Monday, November 30, 2009

GOOOOOOOOOOAL!


I'm trying really, really hard right now not to sing anything by Queen.

Oh, hell. Why not?

We are the champions, my friend,
And we'll keep on fighting to the end!


There, now it's stuck in your head too.

Of course, I'm only halfway done with the actual first draft but now I'm in the groove and back in the habit of writing 1500-2000 words per day so as long as I keep it rolling, I'll be finished in no time.

No time meaning "before the end of January."

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Half There




Been a while since I posted here, so here's a Nano update. Just passed the halfway point for the 50K challenge, but I still haven't got to the end of Act One yet. Judging by my past efforts, this book smells like a 90-100K critter, and I'll probably be working on it until Christmas.

I have a "no one reads my first draft" rule, but I make an exception for the rough excerpt I post on my Nano profile. The current title of the book is Waking the Sky. When I came up with the original concept back in grad school, I called it Gods of Air but between then and now the original titular characters are no longer in the story at all. After I chunked them, I wanted to call the book The Daylight War, but apparently that's already taken. I'm hoping that before the end I'll come up with a better handle for the story. I'm open to suggestions.

Oh well. Back to work!

Friday, October 2, 2009

It Has Begun!



Signup for NaNoWriMo begins today! Dare you enter the 50,000 word challenge? Many will enter. Few will survive!

If you're crazy enough to join the battle, look me up under the name "Tycho Brahe."

It's on, bitches.

Friday, September 18, 2009

You know you're a writer when...

You're sitting there, minding your own business, and a story just starts pushing itself out of your head and you've got to start typing right away or you'll lose it. This happened to me yesterday afternoon, and now I'm going to be a little busy for a while...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Steamed Up

So... "Rougarou" is over and done with - until it gets rejected again and I have to figure out if it's worth rewriting another time or if I should let it die. However... I see today that Kerlak has put out a story call and they're looking for Steampunk shorts. The due date isn't until March of next year, but now I've got steampunkery ideas spinning in my head when I should be working on the outline of my Nano Novel for the fall. Oh well...


Friday, September 11, 2009

The Fear

From a much better writer than me:

"I hate to say this," said my attorney, "but this place is getting to me. I think I'm getting the Fear."

"Nonsense," I said. "We came out hear to find the American Dream, and now that we're right in the main vortex you want to quit." I grabbed his bicep and squeezed. "You must realize," I said, "that we've found the main nerve."

"I know," he said. "That's what gives me the Fear."

-Hunter S. Thompson, of course

Down to the final stretch of the "Rougarou" revisions. So far so good, and I think it's much stronger this time, but all my little story-chess pieces are in different places on the board and The Fear has set in. Stories are like little Gordian knots sometimes, and even if what I've written so far is passingly competent, the possibility of a total literary faceplant remains. I felt this same way toward the end of my last novel, so it's not an entirely new experience.

Oh, well. Back to work. Enough dicking around, Jared. This won't hurt...

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Going Into Surgery


Last month I got an editorial response to my short story "Rougarou" with requests for revisions. (Which surprised me, since I expected an outright rejection.) While helpful in general, the editor's comments weren't much on specifics. They just highlighted my strengths and weaknesses, with a very nice request to address those issues and resubmit by Sep. 15.

Yes, I've been procrastinating, and now it's time for that story to go under the knife. Step one: a total dissection. Step two: reassembly and reanimation. We'll just have to see if it starts breathing again once I hook up the electrodes to its nipples and yell "Clear!" Otherwise, I'll just have to hose off the table and bury all the bloody bits in the backyard.

Wish me luck!

(Apologies to Bill Everett - the above image is from Sub-Mariner #35, Aug. 1954.)

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Let there be blog...

Well guys, on the occasion of my first short story sale (Yay Me!) I guess it's time to get a presence on the Web. You know, one of those generic blogs that I'll forget to post to and no one will ever read. I mean geez, look at it, it's just a generic template and everything. Maybe there will be more, should the need arise.

So about that sale? The story's called "The Rendezvous" and I'll have more details closer to actual publication. See, if I declare where it'll appear to the general universe, I'll practically guarantee that the publisher will go out of business before it ever sees print.

Still, hello Internet! I blog, therefore I am.