Myself as Written

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

2012-01-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Amen.

Artist unknown--if this is yours let me know!

Link Blitz

2012-01-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm having a tea party today.

With tea. And tea sandwiches. And crackers. I'm excited.

I'm having a tea party because my husband is hosting a Nerf war at the church.

Onto the links . . .

Writer's Potpourri:

January Query Time: What It's Not

January Query Time: What Not to Include

Pitching to an Agent

Cardboard Cutouts Make Rotten Villains

On the Fine Art of Titling

8 Tips for Making the Most of Your Writing Time

Trust Thyself (Writer's block)

4 Techniques for Creating Believable Villains

When You Are a Beginning Writer, the Keyword is Focus

How to Make Your Novel's First 50 Pages Stand Out

Other Babble:

Girls in Gowns (YA book cover trends)

21 Pictures of Cats on Glass

Fighting Girl Clothes (How do the costumes these women-warriors are given in video games actually hold up in battle?)

Coming Soon: Someday Stars

2012-01-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

After some thought, I decided to add a new series to the blog: Someday Stars. These posts will occur on Thursdays, every two weeks or so, and spotlight the people who really make the blogosphere go round: the nobodies.

Now, that is not an insult. I'm a nobody, too, as far as the publishing industry goes--someone striving to publish their manuscript, to see their name on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. I read a lot of blogs about others who push to finish their manuscripts, who inflict themselves with daily word counts and endless revisions, just trying to get that book ready for the industry's eyes.

There are some amazing people out there--full-time moms, students, animal trainers, aerobic instructors... all vying for that shining moment on an editor's desk. So why not enlarge our circle and learn more about them?

Check back here next Thursday for the first post. I'll be stalking the Interwebs for fellow writers, so stay tuned!

If you're already ready and willing to be interviewed, please email me at CNHolmberg (at) gmail.com.

Once Upon a Time

2012-01-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

I've really enjoyed the new TV series "Once Upon a Time." The premise of the show is basically this: the fairytale world has been trapped by the evil queen (of Snow White's story) into the town of modern-day Storybrooke, Maine. No one remembers who they are. Before the curse took its effect, however, Snow White managed to send her daughter Emma into the "real" world, where she's grown up in foster care and now works as a bailer.

The only one who knows the truth is a boy named Henry, Emma's birth son, and adopted son of the evil witch. Emma is the only one who can break the curse, if Henry can ever convince her it exists.

The show takes a lot of twists on fairytales, and even introduces new stories such as how Jiminy Cricket actually became a cricket. (Great episode, even if the motivation for the guy staying with his parents was more or less nonexistent.)

I absolutely love Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (Cinderella tale) and Daughter of the Forest* by Juliet Marillier (Seven Swans tale), but I've never written a twisted fairytale novel myself (unless you count TDSF, though Chicken Little is more of a fable). This show gets me thinking about them. If I had to start a book with the cliched "Once upon a time," what would my story be?

I recall being at a writing conference once (probably LTUE) and jotting down an idea regarding Little Red Riding Hood, but I can't remember what it is, now. Have to filter through all my little story notebooks to find it.

Have you ever written or wanted to write a story based off a fairytale? Read one you just couldn't put down? What fairytales do you think have been left out of the circle, or overused? (Cinderella has been done to death, we can all agree on that...)

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*If you haven't read this book, you need to. Right now.

Refreshing My Nihongo

2012-01-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, 13-year-old Charlie decided Japan was pretty awesome.

Her then 15-yr-old sister had also decided Japan was awesome, and then thought, "Hey, it would be cool to learn Japanese." (Which she later majored in.)

So Sister taught Charlie all the basics of Japanese.

Charlie then took Community Education classes in Japanese, two years of [very, very bad] Japanese instruction in high school, and four semesters [of very, very intense] Japanese classes in college. And then she graduated in English and forgot all her Japanese.

My desire to rekindle my Japanese would always come when A) I watched the very rare Japanese TV show or drama [with subtitles, of course], or B) Someone else who spoke Japanese tried to strike up a conversation with me, and I failed about 20 seconds in. I've forgotten all my kanji and almost everything beyond basic grammar.

Then a long-lost penpal (we're talking 10 years of long-lostness) found me on Facebook and, in her simple English, asked if I was the same Charlie she had written to in junior high. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to hear from her.

I've been reconsidering my Japanese ever since. I got a CD meant to play in the car to learn Japanese, though it's just a "repeat what I say" type of format, not actually anything conducive to learning. Fortunately, I can still use it as a refresher. I would LOVE to try the Rosetta Stone software, but it's painfully expensive. Painfully.

So, baby steps. I still have my old textbooks (and a great book called "Making Out in Japanese" which teaches you key conversational phrases and then some something-something). Hopefully I'll find some free time to look into them and smarten up.

Do any of you speak a foreign language? How did you learn it?

Link Blitz

2012-01-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Slept on my neck weird. Hurts to tilt my head back (which is a lot better than when it hurts tilting to the side. I've learned I look left and right far more frequently than up).

The grad school applications are almost in (for le husband, for those of you who don't know. A bachelor's was PLENTY of school for me), which means I'll know where we'll be moving in August that much sooner. Huzzah.

LTUE is almost here as well. I LOVE the panels of this conference. My sister may attend a day or two with me. I really want her to talk to Stacy Whitman of Tu Books, because her WIP* is perfect for her, methinks. Or at least very close. ;)

Writer's Potpourri:

Description in Fantasy: Finding the Sweet Spot

Book Marketing Makeover: 5 Ways to Promote Self-published Books

10 Ways to Improve Your Writing While Thinking Like a Comedy Writer

Sanderson's Second Law of Magic

All About Revision Requests: Agents' Defense and Authors' Risks!

Being a Better Blogger, Part 1

On the Growth of Fantasy and the Waning of Science Fiction by Brad Torgersen

Real Characters Harbor Real Dreams . . . and Real Fears

10 Ways to Start Your Story Better

Other Babble:

Star Wars Fanatics Spend Two Weeks Baking Life-size Stormtrooper Cake

The Bark Side: 2012 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial Teaser (This is AWESOME.)

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*A WIP which, mind you, is almost done with revisions. :D

Book Review: The Allow of Law by Brandon Sanderson

2012-01-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

I give this book 4.5 stars, and mind that I'm in love with the Mistborn series,* which is part of what made me love this book.

It's books like The Alloy of Law that let me know I actually CAN read quickly, should I put effort into it. This is the kind of book that makes you put off work to find out what happens. Mistborn has the most fantastic magic system of any fantasy I've ever read, and it's that system that really drives the books toward excellence.

The story itself is rather good, a mystery with fantastical elements and a western twist. I liked the protagonist for 99% of the story. The way he deals with the complications in his life seemed very realistic to me, even at the end, when he made the choice I didn't want him to make, despite knowing that, for his character, that was the best choice for him. It's definitely interesting to see how Sanderson handles the "romantic" plot line in this novel.

My only gripe with the book is the occasional forced humor, whether it's in funny jokes that go a little too far, or an attempted laugh inserted in an inappropriate place. A lot of the humor depends on the reader, however--while I had a few [minor] issues with the comic relief character, my husband loved him, so all is well.

One of the best parts of the book is the references back to the original series. (I'd like to note that, without the support of the original trilogy, this book would have been weaker. Then again, I doubt anyone would read it without having read books 1-3.)

Be warned, Brandon likes to leave a few loose plot holes to drive you mad. ;)

Side note: I thought, based on the cover, that Waxillium had a really long braid, but that is just the fringe of his coat. My little fangirl heart broke a little.

-----------------------------

*The Mistborn series is, by far, my favorite books of all time. I've never reread them, since when I plot my own novels I always find myself trying to steal from it (at which point I slap my hand and start over, I have a thing with originality), but after reading TAoL, I think I shall revisit my old friends... (I have a HUGE crush on the eunuch, after all...)

Burning Christmas Trees

2012-01-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

First, I want to tell Patty Wells, Renovation Chair, how much I love her. Yesterday I got a letter in the mail saying thank you for helping make WorldCon a success, along with a check for $160--the amount I paid for my ticket to the conference. I was so surprised, and so glad! THANK YOU. That will cover LDStorymakers and then some. BLESSINGS.

In other news, I went to my first Christmas tree burning on Saturday. It was a lot of fun--drove out to the west desert and parked in the middle of nowhere (where there would be very few chances of starting any wildfires), roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for s'mores.* Then, we burned about 10 Christmas trees. Each pine needle is like a little fire cracker. They look really cool when they start burning down--like the needles are made of gold.

I loathe the smell of campfire clothes/hair, but it was well worth it. ;)

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*S'mores would make the top three cut if I had to pick my favorite desserts. Actually, right now it's probably:

1. Betty Crocker homemade chocolate chip cookies

2. Hot fudge pudding cake**

3. S'mores

**If you perchance want a recipe to any of these things (though s'mores are pretty self explanatory), feel free to ping me with your email address and I'll happily send said recipe(s) over.

The Versatile Blogger Award

2012-01-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

My lovely writer friend Lora Rivera has graciously passed down the Versatile Blogger Award into my lowly hands. Thanks Lora! I recommend you check out her blog, it's rather snazzy.

The rules of said award are as follows:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for theVersatile Blogger Award.

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in apost with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces ofinformation about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by postinga comment on each of their blogs.

Seven Random Piece of Information about Myself:

1. I'm missing four of my molars (and have had 12 teeth pulled during my life, the equivalent of half my jaw).

2. I was filmed in the nude for public television.* (Yes, you'll want to read that footnote.)

3. I am one-quarter Austrian.

4. I am Republican. Mitt Romney all the way, baby!

5. I am secretly (or not so secretly) obsessed with the Korean girl band KARA.

6. I studied Japanese for about five years.

7. I've forgotten 90% of my Japanese skillz.

Don't think I can pull 15 names for nominations, but here are a few good ones:

@KristyGStewart for her Loose Leaf editorial blog. This girl is an editing genius and a smart poster. She knows the ins and outs of Chicago and probably any other style guide you could possibly throw at her. Check her out, especially if you're looking to indie publish.

Jennie at Beehive and Birdsnest. Jennie is a blogging mom of five who's filled with advice and a good helping of sass. I adore her posts. And hey, she's funny.

@RoniLoren at Fiction Groupie. Roni just published her debut novel, Crash into You. Even if you're not into erotica, her posts are extremely resourceful (she's the one who inspired my Link Blitz).

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*I was two or three years old, and it was part of a meme for America's Funniest Home Videos. Said video included me, my sister, and my dog in the bathtub together.

Link Blitz

2012-01-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

In case you've been wondering about my progress, I've unlocked both the white and black yoshis on Yoshi Story, AND unlocked all the second- and third-page levels. Also Ghost Castle on page 6, which was a little freaky. I really want to unlock round #4 on page six--it's supposed to be the hardest, and all I can remember from childhood was a big dragon and lots of lava. (Don't worry, the dragon was friendly.)

Oh, yeah. And writing is good, too.

Anyway, the Interwebs was exploding with great links this week! Enjoy.

Writer's Potpourri:

How to Avoid 10 Common Conference Mistakes That Most Writers Make

Nonverbal Communications and Your Characters

What I've Learned from Blogging (from agent Vickie Motter)

3 Secrets to E-book Cover Design Success

5 Narrative Mistakes You Can Fix Now by Author Elise Rome

3 Signs of a Publishing Scam

Agent Exclusives: Revising

12 Baby Steps That Rocked My Writing

How to Make Instant Connections with Authors and Experts

25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing

Other Babble:

Striking a Pose (Women and Fantasy Covers) (Hilarious.)

10 Really Inappropriate Coloring Books That Actually Exist

Brisk Commercial: Star Wars

The Rook book trailer:

Get More: MTV Shows

LDStoryMakers Conference

2012-01-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

I just signed up for the LDStoryMakers Conference! I'm so excited to go, and it even includes meals. There will be a lot of great people there and excellent panels. May can't come soon enough!

Me Talking about What I'm Actually Paid to Do

2012-01-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

As you may not know (since I never had an "About Me" section until last week), I work full-time as a technical writer. I am the breadwinner of the family, and am putting my lovely husband through school (after which he'll make a butt-load more money than me, so it's all good).

I spend my business days at a great company called Fusion-io in Salt Lake City. I got the job right out of college and love working there. It's very deep in the technological sense--needless to say I've learned A LOT since being hired.

I work in the product marketing department and help with writing technical documents, blogs*, and a weekly sales newsletter. I also work a lot with the Web team to make sure things get posted to the site in an orderly (and aesthetically pleasing) fashion. Thanks to my grammatical OCD, I also created and maintain the company style guide. :)

Though I [obviously] haven't been hired to write about swords and sorcery, the job keeps me on my toes about how I word things and how documents read as a whole. It's helped my blogging skills a great deal. And it keeps that ol' editing minor of mine in constant use, so I don't get [too] rusty.

Today a tech writer, tomorrow a novelist. That's the plan, at least.

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*Yes, my shirt has been photoshopped.

Book Review: The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

2012-01-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Remember this?

The Black Prism was a really good book. I'm not a fan of Brent Weeks'sNight Angel trilogy, but I found this book to be very well written, witha great plot and even better subplots. The main characters are interesting, as Ihad reasons both to hate and love them--they have obvious weaknesses, but I wasrooting for them in the end. I also liked that, for once, a fantasy book had afat hero (one of the protagonists is fat, anyway. The other is ridiculouslygood-looking.)

I didn’t take to the magic system at first, not because itisn’t good, but because it’s not my normal cup of tea, but it grew on me. There’slots of interesting twists and turns (one near the beginning of the book that’sa real shocker) that kept me interested, and by the end of the book I’m leftwondering what will happen and being mad that book #2 isn’t out yet. Definitelyrecommend this to anyone who likes epic fantasy. Or rainbows.

Now onto The Allow of Law. Finally. ;)

Link Blitz

2012-01-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Three things:

First, CoT is coming along awkwardly, but coming along. I'm going to re-read my character sheets and look forward to future revisions. ;)

Second, I've officially learned the secrets of couponing. Now I must wait for the newspaper to arrive so I may conquer...

Third, to my fellow Utahns, the LTUE conference is coming up at the beginning of February. It's a small conference, but very professional, and has the best panels of any writing conference I've ever attended. I recommend a visit--I heard it's $30 if you sign up ahead of time!

Writer's Potpourri:

Villainous Characterization Techniques (Great read)

Writing Excuses 7:1--When Good Characters Go Bad

2012 Publishing Predictions

10 Ways to Harness Fear and Fuel Your Writing

The Road to Success Part One--What Kind of Author Are You?

Back to Basics: Every Scene Must Have Conflict

How Do I Set up a Blog Tour?

Other Babble:

Romney is an iPhone: A Gadget Lover's guide to GOP Candidates (I found this amusing)

File-sharing Recognized as Official Religion in Sweden

Partials Trailer (by Dan Wells)

On Characters: Modern Family

2012-01-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

I love Modern Family.

I'm not a huge TV watcher, but this is a show I can't pass up. It's absolutely hilarious. Husband and I recently got the first season (which we never saw, we got hooked when the show was in season two) and it's fantastic. The actors know their roles from the beginning. Humor ensues.

I realized that's what makes the show so great--the roles. The characters. There are a lot of characters in the show (11 main characters, if you count Lily), and yet each one is distinctly different from the other--without being absurd, and without being unbelievable. Eleven characters all in the same setting and same story, all unique.

That got me thinking. How hard is it to write 11 different main characters, let alone keep them all distinctly different? Many of which grew up in the same house, with the same families? And considering Modern Family doesn't have magic or fantastical whatnot to mold its people . . . dag--those are some savvy writers.

So I ask myself: how unique are my characters from one another? Fundamentally, in who they are, not just where they came from? If I were to rewrite my story giving everyone the same name and the same appearance, could I still tell one person from the next?

Something to keep in mind.

On World Culture

2012-01-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

"Beyond Europe . . . there are thousands of potential world cultures to use for inspiration or as a base for your fantasy cultures. . . . One intent of these profiles is to hint at the great variety of foreign cultures available to writer from every inhabited part of the world and from every period of human development. Another intent is to inspire and guide writers to seek out more information about these exciting cultures and incorporate them into their own worlds.

"Writers should consider what point or points in a culture's development they are going to portray. Each has its particular allure and interesting characteristics. Cultures cannot remain static for long and are constantly changing, expanding, and contracting. Is the culture in the ascendant, with dynamic leaders striving to carve a place in a world of dangerous competitors? Is it a strong, powerful state, secure against all but the most dangerous enemies? Is it an ancient, now-decadent culture with indifferent leadership and on the brink of imminent decline? Or has that decline already begun, with collapse from the inside being hastened by aggressive outsiders?" --Michael J. Varhola

The above quote is from The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, written by the editors of Writer's Digest. An excellent book, and if you writer epic or high fantasy, I strongly suggest reading it. It literally lists different cultures around the world from which you can base ideas, different sorts of scrying, common fantasy races, types of weapons and armor, and so much more. The Anatomy of a Castle chapter is especially helpful for medieval European-based fantasy.

On a side note, I've finally named my current work in progress: CITY OF TEETH (CoT for simplicity's sake). And, now that the holidays are passed, I shall resume my querying. :D

What books on writing have you found especially helpful?

Link Blitz

2011-12-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Science fiction really isn't my forte.

That being said, I'm excited to start Scion next week! (Sweet, beautiful fantasy. You will always mean more to me than rockets and black holes.) I'm going against Kristen Lamb's advice and starting with an action scene. I'm fairly confident it will work--my alpha readers will let me know if it doesn't, right? ;)

Writer's Potpourri:

The Top 3 Things You Should Keep in Mind When Selling Your eBook

Ten More Shining Inspirational Exercises or, Thirty Shots at Creative Inspiration, Part 3

The 10 Commandments of a Successful Author

How to Get More Blog Comments on Your Blog

7 Secrets to Successful Book Promotion

10 Things Authors Should Know about Twitter

2012 Publishing Predictions

Top 10 Best Fantasy Debuts of 2011

Other Babble:

Tell me you don't love that song. I dare you.

(And a happy birthday to sister #4!)

Ah Yes! Notes on Christmas

2011-12-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Christmas was really fun this year. Spent Christmas Eve with my in-laws (eating the most amazing crab wontons), playing games, and doing a candle nativity. Christmas morning husband and I had our own bout of present-opening, during which I received what may be my favorite gift of all.

Yoshi Story for the N64.

I know, you were expecting something sentimental (coming later in this post), or jewelry, or the like. But let me tell you, I LOVED this game as a kid. My parents wouldn't let us own game consoles (they melted your brain, after all), so I always had to go to my friend's house to play. Said friend wasn't much into video games, so my Yoshi adventures were few and far between. But now.... now I can play as much as I want!*

Anyway. We headed over to my parents house and opened presents there (and I got a dehydrator! Fruit chips, here I come!) and we had a big breakfast with the standard cream cheese crepes and grits.** Went to church where my sister, mother, and brother-in-law participated in two choir numbers and an elderly Austrian couple spoke about the mission they would soon be serving in Germany. For dinner we had ham, broccoli au graten, and the baked mac and cheese that goes with every holiday meal (including Thanksgiving). Then Sister and I made my dad a mincemeat pie, which he then proceeded to chase me with, threatening to put it down my shirt.***

Then back to Husband's side of the family to wind down the Christmas festivities. We got Firefly and Serenity (which if you haven't seen, you NEED to, regardless of whether or not you like science fiction. It's Joss Whedon, for crying out loud) and more gaming stuff. (I'm really not that big of a gamer, despite what this post communicates.)

Oh! Right, sentimental thing. When my family still lived in our (or rather, my) first house, my dad poured cement for a window well and had all us girls stamp our hand- and footprint into it, marked with the date. I was three at the time. My parents moved my freshman year of college, and thus the window well was left behind. But for Christmas, my youngest sister went back to the house, and, with permission from the current tenants, took molds of our prints and recreated little cement plaques for each of us. Needless to say, I cried. :)

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*On my first attempt in story mode, I killed all the Yoshis. Let me tell you, my heart broke when the pink one fell down that chasm and was taken away to baby bowser's castle...

**Mom's from Maryland. It effects our diet.

***My dad served an LDS mission in London for two years. Every holiday, he'd be forced to scarf down five or six mincemeat pies per day. He hates mincemeat. I don't blame him, but it was hilarious all the same.

Kristen Lamb's Five Common Writing Hazards

2011-12-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned this before, but if you don't follow Kristen Lamb's blog, do it! It's very helpful, and she updates frequently.

Monday she wrote a post entitle 5 Common Writing Hazards that "seem to plague virtually all new writers." I've listed them below, but I recommend reading the full article.

1. If your novel has more character than the cast of Ben Hur, you might
need a revision
2. If your novel dumps the reader right into major action, you might
need a revision
3. Painful and alien movement of body parts
4. Too much physiology
5. Adverbs are evil

For #3, if possible, I recommend actually trying the movement out yourself to see if it works. (I recall straddling my sister in the dining room trying to determine if a certain move would work in a fight. It didn't. And I think it left her slightly traumatized.)

#2 is interesting, since I've heard both sides of the argument on this. What's yours?

(Note: image taken from http://www.acrobats-uk.co.uk/)

Wise Men Still Seek Him

2011-12-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Christmas Story

2011-12-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Told by the children of St. Paul's Church. SO cute.

Link Blitz

2011-12-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

A smoking car and husband's phone being dead does not equal for a joyous evening. I spent a good chunk of Monday emotionally traumatized and driving all over the west side of the valley trying to find him, but all is well now. :D

Also, CHRISTMAS. My favorite holiday of the year by far! I'm so excited! I've staged relevant videos to post on my blog over the weekend.

Writer's Potpourri:

Why I Went Traditional and 7 Reasons Why You Should (or Shouldn't)

No One Ever Bought Anything in an Elevator (Elevator Pitch)

Humanize Your Book's Villain

If I'd Only Known Then...

25 Ways to Improve Your Writing in 30 Minutes a Day

Other Babble:

Send a Call from Santa (Amusing if nothing else)

The Fanciful, Chocolate-filled World of 2012

Resurrecting the Reality Show: Winning Mars

Want to Write a Dictator?

2011-12-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Because Kim Jong Il is a great example.

My friend Jessica (currently living in Japan) linked me to this article the other day, and the stories are astonishing. They're excerpts taken from a book written about North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, as told by his sushi chef. It includes everything from routine pain killer injections to forcing women to dance naked.

A bit of an eye opener, if nothing else.

World Building

2011-12-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Another post inspired by my Sanderson notes. World building is one of the most crucial elements--if not the most crucial element--for fantasy and science fiction stories. Sanderson is excellent at creating very diverse worlds for each of his books (eager to see what he's done for The Alloy of Law*), so I jotted down some of his tips.

1. Think of the setting as a character. What are its quirks, and what makes it unique?

2. Look for points on conflict. Conflict doesn't just come from the characters--what does your world do that creates problems? (The original Mistborn trilogy is great at this)

3. Consider cultural vs. physical setting. Culture is just as important, if not more important, than the geography.

4. Generally, more imagination = slower pace. The more details you cram into the setting, the slower the read.

5. Get the setting across without info dumps. Let the reader discover it gradually, as it pertains to each scene/situation.

In related news, I drew a larger version of Armaze (the city where Scion will be taking place) on parchment paper and stuck it up on the wall. Since the setting is so condensed in this book, I want to make sure I stay consistent with the streets and such.

My outline is just about done too, and I'm getting really excited for the story. Here's hoping I pull everything off!

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*Which I purchased at the signing last week, but cannot read it as I am STILL working on The Black Prism. It's a really good book, don't get me wrong, I just haven't been reading it very quickly. (Indeed I think there have been perhaps two days where I actually read it outside my lunch break.) Goodreads recently let me know just how slow I'm being. I am scum. (But close to finishing, which is great considering that the library will seize my copy in four days.)

Link Blitz

2011-12-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

We've had an odd lack of snow around Utah this December; Christmas is 10 days away, and yet it doesn't feel like it, and not feeling like Christmas is depressing. It also means that winter will stay until well into spring, clinging to May like a malnourished leech to a naked baby. And snow in May is far more depressing than a dry Christmas.

But Christmas shopping and Temple Square lights make Charlie a happy girl. Plus I get the new Mistborn novel tonight (and signed! Hopefully the line at B&N won't be too long), plus a pomegranate party with the girlfriends.

AND as soon as my father clears a security check, he has a new job. :D Huzzah for Christmas blessings!

Writer's Potpourri:

The 56 Best/Worst Similes

Writer's Christmas Wish List (Very entertaining)

What Really Drives Your Characters?

Top 10 Book Covers of 2011

12 Things You Were Not Taught in School about Creative Thinking

How to Make the Most of a Scene

Which Sample Chapters Should You Send to Agents?

The Single Best Piece of Query Writing Advice I've Ever Heard

Other Babble:

Beyond Barrel Roll: 10 Hidden Google Tricks

Daniel, Cat with 26 Toes, Comes to the Rescue of Milwaukee Animal Shelter

The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells (Currently FREE for Amazon Kindle)

11 Days 'til Christmas

2011-12-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Note to my fellow Utahns: Brandon Sanderson doing a signing in the West Jordan Barnes and Noble this Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. (And in Orem on Saturday, his schedule is here.) I will be purchasing the new Mistborn, finally. :D

In the meantime, there's 11 days left 'til Christmas, so start getting excited.

My Continuing Affair with Science Fiction

2011-12-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

For some reason all my short stories are being dominated by science fiction.

Why? I don't know. Maybe I've read too many WotF anthologies.

I have an idea for my next short story idea, and it's completely sci-fi. Not brushing shoulders with it like Piscis. As in I actually have to figure out how a rocket works (and what a landing sequence would be. On another planet. What.)

I don't read science fiction outside of WotF and the occasional writing group submission, so it's funny that all my short fiction ideas are coming from there. Still muchos gung-ho fantasy for long fiction, but yeah, epic fantasy doesn't make great short stories. Not enough time to develop (and I can't come up with a decent urban fantasy plot line to save my life).

Any sci-fi short fiction you recommend reading to get my brain in the mode? This is something I'd like to do over Christmas before I start Scion. Gonna look into some more Eric James Stone and Brad Torgersen, of course. ;)

My First Time in a Corset

2011-12-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

Husband and I went to the Charles Dickens Christmas Festival at the Utah State Fairpark this last Friday. It was fun--a lot like Renaissance Faire, but with the shops designed like 1800s England. (Though I did eat a gyro for dinner...)

Anyway, there was a shop there manned by two girls decked out in full steampunk gear--the hats, the frilled skirts, the corsets. They were very friendly and even let me take pictures of them (one looks astonishingly similar to a friend of mine). I had never worn a corset before, so they suited me up in one. (No pictures. I think Husband was too busy ogling to think about the camera.)

I chatted with these girls (sisters-in-law) whilst being laced, and it turns out they were at Renovation as well! They make all their clothing by hand, and there was a lot to choose from. The corsets have fiberglass rods in them, and the materials definitely didn't come from the local Walmart.

Though I didn't purchase any of their wares, the gals impressed me, so I thought I'd put in a plug for them. They're called Damsel in This Dress; they do a lot of traveling, and even have their own magazine (the one they gave me included an interview with Amy Brown, an artist who's especially popular at Hot Topic).

So if you're into steampunk or Victorian wear, check them out. They also do custom orders. ;)

Link Blitz

2011-12-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Writer's Potpourri:

Can Writers Rock LinkedIn?

The Sum of the Parts: Writing a Synopsis

Can a First Novel Find a Publisher? 10 Dos and Don'ts to Increase Your Chances by Anne R. Allen

Does Blogging Sell Books? 3 Marketing Strategies Every Author Can (and Should) Use

5 Lies They Tell You About Writing

Other Babble:

Shakespearean Insult Generator

Star Trek's Holodeck May Indeed Be in Our Future

And the highlight of the week:

Running out of Space

2011-12-08T09:48:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to run out of space for all of these...

Biggest Pieces of Writing Advice to Take Home

2011-12-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last year Brandon Sanderson held a Q&A session to wrap up his writing class. Someone asked him the biggest pieces of advice we should take home. He said the following:

1. Great writing takes PRACTICE.
--If I remember correctly, Sanderson was working on his 13th book when he finally sold to Tor--and Elantris was the 6th book he'd written.

2. Good stories are about CONFLICT.
3. Good writers are also good revisers. You don't have to do it all at once.

That last part is something I really had to internalize. The Day the Sky Fell is the first story I've written where I didn't try to get all the revisions done in one go (which is also why the revising process took so much longer!). And because of that, I feel a lot more confident with this novel than with previous ones. Hopefully that's a good sign!

I'm at the point where I have to start weaning my brain from Chicken Little goodness and shift it into the next, untitled story (which I may have to refer to as "Scion" for now on, but I know if I do that, "Scion" will magically become the actual title). I've got some outlining to flush out and more antagonist angst to delve into. Wish me luck. :O

Image taken from http://manwiththemuckrake.wordpress.com/

Re: The Synopsis

2011-12-05T10:10:00.000-07:00

The second draft of my synopsis is done--hopefully one more go and it will be ready to send out. :D

After seeking help from a recent writer friend on Twitter (@lroseriver, go follow her!), dear Lora wrote A Synopsis Checklist for those of us struggling to summarize our work; she also includes some excellent references. Whether you're at the final stage of your WIP or not, check out the post.

In other news, I've gotten more beta reader feedback and hope to start querying next week! Just in time for Christmas...

Link Blitz

2011-12-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a fortune with my Chinese food that read, "You have a charming way with words and should write a book." Glad to know I'm on the right path. (See, I could have done a pun right there and chose not to. Feel free to thank me in the comments.)

Writer's Potpourri:

Antagonist--The Alpha and Omega of the Story

The World According to Lou (Great inside information on the Pyr editor)

How to Write Great Content When You Don't Feel Like It

Help! I'm Scared My Agent is about to Drop Me!

How I Went from Writing 2k Words a Day to 10k Words a Day

How to Write Daily More Easily

Reasons Not to Self-publish in 2011-2012: A List

Essential SF Books You Should Read

Free Software for Indie Authors

Other Babble:

Why You Should Never Cheat on a Tattoo Artist (A+ for hilarity.)

Book Cover Twins

World's Largest Insect Found

10 Creepy Santas (Whose Laps We Want Nothing to Do With)

Where Oh Where Will Charlie Go...

2011-11-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

It's really weird not knowing where I'll be in nine months.

And no, I'm not pregnant (despite how my mother wishes I were).

Next August Husband and I will be moving. Where? I'm not sure. We have it narrowed down to the West/West Coast, though. He'll be going to grad school, and I'll be tagging along. I'm the breadwinner, after all. ;)

The options are San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; and Moscow, ID.

I know. Moscow, Idaho? That's basically Canada. Cold. And apparently the only fun thing to do up there is drink, and being LDS/paranoid about health, that's kind of off the list for me. But it is green. And homey. I Google-Mapped it. Plus Idaho living is CHEAP, and the scholarship potential is through the roof.

Seattle = culture. A big city with lots of rain, supposedly very green, though Google Maps will fool you. I love cities. But I also like sun. How many days out of the year does it rain in Seattle? On the plus side, I've heard of many a writing convention held in or near Seattle, so that's exciting.

Then there's San Jose. This was originally my first choice. Hello, it's California! The weather there would definitely be the nicest (and warmest), AND my work has an office there. Guaranteed I-can-keep-my-job. But it's crowded. And it looks kind of dirty (again, Google Maps). And I have inside information telling me all the locations I was considering for housing are kind of trashy, not to mention living expenses are through the roof. I'd have to have that awkward conversation with my boss where I say, "Hey, uh, can I have the California equivalent of my salary?"

Unless something goes awry, I imagine Husband will be accepted into all three schools. I have no idea where we'll be going. Honestly (and hilariously), Moscow is sounding pretty good right now (I'd have to cross my fingers and hope I can keep my job, because there's a good chance I'd have to find a new one). I have nightmares of moving and having to work the till in a grocery store. Again. Maybe that's why BYU mailed me a wallet-sized version of my degree. So I could weep over it between shifts...

It drives me nuts not knowing, but patience in all things. Some weird Twilight Zone warp might happen and Husband might get a good-paying job at the place he's interning right now, and grad school won't happen. Which would be weird, because I've spent the last two years thinking I would have to move for two years and my brain can only stretch so many ways. (Did I mention I've never lived outside of Utah?)

Hmm. Guess we'll have to see. (Crossing fingers that God will just pick up the phone and tell us what to do. That would be nice.)

Link Blitz

2011-11-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Better late then never, eh? Spent Friday packing up my sister's apartment so she could move into her new house! The front is black, with a black door with blood red glass. It opens onto stairs with a black chandelier and a lavarock fireplace.

Yes, vampires used to live there.

Writer's Potpourri:

3 Things You Can Leave out of Your Query, and 3 Thing You Should Include

Literary Agents and Conflicts of Interest--A Compendium

10 Tools to Keep Your Writing Fresh

How Many Queries to Get an Agent

25 Reasons Readers Will Stop Reading Your Story

3 Things You Can Do Now to Prepare for Published Adulthood

Other Babble:

The octopus is smarter than you think.

Pikachu's voice actor, live.

2011-11-26T18:14:00.001-07:00

The Synopsis

2011-11-25T09:10:00.000-07:00

Manuscript is with beta readers, and the bulk of my query letters have been written. Now, to face the bane of submitting:

The synopsis. (Imagine scary music . . . and cut.)

I'm not the only one who hates writing synopsis, or who feels that cold sinking of the stomach when I look up an agent's guidelines only to find he/she requires one. A query is a teaser, but the synopsis is your entire book in four pages. (And I'm a believer that epic fantasy is especially difficult to weed down to four pages. I would really, really love to see a synopsis for The Game of Thrones.)

But, a match in the darkness, I did find a helpful blog post via Suzie Townsend a little while ago regarding the synopsis; she offers three solid tips for writing one. If you're in that boat, or plan on being in that boat, I recommend checking it out.

Meanwhile I'm helping my sister move and setting up the Christmas tree. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, guys!

In celebration, here is a CNHolmberg original:

The soy hunt.

Har har. Just humor me. ;)

I am so thankful for my husband, my family, my god, my job, my apartment, my health, and my writing productivity! (And hopefully a future contract....)

What are you thankful for?

Enjoy the holiday!

It's Just around the Corner...

2011-11-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

288,000 Jelly Beans

2011-11-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

The beta copy of TDSF is DONE.

Took me three months to write, and three months to revise. :O Definitely the most time I've ever spent on a revision, but definitely worth the effort. So I hope.

So in celebration, here is a music video made out of 288,000 jelly beans. (The song is good, too.)

The Birth of Link Blitz

2011-11-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

So lots of people have cutesy things on their blogs, like "Tip Tuesday" or "Makeup Monday," etc. I, notably, don't.

This blog post has been inspired by Roni Loren's "Fill-Me-in-Friday." Every Friday Roni posts a slew of links that include everything from Twitter etiquette to funny videos. Very useful and entertaining links. Links that I like so much, in fact, that I now follow her blog and her Twitter despite the fact that I don't read erotica (that being what she writes). I actually quite like her.

So here comes the birth of Link Blitz. How long this child will thrive is yet to be determined (and greatly depends on how much Twittering I get done throughout the week).

Let's start small.

Writers' Potpourri:

What NOT to Blog About

e-Book Cover Design Awards: October 2011

Famous Authors' Harshest Rejection Letters

Is Your Idea Strong Enough to Make an Interesting Novel?

Other Babble:

NASA Finds Giant Frozen Lake Beneath Europa

Trailer: The Hunger Games

Best First Lines of Novels

2011-11-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

This is something I'm very much struggling with right now--the first line of my current book. I haven't had much problem with this in the past, but my original first line both broke POV and was passive (which is sad, since when I wrote it I thought it was great.) I want the inciting incident to happen in the first line . . . but after much thought, I'm still empty handed.

Infoplease.com recently published the "100 Best First Lines of Novels" list--worth checking out. And yes, #1 is "Call me Ishmael."

Some of my favorites:

"They shoot the white girl first." #42, from Tony Morrison's Paradise

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." #2, from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

"This is the saddest story I've ever heard." #18, from Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier

Though I admit I don't see what's so special about #59...

What are your favorite first lines? Care to share the first line of your current work?

"Teague was still a child when she awoke." -Weirs, chapter 1. (Not current project, but as I said, a first line doesn't exist for TDSF yet :/)

The Technical Issues (We All Have Them)

2011-11-15T09:30:00.002-07:00

UPDATE: Issues have been resolved. Huzzah.

This is a random side-post, nothing interesting, so please lower the volume on your hopes.

I've had a handful of people tell me Blogger won't allow them to comment on posts, which is sad, because who doesn't like comments? Unfortunately, this problem is not just me being stupid and not checking a box, so if leaving a comment makes you feel amazing (and I know it does), you may have to buckle down and do one of the annoying things listed below (or click here).

1. If you're on Internet Explorer or Firefox, you'll need to enable 3rd party cookies. (Though all of you should be on Chrome. Seriously, why aren't you?)

2. Switch to Chrome.

3. Erase your cookie cache and log out (then back in. Obviously.)

I'm in the process of doing the other techy things, like template backups and whatever Disqus is. AKA I'll probably whine to Nathan and see if I can't get him to do it for me.

If you're super Blogger smart and have thoughts on this, feel free to, er, leave a comment. And if that doesn't work, you can email me at CNHolmberg (at) gmail.com.

To make up for the lameness of this post, here's a picture of a puppy:

Self-editing Switch: When to Turn it Off

2011-11-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Best-selling author Kristen Lamb recently wrote an article entitled, "Editing--Are You Butchering Your Own Creativity?" She emphasizes that no editing should be done on a novel until its rough draft is finished.

We've all done it. Turning off my self-editor was a challenge I fought to destroy, and destroy it I did (as my alpha readers can unfortunately attest to). It's amazing how many more words per sitting you can get down when you're not analyzing them. Kristen explains,

"Editing too early can kill a novel. Yes, editing can be devastating to shorter works, but doesn’t have quite the killing power it possesses when introduced into longer works. In a novel that can span anywhere from 60-120,000 words (depending on genre), editing can be catastrophic if done at the wrong phase.

"If you are writing a novel, you need to leave any kind of edit for once you have finished the entire first draft. Breathe. Get a paper bag. You will be okay."

Her article is especially useful for anyone struggling with NaNoWriMo (almost the half way point, guys!), so I highly recommend checking it out.

Writing Tips via John Brown

2011-11-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

John Brown, author of Servant of a Dark God, has given some of the best panels I've attended at writing conventions. I sat in on a two-hour class of his regarding story construction and it whizzed by, I was so fascinated.

John has a LOT of great advice on his Web site, but I wanted to share my favorite tidbit of his: the story cycle (which, at said class, he was generous enough to print out for all of us).

He goes into detail on this diagram here.

His writing is a bit on the steep side, learning-curve wise, but he knows what he's talking about. He's really worked his way up to being published, so I recommend checking him out!

Always Wear Your Rubber Bands

2011-11-10T13:50:00.001-07:00

Guess what I get to spend lots of money on.

Yes, I had them when I was 12. But I didn't wear my rubber bands, and my over-cross-bite has given me a lovely case of TMJ.

Yeah, I'm ridiculously excited. Here's to looking like I'm 14 again.

Pie Day

2011-11-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.

I don't like pie.

Well, it's not quite that absolute. I don't like most pie. A well-done chocolate silk is a lovely treat.

But I don't like cooked fruit. (Or raw vegetables. But that's another post.)

Apple pie? Peach cobbler? Barbecued pineapple? Blech. No thank you. The taste, the texture . . . so not worth the calories. (Granted, even if your grandmother'e homemade apple pie was 100% guilt free, I still wouldn't touch it. Maybe the vanilla ice cream on top, though.)

Alas, this prejudice against cooked fruit does not stop me from participating in Pie Day (not to be confused with Pi Day on the 14th of March). Every November before Thanksgiving the girls of the family get together to make and freeze pies for the upcoming holidays. This year, Pie Day is November 12th. We make a plethora of pies, depending on what is requested, but it always includes a chocolate pie (hit or miss) and a pumpkin pie (also not a fan)*.

I wanted to try a coconut cream pie, but apparently you can't freeze those. :/ At least there's always fudge at Christmas.

In actual writing/book-related news, I'm on chapter 20 of The Black Prism by Brent Weeks and really liking it so far. I'm actually not crazy for the magic system, but the story line is rather good. Today is also the release day for Brandon Sanderson's The Alloy of Law, his tag-on book to the Mistborn trilogy (which are my favorite books ever).

A little bird told me that the humor in said book is very similar to Warbreaker, which I unfortunately was not a fan of. But I plan on purchasing the hard cover as soon as I'm done with Weeks. :D

--------------------------------------
*While I'm insulting all your favorite desserts, I'll go ahead and mention that the one time I went to The Cheesecake Factory, I ordered chocolate cake. :O

Tell Me This Isn't the Cutest Book Trailer You've Ever Seen.

2011-11-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

I don't even have kids, but I want to buy this book!

Leading Edge Offering Developmental Edits

2011-11-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

As you may know, I worked as Production Director at Leading Edge Magazine for two years during my undergrad at BYU. Leading Edge is a semi-professional sci-fi/fantasy journal run by students. Not anything worth including in a cover letter, but shiny enough to be in Writer's Marketplace.

A nice thing about Leading Edge is that every story gets reviewed by three readers, so even if your tale doesn't make it, you get three separate pages of critique letting you know how the story was received and what you could do to make it better. It's very helpful; I've received some of these critiques myself.

Well, now you can get these developmental edits without actually submitting your story, and at a price that's not too shabby--certainly cheaper than hiring a freelancer. It's basically bias-free alpha readers, and worth the look, I think.

The magazine recently posted information on its developmental edits here.

Also check out Leading Edge Magazine's Facebook page.

When Flowers Fail: Creating Tension in Romance

2011-11-04T10:10:00.000-06:00

One of the things I love about fantasy is that it has a little bit of everything: a touch of historial here, thriller there, a mystery to be solved. And a lot of fantasy has romance--after all, your characters are people with ~feelings~ too, and a romantic subplot can really kick a story into action (Daughter of the Forest, anyone?)

Linda Yezak recently wrote about creating conflict in romance, because let's face it, love is never easy (and it's boring to read if everything runs smooth as butter, eh?).

First, what conflict won't work for a romance? (Taken from On Writing Romance: How to Craft a Novel That Sells by Leigh Michaels):

Fighting, arguing, or disagreeing
Failure to communicate
The trouble-causing interference of another person
A main character's unwillingness to admit that the other person is attractive

Surprising? Those are the first "conflicts" I would have thought of when creating tension in a relationship. But Yezak claims these problems are too artificial to give any depth to the romance. Instead, she lists sources from which real conflict in romance can stem.

"Character/personality differences--from something simple, like he's a morning bird and she's a night owl, to something more complicated, like she's a lady of the evening and he's a man of the cloth.
"Situational problems--maybe she's dying, maybe he's married, maybe she lives on the east coast and he lives on the west.
"Conflicting goals--he wants to tear the building down and create a parking garage, but she wants to save the neighborhood hangout. She wants her client to have a bigger slice of the pie than his client, he wants to cut her client out entirely.
"Conflicting motives--he wants to feed the hungry, she wants a photo-op. She wants to convert the natives, he wants to sell them cheap trinkets.
"Conflicting backstories--she had a fairy-tale childhood, he lived on the streets. He graduated college with honors, she has a third-grade education"

Good advice, and a good place to start for that tense-loving in any book. To see Yezak's full blog post for yourself, click here.

My Review of THE WRITER'S PORTABLE MENTOR on Goodreads

2011-11-03T11:24:00.000-06:00

My review of Priscilla Long's The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life is now up on Goodreads. :)

My Halloween Recap (And Those Other Things)

2011-11-02T10:10:00.000-06:00

With promised pictures. :D

Halloween was a good one this year--I had one party with the husband, Trunk-or-Treat (trick-or-treating in a parking lot from the trunk of your car), and a big work lunch and mini costume parade. :D We live in a small apartment complex off the main road, so we don't get any trick-or-treaters, so we went to husband's parents' house to watch The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (which I've seen twice in the last week. Love it, recommend it!)

First, we carved pumpkins.

Then went to the party and Trunk-or-Treat, where we used our kid-friendly costumes.

We're a tree, get it?

Then on Halloween, my artsy friend Sara Radice came over at 7:30 AM to do my zombie makeup.

OCZ is one of my work's competitors, so
technically I'm an OCZ employee who got
maimed by zombies on her way to work.

And while we're on the topic of zombies, here's some shots from the Undead Run we did October 15th. Try not to swoon over how good-looking my husband is.

This is my zombie pimp. Not my husband. ;)

And finally, my nerd glasses came in yesterday.

And there you go. This may be the largest file-sized blog I've ever posted here. Blogger, forgive me. :D

(Also, I earned two stars today. Wooo~)

And That is Why We Have Backups

2011-11-01T10:13:00.004-06:00

So yesterday I wonked out my flash drive. I accidentally "ejected" the drive while I still had my MS open. Usually, my Mac just tells me I can't eject the drive because Microsoft Word is using it, but that time the Mac (name Blanche) didn't say anything. So I kept working, saving, and had a happy day.

Today, my flash drive decided that my MS was now corrupted and it refused to open it. Fortunately, I had a backup. Yet placing that backup on my flash drive still wouldn't let me open it. But once I renamed it, all was hunky-dory.

So if you don't have backups of your work, make some! I keep my current work on a flash drive (named Molly), a backup in a folder on my desktop, and then I occasionally email my current manuscript to myself to be kept in a folder on Gmail. Takes five seconds.

Backups for the win.

(In other news, my nerd glasses arrived yesterday. And then I found out my pink ones were no longer made. I've sent some panicked emails to the company to see if there are any in backstock, because I must have those pink glasses.)

My New Star Chart

2011-10-31T11:13:00.002-06:00

My husband is in his last year of his undergrad, and therefore has been suffering senioritis for several weeks. Alas, with midterms and the elusive GRE looming over his head, he needed to study even more than usual. But, as is the case with senioritis, he couldn't find the motivation.

In comes the star chart. Yes, he is a grown man, but earning stars for ever 30 minutes of studying gave him the battery he needed to conquer his classes. The final prize?

A Nerf gun.

Meanwhile I've been working on getting these prose edits done. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the book, but to meet my goal, I need to get hammering. I must focus, really put effort into my sentences instead of glossing over them in my hurry. So my husband decided I too needed a star chart--one star for every 1,000 words I edit. 60 of these stars will earn my a wall-hanging jewelry holder, which I've coveted from multiple sellers on Etsy for some time.

Must. Earn. Stars.

What's your motivation for writing?

(Also, Happy Halloween!)

The 1,100-year Plane Ride

2011-10-28T10:10:00.000-06:00

This is an amazing video I picked up from Lou Anders's blog. It started to really hurt my brain about half-way through, but worth the watch!

Halloween (And Corresponding Costumes)

2011-10-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

Halloween is potentially the second best holiday of the year. Especially back when kids could go trick-or-treating without being kidnapped/going to the local military base to have their candy scanned for razors.

But while the candy is grand, the costumes are what make the holiday worth celebrating. I've had some RAD* costumes, namely because I have a seamstress mother and a very hands-on father (who would have made me an AT-AT costume this year, had it been more party-functional). In first grade my mom made me a yellow Power Ranger costume, and my dad vacuum-formed a mask for it. Third grade I was Medusa--only time in my life I won two costume awards. (And yes, it took a long time for mom to clip all those snake barrettes into my hair. But not as long as it took her to sew each individual strand of yarn into my sheepdog costume the following year.)

Smash Brothers, anyone?

Last year, as you may remember, Husband and I dressed up as the Yip Yip Aliens from Sesame Street. The year before my dad made me an awesome cardboard head to go with my Mr. Game and Watch costume.

This year I have two costumes. My turning-zombie-dressed-as-a-work-competitor costume will certainly not go over well at my church's trunk-or-treat, so Husband and I brainstormed for an alternative for our kid-friendly events.

Me: I know! I'll dress in all green, and you'll dress in all brown--
Husband: And we'll go as a tree!
Me: ...I was thinking poo on a lawn, but tree is good!

So that's the backup costume. Drawing a heart with our initials in chalk on Jordan's shirt (carving in a trunk, har har), and I'm stapling leaves to my shirt and bobbi-pinning them into my hair. Then I ride on his shoulders and voila, we're a Ent.**

Pictures to follow, of course.

So, are you celebrating Halloween this year? (As you should?) What are you dressing up as? What was your most killer costume as a kid?

----------------------
*Braggy McBrag brag.
**But in all actuality, we're just an awkward tree.

Meredith's Barnes "AskAgent" Opportunities

2011-10-24T10:10:00.001-06:00

Image from
emsincorporated.com

Meredith Barnes, an agent with Lowenstein Associates, often holds an "AskAgent" Q&A on her blog. Post a question, get an answer. She's currently done eight of these, and even if you don't hold any confusion regarding agents and the publishing industry, just reading through the comments can prove very helpful.

Case and point: someone asked Meredith how they can get the most out of writing conferences. This was Meredith's reply:

"Ooh!! Conference question!!

"Get the most out of conferences by:
1. Researching beforehand. Know which editors and agents you want to meet and then go and *meet* them. Don't pitch. Just talk.

"2. In formal pitch sessions, BRING THE FOLLOWING for all editors/agents you'll be pitching:
-Query
-First 5 pages
-Synopsis

"Why? Well, writing is not a spoken art form. Your query is more than likely tighter and stronger than your verbal pitch, no matter how hard you work on it. Have these materials ready in case your pitch bombs or you just want to ask the ed/agent to look at the query--can you say invaluable free advice?? Honestly, the ed/agent will probably be more comfortable reading the query than taking your pitch!! This is totally permissible in lieu of pitching verbally.

"As for the rest (synopsis, 5 pages) that's just in case they fall in love with your pitch/query and want to see more then and there. :)

"3. Stop talking. If you do choose to pitch verbally, say two sentences MAX and stop talking. The ed/agent will immediately ask you questions (OK, how old is so-and-so) that will give them the info they want, not what you think they want. The info they ask you for will give you insight into how an ed/agent reads and considers a pitch, which will improve your query.

"4. Be shrewd about the panels, etc you go to.

"5. Talk to the other writers!! I dare you to leave that conference with two new Beta Readers.

"6. Always, ALWAYS have a contact-info business-card-type thing with you."

Her next AskAgent splurge will be soon--check her blog and Twitter--she updates often.

Five Things You Should Never Do in an Epic Fantasy

2011-10-22T10:10:00.000-06:00

Shaun Farrell recently guest posted on Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing. He talked about five things you should never do in epic fantasy. At first they seem small, until you realize you do every single one. Number one on his list especially caught my attention:

"Do not put baled hay into a world that has no had its Industrial Revolution."

I know for a fact I mentioned a bale in chapter one earlier this week. Time to revise.

He explains each concept fairly well, so I recommend reading it. (Most apply to historical fiction, too.)

Nerd Glasses

2011-10-21T10:10:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you just need a good pair of nerd glasses.

After an interesting drive in the dark to Halloween Express for some blood spray and face crayons, I decided it was time to call my optometrist.

I'd like to mention that my optometrist is a little drop-happy. Drops for everything. The first drops numbed my eyes. SO WEIRD. So unpleasant. Then they poke you with this stick thinger. Why? I'm not sure. Then the dilating drops. Makes me look like one of those demons from Supernatural.

Anyway, turns out my eyes have mutually agreed to fail by two increments,* so I have to order new glasses. I get my glasses from ZenniOptical.com--lots of selection, great prices, and so far they haven't screwed anything up.

I am, of course, reordering my signature pink frames. But I've had this urge for a good pair of nerd glasses lately, so I'm ordering those as well (good excuse as any). Pictures to follow.**

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*Fortunately for me I'm near-sighted and don't need correction for the computer, thus my writing shan't be disturbed during this traumatizing event.
**I'm a little antsy, given that I can't actually try these glasses on before I purchase them. But we shall see.

BLACKDOG by K. V. Johansen

2011-10-19T10:10:00.000-06:00

The long awaited review of Blackdog, by K. V. Johansen.

Overall, I loved this book. The characters were fantastic, the setting excellent, the plot fluid and the prose beautiful. The ideas behind the story are very original, and I love that in a fantasy.

The story starts when a wizard named Tamghat attacks the temple of mortal-born goddess Attalissa, who is only eight years old and hasn't come into her powers yet. She's protected by a demon called Blackdog, who has possessed the bodies of different male hosts over the millennia, always at her side. Tamghat is too strong, and Attalissa must flee. But the further Attalissa gets from the temple and her lake, the weaker she becomes, and the Blackdog suffers fatal injuries to help her escape.

Cue Holla-Sayan, a caraveener of a completely different race, culture, and god, who can't walk by a dying girl and her dog on the side of the road without lending a hand. Unfortunately for him, the Blackdog bites, making him the new host.

That's where the story starts, and it grows into a true epic. There were characters and subplots in the story that I hadn't expected--the tale is much larger than the back cover would have you believe. Gods seem to be the new thing in fantasies nowadays, but Johansen does hers very, very well. Each one is interesting, especially Narva. (Want to know why? Read the book!)

Again, there wasn't a single character I didn't like (other than the bad guy, but I'm not supposed to like him, right?). Characters drive a story, and these ones drove it home for me.

There were a few downsides to the book. Johansen, on occasion, can get very vague with her descriptions to the point where I have to re-read everything again to try to understand what's going on. This happened in a crucial scene toward the end of the novel, and it left me confused. The ending also surprised me--not the ending I expected, not the champion I wanted. But the resolution satisfied me.

Because of that, I give this book 4.5 stars instead of five. I definitely recommend it to any lover of fantasy. It's very smart reading and tasteful where it needs to be. There's always a new piece of story to surprise you. All-in-all, this is one of the best books I've read in a while.

Editor Kristy Stewart also reviewed this book, if you want a second opinion on it. ;)

The Amazing Race?

2011-10-17T10:10:00.001-06:00

My dad is a HUGE fan of CBS's The Amazing Race. He watches it every Sunday.

I like the Amazing Race a lot,* though I admit I don't always stay on top of it (I try to limit my TV watching). Actually, everyone in my family enjoys the show but my mother. So when my dad said, "Hey Honey, I want to apply for The Amazing Race!" she promptly turned him down.

"We don't need you embarrassing us," she said.

So I get the call. The your-my-daughter-and-I'm-living-vicariously-through-you call.

"She'll never let me," my dad says in tears (this is exaggerated, of course). "You must go in my place!"

"But I've never even been on a plane."

"Go! Go forth my child! Go with Husband!"

Before I can talk to Husband, one of my younger sisters calls me up and tells me I absolutely MUST audition with her.

"You know I can't drive a stick, right?"

She retorts, "Like our video will even get picked anyway."

"Then why audition?"

"Do it. FOR DAD."

So despite the fact that I bicker with this sister more than any other member of my family (or any other person on earth, I think), and that I don't know how airports work, and regardless of the fact that I've never lived outside of Utah and the most exotic place I've ever been to is Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Sister and I are going to put together an audition tape for The Amazing Race on our father's behalf.

Tremendous humor, right there.

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*Go Cowboys!

NaNoWriMo: The Binge and Purge of Wannabe Writers

2011-10-14T10:10:00.001-06:00

NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month--is starting in just a few weeks. For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo (or just "NaNo") challenges would-be authors to write an entire novel in a month, with a goal of 50,000 words. (Which is only 1/3 of a novel if you're writing epic fantasy. Just saying.)

I've had friends who have committed to NaNo, sometimes triumphing, sometimes quitting half-way through. Writing 50k words in a month is quite a feat, and props to anyone who succeeds!

I, personally, have never participated in NaNo, and I never plan to. It's not my cup of tea. My philosophy is that, if you want to write a book, write one. Now. Don't wait until November. Daily word counts are what get novels finished, not 30-day Blitzkriegs.

Not to say NaNoWriMo isn't useful. It helps a lot of new writers get off on the right foot. I think the only book my friend Kossie ever finished was her NaNo novel. If you need social pressure to get the juices flowing, sign up--the site has all sorts of knickknacks to keep you writing and keep you motivated. (Just make sure you do the "binging" now, or you'll get serious writer's block. Author Cameron Chapman shares some NaNo advice in his new survival guide.)

What are your thoughts on NaNoWriMo, and are you participating this year?

How About Them Apples, Pastor?

2011-10-13T10:10:00.002-06:00

Just had to share. ;)

Cartoon from NPR.com

Closing in on the Prose Revision

2011-10-12T10:10:00.001-06:00

After my big scene changes and rewrites, the rest of my revisions have gone surprisingly quick--I'll be able to start on prose by the end of the week! Prose will take a lot of time and a lot of patience, but I'm eager to do it. To see if I really can morph my mediocre words into something publishable.

I read more of The Writer's Portable Mentor last night. Priscilla Long talks about making setting work double-duty. How can you describe the setting and have it reflect on the character? She gives some great examples, which I can't type up as I don't have the book with me. But one shows a dirty kitchen, the character cooking on a hot plate--the other shows a dining room with roses on the tablecloth and candlesticks. The first belonged to a convict, the second to a well-to-do woman.

This is something I especially want to focus on in chapter one. How can I show who Kylah is through his setting? How can I use the descriptions of his village to present his culture, and to show he's an outcast? I really want to up the ante on his social rejection.

And yes, I'll be sending out those annoying beta reader emails shortly. ;)

Magic Systems

2011-10-10T10:10:00.001-06:00

Image from docsheldon.com

A recent writing group and David Farland's last Author Advisory conference call with Brandon Sanderson has had me thinking about magic systems. I love magic systems; I think the one in the Mistborn books is the best magic system of all time.*

For those who don't know, Brandon Sanderson has two "laws" relating to magic systems that I think every fantasy writer should take into consideration:

SANDERSON'S FIRST LAW OF MAGICS: An author's ability to solve conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic.

SANDERSON'S SECOND LAW OF MAGICS: A magic system's limitations are more important than its powers.

Click the links for more information!

There's a lot of good fantasy that doesn't use magic at all--George R. R. Martin's books, for example--but as a reader, I eat this stuff up. I've based nearly every story I've written around a magic system. Some very heavily (like CSH*), some more lightly (Like TDSF, which has three small magic systems, but they're not the focal point of the story.)

I'm really excited for the magic system in my next novel (see "Untitled" in the sidebar), which I've been told is a little . . . strange. But that can be a good thing, right? ;)

What are your thoughts on magic systems? If you're a writer, what have you used for one?

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*Granted, I have not read WoT--I hear its system is pretty good, too.

Meditation (And a Blog Award)

2011-10-07T10:04:00.001-06:00

I read something interesting on Twitter this week--an article stating the reasons why writers should meditate.

Meditation. Interesting. Never considered it.

"Willpower, discipline, and good old-fashioned hard wrk may squeeze writing out of you but to produce words effortlessly, to connect with the joy and optimism and inspiration which makes it all worthwhile, to be as good as you can be, you need to know how to nurture abstraction and cultivate creative mind states."

Something I want to try. My brain is a mess of thoughts, but even if I could meditate and focus on one story (instead of clearing my head, cheating, I know), I think I would benefit. To be honest, I writing scenes was in college because during boring classes I would just think about them, ponder what the characters could do and how they would do it, so by the time I sat down to write, I knew everything that needed to happen. I don't have that time nowdays.

In other news, I got my first blogging award. Woooo.

Cue me staring at it and thinking, "Okay, now what?" XD

Thank you, Erin, for thinking of me. These remind me a little of chain letters, ha, but I will do the full stint if only for good karma.

This blog award requires seven random facts, so here goes.

1. I have a small reputation at work as being a grammar Nazi.
2. I really want a dog.
3. All of my sisters have boy names.
4. My car's name is Gumphrey. He's metrosexual.
5. I had a crush on my husband for six years before he asked me out.
6. The first, horrendous book I ever started was called "Kaiku and the Ruby Necklace" and was a total ripoff of my favorite anime at the time. (I was 13.)
7. I played the French horn for two years in high school.

Now I pass this to five people. Consider this your notification. ;)

The Chainmail Bikini: Female Armor Sucks

2011-10-05T10:15:00.000-06:00

I noticed how just about all the art provided for the WorldCon progress reports, while fantastically drawn, presented women in little more than bikinis, including the warrior-types. My friend Adam recently posted his thoughts on such things, along with this amazing video, which sums it up rather beautifully:

Each Line a Poem

2011-10-03T10:19:00.001-06:00

Also known as, "The Post Where I Revert Back into an English Major"*

Friday I came home to see The Writer's Portable Mentor in my mailbox--it shipped faster than I had expected! Unable to resist, I've already cracked it open. I've never had a writing book that focused so much on prose, but this is exactly what I need.

Priscilla Long takes a great deal of space explaining the music and poetry of words--their alliteration, the sound of their vowels, their syllables. In a way, each sentence in a work is a poem, where each word is carefully thought out and chosen. There's a lot of work that goes into prose revision--it's exciting and terribly frightening at the same time.

The pen is BLUE.

She also talks about concrete words. I learned about concrete descriptions in high school, but she takes it a step further. Name the roads, tell the reader what kind of tree it is. Use the senses--not just "she smelled" or "he heard," but describe things with nouns that can be perceived.

Food for thought, surely. As an example, I'm including a passage from The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien--in part because Long uses it as an example of excellent prose, and in part because I actually own this book, and agree that the writing is impeccable.

They carried diseases, among them malaria and dysentery. They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds. They carried the land itself--Vietnam, the place, the soil--a powdery orange-red dust that covered their boots and fatigues and faces. They carried the sky. The whole atmosphere, they carried it, the humidity, the monsoons, the stink of fungus, all of it, they carried gravity. They moved like mules. (p.14-15)

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*And yes, I did major in English (though I rather preferred my minor).

My First Ever Giveaway Win

2011-09-29T14:56:00.000-06:00

Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows I've been retweeting information about Andrea Hurst's AUTHORONOMICS summer contest. It ended on the 23rd, and lo and behold, I won one of their prizes. :D

I'm really excited about the prize, which is the book, The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life by Priscilla Long. It has really good reviews, and looking through its contents, I think it's just the advice I'm looking for. So grateful! (I also got Robert McKee's Story out from the library, but Blackdog* is taking up all my reading time right now.) I'll be sure to review it once it's up in my queue.

Going Halloween-shop trolling with my friend Sara, hoping I can find some good zombie stuff/decapitated heads/free-floating spines. Zombies aren't original, but hopefully if I get gross enough I can still win a prize at my work party...

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*I am a very, very slow reader. I also have a crush on Holla-Sayan.

Today I Learned What a Cantilever Is.

2011-09-28T13:00:00.000-06:00

I recently rewrote a scene in my story that details an enormous tower jutting up from the city. I have diagrams of this tower, its specs, and a clear image in my mind of what it looks like, but whilst writing I discovered that I have no idea what its varying parts were called.

Stall everything. What does one call this arm-thingy that juts out from the body? A buttress? What is a buttress,* anyway? And what are the chances of an architect reading this and seeing the flaws in my terminology?

Honestly, I don't think I've ever written a story, long or short, that didn't require me to look up some architectural term or another. But let the goose chase end. I discovered this site today. It took me in, comforted me, and said, "Charlie, dear, it's a cantilever. Everything is going to be okay."

Now, it's not the most extensive dictionary of architecture out there, but when I ctrl+found "beam," it gave me six options, and I found precisely what I was looking for.

A cantilever from AMC Industries.

Anything in particular you use for architectural terms in your writing?

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*The word "buttress" makes me think of a certain scene from Lost in Austen, which is of the comical sort. That whole mini-series is amazing. If you haven't seen it, I demand you do so (though if you're unfamiliar with the workings of Pride and Prejudice, it won't be nearly as grand.)

This is My Novel Right Now

2011-09-27T16:48:00.000-06:00

Image from http://crazyfrogss.com/2011/08/22/dissecting-a-frog/

Writers of the Future with Brad R. Torgersen

2011-09-26T10:15:00.018-06:00

When I began thinking of what posts fit into the SHINEonline spectrum—what would really be interesting for this blog—Brad R. Torgersen’s name sprang to mind. Brad won the Writers of the Future contest fall 2009, and his career has rocketed from there. He’s very gracious, and especially helpful to new writers. I was thrilled when he agreed to talk about his experience with Writers of the Future on this blog.

Ladies and gents, I give you Brad R. Torgersen.

Q: When did you decide to try your hand at the Writers of the Future contest?

A: Prior to 2006, I didn't pay attention to writing contests. But when Dean Wesley Smith (who is a Contest judge now, for Writers of the Future) announced that Pocketbooks would be discontinuing its Strange New Worlds anthologies, he simultaneously encouraged those of us who'd been submitting stories to Strange New Worlds to begin entering Writers of the Future instead. It's where Dean himself had gotten his start, and it's where a heap load of other professionals also got their start too. So, I went to the Web site, read through the rules, and submitted my first story to the Contest in the fall of 2007.

Q: How many times did you enter, and how did you fair?

A: If memory serves, I got three successive Honorable Mention certificates, then my first Finalist (which did not win), followed by a fourth Honorable Mention, then my second Finalist, "Exanastasis," which is the story that won me a spot in Writers of the Future XXVI. I entered for the first time in the Fall of 2007, and found out I'd won in the Fall of 2009, so it was a two-year effort. All of my Honorable Mention stories were stories I'd previously written and sent around to different markets, and which I just happened to send to the Contest because it's what I had on hand at the time. My two Finalists? Both of them were written specifically with the Contest in mind—having purchased and read a handful of the Contest anthologies, to get a better feel for what worked with the judges. My non-winner, "Outbound," went on to be published in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, eventually winning that magazine's Readers' Choice Award for the category of novelette, so you might say that *both* stories won! Just in different places.

Q: How did you react when you found out you had finally won?

A: It had already been 17 years of seemingly fruitless effort, when Contest Administrator Joni Labaqui called me in November 2009 with the news. I'd already had one Finalist fail, so when I got word that I had another Finalist in the running for the same volume, I was prepared for the worst. Only, surprisingly, the worst didn't come. I won! Externally, I was fairly calm. I happened to take the call while in the drive-through lane at a Carl's Jr. restaurant, so I was talking to Joni and ordering food at the same time. If I was a bit disappointed by placement—third place—that feeling lasted for a fraction of a second. Then I realized that I was FINALLY going to be published professionally. Oh. My. Heck. It had been my dream, since I was 18 years old, to become a professionally published author, and after 138 rejections and roughly 870,000 unpublished words, I was finally going to have my day in the proverbial sun. Returning to my desk at work, I let my burger and onion rings cool while I blitz-mailed everyone in the universe about the news. I literally couldn't believe it! Wow! The excitement and satisfaction was still strong in my heart almost a year later when I went to the Contest workshop and gala in 2010. It was THAT big of a deal for me.

A: What opportunities has winning this contest opened up to you?

Q: It's almost easier to ask, what opportunity HASN'T the Contest opened up for me? My two Finalists together have netted me thousands of dollars, two awards, a secure spot as a regular in one of the top three science fiction magazines in the English language, and the attention of and cordial relationships with many different professional writers who are all judges with the Contest. I have collaborated several times with Hugo and Nebula award winner (and Contest judge) Mike Resnick, and I've also been published in Orson Scott Card's online magazine, Intergalactic Medicine Show. I've managed to attract the interest of a top agent, and one of the top science fiction book publishers to boot. All of this in the two years since winning. Not every Contest winner can have that kind of success right out of the gate. In hindsight, I was already laying the groundwork by writing as much as I was and submitting it to the various short fiction market editors before I won. Getting the win just knocked me up above the horizon, and suddenly very good things began to happen for me in the business, very quickly. I took the ball, and I ran with it.

Q: Tell us about your winning story, “Exanastasis.”

A: Put simply, "Exanastasis," which is Greek for "resurrection," is about a man who has literally lost everything, and suddenly gets to have back the one thing he wanted most of all. Only, that thing is broken. More elaborately, it's a story about a husband and wife, estranged by millennia and the terrible events that have transpired, who are then forced to re-learn the trick of living with and loving each other all over again. It's a story about the end of the world. It's a story about finding out that maybe you're not who you always thought you were. It's a story about starting over. And, it's a story about artificial intelligences ruling and defending Earth, all from their secret redoubt on the Moon. And if that's not enough to whet your interest... well, there's eleven other very, very good stories in Writers of the Future XXVI that probably will!

Q: What plans do you have for your future career in writing?

A: More stories in Analog, if editor Stan Schmidt will let me. I have the cover story for the December 2011 issue, with a Bob Eggleton painting no less(!!) More stories in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, too. And novels. Definitely novels. I have a very open door with one novel house in particular, and if I can turn in a quality manuscript in the next few months, I believe my chances are pretty good of having a book or book(s) coming out within a year or two. Ultimately, I want to make writing my full-time job. But I'm not prepared to plunge my family into poverty. So, I'm learning how to write a lot while also carrying on with both my civilian job and my U.S. Army job. It doesn't leave me a lot of spare time. I've had to sacrifice certain things to make room for the word count. I think in a few years, when the house is paid off and I have some serious money in the bank, it might be time to talk about becoming a full-time freelancer. But not yet. Oh no, not yet. I'm at Step C. I have a long way to go to get to Step Z.

Q: Any advice, tips, or tricks you can offer other aspiring writers, especially those hoping to win Writers of the Future themselves?

A: I am a broken record about this, but the best possible “homework” anyone can do, if they're trying to win Writers of the Future, is buy recent copies of the Contest anthology. Read the books, cover to cover. Pick out the two or three stories you really, really like. You won't like them all. You may not even like half of them. Disregard which stories placed where. Only pay attention to the ones that you really, truly enjoyed. That made you say, gosh, that was a good story, I liked that one! Focus, when you sit down to write your own stories, on how those two or three extraordinary stories made you feel. And why. And how can you try to bring some of that to your own work. Was it the amazing or rich setting? The characters and the journey they take? Was it the wrenching dilemmas they faced? Something else? Only you will know. These will be your keys to giving your own fiction the "oomph" that can get you over the top, and make you a winner. And this will be true at other markets and with other editors, too. Pay attention to what you like, when you like it, and why, and bring that to your own work. Beyond that, just make sure to write often, try to write new work more than re-writing something endlessly, and do try to remember that this is supposed to be fun, too?

Full-time nerd by day, part-time soldier by weekend, and fictioneer by night. Read more about Brad R. Torgersen here.

Guest Blogger (And the Importance of Candles)

2011-09-23T14:58:00.000-06:00

I am very excited for Monday.

Why, you ask?

Because Brad R. Torgersen, winner of Writers of the Future who publishes in magazines like Analog and Intergalactic Medicine Show, agreed to do a guest post on my blog. He has great advice for anyone trying to break in through Writers of the Future. And if you haven't tested the WotF waters . . . well, get on it!

In personal news, I watched most of the A&E Pride and Prejudice last night for the purpose of paying attention to the setting--research for the "Untitled" book you see yonder in my sidebar. (Granted, it was hard to pay attention to setting since the characters and story are just so good. And distracting.)

But one thing I have learned is this: there are lots of candles. Candles on the table, candles on the wall, candles hanging from the chandelier. Lots of candles, and lots of people lighting candles. And putting out candles. Candles are important.

Note taken.

Revisions and the Letter "G"

2011-09-22T13:00:00.000-06:00

Revisions are going slow and surely. I successfully managed to overcome work-brain and rewrite a scene (with pen and paper, no less) last night. Now I just have to type it up!

This Saturday I'm sitting in on a new writing group, so we'll see how that goes. Woe is me, I have to wake up so early...

In other news, I found this video on Facebook and it made my day. Since writing involves words, and words are made of letters, I consider it relevant to this post.

Behold, I give you the letter G.*

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*If you don't watch Glee, this will not be nearly as entertaining.

Nothing Says "Charity" Like Running from Zombies

2011-09-20T12:35:00.001-06:00

Want to know how YOU can benefit the Huntsman Cancer Institute? Run for your life from the snarling undead through the Salt Lake Fair Grounds. :)

My husband and I are attending the Night of the Running Dead, a 5k race where participants can sign up as either "human" or "zombie," and dress accordingly. The humans get to start two minutes before the zombies, therefore creating 3.1 miles of zombies-chasing-humans for the joy of all spectators.

Fake Person: Gee whiz Charlie, I didn't know you were a runner!
Charlie: I'm not! :D

Yep. I can only run about one mile before crapping out like the pathetic athletic* I am. I think I jogged two miles once, but that was when I was in clogging and actually had routine cardio in my life.** So I'm going to the gym and the local track trying to improve by October 15th. (Yesterday I could only run for about five minutes because I had just eaten pasta and chocolate chips for dinner. Yeah, I'm smart.)

BUT, I figure having a hoard of undead chasing me will encourage me to keep going. If all else fails, there's also a one mile creep n' crawl (for the wusses).

Any Utah readers should consider signing up! The money goes to a good cause, and you'd only have three weeks to train, which means I at least won't be the most pathetic runner there. C'mon . . . help a girl out. ;)

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*Rhyme intended.
**BTW, running is SO BORING. I don't know how people do it for miles on end...

S.H.I.N.E. Online

2011-09-19T17:45:00.005-06:00

Yesterday I decided to join Julie Isaac's S.H.I.N.E Online challenge, which will hopefully help me create better content for this blog.

Because you're all so curious, the "SHINE" stands for,

Stand out
Help
Inspire
Navigate
Engage

There's a newsletter that goes with the challenge--I'm eager to read the first one and pick Julie's brain. To be honest, she's an author I'm not entirely familiar with.

In other news, I'm three chapters into Blackdog and really liking it thus far (this is one of those books that makes me hate my prose). I think I'm already developing a crush on one of the characters, and I'm pretty sure he's going to die, so . . . yeah.

Where's Waldo, Revisions, and Christina Grimmie

2011-09-18T13:40:00.000-06:00

First, everyone is required to watch this (because it is hilarious):

I plan to start my revisions today, so gots to update my sidebar. I've color-coded which revisions come first, second, third, and so on. It will kill me putting prose off until the end! (But why revise a sentence you may be chopping later?)

Also crackin' open Blackdog today. Wooo~

And if you haven't heard of Christina Grimmie, I've had this song stuck in my head all day:

Working with an Editor: Guest Post by Kristy Stewart of Looseleaf Editorial & Production

2011-09-16T12:13:00.001-06:00

I am very pleased to know Kristy Stewart of Looseleaf Editorial & Production--she knows what she's talking about, and has helped me with editing manuscripts and creating pitches in the past. So when she agreed to do a guest post on my little blog, I was rather happy about it.

Take it away, Kristy.

Working with an Editor

Several writers I’ve spoken to have presented the author–editor relationship in combative terms: the author as the champion of creativity and progress and the editor as the stumbling-block adversary that is necessary, but not at all welcome. That isn’t to say this is an entirely dominant viewpoint, but I’ve heard it enough that I believe it’s useful to tell writers what an editor is for and how to work with one.

An Editor’s Purpose

Editors do not exist to impose outdated and ridiculous rules upon the language of writers. (I’ll admit, sometimes I do this, but it is only when someone asks me to.) A good editor doesn’t exist to tell you that you used a word incorrectly, though that is often something he or she will do. An editor who has their head in the right place doesn’t value correctness more than creativity.

Good editors exist to improve clarity, credibility, and communication. They’re people who have to see your book in two ways: from the creator’s side and the consumer’s side. Editors need to understand and share writers’ visions while still sitting in the place of the reader and noting when things don’t make sense, fail to communicate, or seem botched and unprofessional. Many times that means encouraging an author to follow certain conventions of language and story. (But definitely not always.)

Working with an Editor

With an editor’s purpose in mind, you can come up with a few ways to better prepare yourself to work with one, and I’ve listed four recommendations below.

1. Know your audience. Since editors need to see your work from writerly and readerly perspectives, it helps them to know who your audience is. Depending on the editor, you may not need to communicate this to them. For example, if you write YA and submit your work to an editor at a YA publishing house or imprint, you can pretty much guarantee they’ll assume the correct audience. If you’re hiring a freelancer, you need to communicate that goal. That way the editor can start out with the right perspective.

2. Have a vision. Any editor you work with needs to understand your vision of the book. Otherwise they’re going to be a pretty awful collaborator (that’s what an editor is—not a combatant, a collaborator). That’s why you want to talk to an editor before you sign with them at a publishing house: so you can ensure you both have the same vision for your book. It’s also something you need to communicate to any freelancer you work with. That makes it easier for them to suggest changes that are in line with your vision or tweaks that further your goals. Editing is not just about finding problems; it’s also about finding opportunities for authors to expand their work.

3. Listen. Any editor worth their salt will give you final say when it comes to your work. It is, after all, your work. Your ideas, your vision, your work, your name on the cover—why wouldn’t you have final say? That doesn’t mean they won’t say things you might not want to hear—they wouldn’t be earning their keep if they didn’t. Having the final say also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t listen. If your editor is saying something, he or she has a darn good reason, and it isn’t spite.

Allow me to share an anecdote from Brandon Sanderson and his editor, Moshe Feder. (I’ve heard this story from both of them.) Once upon a time Moshe told Brandon that his humor wasn’t working. That’s a really crummy thing to hear. He and Brandon went back and forth trying to figure out why it was broken. Finally Moshe was able to figure out that Brandon’s jokes weren’t funny because they weren’t native to the worlds Brandon was writing in, so they pulled a reader out of the story. Brandon made appropriate revisions, and hey presto! Humor fixed.

Moshe said Brandon’s jokes were broken. That was incredibly kind of him. Brandon listened. That was incredibly smart of him. Brandon’s books are better for it, readers are happier for it, and no one is crying because Brandon made his jokes better.

4. Don’t ingest everything. In a counterpoint to the last bit of advice I’d like to tell you not to take everything an editor says and ingest it wholesale into your work. Just because an editor said it doesn’t mean it’s right. As an editor, I have often pointed out “broken” aspects of a story or opportunities for a strong addition. Most times when I do this I will give an example change to clarify my point, but I know that my examples are rarely the best idea for the book. Ideas to fill those gaps and seize those opportunities need to come natively from the author. So listen when the editor makes a recommendation, but then make the change your own.

A good editor will cheer for that kind of behavior. Those changes are almost inevitably better for the work, which serves the editor’s two constituents: writers and readers.

Stuff About Dictionaries That Is Far More Interesting to Me Than It Is To You, I'm Sure

2011-09-14T12:15:00.000-06:00

Given that my vocabulary isn't as big as I'd like it to be, I signed up for Dictionary.com's Word of the Day some time ago. I save the words I think I'll actually use, and I've recently gotten into the habit of sticking one on an electronic post-it note on my computer so I'll actually see it and learn it.

One of my all-time favorite words has been willowwacks, which Microsoft Word doesn't recognize... but I slipped it into TDSF anyway. It just sounds cool. I also recommend bumptious, incommodious, dandle, and just plain signing up for Dictionary.com's Word of the Day (it's on the left). Today's word is "fey."*

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*A word which, if I see on a back cover, will immediately cause me to put a book back on the shelf. That, and "elf."

The First Time I'm Tempted to Destroy My Kindle Is Whilst Reading My Own Book

2011-09-13T12:23:00.000-06:00

I'm 25% through reading TDSF, and wow, was I surprised. My pacing for the first five or six chapters is horrendous. So fast! And I keep seeing small inconsistencies or ghastly metaphors, and all I want to do is open my computer and CHANGE IT.

I keep reminding myself that the revisions will happen, and that I can fix everything and make it shiny and new, all in due time. I must read the whole book first. Then fix and cut scenes. Prose comes at the end.

I AM DYING INSIDE.

I dedicated a good chunk of time to reading yesterday, but I didn't make it to the end because my MS and I were in such a tiff I had to leave the room. Serious frustration, there. I almost don't want to pick it up again, but I know I must if I'm to get anywhere with this story.

Sigh. My life is SO hard. /sarcasm

Anyway, outside of my wallowing, does anyone know any good review blogs for epic fantasy novels? I started following a few, only to discover the majority of them did nearly all YA. (Not that I didn't like The Hunger Games, but I want to read what I write, and the last YA book I picked up I hated.)

So, suggestions muchos welcome. :D

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for Blackdog to ship to my local library...

Itching to Revise

2011-09-12T12:20:00.000-06:00

Drove to Provo yesterday to attend my writing group in person--Derek was nice enough to host dinner at his place beforehand. My writing group spent an hour and a half going over The Day the Sky Fell with me, and I have seven pages of revision notes to help me better the story. I'm itching to start making the changes now, but I need to read through the book before I do anything. (It's killing me!)

I read chapter 1 and took a few notes. The prose needs major refining (which won't be done for a while), and the pacing is too fast. But it's fixable.

I think I'll give myself a December 1st deadline to finish revisions. Two and a half months. If I stay on top of things, I should be able to make it--maybe before. I want my first run of queries out by New Year's! (Wish me luck!)

A Night of Blacker Darkness, by Dan Wells

2011-09-08T12:42:00.000-06:00

So today during lunch I finished A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells, which is the first book I've ever actually purchased on the Kindle. AKA I actually spent money on it, but I'm glad I did.

Outside of a frequent mortuary setting, this book is very different from Wells's I Am NOT a Serial Killer series (which I enjoyed immensely). It's much more humorous . . . a sort of comedy-horror-fantasy-historical mish-mash that takes rather absurd and entertaining turns in its plot. I started reading because Mr. Wells handed me a business card at WorldCon advertising it. I believe it's his first self-published novel.

I admit that, at first, I was leery about the book. The prose read differently than I had expected, and I don't generally pick up comic-fantasy-fiction in my leisure time. But once my brain adjusted to the quick pace of the story, I rather liked it. As in yes, I actually LOLed in several areas and have developed a very strange twitterpation towards John Keats. This book is very A Series of Unfortunate Events-esque, but it all ties in rather well, and, well, it's a fun read. I would definitely recommend it.

There were a few grammar mistakes here and there, and I think the title doesn't really reflect the story, but other than that, two thumbs up. I'll give it either four or five stars on GoodReads . . . I'll follow what my heart tells me when I get around to posting a review there. ;)

Writers of the Future, Take 2

2011-09-06T12:59:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official--my second entry for Writers of the Future has been sent and swallowed, which also means Piscis is officially DONE. I actually liked this story quite a bit in the end, even if it was sci-fi. :D

As for a third entry... I have no idea what I would do. I guess I'll have to read WotF anthologies until something new pops into my head. Short stories are not my forte. (In case you forgot.)

But with Piscis out of the way and Weirs currently shoved into Kristy's lap, I have some time to focus on brainstorming this novel that may-or-may-not-involve-teeth. Sunday I get full writing-group-feedback on the draft of TDSF, but hopefully I can restrain myself from revising it for a little longer...

The Story Which-May-Or-May-Not-Involve-Teeth*

2011-09-02T18:48:00.001-06:00

Piscis is getting very near completion. I finished rewriting it (in first-person present tense . . . oh dear) yesterday and took it home to read it out loud. Gathering a few comments from beta readers. First person isn't my forte, but I can pull it off. How well I do so is left to be seen.

Still planning out my next story which-may-or-may-not-involve-teeth, and once again I'm reminded of how hard it can be to create a novel from scratch. A few pages into the notebook and I realize how many threads I have to tackle and weave into a story, and it's a little daunting. So I made a bubble diagram. It's somewhat comforting. (And I'm so glad I have a "Names I Like" sheet that saves me from toiling over names for hours as I'm wont to do.)

Tonight I am playing frisbee and buying my sister a birthday present. Hurray!

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*Grammar will tell you not to capitalize the second word in a hyphenated phrase, but what about the third/fourth/fifth/sixth?

Rejection Letters

2011-08-31T12:30:00.000-06:00

I have this sick need to fill in every blank space on my cubicle walls with these.

Spawning.

2011-08-29T12:15:00.000-06:00

I've started planning for my next book, and I've pieced together most of the magic system. I'm pretty excited for it! Though when I describe what it is to others, I usually get a response somewhere in the realm of, "Ew."

I've figured out the history of the magic and how it came to be, and I can definitely use that as a plot point in the book. Do I have a plot yet? No. But I have a few ideas. Have to finish the world, first. World spawns characters, and characters spawn plot. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what Orson Scott Card said.

Started draft 3 of Piscis. I think it will read much better in first person POV.

TDSF Wordle and Soundtrack

2011-08-27T15:51:00.000-06:00

As always when I finish a novel, I'm posting the Wordle and playlist.com soundtrack I used whilst writing it. If you're quite bored, please enjoy.

The Day the Sky Fell--Finished!

2011-08-26T12:48:00.000-06:00

My fourth novel is done!

The rough draft clocks in at 90,000 words, and I'm not sure that number will fluctuate too greatly after revisions, but we will see. I already have it out to alpha readers, because I want to get it editor/agent-ready as soon as possible.

Also, I started this book at the end of May, which means I finished it in three months. That's a record for me. Usually it takes four to five. (I know CSH took five, don't remember how long I spent on Weirs.) Helps that I seriously quintupled+ my word count post-WorldCon. :D I'm really excited to get this book polished and ready to go.

Now some random crap that you all care so much about.

Total chapters: 20
Total words: 90k
Number of names I unknowingly changed the spelling of: 2
Number of people I later realized had curse words for their name: 1*
Alternate title idea: The Breaking Sky (What do you think?)

Anyway. Now I need to finish rewriting Piscis, outline books 2 and 3 of this series, and then outline my next standalone (which will be the next book I actually work on). I have a few ideas for that one. Hoping I get to use the word "teeth" in the title.

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*Explanation: the protagonist, Kylah, is bilingual, and curses in his native tongue. I accidentally used one of these curses as a name for a minor character in the last few chapters. Go me.

Books to Read: The Black Prism and Blackdog

2011-08-24T12:24:00.003-06:00

I read a Brent Weeks book once (first in the Night Angel trilogy)--or rather, I read half of it. He's a good writer, but only being interesting in one of the many plot lines had me move to something else.

However, his Black Prism books have gotten some really good reviews, and there was a lot of effort put into the book trailer, which of course makes the novel look cooler.

So I added it to my GoodReads list. First and foremost, however, I want to read Blackdog by K. V. Johansen, a new book put out by Pyr. The story sounds AMAZING, and whoever did the cover art . . . genius.

(Thanks, Lou, for the high resolution picture!)

Not yet out on ebook, but it's coming. We'll see how long I can wait after I finish A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells (which is really quirky so far). I haven't been this excited for a book in a while, though. Man, does Lou Anders know how to sell a story.

WorldCon Day 4

2011-08-22T12:03:00.001-06:00

I realize that at least half the people I met at WorldCon have a first name starting with a J. ;)

Highlight of the day: The Hugo Awards!

The ceremony was a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be--very humorous hosts and gracious acceptance speeches (though one guy completely freaked out that he won, ripped off his jacket on stage, and cursed into the microphone on several occasions. In tears, mind you). A lot of the people I voted for actually didn't make it. But, an interesting note, Girl Genius is withdrawing its name from the ballot for future Hugos. They have the Oprah Winfrey complex--they just keep winning, so they want to let someone else have a chance. I wouldn't be surprised if Howard Tayler took the Hugo next year.

Outside of that, the day was quite mellow. Went to a couple of panels, did a little copyediting for the newsletter, took Danny back to the motel for a break. Us Utah writers did go out to Foley's Irish Pub for dinner, and I got to talk to some new people, though not as much as I would have liked. Ah well, that's what email and Twitter is for, right?

Overall, I'm very glad I went to WorldCon (didn't do day 5 as I was driving back to Salt Lake!). More for the networking than for the panels, but I had a good time. (Though unless I publish-slash-become oddly wealthy, I don't know when I'll be able to attend another.)

I heard Westercon might come to Utah in the next year or so. Here's hoping! My next convention will be Life, the Universe, and Everything in February.

Until then, I have a lot of writing to do.

WorldCon Day 3

2011-08-19T22:31:00.000-06:00

Highlight of the day: I got to chat with Lou Anders of Pyr Publishing.

Kristy and I were lucky enough to sign up for his kaffeeklattsch, so we got 50 minutes to sit with him, along with five other people. I got to ask him a lot of questions, and he gave me the email for his assistant and what she specializes in. I really want to send her TDSF, but it's not finished yet, let alone revised, despite being a stronger story. So I had Kristy glance at Weirs (By the way, you can hire her services here) so she could tell me how the prose read. I always get antsy about my prose. She recommended combing through it one last time, but said it read well. SO, I'll have my Piscis rewrite and my Weirs read-through to do once I finish TDSF. All the more reason to finish faster. (Needless to say, WorldCon has taken a chunk out of my writing time.)

ANYWAY. I also got to watch "Whatnot," a puppet show put on by Mary Robinette Kowal and crew. It was very entertaining, and it takes guts to get on stage in a skin-tight white jumpsuit. Very nice.

Attended a panel on the works of agenting and publishing, which went well, and also a pitching panel with Lizzy Shannon, who is delightful. I adored her, though I didn't get a chance to pitch myself. I was so nervous just thinking about it, but I did raise my hand! (Eventually...)

I've met a lot of fellow writers as well--their business cards are busting my Kindle case! Great people. I also befriended new writer Lissa Price, whose book Starters is coming out this March. Check her out, she's super nice.

So day 3 has gone well. Tomorrow is the last day, as we're leaving for Utah Sunday morning. Tomorrow I will be slave to the newsletter staff, have dinner with fellow Utah writers, and attend the Hugo Awards in my snazzy $14 dress. I plan to spend the drive home catching up on my word count. :)

WorldCon Day 2

2011-08-18T20:32:00.000-06:00

Also titled, "Conventions: The Latest on the Dieting Frontier."

Today's panels went much better than yesterday's. The highlight was the Creating Gods panel headed by Brandon Sanderson. I got to talk to him a bit beforehand, which was nice.

Tried to sign up for Liz Gorinsky's coffe-klatch (I don't recall how to spell that, and I don't want to look it up), but I got in the alternate spot, so I ended up talking to another author instead (P.R. Frost, who writes faery-type fantasy. Not my thing, but hey).

Had one panel with an extremely rude man in the audience, who started going off about a topic not even related to the panel, and when the moderator tried to shut him down he cursed up a storm and left. I don't know how people like that can expect to be taken seriously when their behavior is so atrocious. I felt bad for the panelists--there was tension in that room for the entire 50 minutes, and the topic never did get back on track.

Overall, good day, though I didn't quite eat enough and felt rather famished by seven*, at which point Danny, Kristy, and I went to Wendy's. Still waiting for all that to digest through. Super tired, but there's a Tor party tonight I was fortunate enough to hear about, so I want to stop by and see what's up. Am I terrified? Yes. Fake it 'til you make it.

Also, Angry Robot. Go look them up.

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*So if I attended a convention every day, I would be super skinny! XD

WorldCon Day 1

2011-08-17T22:43:00.000-06:00

Quick update.

Got to Reno at about 5:10 PM last night, checked into our hotel, which is pretty decent but seriously lacking in towels. Kristy and I went to the Atlantis to look around and say hi to the publication staff, and also found out we could register right then. Great.

Today was a bit slow. I think nearly every panel I went to dragged and was not what I expected, but at least I jotted down some ideas for the next book I want to write, and I think I have a name for my female protagonist. Wrote a whole 430 words for TDSF. Working on transcribing interviews for the newsletter instead of doing word count, but that's fine. My resume will be shinier for it.

Had a super sore throat Monday and Tuesday, but it's cleared up for the most part today, hurray!

ANYWAY, highlight of the day was getting a chance to talk to Moshe Feder, editor at Tor (who also works with Sanderson)! I saw Nathan, Derek, and Jason in the dealers room, so I went up to chat, and boom, Moshe is sitting amidst them. Awesome. He's very very friendly (and very Jewish. He mentioned being Jewish several times in the ten or fifteen minutes I got to chat with him, ha!). I'm hoping to send my finalized version of TDSF to him. Gotta get crackin' on that!

Also got GRRM, L.E. Modesitt, and Eric James Stone to sign my kindle. Huzzah.

Back to transcribing. ;)

Three Chapters Left?

2011-08-15T18:31:00.000-06:00

I was looking at my outline for The Day the Sky Fell today and realized I only have about three chapters left to write before this rough draft is done. Three! If I cracked down I could finish this by September (though WorldCon may be distracting...). Three chapters means this book totals at 20 chapters total. Word count... not sure. Assuming each chapter is about 5k, that would put the initial count at 100K. Some chapters are more, some are less. I don't think I have any over 7k, but I don't pay attention enough to know. Won't be sure until I finish the book (because I like being surprised).

So wow. There you go. Maybe I'll put off my Piscis revisions* until this book is done so I can have a project between edits. Then I need to roughly outline books two and three, and start brainstorming the next independent novel (which will NOT be a series. I still strongly support stand-alones.)

Leaving for Reno tomorrow morning at 9:00!

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*Got enough feedback (thanks guys!) to rework this story, and decided today to try it in first person. Haven't done first person for a while, but I can handle it. A lot of WotF stories are in first, so maybe this will actually better my chances. Who knows?

This Post Has a Side of Eggs.

2011-08-14T17:57:00.000-06:00

Leaving for Reno in roughly 36 hours. This blows my mind. And yet it doesn't feel that... here. I realized I need to actually go BUY food for the trip, which will have to be done Monday night after work/Dad checking out the car.* And I should probably do laundry, because I'm pretty sure I do not have enough underwear to last me 'til Sunday.

Side note: My computer screen is super dirty.

I wrote out a lot of scene notes [in church, whoops] today, but I haven't actually gotten my word count done yet. Go me. I blame not being able to nap long enough.

In other news, thanks to a case-lot sale at Macey's, I now own a two-month supply of ramen noodles. Have you ever eaten ramen with a boiled egg? So good. SO CHEAP. I will be bringing several servings of this meal with me to Reno. Here's hoping the room service is on top of taking out the garbage, eh?

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*Aren't dads great?

Write that Novel! Seminar

2011-08-12T12:14:00.000-06:00

So I finally browsed David Farland's Web site and found which writing seminar I'd like to attend. I think I'll go to his Write That Novel class, which is next April.

Reasons to choose this one:
-It's in Salt Lake City, which means I don't have to travel!
-The points that David hits on the site look really good
-It's two-day instead of a week long, so it will cost a bit less and use less PTO
-It looks like the first seminar of the year, so less waiting ;)

I weeded out the outlining seminar off the bat because I feel my outlining skills work well enough for me. I haven't signed up yet, but I will. Eventually.

Any of you guys (especially UT writers) thinking of attending?

At Least the Hotel Has a Toilet!

2011-08-09T11:54:00.000-06:00

Did you know you can play games on the Kindle? Yeah, guess what I did during my entire anniversary trip. :D I love it. Also excited for my pink case to come in the mail.

The WorldCon program doesn't seem to have a lot of writing panels--there's more fandom than anything else, which is a bummer to me. BUT they have a lot of publisher presentations, which I want to go to. And the whole trip is for networking anyway, right? One week from today and I'll be on I-80 heading to Reno!

Currently on chapter 16 of TDSF, inching closer to the end. Jason from writing group put together a crazy Excel sheet to keep track of our daily word counts, so that's cool. It's all color coordinated and everything.

Still itching to work on Piscis and send it away, but I still need reader comments back (hint hint, you guys). I have until the end of September for this quarter, so I'll keep the spazzing to a minimum. For now.

Meanwhile I need to figure out as many no-microwave-no-fridge meals* as I can since I'll be staying at a hotel with no appliances for WorldCon. Suggestions welcome.

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*You can make ramen noodles by putting hot water in a bowl and just letting the "pasta" sit there long enough, right?

KINDLE!

2011-08-04T17:01:00.000-06:00

I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD.

Besides the fact that he's sweet and funny and super crazy attractive, he gave me a KINDLE for our anniversary!!!

A KINDLE! Just in time for WorldCon!

In case you're wondering, that's "From the Ice Incarnate" by Joe Vasicek on the screen. It was free. :D

Meanwhile I'm pestering Nathan on Gmail so he can explain Kindle to me. There are so many features! EEEE!!!

Need a case...

How Being Annoying Helped Me Make a Better Pitch

2011-08-03T13:00:00.000-06:00

So I'm intent on getting a decent pitch for TDSF for WorldCon, though I doubt I'll get to spatter anything outside of the elevator pitch.

Kristy helped me a lot with this pitch, but it still wasn't perfect. I let it sit for two weeks and came back to it, with little to add.

Cue the following conversation:

Joe: There is a difference between your editing mind and your creative mind, so don't worry if you don't seem to be coming up with [a good pitch].

Me: Well, I wish they would go have an orgy together and give me something decent to work with.

Joe: That... is an interesting image.

Later my friend Leah got online and I immediately attacked. She must have had zero plans for life, because she opened my pitch in a word processor and had at it. Thank you Leah for your word-crafting! The pitch is sounding much better now. :D

I Take a Shower Every Day.

2011-08-02T13:08:00.000-06:00

I officially got the day shift for publications for WorldCon, woo~. I also finished my stalker list of editors and agents (there aren't much of the latter, actually) who will be attending the convention, so go me. (Though honestly the WorldCon Web site did most of the stalking for me.)

Meanwhile I'm terrified of being sick during WorldCon. My mind fathoms all the horrible things that could happen... like pink eye volume 3. No one will talk to me if I have pink eye. They'll think I'm one of those fangirls who Mary-Sue-RPGs herself as an elf and only bathes once every two weeks. I AM A HYGIENIC PERSON, DANGIT.

Happy thoughts, everyone. I did totally kick A on my word count yesterday, got about 3k done. I'm on chapter 15 and now get to BS a bunch of steampunk-esque science.

I also think I totally freaked out one of my coworkers whilst sniffing and coughing in the elevator. But I'm pretty sure I'm not contagious...*

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*Let it be known that I do not support sick people coming to the office. I hate sick people in the office. But I'm really more whiny than sick. It's okay to be whiny as long as you're aware you're being whiny, right?