Quote of the Moment

"What's Past Is Prologue." - William Shakespeare

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Oh, So Tired

I know I didn't blog last week. And it's taking a lot of drive to blog right now. I will be more than glad when my 12-week stint with extra work hours comes to an end. It is more than a bit draining. It's the lack of sleep, pure and simple.

Okay, I have yet to get any queries out, but that doesn't mean I've sat idle. Last Tuesday I got my new laptop! So I spent most of last week making sure all the programs I needed were on it and organizing it so it looks nice and I can find everything (like getting rid of the awful XP look and switching to Classic). It is a very nice comp, and hopefully tomorrow, I'll actually be able to use it to write (if I have time...I have a cookout this weekend, and saying the house is a disaster is an understatement).

I didn't write a lot last week, but everything else seemed to sweep me up. This week, though, I'm already up to 1,700 words (look at that meter)! I'm on a roll with the Fate story. I also critiqued a story for a friend, and this Sunday will be the first chat for the crit group I've pulled together (this has consumed a bit of my time - and if most don't show up for the discussion chat, I'll be so sad).

I should be reposting my Daina's Dance meter soon because I'm almost done typing up what I have for the rough draft...and OH will it need revisions badly once the entire rough draft is done. Perhaps the "Blood and Souls" meter will go back up as well, if I can find some time tomorrow to write. Note: the Weekly Goal meter includes any new stuff I have written on other meters. If that makes sense. I don't want to put up a goal meter for the Fate story because I have no inkling of how long it will be. I think I am at least a third of the way done though. It won't be as long as "Hell," which I think I am stalling on typing up because I really don't want to see the length - lol.

Okay, now I feel like I'm wandering a bit. Just too tired. Hopefully more updates from me next week (and here's hoping my goal meter shoots past 2k this - if you didn't notice I reduced it - 5k was unrealistic for me at this point in time).

Happy writing all!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

One Little Thing After Another

Yes, I am still in a bit of shock Stars is no longer in his tank in my bedroom, but I have ordered an engraved memorial stone, so I will not lament anymore in this post about my fishy.

Again, another fitting title for this post. Lots of little things going on. I started one of my Fate stories, and it is from the POV of a 12-year-old, but I can feel it trying to be in the POV of another character. This might be because the little girl is oblivious to many things - hard POV to write from. I'll see what the rough draft looks like, and change the POV if necessary. Hopefully, I'll be able to draw this story's card this weekend, if I find the time. And yes, I think I just might post the pics on my blog (no stealing allowed!).

I have also continued some of the Daina's Dance novel. Two more scenes from my newest POV. I have to type them up still though. Been doing a lot of handwriting, and my Hell story still needs to be translated into a word processing program. :) Hey, I think I'm doing pretty well this week, since I'm actually up to 1k words already! True, that doesn't mean I've caught up to cleaning or e-mails. :(

So, I broke down and ordered a new laptop from the evil company, Dell. I was told by a friend they still have the best hardware out there (unless you build yourself, or as she insists, get a Mac), even if their service is less than stellar. I got a good deal. This means though, I am working extra hours so I can pay for the darn thing. Waking up at 4:45am and not getting home until 6pm (because of the long commute) four days a weeks pretty much sucks and doesn't leave much time or energy for me to do things when I get home from work.

I have been good with not EQing that much, though! True, I have it running in the background now, but pretty much to use as something equal to Yahoo Messenger. Just to chat once in a while with a friend. :) Darn it, they need to fix EQIM so I can just log into that and chat instead of logging into the game - hehe.

In other news, I got a rejection from the agent I pitched to at the WPF Alumni Writers' Retreat. Too many romance elements for her taste. Oh, well. :( I'm sad, but I understand taste is taste. If I can find a spare chunk of time (crosses fingers for Thursday), I am going to try to edit my query and send it out to three more people again. Diane gave me a few suggestions when I was at the retreat. :)

My story in Modern Magic did get reviewed at Tangent, but sadly my last name was mispelled, and it isn't the best review for me. :p At least the review didn't freeze me up with my writing. I think I've successfully sluffed it off.

This has turned into a long post, even if most of the junk going on is little. I think I'll end it here for now. Here's hoping I can keep up my writing pace the rest of the week while catching up with other things. Happy writing!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

In Memoriam

Some of you are going to think I'm nuts. So, I'll admit I am upfront and get that out of the way. Today, my blog entry is solely concerning my goldfish. I know I've posted this pic before, but it's the only one I have of him. It is with much sadness I report that my ancient, crazy fishy has passed away.

It was already July 4 (about quarter to 2 in the morning) when my husband and I found him no longer swimming. He had seemed fine as ever around 8pm. For those of you who know me well, you know I got him on July 4 thirteen years ago. I am more than sure he made it to midnight when it officially became the 4th and just decided 13 years was long enough.

I'd like to give a little history. He was more than just a fish to me. His name was Sterling Stars and he was won at a festival with a friend called Golden Stripes (who sadly escaped down the drain one day while cleaning - and I have no doubt she would have lived just as long if not for that incident). Stars and Stripes Forever - yes I was thirteen myself at that time, I had to think of something cute like that since I won them on the 4th of July.

The thing is, I've associated Stars with my writing for the longest time. A month or two after I won him is when I started the novel that took me all of high school to write (I know how bad that novel is, it will never see the light of day, but it was the fact I was undertaking that and that was really when I first got more serious about writing). So, in a sense, he was a fishy muse. He was supposed to have lived until I got a novel published!

Stars was also no normal fish (it seems nothing I own ends up being normal). he was crazy.

*** He insisted that all his stones on the bottom of his tank were not in the proper place, therefore would move them around. One time I did an experiement and put all of one color on one side and then another color on the other side. by the time I had to clean his tank again, they were all mixed up.

*** He also refused to eat quietly. You put the fish food in and you would swear the loud bloop bloop bloop you heard was a cat playing in water, not a little goldfish eating.

*** Instead of living a long healthy life for a goldfish, he figured THIRTEEN years would be much better so people could ponder at the unimaginable age he was.

*** And to top it off, he had to go out with a bang. He couldn't just die on any old day of the year. No way. Exactly 13 years to the day that I won him was when he swam his way to his next life. Now that's a fish with timing and a sense of drama!

You bet your butt he'll be mentioned in my dedication page WHEN I get my first novel published.

Stars will be greatly missed since he had been through a lot with me and traveled with me the many times I moved (even in dorm rooms!). And I will ignore all of those that tell me he was just a fish. He was my Stars, and it will not be the same without him around. :(