think he started it some time around 10.30...
And because the Hobbitses went to bed so early, I got my Final Line Edits done for Buying Mackenzie's Baby. Which is very cool.
So it's back to 7% and Rising. YAY
23 August 2006
Roll up, roll up...
FABULOUS SALE & CONTEST AT MBAM!
Lots of prizes this week - all you do is make a purchase to be entered! Winners will be chosen to win a variety of print books!
ALSO, from now until September 30, 2006, every purchase will count toward a drawing for an ebook reader! The winner may choose between an eBookwise, a Palm Tungsten E2, or an HP IPAQ rx1950!
PLUS, you can enter the drawing without making a purchase by sending a postcard with your name, address, phone number, email address, and how you heard about MBaM to this address:
My Bookstore and More
2932 Ross Clark Circle #384
Dothan AL 36301
All postcards must be received by October 31st, winner will be announced on November 1st, 2006
Come see our SALE PRICES on ebooks!
http://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/
All Trade PRINT books are ON SALE too! 10% off cover price plus FREE Shipping!
Presented by Millennium Promotion Services, Inc.
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21 August 2006
Sub, sub, subbing
So a 7k story winged it's way to Whiskey Creek Press.
The response times are about a month at the minute. And the wait is definitely worse for an epub. When I sent out a tree I know I'll get a paper response, usually with 'What the hell were you thinking???' on headed paper, LOL.
With an epub, it has to be an electronic reply. Which has me checking my email every three and a half seconds.
Oddly, this nervousness is only for Whiskey Creek. I emailed The Bone Magician's Daughter to Macmillan, and I'm not that anxious about the reply. Maybe it's because epublishers are often quick. Big publishing houses usually aren't.
However, Macmillan did say 6-10 weeks on their website.
Damn. Now I have two things to eep about... *sigh*
19 August 2006
Roen and his leg...
Not so much DIY done. I helped to move fat fish and put them on a new cupboard. Mostly, I pointed out that Angraboda didn't look too happy in the holding tank while The Ent emptied the big tank ready for the move. Little Angraboda was floating upside down. Eep. But he's fine now *phew*
I spent most of the night on the Delurk Day at Romance Junkies. It's the only Yahoo Group where I remember to post. Mostly because they sent me a nice, big fat reminder LOL
Off to bed to read Reggie Perrin. Something Wicked is done with. YAY
Back to the grind...
Reading/read two books. Ploughing into The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin omnibus which is so much like the TV series, only somehow darker and more bitter.
And I've just finished Something Wicked.
Maybe it's me being European, but the info dumps were annoying. The heroine was an American with strong family ties to both Greece and Italy, but she knew absolutely nothing about Europe in any way, shape or form. That's how the info dumps worked, highlighting the h's ignorance. Made me want to smack her at times, LOL
It's DIY day today, I have an appointment with a steamer and a whole lot of woodchip... *sigh*
18 August 2006
Creating Fictional Worlds is a pile of pants...
Out of a group of fifteen about four finished the course.
There was no syllabus. We work-shopped every week. And there was very little structure on how to create a fictional world, ie. world building, creating a believable culture and economy. I'll amend that and say no ideas on how to do that. Another favourite is dialogue is bad and fantasy has to be visual. Other senses need not apply... ;-)
The course ended with a just a few of us consistantly bringing work and finding little from the crits of said work.
Anyway, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it *grin*
17 August 2006
And two more books bite the dust
Jingo, after Medalon, made me realise how sharp and tight Mr P writes.
Medalon sprawled and scenes often ended with two characters talking about the main characters doing something. The following scene would then be those two main characters acting out the scene the others had just discussed. That happened a few times and I 'Arghed' a lot, LOL.
I liked Jingo. It's been a while since I read any TP books. It was fast paced, witty and ended in that one book. Double hurrah. I have an aversion to trilogies.
The second book read today is The Wee-Free Men. The pontificating in this one seemed more ham fisted then the anti-war message of Jingo *shrug* You sort of got used to the dialect thing - but it was still annoying, LOL
I also think Samwise is Wentworth *sigh*
Tomorrow I may write.
Eep
15 August 2006
Taking my blog literally
I was struggling with 7% last weekend and I realised that after Bone Magician and inbetween the next set of edits for Buying Mackenzie's Baby, I need to rest and recharge. Mainly because I have no ideas in my head. None. Nada.
So I've been reading a book on Dark Age Magic and the mindset of the people. Strange Histories - or why people hung a pig and thought an apple was possessed. And Medalon. The last is giving me a headache.
I'm 500 pages into book one and nothing much has happened - besides the two main characters being severely beaten. A lot. I like doing harm to my characters as much as any psychopathic author... *grin*... but now I'm skipping ahead to find a point where they aren'e captured and tortured. I want the plot to move on! Waaah
I still have no ideas in my head, btw.
But that's been true since 1993 *sigh*
07 August 2006
Buying Mackenzie's Baby - Release date
It's...
19 September 2006
(Is that big enough...? I think so *grin*)
The link is here. There's also an excerpt on my website here.
Oh and for anyone who's around at 9 EST (that's 3am for most of the people I know, including me *grin*, I have an Author Chat going on at Romance Junkies.
I'll be the one running on coffee fumes... Yes, my caffeine-free lifestyle evaporated, LOL
06 August 2006
How to work a prosthetic leg into a sex scene...
It's 7% and Rising and my hero, Roen, really needs to have the false leg. It's a twenty ninth century replacement, but it still whirrs and makes the odd clunking sound, LOL
Should be... erm... interesting...
04 August 2006
Why I hate my printer
First all the paper came through in a bunch. Then I lost my first three pages on my desk. Then the ink ran out and the printer couldn't align because it needs a colour cartridge as well... (why?) Then because it wasn't aligned - about 40 pages were wonky...
I hate my printer.
I'm on page 334 with 16 pages left to print. Then I have to lump it down to the Post Office...
Should be done before I have to pick Frodo up at 3.30, LOL
And it's gone....
02 August 2006
The Bone Magician's Daughter
Just over 93k. I'm going through the final read through before it gets printed off and I take it to the post office and faint at the cost of sending it to New York.
Fingers crossed they like it and want to buy it. Then the advance could pay off the loan for posting it... *grin*
01 August 2006
Nearing the end
I can taste the end and can imagine putting this monster in the post. I will definitely need a small mortgage. Possibly two... *sigh*