working the agenda

Bacchante, William Bouguereau

48,664, Sweet Taboo. Just finished reading Caitlin Kiernan’s The Red Tree, her latest novel. Enjoyed it, was fascinated by it, the strong, beautiful writing and the story of obsession and haunting based on New England folklore. I was a wee bit unsatisfied by the ending, but I already knew from the beginning the fate of the main character, Sarah Crowe. The story is neatly framed and told in journal form, Sarah’s journal, drawn from another journal–that of a parapsychologist obsessed with New England folklore. Much of Caitlin Kiernan is in this book and that adds to my fascination. Daughter of Hounds and The Five of  Cups remain my top favorites of her books. Low Red Moon drew me into her fiction; I’ve yet to read Silk.

Today is the first day of a 3-day weekend. Monday is Yom Kippur and the office is closed. I’ve a writing agenda:

• Read through Loose Daddy
• Continue plotting the end of Sweet Taboo, and switch placement of the 1st and 2nd scenes, and also find the  second Nathaniel scene
• Find a market for my short story, Lost and Found
• Continue story notes for the vampire novel that involves a romantic triangle

I didn’t add the Simon story to the list, but I’d like to spend some time with it as well. Don’t know if I will though–the plate is already full, especially with reading Loose Daddy, though that isn’t something I can do at one sitting.

Now that I’ve finished The Red Tree, I’m going to read Neuromancer, which is on my 100 books, 5-year reading list.

Bright and sunny outside, going to be another scorching September day.

moonbeam

Beatrice, Maria Spartali Stillman

Michelle asked me if I was still walking on moonbeams over the acceptance of The Baby by Dark Fire–well, just one moonbeam. I’ve been lax here at pendrifter ’cause I’ve been writing. I finally figured out what to do with A Haunting of Roses, another short story I wrote several years ago. I wasn’t satisfied with the ending so I put it away and left it in the dark of the files.

Last week I added it to my list of stories I shouldn’t give up on. I re-read it, and re-titled it ’cause I’m going to use that title for one of my Angharad fantasy novels. Over the weekend I cut, revised, and edited it, baptised it Ghost of Roses, and submitted it Monday night to a chosen market. At last, that birdie has flown the nest–for a few weeks anyway.

I’m waiting for summer to strike. The days have been fair, sunny, warm, but the winds zip through, sea-chilled and rambunctious, frightening the sun so it hides behind the clouds, and I’m afraid to step outside without my blankie.

Sweet Taboo is coming along nicely. I’m going to pause a bit in Kenny’s storyline to do a little reading on ghosts, occult magic, and alchemy, while doing some contemplative work on the Deidre-Randall arc. I feel a title change coming on for this book too.

My birthday’s Saturday. I’m going to spend it at my sister’s by her pool, G&T in hand, and Eclipse, which I’m re-reading. Or maybe, since Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is about to pop, I may take one of the HP’s with me. Since it’s Moreno Valley, I know the weather’s going to be hot!

I finished LKH’s Skin Trade a week ago. Have got some thoughts about it; maybe I’ll share them. The concluding scenes made me go EWW!.

okay, break’s over

Finished Breaking Dawn, the final book in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, last night. Wow. Great reads all the way through. Kudos to Meyer, who has written an entertaining and compelling tale. Being the avid vampirophile that I am, I loved these books. She built so much tension in the final chapters of Breaking Dawn, I had to take breather breaks as I read it. Wish there was another one in the series. Don’t ask me how many times I’ve watched the movie (hangs head).

So I’m back. It’s May 1 and I’m feeling bright-eyed again. After giving myself a spirited talking-to, I blew the dust off of a batch (yep, I’ve actually written a batch) of short stories and decided to send them out. This week was market research week. I haunted Ralan’s, Duotrope, and Asbiewe’s (I’d link but it’s too much work at this hour.) and compiled several market lists for my hopeful batch.

And the stories are:

The Red Goddess
Shadow
A Haunting of Roses (which I plan to re-title ’cause I’m stealing that title for an as yet unwritten fantasy novel)
A Terrible Thing
Auno’s Widow
The Ghost Jewel
Fast Money
… and one more whose title I can’t recall at the moment.

Tomorrow’s Writing Saturday with Michelle. Not sure yet what I’m going to work on.

blue rose

The Dance, William Bouguereau

Didn’t get as much done on A Lamentation of Swans today as I’d hoped. On Sundays I cook for the coming week–lunch and dinner. I roasted a chicken, made an Ethiopian cabbage dish, stir-fried a wok-full of vegetables and rice noodles with ginger, soy sauce, and garlic, and just when I thought I was through and could sit down to work on Swans, I discovered the bag of mini peppers I thought I’d bought on my earlier trip to Costco hadn’t made it into my box of groceries so off to Costco I went with receipt in hand and shortly returned home with a bag of orange, red, and yellow peppers. I cut up a few, sauteed them in sesame oil, sesame seeds and garlic and poured it over my stir-fried vegetables, and then I cooked talipia in an Asian garlic sauce, cleaned up the kitchen and at last I was through! And it was ten after nine.

But I added 383 more words on yesterday’s scene. Tomorrow is another day, and I’m going to spend the rest of this Sunday evening with Elizabeth Bear’s New Amsterdam, thanks to Michelle who picked up a copy for me. It’s nice to have friends who buy you cool books.

too much fun!

13,119, A Lamentation of Swans. What I did for fun in 2008:

Books Read

• Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
• The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, Ann Packer
• Inferno, ed. Ellen Datlow
• Veronica, Mary Gaitskill
• Plainsong, Kent Haruf
• Throne of Jade, Naomi Novik
• Working for the Devil, Lilith Saintcrow
• Dead Man Rising, Lilith Saintcrow
• The Devil’s Right Hand, Lilith Saintcrow
• Saint City Sinners, Lilith Saintcrow
• The Butcher’s Boy, Thomas Perry
• The Smartest Guys in the Room
• Parasite Rex
• Cocaine Chronicles, ed. Gary Phillips and Jervey Tervalon
• Saint-Germain Chronicles, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• A Dangerous Climate, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Midnight Harvest, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
• New Moon, Stephanie Meyer
• Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer
• Clockwork Phoenix, ed. Mike Allen
• Beast of Desire, Lisa Renee Jones
• Betrayals, Janet Quinn

Movies Seen

• Twilight
• Burn After Reading
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• Quantum of Solace
• The Bourne Ultimatum
• Prince Caspian
• Wanted
• Brideshead Revisited
• Michael Clayton (Netflix)
• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Netflix)
• Perfect Creature (Netflix)
• The Guardian (Netflix) (Ick!)
• In Bruges (Netflix)
• Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Netflix) (delightful)
• Shoot ‘Em Up (Netflix)
• Mrs. Brown, Queen Victoria (Netflix)
• An Ideal Husband (Netflix)
• 30 Days of Night (Netflix)

Favorite Stuff of 2008

Favorite Movie: Twilight. (I just loved it! Loved it, I say!)

Favorite Book: Twilight (I’m going to read it again.)

Favorite Movie Sequence: vampire baseball in Twilight

Favorite Vampire: Edward Cullen (Don’t worry, Saint-Germain. There’s still room for you. Oh yeah, and you too Jean-Claude, and Asher; Oh yes, and Angel. Okay–so it’s hard for me to pick a favorite, favorite vampire.  I love ‘em all. Y’all have to share, okay?)

Favorite Superhero: Batman

Favorite Anti-hero: James Bond (‘Though Jason Bourne runs a close second.)

Favorite Actor: It’s a tie between Christian Bale and Daniel Craig.

Favorite TV Show via Netflix: Supernatural

Favorite Heroes: Dean and Sam

Favorite dvd discoveries: Rome; The Tudors

sigh-h-h, eyeroll

Egyptian, Tilings from Historical Sources

Attempted last night to finish reading The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist but finally gave it up. More than three-quarters through and I realized I didn’t care what happened to the characters or about the story. I began this book in a fine dander of anticipation and enjoyment but eventually became lost in the maze of meandering prose and a cartoonish plot that was all a series of capture, near-capture, ceaseless narrow escapes, and a ponderous mid-section that did me in. I put it down several times over the course of more than a year and picked it up after long intervals–guilting myself into  continuing to read it because I’d already read so much so far, hadn’t I? So why not go ahead and finish it? No thanks. Too bad it turned out not to be my cup of tea afterall. I’m done wearing out my near-sighted eyes on it and greatly relieved too.

I also decided Laurell K. Hamilton’s Blood Noir was not worth any more of my time either. Gosh; never thought I’d see the day when Anita Blake bored me.

Loose Daddy is close to shore, but I’m worried that it is starting to founder on hidden shoals.

Sweet Taboo is going slowly at a one sentence at a time pace.

she couldn’t find sand in a desert

Interior with Phonograph, Matisse

Wednesday night I finished reading Plainsong by Kent Haruf. Wonderful book. The writing is strong and beautiful, and the characters touched my heart. There was one scene between two elderly farmer brothers that made me laugh out loud in that abrupt startling way that surprised even me–I scared the cats and probably startled the neighbors. But it was one of those great funny scenes where the humor arose entirely from the nature of the characters.

At last, I’ve dragged myself out of Thursday and into Friday. Saturday is near! This weekend I hope to completely write the new Chapter 7 of Sweet Taboo. And what’s happening with Loose Daddy? Nothing lately. I’m stalled, can’t even think up the next word.

the bell

Delaneira, Evelyn De Morgan

Decided to stay home today, but called my sister and had a nice long talk with her about how Mom is doing. She’s doing fine; she’s eating more of the food she’s allowed–nothing chewable of course. Julie told me the doctor wants to know how much Mom is eating so she’s got to keep track of every spoonful.

Julie gave Mom a bell to call her when she needed her, but Mom was having way too much fun with that bell. When, after numerous other requests that kept Julie trotting back and forth, Mom rang the bell to complain that her bed was too small and she wanted a big bed, Julie took the bell away. “That’s enough of that,” she told her.

We had a good laugh over that. Mom’s a treasure. I talked with Mom a bit–she complained about the bed to me too. I really should have driven down there today but I really wanted to stay home too, just couldn’t get in the car for a long drive. I know she’s doing okay so that’s comforting.

Worked on AloS. Yesterday I re-drew House Jancoro’s floor plan, and printed out some art that reflected certain scenes for me–all a part of my visualization efforts. Today I’ve read and re-read the most recent writings, and I’m now wondering what to write next.

Today was a gloriously hot and beautiful Sunday; now there’s a cool breeze pushing against the curtains. Last night I finally watched my dvd of the movie RAY; it was good. Jamie Foxx gave a superb performance as the musically brilliant, blind Ray Charles. I’m reading a number of books–and find myself drifting restlessly between them. I’m halfway through Naomi Novik’s Throne of Jade; well into Steven Pressfield’s excellent Gates of Fire; started a book of poet Elizabeth Bishop’s letters titled One Art; and began reading Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain–this book has been on my shelf for nearly ten years. I dunno–I was saving it. Guess it’s going to be my “post-surgery” novel.

mommie

Pot, William Morris

Drove out today, accompanied by my niece Whitney, to spend some time with Mom. She’s in such pain and there’s nothing I can do about it. Her doctor has not determined how to handle her case yet, and she’s so hungry and can’t eat anything. She lies in bed, pain-wracked, and imagines all her favorite meals. She gave me a running description of what she wanted to eat. “Oh, Mommie, don’t do that,” I told her. When my sister was making dinner for her girls, Mommie had to close the bedroom door the aromas were too much to deal with.

I went over her medical coverage with her, and made notes for our conference with her doctor on Tuesday. I lotioned her skin and my sister made her a fresh cup of lemon ice chips and a half mug of lukewarm vegetable broth. She couldn’t keep down the broth, but she’s able to suck on the lemon ice chips. I’m going to ask about getting some food into her somehow. She says she’s starving; the doctor will have to do something.

I’m numb thinking about what she’s going through and can hardly believe what’s happened to her. I told her not to worry about things, not to fret about the papers, and we will take care of her. I expected Mommie to live through her old age in physical peace. She’s always been healthy; she’s only 67. Of course none of us are prepared for the way the body betrays.

My refuge is the writing; otherwise, I’d sit and brood and cry. Yesterday I worked on Nyrabet and the Swordswoman and finished the first scene, 1,094 words. And I worked on a new novel, Hell’s Assassin; wrote a couple paragraphs. It’s a new project about a character that’s been on my mind for at least ten years. I’ve been thinking about looking at A Lamentation of Swans again.

Finished reading Dorothy B. Hughes’s Ride the Pink Horse. Excellent novel. Must find her other books.

I’m not sure how I’m going to spend this evening or tomorrow, i.e., whether I’m going to write or read or stare at movies; it’s nice, though, not having to do the zombie run.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your compassion and support.

nine times nine drops each,

Ariadne, John William Waterhouse

 10,739. I can’t believe August is here already!  This has to be the fastest summer of my life. The weeks are flying by so quickly my head is spinning. Anyway, today re-starts the writing of Trail of Shadows (formerly The Key to Chaos). The daily goal is two pages minimum. I’ll write as detailed as I please and in any direction. Last night I finished Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon. Loved it. The dragon, Temeraire, is a kick. The writing is great, and the exposition conveying the society of 18th century England, the culture of the dragon aviators, the culture of the English Navy, is expertly handled and adds depth to the  tale.  She’s created a fascinating alternate world. And I particularly liked the way she set up the emotional pay-offs, scene to scene. You care about the hero Laurence; you care about Temeraire and the other dragons and their aviators; you care about it all. I’ve got the second book, Throne of Jade, to start this weekend. I read somewhere online a while ago that Peter Jackson has already optioned the book for a movie. I’ll love to see it envisioned on the screen.

It’s 5:45 a.m. and the Muse is tapping her foot.