Fri. Feb. 10, 2023: I Feel Like A Spinning Top That Tipped Over

image courtesy of InspiredImages via pixabay.com

Friday, February 10, 2023

Waning Moon

Cloudy and cool

According to the weather forecast, we won’t see any sun until March 1. Which is discouraging. Gray days for the rest of the month. I hope they are wrong.

Meditation was good, as usual. Charlotte was happy to hang out, too, because, you know, Zoom.

I need to do something better for Instagram, since links in the messages themselves are basically useless. I’m not a fan of Linktree.  Of the other sites I researched, both Campsite and Lnk.Bio look good, and I’m leaning toward the latter. That way, I can have the serials, The Process Muse, the newsletter, the websites, all of it up.

I got a stack of filing done and put away, and that made me feel like I had so much breathing room.

Drafted two episodes of Legerdemain.

Did the social media rounds, promoting Legerdemain and 28 Prompts. Spoutible was clunkier than usual, which was frustrating. The Writing Wonders game is fun on Mastodon; didn’t spend much time on CounterSocial, except to check in.

Twitter’s just depressing. There was a “Twitter Smarter” seminar, on which I checked some posts later in the day (I was busy when it was live). The tips offered made sense about two years ago, but aren’t relevant to Twitter’s current crumbling. There’s still a (fading) chance it will course correct, but I can’t see it happening as long as Yegads Muskrat is in charge.  And I came across a post of someone I’ve interacted with talking about the importance of liking and RTing, which, coming from her, is just total hypocrisy. Trying to hold my patience and not lock the account until March. But my impulse is to do it now.

Worked on the residency proposal. Made some notes for another project for which I will do a proposal later this year, although I probably won’t actually get to work on the project until next year. There are two such proposals I need to write up, and then, when opportunities present themselves, I can apply for the appropriate residencies. Because these definitely have to be done in out-of-house studio spaces. They won’t fit to do them here, and are experiments expanding the way I tell stories.

Had a worthwhile chat with some fellow Kindle Vella authors and readers about number of episodes, lengths of episodes, etc. and it was interesting and helpful to get the different perspectives.

Only turned around one script, because after that, I hit a wall. That means I have two to turn around this afternoon, one short, one long. I’m taking the weekend off from reading, because I’m at the edge of burnout, and need to rest from that type of work for a couple of days. It’s not fair to the writer if I push myself through burnout. Hopefully, scripts will turn up next week, so I can get some more in this pay period. I’m waaaaaay under where I want and need to be, financially, because the scripts that were available paid so little.

The dumpling press arrived. You know what that means? As soon as I clean out the freezer from the leftovers that have taken up recent residence, there will be MANY KINDS OF DUMPLINGS ALL THE TIME. Because I love dumplings, and I have 3 cookbooks devoted to them. And dumplings are made in large batches, like 50 at a time.

Started reading a book for pleasure that lost me by page 13, so that’s going back to the library unfinished. Then started a book I could not put down. It’s MURDER AT THE 42^ND STREET LIBRARY by Con Lehane. Excellent on plot, pace, character, dialogue levels. The plot, in particular, is very well constructed. A lot of it also takes place in my old Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and around the main branch of the 42^nd St. Library. The setting is an additional character, and rendered with both affection and a clear eye. Reading it made me miss New York for the first time since I moved away.

Fortunately, I’m close enough so that a trip down there every now and again is not out of the realm of possibility.

Anyway, loved the book, can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Exhausted last night, more from family stuff than anything else. Caring for an elderly parent, even one in relatively good health, can be exhausting.  Slept fairly well, until Tessa and Charlotte started in on me at 4 AM. I was in the Dreamscape, very busy all night, nothing bad, just busy. I was myself (a younger version, but still me) rather than someone else, which was much more comfortable. I keep feeling there’s something important I need to remember from the dream, and it’s just beyond my grasp.

This morning, it’s off to the library, the pharmacy, the grocery store, the liquor store. I need to get some more of my own work done in the morning, especially on proposals. I need to do the social media rounds for today’s episode of ANGEL HUNT and 28 Prompts. I have to write an submit the book reviews (which I didn’t do yesterday, and one of the reviews is due today). And I have to catch up on the script coverages.

Oh, look! The sun peeked out, for about 30 seconds! Better than nothing, right?

Tomorrow, I will work on proposals and make some notes on the poems I want to work on (possibly in the residency later this year, if that works out). I’ll also do some more work on the article; answers to the interview questions have been coming in, and it’s time to work quotes into the article. Sunday, I’m supposed to go to an artist talk in Pittsfield at noon, and then a meditation session at the local yoga studio at 4. Fingers crossed that it all works out. The risk assessments made it look possible,

Have a good one, my friends, and I’ll see you on the other side of the weekend.

Fri. April 22, 2022: Earth Day!

image courtesy of Purwaka Seta via pixabay.com

Friday, April 22, 2022

Waning Moon

Sunny and pleasant

Earth Day!

How lovely that we have a beautiful day in which to celebrate Earth Day. I have a couple of errands I will do later on foot, to enjoy it.

I had trouble settling into meditation yesterday morning.

After breakfast, I dealt with emails and with admin work. Then, I sent off the trio of Frieda/Laz plays to the radio producer in NY who was interested in them.

I spent a good chunk of time converting “Pier-less Crime” (the third Frieda/Laz play) into US Numbered Format for the producer in Minnesota. I’d already converted “Intrigue on the Aurora Nightingale” thank goodness. I got both of them off to Minnesota. That company is recording the first one in June, so if it goes well and they want more, they’ve got them in house and can just license them, and we’re good. They’re a trustworthy company; I’ve worked with them on several plays.

In the afternoon, I turned around a script coverage, and I answered follow-up questions on a previous coverage.

A book I ordered arrived, and I’m looking forward to reading it, probably a week or two down the road. The Ipsy bag arrived, full of lovely things for the coming month.

My mom’s new cellphone arrived, and we started the activation process from Tracfone (which has devolved from mere incompetence into harassment) to Consumer Cellular (who is no great shakes either, but at least they had a decent phone, and let’s see how the plan works). Anyway, it’s a cute red flip phone with talk and text, which is all she wants, and not a Smartphone that’s too complicated for her, so she is happy. Getting the contacts in was a hassle, but we got that done. Now, we just have to wait for the migration to complete. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.

I’m really tired of these companies treating customers like criminals and claiming it’s in the name of “security.” If you assume everyone is a criminal, you shouldn’t be in business.

I have zero sympathy for Disney right now. They could have avoided all this crap by simply not funding right wing extremists in the first place, and then pretending they supported LGBTQ, and facing backlash from Republicans. Disney always tries to play both sides against the middle for maximum profit, and I hope this costs them a lot of money. They will win, in the end, because they have the lawyers and the money. And, frankly, they built the infrastructure in that area, so they’re going to defend it. It’s just performance for the GOP base, anyway. They’ll all be back in bed together in a few days. Not weeks or months. Days. Even if they pretend otherwise.

Still have a migraine, but I’m hoping that the lovely weather and doing errands on foot will mitigate it. Plants can go out on the porch again today, yay!

I’m focusing on contest entries today, and will probably work through the weekend on them, so I can make my final decision, write up the reviews for the winners, and submit the results over next week.

Before that, though, I want to get in some work on “Owe Me” and on The Big Project.

Have a good weekend. I’m hoping it will warm and sunny, so I can enjoy reading amongst the plants!

Mon. Nov. 12, 2018: Friendliness – How Many in a Day? #UpbeatAuthors

Monday, November 12, 2018
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Venus Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

 

One of the exercises I often give my students is to track how many people they interact with in a single day.

This came out of a series of exercises supposedly set in cities that lacked any sense of the teeming life that is so much part of a city. Like the apocalypse happened, and I didn’t get the memo. If you set a scene in Times Square, I want to know, where are the people? It’s full of them, twenty-four hours a day. Even if your scene is an intimate one between two characters, someone is going to bump into them as they chat on a cell phone or laugh with their friends. Without other people, you lose the sense of place.

In the exercise, each person takes a small pad and a pen and makes a hatch mark for each person encountered in the course of the day. Whether you say anything to them or just pass them on the street.

The last time I did the exercise, I was staying in a suburb of New York, took the train in to Grand Central, attended an event at the New York Public Library, worked on a Broadway show, went out to a restaurant, and took the train home.

Interaction count for the day: 587.

Five Hundred and Eighty-Seven people in the course of a single day in New York City. And I probably missed a few.

I don’t ever want to read a scene set in that city that doesn’t have an awareness of the sheer amount of humanity in a small space again.

What does that have to do with friendliness, our topic of the month?

Try this: Pick a day this week or next week, but sometime sooner, rather than later.

Make the effort to smile at every person you pass in the course of your day. Even if you’re an introvert.

Jot down notes during the day.

What kind of difference did it make in your day?

Take a moment to think about what kind of difference it made in other people’s days.

Now, again for writers, think about how you can translate any details of any of those interactions to your writing.

How does that change the life of the piece? How does that change your characters’ experience?

How did meeting everyone you encountered with friendliness for one day change your experience?

Build on that. In fiction, and in life.

Feel free to post the results of the experiment here, or in response to any of the Ink posts.

Mon. Oct. 1, 2018: Persistence — How Badly Do You Want It? #UpbeatAuthors

Monday, October 1, 2018
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

There are five Mondays in October, which means I have to sort my thoughts on persistence into FIVE posts. Yes, that will take persistence!

When I teach, one of the first questions I ask is, “How badly do you want this?”

The students who will gain the most out of my classes are not those who prefer “having written” to writing. I am strict, and demand a high level of productivity and commitment.

Because that is what you need if you plan to have a career in the arts.

High productivity.

Ever-increasing skills.

Commitment.

Persistence.

I spent most of my professional life earning my living in the theatre. I worked my way up to Broadway, production managed some indie films, and day-played on network television shows.

I made the decision that was what I wanted to do quite young, and started working professionally when I was 18, and still in college.

Did I ever do other things? Of course. I temped all over the country. I worked at nearly 200 different companies. I worked at many non-profits. Some of them were great experiences, like the Guggenheim Museum and the Neuberger Museum. I did a three-year stint for an art book publisher during the day while working off-off Broadway at night. I did five years working for the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation part-time, as I worked shows at night, moving from off-off Broadway to off-Broadway. Eventually, I worked enough off-Broadway to just work theatre, and write, and pick up some extra cash between gigs playing the horses at Aqueduct and Belmont and as a tarot reader.

Then, I worked at the Public Theatre for some people well-established in the field, who recommended me up the ladder to Broadway because they liked my work.

I made the leap.

At the same time I transitioned to Broadway, shows I wrote were produced in London, Edinburgh, and Australia, so I took time off from the transition in order to be with those shows in those locations.

When I worked on Broadway, I wrote. I had shows produced in small theatres. I collaborated with fellow artists.

I started getting back into writing not just plays, but short stories and novels again. I took workshops. I learned how to pitch. I learned more about effective pitching from working with film acquisitions people at conferences than anywhere else, and it is what I learned from those film people that honed my skills so that my novel pitches started to hit.

I made a tough decision that much as I loved writing scripts, I did not want to relocate to LA and start at the bottom of the ladder again. I didn’t want to do what was necessary to achieve a spot in a writer’s room. I respect writer’s rooms enormously, and the collaboration that goes on there. It is not an environment where I would thrive. Do I still write and pitch scripts? Yes. But I’m not going to earn a spot in a writer’s room of a television drama in LA. My career trajectory isn’t going to go there. I’m at peace with it. Most of the time. 😉

When it was time for me to leave Broadway, because the physical demands of the backstage work were too much, and mentally, I needed to stop splitting my focus between working on other people’s shows and my own, I left New York — and moved far enough away so that I wouldn’t be tempted back.

I dug in, and through a mix and match, and a lot of pain and frustration, made it work. I shifted and expanded what I write and how I handle my business in order to make a living. Unfortunately, I live in an area that talks big about celebrating artists, but doesn’t actually support working artists. Are you a visiting artist who likes the beauty and history of the area? They’ll fall all over you. Have a summer house? They grovel. But move here, live here year round and try to work? The attitude is that you must have failed elsewhere, so the expectation is for you to work three part-time jobs at minimum wage without benefits and do your art for “fun” because “we don’t pay for that.”

So I don’t work for them. I have some local clients I enjoy and value, who value me in return. I expanded my client base beyond the bridge, and reconnected with international contacts. I network here, sure, but have redrawn my boundaries, and when the demand is made to work for free, I say no. Because this is my business, not my hobby. I’m not living off a trust fund. I’m not writing for pin money. I am not supported by a corporate husband paying the bills.

This is my profession.

I talked in earlier posts about how if you don’t respect your own work, no one else will, either.

Saying “no” has done more to expand my business than saying “yes” to the wrong situations ever did.

Is my life perfect and without struggle? Of course not. I am still building the life I’ve always wanted. I will always be building the life I want, because life changes, breath to breath. You can either insulate yourself and pretend it doesn’t, or rage that the world refuses to change to suit you. or think on your feet and make the decisions that support your choices.

I knew, when I was six years old, that I wanted to be a writer. Once I fell in love with theatre, I wanted to do that, too. I had a dual career as long as it worked. While I have a multi-pronged writing career, it is also what I want. I like doing different things, having different facets and challenges.

Years ago, I thought I wanted an ivory tower existence. I imagined something quite different from what it is.

But what “is” is better, in many ways, than the roads not taken.

And the road I hope to build in the coming years will continue to improve. Not without obstacles, pain, and tangents — but if I persist, I can build something good.

I got here because when I asked myself, “How badly do you want this?” — my answer was, “Badly enough to do what it takes.”

 

Nano Prep: Oct. 24: Music

I used to write to music.

However, when I write, it needs to be instrumental, or the lyrics distract me.

One of my favorite procrastination techniques is to create Character CDs – a CD for each of my main characters, filled with the music to which I think that character would listen.

I’ll play it before I write about the character; or, if it’s instrumental, while I write about the character.

Writing the romantic suspense novel Assumption of Right(as Annabel Aidan), I told the tale in chapters from alternating points of view. Each day’s chapter was from one or the other’s point of view. So I’d pop in that character’s CD, listen to it for a few minutes, and I’d be in the right mindset to write.

That was when I lived in New York, and it was noisy and full of interruptions. Once I moved to Cape Cod, for the most part, I stopped writing to music. Weather-permitting, I have the windows open and listen to the birds and the wind and sometimes, even the rain.

If someone’s running a leaf blower or some other power tool, and I’m ready to strangle them with their own cord, I’ll put on the iPod and crank up the tunes.

But, still, it has to be instrumental.

I never, EVER use a soundtrack from a play or movie. That music was created and assembled to support someone else’s creative vision. It bleeds into your writing. When students turn in work that was written to soundtracks, I can tell exactly which ones, because it shows up in the writing.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

NYC was awful yesterday. Too many Stupid Fucking Tourists, too hot, too humid, too smelly. I was in a MOOD by the time I reached the theatre. Fortunately, I was on my own for the first few hours and had time to get over myself.

An article was greenlighted (greenlit?) that I really want to do – I get to interview a friend, colleague, and one of my favorite people for the Winter Issue of THE SCRUFFY DOG REVIEW. He’s excited, I’m excited, my editor’s excited, so it’s all good. Now I have to come up with some good questions!

Confidential Job #1 sent me my next assignment – finally! First they cut the rate by 40%, then they send less work. I’m getting a little fed up with them, but the loyalty to my editor keeps me in place. Oh, and this time, they forgot to give me a due date, so I’ll have to ask about it.

Confidential Job #2 was kind enough to invite me to see the finished product of something I worked on several months ago – unfortunately, it’s in LA, and I can’t fly out for the day! But it was sweet of them to include me.

The job boards totally suck lately. Hopefully, they’ll pick up after Labor Day.

Have to undo some admin tangles – these companies need to hire people who actually post payments sent – I have to untangle two messes on payments I made over a month ago. Both companies were quick to cash the check, but never posted payment and are now harassing me. Fortunately, I have proof. And I’m invoicing them for the inconvenience.

Have to buy cat food.

And, of course, the building management shut off the water AGAIN. I don’t even care if they tell us ahead of time. I want it to STOP.

Tried to work on OLD FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK last night, but it was mush. Too tainted by the day. I had to throw everything out that I wrote. So I had to get up extra early this morning to make up for it. Most of Chapter 19 is done. I have to figure out a couple of things in this, and then I’m going to end on another cliffhanger. I thought Chapter 20 would be the final chapter of the book, but now I think it’s more likely to be Chapter 21.

Off to deal with the incompetents, and then it’s back to the page.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Monday, August 25, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Cloudy and humid

Part 7 of my interview runs at The Creative Heartbeat Collective. I know you’re getting sick of it, but this is the last week, so drop by and leave a comment.

I am back in NY. The trip wasn’t too bad yesterday; some annoying people, but the bus ride was smooth, and I managed to work out a glitch that was bothering me in OLD FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK. I’d envisioned a sequence, but in its original version, either Ty or Solange or Xeoth would show up as almost a deus ex machine, and I’d much rather than Wyatt and Jain got themselves out of the situation. But I couldn’t figure out how.

And then I did.

And that’s in Chapter 19, which I’ve yet to write. But I finished Chapter 18 this morning.

And I’m out of ink – again. I’m getting a little tired of this.

I wrote about seventy pages while I was in Philadelphia last week, which is pretty decent. Not as much as I should have, but decent. And I wrote eleven pages this morning. I hope to at least get started, and maybe even finish Chapter 19 when I get home tonight.

The modern gothic is tugging at me, but it will just have to wait. Everything will have to wait until I get OLD FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK to the publisher. I’ve had to edit as I write, a process I hate, but it’s my own damned fault for being so far behind.

I’m going to outline Book 3 in a whole lot more detail so I don’t get myself into this mess next time around.

Off to the theatre for some work, and then it’s back to the page. No time for tired right now.

And, of course, building management is doing everything they can to torture even more. They are determined to drive us out. I am so frustrated, between building management and the fact that they’re draining our power so the fucking computer can’t run properly.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Sunday, August 24, 2008
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Partly cloudy and warm

Good day’s work on OLD FASHIONED DETECTIVE WORK. I had to go back to an earlier chapter to add something in order to make a later chapter make sense, but that’s par for the course. I’m feeling much better about it all. Took a few days to get there, but now I feel like I can actually get this done and out in a reasonable time. It’s still late, but at least it will go out this week. It’s also longer than I expected. It will be around the 200 page mark instead of the 120 page mark. Oh, well, it suits the story and feeds into the overall series, while still working on its own merits and can stand alone. I actually know what points I have to hit and the strong ending I want. Now I just have to get there. I figure it’s another 2-3 chapters. And this time I mean it! 😉

PJ, there was never any question Wyatt would come out of this situation, at least this time around. The gun to the head bit was a minor glitch to add a further complication – although I’m sure he wouldn’t agree. If he’s not going to get out of something, further down in the series, he’ll go in a much more interesting and unusual way!

I’m on Chapter 17, moving towards the big finale of this book, and I think we’ll be done by Chapter 20. The plot on this has been twisty-turny, like a tangled skein of yarn.

I came up with a brilliant title for Book 3 of the series, the one told through Billy Root’s eyes. Too bad I didn’t write it down and can’t remember it. Guess it wasn’t so brilliant after all.

Wandered back to Robin’s Books and picked up a copy of Francine Prose’s BLUE ANGEL. I’d looked at it the other day and put it back. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I returned to the bookstore and there it was. I grabbed it and bought it and it entrances me.

Outlined a couple more pieces, all odd. Not sure what they will turn into, or if they’re merely false starts. Time and writing will tell.

My eyes hurt from all the time spent on the computer.

I’m officially pathetic. I went to Rittenhouse Square (after stopping back at Remedy for another iced Earl Grey tea) because it was a beautiful day, I wanted to read in my break from writing, and be outside. I managed to stave off most of the crazies, but I had to leave because a bunch of sad shelter dogs wearing those “adopt me” jackets were being walked, and I got emotional because I couldn’t adopt them ALL. (Or even one of them, right now).

The dishwasher’s already run, the laundry’s in, and I’m almost packed.

Back to the page for a few more hours before I have to head back to the bus. We’ll see how far into the big finale I can get. I’ve also figured out the last few sentences, so the ending will pack a punch.

The dark, almost modern gothic piece is pulling at me, as is another piece I outlined yesterday, more of a contemporary lit fic. They have to wait for awhile, until OFDW is done, but they’re percolating. In the latter, in the outline, the protag/antag were pretty straight up, but the more I think about it, the more I want to make it more unclear. I want it to be more like a theatre piece, where each character is working towards achieving his or her own desires, only in this case, none of them are particularly concerned with how the consequences affect those around them. “I Want” is the central theme.

I head back to New York tonight. The weather’s been gorgeous here in Philadelphia, and it’s been a wonderful writing retreat. I’m sorry to go back to the insanity and instability of NY, especially when it comes to the living situation. I’m not looking forward to the part of the trip that’s from here to the bus station or from Penn Station to Grand Central, but I hope the rest of it will be relatively pain-free. I am filled with dread at the thought of returning, as much as I miss my cats. I feel like I need at least another week here, and then I’ll feel as though I’m truly back on track. Unfortunately, that’s not an option.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Friday, May 23, 2008

Friday, May 23, 2008
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

Yesterday was one of those days you have when you’re dealing with an illness where you have to feel worse before you get better. Oh, well, but ick. I’m feeling better today, thank goodness, but the early part of yesterday was not fun.

I got some errands done. More building crap – gee, what else is new?

I’ve got most of my ducks in a row for the trip to Cape Cod in just over a week, so that’s a good thing. I’d pack – you know me, I like to pack at least a week before I leave – but, if the weather’s nice, I’m only wearing dresses, and I don’t want them squashed in the bag for a week, so I guess I’m just going to have to pack (oh, horrors) the night before.

I’ll make sure the writing bag is ready early, though.

Colin Galbraith posted an interesting dilemma on his blog, stating his decision to put aside a WIP because he didn’t feel the story had anything to say. I feel like that every time I go to a PEN event – here are all these Serious Literary Writers who are changing the world, and what the heck am I doing?

Telling stories. My characters want their stories told. I have to tell them, or I don’t get any peace, they’re yammering so much in my head; and I often don’t know what the themes are in the work, “what I’m saying”, until after the first draft is done. What I think I’m writing about and what is actually underneath the actions are often two different things.

So I try not to worry, at least in early drafts, and see what I have, what the characters have to say, what growth arcs are happening, before I try to impose the rest of it.

The adaptation shocked me the other day, because I realized that, while I thought it was “about” one thing, it’s really about something entirely different, and, although it’s set in a different world, many of the same decisions/situations/dilemmas face the characters as we are now facing. That wasn’t my intent when I started – in fact, had I begun Script Frenzy with that intent, I would have scared myself off and never gotten more than a page or two into it.

I lost almost my entire writing day because I had to back up files – including system files – in case my hard drive decides to die. Yes, Melissa, it’s time to go Mac, I am desperate to go Mac, but the outlay of cash is more than I can handle right now.

I like all the bits of my computer, so, in spite of the fact that Dell’s response to my question is, “We don’t have that information; you have to buy a new system” – again, more coercion – when I tried to get information about replacing just the hard drive – I’m talking to other people, and that may be what I do. Why not replace the hard drive and reload all my programs/systems for $150 or so rather than spending $600-800 on another crappy PC system that will only work well for the first month? I’m perfectly happy with the monitor and speakers and keyboard and all the rest. Why not just replace what’s bad and keep this system limping along until I can afford to do the total replacement that I want?

So, I’m annoyed that I’m losing days when I’m on such tight deadlines, but I’ve got to make sure these systems are backed up (time to by more CDs) before it gives up the ghost for good, and I’m asking around as to what kind of hard drive I can buy to put in here and then I’ll pay someone who knows what they’re doing to put it in. And I can reload the programs myself – I’m going through all my disks to make sure I have them, and anything I’m not sure about, I’m backing up again.

Frustrating.

Traveling in and out of the city was annoying, as usual. Too many people in too small a space, and the trains, as usual, running badly. I had quite the encounter with a SFT. She was crossing the street in the opposite direction, with plenty of room, but tried to shove me and said, “ExCUSE me. You need to move.”

Yeah, I’ve got the bumper of a yellow cab at my hip and you’ve got all of W.49th Street, bitch. But I said, “I’m the resident; you’re the Stupid Fucking Tourist; you move.”

“I pay your salary!” she screeched.

“YOU pay me shit,” I replied. “You’re here because I wrote something so fascinating that coming to NYC was suddenly the most important thing in your life.”

I meant as a copywriter, but she was too stupid to understand. Her eyes got very round. “Ooooh, are you FAMOUS?” she asked.

“You’ll never know, will you?” I retorted, and walked off, leaving her in the middle of the street making fish faces.

Maybe that’s the way most B’way workers get through the day, saying oh, well, the tourists are paying my salary, I’ll deal with their rudeness. But the SFT’s do NOT pay mine.

Grabbed an iced coffee at Thalia (which I promptly spilled down my shirt because the lid wasn’t on properly – oh, well, dark colored shirt, easily washed). Show was fun. I’m dressing the men, and they’re lots of fun. Caught up on all the backstage stories from the other shows, including the stories about the Major Television Personality who was recently brought into a show to boost ticket sales, and not only hasn’t that happened, he’s stupid AND clueless. At least if you’re clueless, be nice. Well, that’s what the producers get when they go for name instead of talent. I feel for the people working on the show every day, but I don’t have much sympathy for those producers.

Whatever.

Got home around midnight, puttered around. Got up at my usual 6:30 this morning, coaxed the computer up, did some work on the adaptation. I have to really push on the script today. Another short writing day, because I have a show tonight, and then the weekend has to be all about writing.

Keep your fingers crossed that this hard drive can last another week so I can back everything up, meet my deadlines, get a new hard drive, and then drop it off to be fixed before I leave on my trip.

Devon

Adaptation: 41,322 words out of est. 90,000

41 / 90 (45.6%)

Devon’s Bookstore:

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here: