Never Again

I will never take another break from writing.

I feel terrible. My mind is sluggish.

It isn't that I chose to stop. No. Life got in the way as it is apt to do. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you're aware my husband and I are remodeling our house. I had heard horror stories about home renovation, so I was prepared for the worst. Or so I thought.

 I have no desire to rehash in gory detail all the crap that has befallen us. I'll make this brief. In fact, I will simply describe our Thanksgiving holiday. We had one week to move all our worldly possessions into a POD. If that weren't a difficult enough task for a typical family of four, my father-in-law passed away, my husband had an emergency root canal, and my kids got lice.

But we made it. Big, big thanks to wonderful friends and family who helped us along the way.

Since October, I have been mom, wife, contractor, painter, grief counselor, demolition crew, packer, organizer, nit picker, handyman, and chef. I have been everything but writer.

I wrote that life got in the way, but really I let life get in the way. I let the renovations take over. Life will always try to change your plans. The trick is making the time. Every day. I have to find a way to write even when life is beating down my door with crazy demands (along with my children).

When I don't write, I am unhappy.

My resolution for 2013: Write.

And yes, that includes attempting to maintain my sad excuse for a blog ;)

DragonCon 2011 Revisited

21 days to DragonCon 2012...

Illuminati coat

On Tuesday, I found out the iPhone app for this year's DragonCon had been released, and if I wasn't already excited, I was now bouncing through the house.  Well...Sarah's house to be accurate as we were beginning work on my Illuminati costume.  And really to be totally accurate, she did all the work.  Sarah, have I told you lately that I love you?

Last year was the first year I had attended DragonCon.  I had wanted to go for years, but when I finally had the money to attend, I was teaching.  Administration frowned on my taking off a week just after the start of school.  My husband and I went with two of our best friends - seamstress extraordinaire and all around bad ass person, Sarah, and my own personal content hole poker, Jason (see Poking Holes where I sing praises of his rad skills: http://perchingonabarstool.blogspot.com/2011/10/0-false-18-pt-18-pt-0-0-false-false.html).  We had a freakin' blast.  It not only met my expectations, but also blew them out of the water.  As Sarah so eloquently put it, "DragonCon is Mardi Gras if it rolled a D20." 

I will never miss another DragonCon. Ever.  The vibe there is incredible, like nothing I have ever experienced.  The count down to this year's event has made me nostalgic for last year's hijinks.  I didn't have a blog to reflect our journey to Atlanta and back, but this year I do.  So for posterity sake, here are a few highlights from 2011.

The highlight of the con: meeting Laurell K. Hamilton! Aside from being one of my favorite authors, my book never would have been finished if it weren't for her advice.  Years ago, she posted several blogs about the writing process.  One of the blogs talked about getting words on a page.  I remember her saying to set a goal, even as low as two pages a day, and committing.  I did just that (and 99% of the time surpassed that 2 page goal by 4 or more pages).  I can't thank her enough.  I think I tried that night, but I was stuck in fangirl squee!

Sarah and I getting our steampunk on!  

Dice ready!  Let the gaming commence...

Jason after winning a Magic tourney

My husband in the gaming room enjoying a good sit.

Another cool moment: Attending Jennie Breeden's Kilt Blowing event and getting to meet her again!
Every morning, I check my email, check social media, and read the Devil's Panties (http://thedevilspanties.com/  ).  I got to meet her at Comicpalooza a few months before this event.  I had no clue she would even be at the con, and when I rounded the corner and saw a giant Devil's Panties sign, I freaked!  Very exciting!

What will this year's DragonCon bring? I can't wait to find out.  

Check out Sarah's blog chronicling her costuming countdown to DragonCon 2012 here: http://sablearts.com/

Next Decade, Next Project

The past couple of weeks have been quite frantic.  I vowed to write a blog a week, and already I am failing miserably at my task.  Poo.  Here is a brief update on my insanity.

I have finished all my cuts and edits on my Urban Fantasy.  Yay!  Let there be much rejoicing.  My manuscript is now being reviewed by two lovely grammar Nazis since I can no longer see my mistakes. My query is done.  Every week I am reviewing it and making sure there isn't another way to tweak it.  I've written the one, two, and five page synopses.  Again, I am waiting a week to review and tweak.  That way, once my line edits are done, I will be ready to query agents.

In the meantime, I have started on my new WIP - Ginny, a western steampunk w/romantic elements.  Chapter one has been written.  I then did something I didn't do with my first novel.  I sat down and wrote a chapter synopsis for the ENTIRE book.  I figure this may change while I write, but unlike my first book where I only had vague ideas of where I was going and was constantly revisiting my timeline and changing things, I have a very clear picture of everything.  And that is an awesome feeling.

But before I go diving in, I have one more very important job - creating an alternate timeline.  This will actually be quite fun.  I already have a great reference book The Timetables of History which will help me create the "real" historical timeline.  Then I will rewrite that with my own twists and turns, including historical events, scientific discoveries and inventions, etc.  I think this will actually be quite fun.  Once I have the timetables done, I am going to write the historical reference text.  Most of this information will just be for me, but it will help my world building immensely.

Oh, what's with the title? I turned forty yesterday.  In January, I wrote Marking Time (http://perchingonabarstool.blogspot.com/2012/01/marking-time.html) and wrote, "In ten years, I will reflect on my forties and say, 'That is the decade I became a published author and had my first best-seller.'"  It seems I am on my way to making my dreams come true.  Everyone asked if I was freaking out about turning forty.  Honestly, I have never been happier.  I finally know exactly who I am and what I want to do.  I wouldn't trade that for any age.

Lastly, a shout out to my husband who is an absolute sweetheart, not only for putting up with me yelling at him to hush while I write, but also for taking me out for a surprise night on the town for my birthday.  He took me on a "stroll down memory lane" to places that have meant something to us, like the Richmond Arms and Brewery Tap, where we had our first date.

My big night out!  First stop at the Richmond Arms!

Ginny

Over a year ago, I woke up from a vivid dream.  A new disturbing world was handed to me complete with a kick-ass heroine.  I wrote a voice piece from her perspective and Ginny was born.  Unlike the novel I was writing at the time, this series would focus on a single heroine and would be written solely from her view of the world.  But I couldn't focus on Ginny then.  I had to file her away for another day.

Now, I'm in the final edits of my urban fantasy, and Ginny has started knocking on my door again.  She is ready.  In fact, she is screaming that her time has come.  Although I hadn't written a word about her since that fateful morning, she woke me from sleep, I have thought a lot about Ginny and her world.  And in all that thinking, her story has come packaged and delivered.

Last night, I started writing in my head.  The words wouldn't stop, and her narrative just about drove me to madness until I told my husband the kid's bedtime was in his capable hands and fled to the bedroom, locking the door, my laptop in hand.  She poured outta me and on to the page, and it felt so damn good.  She even woke me up at 5:30 am... tap...tap...tapping.  Ginny is not a patient woman.  


The time has come to balance my work.  Until I start querying, I will focus on final edits of my urban fantasy. My query and synopsises are done.  YAY!  That way, I can carve a bit of time each day to appease Ginny.

For those curious about the genre, Ginny's story will be a western steampunk novel.

A Writer's Stride

For years I had dismissed running, mostly I’ll admit now, because I’m lazy.   Who wants to run when you can sleep an extra hour? I made a lot of excuses.  I can’t find a good sports bra.  I have bad knees.  I don’t have time.  Then, in October, my husband ran his first 5k.  Watching him, a man whose favorite exercise was walking to the fridge to get a beer and back to the computer for another match, complete his first 5k was pretty damn inspiring.  As he crossed the finish line, I vowed the next time, I would be by his side.

So, I started running.  Now I love it.  I couldn’t imagine my life without it.  Especially because of my writing.  There is something magical that happens on a run.  My mind unknots, and my muse is allowed to play.  Working the body is as important as working the mind.  At least for me it is.  After a run, I come to the computer refreshed with plot issues resolved.

This summer, however, is kicking my ass.  Texas heat is NOT something you willingly run in.  At least, I don’t.  If I’m not up and out by six A.M., forget it.  I have tried to run on the treadmill.  I hate it.  I can run two and a half miles with ease on the road, but in the gym, I peter out at a mile.  No amount of creative visualization helps. 

Yet, runners are still everywhere.  And aside from the occasional hot-bodied shirtless runner, I never paid much attention to them.  That is, until I started running.  Now, I find myself looking at people’s strides.  I know every runner who lives in my neighborhood.  Not personally, mind you, but after months of running and waving as you pass them, you develop a certain respect and an unspoken camaraderie.

 

There is one guy in particular that is the most dedicated runner I have ever seen in my life.  He isn’t pretty to look at. He does not stride like a gazelle on the Savanna.  In fact, I am always afraid he is going to trip over his own large feet.  Sweat is always pouring down his face, even in winter.  And I admire this guy tremendously.  Why?  Because rain, shine, cold, or hot, this guy is running.  He is running everyday at two in the afternoon.  That’s right.  July in Texas 100+ degrees, and this guy is out running at the hottest point in the day.  At first, I just thought he was one stupid SOB.  You could not pay me enough money to run at that time of day.  Not in Texas. 

But on Monday, as I crawled out of bed sniffling with the remnants of a summer cold and sat at my computer, I thought of my loping runnerman.  I didn’t want to write.  I wanted to go straight back to bed and snuggle under the covers.  But my sweaty runnerman, wouldn’t do that.  He would get out at the hottest point of the day and run. 

It takes dedication.  It takes balls of steel.  It takes a bit of stupidity.

He made me realize something.  Something I already knew but hadn’t pieced together. Writing, running, it’s all the same.  To succeed in either, it takes commitment.  

I used to only write when my illustrious muse demanded it.  That was before I wrote my novel.  If I had waited on that girl to get it together, I would have never finished my book.  She is far too fickle.  I have to give her some rules.  She still argues with me, but I write.  Every day.  Come rain or shine.  I have to keep up my writer’s stride.  Keep my girl in practice.  Improve her pace.  Build up her endurance.  Because I am in this for the long haul. 

120k, 120k, 120k . . .

Editing is hard.  Really, really hard.

No joke. 

I've learned a lot writing my first novel.  I’ve learned my bad habits. Hello, adverbs!  I’ve learned the importance of note taking.  Hello, Excel charts!  And I’ve learned that editing is far more important than writing the original draft.  Hello, cuts!

When I wrote my first draft, I knew nothing about the publishing industry or what was expected.  My only goal was to get words on a page.  Every time I thought about researching submission guidelines or agents, my creative sphincter would seize up.  So, I saved it for last.  Words on page.  Words on page.  Words on page.  That was my mantra.  I didn’t worry about word count.  I didn’t try to contain the flow of my thoughts.  I just wrote.

 In the end, my manuscript bloomed to a whooping 158k. 

I didn’t realize that was long until I started researching.  And even when I read Urban Fantasy should be no longer than 120k, I shrugged it off.  I was proud of my book.  I just knew if someone read it, the 158k wouldn’t be an issue.  I justified it.  There’s a lot of world building.  It has an ensemble cast.  I am setting up plot arcs for future books.  Excuses.  All of them.

I sent my query out for a few critiques.  One writer said of my word count, “You may have heard this before but… this is quite a lot.”  What she was really saying, “Holy shit!  Are you freakin' serious?  158k? ”

Now, I have a new mantra.  120k, 120k, 120k.  And I will keep repeating it until I shrink that word count.  What good is having a great novel that no agent will ever read because the word count scared them away?  This process hasn’t been easy, but my novel is better for it.  My writing is tighter with less repetition.

But I have cut scenes I love.  I have cut dialogue that made me giggle.  And just tonight, I cut a side-plot that made me weep.  It will have to wait for book two.

And that’s my goal, isn’t it?  To get published and get a book two? 

Hell, yes! 

So, I will cut.  And cut.  And cut, until I hit 120k.

As of tonight, I am down to 130k.  And the more I cut, the less I am attached to any one thing.  The big picture is what matters.  The end game.

Big thanks to those who helped convince me to deflate my monster in a box. I'm a better writer for it.

The Bands that Define Them

Writing the post on music got me thinking.  What would my characters’ soundtracks be like? What are their favorite bands?  What do they dance to in the kitchen? (Yes, I do this a lot.) What would be on a road trip playlist?  What are their favorite drinking songs?  What songs do they listen to when they're angry, sad, or happy?

We all have soundtracks.  The songs that mark passages in time.  The songs that bind us to others.  The songs that define us. 

Keeping this in mind, I gave myself an assignment.  I gathered a few of my characters in a room and threw out a question.  I wrote it as if I were eavesdropping on their conversation, transcribing the words and actions as they happened.  When I was done, I decided to share it with all of you.

What are your favorite bands?

Conlin – I’m fairly eclectic.  Tool, Fugazi, Johnny Cash, Zepplin, Tom Waits, Duke Ellington.

Dru – Conman will listen to anything.

Conlin (shrugs) – If it's good music, it's good music.  At least I branch out.

Dru – Hey, I branch out.

Conlin (laughs) – Yeah, right.  What from sludge to death?

Dru (suddenly very serious) – There are all types of metal, man.

Conlin – But it's still all metal, Dru.

Dru – I have not educated you enough, my friend.  Every single metal band, if it's good metal, is distinct.  You have your classic metal – Black Sabbath, Pantera, Metallica, well, the Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets era.  Then you get into the ‘90s.  Rage Against the Machine. Deftones.  System of a Down. All unique.  Crowbar's from New Orleans.  They're what you call sludge metal. And you can't leave out Meshuggah.  They will blow your mind. Trash metal, death metal, math metal, call it what you will, they are the shit, man.  And if you really want dark and twisted, try Cannibal Corpse.  They –

Kasey (cutting Dru off) – Really, Conlin.  You had to get Cheeto all riled up and waxing poetic?

Conlin – It's too easy, Kase.  Far too easy.  (winks)

Dru – You suck, Conman.  And you, rat, shouldn't talk.  If it isn't Radiohead, it's crap, right?

Kasey – So? I'm a bit obsessive with Radio-

Dru – A bit?  Kasey you followed them around the country.  Twice!

Kasey – There’s nothing wrong with that.  I had the time and -

Dru – The stalker inclination...

Kasey – Not a stalker.  I just like the music.

Dru – To excess. 

Kasey – You can’t OD on Radiohead, so let me have me my fix.  Besides I dig a lot of different stuff, like old school Kraftwerk, for instance.

Dru (rolls his eyes) – You mean, Crapwerk.

(Kasey jumps up from her chair and whacks Dru on the arm.)

Dru – Ouch, rat.  You are stronger than you look.  That hurt.

Kasey – Good.  (Kasey grabs a Mountain Dew and flops back down in her chair.)  What about you, Izz?

Izzy – The Black Keys and Heartless Bastards are on permanent rotation at the moment, but I'm a Texan, so Willie resides in my heart and soul.  There's nothing better.

I think I might write more of these little vignettes.  It was fun and gave me insight into my characters.  Also of note, certain characters demanded floor time.  It’s always interesting to me whose voice will command attention in any given scene.  Kasey and Dru yelled the loudest this go-round.