For The Children, They Mark, And The Children, They Know

I feel like I only blog now in my spare time.  That’s sad…but since I have so little spare time lately, the fact that I’ll dedicate it to ranting about my book is admirableish, if I do say so myself.
 
Anyway, I’m not editing on this lunch break because I went to mail my tax return for Virginia (long story) and, as it turns out, FedEx can’t mail to that IRS office any more, due to the shutdown or ineptitude or general congressassery*.  I’m super pissed, and dunno how I’ll get my shit to the post office (seeing as they’re all closed or on reduced hours as well), but that, evidently, is the new plan.  Irksome. 
 
As for the editing, it’s actually going really well.  I’ve been very down these past few months, and especially so recently, but even just fiddling with my book seems to be helping.  Some. 
 
I have had to rewrite several sections, and they’ve turned out much better.  That’s also helpful.
 
I’m currently about 39 pages from the finish, which (when you consider that the manuscript is something like 380 pages) is hardly anything at all!  90% done!
 
Editor applications, however, are another story (pun intended!).  I just do not have the time outside of work right now, and my work lunch time is currently dedicated to editing.  I’m so busy that I feel like I’m not even sleeping.  I haven’t vacuumed in something like two weeks, I need to scrub my stove and toilet, and I really should spend more time with my cat.  Plus I ought to rest…before I snap and really do throw myself off the balcony here at work.  Tempting…
 
Seriously, though, I figure I’ll focus on applications once I’m finished with editing.  Once the book is edited I can use these lunch sessions to research and apply to publishers, leaving my evenings free to find a new job (which I desperately need).
 
Anyway, my break is almost up, and I think I’ll spend the rest of it staring out the window and drinking my hot cider (yum!).  Ciao for now.
 
 
Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor
Word Count: only 10% left to edit!
Writing Mode: Wistful; and, for the most part, enjoying reading my own work

 

 

*I’ma go ahead and coin this word right now

Cupio Dissolvi

Blogging today instead of editing because I am mad siiiiiiccckkkkkk.

 

Honestly, I feel so ill that all I wanna do is curl up in bed for a week.  It’s my own fault…I ran around like a crazy person last week, stressing over a work trip I was planning, staying out far too late and drinking far too much at a wedding I attended this weekend, and getting myself all worked up over things that make me unhappy, but over which I have no control. 

 

So now I’m sick.  Everything tastes funny (particularly the sparkling water I foolishly bought thinking it might clear my throat), I ache all over, I’m exhausted, and one side of my face is so congested it feels paralyzed. 

 

Attractive.

 

However I’m able to function like a normal human being (except for the stupid mistakes I keep making), so I figured I still ought to come in to work.  Blah.

 

I was sick yesterday, too, but managed to do a good bit of editing.  I’m 3/4ths of the way through the novel now!  I’m super excited about finishing—still hope that I can get through the rest of it by Christmas. 

 

Yesterday was a rough day, editing-wise.  I was in the middle of editing a sex scene while on my lunch break at work…already awkward.  And as we all know, nothing gets ya in the mood for lovin’ like a snotty, achy, full-body cold.  Right?

 

…no? 

 

…well, that explains my difficulty, then.  However I managed to shake it off long enough to add an additional paragraph or two to the scene, edit the rest, cut a huge awkward portion of writing out afterwards, and finish my editing for the day.  I’m satisfied (at least for now) with the way it turned out, and just want to keep working…as soon as I feel better.  Got to keep going if I wanna reach that Christmas deadline!

 

Oh!  Almost forgot the most important thing: I submitted to another agent!  I really like the look and attitude of this one…I think she could be a really great fit.  We’ll see if she thinks the same…probably not, I know, but one cannot live without a little hope!

 

On a completely different note, I have a script I desperately want to start working on…it’s called Plus One, and it’d be different from Bryn & Mer in nearly every way.  I’ve pushed it to the side, however, along with everything else I want to work on…the editing must come first!

 

I suppose that’s all for now.   ‘Till next time.

 

 

Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor

Word Count: 1,050 edited yesterday

Writing Mode: Plagued by the plague

“I Can't Afford To Spend My Time With Anyone--There's Only Enough Left For Myself"

Blah.  Still not sleeping.  And I only have about a minute left at lunch, so this'll be the shortest post of all time.

Was feeling awfully down this morning (partially due to lack of sleep, I'm sure), but even just working on editing Traditor really helped perk me up.  I only did 1,507 words today, but I had to completely re-write one section, so I don't feel too badly about the small number.  The section I re-wrote was the one I've been talking about for a while...it needed to be completely changed, and was the last big hurtle I foresaw before the end of the book.  Now that it's done, I can't imagine that editing will take that much longer!

Anyway, I've got to get back to work.  Until next time!


Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor
Word Count: 1,507 (edited)
Writing Mode: Steady as she goes

Sleeping is Giving In

Someone once said that sleeping is giving in. If that's true then I want to give in and pass out right now. I slept maybe two or three hours last night, and I am TIRED.

On a happier note, it's finally Fall! It's a glorious September day, and I'm spending my somewhat-late lunch break sitting out in the lovely 73-degree sunshine on one of my office's balconies. It's a bit hot, but mostly because I'm in direct sun under a cloudless sky.
 
Anyway, on to the writing news. Honestly, there's not much. My Secret Lover forced me to spend the last two weeks aggressively "editing" (read: annihilating) my résumé and applying for an editing job with his work. We'll see how that pans out...I'm not holding my breath. But that does mean that I have a snazzy new résumé, cover letter, etc.!  I’ve refocused on writing, now, and spent the better part of Wednesday applying for a writer in residence fellowship with Hedgebrook.  Again, I have small hopes for this…however I do have hopes, and you never know: it might just pan out!  If it did I’d be taking two weeks off of work to do nothing but write, write, write all day and night, night, night.
 
And as for the books: Traditor is actually coming along swimmingly.  I’m more than halfway through, still editing like crazy, and I have a feeling it’s going to be easier from here on out.  I’m just finishing up with the section on the Dissenters…when I was still writing it was just after this section that I really hit my stride.  There’ll still be tweaks here and there, but I can’t imagine that it’ll take me much longer than Christmas to get the editing all finished up.  And then I’ll have nothing to do but apply to agents…and work on Damnatio Memoriae. 
 
And I’m dying to work on Damnatio Memoriae.  I’m brimming with ideas, and sometimes it’s torture not to be writing them all down. 
 
At least I have the opening scene written.
 
Applying to agents fell by the wayside while I was gutting my résumé; however I have every intention of getting back to it, and soon.  My schedule is crazy for the next month (two months?), but I have one submission package very nearly finished, and another not much further from completion.  I’d like to get those sent off before my birthday, and then work on some of the packages that are less prepared. 
 
Anyway, I have about half an hour of lunch left, and my mum just called.  Ciao for now! 

Well, It's A Little Early To Be Wallowing Around In Russian Angst

Ugh…coming back from vacation is incredibly brutal.  Just spent a wonderful week up in Maine with my family, hanging out at the beach, riding roller coasters and writing whenever I got the chance (read: whenever I wasn’t whipping my cousins with keys, eating peppermint stick ice cream, or hunting down Moxie).  I did get some writing done, but I also got a rejection from The Blair Partnership.

Le sigh.

Anyway, I have a few new agencies I’m looking at, so I’m re-working one section of my novel, then I’ll send out submissions (including the first three chapters!) to the Stimola Literary Studio, McIntosh & Otis, and Tor Books.  I’m also looking at Writers House, and would be very interested in Christopher Little if their submissions weren’t currently closed.  Hopefully they’ll open back up again soon…though unfortunately they’re probably inundated because of the J.K. Rowling revelations. 

Meanwhile, I’m getting some good writing done. I’m completely re-writing a section of my book, as I mentioned above.  It’s turning out very well, though I do have some misgivings if I should swap the jobs of two minor characters.

Eh bien…

I think that the most important realization (or re-realization) I had over the past week came from something my cousin said.  She was talking about people who do what they love for a living, and wondering if eventually the passion disappears and it just becomes work.  I said that it probably depends on the person and the calling, but that I felt sure that some people could pursue their dream and love it indefinitely.  We went on to talk about what I’d like to do for a living, and it just served to reaffirm that what I want more than anything is to be a writer.  As I tell pretty much everyone, I want to be J.B. Fletcher when I grow up.

So I guess that’s it for tonight!  Back to the grind tomorrow.  The only silver lining in sight is that means I’ll be back to lunchtime writing/editing, as well. 

Good night, Cabot Cove!

Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor

Word Count: 5,737 written this week

Writing Mode: Disappointed, but reinvigorated

The World is Always Ready to Receive Talent with Open Arms

What's rattling around my head today...

Not particularly writing-related, but I would love, love, LOVE to start a school for gifted children.  I think about it all the time (I will admit: more often when I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series).  Honestly, though, the idea has been with me for a long time.  I was never particularly happy in school, and often felt unchallenged; except, of course, in math class, where I not only felt over-challenged but completely lost.  One of the hazards of having dyscalculia, I suppose.

Anyway, I'd love to start a boarding school where gifted children could go to learn at their own pace (read: faster than the slow-ass system I went through).  We'd offer both traditional and non-traditional subjects, a diverse range of clubs/activities, a strong focus on both the Arts and science, and a supportive atmosphere that would encourage our students and help them deal with adolescent issues--particularly those specific to gifted children.  I'd love to have a class structure similar to Oxford: very small classes, lots of discussion.  Less busywork and more actual learning.

The school would be called Lantern House, after an exercise they had us do in one of the gifted education courses that I took.

The motto would be "Knowledge is Freedom," and our class rings would be plain rose gold bands with the words "Caveat Futurum" stamped on one side, with our lantern symbol on the other.

...I haven't thought about this at all...

I keep lists of my ideas for the school, and am always coming up with something new.  So why don't I pursue it?

One word: funding. 

In order to create the kind of environment I'd want I'd basically have to win the lotto...and then dedicate every dollar to Lantern House.  Unless I run into quite a lot of money (and a really killer financial planner), Lantern House will remain a dream.

...at least for now.

Anyway, back to writing news.  As always, I'm just editing, editing, editing.  Thus far this week I've gotten through 3,088 words.  Still have to do another 2kish to get me up to my weekly goal of 5,000, but that shouldn't be an issue.  I'm actually hoping to do much more than 5k per week, and be done (if possible!) by September.  I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility, so that's my current goal.

I will say, I have a fair bit of rewriting coming up, so that's going to slow me down.  My total for yesterday was much lower than normal not because I was unfocused, but because I wrote an entirely new scene.  I feel like it strengthened the Bryn-Mer bond, and also gave Mer a bit more depth as a character.  At least, I hope it did all of that.  It's entirely possible that it's weak and superfluous  :p

So...on to the REAL writing news: the Blair Partnership.

I am still holding out hope that they simply haven't gotten around to calling/emailing me (I'm never the quintessential girl by the phone in relationships, but evidently I am when it comes to literary agents).  I've decided I'll give them until the end of this week, then send over a little note asking if they received my submission.  Hopefully it didn't get lost in the swirling miasma of cyberspace. 

(It didn't get lost in the miasma of cyberspace, Amy: they're just not that into you.)

Anyway, gotta prep other submission packets (just in case!  They could still call!) and look for jobs this weekend...after I rest up from fam time & sailing class.

Is it vacation yet?


Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Traditor 
Word Count (edited): 3,088 (this week)
Writing Mode: Full of blahination.  That's a word, right?


P.S. The title of today's blog is from the fortune I got last night at a Chinese restaurant.  Now I just need to determine if I have any talent  ;}~

What Makes The Desert Beautiful Is That Somewhere It Hides A Well

A stressful end to a stressful week. 

I'm at what I like to call Stress Level Alpha: a stress level so high that my eye has started twitching and last night I wasn't able to sleep.  Anyone who knows me knows that me not being able to sleep is like Peter Pan not being able to fly: it just isn't right.  Or perhaps I'm turning into Peter Banning at last.

They say that bad things come in threes, and as much as I don't believe in bullshit like that, it seems to ring true.  First and foremost, last night I found out that two of my very good friends are moving to Hawaii...by the end of the month.  This is in addition to my other friend who's bailing for Portland (Oregon) sometime around the 20th.  I'll miss them terribly...and I'm worried that I'll be stuck here, all alone, in a city I've been trying to escape for twenty years.

Secondly, my family is full of drama.  My sister and mother are butting heads; and I, as usual, am stuck in the middle.  I think that's what started the eye-twitching.  I just need to keep everyone happy a few days more...

And, finally, I still haven't heard from my first-choice agent.  It's not a surprise, really, but I'd almost rather just get the rejection than suffer through this interminable waiting.  If I don't hear from them by Monday I'm allowed to send them a little email reminding them of my submission.  I'm tempted, honestly, to send them a clip from the Abba song "Take a Chance on Me," as it'd be a funny way to express my desperation.  Besides, then every time they heard it (and as long as it was stuck in their heads) they'd be reminded of me...

I'm trying to cut back on dreaming, but when I allow myself to dream I imagine receiving a letter from The Blair Partnership at the very last minute, congratulating me on being accepted by their agency and detailing marketing plans for my book.  I've somehow gotten it into my head that if I can only find representation, everything else will be okay.  Or at least on the path towards okay. 

At least it'd be validation.

Anyway, none of this angst is going to further my writing.  I'm 839 words into Damnatio Memoriae and over halfway done editing Traditor.  I think that the editing will be much faster from here on out--at least, I hope it will.  I feel like I really hit my writing stride after Bryn & Mer left Dissenter headquarters, and I've nearly edited to that point.  There are several scenes I need to re-write, but I still hope to be done by Christmas--if not sooner.

And as for Damnatio Memoriae, I've spent hardly any time on it (839 words?  Ppft, obviously).  Still, what little I've written seems strong, and is a telling introduction to the story.  I already have edits to what I've written, and I'm itching to write more, so I feel fairly certain that when I actually focus on DM it should progress swiftly.

Anyway, I have half a lunch break left, and I ought to use it to get in a little more editing. 

In case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.


Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Damnatio Memoriae
Word Count: 839
Writing Mode: On hold for editing of Traditor