I love this gal!

I have wanted to put this blog as a link, but haven't got around to asking Nee.

Maybe she'll read this one post (10/28) and agree it is most worthy!

The Misadventures of Super_Librarian


The Misadventures of Super_Librarian

Weird

I have been thinking for a while about taking down a short story I put up here a while back, but today I finally got around to it. When I looked at it, I saw that I posted it exactly 2 years ago to the day. Strange.

quote for today

My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success.
She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have
studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you.
Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as
important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and
forget about success.

-Helen Hayes, 1900 - 1993

Funny you should mention it...

It is funny that Kee had posted a short story about her job, because I had just read this short story by MoonRat about *her* job as an editor.

For those who don't know...

In my real job, I have very strict standards for myself. I am organized. I keep deadlines. I leave my work so that any person could pick it up at a moment's notice and follow where I am at and what needs to be done next...say, like if I got hit by a bus or got *the* call that an agent wants everything I have ever written and I'm an overnight author success story. Well, the likelihood of me not showing up for work because of either of those is slim to none, but still I do my part to always be prepared.

The chick that came before me, well let's just say that all of her work has been sanitized. There is no evidence that this information lived a normal accounting life. It just appeared out of nowhere. It was not born of supporting documentation. It was not loved and nutured by a family of cross references. It has no friendships of tickmarks, ten-key tapes, or smudged pencil marks. No, this ugly step-child still bears the cleaniness it could have only known by being jerked fresh from the printer and shoved directly into a file folder. What absurd treatment of perfectly innocent financial information.

I have spent almost half of the last 48 hours sitting at my desk attempting to read, interpret, and make sense of the lack of information left for me. I have been doing this because it is my turn to produce the end result. I can't do that when I have no idea what the starting point is. I will brag enough to say that, with time, I could do it. I'm just that good. But I don't have time. My deadline is tomorrow. I would still be sitting there now if I didn't need a few things like food or sleep. And it's pissing me off right now that I can't make myself to do without those.

So we'll see what I can accomplish by the end of tomorrow. Maybe I can pull it off. Who knows. Both of my bosses realize the the trail I was left couldn't have been followed by a hardened sherpa. It's at least adding to my credit (and hopefully future paychecks) that I have gotten this far.

(In case you were wondering why this is posted on a writing blog, I thought I could use the practice at short story telling. I sometimes ramble and lose my point. For the record, I thought this one was good. Grade for me: A)

I don't have a problem with coming up with ideas to write. It's the follow through to the end that leaves me drowning in a sea of words that seems to get bigger the more I wade into it. I do my best(I think) writing when I just sit at the computer and type. There seems to be less back and forth editing that way. I don't think it has anything to do with my typing skills vs hand writing it out. I actually suck pretty hard at typing...when I took accounting in high school instead of typing I said that I would rather be an accountant who couldn't type than a typist who couldn't account. (hee hee hee...I have always thought that was rather funny since I turned into a damn fine accountant.)

But I digress. I consider the time between being able to sit down and get my words out as "brewing" time. It's when I let myself get so into the setting of the scene in my head that when I do write I can almost feel what's happening, almost like I am right there with my characters. It's kinda cool, but it's also a little freaky if I have to wait a while to get to a computer. It's like I have these people in my head talking to me. I know, I know; my family has thought I've heard voices in my head for years. I will admit to one rather strange instance that is what brought all of this up.

A couple of months ago I had the worst migraine of my life. And that is not an exaggeration. It was bad enough that when I went to the doctor a week later, her immediate reaction to my specifics had her scheduling me for an MRI. The MRI was okay and the neurologist cleared me of anything serious. I have never had one that had me wishing I would just pass out to get it over with. In the middle of the pain, throwing up, dizziness, etc, etc, I had an idea for a book. If I concentrated on the idea, the migraine didn't feel as if it was sucking the life out of me at that moment. I focused on the characters, setting, AND THE ENDING, then when I got through all of it my medicine put me to sleep. It was so strange.

When I got up the next day (like 18 hours later), I could still remember it. The whole thing was laid out for me. I could see how I could write it in sections and be done. So that's what I have been doing. Now, it's not like what I have been doing before, well, not exactly like it. Yes, it is a romance. But, no, it is not an explicit romance. It would probably be called a christian romance. Maybe it had something to do with me calling to my maker while my head throbbed, I don't really know why it has to be that way, but it does. And I'm good with that. It will be shorter than other stuff I tried so maybe that will also help it get done. Anyways I just thought I'd post what I was up to.

May the writing bug bite you, too!

Writing Process

From an article about Comic Con in the NYTimes:

Asked by Mr. Lasseter ... about how he goes about creating his stories, the silver-haired Mr. Miyazaki, who appeared both bewildered and mildly amused by the encounter, said: “My process is thinking, thinking and thinking about my stories for a long time. If you have a better way, please let me know.”

I'm Dishonorable!

Well, the 2009 Bulwer-Lytton Contest results are in, and I am one of the Miscellaneous Dishonorable Mentions for this finely crafted piece:

On a lovely day during one of the finest Indian summers anyone could remember--a season the Germans call "old wives' summer," obviously never having had Native Americans to name things after, but plenty of old wives, and "Indian summer" in German would refer to the natives of India in any case, which would make even less sense than the current naming system--on such a day, however named, John Baxter fell in the creek and drowned.

Let the accolades flow in!

Getting Nowhere Fast

A couple of days ago, I realized I had to get better organized with my materials for my thesis. Also, I needed to get energized, so I made myself a sign:

I am the queen of the organizers. I will organize the hell out of this shit!

That is taped onto the picture hanging in our dining room above the bench, which has its own signs for the different sections of my thesis. I made piles of materials under the signs, and the best thing is that I can put my piles on the floor under the bench--still sorted!--whenever we need to be able to sit down at the table.

Now if I can just get the sorted materials digested and organized into a coherent structure...

(Hannah loves to read this sign, but she bleeps out the bad words.)

And there was life after all...

I didn't fall of the earth, though it kinda looks like it by way of my postings here. Things have been in an upswing around the place lately and that means the old writing juices are free to flow again. I've been pondering my RANSOM story and might actually get a chance to drag it out and shake the dust off of it this weekend. We'll see how far I get and report back later.

So slow

I got some work in yesterday on my thesis, and a little on an editing gig. Today, I taught 2 classes and then took Hannah back to the doctor about her cast, and then came home and made dinner. Now I am bushed, but tomorrow I'll get back into gear.

Kee--how's things?

You've Got that Squeezy Feeling

I have so much to do, I am starting to feel the first flutterings of panic. *deep breath*

*Deep breathing not helping*

*Fetal position*

Maybe another time with the blogging...

TA DA!

I finished all 15 articles from my editing job! Woo! Now I am just waiting for feedback from the last 4 authors, and this is job is DONE! YAY! And it only took me 82 hours to get through 205 pages. Actually, now that I think about it, that's not so stupendous, but at least it is over.

What's Your Daily Routine Like?

Just came across an interesting blog that details "how writers, artists, and other interesting people [such as the 44th President of the United States] organize their days."

Daily Routines

I've just skimmed through the first few entries so far, but I have enjoyed seeing how other "creative types" structure their work.

Personally, I am not very organized, but I have discovered recently that I can get up, make some coffee and get Hannah out the door, and get immediately to work (on the current editing job). I am going to be screwed if I ever get an office job again. :-P

Imperial

I have reached the point in editing one article that "imperial" no longer looks like a real word.

Words, words, everywhere words

Let me just say that I don't think "hypothecate" is a real word.

Moving on, I have a few hundred pages to edit before the end of the month and many hundred pages to read for my thesis as soon as possible. Why do I get myself into these things?

So if you are looking for me, I'll be trapped under my laptop for the foreseeable future.

Updating me

Just a little note to let you know that I updated my profile info. It was really out of date with the line about me "recently" quitting my job. I couldn't believe it when I saw I had three hundred hits on it. Who'd have thunk?

I'm going to work on Ransom. Maybe I'll have a post soon about it.

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency

I had a minute and look what I found! Look at the 3/24 post...

BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency

Have a GREAT rest of the day!

Thesis Update

Not that there's much to update on. I've been reading and making notes, but not nearly enough, which is something I am trying to fix. I am starting to feel the pressure--just a little--especially since one of my professors said he'd like to read my thesis after I turn it in, and my supervisor mentioned my thesis to a colleague, who then recommended a couple of articles/bibliographies for me to check out, but why was she talking about my thesis to other people, and *agggggghhhh*! Ok, time for a deep breath. *inhale, exhale* Better now.

Back to the article I am reading.

Updated Reading List

Well, it doesn't look like I am going to get around to book-reporting my reading list, so I might as well just tell you what I've read recently:

Vile Bodies, by Evelyn Waugh

Most people are familiar with Brideshead Revisited, but since this was recommended to me, I gave it a try as my first Evelyn Waugh. I liked it--terse but absurd.

Herr Bello und das blaue Wunder, by Paul Maar and Ute Krause ("Mr Bark" and the blue miracle)

A kids' book about a dog that drinks a mysterious blue potion that turns him into a human. Hijinks ensue.

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

I remember that the other advanced English class in 12th grade read this, something I resented at the time, but obviously not very much, because it took me 18 years to get around to reading it on my own (and it has been sitting on my bookshelf for probably 4 years). The writing didn't really do much for me, but I was totally hooked for the last 4 or 5 chapters, racing through to see how it ended.

Schepper, by Iris A. Otto ("Rattler" (of bones))

A girl has a skeleton for a friend, who may or may not be imaginary. I thought the girl was pretty obsessed with death--the story starts with her great-aunt dying--but Hannah, who has also read the book, disagreed.

Now I am reading a book about archaeology and the Anglo-Saxons.