Tag Archives: writing biz

Laptop anxieties

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My laptop has spontaneously turned itself off a couple times in the last few days. The first time, I thought I’d accidentally hit the little hibernation switch which activates when the lid is closed, but the second time I wasn’t anywhere near it. And even if I had toggled the switch, it ought to have put itself into hibernation, not turned itself off. Fortunately, I didn’t lose any data–I hit SAVE like someone with an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Word’s automatic recovery snagged the files I had open both times–but my anxiety levels are spiking.

   


Writing Stuff

Got the interview questions from Aberrant Dreams. For the most part, they’re the normal fun/fluff/quirky silliness I’d expect, but there’s a couple notable exceptions. There’s one question asking my opinions on Kafka and de Maupassant with regard to their modern marketability, and one asking me to deconstruct several works with regard to the psychological impact of their literary technique. Erm. When I read those, I suddenly felt like I was back in grad. school during test time, or maybe filling out grad. applications–you know the kind where they want you to answer a couple essay questions to evaluate your knowledge and writing ability. I’m not sure if I should try to compose a treatise of “Eugie’s Literary Theories”–which I can’t imagine anyone would want to read–or blither about what I think of Kafka, the works in question, et al, or if I should just try to come up with something funny. *blink* It’s certainly an interesting set of questions.

If folks want to see what I come up with, the interview should come out in their January issue.

Received:
– Final approval from the editor on “Princess Bufo marinus, I Call Her Amy.” Woohoo!
– My contrib. copies of Fantasy Magazine #1. (Still awaiting payment, though.)
– An email from Story Station two months after I queried them, letting me know they’re still considering my submission. Going on a total of six months that they’ve held that story. Their GLs say they aim for a one month turnaround and to query after two. Grumf.

New Words:
– 200 or so on the requested editorial changes on “Princess Bufo marinus, I Call Her Amy.”
– 700 on “Rue and Ruin.” I’m beginning to get anxious about the sprawling word count on this one. I’ve still got at least two scenes to go before the end, and less than 1.5K to do them in. Miss Muse is apparently feeling verbose, the contrary floozy!

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
10,659 / 12,000
(88.8%)

Club 100 For Writers
      50

500/day
      101

LJ buggins and Highlander

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I noticed that LJ appears not to be emailing comments to me. How annoying. I know they went through a big server move recently, so I’m hoping it’s due to that and will resolve itself soon.

fosteronfilm put on our laser disc of Highlander to watch at around 2AM last night, and I woke up enough to peer groggily at the first half, and then fell back asleep. But the Queen song “Who Wants to Live Forever” has seeped into my subconscious and I can’t shake it free. A couple measures of the eponymous chorus keeps playing over and over in my head. Makes me want to go postal with a spork–stabbity stabbity. Agh!

   


Writing Stuff

Much editing and rewriting happened on “Princess Bufo marinus, I Call Her Amy.” The editor has a few more changes he wants, and then it’s done done done. I hope.

Got a flier JPEG from Aberrant Dreams for the signing at Oxford Comics and Games in February. It’s preeeetty:


Clickie to see it full-sized.

Words: Um, let’s just call it 500 on “Rue and Ruin.” There was much furious typing, and then much frenzied cutting. The net gain is only a couple hundred, but looking at it that way makes me want to grind my teeth, so I’m not gonna. (Hmm, I wonder if this urge to spork and gnash could be an Effexor side-effect? I hope not.)

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
9,963 / 12,000
(83.0%)

Received:
70-day rejection from Mslexia for their Deadly Sins anthology after making their short list. Snartleblast. A lot.

Club 100 For Writers
      49

500/day
      100

Dr. Who, napping, writing

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There was much napping yesterday and much Doctor Who watching. I’m still tired, but we’re up to episode 10.

   


Writing Stuff

Yesterday was all about rewriting and editing passes on “Princess Bufo Marinus, I Call Her Amy.” Fired it off to my editor and in a matter of hours got an “I really like it” back with rewrite request. Woohoo! Ergo, I didn’t get back to “Rue and Ruin” and don’t expect to until I complete the rewrite.

Also got a list of interview questions from Armand Rosamilia, editor of Carnifex Press. He’s publishing these mini-interviews as a sort of “get to know the authors” dealie on the Carnifex site. Pondering my answers . . .

Club 100 For Writers
      46

Dr. Who!

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Watched the first and second episodes of the new Dr. Who. Yes, I know I’m excessively late to the party. Dock it from my geek points; I am appropriately shamed. Okay, the show. They’ve either really increased their EFX budget or reasonable EFX have gotten much, much cheaper to make. The show actually looked good (mostly). There were a couple weak moments–the plastic mannequin arm attack for one–but overall I was impressed at the production values on something which traditionally has had, well, none. As for the new Doctor, can I just say YUM? He’s younger, but with the same glib wit and confidence as Tom Baker, and with that leather jacket to boot, he’s all bad boy and sexy! Rawr. Me likie Christopher Eccleston!

V. excited about seeing the rest of the season.

Possible Effexor effects: Yicky metallic/sweet/sour taste in my mouth. It’s like I licked a 50 count of envelopes, and not the mint-flavored kind either. Uck. Also, felt tired yesterday afternoon so settled down for a nap, but couldn’t fall asleep. Undecided as to whether the latter is a good or bad thing, but the stamp-glue-tongue is vile. Bleck, ptoo.

Non-Effexor complaints: My wingstubs hurt. My increased writing productivity this month is making itself felt in less happy-writer ways. Stupid human suit.

   


Writing Stuff

Heard from the editor of Pitch-Black books that the limited-edition pre-release of the Sages and Swords anthology is available for order. $14.95 for a trade paperback chock full of prime heroic fantasy. I’m sharing a ToC with Tanith Lee–thus fulfilling a squeeing fangirl ambition–as well as Vera Nazarian (norilana) and Ed McFadden, among others. A great holiday gift for the fantasy fan on your shopping list! And check it out, I’ve got cover pimpage!

Also got a note from the editor of Aberrant Dreams to let me know that the signing at Oxford Comics and Games has been moved to Sat. Feb. 4th from 4-7:30. Additionally, there will be two other authors (I dunno who yet) and the illustrator.

Received:
104-day “Sorry” from ASIM after making it to the third round. Some very nice comments from the editors, but they didn’t have room for it and it’s against their policy to hang onto stories indefinitely. Snartleblast!!

New Words: 1000 on “Rue and Ruin.” Making good headway and had a flashing epiphany about the ending. Of note, flashing epiphanies are not nearly as fun as I was led to believe. This one required me to go in and do some difficult tweaking and paragraph rearranging at the beginning.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
7,477 / 9,000
(83.1%)

Club 100 For Writers
      43

500/day
      95

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Farewell, SCI FICTION

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Watched Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy courtesy Netflix. I can see why die hard fans of the television series wouldn’t like it, and I did have the periodic urge to fill in the rest of the funny parts that they truncated–I assume to make it a reasonable length–but I quite liked their Ford Prefect and their Trillian. They played her far differently than I envisioned her in the books, but she worked for me. I also liked their Slartibartfast; I think I’m becoming a fan of Bill Nighy, and I thought Arthur and Zaphod were acceptably passable. Then again, it’s been years since I read the Hitchhiker’s “trilogy,” so I may be giving the movie higher marks on the “It Didn’t Suck” scale because the gaps in my memory keep me from being appalled at the mangling they did to it. Regardless, it wasn’t as brilliant as the books, but I still had fun watching it.

   


Writing Stuff

Did a couple editing passes on “Beauty’s Folly” and it’s off to the editor to pan or praise. I’m having a hard time shaking the story out of the clutches of my muse. The characters and world keep popping up in my imagination. I tell them “I wrote you! What more do you want?” but they don’t answer. I wonder if there’s enough floating around to flesh out into a novel?

Received the contract from Cricket for “The Tanuki-Kettle” and “The Raven’s Brocade.” No publication date specified for either, alas. Signing and sending those back tomorrow.

And WTF? I drop out of communication for a week and SCI FICTION announces it’s closing? How can this happen? They’re one of the best venues for short SF out there. Waaaaaah! I’m utterly depressed to see it go. Not to mention absolutely shocked at the suddenness of it. And on the purely selfish and personal side of it, I had a submission with them that I was really hoping Ellen Datlow would like. Crapitude.

Club 100 For Writers
      40

Trying something new

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Tapering from 40 to 20mg of Prozac this week in preparation for the start of Effexor. Had a mild headache yesterday, but I’m not willing to attribute that (just yet) to the decrease. After the comments I got yesterday about Effexor, I’m thinking that it might behoove me to modify my p-doc’s suggested incremental rate, perhaps give myself two weeks at each dosage tier instead of one, see if I notice any unpleasant or dramatic effects from it. Despite what all this juggling of meds might indicate, I’m really not severely depressed. I do get periodic mood drops, but I’ve both seen and studied severe depression, and while I can feel pretty blue upon occasion, it’s relatively mild on the depression spectrum. Yes, I’m tired all the time, but considering the dilapidated state of my human suit, it’s really not surprising. So I’m concerned about an overkill situation arising from the attempted treatment of my minor mental disequilibrium–like administering Lasix to someone with a chest cold. All I can say is I’m very glad I have a solid background understanding of Psychology.

   


Writing Stuff

Going to try something during this NaNoWriMo season. Since everyone else is pumping out words, I thought I’d take this opportunity to work myself back into professional-caliber productivity. Therefore, I’m locking myself in the library, away from television, skunk, and husband during the day. I’m also going to curtail my LJ time, so if I make fewer appearances in y’alls comment sections, don’t take it personally. Writer at work and all.

Received:
– 10-day personal rejection from Jason Sizemore at Apex Digest with invite to submit again.
– Also news that Jason has nominated by story “Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me” (slated for publication in Apex #4) for a Pushcart! I think it’s terribly unlikely I’ll be one of the selected, but I’m floating on a happy cloud to be nominated. Jason absolutely rawketh! Squee!

New Words:
2000 on another fairy tale re-telling, this time of Beauty and the Beast. After editorial feedback and discussion, the determination was that “The Better To . . . ” was one for the the “still needs work” pile, and instead of facing another rewrite with it (I cannot express how very sick I am of it at this point), I decided to pull out the ole drawing board. So far, this one’s going so much smoother. Or maybe it’s me being holed away in the library.

Club 100 For Writers
      36

500/day
      90

Adventures with Adderall . . . and Effexor

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15 Comments

Had my p-doc follow-up this morning. Initially, he suggested I increase my dosage of Adderall to 25mg/day, but after more discussion, we decided not to. When I asked him what his long-term thoughts were with regard to Adderall, that I didn’t want to be on an amphetamine for an extended time–and what about Provigil?–he said that he was hoping to wait until Provigil got added to my HMO’s approved list before switching me over. That made sense to me, so I’m content to stay with the Adderall for another month or two (or three even) until the HMO Powers That Be grind their gears. I’ll continue on 20mg/day, taking periodic day-or-two breaks once a week to keep my tolerance from ratcheting up.

He also suggested I try an NRI, Wellbutrin, in conjunction with the Prozac for an added pick-me-up. But the idea of adding more pills to my daily cocktail did not please me, so we’re compromising. I’m going to wean off the Prozac this week, and then switch to Effexor XR, which is both an NRI and an SSRI. Starting the Effexor at 37.5mg/day next week, and then the plan is to increase that weekly until I hit 150mg/day.

Fun with psychotropics. So not whee.

   


Writing Stuff

Received:
– Contract and final edits from Aberrant Dreams for “The Son that Pain Made.” Everything looks great and the contract’s signed and in the mail.
– 41-day “regret that we cannot use it” from Pedestal with invite to submit again.
– 14-day “Dear Author” (ouch) from LCRW.

I think I’ve noticed an odd trend with my writing. Genre markets with literary penchants don’t seem to like me. But literary publications that are receptive to genre do. I’m so confused.

New Words:
1000 words on the funny little story, and it’s at zero draft. That was gratifyingly fast. Nice muse, nice word flow. Maybe it’s all the NaNoWriMo energy radiating off my flist rubbing off.

Club 100 For Writers
      34

500/day
      88

Adventures with Adderall

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A couple hours after taking my normal 20Mg of Adderall yesterday, I was still feeling logy. Some back and forth waffling resulted in me popping another 10Mg capsule. An hour later, I didn’t think I’d gotten much of an effect, but then I sat down to write. Huge surge in productivity. So, yay. But less than happy about the apparent increase in tolerance. Haven’t taken any Adderall today. Debating whether I want to let my system dry out for a day or two. Have my p-doc follow-up tomorrow to touch base and discuss.

   


Writing Stuff

Got an email from the editor of Aberrant Dreams. They want me to do a signing in January at Oxford Comics and Games (2855 Piedmont Rd NE; Atlanta, GA 30305-2767). The tentative date is Jan. 11th (a Wednesday). Watch this space for more details as I get them.

New Words:
2300 on the funny little story idea that fosteronfilm and I came up with a week and a half ago. This tale was just tugging and tugging at me, begging to be written. It’s approximately a scene or two shy of zero draft.

Also plugged 700 or so words into “Rue and Ruin.”

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
5,885 / 7,500
(78.5%)

Club 100 For Writers
      33

500/day
      87

Post-Halloween recovery

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Had a delightful, if low-key, Halloween. fosteronfilm, dude_the, and I stayed in, watched appropriately ghoulish movies, and handed out candy to the kiddies. The line-up included Trancers, Hellboy, and Beetlejuice. The boys watched more than that, but I conked out pretty early and slept through the other selections. I was so very tired yesterday. I think the Adderall is losing its effectiveness with me again. Got a follow-up with my p-doc next week to discuss options. ‘Course, now I’m wide awake and everyone else, including Hobkin who is cuddled up at my side, is asleep.

In other news, I did not make the cut as one of the 12 Babes of Christmas, alas. But it was fun, an honor being nominated, blah blah blah. Thank you very much to everyone who voted for me. Y’all are the greatest.

   


Writing Stuff

Oops. I forgot to mention that over the weekend my tentative sale to Aberrant Dreams did indeed become a definite one. I sold them “The Son that Pain Made” on Saturday. It’s slated to be published in their January issue. Huzzah!