This journal is friends only, with the exception of a few selected posts, but those are set so that only friends can comment.

That being said: if you friend me, chances are I'll friend you back after I determine you're not a robot or spammer.

If I friend you and you don't want to friend me back, no sweat.

---

Courtesy of slymongoose.

1) Confess! Do you have an odd Comfort Food? (No judging, here. It's Comfort Food and, as such, it knows no rules.) ( Click to see the answers )

Project working title: Old Man Coyote New words: 2480 Current total words: 2480 Goal: 2480

I know, it's cheating to just use the finished number of words as your goal, but...I wanted to see the 100% progress bar. :) I'm funny that way.

Reason for stopping: Finished.

Notes:

1. This was a fun little story to write. It was a 'challenge' story. A group of us in the same writers/critiquing group on Second Life were challenged by our referee to each write a story with the same first two lines:

   It all started when a god died and the next thing I knew I was in trouble. Mike warned me a year ago not to do it, but I was already half way through....

   To me, this sounded very conversational, so it occurred to me to try something I've never done before: write the entire thing as half a conversation, of which we never hear the other half. Kind of like Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess". I also wrote it with a seemingly drunk main speaker who also happens to be something of a hick. So I had to use colloquialisms, word choice, and spellings to get his manner of speaking across. The critiques over the next couple of weeks will tell how I did.


2. The funny part is, I've already read one of the other submissions. We both chose to use Coyote (the god) as a character and we both set it up as a conversation, although Luta's was done as a magazine interview, so you get both sides of the conversation. Very strange. If anyone else uses the same ideas, I'll have to wonder about telepathy. :)


3. No, I am in fact not comparing my story to "My Last Duchess" except as an example of a one-sided conversation in which you never "hear" the other speaker.

Today is the release of the first print edition of Matthew Wayne Selznick's novel Brave Men Run. He is asking that people buy it from Amazon today to drive the rank up to give notice to the "traditional" press that alternative media are a force to be reckoned with.

His book is available for free as a podcast at PodioBooks, and it's also available in several formats of e-Book. The book was widely acclaimed when released as a podcast, and recently got noticed by a dead-tree publisher. He—and his fans—would like to show the publishing business that it was a good decision.

But why should you listen to me? Let me give you a quick run-down of what the book is about, and you can decide.

The book is set in an alternate 1985. Nate Charters is a fifteen-year-old high-school student who doesn't just feel different (because we all did), he actually is different. Stronger. Faster. With heightened senses. Eats like a horse and never gains weight. His eyes are larger than normal and tend to glow a bit. But in order to "fit in," Nate doesn't reveal all of his differences. The ones he can't hide make him the target of every bully in school. Even one who used to be his best friend. He doesn't fight back because he knows that he could beat them into a bloody pulp if he lets loose, but he's all too aware that this would reveal too many other secrets about him. So he tries to lie low.

He has no idea why he's so different. His mother may know something, but she's not talking. According to her, his father died in an explosion at work when he was a baby. He has a circle of close friends who know some of his differences, but aren't intimidated by them.

Then he meets this girl. She's older and seems to really like Nate in spite of—or perhaps because of—his differences. Life seems to be getting better.

Then, it happens. On television, some guy Nate's never heard of named Dr. William Donner comes on television and reveals his amazing powers live, to the world. He declares that he is a Sovereign—a superhuman. They exist. And they demand autonomy from the U.S. Government...or else. He gives a very convincing demonstration.

Suddenly, Nate realizes what he is. It has to be, right? It doesn't take long for his friends...and the school...and the authorities...to realize it, too. Nate doesn't know what to do. An ally he didn't know he had appears, and there's a mysterious figure that seems to be following Nate around.

Not knowing who he can trust, and having had all his assumptions turned upside down, he goes on the run. With his girlfriend, who fiercely stands by him even when everyone else seems to be against him.

Think of it as a coming-of-age superhero novel. :) It would be good for teens, as well. It has some adult themes, but teens can handle that. Most of them are adult-themed, anyway. :)

So...go. To Amazon. Buy it. Or download it from Podiobooks or get one of the many e-book formats. At least take a look. And if you buy it today, it'll help raise the rank as thousands of people all buy it at once.

Here's the website for the book: Brave Men Run

You can get pretty much everything over there. A sample chapter, the soundtrack, wallpapers, the podcast version, the e-book (on a "pay what it's worth to you" plan).

And if you really want to, Matt is spending all day on a live video feed reading short stories written by other podcast authors, but set in his Sovereign Era universe. And chatting with people in his forum, and announcing the rank every hour or so.

So...go! I've done all I can except force you to submit to my with the awesome power of my own telekinesis.

Not...that I have telekinesis. I mean...it's just a book.

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 3297 Current total words: 20287 Goal: 18000

Reason for stopping:Ees done! And the Library is closing in 20 minutes, dammit. :(

Notes:

1. My hands actually shook a little as I wrote the gruesome murder scene. I didn't know I had that kind of thing in my head. Luckily, I do. :) And now, it's in the story. I'm not even sure I can read it aloud to my writers group. It's pretty awful.


2. Thanks to bigmeanie and her TechniColor good ideas, I'm at the Lawrenceville Public Library, my pahr splah plugged into the wall so my battery won't run out, using their air conditioning and free wireless Internet. :) The only distractions are other people using their laptops on nearby tables, people milling around aimlessly talking to one another, and about 3 kabillion kids running at full speed, pell-mell through the library. I'm not sure, yet, why none of the on-duty librarians have bothered to stop it, but...whatever. I've got my headphones on cranking Floyd Cramer (at the moment) and finally got into the last few scenes enough to write them.


3. This is the single longest story I've ever completed. I'm...words fail me. It feels good to know that I can see it through to the end. Of course...now comes the most gruesome part: the editing.


4. Or it will, once I finish the other two stories I have started. :) My Second Life writers group were all sitting around talking the other night during our "social" Monday meeting, and one of the guys (Graegor, I believe it was) said, of a story he is writing, "It all started when a god died and the next thing I knew I was in trouble." I laughed and said, "That sounds like a good first line." A few minutes later, still talking about his story in which he has a god die, he said, "Mike warned me a year ago not to do it, but I was already half way through...." ("Mike" is Mike Stackpole, a published author who...kind of mentors our group.) And then someone else said, "Heh! Take both of those lines together, and it makes an interesting first two lines." So...our fun idea was that as many of us as wanted to should try to write a story that starts, "It all started when a god died and the next thing I knew I was in trouble. Mike warned me a year ago not to do it, but I was already half way through...." I wasn't going to. Really. But then this idea popped into my head in the shower....


5. Note to self: take more showers.

Tonight, I'm doing something I have never, ever done. I had an idea for a story this morning. I wrote the first part of it just now, edited it for the egregiously bad stuff—all of which took about an hour to 90 minutes—and <gulp> I'm taking it to the group tonight for critique.

This will be the first "hot off the presses" thing I have ever let anyone read, especially when it's not done, yet.

I'm getting so...bold. And reckless. I'm practically unrecognizable!

Project working title: Killing Time New words: 1400 Current total words: 1400 Goal: 4000

Reason for stopping: Leaving work to go to writing group.

Notes:

1. I love it when an idea just clicks and the story seems to want to be told. I also love anthropomorphism.


2. First sentences that popped into my head this morning:

   Gerald Lawson had always led a charmed existence. Nothing truly bad had ever happened to him. Oh, bad things had tried to happen, but at the last minute, as though by miracle, disaster was always averted.

3. No, the next sentence is not "Until now." :)

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 1401 Current total words: 16990 Goal: 18000

Reason for stopping: Battery. Is there a computer battery that doesn't crap out after only 45 minutes? This is getting very annoying.

Notes:

1. I'm two scenes from the end. The next scene will be the hardest to write. Paul is about to discover the true goals of the surrogate program.


2. I find that I have a hard time writing on this unless I take myself away from nearly all distractions. Like my house and my office. I wish I could find a place that didn't mind me sitting in there for a long time, had a place for me to plug in my power supply, was either very quiet or noisy enough that it all fades into an ignorable background din, and didn't have any smoking allowed on the premises. If it weren't for that last requirement, Loco's Grill and Pub would be perfect. But I come home from there smelling like cigarette smoke even though they have the smoking and non-smoking sections completely separated. I. Loathe. Smoke. <sigh>

Last night after the writers group, we all (minus Helga, again) went up into the coffee shop to chat. I was starving, so I got a cup (I don't know if it was large, extra large, huge, ginormous, extra-bigified, craptastically oversized, or OMG, THE GRAVITY OF THE CUP IS PULLING ME IN!) of Godiva hot chocolate. Made with milk that was heated in the cappuccino machine.

<insert foodgasmic sounds of pure, gluttonous abandon>

<pant pant>I...didn't know it could be like that. I think I might be in lust love. <fanning self>

I remembered to use protection, at least: I took my metformin and glimepiride, followed by a Pepcid AC chaser. I wouldn't want a one-night stand to turn into something more than it probably meant. For either of us. I don't need some tawdry fling to turn into a lifetime commitment.

And yet...I'm sure I'll go back. Oh, yes. I know it's wrong for me, but...how could I turn my back on that...sweet, creamy, chocolaty, rapturous joy?

Damn you, Godiva! Damn you!

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 403 Current total words: 15589 Goal: 18000

Reason for stopping: I only had time for a few minutes before my writers group meeting because I had a brainstorm and was making revisions on something else ("...And Promises to Keep").

Notes:

1. Paul has discovered that the surrogate has taken off and no one can find him, but the company is providing protection for his family...for a price.


2. What with vacation and projects at work and trying to juggle several other time-eating schedule hogs, I've had no time to write anything on The Surrogate. This is very frustrating.

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 1904 Current total words: 15186 Goal: 18000

Reason for stopping: In the final stretch, and the next scenes are going to be the hardest for me to write, so I stopped to let myself "sleep" on it before writing them. Plus, my battery was running out, and I was getting that look from the waitress that said "The longer you sit in that booth, the fewer tips I get."

Notes:

1. The surrogate has just shown his true colors, and Paul is not a happy camper. He wants vengeance, but he's not able to get it. I'm evil that way.


2. I didn't write anything for a few days because I have been very busy with other projects, work, and being under the weather. But I'm excited about the ending, which is finally in sight, and I want to get there so I can start on the edits and get this monster finished.

My mother kept her friend Anne's three dogs while Anne was in Florida visiting her mother. While the dogs were with my mother, one of them, Sammy, started feeling a little under the weather. Anne got the dogs back on Sunday.

By Tuesday, Anne reported that Sammy (a very active Shih-Tzu) got listless and lethargic and her eyes, tongue, the insides of her ears, and her belly all turned yellow. She was throwing up, as well, so Anne rushed her to the emergency vet.

The vet felt that Sammy had eaten something while outside at my mother's house that was extremely toxic. It attacked her liver, whatever it was. The vet seemed to think it might be a mushroom, a certain type of lizard, or a species of palm, which are all known liver toxins that are possibly found in central Alabama, but it could easily have been something else. He quizzed my mother extensively over the phone. She searched the yard very carefully, but found nothing.

No one knows exactly what it was except Sammy, and she sort of can't tell us much. My mother is almost as upset as Anne because whatever Sammy ate, she ate it on my mother's watch, and she's torn up with guilt. My mother headed to Anne's yesterday to help keep the other dogs from attacking Sammy. It seems that dogs, by nature, will attack another dog if they sense weakness, and Anne's other dogs were already starting to try to fight her. My mother took Oliver along (he's a Shih-Tzu and he's so laid back he's almost catatonic), but left Sissy-Belle and Lucky at the vet.

The vets...aren't saying whether or not Sammy will make it. She's been to the emergency clinic twice, her normal vet, and is now on her way to Auburn University, where they have some of the best veterinarians in the southeast. They really don't want to operate because of the chance of infection with her being so weak.

I post this not for sympathy or whatever, but to urge you to be observant about what's in your yard if you have dogs or cats that spend most of their time indoors and some outdoors. Many things are toxic to dogs and cats that are not toxic to us (e.g. onions, chocolate, raisins, poinsettias, caladiums) or that we don't eat (like lizards and bits of palm), and dogs are notoriously stupid about eating things they shouldn't.

If you see mushrooms in your yard, get rid of them before your dog makes a snack out of something that might kill it. Google for things toxic to your pets and be on the lookout for them.

Sammy is a member of our family, and we're all upset that this happy little barky "cheerleader" of a dog may or may not live, and the knowledge that she might have prevented it had she known what to look for is preying on my mother big-time, although Anne doesn't blame her at all.

Sammy seems to be feeling better than she was, but her numbers don't look good at all, and she's dreadfully weak. It's pretty much up to the vets and Sammy, at this point.

Just as an aside: we do not at this time have any reason to suspect that anyone deliberately poisoned Sammy. It did occur to us both. The little dogs are all very barky and Sammy is arguably the worst of the bunch, but my mother lives in a neighborhood with no close neighbors, and they're only barky for short periods during the day and early evening: they come in at night. Maybe the Auburn vets will be able to tell us what toxic substance she ate and we can then either eliminate poison altogether or reconsider it.

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 2139 Current total words: 13282 Goal: 18000

Reason for stopping: I was typing in the coffee shop inside the Barnes & Noble and when it was time for the writers group meeting to start, I stopped. Plus, I only had about five minutes of battery time left. And it was a good stopping point. :)

Notes:

1. One of the characters must undergo a third metamorphosis in the interest of plot. But I think I finally have a handle on him. :)


2. I didn't write anything for a few days because I wasn't satisfied with the speed of the plot. One more thing to fix in the edit(s).

At the writers group tonight, two different people asked me if I was going to submit the story I read. One of them said she had told her son about it because it stuck in her mind. I take that as a compliment. :)

Invented by slymongoose, ganked from yttrai.

FOODIE QUIZ #1
( For your pleasure )

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 1389 Current total words: 11143 Goal: 18000

Reason for stopping: It was a good stopping point, again. Paul has just received his second memory transfer, and all is working swimmingly. Some foreshadowing was added, and we're allowed to see him happy. It'll be the last time. BWAH HA ha ha ha ha! Whoops. Did I cackle evilly out loud?

Notes:

1. Started adding in some of the new elements that hit me this morning, and will be continuing on as though the first part contains them as well. In the edit, I'll have to rearrange a few things to make sure I show that build-up from the get-go.


2. Yes, I actually managed to force myself to write more even though all I wanted to do was rip open that box of B5y goodness and read 'til my eyes were red. Which I did. Only...after the writing. :)

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 1310 Current total words: 9774 Goal: 15000

Reason for stopping: It was a good stopping point. Paul has just received his first memory transfer and is coping with having two sets of memories for the same time period.

Notes:

1. I didn't write diddly over the weekend. geek_72 came over Saturday for a working weekend, and then on Monday we went over to craftsman's house for a BBQ. The few sentences I wrote on Saturday before geek_72 arrived were god-awful and what I wrote tonight to replace them was orders of magnitude better, anyway. So it's for the best.

I decided to unabashedly borrow (and alter) the posting style that Cherie Priest (cmpriest) has been using to report progress on her writing because...well, I like it. So there.

Project working title: The Surrogate New words: 1229 Current total words: 8464 Goal: 15000 (creeeeeeeep....)

Reason for stopping: Laptop battery had only 10 minutes left, and I was at a really good stopping place. Paul's just about to get the first upload from the surrogate, and I want to make sure my brain (and cornea) is fresh before I write that.

Notes:

1. I think I've identified where the story will begin when I do the first edit. I've started it too soon. It needs to be more in medias res than it is. I will take some of the infodumped exposition and weave it into the meat of the story so it is less like a "Mr. Wizard" episode. If this were a novel—especially in the style of every Stephen King novel—I'd leave the beginning where it is. But it's not. So I can't. Shorter fiction has to get moving faster than novels.


2. Although I got the "I am allowed to suck" mantra from Mur Lafferty (sailormur) in her "I Should Be Writing" podcast, a published author with whom I was chatting on Second Life pointed out to me that it sounds like I'm setting out to suck, and if that's what I'm setting out to do, then anything I write will, indeed, suck. And I guess it could come across that way if you didn't understand what the "mantra" means. So I'm changing the mantra to "Finish it, then edit." Which is all "I am allowed to suck" means. So, same thing, different wording. :) Because I know myself, and if I edit as I go—which works just fine for some people—I will never get to the end because I want every word I've written up to now to be perfect.


3. If it looks like I'm "dropping names," I'm so not. I don't know either Ms. Priest or Ms. Lafferty. I know of them through their LJ posts and their work, so I'm mentioning them only to give credit where credit is due. Mur is responsible for figuratively kicking my figurative butt—even though she didn't know it—and getting me to start actually taking writing seriously. And Cherie inspired me to make daily(ish) updates so that I'm prodded into actually making daily(ish) progress. :)

Egad. It's 3:00 AM. Bed beckons. This is what I get for sleeping several extra hours, today. Damned corneas.

Tonight's meeting of the writers group was the first one during which I felt comfortable enough to really participate. I feel like I have a bit of a handle on the people who are "regulars" and I've gotten familiar with some of their quirks and habits. It was also my first contribution of something to be critiqued.

I took copies of the vampire story I wrote...a while back, but which I relatively recently edited to post here for your critiques, and then re-edited to take some of the things you guys had to say into account.

I mentioned last time that I was taking this story with me because I knew it had some problems, and I was aware of some of those problems, and was hoping they could point out some more.

Well, there was another new person, so we went around and introduced ourselves and told what we write again, and I made the joking comment that it's not a good thing to be one of my main characters because bad things tend to happen to you. And then one of them asked me a question I'd never been asked before, and it took me by surprise. "Why would I want to read one of your stories, then, if I know going in that the main character is going to 'get it'?"

I stammered out that it has more to do with the journey than the destination, which is a lame answer, but she seemed to like it, so I'll stick to that. :) But it makes me think that perhaps I should rethink always picking the darker subjects to write about. :)

They asked for the background of the story. (Note: Every single one of them is writing a novel.) Again, I was taken aback because this is a 2500-word short story. You don't normally give background. You just...read it. It has to stand on its own or it's not a very successful short story. So I limped through that (I know the background, mind you, I just didn't want to give away too much). Finally, I got to read.

I hurried through it because I was nervous. I've spoken in front of large groups, but no one was going to sit in judgment of me after those, and it was never something creative I had written. No one told me to slow down, so I kept going. To me, it felt boring as I was reading it. Like it was taking too long to get into the action, given the length of the story. (These are the known problems I mentioned.)

So I got through...and no one said a single word. For several seconds. It was harrowing.

Then, the consensus seemed to be that they liked it! They said it drew them in and made them want to read the second half, and one woman who is not going to be there for the next two weeks made me promise to bring her the second half so she could find out how it ends. They liked the fact that I included all five senses, and one of them even said she hated vampire stories, but mine interested her because it seemed different.

They also gave me some really wonderful pointers. I overuse a number of words in the story that I wasn't aware of, and have a habit of starting sentences the same way over and over again. I need to find some different phrasing, and also break up the monotony of my sentence structure. They suggested that in the short, 1200-word segment that I read, Mrs. Atherton is both confident and flustered, and that I should play up the outward and inward emotions more, and to remember that this is a vampire and that fear would likely play a role, as well. All very good suggestions, and I have already begun rethinking parts of the story in my head. :)

They picked up on some stuff I had thought was too subtle, so I'm glad. I can leave that stuff alone and not strengthen it. I think I finally understand what "over-thinking a story" means. :)

All in all, I'm quite happy with the results. I'm surprised that instead of thinking that the opening was plodding and slow, they felt it drew them in and made them understand what kind of person Mrs. Atherton is. Which is what I was aiming for, so I guess I succeeded without realizing it. I've read it about a gajillion times. I have no more perspective. :)

So...yay! I'll take the second half in next week and hope they continue to like it when they see what's going to happen to poor Mrs. Atherton. Several of them can't seem to get it through their heads that this is not a novel and that I'm going to all the trouble of building up this character...so I can kill her in 1200 more words. :) We'll see.

I know that there are probably a few among you who already listen to This American Life on National Public Radio (NPR). I'm also fairly sure there are a couple of you who would rather have certain sensitive parts of your body nibbled off by rabid, nearsighted weasels with dull teeth than be caught dead listening to NPR.

But please give the episode of This American Life from two weeks back a chance. Each week, This American Life takes a single topic and presents from one to five segments that all relate to that topic. It's usually very entertaining.

The May 9 show was titled "Giant Pool of Money." The topic: the mortgage crisis in America. Two guest hosts (regular host Ira Glass was unable to talk much because of what sounded like a raging case of laryngitis), one of whom was Adam Davidson, NPR's International Business and Economics correspondent, examine exactly what happened to lead us to where we are now, with defaulting mortgages, banks in crisis, credit in the toilet, and the housing market in a very bad slump.

And I promise, they only bring up Alan Greenspan once in the entire show. They never once imply that it's all George Bush's fault. :)

Give the episode a listen by podcast. It's available from the link above to the show itself, or you can find it on iTunes or probably other podcast sites.

This is not just a series of voices droning on. This is a fascinating and surprisingly entertaining story presented as a series of interviews with people from a homeowner in foreclosure all the way up the chain to some of the movers and shakers on Wall Street. I have a much better understanding of the series of hair-brained decisions—at all levels—that got us where we are.

Wrote 1308 more words.



Still right on target for a novelette. I think.

I am allowed to suck. I am allowed to suck. I am allowed to suck.

I heard an episode of the Brain Science Podcast this weekend (No! A podcast? Me? Surely not!) on which the podcaster (Dr. Ginger Campbell) interviewed author John Medina about his book Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School. It was an extremely interesting and entertaining interview, and based solely on that, I'll be buying the book. I encourage you to listen. Four things caught my interest.

First, study after study has shown that talking on the cell phone while driving—even with one of those hands-free sets—is equivalent to operating your car with a blood alcohol level of between .08 and .12. I believe that is illegal in every state. But the reasons may or may not be obvious. The problem is that you use two different parts of your brain to drive a car and to carry on a conversation. While you're carrying on a conversation with someone over the phone, you're mentally picturing them. Their faces and facial expressions, where they're located, etc. You're effectively dividing your attention between two very complicated things and it can reduce your reaction time by more than 50%.

So please, please, please reconsider talking on the phone while driving. Please? And don't get pissed at me if you call me on mine and I don't answer. If there is the slightest bit of traffic, I don't. I'll call you back when I can turn on cruise and slow down.

(And yes, I'm aware that Mythbusters also supported this conclusion, but in a much more entertaining way.)

The second really interesting thing he talked about was sleep. Did you ever get sleepy in the afternoon? It turns out that your body wants to take a nap at about 12 hours after the midpoint of your previous night's sleep. So if you go to bed at midnight and get up at 7 AM, the midpoint of your sleep cycle was 3:30 AM. So around 3:30 the next afternoon, your brain lets you know it want a nap. But here's the best part: if you indulge your brain and take a 40-minute nap, you "reset" your ability to concentrate for the next six hours or so.

Now, if only my boss would let me bring a pillow to work, I'd be golden. :)

The third thing that really caught my interest was about context switching. Computer geeks will know what I'm talking about instantly. You're working on something at your desk, and the phone rings. You answer it, take a few notes, then go back to what you were doing. An email arrives. You read it, reply, and then go back to what you were doing. A cow-orker drops by the desk to chat, so you stop, have a conversation, and then go back to what you're doing.

Each time you have to stop and focus on something else, you're reducing your effectiveness by an amazing amount. I didn't take notes last night listening to the podcast, so I don't remember numbers, but I remember him saying that it only takes the brain about .7 seconds to swap from one task to another, so when you switch back, that's a total of 1.4 seconds. However, the toll on your ability to concentrate is much worse. It's why people who try to multitask too much never seem to get anything done.

The fourth and final thing that I thought was really interesting is that the brain gets bored after 10 minutes if you don't give it something really interesting to do. You know those boring meetings where they just drone on and on and on and you phase out? Apparently, if they were to put up an animated graphic, it would be enough to keep your interest for another ten minutes. He goes on for quite some time about the brain's preference for what it pays attention to. It goes like this: moving 3D objects, moving 2D objects, static 3D objects, and then, finally, static 2D objects.

Ever watched a PowerPoint presentation that's nothing but slide after boring slide of words? Feh. If they were to simply animate something on the screen, it would increase our ability to pay attention to it by an amazing percentage.

Perhaps all of this is common sense. We knew it already. But in his book—and during the interview with Dr. Campbell—the author gives you a brain science reason so you can better understand what's going on inside that head of yours.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I need all the help I can get along those lines.

And now I'm going to context switch back to writing ASP code instead of making an LJ post. :)

Wrote 1594 more words of suck. I am allowed to suck. I am allowed to suck. I am allowed to suck. :)



Uh...yeah, it's now headed towards 12,000 words. Maybe. Which makes it a novelette instead of a short story. Hopefully, it won't make it to novella. :) I'm sure it'll shrink in the edit phase. Right now, I'm allowing my "Basil Exposition" character to exposit at length. I'll tone her down, later. She's a yappy woman.

Oh, and check out my new userpic. :) I only used the first sentence because I thought it would get too big, but now I think I might be able to get the next few lines in there. I'm talking, of course, about Snoopy's never-finished novel. I can't fit the entire thing, and that's a shame. :)