winter daze

Lullaby

Decided to work at home this morning, drive in at 7, deal with Thursday traffic. The temp outside was 44 degrees, my brain was at the same, but I managed 96 words of a new scene between Baron Tetakai and one of his servants. Ninety-six words are good for five o’clock in the morning. Then I put on my game face and got ready to crawl through the dreadful zombie traffic. Surprise! We rolled along just fine–no significant stoppages, despite reports of two problems–a broken-down car in a middle lane and an accident. Didn’t encounter either–all was clear by the time I reached La Tijera, a mile before the Howard Hughes off-ramp. Got to the office with time to spare. Wow.

I’m tired of getting up and heading out so early anyway, so I think I’ll change my schedule and work at home, leave at 7, see how my blood pressure manages.

in the pink

Crown Anemone, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale

The lovely long weekend is drawing to a close. I spent today writing the first chapter of A Haunting of Roses, a fantasy novel set in Angharad, like A Lamentation of Swans. I’m not sure how long this novel will be, but I’m aiming for 75,000 words; it may be longer or shorter. I started on it early this morning, paused to take the garbage out, and discovered it was a beautiful warm day outside–so I took a walk up to the bluff and sat and stared at the ocean for a while. The breezes were warm, sweetly scented from the dried weeds and grasses on the bluff and the sea was glazed with a hard shimmer of late afternoon sunshine. I walked back home and went back to work on the novel for a while longer.

Last week I watched my STAR TREK dvd, enjoyed it all over again. What a great movie–a terrific reset to my all time, #1 favorite TV series (the original). Saw NEW MOON again over the holiday weekend, and enjoyed it very much. It’s a better done film than TWILIGHT, although I liked TWILIGHT, I felt the story could’ve been better developed. I’m looking forward to ECLIPSE, which opens next June.

I’m not looking forward to the start of the work week and the zombie run, but I’ll be busy in the early hours of the morning working on A Haunting of Roses–a good start to my day.

covered in mud, but grinning

The Sphinx of the Seashore, Elihu Vedder

Broke 35,000 this morning. Once finished, The Key to Chaos will likely sit on Mac’s hard drive for years, untouched, in all its muddy glory. It is 90% dreck, 10% good stuff with good ideas speckling it like pecan bits in a not so great cookie, burned at the edges, too much salt. Good ideas. Very good ideas. Execution–not so much, but that’s okay. It can soak and simmer in the swamp for a while. Maybe it’ll surface shining and alluring like Excalibur.

But not in 2010. In 2010, one of my novels is going out the door agent hunting. Not sure which one yet, but I’m thinking A Haunting of Roses–it’s my December project, getting it ready. But possibly one of the others–Sweet Taboo or even Loose Daddy (Hah! Fat chance!) or I may blow the dust off Shadow Walk, and there’s also Silk River. Not lacking for choices. Just need a little backbone.

30,000 ahoy!

A Maid in the Kitchen, David Emil Joseph de Noter

Day 18, and I’ve reached 30,000. I want to be as far along as I can before the Thanksgiving break ’cause I really don’t know how I’m going to fit in the writing time between food, my sisters, and jaunting off to see NEW MOON–again! (Can hardly wait until Saturday for my first viewing.)

Yesterday, for the first time in what seems like ages, a wonderful thought about Sweet Taboo popped up from the swamp. I’ve now got a theme for Deidre’s arc, and a starting point for a whole sequence. I have not had a thought, wet or dry, about Sweet Taboo in…months? It’ll have to keep until December, when I’ll have a chance to squeeze it alongside A Haunting of Roses.

the words!

Prezziosa, Warwick Noble

As of today, 27,371!
My Nano counter doesn’t seem to be updating as it should.

coffee ink

Knave of Hearts, Maxwell Parrish

Short time for me at work this week! Vacation–going to the World Fantasy Convention in San Jose, so looking forward to that. It’s been many years since I last went to one. Three more days and I’m winging my way to San Jose. Michelle’s coming with. It’s going to be fun celebrating Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th birthday!

Yesterday, on a visit to Office Depot, found a dvd of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, and watched it last night for the 3rd or 4th time. It’s got one of the best horror movie endings in the history of horror movie endings. Definitely tops my list of favorite horror films. That movie makes me tense no matter that I’ve viewed it at least 3 times before. Its mood, setting, the savage vampires, the heroic sheriff of the snowbound Alaska town caged in night for 30 days, and the nihilistic crucible in which the people are trapped waiting for the sun to rise again makes it impossible to watch without a chill in the gut.

Let’s see, what are my favorite horror films, in no particular order:

30 DAYS OF NIGHT

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

ALIEN

ALIENS

THE SIXTH SENSE

STIR OF ECHOES

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

And that’s it so far. Oh yeah–I hate zombie films and will not watch them. Don’t read zombie books either. I’m fond of the undead, not the walking dead.

Met with Janet yesterday for our monthly lunch, brainstormed a short story that she’s trying to write about one of her book characters. Her latest novel is out from Whiskey Creek Press–Wanted: True Love, a humorous tale about a young witch searching for true love with no luck thanks to an amorous, dastardly warlock who placed a curse on her.

I’ve got my NaNo novel idea sketched in story notes. Created a journal for it yesterday–I like to give all my novels their own journal–and I always pick a particular artist or artistic movement to use to ornament the entries. For Castle in the Air, I’m using Maxwell Parrish’s paintings. While I wait for November, I’m back at work on A Lamentation of Swans. Sweet Taboo is in a holding pattern somewhere in the creative ether. I’m so close to the end, but can’t find the words to get me there.

Judging by the luminous fall of light through the window, looks like it’s going to be a beautifully sunny day, but don’t know if I’ll make it outside at all today. I’m weeding my overgrown garden of manuscripts and story files stuffed in copy paper boxes. I really wish I’d stop creating duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate versions of everything!

baby on the doorstep

The Afterglow in Egypt, William Holman Hunt

Can’t bring myself to look at Loose Daddy. That poor novel has been languishing for months–completed, final, done, and still I can’t do the final read-through so I can compose the synopsis. I’m afraid of my own words. I’m afraid I’ll only see the flaws, i.e., the flaws I create, discreditng all my effort.

Too much to do writing-wise in this final quarter of the year so Loose Daddy will have to wait until 2010.

Meanwhile, I’m preparing for NANO. Castle in the Air is the working title for this year’s November Novel.

labyrinth

I’m remembering a cartoon…a little creature walks into a wall, backs up a step, walks into it again, backs up, walks into it again, as if walking into that wall over and over would eventually cause it to disappear…that sort of resembles me and Sweet Taboo. But I’m smarter than that little creature, I figured out to get the story engine running again, I need to write more about Deidre and Randall’s relationship (mortal + ghost) and balance it against Deidre and Demario’s friendship. Must focus on points of contention between Deidre and Randall and points of sympatico between Deidre and Demario. Must back away from the wall, turn and take another path in the story labyrinth.

The weather is gradually turning cooler–while summer wrestles with winter, punching the old man with warming trend after warming trend, but wind is evening the score, blowing rough and cold through the day.

I’m all signed up for NANO, and October is story notes and outline month for this year’s November Novel, tentatively titled, Castle in the Air. I hope to be ready come November 1st!

thin ice, heavy skates

The Storm Spirits, Evelyn Pickering De Morgan

October 1st, started working on the outline for this year’s NANO novel, temporarily setting Sweet Taboo aside. I’m stuck at a certain point anyway, although I like to think that I’m not. I’ve made my 50,000 word rewrite goal, and the story has expanded some so I’ve reset the manuscript to 60,000 and I’m word by wording my way to that final scene, already in place.

Meanwhile, I’m working on two short stories, one science fiction and one steampunkish. I also submitted another short story to market and have one more ready to go–that gives me five submissions this year–two which were published. A record year for me. Usually, I’m doing good to get one out the door.

So it’s October, Time’s scythe has sliced into the last quarter of the year. November is going to pass in a haze of pages, but still, hoping to complete ST.

50,000 plus!

Gulnare, Arabian Nights, Maxfield Parrish

50,025, Sweet Taboo. Alrighty then! Now we’re moving into the final sequence. I’m at Chapter 14. Happy dance!