Hi,

My brain hurts.

That is all.

Love,

Friday Feature: Spring!

I saw my first bluebonnet of the year on Wednesday, which means Spring is finally here! Wahoo! While winter has always been my favorite season, doubtless in no small part because we don’t get smothered in snow after snow after snow down here in Texas, I’ve been finding myself more and more enamored of spring since being in the hill country. How can you not love it with all the bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and sunny yellow flowers (sorry, I don’t know the name of this one!) flooding the hills with color?

Happy First Day of Spring!

Twitterfied

As you may recall, I have recently joined the ranks of Twitter, thanks to Sique’s presentation at the most recent ARWA meeting. Not having anything to sell save my name at the moment, I can’t exactly claim my twittering (tweeting?) as a form of marketing, but I have stumbled across a few unexpected benefits to checking in on Twitter now and again.

First, of course, is the crazy amount of information one’s able to pick up from the Twitter pages. The relevance of that information is another matter, but pick it up you do, everything from recent book releases and NYC events to the “Sci Fi” channel changing its name to “Syfy” (for the ease of texting) and the subsequent revolt of its core demographic. [World, take note: never insult the "geek".] While sifting through this information can be tedious, I follow enough witty, clever people that an added bonus of humor makes it worthwhile.

But what I consider to be the one great and hidden benefit of Twitter, that I hadn’t been expecting at all, is the demystification of literary agents, editors, and publishers. I don’t know why I was surprised by the number of them on Twitter, but I was, and by getting a vocarious glimpse of Colleen Lindsey’s enthusiasm over a new desk lamp or watching Angela James and  Heather Osborne share editing mishaps makes them all seem so… human.

Yes, I know that shouldn’t have required such an intuitive leap for me, but I was still harboring some of the new writer’s awe of industry professionals. What Twitter managed to do was strip away much of the awe, while still leaving all the respect.

The Bigfoot Effect

I admit it. I’m fascinated those “Finding Bigfoot” shows that come on channels like Discovery or Animal Planet. I love to watch people tramping through the woods with high-tech gear, waxing eloquent on the scientific research that supports their theories that Bigfoot exists. He just needs to be found, they say. They have evidence to support it.

Now, do I believe in Bigfoot? No.

But I kind of want to. See, aside from the fact that I love the idea of the drama and the mystery of some unknown animal of that size tromping around the Pacific northwest, the people who believe do so with such enthusiasm, such gusto, that I end up rooting for them. Yes, I say. Go forth and prove us wrong! I want myth and legend to become life, fiction to become real! 

I think it’s human nature to both fear and desire the unknown. When our own world becomes mundane, we start making up new ones. At the same time, we create stories to explain away the unknown, but in doing so we create much more, a wealth of stories that provides both answers and yet more questions. Think of ancient myths. The gods were created to explain why it rained, but that explanation spun off into a new, wide-swept world. Who are the gods? Where did the come from? What do they do with their time?

Believing in Bigfoot is feeding that need for myth and mystery, only those believers bring that myth into their own reality. In a way, Bigfoot believers and writers aren’t so different. Our realities are both stories. Mine’s just on paper.

St. Paddy’s Day

Monday Update

I made it to page 245 of the CAROLINA NORTH revision this past weekend. Woo-hoo! I made it over the first major rewrite hurdle. While the plot stayed the same, the POV didn’t, and as the Infamous Kate W pointed out, that means it’s basically a whole new story given the change in motivations. Personally, I think it’s an improvement, but I’m still riding that fresh-written glow. We’ll see what the peanut gallery has to say.

While I still have 155 pages of revisions, including at least two scenes that potentially need a complete rewrite, I’m beginning to re-research literary agents and agencies to start submitting the manuscript once I’m satisfied with it, so keep your fingers crossed.

BEAR is slowly picking up the pace again thanks to the 100 Words-a-Day Writing Challenge. I debated joining since my focus has been taken up so thoroughly by the CN revisions, but that ended up being the reason why I did join. I didn’t want to lose the thread I’d picked up in BEAR, and I figured a hundred words or so a day will force the story to stay fresh in my mind. So far, it’s worked. (*Knock on wood*) I’m starting to plot and plan again.

Unfortunately, I’m still obsessing over the architecture in BEAR. I keep thinking if I can just draw one dang building correctly, I’ll be able to let it go, but my imagination far exceeds my skills. Nothing comes out looking the way it does in my head. Almost makes me wish scientists will hurry up and invent those cameras that take pictures of people’s dreams, so I can stop leaving chalk pastel fingerprints everywhere.

I’m also beginning preliminary research and character development on a seven book series I think of simple as the Sisters series. (Told you I’m a wiz with titles!) The story’s still percolating, and I haven’t had a chance yet to just sit down and write out character sketches. Until then, I won’t be able to hash out the plot, since my stories are all character-based.

That’s it on the writing front. On a personal note, the widgets are still missing on the right side of my pages, and I may be forced to commit the murders of my Day Job coworkers and their competing radios. Yikes, what a headache…

Friday Feature: Secrets in the Shadows

Secrets in the Shadows is Jenna Black’s second book in her Guardian series. And while I enjoyed the first, Watchers in the Night, I enjoyed the second more, partly because the author didn’t have to devote as much time to building her world and could further develop her characters.

While I stuck with Caroline and Gray through the first story, both Hannah and Jules caught my attention and my interest, so I was happy to see that Secrets in the Shadows is their story. My one complaint with these two is that Jules inner conflicts had a tendency to overshadow Hannah’s, so much so that I wish we could have gone deeper into his history and his psyche. Hannah’s personality, though, was a nice balance for Jules, so I felt their suitability equal despite the strength of whatever demons they each wrestled.

The stakes are raised in the overarching conflict of the series, setting the storyline up nicely for continuation. The mystery surrounding the Guardians’ founder, Eli, is compelling, and the hero in the next book has already earned my interest. Unless something truly bizarre happens to the story line (Eli turns out to be an alien from Zircon III whose evil master plan includes chopping down redwoods with a herring, for example), I plan on reading through the series.

Although, in all fairness, it would be intriguing to see how that whole herring thing would pan out…

What Happened to My Widgets?

Is it just me or are the pages and blogroll lists missing from the right side of the site? I’m hoping it’s just something weird as the result of my login and not some permanent hiccup in the design because that would stink. Hm…

Anywho, here are my latest standings:

CAROLINA NORTH – Finished another 15 pages of edits over the weekend. Now just 186 left to go. Woo-hoo! (I’m carefully forgetting the fact that these last pages are where the bulk of the plot revisions are needed as opposed to cosmetic and/or POV-depth revisions.)

BEAR – Nothing new yet written because I’ve been focusing on CN. However, glutton for punishment that I am, I’ve finally bitten the bullet and signed up for Monika Schulze’s Writing Challenge in which all takers must write a minimum of 100 words per day for an entire month. I’ve been hesitant in the past because I don’t usually write every single day, especially since Ms. Crack-That-Whip Monika says that stuff like character sketches and blog posts don’t count. Apparently it has to be, you know, like actual writing. *Grumble, grumble*

My local chapter of the RWA had our meeting last night and, as always, it was wonderful. Sique gave a marvelous talk about utilizing sites like Facebook and Twitter to connect with fans. Not actually having any fans, being still unpublished and all, I nevertheless toddled on over to Twitter to see what the heck that all was about. Time will only tell if I have found yet another addiction, though I’m leaning more toward an apathetic “eh”. If I had unlimited texting capabilities on a super-cool phone then it would’ve had a better chance, but hey. That’s life, right? Although I had a total geek moment when I realized you can follow Batman on that thing. Woo!

Of course, I said that about WordPress too, and here I am… Over a year later. *Grins*

No Need to Panic

Springboarding off Thursday’s post about why American Idol is like the publishing industry, I’m offering consolation for those who may have had minor panic attacks at the idea that only one in a gazillion people ever get a break. (Okay, maybe not a gazillion. Maybe it’s more like a quadrillion gazillion. I’m not sure. The specifics escape me.) Take a deep breath, put your head between your knees, and remind yourself of the following:

• Looks don’t matter. You could be a 112 year old, wart-infested, overweight, cross-eyed, snaggle-toothed, scabby, and sunburned nudist, and you still can get published. (Though your editor might recommend an author photo taken with a soft focus lens and from very far away.)If you have the skills, perseverance, and professional attitude to go along with a great story, it can happen.

• And because looks don’t really matter, the fact that time is marching on doesn’t mean that your window of opportunity is decreasing. Your chances of getting published today could very well be the same ten years (though I’m hoping your writing will have improve over time). The same cannot be said for that perky little twenty-something singing her poor heart out.

• Just because you don’t win the big show doesn’t mean you can’t succeed or even thrive. Look at Jennifer Hudson.

• If you ever fail miserably, thousands of people won’t be able to watch you make a fool of yourself over and over again on YouTube.

• It’s easier to cross and/or jump genres. You might need a new pseudonym, but it’s doable.

There, see? All better.

Friday Feature: Watchmen

Okay, so I’m late jumping on the fan bandwagon. I’d heard about this comic book/graphic novel months ago before I ever heard they’d made a movie version. The fact that it’s the only graphic novel to win the Hugo Award piqued my interest, and I resolved to read it. Then someone came along and mentioned the movie, and I realized I needed to quit procrastinating and get the dang book already.

Then Misi [Middle Sister] mentioned that it was a ”quick read”, and I discovered the movie was due to be released today, and I realized that I really had to quit procrastinating. I wanted to be able to read the book without being influenced in any way by the movie, but now of course I sound like a coattail fan. *Sigh* Oh well. The burdens we must bear.

First–Misi, you were wrong. This was not a quick read, at least not for me. The story had too many layers, the panels had too much detail, and the book as a whole had too much symbolism and depth to warrant a quick skim. (Not to mention the font’s so small. Maybe I need bifocals… Gah, am I that old already?) What might have taken me a day took me a little over a week, especially since I kept going back to find that detail I missed.

Second–I should have written a list of characters, including minor ones, because I’d often get lost trying to keep track of who’s who, and I don’t think there was a superfluous character. Even the people who had only a few lines (like the kid reading the comic book, for example) managed to have a purpose by the end of the novel.

Third–Daaaaaang. I mean, seriously. Wow. The layers of this story are so complex that it’s just amazing. I’d recommend any writer to read Watchmen simply to learn how to weave narrative. Nothing was what it seemed, and the most disconnected pieces suddenly became symbols of one another, foils that played off each other, a reflection of a reflection if you will. I’m not quite sure how to explain the experience without giving anything away, but I can see how this would have revolutionized the superhero iconography.

Yes, I could argue several issues with some aspects of this books, the roles of the female characters for example, but Watchmen has such a clear purpose that I’m willing to overlook them. I doubt one of Alan Moore’s immediate concerns when writing the story was to create a commentary on the women’s place in modern society (you know, with that whole nuclear war angle and all), so I’m willing to let my own little nitpicks go out of respect for the bigger picture. With a work that seems to have such clear messages (and so many of them!), focusing on irrelevant aspects potentially takes away from its original intent.

So, yes, I’m definitely late on the fan bandwagon, but if you haven’t had a chance to read Watchmen, I’d definitely recommend it. (I’ll have to let you know about the movie. No way can it do the book justice, but I’ve just got to go see Roscharch in action on the big screen.)