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Archive for the ‘Real Life’ Category

An Un-Gloomy Sunday

05 Sep

Finally finished my read-through of 10-9 last night. While I came to the conclusion all too soon my final draft is actually my next to final draft I still feel like such a giddy dork for my own book. There’s issues that need a little tweaking but overall I’m pretty proud of myself for not giving up on it.

My current goal is have my first submission packet out by the 18th. Five minutes after I click send on my submission email I am immediately going to quell my nerves with Starbucks.  The day I receive word of my submission receipt I think it will be ice cream. When the first rejection arrives, I think I’ll throw my own Renegade Baker whoopie pie party, where I’ll likely be baking my own flavors. When I get my first acceptance, I think I may need to go all out and invade Oh Snap! Cupcakes.

Do we sense a trend that it all revolves around sugar? I’m better at it than I was in the past but damn I am one Grade A emotional eater. *laughs*

I’m pretty psyched about the whole process but I’m also an equal measure of freakin’ out maaaaan~ Game over! Game over! I think the first one is always the hardest, because it’s your baby, and 10-9 is a deeply personal story for me. It’s always tough to send it off in the world for other people to see. Perhaps it gets easier? I’m not so sure. Possibly not at all.

While I have been fantastically terrible about broadcasting my Weight Watchers progress (because for a while there wasn’t any.) I am happy to report a miracle has somehow occurred. For weeks I was bouncing back and forth between 250 and 248. I would get to 248, celebrate, and then sabotage myself back into 250. To my knowledge I haven’t exactly done anything terribly different, but college did start up two weeks ago. Somehow my body decided to get with the program and as of this morning I am officially 244! AHMAHGAH. I’ve lost 11 pounds since starting the program! YAY! I have two pounds to go until I am at my 5% weight loss goal and it’s all so terribly exciting for the chance to set a new goal.

Things are looking bright on this end of things. I’ve also discovered the Nook App a couple days ago (I’m late to the game okay?) I can’t imagine how I lived without it for so long. It’s totally a gateway drug into buying an actual Nook. Soon… Soon my beloved… Soooooon…

 
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Posted in 10-9, Babbling, News, Real Life, Weight Watchers

 

Time To Dip In The Pool!

29 Aug

I’ve spent the weekend going back through the Writer’s Guide and confirming which publishers were legit and which ones were not a good idea. All in all, I’ve narrowed the list to six, potentially seven publishers of ePubs and Print.

Between Friday and Saturday with the help of a small village, I pounded out my very first query letter. All in all it was revised five times and is pretty damned nice. :3 While that took pretty much all day in the evening I started on the extended synopsis.

Tips for the synopsis in the Writer’s Guide include:

  • Stick to your main characters.
  • Stick to your main arc. Subplots take up valuable real estate.

Writing a synopsis is like basically writing an extended version of the back of the book. Only with the actual spoilers and ending. Think of it as writing a book report but a really exciting book report.  My book report synopsis draft has a good start, and I started over twice on it, the middle kinda meanders because I couldn’t think of punchy words. I resolved to write the whole thing in one go and at least get the events of the book down so I could go back and tighten it up after I’ve let it rest.

The query letter surprisingly was actually the easy part despite it being really hard. The query is only a page and includes a ‘back copy’ style summary of your book in as few words as possible. It’s kind of like the ‘elevator pitch’ where you’re on an elevator, a producer gets in with you, and you have sixty seconds or less to pitch your idea. I’m kind of amazed what I condensed 10-9 down to was an insane feat. But I did it and with the help of my BFFs Rose and Khet we tweaked it into something awesome. Khet had a rather brilliant suggestion on one part and while she said say this but in one word I just couldn’t because the phrase she came up with was pure gold.

The line in question was ‘tattoos keeping a cynic’s account of past lovers’ and that’s all the context I’m willing to divulge. Mwaahahaha.

It’s crazy, and I’m positive 10-9′s not going to be accepted at the first door I knock on, but you can’t help but be a little hopeful. It’s weird how this story that’s been rattling about in my noggin for years has gone from ‘Oh there’s this story I’m working on that I hope to one day publish somehow… I just do it in my spare time blah blah blah…’ To actually finishing it. To no really actually trying to seek a publisher and get paid for the story. It’s like… Reaching a new stage in your life.

I actually remembered how I originally intended the ending to play out last night in my sleep addled exhaustion. While the end result is the same… The setting and circumstances are totally different. I kind of think the ending I came up with suits it better. Even the Epilogue details were a later addition to the story years down the road and is sort of a back door to a sequel or further stories in the world of 10-9. I’d like to explore other aspects of the lives touched by Composer and the Ministry of Defense. Maybe actually tell a story of a MOD soldier being a good guy. I know just whose story I can tell with that premise.

Ironically I feel kind of awkward that this blog never once had a ‘professional authoritative tone’ because I’m just me and I prefer to be approachable, casual, and down to earth. I wonder how that would bode for publishers eventually Googling me. I’ve read of places that when they read your blog, they actually check your grammar. Obviously I’m doomed with typing like I talk. Emoticons and all. XD

 
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Posted in 10-9, Babbling, News, Real Life, Writing Tips

 

Best. Investment. Ever.

25 Aug

Mighty Flags of Confidence!

Today started out kind of iffy left over from my query letter jitters. I actually didn’t get my first meal of the day today till about 3PM because I was juggling so many things and was just too stressed to eat. My personal copy of 10-9 got kicked back from the printers, twice, because I was a moron and can’t measure. The good news is I learned a new pagination trick, the bad news is I can’t measure. Don’t tell anyone or they’ll revoke my graphic design powers.

Remmi also in the span of five minutes yesterday lost her kitten collar and it seems to have vanished into the Bermuda Triangle. Because bells are useful for kittens (if you’re a cat parent you get the usefulness of bells on an otherwise silent animal.) and because my morning was full of GAH FAIL it was deemed to Get Out Of The House.

Pet Smart conveniently enough is next door to Books-A-Million. Ironically enough my membership card to Books-A-Million expired a couple months ago. Why do you never know these things until you’re at the register and with enough to cover your purchase but not your renewal? Inquiring minds wanna know!

So I sat down this afternoon and pretty much went cover to cover on the 2011 Writer’s Market. Where the clouds parted and the angels sang sweet melodies of options. Fucktons of options. The pink flags are for my novel stuff, the blue flags are for magazines partially for class and mostly because they accept fiction submissions. The few orange flags are for ‘maybes’ as well as non-US publishers… Which I feel seriously stupid for not thinking of before. Hell, if one of my old SCAD professors and his wife are making cash hand over fist doing a bestselling comic in Kuwait while their domestic careers are modest who am I to knock it?

Mom jokingly ribbed me asking if the magazines accepted erotica. I just grinned and answered that’s exactly why I flagged them. Now she’s thinking of submitting something. *cackles!*

The best part for me actually is the section on query letter samples and a list on the dos and don’ts. Looking it up online only made me nervous because the websites encouraged you just to cut and paste theirs and insert your own terms. In the Writer’s Market I feel there’s a bit more authority behind it. I also appreciate the interview with Sookie Stackhouse novelist Charlaine Harris and her supposed ‘overnight success’ that wasn’t overnight in the slightest. In fact for her it took years and near food stamps.

Now I’m not scared anymore. :D

 
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Posted in 10-9, Babbling, Real Life

 

Cold Feet And Query Letters

25 Aug

We’re all aware I have This Book I Wrote™ and I’m looking to have it published. Now comes the submission packet part. While I’m waiting on one final read-through it’s never too early to consider query letter drafts.

Of course the companies I’m looking at have simple enough guidelines. They’re very clear and easy to understand. However, I’m getting the little insecure voices in my head now.

What if I edited 10-9 into the wrong direction?

What if there really is no plot?

What if the characters are so unlikeable people will put it down?

What if I’m not really cut out for this?

What if, what if, what if?

I know it’s just the nerves talking. I won’t get there unless I make an effort. I’ve just got to dive in and either sink or swim. I can do this. It only hurts for a second. And I can not think about it until an emphatic yes or a polite no arrives. Don’t let them see you’re afraid and all that.

I think this is too much thinking for too late at night. Holy crap it’s bedtime.

 
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Posted in 10-9, Babbling, Real Life

 

Never Forget You Are My Everything

22 Aug



10-9 Editing

55 / 55 100% Done!


Dare I say I actually have a final draft of 10-9? I dare say I do! I think my heart might explode. I’m pretty sure there’s some copy editing issues here and there but it’s as presentable as it’s going to get.

All in all I started with 48 chapters plus an Epilogue and ended up with 54 chapters plus an Epilogue same page count but 4.7k less words. I actually added in three chapters and I’m not going to lie they’re total hanky moments. It seems 10-9 is all about the hanky moments. I’m pretty satisfied with it all in all.

In the next couple of days I’m going to be ordering my final draft proof (with a PRETTY cover!) for one final read-through before it’s off to the races of submissions. Considering I’m going to shell out for the final proof… You can be sure I’m not going to change it unless like… My female cast members somehow pick up male pronouns. It’s happened! There’s a lot of doods in 10-9! It’s easy to forget the s in ‘she’ when you’re typing ‘he’ and ‘him’ all the time.

I’m elated I got through this before school starts on Monday. Now I can totally enjoy my Sunday and like… Not think about anything. Or maybe finally focus on The Book Formerly Known As The Promise. I miss Jack and Sevon my pretty little boys. ♥♥♥♥♥

 
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Posted in 10-9, Real Life, The Promise

 

Kicking Into High Gear!

18 Aug



10-9 Editing

40 / 53 75.47% Done!


I only had six chapters for tasty breakfast because there wasn’t anything on TV tonight. So You Think You Can Dance ended last week for another season and The Fabulous Beekman Boys finished out it’s season… So until Fall I’ve got very little to distract me. I’m seriously looking forward to ABC’s No Ordinary Family in September because I am such a superhero dweeb. Despite my better judgment I kind of can’t wait to see the Hawaii Five-O remake. I barely remember the original because I favored CHiPS as a four year old. Daniel Dae Kim is in it. Really. Lost’s very own Jin? How can I say no to Jin!

But. I digress. Even if I have nothing seriously earth shattering or witty to report about the land of book editing. It’s just totally asses and elbows time that I’m trying to get this bastard done. I just might cross the finish line before classes start on the 23rd. Can I do it? Possibly.

The word slash body count continues to rise. I’ve hacked out a sex scene, merging bits of it with another sex scene, and changed the conclusion of said scene. I’m obviously a monster. Yaoi books are all about the naked time and 10-9 is running disturbingly low on the naked. Too much plot up in that mess. Nyar-har~

I finished the First Draft at 408 pages and 84,620 words. Now I’m down to 399 pages and 79,951 words. That’s 4,669 words hacked off so far and counting. This thing might be a novella by the end of it! But I am speeding towards a pacing issue kicking off the finale of the book needing to be addressed. I suspect I’m going to pack some words back on in trying to correct it… I half suspect I’ll still cut off more words than I fill back in by the end of it.

This Just In: Rembrandt seems to be under the impression Mommy really likes having her toes bitten while writing. This kitten is a hellion. Hayull-Yun. She’s getting bigger. Oh my god nuuuuuuu~

 
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Posted in 10-9, Real Life

 

Shapin’ Up~ And Shippin’ Out~

18 Aug



10-9 Editing

34 / 52 65.38% Done!


After forcing myself to take Sunday off, I’ve only trimmed up two more chapters. Sunday was awful because I didn’t have anything exactly planned to do with my off day so I just sat at my laptop while watching TV and basically twitched a lot. However, I conquered Chapter 33 in 20 minutes in my doctor’s waiting room. I kind of make it a point to arrive early to appointments now because I’ve got crap all else to do. Chapter 34 I tore into after my Tuesday night fix of Discovery Channel’s The Colony. Amazing show by the way. Seriously fucked up in all the right ways. XD

Now I’m at the part of the book that I actually like. Of course I realize it may not be everyone’s favorite part due to a major lack of crap exploding left and right. And angst. I’m not going to lie 10-9 kind of slathers on the angst like gobs of shaving cream for a good bit of the book. It gets better though! And the part I’m at is The Better™ it’s the part that just makes you feel warm, fuzzy, and teehee~ your happy little way down Main Street with a basket of kittens.

Maybe? Could be just me. Of course only my eyes have pretty much been on this thing through the process which I’m pretty sure that’s not the best idea in the world.

I’m still finding some crazy amazing typos that I’m fairly certain occurred in my surface edit phase. These typos could not have possibly been in my proof… Unless I wasn’t reading carefully enough and that very well could be true. The latest really outstanding one was “There wasn’t the constant bombarding of noise of people to vying for his attention.” Say buh-huh? D: I totally fixed it but what. the. hell. Now that I’m really in it and nitpicking all of the tiny details and pretty much changing every sentence around I’m really noticing this stuff.

Once this stage is done I’m going to run off a final draft proof copy for one last read-through (and maybe hand it to my mother to try and get through. I’ll have to paperclip the naughty bits together. *snork*) And then after I’m sure I’m no longer embarrassed by it out into the brave world it goes. Of course by ordering the final draft proof I’m pretty sure that’s it. It’s done. Finito.

Reading the final draft is sure to be weird for me I think. I’ve read it so many times and technically I’m reading it again at current I wonder when I read the final draft if I’m going to see what I want to see or what’s really there. I think the only way to really solve this is let the book sit for three weeks to a month so I can forget all about it. Harhar. Fat chance with having the thing pretty much memorized cover to cover…. Even if I can never really remember how exactly the action scenes go down… Sort of. I just know the good parts. The warm fuzzy bits.

We like the warm fuzzy bits. :D

As an aside: Seik never really got scarier. He just drifted even more into Dark Hero Land. I guess it was meant to be. Oh Seik you little tragic darling~ I guess I need to keep a mental track of possible fandom teams. XD

 
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Posted in 10-9, Real Life

 

Buckling Down!

01 Aug

Now that this has gotten well beyond levels of ridiculousness in Book Editing Land.

The stitch goes a bit like this: I tell myself I’ll finish editing 10-9 by the end of the year. All well and good right? It’s August tomorrow! Not good!

I’m in this (slowly encroaching) pickle because I didn’t set deadlines and chose the working slowly and when the spirit so moved me. Yeah, I took a break for some downtime, but now I have to get my motor going again. July was just a disaster of a month, putting down Toby and then Dali, Mom’s birthday, the adoption of Rembrandt, and starting a baking business with my brother. I’d make myself a note to write every day but once I sat down to do something something would come up. Like a family obligation or that ever so charming phone call after a page and a half of editing that Dali had cancer. Yeah. That’ll screw with your day not to mention creative flow.

So it’s time to get my act together and get some concrete progress done. I told myself I’m going to do four rounds of edits before submission. The first round has long been done, the second round (where I am now) involves restructuring the action scenes to make more logical sense and be less cliche. The latter I’m looking at you, Book Finale. :| Did I mention action scenes take an immense amount of focus? Well, for me anyway. I can write character interaction until the cows come home but stuff needs to explode on occasion and explode in style.

The fall semester of college starts on the 23rd, I’m unsure how intense it’ll be since I’m no longer majoring in any kind of arts but journalism instead. College art classes are hard core and the switch to a non-art major has kind of been a culture shock to me with how low intensity it is. Getting to the point, I’d really, really like the second round of 10-9 edits in the can by the 20th provided no life altering hazard appears suddenly. If it takes to the end of the month, that’s fine, it just can’t cut into school. School is Important, yenno?

Plus with getting Renegade Baker off the ground Jeremy and I need to set a schedule that we can get our taste test samples out and bake independently of one another if we have to and not get backed up. He and I will both be in school and he’ll be working full time, and I have my own projects to tend to on top of school.

Anyway!

*pokes self in forehead*

Self! Write it down! You have until the 20th to finish Round 2 Edits. DO IT!

 
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Posted in 10-9, Babbling, Real Life

 

Dali Salvador Rorschach: 2000-2010

28 Jul

Dali - Fluffy Child and Best Friend

Dali is now on her journey back to Catatopia. I cried all morning leading up to the appointment but once Mom, Dali, and I got in the car I was pretty put together. Mom cried a little at Dali’s procedure while I stayed strong and held her while the tranquilizer was taking effect. The actual euthanasia was quick because Dali was very weak. It was unbelievable how skinny she was when she stopped breathing as she normally puffs up when she’s being held or petted.

We took off her collar and tied a nice bow around her neck. We arranged her neatly in her spaceship like she was just taking a long nap. On the way out the vet let me hold a kitten that was only a week old and as big as my palm. She was found abandoned and being bottle fed she was such a teeny. It kind of made me feel good about the whole miracle that someone can create such a small perfect life.

Dali's Spaceship

Dali's Grave

Dali’s grave is a little unfinished at the moment. We’re going to put some river rock over the top but it’s 105 outside at the moment. But she’s in there.

A few words about Dali that I likely have said already is she was my really real first pet while living on my own. Granted I had an older cat, Sherman, and Dali’s sister Abbie, but Dali’s care was square on my shoulders since she was a special needs cat right off the bat. She had allergies so bad she licked herself bald, then got diagnosed with a heart murmur that never seemed to slow her down but always made me anxious. Then came the recent diagnosis of epilepsy but we now suspect her more frequent seizures were from the slow growing cancer.

She was originally going to be named ‘Inkblot’ but we couldn’t say it fast enough when she was bad. She became Dali because she was somewhat of an off-kilter kitten. She still looked like a Rorschach Test because you could make out a cross on her back with her grey cow spots. She was sweet, extremely docile, and made me a ragamuffin fan for life. She was a drooler, and part parrot, she’d get on my shoulder to drool on my shirt and fall asleep. We nicknamed her ‘Turkey’ because she was a fat little baby, Abbie was ‘Stuffing’, and Sherman was ‘Gravy’ because they would be our holiday meal when we fell on hard times. It was a joke of course. Kind of morbid. But funny. Now I realize Dali wouldn’t really feed a family much less a person with her scrawny but.

She knew when I was upset, she’d love on me for no reason at all, and she changed her choice in food a million times. She’d escape outside and get as far as the front porch to roll on the warm concrete then run back inside. We screened in the back porch so she could experience the outdoors safely, we only put up the Christmas tree for her to climb and knock all the ornaments off. We’ve long stopped using glass balls.

I called her ‘My Little Retard’ or ‘My Retarded Sprog’ because she wasn’t very obviously bright but she really was an expert at playing dumb. She and I are survivors of a tragic past that grew together with a bright future. She ruled my life with an iron paw and she never wanted for anything. She was my best friend, knew all my secrets, and was very much like my child with four legs, fur, and talked funny. I knew all of her funny faces, ear flicks, and tail twitches. She chewed on paper when she was hungry and plastic when she was thirsty. She refused to drink from a bowl so our faucets always had to be set on a steady drip, heaven help you if you took a shower and shut it off completely.

And I loved her more than anything in my life.

However… This afternoon it all got better when a trip to the Humane Society I found Dali’s long lost twin in temperament yet looks nothing at all like I wanted. When I walked into the Kitten Room, Rembrandt announced herself very demurely by being the first kitten I picked up, then put down, and then proceeded to follow me quietly as I considered my choices. Mom wanted to try and get me interested in a more playful, rambunctious tabby, but I turned around and there was little Remmi staring up at me to be picked up again. She had a horrible name, but that doesn’t matter anymore. She’s home now and has made herself at home.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Internets: Meet Rembrandt…

Remmi's First Close-Up

She kinda has some goop in her eye, but that’s typical baby stuff. She’ll get checked out. :3 Ironically she has Toby’s exact coloring complete with the white toes.

Remmi's First Toy

She had a toy like this in the Kitten Room. This one has more doodlebobbers. She totally loves it.

Remmi's First Nap

Like any infant, at the Humane Society I learned a trick to put her down for a nap. She slept about an hour and a half, waking up intermittently and then flopping back over to sleep more.

Remmi’s got some big paws to fill and Pootie right now doesn’t quite like her but she’s already warmed our hearts.

Rest in Peace, Dali. Have a safe journey home. Your Second Lieutenant has arrived from Catatopia.

 
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Posted in Real Life

 

Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake

07 Jul

Tonight I successfully navigated my way to the end of Round One in the 10-9 edits. Finishing them wasn’t as nearly as difficult as I thought once I had nailed in my mind I was going to take on other issues in another pass. And now I can focus exclusively on those details which need major issues of reworking and less hand-wavery. The details now involve tightening up the action scenes and making them have a bit of a kick. I’ve already caught myself thinking ‘What would happen if this happened instead with the same outcome?’ which would involve a lot of reworking. I’ve already decided that if the outcome of the action scenes are the same then it’s worth exploring some alternate courses of action and picking the most Hollywood Blockbuster worthy. My Moleskine’s been a little lonely without furious scrawling of scenes chicken scratched into their pages. I should definitely get back to that.

My little happy thought of the day is an obnoxious baby pink bookmark I picked up at Barnes and Noble that reads ‘Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake’ I seriously can’t argue with that kind of logic and I will say cupcakes are my tip top tasty thing even if I don’t eat them all that often. How can anyone really refuse a cupcake? So cute, dainty, and happy with their little buttercream swirl. I find myself wanting to scream that at John and Ahimsa when things get hairy between them.  XD There’s a doodle idea for the pile right there.

Today was sort of a continuance of our sendoff to Toby. Mom and I had to go out of town for a doctor’s appointment which included eating many horrible and tasty sweet and salty delights. Needless to say today was a BAD BAD day for Weight Watchers but I decided to only let it be today and then it’s back on the wagon. All of the goodies we brought home are going with Mom to work tomorrow to dump on everyone else and not in my gut. Besides during our accompanying retail therapy I had learned I had apparently dropped three pants sizes recently and had no idea. Way to go~ And way to go five new pairs of jeans wandering home with me~

Now I’ve got another memoir to devour in a day waiting to be cracked open, One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick. It’s only been sitting on my shelf for months. But that’s my plan. If I can read it in a day or less than a week I’m good to go. :3

 
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Posted in 10-9, Babbling, Real Life

 
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