Zero Drafts And Hip Tats
I really don’t have much to report today. Yesterday was the first rock-climbing class (not mine, mine got rescheduled) and it looks like the kids are going to love it. I also visited the dentist yesterday. Big fun. They act like I’m a big baby when I insist on the nitrous, but I don’t care. It’s stressful enough enduring fillings; why suffer if I don’t have to?
Today I got the outline of the first of a pair of hip tattoos. I was kind of dreading it, but actually the hip isn’t that bad. My back was loads worse, especially around my ribs. Ouch! But the hip was ticklish-painful in a couple places, otherwise not so bad. Yes, I will probably have a couple pictures when everything heals up. I just hate looking at pictures of freshly-done tats; they look so raw. Plus, I’m pretty pale and I flush very easily (you wouldn’t think it, but I do blush at the drop of a hat) and it always looks worse on me, especially since I only get black-and-white work done.
Last but not least, I finished the zero draft of a teaser for Angel Town, the last (planned) Kismet book. I’m giving it a day to rest, polishing tomorrow, then sneaking it in under the wire for inclusion in Heaven’s Spite. Now I can turn my attention to the Selene & Nikolai short, which I planned the skeleton for yesterday. I will post more about where and how the short will appear (it will be in a print anthology if everything works out all right) as soon as we have definitive answers.
Whenever I do a short story, I usually do at least two or three “false starts” before I find the real story. Then I bang my head against the first few scenes of the real story, and finally in exasperation do a sort of halfass outline of the rest, scene by scene and planning for each scene to be 1-1.5K. Then I let the thing rest for a day, and suddenly when I go back to it everything spills out in a rush like it was just waiting for me to show up. I’ve learned not to agonize over this process too much. The false starts are frustrating, but they sometimes provide a base for other things, so I just stick them in the graveyard and be done with them.
And…that’s all the news that’s fit to print. I’m going to go back to my coffee and poking at the short story now. After that beast is zero-drafted I have a first pass on the fourth Dru book to perform, and the end of May should see me with nothing on my slate but proof pages and Angel Town.
Ahhh, that sounds like heaven. Catch you later.
PS: I am still ruminating on my next laptop possibly being a Mac. Feel free to go comment, answer questions, give me the benefit of your thinking.
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Tags: Random!, shooting from the hip, short story madness, the internets they know everything
April 6th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
My laptop is a MacBook; my desktop is an Imac. I wouldn’t use a PC again if I got paid in gold and chocolate.
April 6th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Hey there — firstly, huge congrats on all your successes of late. You’re an inspiration. Secondly, I am a Mac girl through and through and have been for years. Right now I’m working with a Mac Air, and I love it. It’s light, it’s user friendly, I can (and do) type for hours and hours straight on it with no hint of RSI or cramping. It doesn’t have an external drive if you want to load software so you have to get one one so it’ll hook up via usb. Other than that, I think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. I fly with it long haul from Australia, in my handbag. Being a lap top, and with my dodgy back issues, I use a LapGenie lightweight lap top computer desk, which fits on the bed and also in the armchair. Another great US invention. Good luck, and if you want to know more drop me a line.
April 6th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
No advice on the laptop. I’ve only had this one and it’s a Dell.
I’m turning 50 in June and I always said I’d get a tattoo, but now I’m not sure where, or what I would want. I was thinking something celtic, black ink…I’m part Irish so it would mean something. Now you’ve got me thinking again. I think my hips have too much padding. BAHAHAHAHAHA
I have at least 3 short stories started that I love the idea but just need to go back in and work on them again. Maybe I just need to bang my head a little to get it right:)
April 6th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Hello what about on the strange angel series any updates Spoilers!
April 6th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Hi Elizabeth! There’s not a lot I can say, but I can tell you that in Jealousy we find out Graves’s first name, and Ash is an integral character. I can’t post much more, and I invite you to go to the forum and talk to other fans!
April 9th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I just recently discovered your amazing writing talents! I love to read and being a stay at home mom has taken me away from a lot of social interaction I used to get by working. So, my only real vacation is when I let my imagination be consumed by books… and let me tell you, your writing is fascinating and compelling. I have a hard time putting your books down once I start them! So thank you for giving me an imagination vacation!
I also wanted to put in my bid that you go Mac… I started using Macs in art school because I was forced, and I will never again us a PC! I love my Mac… the one I am using now I have had since 2001 and have never had a problem with it! It still runs smoothly and quickly! No viruses, no worms, no spyware…. it is heaven!