Quirks and Quills

TaeKwonDo Competition.

2005-11-03T04:59:00.000-08:00

Aside from NaNo other things do happen in my life. My kids are going to competition this week end. My daughter is keyed up and ready to kick some butt. She'll be doing point sparring and yellow belt form. She's both excited and nervous. My son still isn't sure if he wants to compete. He knows she's better at it then he is in both catagories, so he's not sure if he wants to give it a go. I'm not sure whether to encourage him any way or not. I think I'll just let him make this decision on his own with no urging either way from me.

Trying to be supportive without over inflating his ego or giving a false sense of security is not easy. Ah, the trials of being a mother. I'm just proud of both of them. Hell, I don't care if they never win a competition. Just seeing how much they've improved and grown makes me smile. I'm a proud Mama.

Okay, enough of with the kid, I'm sure your saying. Be forewarned though. Come competion time, you'll be hearing from me again. Mothers have a way of doing that when it comes to their babes.

NaNoWriMo Has Begun.

2005-11-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

NaNoWriMo has begun. The thrill, the panic, the frustration, HEHEHE, the excitement. I love doing NaNo. Its a huge boost to my self esteem. And this year, things seem to be going fairly well.

Since I haven't yet written a word this morning, my end count for yesterday, day two, was 5534. That's pretty damn good. My personal WC goal is 2500 which is just under 1k of what the daily minimum is to win by the 30th. 1600 and some change will get you to the magically 50,000 by the end of the month. See, breaking it down like that it almost sounds easy.

This is my second year doing NaNo. So far I'm amped and ready, Hoping for the very best by the end of this month. Then again, the dreaded week two marker hasn't hit me yet. Ouch. That always sucks. Week Two is the scourge of all NaNoites. If you can make it past that, you'll most likely make your goal, or close anyway.

For those wondering what the HELL those weird letters are all about...

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check the links section. There's a link to NaNoWriMo (aka. National Novel Writing Month) site.

For those who already know what NaNo is and are actually giving it a shot, be it your 1st or 10th, Good Luck!

Happy writing every one.

Tae Kwon Do Advancement

2005-09-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all, my kids did it. They made the advancement in Yellow Belt. Not the best picts, I know, but we couldn't get any closer without causing a stir, is it is, I was the only momma there snapping pictures, though one Dad was video taping his boy advance in Blue Belt.

They look so cute, don't they?

:)

Great Editing Day

2005-09-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

You probably don't care, but I sure do. I got a massive amount done yesterday with my novel. 2 and 1/2 chapters. Now this consisted of rewriting two chapters and almost fixing one, so I'm pretty pleased.

I have now rewritten and fixed 15,600 words all together. I'm on chapter 12 out of 52. So, I have a long way to go, but I'm getting there. This is just the plot filling and fixing stage, I haven't even started to add description (I always forget description for some reason), rework individual sentences or make it into something that flows well. I'm just fixing the series of events so the characters and plot do what I want them to do by the end of this thing.

By the time I'm finished, I still wouldn't show it to my mother, and see thinks nearly all the trash I write should be published. Ah, mom's are so wonderfully blind, aren't they? Or, maybe they just pretend to be. I don't care which, it's fun just to hear her talk. Some days I just need to hear it.

Okay, that's it for me. I'm sure I'm boring you.

Later.

Halloween Begins

2005-09-17T05:06:00.000-07:00

Last night, I dragged out some of my decorations. Including the bloody fountain, the creeping hand, owl, bats and countless other thing. Oh Man, I love Halloween. The spooks and scares, the CD that screams and gargoyles that scare my neighbors. Eh, they have no sense of fun.

Every year, things at our house get better and better. I have two dummies, who I've named Uncles Fred and George. They live in the attic until Halloween, and then sit on my porch steps for a month out of the year. For something new we want to set up a mock guillotine and expand our small graveyard.

Hehehe, I think my neighbors really hate us this time of year. I always get dark looks every time I set up our outside display. Last year we splurged and bought my nephews fog machine for $10. He never uses it anymore and its several years old. Works like a charm though. We had enough spooks to scare adults and children alike. Of course, children under 7 don't get the full treatment, and my little nephew who is frightened of everything from spooky noises to skeletons, knows better than to hit our house trick-or-treating. He just waits for the grab bag we set aside for him. You'd think at the age of 11, he'd be use to us by now.

Halloween, my favorite holiday. The time when I can dress up like anything I want to be and hand out candy. Just be careful, my zombie-daughter might be hiding in the bushes between the houses, and that's my sickle-wielding-son not another dummy sitting beside the porch. You never know which members of the family have decided to come by and spook our neighbors.

A family that scares together stays together.

Time is running out for us to start getting all of our stuff set up. Looks like this weekend we'll try and start things off. My kids love to help, and you should hear the new ideas that have for this year's freight fest.

Later.

NaNoWriMo Impatience

2005-09-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

A friend and I were talking the other day, and both of us are eager to start the grand stress filled month of November. Its so close now that I'm afraid to start any new idea in fear of having nothing to write come November. If I'm this antsy now, can you imagine how I'll be come mid-October?

I did find a great link I somehow lost over the past year. A word count meter. Very cool. It looks like this:

25,000 / 50,000
(50.0%)

I thought it was neat as hell, and if I have time during NaNo to keep up with this blog, I'll use it.

Okay, so I'm obsessing. Shoot me.

Tick, tick, tick.

Ugh, November hurry up already. :)

Inside My Characters

2005-09-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to have a bit of fun and play write today. After accomplishing 1500 words all before breakfast, and most of next month's web pages coded and out of the way this weekend, I thought some fun was in order.

Play, as in, writing something a little bit different. I made a blog. Not this type of blog, this one is fun. My blog Inventive Rambling is for characters only. That means anyone who is wandering around in my mind is free to leave a message or journal entry from the terrible life I happen to be putting them through. These characters are not necessarily from the same stories, but they are all mine, and 100% pure fiction.

Take a peek and tell me what you think. Remember, these are entries from the character, not me (well, you know what I mean). And, NO, none of these journal entries make it into the stories, they are just fun for me to play with.

-Chris

Adventures in Babysitting

2005-08-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I certainly had an interesting week. My niece went on vacation this week and I volunteered to what her 19 month old son while they were gone. I can sum up the experience in just a few words. Fun, pleasant, exhausting and stressful.

Don't get me wrong. I really LOVED having him, but both of my kids are now in their teens, so baby proofing, diaper changing, and crankiness have not been in my life for sometime now. I forgot how exhausting baby's are. Thank God my kids are older. I get the wonderful luxury of having them go to school for eight hours a day, and making them clean up after their own messes. I am really going to have to take him on again next time I think about having another baby. LOL.

Actually Zander was an angel, considering his mother was gone almost a week. I only had one really bad day, but his schedule was all out of whack, and spending the first night in a strange house didn't help matters.

I'm so proud of my niece, she's young (just turned 21) but as a single mother, she's done a great job with Zander, working, finished school and is even looking into college. Considering her sister had three kids by age 18, no job and no want what-so-ever to get a job or an education, I must say, Crystal is a great girl. She's raising a wonderfully happy boy and has a great head on her shoulders. If anyone deserved the vacation, it was her.

-Chris

From Nonsense to Some Sense.

2005-08-18T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been at it. Editing this beast of a novel. I feel kind of like a construction man with tubes of caulk, nails, boards and big slabs of drywall. Unfortunately there are more big slabs of drywall needed than little tubes of caulk but at least most of the foundation is solid.

This is the first big project I've ever edited. Now, short stories don't count, it fact, the editing of those is pretty easy considering the task ahead. BUT, I am proud to say that I've just finished a new scene, a grand total of 1200+ words half of them new and revised just this morning.

Okay, so I've bored you to death. No one wants to hear about this stuff, so I'll stop while I'm ahead.

Well, off to take the daughter to the mall for the last of her school shopping.

-Chris

Can you say, "Swiss Cheese"?

2005-08-11T03:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I found the hole the size of the London Tunnel in my plot, a subplot that I thought was working, isn't, and my "bad guy" needs more pounds of flesh than a starved pachyderm.

Ahh, the joys of editing.

I spent a good portion of yesterday, setting things up in three columns in my spreadsheet, one column for each character. Now all I have to do is finish filling in the blanks and start the major rewrite of over half my novel. Despite this daunting task, I am pleased to say that the main plot has huge potential, one of my subplots that needs to be expanded really has me itching to write. So, its not all bad. The story has potential to be a good one when its finished, its just the finishing part that makes me cring. Ugh, so much more work to do.

I'm now counting the days until the kids are back in school. I'm hoping that with them away for 8 hours I can finish the major weeding and rewritng within the next two months before putting it up in my critque group. I just hope they don't find any more holes when I put this beast up for review.

Well, I'm off to find my handy-dandy caulk gun and start filling holes. With any luck I'll convert swiss cheese to... well at least Brie, though Parmesan would be even better.

-Chris

The Day From Hell

2005-08-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

I tend to have a few of these puppies in a row, so I'm not looking forward to the next few days.

Things started off poorly. Hubby woke up in a pissy mood this morning and bitched about ... hmm, can't even remember what it was, but I don't like conflict first thing in the morning, I am NOT a morning person. I think it was about his mother and her mess of a life. Then of course, with my mood out of whack, he leaves for work.

The kids and I were getting along good though until it came time to clean house.

Now, I've a very lack parent when it comes to this. My son has garbage and lawn duty and daughter has laundry and living room. Not bad at all considering most kids have to do much more at their age (both young teens). We take a full two hours out of our days and do the house. With the three of us get it done and out of the way about mid-day.

Today, I decided to be nice and let them get a little more lazy time before chores. Finally, I couldn't wait any longer and said it was cleaning time. Son, because of heat, hasn't needed to do grass in awhile (its all dead and yellow, what use is mowing?) Since he hasn't done grass, I asked him to do one little thing instead. Sweep the kitchen while I did the dishes. Saves me the trouble and I could have just gone straight from sink to floor. But no, I get lip.

Okay, so you may think being bitchy about him giving me lip over sweeping is a bit much. It isn't. He's at that age where I'm getting lip all the time now. I get whining and bitching and groaning over the stupidest things. I get questions and snide remarks. I was fed up.

So we had a huge falling out. I was so pissed off. I haven't been that pissed in awhile. I've been warning him about that mouth of his for some time now, and he just push my last button.

Then my mother-in-law then calls me up with her bad news (the woman can't give you any good news to save her life) and gets me even angrier.

Combine that with the other smaller things, like, nothing going well. Breaking dishes, tripping over dog, racing to store for last minute b-day presents for daughters friends party.... ugh.

Just needed to vent.
-Chris

Critique Groups

2005-07-31T12:26:00.000-07:00

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT

For any writers who happen to take a peek at this blog. We are presently recruiting persons for our critique group. Its a small private group on the web, password protected and consists of writers of every sort. If this interests you, read the below requirements.

Requirements:
1) You must be at least 18 years of age.
2) You must a good sense of humor.
3) You must be able to both give and receive a good critique.
4) You must be open minded to other points of view concerning, religious, political and cultural differences.

About Us:
This group is of mixed genre with writers in the horror, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, historical and literary categories. We vary from published to unpublished authors, one of which recently won a semi-finalist placing in the Faulkner Conest.

We are looking to expand our group and keep all of the genres as balanced as possible.

What we're looking for:
We want writers from every genre that are fun-loving, and easy to get along with. Must have a fair grasp of story telling basic. NO, you do NOT have to be published, and the only genre we don't critique is erotica.

If you're interested, leave a comment with some basic contact info. I'll get in touch with you. You will need to provide a sample of your work for the group to review.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.

-Chris

Inspiration

2005-07-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

Today was Friday, and every Friday, a group of us get together to write. We do a few Word Wars (timed races via chat and post our Word Counts after the time is up), chat and generally just get together with a few fellow writers and try to get something accomplished.

I started a story today. An interesting take on a generation ship preparing for its rendevous with a planet that's taken them a century to reach. So far, things looke pretty good.

Also finished the rough edit of the first scene in chapter two of my completed novel. All in all, a pretty good day. Wish I had gotten more editing done.

Goal for tomorrow. Finish Edit of chapter two and try to complete chapter 3 as well. Write another chapt, on new story.

-Chris

Recent Fav

2005-07-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

I just finished uploading picts to my comp and ran into one of my faves, so I had to post it. Aren't they adorable?

This is from our trip to Great America. We had a blast. My son has decided to collect unusual hats. One of these days, I'll put up picts of his collection. Some are pretty wild.

-Chris

Almost forget...

2005-07-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine placed in the Semi-Finalists in the William Faulkner writing contest. If you haven't heard of this contest, then you haven't been trolling the writing circles for very long.

WAY TO GO BILL!!!

If you're curious about the content, he has some snippets in his blog and a link to see his name in lights.

Check out Bill's Bilge in my Friendly Writers Links and check him out.

Look ------------------------->

-Chris

Mood Great Imagination Sapped

2005-07-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to try and finish part two of my WIP, but my muse has gone on strike. Since my moods been good despite my manic Muse's absence, I've moved on to editing the novel I finished in May.

I'm almost through the reading/note taking process. I'm not sure how other writers work, but I work in phases.

Phase One:
Read it through, make notes on the various subplots that need expanding or scenes that need cutting.
This includes one of more of the following: Head pounding against wall, Staring off into space, Marveling at the good stuff, Wincing at the terrible stuff, Bugging all my friends for plot point ideas, and at least one pot of coffee. Much of the time all of this happens in a single sitting.

Phase Two:
Making the notes a reality. I go through all those notes and scribbles and start hacking and adding.
This includes: Pulling out hair, counting to see if there are more gray hairs present, double vision, Wincing over the good stuff that has to be cut, fitting in new scenes, weeping over cut characters, and at least one pot of coffee.

Phase Three:
Rough polish. I spell check and start to pick out all the passives, cut 80% of all adverbs and adjectives, and clearing up any tense and pov shifts.
This includes: Staring at squiggly red lines and wondering how I managed to pass High School English, Grumbling under my breath when daughter points out the word, "Tree" should be "Three", Reading the newspaper and muttering about what an idiot the local Editor is for allowing all the mistakes my red pen has found. Oh yes, and at least one pot of coffee.

Yeah, real good thing I'm in a good mood or I might join my muse at the local bar and never look at the story ever again.

-Chris

Fun stuff when you need an outlet

2005-07-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

A friend just told me that I am the Internet Queen. I thought it was funny considering most of the stuff I find is handed to me by others who think I might be interested.

Anywho, here is a fun thing. Ever want more bubble wrap?

Yeah, yeah, I can see the odd looks on your faces but this is neat.
http://www.viceking.net/bubblewrap.swf/bubblewrap1.swf

AND

Who hasn't wanted to take their aggressions out on something, or someone?

Well this is fun, and you can imagine its your boss, or your stubborn WIP.
http://www.virtual-design.com/demos/voodoodoll/voodoo.asp?section=demo&subsection=voodoo

Hehehe, so call me vicious.
-Chris

Part One: A Favor

2005-07-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I completed Part One, boy, is it going to need a major overhaul on the first four chapters.

Anyway, here's the blurb.

All they wanted was a simple, quiet, life, where they could raise a family.
Kira, a half-breed noble born woman and her husband Jalil are accused of forming a coup against the government. Though it had not been their intention to begin, with circumstances force them into taking just such an action when Kira is captured put on trial for treason. Rebellion explodes when Jalil races to save his wife and young son, before she is put to death and their child is lost to them forever.

Genre: Sci-Fi you could almost throw in Romance in that genre too. I intent to flesh that part out in the rewrite. Definitely full of action too. I have a bunch of short stories with these characters. One of these days I'll write them into a full length novel of what happens before this and how they every survived long enough to get married in the first place.

Muhahaha. I'm a vicious person when it comes to my characters. *wink*

-Chris

Project Update

2005-07-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well, so far things are going will in the project. I've just reached a Word Count 19,700 and damn it, I want to finish part one before tonight. I have a hard time with climaxes, they always inch their way out of me. Its as if I'm afraid to screw up. But in all honesty, you really can't screw up in draft one. That's why you edit and create draft two.

The Story So Far:
Death, pain, resurrection, false hope, more pain, war begins, more death and pain, glimmer of hope, deal with the devil, a trial, more death, a bit more pain... Climax: Death, sacrifice, kidnapping -- and haven't finished that part yet, but I suspected it will have a bit more death, a lot more pain, and a rough ending.

I'll pop up a proper blurb when its done. Talking about it in too much detail tends to deflate the idea in my head. When that happens my muse takes a vacation.

Later,
-Chris

Article

2005-07-08T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, Romance Diva's one of the most addictive forum I've every had the pleasure of visiting, will soon be publishing one of my articles.

Someone other than me actually likes my work. *grin* Go figure.

Yesterday had problems with my muse. He was very insistent (yes, my muse is a male -- a girl's allowed to dream). He said that things weren't working the way they were and I had to subtracted 2k from my 10k before he was satisfied. Including reviving a dead character. I'm back up past 10k now. Character alive and well, though I'm not sure how much longer I'll let him stay that way. Ask my muse, he might know. He's the hunk in the funny clothes with the morbid sense of humor. *wink*

-Chris

Ah, I feel good.

2005-07-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

I'm just under 10k in my current large project. I love it so far, a friend insists that I'm a vicious bitch when it comes to my characters, which is all too true. I enjoy being mean. I think I have some serious issues that like to come out in my writing. Then again, she loves those fairytale endings that make me gag if not spiced with enough humor. I'm all for the bitter-sweet. The same way I love my chocolate.

My project so far:
Murder, mayhem, a good laugh, some pain, death, more death, more pain, a glimmer of hope, more pain, false hope, a few jokes, a dash sarcasm, and more mayhem. Hmm, I think that sums things up pretty well so far. Yes, I did say I was only 10K into in.

Hehehe, I love being a writer.

Special Announcement

2005-07-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

To any of those who happen to read this blog, I have two announcements.

1. Writers Resources and Help has its new issue up. Yippy, took me forever as my html editor was on the fritz, but it's a good one and well worth a look. http://www.writersresourcesandhelp.com

2. Romance Divas (http://www.romancedivas.com) is running another great FREE workshop this month. Author Jess Michaels will be hosting her "So I Wrote This Book... Now What?" workshop in the Forum. Just register to become a member and you're eligible for the workshop and the monthly giveaway. The workshop starts July 18th.

-Chris

Great Day Writing

2005-06-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ah, another great writing day today after yesterdays procrastination. If the web weren't such a necessity I'd shut it off. It can be such a pleasant distraction.

Yesterday I decided to do some research and every time I fire up Explorer, I find what I'm looking for, do several cross checks, and email alerts flash. (Oh, I should really turn that off.) I start to read my mail, respond to friends and family, and baby brother says, check out my new site and music.

Being oldest sister, I dutifully check out his punk music, which I'm not fond of. Tell him I can't hear a word the singer said, but his drumming sounds great-- which it is. Then of course, I forget what I was writing and start checking all the forums I participate in. Some of them are so addicting I spend a good hour or two just reading and responding.

By this time, I've lost the flow and stare at the story. I write a bit, usually a couple hundred words and I'm done. I fiddle with things, stare at the screen, play with stuff that I should delete from this computer, because they are SO distracting and my writing time is gone.

Grr, the WWWeb, can't live with it, can't live without it.

-Chris

On A Roll

2005-06-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

I love when I can write 2000 words in one sitting. When I don't look at the word counter a dozen times just to see if I've made my daily quota yet. Those times are the very best, not often the best writing, but the best scenes. It means I've written without stopping concentrating on just what is happening in the now of my project. Be it action filled, amusing or just a beautifully sensual scene. Those scenes are the very best.

As a writer, I love the written word. When I can sit and write so much in one sitting, I know I'll have a great day. Today happens to be one of those and after such an annoying drift, its the best feeling in the world.

-Chris

Beginnings

2005-06-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

I've been putting this off.

Blogging takes a lot of work to keep things updated, and considering I run an ezine site, it won't be easy to keep this blog up and running. That doesn't mean I'll ignore it, but every few months you may not hear much from me.

Now, on to my first post.

Writing Drift

Writing is a bitch. I love it, and at times, I hate it. Not the act of writing, but the drift. The drift is a form of writers block. You drift in and out of stories, not really sure what to write, but knowing there are millions of ideas out there just waiting to be discovered.

I've just come off of writing a novel, and need desperately to let it rest before moving onto the edit. I gave myself the challenge to finish another novel before I dig into the edit. Now all I need is to stick with one story line and things will be alright. For some reason, the muse is being flighty and iffy and just plain annoying.

Actually, I can't really blame this on my muse. I have ideas. Several in fact, I'm just not sticking with one of them. Focus is my problem, not lack of ideas. I get this way everytime I finish a project. The old story won't let go of me enough to move on. I have to let myself go and just throw my energy into something new. So, I end up in a drift.

I loathe the drift more than actual writer's block. Writer's block is when nothing feels right, nothing sounds right and new and unusual happenings refuse to come. You muse takes his vacation without so much of a 'by your leave' and you stare at the paper or computer in front of you with nothing to say.

I would prefer Block to Drift any day.

Why?

That's easy, reading is a common cure for the Block. Something different, a quick break to get the imagination flowing again. I find the classics or a really good book does wonders. Something outside your usual genre gives you new bursts of ideas.

The Drift on the other hand is creative indirection. Ugh, the absolute worst. You write pieces instead of a project, you write scenes instead of a novel and chapters instead of a book.

Over the past two weeks I've written over 10,000 words and only half of them on one project. What does that tell you? I'm being stubborn, that's what it says. Too damn stubborn to let go and put my all into one thing again. I don't want to put all that energy into one thing again. I'm drained of the previous experience and don't want to go on.

But to be successful at what I love, I have to push on. I love writing. Books and stories are my passion. Creating worlds, inventing people, and expressing ideas are the most rewarding and challenging things for me

So, back to writing I go, hoping that I'll stop being stubborn and start writing once again and say good-bye to that dreaded drift.

Wish me luck.